Recent Blog Posts
The Future of the Death Penalty in Florida: Will Jury Unanimity Be Required by the Florida Supreme Court?
The future of the death penalty system in Florida is currently on trial in the Florida Supreme Court. After considering arguments made in October of this year, the Florida Supreme Court will provide a ruling on the fate of the death penalty system by the beginning of 2016. The issue: the constitutionality of the… Read More »
Updates in Good Samaritan Laws in Florida
In our society, contrary to popular belief, there are only a limited number of circumstances where people have an obligation to help others that are in dangerous situations. The obligation to help others only is provided where there is a special, legally-defined relationship between the one needing help and the one providing help. The… Read More »
The Crime and Punishment of “SWATTING”
Video games provide a forum in which players of the game can leave reality and delve into fantasy scenarios and act in a way that is permitted by the game. Video games have the reputation of being whimsical and fun, but also violent and an instigator of violent characteristics seen in many of its… Read More »
Battered Spouse Syndrome: A Criminal Defendant’s Affirmative Defense
There are very few situations in the criminal justice realm where someone may injure or kill another and the court finds that the actions are excusable or justifiable. When it comes to justifiable or excusable felonies, generally the criminal defendant will be charged with the crime, and the defense will put forward some form… Read More »
Children and Crime: How Florida Deals with Juveniles
When we think about felonies and crimes, our image of the perpetrator is rarely a child. However, in the news, there are several stories that have been currently receiving significant attention, largely because the child is the at the center of a horrific act. For example, in Alabama recently, an eight-year-old was charged in… Read More »
Florida’s Aging Prison Population: Increased Medical Costs on the State Lead to Options, Programs for Elderly Inmates
According to study published in September 2014, called Florida’s Aging Prisoner Problem, it was estimated that Florida’s elderly prison population (“elderly” defined as over the age of 50), increases every year by more than 1,000 prisoners. Since 2000, the elderly prisoner population has jumped from around 5,600 prisoners to roughly 21,000 prisoners in the… Read More »
Early Release Options and Programs for Convicted Criminal Defendants
A criminal defendant who has been convicted and is sentenced to a significant amount of time in prison has several options regarding his/her future. The inmate may complete his/her sentence, but with prisons generally overpopulated, a non-violent or rehabilitated inmate may have several ways in which he/she may leave the prison walls early. Early… Read More »
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Finds Involuntary Commitment Unconstitutional
In our criminal justice system, it is important that anyone who is to stand trial must be competent and intellectually able to understand the charges and the criminal proceedings occurring against the person. Competency is defined not only by the ability of the person to understand the proceedings and the consequence of a verdict,… Read More »
False Positives of Field Drug Tests Leading to Drug Arrests and Incarcerations
The war on drugs has led to hundreds of thousands of long-term sentences for drug-related felonies. Drug-related felonies have been a significant target of the criminal justice system, and in-field tools and tests help law enforcement officials to not only identify controlled substances but to test the drugs at the time that the law… Read More »
Law Enforcement Use of DNA Samples Found in Genealogy Websites
DNA can be extremely important, determinative evidence in cases where DNA may be one of the only ways in which to solve a cold-case. The FBI and state law enforcement agencies have created their own databases of DNA taken from criminals, as well as DNA samples that are related to unresolved cases where a… Read More »