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Category: Criminal Law
Excessive Bail
A recent article in The New York Times Magazine details the problem with excessive bail and pretrial detention in America. But as bail has evolved in America, it has become less and less a tool for keeping people out of jail, and more and more a trap door for those who cannot afford to pay […]
Prelude Walk-In Hours Change
Update regarding the walk-in hours at Prelude Behavioral Services: Greeting Colleagues and Community Providers: Based on client feedback and in order to better serve the needs of our clients, we have adjusted the hours of our walk-in evaluations. Beginning June 1, 2015, WI hours for our Iowa City location will be as follows: Mondays 9am-11am […]
Police Encounters Need to be Recorded
As previously stated on this blog, encounters with the police are better for all parties when they are recorded. Ideally, this is with a body camera worn by the officer. For officers on foot patrol, there really is no reason why cameras should not be worn during all citizen encounters. This brings up the question […]
New Expungement Bill Heads to the House
Iowa is making progress in regard to keeping criminal or court records from following people for the rest of their lives. The current bill SF 385 is listed below. If this bill becomes law, then lawyers will have another tool to help expunge criminal records. SF 385 would all most dismissed charges to be expunged, […]
Substance Abuse Services – MECCA is now Prelude
One of the long-standing and most trusted local substance abuse clinics has rebranded from MECCA to Prelude. Everything remains the same as far as the services they offer, just the name and website have changed. www.meccaservices.com now forwards to their new website at www.preludeiowa.org. […]
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The Likely Cause of Drug Addiction
A recent article in the Huffington Post describes a reasonable theory as to the roots of addiction, and why it is not solely a criminal matter. This article outlines non-criminal policies other countries have successfully adopted to deal with substance abuse. Most notably, the author argues that the roots are based in societal exclusion and […]
Getting a Work Permit with an Eluding Conviction in Iowa
A client recently asked me about his ability to get a work permit / temporary restricted license (TRL) following his convictions and subsequent barred and revoked license for OWI and Eluding convictions. An Iowa driver’s license can be barred for many reasons, all following a specific points system published by the Iowa Department of Transportation. For […]
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Beer Sales at Kinnick?
A recent article in ESPN Magazine highlighted universities and their decisions to allow alcohol purchases at college events. Traditionally, all campus sports activities (basketball games, football games) have been dry. The point was either “moral,” or some sort of prohibition-like attempt to reduce alcohol consumption. As in the case with many prohibitions, the results may […]
Police and Body-Worn Cameras
The University of Iowa Department of Public Safety officers almost always wear body cameras. The officers with the Iowa City Police Department sometimes, or rarely wear body cameras. And other agencies in the area only have the recording equipment that exists in their squad cars. Body cameras are an excellent tool, and I’m pleased whenever I am […]