Recent Rulings Clarify California Three Strikes Reform Act
Recent Rulings Clarify California Three Strikes Reform Act
In 2012, voters passed Proposition 36, which aimed to reduce the harsh punishment imposed on those who received a third strike for a non-violent or non-serious offense. Under California Three Strikes Law, a strike will be added to your criminal record if you are convicted of a serious or violent felony. If you are convicted of three of these crimes, you will face 25 years to life in prison. Several…
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Orange County Crime Lab Using New Fingerprint Detection Technology
Recently, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Crime Laboratory began its official rollout of a new fingerprint identification system. Known as Morpho Biometric Identification Solution (or MorphoBIS), this technology can be used to identify people from not only fingerprints, but from palmprints and any other location on the hand. Developed by electronics company MorphoTrak, the MorphoBIS began as an entry in a government procurement competition. MorphoTrak already supplies the Federal Bureau…
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Think Twice Before Posting on Instagram, It Could be Used to Convict you of a Crime
While most users’ Instagram pages consist of snapshots of gourmet meals, tropical vacations, and #nofilter selfies, other individuals have instead gone with a potentially incriminating approach that could be admitted as evidence against them in a court of law. The following examples explain why you need to be careful what you post on social media, because it could lead to facing serious legal consequences. How an Instagram Post Sent a…
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Could You Be Convicted of Transportation of Marijuana if You Didn’t Intend to Sell It?
The legalization of marijuana is a constantly debated issue in California. Possessing marijuana for medicinal purposes can now be legal if you are licensed by a physician, but this has created uncertainty when it comes to other marijuana laws in California. One such law involves the transportation of marijuana, and a recently passed bill clarifies what is required to convict you of the crime of marijuana transportation. Does Transportation of…
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Will California’s Kill Switch Law Reduce Phone Theft?
In August 2014, California passed a “kill switch” law requiring all smartphones sold in the state to include built-in remote locking technology. The “kill switch” law, which went into effect July, allows the owner of a smartphone to disable the device even when he or she does not have possession of the phone. The largest smartphone manufacturers, Apple and Google, are offering remote kill software, known as “Activation Lock” and…
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California Leads the Nation in Car Theft
A recent study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) showed that California was the number one state for car thefts in 2014. The report also listed the areas in California where auto theft occurred the most: The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metropolitan region had the most car thefts per capita, with a ratio of 633.3 thefts per 100,000 people (a combined total of 29,093 stolen cars) Bakersfield was second with approximately…
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Orange County District Attorney’s Misconduct Could Change Use of Jailhouse Informants
According to a recent report by the Daily Journal, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has decided to amp up oversight of the use of jailhouse informants. The criminal justice system in Orange County has been under a microscope the past few months. The District Attorney’s Office has come under fire recently for numerous possible legal and ethical violations that have been widely reported in the media. Orange County District…
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Failing Grades: Police Use of Deadly Force on the Rise
Mike Brown of Ferguson, Missouri. Tamir Rice and Tanisha Anderson of Cleveland, Ohio. Eric Garner of Staten Island, New York. Walter Scott of North Charleston, South Carolina. These are five names and five cities that you may have heard in the news over the last year. These people have one thing in common, and it is the manner in which they died – at the hands of law enforcement officers.…
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You Can Fight Your Traffic Ticket without Paying Fines in Advance
A new law allows drivers in California to fight their traffic tickets before being required to pay citation fees and fines. The California Judicial Council recently voted to end “bail for trial” in traffic courts across the state. Until this action by the Judicial Council, if you received a traffic ticket in most California counties, you were required to pay the ticket fines and fees before you could schedule a…
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Should Police Need a Warrant to Fly a Drone Over Your House?
Generally, the 4th Amendment requires police to get a warrant to avoid an illegal search. However, the 4th Amendment as it applies to drones is a new and unsettled area of the law. Currently, police do not need a warrant to fly a drone over your property for investigative purposes, but a new bill in California is proposing that law enforcement need obtain a warrant before conducting drone surveillance of…
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