Even though it has only been a few months since Proposition 47 has made its debut, the incarceration rate throughout the state of California has dropped a noticeable degree. As most of you may know, the controversial Proposition 47 (“Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiatives”) made its way onto the…
Your Constitutional Rights The Miranda warning is a verbal warning that all police officers must give a suspect before s/he is about to be taken into custody, and applies the whole time s/he is in custody. Custody means a formal arrest or the deprivation of freedom where a reasonable person…
As reviewed in the previous blog, Miranda rights protects one from compelled self-incrimination, but this right is not absolute. There are certain exceptions to the Miranda rule where police do not have to read you your rights. This means in any of these situations, police will use what you say…
Recently, two civil rights groups (the San Francisco branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Asian Law Caucus) filed a federal lawsuit against the San Francisco Police Department alleging that a police inspector not only violated department rules and city law whilst working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism…
Early in March, San Diego Police investigated two threats of violence to high school campuses using social media. On March 5, they investigated a threat made to to Del Norte High School through the Burnbook app. On March 11, another threat on the Burnbook app was made against Mission Hills…
In the beginning of this month, a group of 15 young people from Lincoln Park, San Diego, who were alleged to be part of the notorious Lincoln Park gang, were charged with criminal conspiracy related to two dozen local shootings within San Diego County. The San Diego County District Attorney’s…
As another Saint Patrick’s Day kicks off in sunny San Diego, the SDPD will certainly be out in full force looking out for drunk drivers. According from the most recent California DUI statistics from 2007, there were nearly 1,500 alcohol-involved fatalities and more than 200,000 DUI arrests. In California, there…
Imagine that you are about to sit down with your family for dinner, and somebody knocks on the door. It is the police, and they were hoping you would go down to the station to “answer” some questions about a homicide next door. You think nothing of it, because you…
Keeping up with the momentum of Oregon, Alaska, Washington D.C. and Florida this past election year, Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D Rancho Cordova) recently proposed Assembly Bill 266, which would legalize recreational marijuana in California. The bill would set up a statewide regulatory scheme on marijuana while allowing local jurisdictions to…
Because criminal records are public records, those with prior convictions need to know that there are certain circumstances which may qualify them to get their records “wiped.” These vessels by which one’s records can be cleaned vary depending on the type of crime and state law involved. Expungements Expungements are…