They are charged with a sacred duty to serve and protect and, as such, we rightly hold them to a higher standard of ethics than the average citizen. Police officers are given greater powers in order to keep us safe, so when one breaks that trust, it can shake a...
Boca Raton Florida Legal Blog
Florida man’s sex crime sentence reduced
A charge of sexual misconduct in Florida can bring with it devastating penalties, from fines to imprisonment. But perhaps the hardest part of being charged with sex crime is the catastrophic damage it can do to your reputation in both your professional and personal...
Can police stop you for suspected DUI based on an anonymous tip?
There's a quote often attributed to Benjamin Franklin that goes, "Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." Many Floridians tend to stand firmly on the freedom side and favor a more hands-off approach to government. So,...
Does this Florida man deserve a life sentence?
In 2003, a 20-year-old kid from Florida was having a typical drunken night of revelry with his friends. Before falling asleep that night, he agreed to let his roommate borrow his car, something he’d done on many occasions. When he woke up, his life had changed...
How does petty theft land a man in prison for life?
According to the United States Department of Justice, the state of Louisiana ranks the highest in the country in the rate of incarcerations. Before you start congratulating your own state, know that Florida sits firmly in the number seven spot on that dubious...
Florida announces new sentencing guidelines for juveniles
It’s taken almost four years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Florida must change the way it handles the sentencing of juvenile criminals, but the state Legislature has finally come to a consensus on how to treat juvenile offenders who are convicted of...
Why do minor drug offenses lead to major penalties?
This will probably sound like a record skipping, but many penalties that are levied against drug offenders are simply absurd. They do not match the offense in question, and it leads many people to wonder why our laws and policies are set up in a way to excessively...
Bringing college to jail cells helps criminals reform themselves
How would you feel if people who were in jail or prison were given a college education during their time behind bars? Keep in mind, this won't exactly be the college experience that everyone has come to know. There wouldn't be a huge Inmate Tech vs. Prison Guards...
Mentally ill inmates outnumber mentally ill patients 10-to-1
A new report by the Treatment Advocacy Center shows that the American prison system has an astonishing number of mentally ill people in it, and it begs the question why these people are in jail and probably not getting the care that they need. According to the...
Are rap lyrics evidence enough to convict someone of a crime?
In 2007, two people were killed and the police were stumped. They had little evidence, no witnesses and not a single suspect. The case had gone cold, and for years it lay dormant. But then in 2011, a rapper from the area by the name of Twain Gotti -- whose real name...