Personal Injury

By Larry Bodine, Publisher, National Trial Lawyers Under the U.S. Constitution, the police must have a “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity before they can stop and search you. But a new ruling by a federal appellate court upended 225 years of legal protection for Americans, saying it is permissible for the cops to stop you for perfectly innocent behavior. It happened to Cindy Lee Westhoven, who was returning from a shopping trip one evening and taking the scenic route home. She was driving under the speed limit with her hands at the “ten-and-two” position on the steering wheel when a cop started tailing her. He ran her plates and found no warrants for her. Astonishingly, the court found that this scenario created a reasonable suspicion for an “investigative stop” – because the policeman injected an ominous context that would make anybody look guilty. “Although the factors, in isolation, may be…

Written By Tracy Manzer, Senior Editor In a nod to public health practices, New York may become the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of condoms as evidence in prostitution cases, according to the Washington Post. The push for the law stems in part from the estimated millions that New York City spends every year in the distribution of free condoms to combat sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS, and to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The practice of law enforcement using the possession of condoms, specifically multiple condoms, has come under fire across the nation, with prosecutors in Brooklyn and Nassau County, as well as San Francisco, Calif., announcing their offices will no longer use condoms as evidence in prostitution allegations. The Washington Post quotes Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice as determining the so-called benefits of using condoms as evidence fail to outweigh the benefits of public…

The career of a dedicated Maryland criminal lawyer is based upon defending people who have been accused of a variety of criminal charges. Oftentimes, individuals who are confronted by police are so flustered that they inadvertently waive many of their constitutional rights, even if they have not broken the law. To combat against this, as well as encourage people to utilize their rights, the Cato Institute has produced a short film, about 38 minutes long, entitled, “Ten Rules for Dealing with the Police.” The film highlights how easily people can unintentionally forgo constitutional protections during a confrontation with police and though the Institute is based in Washington, DC, the material covered in the film applies to jurisdictions throughout the United States, including Maryland. The film portrays a number of hypothetical situations in which ordinary people who have not committed any illegal act may unintentionally waive their rights to counsel. One…