Articles

On April 10th, the United States Sentencing Commission voted to lower the federal narcotic sentencing guidelines by two levels. This would apply to all offenders facing federal drug charge and would result in the average drug sentence being reduced by 11 months. This does not, however, affect mandatory minimums attached to certain drug crimes; someone guilty of a crime […]

In Commonwealth v. Shwarz , 1847 EDA 2012 (July 15, 2014), the Pennsylvania Superior Court granted a new trial to an appellant who argued the trial court judge exhibited bias against him. The appellant, a Philadelphia police officer, faced charges of official oppression and related offenses, and was convicted by a jury. On appeal, the appellant argued that the trial judge […]

The usage of cell phones has made it easier than ever for us to be tracked.  Even if a phone has been destroyed, it may have left behind evidence that investigators can use to piece together where it, and its owner, have been. Whenever a phone call is made, there is a two-way communication between […]

In Riley v. California, 537 U.S. __ (2014), a surprisingly unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court added additional privacy protection to American’s cell phones.  Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts held that police need a warrant to search the cell phone of someone who is under arrest.  This result greatly pleased privacy activists, who […]

Since the founding of the FBI in 1908, the Department of Justice has refused to audiotape or videotape interviews with criminal suspects.  Federal agencies gave a variety of reasons for refusing to do so.  For example, an internal FBI memo argued that jurors would be offended if they saw the psychological tricks agents used to […]