Articles

On July 19th, 2017, in Commonwealth v. Shabezz, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that in an illegal seizure of a vehicle, passengers are entitled to suppression of evidence found in the course of the seizure. Such evidence is “barred outright as fruit of the poisonous tree” and there is no additional requirement for defendants to […]

Protecting the rights of both the police and the accusedAs of June 20, 2017, motor vehicle recordings (“MVRs”), commonly known as “dash cams”, recorded by state trooper patrol vehicles when lights or sirens are activated are not protected from public disclosure under the “criminal investigative records” exception to the Right-to-Know-Law (“RTKL”). The 2008 RTKL enables […]

On July 21, 2015, a parole agent received an anonymous tip that one of her parolees, Navarro Banks (“Banks”), was in violation of his parole. Upon receiving a single tip, two agents went to Banks’ home. While speaking with Banks on his front porch, the agents did not see any or have any indication of […]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s deadlock ruling essentially reiterates and emphasizes that the State Constitution’s strict protections against unlawful searches and seizures are absolute and without exception. A “deadlock” ruling is equivalent to a stand still or a non-ruling. As a result of a deadlock vote amongst justices, or a vote more commonly referred to as […]

This summer the Supreme Court decided that states cannot prevent or restrict sex offenders from utilizing social networking sites. In an effort to limit sex offenders from interacting with potential victims, states such as North Carolina have enacted laws making it a felony for convicted sex offenders to access “commercial social networking” websites that have […]