©2011 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) SEE PART 2 OF THIS SERIES on the web or printable pdf Social networking has become a common method for students to facilitate harassment and bullying of classmates.  School officials often face uncertainty regarding when they may discipline students for such conduct as it often occurs off-campus during non-school hours.  This two part series addresses two common Constitutional challenges that are often argued when schools discipline students for social networking activity.  The first part of the series covers the First Amendment free speech argument, and the second part of the series addresses the Fourteenth [...]

©2011 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) United States v. Matlock Illinois v. Rodriguez Georgia v. Randolph Wisconsin v. St. Martin The United States Supreme Court has, over the years, addressed the issue of third party consent. Some notable cases from that court that are often cited are the United States v. Matlock [i], Illinois v. Rodriguez [ii], and Georgia v. Randolph[iii].  In review, we will examine each of the above cases. First, in the United States v. Matlock, Matlock was arrested in front of the home in which he rented a room.   The officers then arrested Matlock and transported him away [...]

Questions often arise as to whether the mere possession of a firearm in public, absent some other illegal conduct, legally justifies a brief investigatory detention or Terry Stop.  This is not an easy question to answer because each state is free to interpret their firearms possession and firearms permit laws as they wish.  Typically, if a state views a firearms permit as an affirmative defense to the state statute that prohibits unlawful possession of a firearm or concealed weapons, then the fact that a person possesses a firearm in public is likely to amount to sufficient reasonable suspicion to justify a brief [...]

On October 27, 2002, officers of the City of Madera (CA) Police Department arrested Everardo Torres.  While he was seated handcuffed in the backseat of a patrol car, he began yelling and kicking at the rear door window.  Officers standing at the rear of the police car in which Torres was located discussed that someone should “tase” Torres because he would injure himself if he managed to kick out the glass on the car window. One of the officers walked to the rear of the police car, opened the door with her left hand and mistakenly drew her department issued [...]

Over the past few decades law enforcement has seen the proliferation of cameras and audio recording devices as well as the impact these devices have upon operations.  More than 20 years ago, everyone in law enforcement watched the video of the Rodney King arrest and its aftermath. That degree of recording was nothing compared to what officers face today. While officers sometimes become frustrated and emotionally charged when being recorded during an adversarial event, the message is loud and clear…Get over it!  There is little or nothing that can be done about citizens recording law enforcement officers in a public [...]

Social networking has become a common method for students to facilitate harassment and bullying of classmates.  School officials often face uncertainty regarding when they may discipline students for such conduct as it often occurs off-campus during non-school hours.  This two part series addresses two common Constitutional challenges that are often argued when schools discipline students for social networking activity.  The first part of the series covers the First Amendment free speech argument and the second part of the series addresses the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process argument. To illustrate the two Constitutional challenges, we will examine a recent case from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  On [...]