In the state of Washington, can a police officer search your cell phone? Like everything else in the law, the answer is "It depends." In some circumstances, the police may search your cell phone, but in others, they may not. What is the law, and what have the courts determined regarding cell phone searches? If [...]

Bullies will probably always be a fixture in our schools and on our playgrounds, but when bullies go online to commit cyberbullying, in most states, they will be breaking the law. Keep reading to learn how lawmakers across the country are responding to the growing concerns about cyberbullying, how to deal with cyberbullying if it [...]

If you are accused of any crime in the state of Washington, you should understand precisely what criminal penalties you may be facing, and you should also know the difference between parole and probation. Many people in Washington may not realize that, in the strictest legal sense, there is no such thing as parole in [...]

In the state of Washington, if you are charged with driving under the influence, one way to keep the charge off your record may be a "deferred prosecution." With the help of a DUI attorney in Seattle, a deferred prosecution happens when the state agrees to withhold the prosecution of a DUI defendant in return [...]

When someone is arrested by a King County law enforcement officer who does not have an arrest warrant, that person has probably committed a crime that the officer observed directly. Most arrests for driving under the influence, for example, are made without arrest warrants. In many cases, however, if no officer observes a crime being [...]

The words we use when we speak about crimes are important, and especially when we speak about sex crimes. Everyone understands, for example, what the word "rape" means, but what exactly does the term "sexual assault" mean? The phrase actually has different legal definitions in different states. Similarly, everyone knows what it means to "solicit" [...]

Substance abuse is still a major legal and societal problem in the United States. With the emergence of drugs like crack cocaine and Oxycontin over the last several decades, everyone now should know that drug abuse can be devastating. Lawmakers have expanded the drug possession and trafficking laws, which are now quite complicated. Drug crimes [...]

In the state of Washington, the criminal court system provides two ways that crime victims can obtain reimbursement for the damages they've suffered as the result of a crime. Victims may be reimbursed through the state's crime victim compensation statutes or by a judge's order to a convicted offender to pay restitution. Precisely what is [...]

Lawyers and lawmakers use different terms to describe different levels of criminality or criminal culpability. A person who is involved in a crime might be considered a principal, an accomplice, an accessory before or after the fact, an aider, an abettor, or a conspirator. It hinges on in what way and to what extent the [...]

"Fake news" is getting plenty of attention these days. There's a lot of it circulating out there, and in California, even the police are spreading some of it. Political groups blame opposing factions for creating fake news, distributing it through both mainstream and social media, and seeking to influence or change the votes and opinions [...]