Criminal Defense Blog
Tighter Restrictions for Los Angeles Car Impoundments
Just a few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Police Department had proposed implementing new car impound procedures that would have allowed unlicensed drivers pulled over at checkpoints, to have their car driven away by a licensed driver. The proposals had been welcomed by Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys, who have been concerned about the effect that these widespread impoundments have on unlicensed drivers- mostly undocumented immigrants with no other means of transport. However, the Los Angeles Police Department has now tightened those requirements. Read more »
Research Links Traumatic Brain Injury with Violent Crime
Research by Swedish scientists has found a higher risk of committing violent crimes after a person suffers a brain injury. However, the same researchers have found no link between epilepsy and a higher risk of violent crime. Read more »
San Jose Cheerleading Coach Arrested For Sexual Abuse
A cheerleading coach in San Jose has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse. The man coached cheerleading teams at the Andrew Hill High School and Energy Athletics. The 23-year-old man was allegedly arrested at his home on suspicion of child molestation, and is currently at the Santa Clara County Jail. Read more »
Parental Example Major Factor in Underage DUI
This isn't exactly rocket science. A new study confirms what any Los Angeles DUI lawyer knows - when it comes to underage DUI, parental influence plays a major role. The study finds that teenagers whose parents drink and drive are more likely to indulge in such practices themselves. Read more »
Woman in Justin Bieber Paternity Lawsuit Could Face Rape Charges
It’s not every day that Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys come across a celebrity-related statutory rape case where the celebrity is the alleged victim. Los Angeles police are considering whether to file rape charges against a twenty-year-old woman, who claims that she had sex with a very clearly underage Justin Bieber, resulting in a child. Read more »
Medical Marijuana Advocacy Groups Files Lawsuit to Halt California Crackdown
A medical marijuana advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration to stop the Department of Justice from continuing its crackdown on the medical marijuana industry in California. Read more »
Supreme Court Decision on Strip Searches Expected in July
Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys expect a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving jail strip searches in July. The court has already heard oral arguments from lawyers for both sides. Read more »
Crimes Increase when Marijuana Dispensaries are Closed Down
Law enforcement agencies in California have always insisted that medical marijuana dispensaries are magnets for crime. A new study shows that that assumption couldn't be farther from the truth. According to the study, when medical marijuana dispensaries across Los Angeles closed down last year, crime actually increased. Read more »
Veterans’ PTSD Increasingly Used as Criminal Defense
Attorneys are successfully using post-traumatic stress disorder affecting veterans in criminal defense proceedings. In fact, both courts and prosecutors are now more agreeable to considering a veteran’s post-traumatic stress disorder while determining sentencing for nonviolent crimes. Read more »
Online Dating Websites Jump on Sex Offender Screening Bandwagon
Barely had Match.com declared that it would henceforth include sex offender screenings for its users, than Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers found a number of other online dating websites announcing that they would be following suit.
Match.com's decision to include sex offender background screenings for all users of its website came in response to a lawsuit filed by a California woman. The woman claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by a man she met on Match.com. Her lawsuit against the dating website did not claim monetary damages, but asked that the website install sex offender screenings.
Match.com agreed, and in April announced its decision to include sex offender screenings. Last month, the dating website made its decision official, by promising to screen out sex offenders using a sex offender registry.
Other dating websites are also making similar promises. According to e-Harmony, it has already installed sex offender screenings for all members. Another dating website, Zoosk, says that is planning similar measures.
All Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers can see coming out of measures like this is the creation of one more area of life where persons convicted of sex crimes are not able to participate as regular people do. Reducing recidivism rates has much to do with helping people integrate into society, and that doesn't happen if you keep raising barriers for people who want nothing more than to begin leading normal lives after incarceration.
Additionally, it's hard to believe that sex offender screenings will really keep dating website users that much safer. For one thing, these don't screen for people who may have committed offenses that they have not been convicted for. They also don't screen for people with other types of criminal convictions. It is easy to wonder whether dating websites believe persons convicted of sex offenses, are more dangerous than those convicted of other first-degree crimes. Read more »
