By Mani Dabiri | Published March 9, 2019 | Posted in Federal and State Criminal Defense, Government Subpoenas and Investigations, Post-Conviction Defense and Appeals, White-Collar and Regulatory Defense | Tagged Tags: billofrights, dueprocess, publicdefense, sixthamendment |
The Right to Counsel in the 21st Century
As we touched on last week, the Sixth Amendment protects not just a right to counsel but a right to the effective assistance of counsel. In the 21st century, this means at least three things. First, the government can’t take away your life or liberty without a legal defense. Second, if you can’t afford a lawyer, the Read More
Read MoreThe Eighth Amendment Applies to the States in Full
The Eighth Amendment consists of one sentence: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Until Wednesday, it wasn’t clear if the part about excessive fines applied to the individual states. In fact, you may not know this, but the entire Bill of Rights applied only to Read More
Read MoreNew California Criminal Laws: Part Deux
Here are three more new laws for this week. The public has greater access to police personnel files. This is Senate Bill 1421. It declares that the public has an important interest in law-enforcement transparency because it is essential to having a just and democratic society. It then amends the Penal Code to confer more access Read More
Read MoreNew California Criminal Laws: Part One
Let’s get to it. We’ve already covered the big new bail law, which won’t go into effect until October 1. Here are three new laws effective January 1, 2019. Drunk driving will catch you an ignition-interlock device on your car. This is Senate Bill 1046. It amends the Vehicle Code to require most anyone who’s convicted of Read More
Read MoreThe Federal First Step Act of 2018
Here’s more meat on the bones of the new sentencing law from last week. Earning credit toward early release. You can earn 10-15 days of credit for every thirty that you participate in certain programs. These may include work programs, academic classes, vocational training, trauma counseling, substance-abuse treatment, faith-based services, and family-building and parenting. The credits Read More
Read MoreOn the Friday Before Christmas …
When all through the House, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse: Congress enacted a major change to federal sentencing law. It’s called the First Step Act, and you may have heard about it. Here’s a press release on it from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. What does it do? About ten things. Read More
Read MoreNew Federal Rules Proposed About Sexual Harassment on Campus
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education proposed new rules on the handling of sexual-harassment complaints on school campuses that receive federal funding. The regulations aim to address when a school violates Title IX, a federal law against sex discrimination, based on the way it responds (or doesn’t respond) to such complaints. There is a Read More
Read MoreIf At First You Don’t Succeed?
Last week, a federal court heard the appeal of Monica Los Rios, the woman who claims NBA star Derrick Rose and two friends gang-raped her in 2013. She never called the police but filed a civil case against him two years later, asking for over $21 million in damages. And she took her case all Read More
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