Radio Show Regarding Town Courts

Aug 11, 2014 | Blog Post

Continuing my recent media tour (ha!) please also check out an appearance I made last week on Evan Dawson’s “Connections” program on WXXI Radio 1370.  The other guest was David Andreatta from the D&C.

The topic of the show originated with David’s column in the paper a few weeks back on some pretty ridiculous behavior by town justices who happened not to be attorneys.  As you may or may not know, town justices in New York State are not required to be attorneys, although most are here in Monroe County.

As I said on the show, I have never personally witnessed anything like the level of misconduct David touched on in his column, and I do not feel that the law should be changed to mandate that all town justices be attorneys.  In fact, the guest who came on the show after me did a pretty good job outlining the extensive training and resources required of and available to town justices.

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As a side note I was calling in from my sister in law’s car in the parking lot of Purina Farms in someplace called Gray Summit, Missouri.  Actually the dog show featuring Frisbee tossing, agility/obstacle courses and long distance pool jumping was pretty cool.  Somehow I can’t see my dog having the attention span to make the team.

Warrant Requirement and Cell Phones

Jun 25, 2014 | Blog Post

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down an important and unanimous decision today that affects just about every American citizen in the modern age of mobile technology, holding in Riley v. California (the text of the decision is here) that a law enforcement officer must first obtain a search warrant before examining the contents of a suspect’s cell phone.  Justice Roberts, who wrote the decision, accurately stated that cell phones and mobile devices “are now such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy.”

Justice Roberts went on to state that “A decade ago police officers searching an arrestee might have occasionally stumbled across a highly personal item such as a diary…But those discoveries were likely to be few and far between. Today, by contrast, it is no exaggeration to say that many of the more than 90% of American adults who own a cell phone keep on their person a digital record of nearly every aspect of their lives—from the mundane to the intimate…Allowing the police to scrutinize such records on a routine basis is quite different from allowing them to search a personal item or two in the occasional case.”

In conclusion, the Court held that “We cannot deny that our decision today will have an impact on the ability of law enforcement to combat crime. Cell phones have become important tools in facilitating coordination and communication among members of criminal enterprises, and can provide valuable incriminating information about dangerous criminals. Privacy comes at a cost. Our holding, of course, is not that the information on a cell phone is immune from search; it is instead that a warrant is generally required before such a search, even when a cell phone is seized incident to arrest.”

I am not surprised by this decision, having had the opportunity to hear arguments on this very case as a judge for SUNY Buffalo Law School’s Wechstler Moot Court Competition earlier in the year.  I am struggling to think of another Supreme Court case from the past few years that will have such a far reaching effect on police-citizen interactions.

This and That Tuesday

Jan 28, 2014 | Blog Post

A few random thoughts kicking around on this extremely cold day:

• On days like this downtown workers like myself who park underneath the Hall of Justice in the Civic Center Parking Garage will almost certainly notice many, many homeless folks camped out in the garage, mostly on the lower level.  You may have heard that a decision was recently made by the agency who runs the garage to start (yet another) effort to expel these folks from the garage.  If these efforts have begun I have personally yet to have seen it – and so much the better.  On a day like this, exposure to such extreme low temperatures and wind chills can be fatal.  Never once have any of these people bothered me in the garage, and frankly I’d rather they be down there than dying in the streets.  Obviously some long-term strategies have to be explored to address the reasons why these folks are down there rather than in shelters with resources to address the underlying issues, but on a day like today, I say let them stay in the garage.

• I just discovered the other day that my former Aquinas and UB Law classmate Kyle Magee is hosting a podcast with (of all people) pro wrestling legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts.  Check them all out here – what an incredible project.  The content is about a whole heck of a lot more than pro wrestling – Jake has had his share of ups and downs in life.  However, he was recently named to the WWE Hall of Fame.

• Being the huge Red Sox fan that I am I certainly took notice yesterday when NESN, the TV network that airs Sox games, announced that Jerry Remy would be returning as color man for the 2014 season.  The reason that this announcement was significant is due to the fact that Remy had left the booth mid-season last year when his son was arrested for brutally murdering his girlfriend.  Remy’s return has generated opinions both in favor and against coming back under these circumstances.  The matter presents an interesting dilemma – what responsibility does a public figure have when a close relative is accused of a horrible crime?  Should such a person have to withdraw from public view?  I personally think Remy has every right in the world to make a living, and it’s worth remembering that he is not accused of a crime, his adult son is.

• Big Game on Sunday (I wouldn’t dare call it by its real name) prediction from Yours Truly: Denver 35, Seattle 27.  We will see if one Denver radio station’s vow not to play any Seattle music has any effect on the outcome.

Stay warm, everyone.