Articles

Recently, the United States 7th Circuit of Appeals, a federal appeals court based out of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, released a decision (United States v. Bentley) that seriously throws into question the reliability of drug dog sniffs as a justification for a police search. In that seminal case, the panel pointed out that the dog […]

In a groundbreaking 3-2 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided this week in Commonwealth v. Hopkins,  that 18 Pa.C.S. § 6317, the drug-free school zone statute, is unconstitutional and non-severable pursuant to United States v. Alleyne, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013). Section 6317 of the Crimes Code requires additional, mandatory minimum two-year sentences for adults convicted of […]

In a 6-3 decision, authored by Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday held in Rodriguez v. United States, that, absent reasonable suspicion, police extension of a traffic stop in order to conduct a dog sniff violates the Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable seizures.  The decision may have significant consequences […]

After Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recently gave his support to the bi-partisan Medical Marijuana bill (SB 3), sponsored by Senator Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery) and Senator Mike Folmer (R., Dauphin), it is looking more likely that Pennsylvania will become the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana.  Meanwhile, United States Senators Corey Booker (D., New Jersey), […]

Fairlie & Lippy, P.C. has won another appeal for one of its clients. In Commonwealth v. Ali, 2015 PA Super. 45, the Pennsylvania Superior Court recognized that the trial court had made three significant errors, and that, as a matter of law, Ali must be afforded the opportunity for a new sentencing. It should be noted that […]