This past summer, the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite Metropolitan Division flooded high-crime, predominantly African American and Latino communities in unmarked police cars, stopping drivers with paper license plates, tinted windows, or broken tail lights as a pretext to search for illegal guns and find dangerous criminals. The operation was…
Every new year, California Governor Jerry Brown sifts through hundreds of bills sent to his desk and signs into law a slew of legislative changes in the criminal law sector for the state. In 2016, Brown saw 1,059 bills come forward, 898 of which he signed into law. He also…
Bill Cosby’s criminal defense team filed a motion for a change of venue out of Montgomery County for his criminal trial stemming from a sexual assault charge. Cosby was charged with a 2004 drugging and sexual assault of a Temple University employee. His attorneys are claiming that the extensive media…
A new law that prohibits employers in the state of California from asking about a job applicant’s juvenile criminal records is set to take effect January 1of the new year. Assembly Bill (A.B.) No. 1843 amends Section 432.7 of the California Labor Code to prohibit employers from asking about or…
Ryan Bundy, the eldest son of Cliven Bundy and member of the clan involved in the armed occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon has asked for a hearing to challenge his detention status in a Nevada jail. He claims that he poses no risk for flight and poses…
Adding to the already long list of criminal justice reforms enacted in 2016, it is reported that for next year, California lawmakers plan to make it a top priority to reform the system through which judges award criminal bail, saying courts across the state are “punishing the poor for being…
U.S. and European authorities just announced they have dismantled “Avalanche,” a worldwide computer network that criminals have used to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from online banking customers around the world. The network enabled crime networks to send various types of spam and malicious software to banking customers who…
In the latest court case involving Prop. 47, the California Supreme Court recently held that the voter-approved ballot measure that reduced penalties for certain drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, applies to prisoners convicted under plea deals. The panel unanimously held that Prop. 47 did not create an…
In a bizarre end to an already-bizarre criminal case, a group of six U.S. marshals surrounded the criminal defense attorney who defended Ammon Bundy, tackled him, and stunned him with a taser. The marshals have now filed a probable cause statement to justify their actions. In a statement filed in…
This past election, California voters chose to join the ranks of their northern neighbors Oregon and Washington, along with Alaska, Colorado, and Massachusetts, to legalize the use of recreational marijuana. California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative (also referred to as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act), is the…