In my previous post, I reported on the SJC’s ruling last week, restricting police authority to order the operator or occupants of a stationery vehicle to exit the vehicle, based solely upon the odor of marijuana. In their ruling, the SJC emphasized that the public’s approval in 2008 of the…
This past week saw a major decision announced by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC,) on the subject of the presumption of criminal conduct being associated with the use of marijuana. The ruling, Commonwealth v. Cruz, Mass. SJC No. 10738, overturns precedent, establishes a major new benchmark in this area…
An arrest at Logan Airport earlier this week, alleging a Massachusetts drug offense, highlights an increasing problem in our nation’s increasingly ineffective “War on Drugs.” The arrest and charges involve a drug mule. A “mule” is a drug courier, who more often than not is not suspected of being a…
When it comes to drug policy and criminal law, some states in this country move faster, and more intelligently, than others. Two of those more rational states right now happen to be our New England neighbors, Connecticut and Rhode Island. I’ve blogged previously about how wasteful and counterproductive state and…
Just last week, I criticized Gov. Deval Patrick for his proposal to change the way public defenders are provided for indigent criminal defendants. Today, I want to do just the opposite: Commend him for another of his proposals dealing with criminal law. Specifically, Gov. Patrick should be lauded for his…
Media Reports that Boston police seized almost a ton of marijuana earlier this week, will be seized on by marijuana opponents as dramatic evidence of a serious problem in our society – one that must be eradicated no matter what the cost to taxpayers, no matter what the waste in…
Here’s an interesting case that might fall under the tagline, “Don’t answer that phone!” In a case that illustrates occasional over-reaching by police officers in their attempts to secure evidence of criminal wrongdoing, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge recently ruled that evidence, obtained by police officers who answered a defendant’s…
In a ruling affecting a wide variety of criminal law cases in Massachusetts, especially drug crimes, the U.S Supreme Court has ruled that lab reports offered as evidence by prosecutors will henceforth require the in-person testimony of lab technicians at trial. The landmark ruling had its origins in a routine…
As the Enterprise News made clear in an editorial last week, change begins with telling the truth. And the truth on this subject – the glaring truth – is that drug crime polices, both in Massachusetts and across the nation – have been essentially a complete failure, and a waste…
When will this end? Recently, a handful of cities and towns in Massachusetts have begun efforts to develop municipal ordinances and bylaws that would punish public possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, above and beyond the state civil fines that were approved in the November 2008 ballot measure…