Just a few months before the nation focuses its attention on the Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas during the Super Bowl, the city’s police chief is trying to create a “prostitution exclusionary zone” that will keep sex workers out of the city’s main entertainment district.  Millions of people are expected to converge on this area, during the game, and law-enforcement agencies are trying to make sure that prostitutes don’t sully the city’s image.

According to Arlington police chief Theron Bowman, areas frequented by prostitutes tend to become magnets for other kinds of crime, including burglaries, thefts and assaults.  The police chief wants the creation of a zone in the entertainment district that would specifically keep out prostitutes.  It’s a move that Houston sex crimes lawyers would find highly offensive, discriminatory and objectionable.

If a zone like this is actually created, it will be the first such zone in Texas. When the rules go into effect, Arlington prostitutes and their customers will be arrested if they are found inside the zone.  In other words, the police want to make it expensive for prostitutes to ply their trade in this area.

So, exactly what is this prostitution-free zone that the Arlington police wants to create?  According to their research, most prostitutes are concentrated north of Abrams Street between Centers and Collins Street.  The zone will also include a stretch of Texas 360 between Lamar Boulevard and Avenue J.  The Arlington police department has come up with these areas based on the number of prostitution offenses committed there over the past four years.

Under the proposed ordinance, anyone who has been convicted of a prostitution offense in the past couple of years will be informed that they are not allowed within the proposed exclusionary zone for at least one year.  To make things clear, these people will also be provided a map that shows the boundaries of the exclusion zone, as well as a list of reasons that would allow them to visit the zone.  For instance, a doctor’s visit would count as reason enough for a former prostitute to visit the zone.  Persons, who violate these zone rules without a valid reason, would be charged with a class C misdemeanor.

This year, the country’s highest court made several revisions to the Miranda warnings.  The court did not make any changes to the actual wording of the Miranda rights, although it did approve one version that is being used in some parts of Florida.  That Florida version goes like this:

You have the right to talk to a lawyer before answering any of our questions.  If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed for you without cost and before any questioning.  You have the right to use any of these rights at any time you want during this interview.

Criminal defense lawyers in Florida argued that this version of the warnings did not make it clear to suspects that they could have a lawyer present WHILE the police was questioning them.  But the 7-2 Supreme Court majority obviously did not agree.

There are other more serious changes to the Miranda rights.  For the first time, a suspect’s request for an attorney is only good for about 14 days from the time he is released from custody.  Once those 14 days are up, police officers can question the suspect again without having to repeat his Miranda rights, and without doing anything unconstitutional.

In yet another change, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that suspects who want to remain silent, must inform the police that they intend to remain silent.  In other words, suspects who want to remain silent, must inform the police that they intend to remain silent, and thus, break their silence.  It’s enough to make your head spin.

If you have been charged with a crime, or have questions about criminal legal issues, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm for a free legal consultation by calling 713-226-9900.

According to the report, the number of deaths in local prisons in the United States increased from 905 in the year 2000, to 1,103 in 2007. In all, between 2000 and 2007, there were 8,110 deaths in custody. The mortality rate in prisons decreased from 152 per 100,000 inmates, to 141 per 100,000 inmates. During this period of time, the prison inmate operation increased by 31%. More than half of all prison deaths took place within a month after the inmate entered the prison.

More than half of all deaths in local prisons were due to illnesses including AIDS. Among these, heart disease was the number one cause of death among inmates, with 42 % of prison inmates dying from cardiac disease.

The one statistic that jumps out from the study is the fact that suicide is the #1 cause of unnatural death among prison inmates. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of all unnatural prison deaths were linked to suicide.  This was even as the overall suicide rate among prison inmates declined from 49 per 100,000 inmates in 2002, to 36 per 100,000 in 2007.  Suicide also seems to be a much bigger factor in prison deaths in smaller local jails, than in large prisons. In prisons which had 50 or fewer inmates, the suicide rate was 159 per 100,000 inmates, while in some of the largest prisons, the rate was just 27 per 1,000 inmates. In fact, after the researchers adjusted for age, sex and race differences, they found that suicide as a cause of death increased at a much higher pace in US prisons than in the US general population. What this indicates is that prison inmates are committing suicide at a rate that’s increasing faster than the suicide risk for the general population.

According to the New York Times, sobriety education in classrooms-something we champion-is not such a great way to drive home the “don’t drink and drive” message. Results from sobriety education programs have not been as effective.  We don’t believe that there is sufficient reason for educational institutions to stop offering these programs to their students. Even if these programs can save one life or prevent one teenager from going on to become a binge drinker or repeat drunk driving offender for life, it’ll be worth it.

However, education seems to be more effective when the parents are involved. This is something we definitely agree with. We would encourage all parents in Houston to have free and honest discussions with their children about alcohol-related excesses.

A DWI offense on your record can seriously the impact the college you attend, or the kind of job you get, and will follow you around for the rest of your life. Besides, you are a serious danger to other motorists, if you drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Other measures like advertising campaigns and other forms of social marketing, as well as warning labels on alcohol, have not been found to be that effective. That is not so surprising to us. These measures may be effective in the short term, but it’s hard for the message to stay ingrained in your mind for months or years after.

Ultimately, we would encourage schools to keep the focus on not drinking and driving, and parents to continue talking openly with their kids about drunk driving, in order to avoid Houston DWI license suspensions, and drunk driving accidents.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an alcohol-related accident or arrested for DWI or other alcohol-related offense, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm today for a free consultation at 713-226-9900 or toll free 1-877–226-9940.

Some of the discussion also centered on a DWI program in Texas that levies thousands of dollars of surcharges on drunk drivers.  This program has been a major failure as any Houston DWI defense lawyer will tell you.  Since the program was initiated in 2003, DWI offenders in Texas have racked up more than $54 million in unpaid surcharges.  The program also contains a provision that would ban driver’s licenses for motorists who fell behind in the surcharge payments.  That has only led to more numbers of motorists driving without a valid license.

One approach that any Houston DWI lawyer would support was put forth by Austin police Chief Art Acevado.  His approach involves intervention in the form of treatment programs for first-time drunk driving offenders.  Right now, what we’re doing is simply dumping people with addiction in prison, somehow hoping that once they come out, things will be different.  It’s still the same person, and they still have the same disease.  Alcohol addiction is a disease, and it’s sad that law enforcement agencies and lawmakers don’t seem to realize this.  Treatment will not only help free up prison space in our overcrowded prisons, but will also help the person overcome his addiction.  It decreases the chances that the person will be involved in another drunk driving offense.

Currently, Texas DWI laws seem to involve a tough cowboy approach that often ends up doing more harm than good.  It costs money to keep people in jail for a few months, and even then, there are no guarantees that he will never drive intoxicated again.  Treating him, so he is never involved in a DWI offense again, is a far more reasonable approach.

If you have been charged with a DWI or other alcohol-related crime, contact the experienced DWI lawyers at the Kahn Law Firm today for a free, confidential consultation by calling 713-226-9900 or toll free 1-877-226-9940.

The program aims at the development of an in-car breathalyzer that automakers can install in future models of cars. The plan is not to make the breathalyzer mandatory in all cars in the future, but the program administrators and the NHTSA hope that consumers will be interested enough in having the device in their car, to pay extra for it.

As Houston DWI lawyers, we have mixed feelings about an in-car breathalyzer device. The idea is great, and if the device detects alcohol on you, you’re better off not driving anyway. However, there are no guarantees that your breathalyzer reading will match accurately with the reading on the breathalyzers that are used by Houston police officers. In other words, you don’t have any guarantee that you won’t measure at or above the .08 level if you’re pulled over by police. There is therefore no guarantee that that you won’t be charged with DWI, or have to face a Houston license suspension.

As Houston DWI attorneys, we are concerned at the high potential for misuse of these devices, by motorists who mistakenly believe that they are safe to drive when they may not be.

If you have been charged with a DWI or alcohol-related charge, contact the experienced DWI lawyers at the Kahn Law Firm today for a free consultation at 713-226-9900 or toll free at 1-877-226-9940

The program is called BAMBI-Baby and Mother Bonding Initiative- and is an effort by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The program is currently being offered out of the Santa Maria Hostel, and is meant to equip these young mothers with the skills they need to cope with parenting in their unique circumstances, and when they get out of prison.

The program is open to women who have been convicted of minor offenses, like thefts. It is not open to women who have been convicted of violent crimes, arson or sex offenses. Typically, the program includes those female prisoners who are expected to be released within six months. A typical day in the program starts with a group session in which women are encouraged to set goals for the day, as well as short-term and long-term goals. Except for the time when they take part in these sessions, the women are responsible for taking care of their newborn babies.

There are many benefits to having a program like this. The biggest benefit is obviously the well-being of the child. There is enough evidence to show that children, who are separated from their mothers during infancy, develop attachment issues that impact them negatively. These children are also much more likely to go right back through the Texas justice system after they fail to fit in with society.

The other major benefit lies in how the program helps prisoners gain a better perspective of their life beyond prison. Having a child can change a woman’s outlook on life by 180°, and women who have been incarcerated for any period of time and have had babies during this time, can be forced to seriously reconsider their life choices and what they want for their children going forward. Such programs can also help lower recidivism rates across Texas.

All the students involved here are below 17 years of age. What happened here was that one of the students who had broken up with his ex-girlfriend, had nude images of the girl on his cell phone. He sent the images to several of his friends, who then forwarded the images to others. The Pearland School District says that it has a policy in place of turning over obscene or pornographic material found on students cell phones to the police. There’s no information on how many of these pictures were distributed. The students are likely to face charges of distribution of harmful material to a minor. The charges could end in jail time of up to one year or fines of a maximum of $4,000.

Across the country, prosecutors have gone after juveniles for circulating nude images of themselves or others on their cell phones. It is a trend that began ever since cell phones made it so easy for people to take pictures of themselves or others, and distribute these in seconds. Is it the kind of behavior that a parent would like to see a child involved in? No. However, it’s not the kind of action that we believe should warrant any charges for sex crimes either.

It seems to Houston criminal defense lawyers that much of the dust around issues like sexting has still not settled down. Electronic communication technologies are still relatively new, and so is their use/abuse/misuse. The laws have not properly defined these.

What we need are strong laws that protect teenagers from being victims of sexting, without branding juveniles who engage in such practices, as criminals or sexual offenders. Last week, the state of Ohio passed a law that prohibited teenagers from sending lewd images on their cell phones, but bans any criminal charges being filed against teenagers in case of violations. We need similar laws in Texas.

However, we encourage you to talk with your teenage children about the danger and consquences of “sexting.”  Although it may not seem that bad, the district attorney’s office will file charges against someone-including juveniles-for “sexting.”

If you or your child has been charged with a criminal offense, contact the experienced lawyers at The Kahn Law Firm today at 713-226-9900 for a free, confidential consultation.

A study conducted by researchers at Cornell University, found that less than attractive defendants were up to 22% more likely to be convicted than good-looking ones.  It’s not just that fact that will be disconcerting to any Houston criminal defense lawyer. The study also found that not only were less attractive defendants more likely to be convicted, but they were also likely to be handed longer sentences. On an average, attractive defendants were handed sentences that were 22 months shorter than less attractive ones.

There was some good news, if you can call it that.  This difference in convictions and sentences does not seem to be seen in serious cases like murder, where the difference between attractive and less attractive defendants, was minor. However, in the case of minor crimes or offenses, there was a very noticeable difference in the conviction rates, as well as the length of sentences handed out to both groups.

It is not the first time that study has yielded such results. Over the past several decades, there have been a number of studies that have probed whether a defendant’s looks have anything to do with whether he gets convicted or not. Studies have been conducted across the pond too. One study in the UK found that good-looking defendants were much more likely to be acquitted of crimes than the more rough looking ones.

No matter what you look like however, the biggest factor standing between you and a conviction still remains an expert and experienced Houston criminal defense attorney. If you have been charged with a crime, contact the experienced trial lawyers atd Kahn Law Firm today for a free, confidential case evaluation at 713-226-9900.

Nelson was arrested on suspicion of DWI on the Fourth of July. Officers took him to the Pasadena jail where he refused to be subjected to a breathalyzer test. After that, officers informed him that they had a warrant to draw his blood. Nelson objected saying that he had a deathly fear of needles.

An undercover media reporter was able to obtain an exposé, including a video of the man being brutally beaten after he objected to the draw. The video shows Nelson begging the police officers not to force him to a blood draw because of his fear of needles. He keeps insisting that he has witnesses to prove he was not drunk. What happens next is astounding. One of the police officers punches Nelson several times. According to Nelson, he was punched several times in the face and was kneed in the neck. The punching and beating only stopped when Nelson stopped yelling. Nelson has now filed a lawsuit against the police officers involved.

Last we checked, we still lived in the United States.  If Nelson did not want to be subjected to a blood draw in spite of it being a no-refusal weekend, there were other ways that officers could have dealt with the situation. He could have been hauled into court for contempt, for instance. It seems shocking that this man was beaten up the way he was when he didn’t seem in the least bit threatening or intimidating.

If you have been arrested for DWI, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm today for a free legal consultation at 713-226-9900.