by georgeroland | Jun 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
The standard for school searches of students, backpacks, and such was discussed last time. Recall that the Fourth Amendment bars “unreasonable” searches and seizures, so the critical inquiry is what constitutes “reasonable” searches at school. In order to be...
by georgeroland | Jun 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
A large number of juvenile offenses happen at school. I recall once telling a prosecutor who seemed particularly disturbed by the fact that my 14 year-old client had graffiti’d, of all places, a school—A SCHOOL!!—that his chosen location seemed perfectly...
by georgeroland | Jun 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
In his book, Surveiller et punir: naissance de la prison (roughly translated as “Discipline and Punish: the birth of the prison”), Michel Foucault discusses a social theory called “panopticism.” The basic idea of panopticism is the...
by georgeroland | Jun 8, 2014 | Uncategorized
In a Class B possession of marijuana case, the State has the burden to prove that the defendant knowingly or intentionally possessed a usable quantity of marijuana in an amount two ounces or less. TEXAS HEALTH & SAFETY CODE s481.121(b)(1). No “usable quantity”, no...
by georgeroland | May 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
Courts have, for over a century now, considered a MAN assaulting a WOMAN to be a crime of “moral turpitude.” See Curtis v. State, 81 S.W. 29 (Tex.Crim. 1904); Stewart v. State, 272 S.W. 202 (Tex.Crim. 1925); Lloyd v. State, 204 S.W.2d 633 (Tex.Crim. 1947); Dempsey v....
by georgeroland | May 8, 2014 | Uncategorized
I would imagine that a great number of confidential informants (that’s the police word for them; to everyone else, they are generally known as “snitches”) are surprised to learn that their identity is not so “confidential” after all. The privilege to refuse to...
