Coastal Law In The News

Court throws out conviction over cell phone search by Jacksonville police

Florida Coastal School of Law — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:24:09 +0000

The Florida Supreme Court has thrown out the armed-robbery conviction and 50-year prison sentence of Cedric Tyrone Smallwood after ruling that Jacksonville police illegally looked at photos on his cell phone.

The case, decided by a 5-2 vote, has statewide implications because the court ruled that police cannot look at information on a cell phone without getting a search warrant first.

“It’s a huge decision,” said Rod Sullivan, a professor of constitutional law at Florida Coastal School of Law. “Police have been looking through the cell phones of people they arrest for years.”

Attorneys embarrassed and disgusted over peer’s actions

Florida Coastal School of Law — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:53:33 +0000

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The case against a local attorney accused of grand theft and exploitation is alarming members of the local legal community.

“It’s never a good thing when you’re moving money from one place to another,” say Sarah Sullivan, Associate Professor of Professional Skills at the Florida Coastal School of Law.

Sullivan says local attorneys are embarrassed and disgusted that their peer, Cynthia Nichols, is accused of scamming her elderly client, Mary Vest, out of $100,000.

Action News went to Sullivan to find out how this could happen. She says guardians are court appointed, and must follow strict rules.

“Every year, [guardians] have to go back to the court and do a fairly detailed record of accounting that talks about everything that’s come in, and everything that’s gone out of their clients accounts.”

But in this case, Sullivan says something looks wrong.

… read the entire story at Action News Jax.

Lawmakers differ on how to fix juvenile sentencing laws

Florida Coastal School of Law — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:09:51 +0000

J.D. Moorehead, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law, said Bradley’s legislation would likely survive a court challenge because it addresses the major concern the Supreme Court had.

Soto’s plan to bring back the parole system might be more problematic, although it does make a certain amount of sense to bring back parole for juveniles, Moorehead said.

The most logical step might be to take a hybrid of both bills, give judges the option of life without parole but allow them to impose a lighter sentence, and also let judges decide whether the defendant should be eligible for parole at some point, Moorehead said.

“Judges know the people in front of them best,” he said.

Denial Of Worker Compensation Claim May Work In Children’s Favor

Florida Coastal School of Law — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:15:45 +0000

Florida Coastal School of Law professor Rod Sullivan says not having that insurance puts Rosado’s employer at huge legal and financial risk.

“In exchange for purchasing workers compensation insurance, the employer gets immunity from suit by the employees. So that, at the end of the day, if this employer actually has money, the employee would actually get more money because they didn’t have workers comp. But, they’d have to go through litigation to get that money.”

… read more at WJCT.

Florida grapples with what to do with underage killers

Florida Coastal School of Law — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:24:35 +0000

That ruling appears to be in conflict with Florida law, and judges are caught in the middle, said J.D. Moorehead, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.

“There is no longer any penalty available for juveniles convicted of first-degree murder,” Moorehead said. “We now have all of these cases in limbo.”

Guns, mental health and privacy issues

Florida Coastal School of Law — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:41:53 +0000

“I think that there’s a big breach of personal privacy by using any medical records at all for the purpose of assembling a list of people who might have guns, and consequently, I would consider that to be a very important constitutional question,” said Rod Sullivan, professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.

Justin Bieber to Fans: I Own Your Snapshots

Florida Coastal School of Law — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:09:06 +0000

Can Bieber get away with such a thing? It’s possible, according to Heidi Anderson, a contracts law professor at Florida Coastal School of Law, who wrote about Bieber’s ploy in a recent blog post.

“It’s not what the signs say that matters most,” Anderson tells Lawyers.com. “Instead, it’s what is given in exchange for the promise(s) in the signs, if anything.”

Read the entire piece at Lawyers.com.

Gun rights in America

Florida Coastal School of Law — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:39:05 +0000

Professor Rod Sullivan joins News 4 Jax for a segment on gun rights in America.

The Unbearable Invisibility of White Masculinity: Innocence In the Age of White Male Mass Shootings

Florida Coastal School of Law — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:44:30 +0000

“Do you also think it’s odd that white men commit the overwhelming majority of mass murders,” wondered Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Senior Director of Advocacy for the Women’s Sports Foundation, “but that people don’t identify that as a causal factor? Instead we talk about mental illness and gun control. If it were Asian women or Jewish men or elderly African-American, it would be topic number one. But not white men.” In fact, the media response to mass shootings often reimagines white men as victims.”

Read the entire story at Gawker.

New bill could allow goverment access to your email

Florida Coastal School of Law — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:46:00 +0000

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – You know the saying ‘Big Brother is watching?’ He may soon be reading too.

A new bill working its way through Congress could give the government unwarranted access to your email.

“I have to admit I’m not very careful about what I put in my emails,” said Rod Sullivan.

He emails constantly for business and pleasure. And he knows the legal ins and outs. He is a professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law.

… read the entire article at Action News Jax.