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Category: Criminal Law

Another Court Rules in Favor of Freedom to Record the Police

Another Court Rules in Favor of Freedom to Record the Police

In a February 2016 decision, a federal judge broke from all the other courts in the country that had acknowledged a First Amendment right to record the police. The judge essentially held that people who don’t announce that they oppose what police officers are doing don’t have the right to observe and photograph those officers. (Here’s the opinion, and here’s our post on it.) In July of 2017, though, a panel from the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that…

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Tiger Woods Arrested on DUI Charges

Tiger Woods Arrested on DUI Charges

On May 29, 2017, professional golfer Tiger Woods was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI). Police arrested Woods in Jupiter, Florida, just miles from his Jupiter Island home. According to the arrest report, at about 2:00 a.m., police found Woods parked in his Mercedes on the side of the road, engine running. Woods was allegedly stopped in the right traffic lane, with the passenger side of his car partially blocking the bike lane. On the driver’s side of…

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GOP Candidate Greg Gianforte Cited for Misdemeanor Assault on the Eve of Montana’s Special Election

GOP Candidate Greg Gianforte Cited for Misdemeanor Assault on the Eve of Montana’s Special Election

On May 24, 2017, the Gallatin County Sheriff cited Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte with misdemeanor assault. (Read the press release.) The citation followed an incident at the GOP candidate’s campaign headquarters in Bozeman, Montana in which Gianforte allegedly attacked Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. According to Jacobs, Gianforte “body slammed” him after becoming irritated by a question about the Republicans’ health care bill. A Fox News reporter who witnessed the episode said Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck and slammed…

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Another Court Says the Fourth Amendment Doesn’t Apply to Credit Card Swipes

Another Court Says the Fourth Amendment Doesn’t Apply to Credit Card Swipes

The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals is among the latest courts to consider whether the police need a legal justification in order to swipe someone’s credit card. In a June decision, it took the popular view that examining a card in this way isn’t a Fourth Amendment “search.” According to this position, there’s no real difference between looking at the information on the front of a card and using a device to examine the magnetic strip on the back…

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Federal Ruling Muddies the Law on Recording the Police

Federal Ruling Muddies the Law on Recording the Police

Update: In July of 2017 a federal court reversed the decision described below. See our post on the reversal. — Constitutional and criminal law are littered with nuances  and vagaries. But at least we’ve got a basic, First-Amendment rule on recording the police. To summarize: Almost every court to consider the issue has determined that the First Amendment gives you the right to record (pictures, video, and audio) an officer in public while he is performing his duties. But that doesn’t mean…

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