It is pretty common to hear people complain about there being too many lawyers. For whatever reason, many folks seem to think there are too many of us. What most of those folks seem to forget is that lawyers are subject to the same economic forces that shape all other industries. If there weren’t so many clients asking for legal help, there wouldn’t be so many people willing to pay for and suffer through 7 years of higher education to become lawyers. This creates…

This morning the United States Supreme Court reversed a defendant’s conviction and vacated his 20 years sentence in a federal felony drug case. The case is Burrage v. United States and it should be considered a substantial victory for defendants in all federal criminal cases, not just federal drug prosecutions. Burrage was a drug dealer and Banka was one of his clients. In April of 2010, Burrage sold Banka some heroin. Banka died of a drug overdose on the day Bur…

It has been several months since I have posted. Frankly, I have been so busy practicing law that I haven’t had time to write about it. However, I wanted to just pass along a couple matters that have been in my “blog bin” for some time. The economics of incarceration has made for strange bedfellows. For many years, “liberals” (to use a generic term) and those concerned with both individual and human rights have been advocating for less incarceration and more rehab…

For those of us who practice in criminal law and do any work with sex offenses, the questions that come up regarding registry issues can be vast and complex. Often the kneejerk answer to registry questions boils down to, “You were convicted of a sex offense, so you have to register for life.” However, that is not always the case. I have seen many changes in the sex offender registry in South Dakota during the last ten years. We can now advise clients that registr…

The South Dakota Supreme Court has recently issued two decisions that advance and protect the rights of persons accused of crimes in South Dakota. Both of these cases came out of Rapid City, and both involved the police using unconstitutional means to obtain evidence. Perhaps the most important decision issued in recent months is State v. Medicine. This decision further refines the analysis of when police officers must obtain warrants before they can take a DUI s…