College Arrest 101 Blog | Effects of a College Suspension
You or your child may be facing a University Disciplinary violation or hearing where suspension is a real likelihood. In fact, many code of conduct violations carry a "possibility" of suspension or expulsion but ultimately this very serious penalty is not imposed. When a suspension is given from the University, it normally ranges from one semester to two years, depending on your school and the seriousness of the violation. I [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog| Current Title IX Laws on Sexual Misconduct Cases
In September 2017, newly appointed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rescinded Obama-era Title IX mandates which had been highly criticized as failing to provide due process to the accused students. Currently, any college student who is accused of a Title IX sexual misconduct violation (anything from sexual harassment to stalking to date rape) will have some more protections in the campus disciplinary process. For example, colleges may employ a "clear [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Speech, Social Media and Discipline
The intersection of free speech, hate speech, social media and college discipline are playing out in campuses across the country and in some courts. College students use social media constantly and almost exclusively to voice their opinions and ideas. Many Universities have faced challenges when these opinions border on hate speech or racism and school officials are turning to the University Disciplinary system. Many University codes bar and punish many [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Another UM Football Player Arrested and Out of School
Another promising University of Miami Hurricane football player was arrested last month - this time for DUI. The response by the UM athletic department again was immediate and a day later the freshman student was out of school. It is unclear whether this student left voluntarily or he was expelled. You can see the local coverage of the story here.
College Arrest 101 Blog | Back to Campus
The 2014-2015 college academic year has just started for most colleges and universities. Here in Miami, students have been back to campus for about a week now and classes have just begun. This is a very busy time for Freshman and returning students alike. New and old friends are meeting up and enjoying themselves all around campus and town. As I warn every fall, students should be extra careful in [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Colleges Spend Summer Break Rewriting Disciplinary Rules
What do college administrators spend their summer doing? They open up their Student Handbooks and Disciplinary Codes and revise their policies based upon the changes and events that have occurred in the preceding school year. This summer's hot topic is Sexual Assault and Consent. With rape statistics on college campuses on the rise, colleges are under pressure to review their policies and are completely revamping their definitions of consent - [...]
College Arrest Blog 101 | Mugshot Website Legislation Proposed in Florida – Take 2
The Florida Legislature is taking up the pervasive problem with these Mugshot Websites again and it looks like this time it may pass. Read about it here. I have been complaining about these Mugshot websites that obtain arrestees' booking photos, also known as mugshots, from the jails as soon as someone is arrested and publishing them on their websites, along with their names and charges. Not only is the a [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | College Graduates and Background Searches for Employment
Graduation may finally be here for some college students. Hopefully, post graduation plans include many employment opportunities. It is rare these days to obtain a job without going through a criminal background check. These words will immediately invoke fear in many, many college students who may have partied too hard or made a silly, youthful mistake that resulted in an arrest during the college years. Almost all of my college [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | What are the Student Discipline and Arrest Statistics for My College?
Records of specific cases of student discipline at any University are strictly confidential and cannot be discussed by the College or published in the newspaper or in 2014 on the Internet. This is because college student disciplinary records (unlike criminal arrest records) are strictly protected educational records under Federal Law, which I discuss in more detail here. This may be a good thing if you are a College student and you [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Yes the Police Can Report Your Arrest to Your College
College students who have been arrested off campus may be under the incorrect impression that they are in the clear - that their school will not find out about the arrest and they can't be disciplined by the University for it. When in fact any police officer, prosecutor or anyone else can report misconduct to your college disciplinary office. And recall most student codes of conduct also apply to student [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Nationwide Statistics on Alcohol and Drugs on College Campuses
As the 2013-2014 academic college year comes to a close, the statistics for 2012 are in and have been comprehensively analyzed by website rehabs.com in its report, "Drugs on Campus, Exploring the Drug Cultures of Hundreds of College Campuses through their Crime Data." This website is a very interesting read and does a tremendous job analyzing the statistics of college arrests in many areas, not only alcohol and drugs.
College Arrest 101 Blog | A College Student, A Smartphone and the US Supreme Court . . .
Perhaps one of the most significant search and seizure cases for the digital age is centered around a college student who was initially pulled over for a routine traffic stop. He was ultimately arrested for driving with a suspended license and the police impounded his smartphone AFTER scrolling through it to find incriminating evidence of videos and photos of gang activity. The phone landed him in prison for 15 years. [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | US Supreme Court Has NEVER Heard a Case Involving College Student Discipline
Surprising. I just read in a legal essay discussing the evolution of the due process law in college student disciplinary cases that the US Supreme Court has never heard a case involving College Student Discipline. Lower appeal courts have addressed these issues on a few occasions, but never the highest court. This is surprising because the issues in college student disciplinary cases involve broad Constitutional questions and ideas like "due [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Spring Break Court in Key West
I love Key West. They really know how to deal with a problem down there. They have something called "Spring Break Court." Key West, like most big Spring Break destinations, suffers from many arrests of college students for relatively minor crimes like underage drinking, open container violations, fake IDs, etc. The problem with the arrest of a college student on Spring Break vacation is that they are not locals and [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Florida State College Students Can Bring a Firearm to Campus, Says Florida Court
The Florida First District Court of Appeals recently ruled that Florida public universities must permit firearms to be kept in an encasement inside a vehicle on campus. You can read the opinion here. Florida state, public colleges, like many universities around the country had rules against bringing weapons, including firearms anywhere onto campus. However, in Florida we have a statute that specifically addresses the right to keep a firearm in [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog |Freedom of Speech or Facing Suspension? | ASU College Students’ Racist MLK Party
Social media postings land another group of College Students in discipline. This time a fraternity at Arizona State University was suspended and a number of students involved in the party are facing discipline for a racist Martin Luther King day party. Read about the facts here. This is not the first time that social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram has gotten a College Student brought up on disciplinary charges. [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog |Know Your Legal Rights, Justin Bieber … Please!
The media firestorm this week has been blazing with news of every detail of Justin Bieber's DUI arrest in Miami (my own backyard) this week. But, what I haven't heard yet is why Justin Bieber and many other celebrities along with most of my clients don't know their legal rights when they come into contact with law enforcement or when they have been arrested. Learn them, know them and use [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Good News for College Athletes with Criminal Records?
Last week the NFL finished up its 2013 annual draft in a time when there has been no shortage of college football players in the news for behavior off the field including arrests and suspensions. This issue of college athlete arrests is not exclusive to football players, but every college sport experiences arrests of team members. Policy varies widely from university to university regarding punishment for these student athletes - [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | College Students and Miranda Rights
There has been a lot of discuss in the past few days about captured Boston Bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, not receiving his Miranda Rights pursuant to the public safety exception. This has been the subject of much debate because normally arrested suspects in the United States are read the well known Miranda Warnings before interrogation or at least that is what you would believe by watching Law & Order. You [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | College Grads Looking for Jobs with Arrest Records
College graduation time is almost upon us. Thousands of college seniors will be graduating and looking for jobs, hopefully in their field of study. Everyone knows the reality of the job market in 2013 is still very tough and many college graduates will not be able to find a job. With a job market that is competitive as it is, the college student will not want to have any blemishes [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Florida Tries to Legislate Mugshot Websites
Finally! Someone in the Government wants to do something about these Mugshot websites which post the arrest mugshot of every college student arrested in Florida. Florida legislator, Carl Zimmermann, has proposed legislation that would undercut many of the problems with these mugshot websites - potentially putting them out of business. You can read discussion about the proposed legislation here and read the text of the bill here. I have long [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | College Students, Drug Dealing and University Discipline
Recently, a huge drug bust went down at the University of Alabama. It made national news and about 61 college students were arrested in this sting operation. You can read about it here. Drug operations happen every day and college students get arrested for drug crimes all the time. But, there is a big difference between an arrest for drug possession and an arrest for drug dealing (i.e. selling, distributing, [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Arrests at Miami Ultra Music Festival
College students on spring break from all over the country flock to downtown Miami for Ultra Music Festival. This year Ultra spans two consecutive weekends capturing most major colleges' spring break. This DJ loaded, dance music festival also brings many college student arrests to Miami. After just the first weekend media is reporting 84 arrests already. You can read the article here. You can bet the vast majority of those [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | Miami College Students Have New DUI Diversion Program
College students in Miami, Florida may be eligible to take advantage of a fairly new Driving Under the Influence (DUI) program called Back on Track (BOT). It is available only in the Miami-Dade County court system for first time DUI offenders and there are a number of criteria for eligibility and program requirements. The Back on Track program has been in existence for over and year and hundreds of people have [...]
College Arrest 101 Blog | University of Miami ULEAD Diversion Program
For all the University of Miami students and parents out there a fairly new program is available which you should be aware. Its called ULEAD, which stands for University Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program. This is a joint venture of sorts between the University of Miami and the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office which will allow students charged with certain crimes (right now just marijuana and paraphernalia possession and false [...]