You might have seen a teddy bear with especially penetrating eyes and wondered to yourself: Are nanny cams legal? The basic answer: It depends.
It's currently legal in every state to make a video-only recording of anything happening inside your home, at any time, without letting anyone know. It doesn't matter if the camera is hidden.
But there are a few legal restrictions on nanny cameras you may not know about.
You may have never found your trash to be anyone's treasure, but it easily could be the target of a police search.
As the law stands, there is no expectation of privacy in trash that you put out by the curb, and law enforcement can rifle through your refuse with wild abandon.
So what rights do any of us have to protect our trash from police searches? Here's a quick general overview:
Creative judges have taken to shaming criminals by wearing signs on busy street corners, but now parents have started doing it too. So is it legal to publicly "shame" your own kid?
In March, a Florida family decided to punish their 13-year-old daughter by by having her wear a sign at a busy intersection stating that she was "self-entitled" and had "no respect for authority," reports the Northwest Florida Daily News.
The girl's parents defended their decision to "shame" their daughter after photos of her punishment went viral. But did they break any laws?
If you've been pulled over for a DUI, a key to your defense may be challenging your field sobriety test.
With the option to refuse chemical tests for alcohol while pulled over, the field sobriety test may be the main piece of evidence against you when facing a DUI charge.
Here are three potential ways to contest a field sobriety test:
Do you have a "right" to a phone call following your arrest?
If your legal knowledge comes mostly from watching movies and TV shows, you may believe that you are automatically granted this right. And in many states, this may be the case.
However, the right to make a phone call is typically governed by state law and is not something specifically enumerated in the Constitution. As a result, to learn your exact rights, you may need to talk to an attorney in your state.
With a wink and a hat tip to a recent discussion on our FindLaw Answers DUI & DWI Forum, it may be helpful to know that DUI charges don't always stick.
For a variety of reasons particular to each drunken or drugged driving arrest, there may be legal routes available to get DUI charges dismissed.
Here are five ways that can potentially happen:
Heavily armed SWAT teams combed through homes near Boston on Friday in a massive manhunt for one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.
But what allows police to search door-to-door for a suspect on the loose without a warrant?
The killing of the two Texas District Attorneys have led to two people being charged with making terroristic threats. So, you may be wondering just what are terroristic threats and what do the charges mean?
For example, if you simply scream “I’m going to kill you” in a fit of rage, would that constitute a terroristic threat? Or do you need more than a simple statement?
And does the recipient of your threat factor into the decision of whether your are charged with making criminal terroristic threats? For example, making a threat against the President may be a crime. But when do threats to other public officials like a judge, prosecutor, or even a meter maid constitute a crime?
Legislators in Connecticut have agreed to overhaul the state's gun laws and make them the toughest in the nation.
The proposed bill would change how the state defines "assault weapons." It's partly in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre last December.
The new law, if approved, would add more than 100 types of guns to the state's list of banned assault weapons, prohibit high-capacity gun clips and armor-piercing bullets, and require background checks for all weapon sales including sales at gun shows, among other safety measures, reports CNN.
In some jurisdictions, first-time or less-serious DUI offenses may be eligible for DUI diversion programs. How do these programs work?
In a typical DUI diversion program, the defendant is required to meet certain specified conditions, like completing classes or performing community service. Once the conditions are met, the prosecutor or judge typically dismisses the DUI charge.
DUI diversion programs are offered because prosecutors and courts realize that sometimes a DUI is a mistake. Diversion allows the defendant to rehabilitate himself and demonstrate that he is capable of behaving responsibly.
