Source: https://www.texascriminallawyerblog.com/category/arrest/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 16:26:12+00:00

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The U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint at Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County, Texas has operated in one form or another for over a century. Located on Interstate Highway 10, the checkpoint has gained a certain notoriety as the site of numerous celebrity “drug busts,” particularly musicians’ tour buses traveling east from Los Angeles. Celebrities arrested at Sierra Blanca in recent years include Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Fiona Apple. The checkpoint’s primary purpose is immigration enforcement, while drug interdiction depends largely on the cooperation of local law enforcement. In 2015, the Hudspeth County Sheriff announced that he would no longer take marijuana cases from Border Patrol.
The Supreme Court has held that permanent roadside checkpoints near the U.S.-Mexico border, for the specific purpose of immigration enforcement, do not violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on warrantless searches and seizures. United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543 (1976). The Fourth Amendment does not, however, allow the use of roadblocks and drug-sniffing dogs to conduct warrantless searches for illegal narcotics, according to the Supreme Court in City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32 (2000).
According the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Sierra Blanca played a role in immigration enforcement long before the Border Patrol even existed. A single “mounted guard” was stationed at Sierra Blanca and “charged with the enforcement of immigration laws in the area.” The Border Patrol established a station at that location soon after Congress created the agency in 1924. The Supreme Court ruled it constitutional 52 years later.
Student loan debt is a tremendous burden all across the country, with outstanding student loans totaling about $1.2 trillion. One might not think, however, that defaulting on student loans would lead to criminal penalties, but recent news stories have suggested—not entirely accurately—that this is a possibility. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested a Houston man in February 2016, reportedly due to unpaid student loans, but the initial reporting did not tell the full story. While the reason for the arrest was not specifically student loan default, it is worth exploring how a debt collection matter ended up in federal court and led to an arrest.
Debt collection proceedings are civil in nature, not criminal. Federal courts presumably would not have jurisdiction over most debt collection matters. Even if the creditor and debtor were in different states, few debt collection claims (one hopes) would meet the $75,000 amount-in-controversy requirement for diversity jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. One way to ensure federal jurisdiction over a claim, however, is for the federal government to be a party.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is the nation’s largest student loan creditor. It makes a substantial percentage of student loans directly to students, and it guarantees many private student loans. Federal courts automatically have jurisdiction over most lawsuits in which the United States is a plaintiff. 28 U.S.C. § 1345. The question remains of how a debtor, who would be the defendant in such a case, could get arrested.
In May 2015, federal prosecutors announced the arrest of multiple officials of the International Federation of Association Football, commonly known by the acronym FIFA, and associated organizations. The charges in United States v. Webb, et al., No. 1:15-cr-00252, indictment (E.D.N.Y., May 20, 2015), include fraud, bribery, and conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq. The arrests took place in Switzerland, and only two of the 14 defendants are U.S. citizens. The allegations in the case are truly international in scope (”FIFA” stands for “Fédération Internationale de Football Association”), so they raise questions about how federal prosecutors assert jurisdiction.FIFA organizes many of the world’s major international soccer tournaments, including the quadrennial World Cup tournament. It is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, and consists of 209 national soccer associations. Members are divided into six confederations, which may be further divided into regional groups. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is a FIFA member and is part of the Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), and the regional group, the North American Football Union (NAFU).
The allegations in the government’s 161-page indictment describe a range of allegedly corrupt acts, including alleged bribery during the selection of the site for the 2010 World Cup. FIFA’s executive committee was charged in 2004 with choosing among Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa to host the tournament. The indictment claims that one committee member, who is now a defendant, was offered $1 million by Morocco’s soccer committee and $10 million by the equivalent organization in South Africa. The committee member voted for South Africa, and the 2010 World Cup was held in Johannesburg.
The city of Baltimore, Maryland experienced a significant upheaval during the last week of April 2015, and continuing into early May, as residents protested mistreatment by the city’s police department. The incident that sparked the protests, the death of 25 year-old Freddie Gray in police custody, resulted in criminal charges against six police officers on May 1. During the week leading up to the announcement of the criminal charges, however, violence broke out on multiple occasions, resulting in property damage, clashes between protesters and police, and hundreds of arrests. Many arrestees found themselves subject to substantially large bail amounts, which raises the question of how much bail, given the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “excessive bail,” is too much. That question, unfortunately, has no simple answer.
One story that gained national attention involved an 18-year-old man seen in photographs smashing the windows and windshield of a Baltimore police car. At the urging of this mother and stepfather, he surrendered to police voluntarily, but he was held on $500,000 bail. According to local media, his family cannot possibly pay this amount. The man is charged with eight offenses, all misdemeanors, including malicious destruction of property and rioting. Malicious destruction of property carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment under Maryland law if the damage is at least $500. Md. Crim. Law Code § 6-301(b). The severity of a charged offense is one of the main factors in determining bail, so the “rioting” charge may be key to understanding the bail amount.
Most states have a statute specifically defining the criminal offense of rioting. See Tex. Pen. Code § 42.02. Maryland, however, uses the common law definition of rioting, which involves three or more people engaged in an unlawful assembly “to carry out a common purpose in such violent or turbulent manner as to terrify others.” Schlamp v. Maryland, 891 A.2d 327, 334 (Md. Ct. App. 2006), quoting Cohen v. Maryland, 195 A. 532, 534 (Md. Ct. App. 1937). Although the offense is categorized as a misdemeanor, the maximum penalty under state sentencing guidelines is life imprisonment. Md. Sentencing Guidelines Manual v. 7.0, App. A at 18 (Feb. 1, 2015) (PDF file).

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