St. Louis Criminal Defense Legal Blog

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Don’t bet against it. That might reasonably be sage advice for anyone asked to make a judgment call concerning whether recently enacted criminal justice reforms will make a sizable dent in the country’s troubling recidivism rate. Here’s the problem, with its vast dimensions being confirmed by reams of empirically culled evidence: Legions of federal inmates are locked away for years – often decades – in federal prisons, and a high percentage of them commit new offenses after finally completing their harsh sentences. In, out and back again. The …

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. Missouri is reportedly one of 25 American states to share a common attribute concerning a singular criminal law topic. That is this, as noted in a recent national media piece: Police officers across the state have easy access to “dismissed or otherwise sealed records” that they can use to target select individuals in criminal investigations. Specifically, they can scan information from databases and other sources relevant to prior cases that were either dismissed by prosecutors or did not yield convictions. The nonprofit journalism group Marshall Project stresses that continued access …

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Monday, July 15, 2019. Missouri garnered top-10 placement nationally in a recent year concerning a significant criminal law category. State lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle weren’t too enthused about that. It’s not hard to see why. Although it might have been a badge of honor to many during the 1980s high point of the so-called War on Crime that Missouri harbored an exceedingly high inmate population rate, that is no longer the case. Increasingly, criminal law pundits and commentators these days equate a hard-core lock-up philosophy with a broken …

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Tuesday, July 9, 2019. Any discussion of the police tactic/tool known as civil asset forfeiture might logically begin with a nod to its sheer magnitude. Reportedly, state and federal law enforcers have employed forfeiture against a ballpark figure of 10 million people across the United States The spoils they have reaped through doing so are inarguably impressive. In fact, they are stunning in their dimensions. It is estimated that authorities have taken more than $50 billion from Americans via the forfeiture process. We described the tactic and noted those numbers in a …

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Tuesday, July 2, 2019. “Santa Claus doesn’t bring it.” That is unquestionably true. Because if he did and was questioned by Missouri law enforcers, he’d likely be arrested. Today’s blog post topic is medicinal marijuana, which Missouri lawmakers legalized late last year. Reform advocates are enthralled … and confused. Here’s why they feel a bit muddled. On the one hand, would-be manufacturers duly licensed by the state to grow pot for medical use are psyched to get going. On the other hand, they need seeds to commence operations, and obtaining them from …