The Clinton County Department of Probation and Parole in Central Pennsylvania has implemented a standard probation condition requiring all defendants under supervision to "friend" the department's Facebook page and allow full access to all the defendant's content....
State College Criminal Law Blog
THON is Penn State’s Most Sober Weekend of the School Year
It is no secret that Penn State is a world class party school. Like a powerful gravitational force, this reputation attracts ever more students who like to party, perpetuating Happy Valley's status as the number one party destination in Pennsylvania for the under 25...
Could Marijuana Detectors Come to Penn State?
Smoking marijuana in dorms and apartments is a common practice among Penn State students, as is the case at most universities. Yet this time-honored student tradition could get a bit more dangerous in the spring of 2015 with the release of a new tobacco and marijuana...
Does Penn State Settlement Shield NCAA Officials from Criminal Liability?
Lost amid the jubilation over the repeal of the so-called "Consent Decree" is the effect that last week's settlement of the Corman-McCord lawsuit against the NCAA will have upon possible criminal charges against certain NCAA officials. As I previously noted in a blog...
As Marijuana Attitudes Change, Naivety about Legal Consequences Increases
Marijuana is more socially acceptable now than ever before, especially among young people. In the modern world, those who don't toke really don't care if other people do, yet not that long ago, many people uninitiated into cannabis culture looked down on reefer and...
Could NCAA Officials Face Criminal Charges for Role in Penn State Case?
With Senator Jake Corman and Treasurer Rob McCord's lawsuit against the NCAA now in the discovery phase, emails have been uncovered, which are very embarrassing to the NCAA. It now appears that NCAA officials privately acknowledged in internal emails that the NCAA did...
Marijuana Prohibitionists Suffer More Blows
Yesterday, marijuana prohibitionists went 1-3 in ballot measures to re-legalize cannabis for recreational purposes. I use the term "re-legalize," instead of "legalize," because marijuana was legal throughout most of American history, with marijuana prohibition not...
How Can Philadelphia Decriminalize Marijuana?
With Philadelphia poised to become the largest city in the US to decriminalize marijuana, many people are asking how a city has the legal authority to enact its own drug laws. After all, Pennsylvania law already provides penalties for possession, cultivation and sale...
Do Private Attorneys Get Better Plea Deals than Public Defenders?
The fact that private criminal defense attorneys always seemed to get better plea deals for their clients than public defenders irked me to no end during the five years that I spent as a public defender at the start of my career as a criminal defense lawyer. This...
Pennsylvania Underage Drinking Penalties are Draconian
Pennsylvania law carries harsh penalties for underage drinking, despite the fact that the vast majority of people in every American generation have had at least one drink before reaching the age of 21. Although all states now have a drinking age of 21, the penalties...