In an entertaining opinion delivered last week, the Massachusetts Appeals Court considered whether a man had been fairly convicted of a crime for wearing see-through shorts to a local Target store.  The Court concluded, in Commonwealth v. Coppinger, that the law was constitutional and that the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence to convict the defendant....

The Supreme Judicial Court issued an important decision this week regarding the requirement that certain sex offenders on probation be monitored by a GPS device.  The opinion was delivered in Commonwealth v. Guzman (SJC-11483 decided August 25, 2014). (more…)

In a horrible decision delivered on Thursday, the California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that a criminal defendant’s silence after he is arrested, but before he receives his Miranda warnings, can be used against him at his trial.  Click People v. Richard Tom to read the opinion. (more…)

In an important ruling issued this week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified the types of photographs that qualify as child pornography.  The defendant in Commonwealth v. Rex is a convicted rapist who is serving a state prison sentence.  In 2011, prison officials searched the defendant’s locker and discovered an envelope containing seven photocopies...

In an extremely important decision issued last week, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the police must obtain a search warrant before looking at the data contained in the cell phone of someone who has been arrested.  The name of the case is Riley v. California.  It overruled a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court...