The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides many protections for defendants including the right not to “be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” In the case of Miranda v. Arizona case, the United States Supreme Court added a further protection to this Fifth Amendment right. It ruled that any incriminating statements a suspect makes against his interests will not be admissible in court unless the suspect: Was told of his/her [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court gave privacy rights advocates a significant victory on June 22, 2018. According to the 5-to-4 decision, in which Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Court’s four liberal Justices, the police are now required to obtain a warrant in order to obtain cell phone location information as part of an investigation. The majority asserts Fourth Amendment protection reasons The five Justices voting in the majority argued that a distinct expectation of privacy in [...]

Probation and parole sound like they should be alike, but they are really two different criminal law ideas. Both place a high value on good behavior. Both terms address what is to be done with a defendant who has been convicted of a crime. They even start with the same letter. The two terms, though, are used at different phases of the criminal law proceedings. There are different legal issues in both probation and parole proceedings [...]