The Single SCOTUS 4th Amendment Case in 2010

March 8, 2011

In Ontario v. Quon, 130 S. Ct. 2610 (2010), the Supreme Court addressed whether a police officer has a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages transmitted while on-duty through work-issued pagers and whether the search of the text messages violated the officer’s Fourth Amendment rights.  In a 9-0 opinion, the Court reversed the Ninth [...]

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Keep the Government Out of Our Bedrooms and Ensure Equal Rights for All

February 25, 2011

My 28-year-old daughter is an attorney.  She said to me, “Dad, it is hard for people of my generation to believe that, as recently as when you were in college, it was illegal, in some states, for people to marry based solely on their race.”  She then said, “I bet when I am your age [...]

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Clarence Thomas – A Disservice to Us All

February 24, 2011

A United States Supreme Court Justice does a disservice to all of us by not being engaged.  Justices must participate in oral argument to fully understand the issues, to afford the advocates an opportunity to advocate, and to educate the public about the judicial system.  In addition to submitting briefs, the parties engage in oral [...]

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Ask Warnken: Juvenile Jurisdiction v. Adult Criminal Jurisdiction

January 12, 2011

At common law, in England, people were considered adults, and were held accountable for their criminal acts, at age 14.  If the person was less than age 14, but was over age 7, that person could be held accountable, as an adult, on a case-by-case basis.  At common law, there was no criminal culpability for [...]

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Social Networking Sites and Criminal Litigation

January 3, 2011

Chances are that, if you are on-line and reading this blog, you just signed off your Facebook account, MySpace account, or Twitter account.  Social networking websites grow as people seek to share pictures, opinions, views, celebrity sightings, etc.  Now that many of us have voluntarily shared our private lives with our 1,500 closest friends, the [...]

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Health Care Statute is Unconstitutional

December 27, 2010

Federal Judge Rules That Obama Administration’s Health Care Statute Is Unconstitutional Federal Judge Henry Hudson, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled that the President Obama’s federal health care statute is unconstitutional, in part, to the extent that it imposes the “minimum essential health coverage provision,” which requires every [...]

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Miranda in Maryland – Part II

November 16, 2010

Continued from Part I – Here. III.       Compliance with Miranda A.        What constitutes a proper Warning? Another recent Maryland case addresses whether police have complied with Miranda.  In State v. Luckett,[i] the Court of Appeals analyzed whether a police officer’s recitation of Miranda properly informed the Defendant of his privilege against self-incrimination.  Although the Supreme [...]

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Miranda in Maryland – Part I

November 10, 2010

A Criminal Procedure Update: Miranda in Maryland I.          Introduction In 1966, the Supreme Court decided Miranda v. Arizona,[i] which implemented a procedure to ensure that police complied with the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination.[ii] Following the Miranda decision, a debate ensued over whether Miranda was truly of constitutional dimension, or whether it was simply a [...]

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Key SCOTUS Cases – Article II – US v Nixon

October 25, 2010

Art. II. (Executive Branch), § 2, Cl. 1 (President):  United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974). Grand jury named President Nixon as un-indicted co-conspirator.  Special prosecutor subpoenaed audiotapes and documents of conversations between President and staff, which President moved to quash, citing executive privilege.  Supreme Court held that (1) it had jurisdiction; (2) issue [...]

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Key SCOTUS Cases – Article I

September 21, 2010

Art. I. (Legislative Branch), § 8 (Enumerated Powers), Cl. 18 (Necessary & Proper Clause):  McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819). Congress created a national bank.  Md. taxed bank notes not chartered in Md., which harmed the national bank as the only out-of-state bank.  When the national bank refused to pay the tax, Md. filed [...]

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