The constitution protects people in Florida and other states from unreasonable searches and seizures. That means the police cannot come up to a person and make demands, or search them, without specific evidence that the person is engaged in criminal activity or has evidence of criminal activity. The police often…
In Florida, a person has a Constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Sometimes this is obvious. A police officer cannot just search a person’s home or car without consent or a search warrant in most cases. However, it can also get complicated as old rules may…
The Constitution establishes privacy rights, and one of the more sacred privacy rights protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures when it comes to their property. For instance, in most cases, the police are not allowed to go into a person’s residence without a valid search warrant or consent from…
In Florida, the police are not permitted to search a person’s belongings unless the police officer has consent to search from someone authorized to provide such consent, the officer has probable cause in certain circumstances or the officer has a search warrant. Police officers often assume they can search a…
The War on Drugs rages on with big government-loving police and prosecutors seeking to take property from citizens for their involvement with the marijuana plant. In a recent case near Jacksonville, Florida, the War on Drugs manifested itself in the government’s attempt to take a house from a person for…
Over the last several years, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have focused on shutting down what they call “pill mills” and arresting and prosecuting many people involved with these alleged pill mills from office staff to doctors to owners. A “pill mill” is a pain management clinic that…
If the police want to search a house for drugs or other evidence of criminal activity, there are two primary ways they can do that. One, depending on how the the property is situated, the police can usually walk up to the front door, knock and ask to search the…
In Florida, as in other regressive jurisdictions, possessing the marijuana plant is still a crime. The Florida government still asks taxpayers to pay a lot of money to support the arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations of people possessing this plant. Until it becomes legal to possess marijuana, either for medical reasons…
A fair number of drug cases in Florida initiate after someone gives the police information about someone selling or possessing drugs. These informants are often people who were arrested themselves and provide this incriminating information to the police to help them in their own case. The police may take this…
In Florida, many criminal arrests start out with a much less serious traffic stop. When a person commits a traffic violation like speeding or running a red light, he/she is normally just looking at a fine and possibly some points on his/her driving record. However, when the police stop a…