by Marc Neff
US Supreme Court Holds State Employer May Investigate Employees’ Electronically Stored Data When Search is Legitimately Work-Related
The United States Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the case of Ontario v. Quan, wherein a police officer brought suit against his police department for invasion of privacy. The police department had issued texting/paging devices to its officers for the purpose of work-related use. All of the officers were allotted a predetermined amount of text messages and/or data transfer, which...
by Marc Neff
United States Court of Appeals Hears Arguments in Two Students Cases, Suspended for “Bashing” School Officials on the Internet
A recent hearing held before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit involved constitutional issues of free-speech, as applied to two students suspended for creating fake MySpace pages claiming to be their school principals. One student, a high school senior from Pittsburgh, was suspended in 2005 when he created a fake MySpace page to parody his principal. On the profile...
by Marc Neff
Superior Court of Pennsylvania Upholds Act which Allows for Civil Detainment of Offenders Deemed Sexually Dangerous
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently heard a case which challenged Pennsylvania Statute, Pa. C.S. §6403, which allows for the civil detainment of those deemed sexually dangerous. In Re A.C. involved an appellant sentenced to one year of involuntary in-patient treatment for potentially sexual violence. In accordance with the Act, the defendant must have been adjudicated delinquent as a...
by Marc Neff
Two Suspects Indicted In Philadelphia for Their Role in an Illegal Online Pharmacy
A pharmacist from Florida and a website operator from the Bahamas were indicted last month for their roles in an illegal online pharmacy. The two suspects worked together and with legitimate pharmacies around the nation to dispense prescription medications without proper prescriptions. At least one pharmacy used by the suspects to facilitate their operation was located in the Philadelphia,...
by Marc Neff
Pennsylvania Superior Court Holds that Trial Court May Impose Both Mandatory Minimum and Conditional Minimum Sentences upon a Defendant, Pursuant to State Statutes
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recent decided an appeal by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the case of Commonwealth v. Hansley. In Hansley, Frederick Hansley pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, for an incident in which he sold cocaine to a police officer in September of 2008. Hansley pled guilty to a second count of possession with...
by Marc Neff
Supreme Court of the United States Rules Prisoners Deemed Sexually Dangerous May Be Detained Beyond Sentence
The Supreme Court of the United States recently decided the case of U.S. v. Comstock, involving four men who were convicted on child pornography and/or sexual abuse of a minor charge(s). The men were convicted under the “Adam Walsh Act”, signed into Federal law in 2006. The Act allows for the civil detainment of sexually dangerous federal inmates, beyond the sentences imposed upon them by...
by Marc Neff
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Holds No Right to Privacy When One’s Hard Drive is Installed in Someone Else’s ComputerWithout Password Protection
A recent appellate holding by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in U.S. v. Richard D. King, Jr. establishes that one gives up the right to privacy when sharing the use of a computer with others. The Supreme Court of the United States had established that a present co-tenant could refuse police search of a premises regardless of the consent of other tenants. The Court,...
by Marc Neff
Supreme Court of the United States Holds Failure to Inform Defendant of the Potential for Deportation Prior to Entering a Plea of Guilt Amounts to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
In a recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court held that an attorney who fails to inform his client of the potential for deportation associated with a plea of guilty amounts to ineffective assistance of counsel. The case captioned Padilla v. Kentucky involved a defendant, Jose Padilla, who was a permanent resident of the United States for over forty years. In that...
by Marc Neff
Courts Begin Cracking-Down on E-Savvy Jurors
In today’s ever-evolving world of electronic communication, the consequences of constant information exchange are being seen in the courtroom. Mistrials, delays and the overturning of convictions are just some of the outcomes caused by jurors who cannot help themselves from “twittering” away on their cell phones, PDAs and computers; both inside and outside of the courtroom. The problem,...
by Marc Neff