Tag Archives: Mt. Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney

“Velocity Renormalization” Is Making You Drive Too Fast

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Reckless Driving, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Uncategorized, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Your speed versus speed limit

Photo courtesy of RiverNorth Photography via Getty Images.

The majority of households in North America own at least one car and driving is a daily activity for most people. In fact, driving is so normal that it becomes a routine performed with minimal concentration. And that can lead to all sorts of dangerous actions behind the wheel, like texting, eating, daydreaming. But amid these well-known concerns lies a relatively overlooked phenomenon: velocity renormalization.

WHAT IS “VELOCITY RENORMALIZATION?”

Velocity renormalization, or velocitization, is when your brain adapts to a certain driving speed (like highway speeds) and misjudges other speeds. This makes slower traffic seem extremely slow or makes you feel like you’re crawling when you slow down. The perceptual shift that can affect speed judgment and lead to errors like unintentional speeding or over-braking after exiting a freeway. It’s an adaptation effect where your internal “normal” changes, affecting how you perceive your own speed and that of others, highlighting the need to regularly check your speedometer. 

When drivers leave a highway and have to merge with slower traffic, their perception of normal speed is altered and they often unconsciously misjudge their own speed. This also works in reverse. Someone who was moving slower can perceive a faster speed limit as being higher than it actually is.

THE SCIENCE 

George Mather, a Professor of Vision Science at the University of Lincoln, led a study into this subject, concentrating on the adaptation effect. The study looked into a person’s perceived norms of how fast something goes or should go after having experienced short periods of exposure to different speeds. After watching a slowed-down video of human movement, participants in the experiment were then shown normal speeds, which they perceived to be unnaturally fast. They required the natural-speed video to be slowed down for it to appear “normal”.

THE EFFECT ON DRIVERS

Velocity Renormalization is exactly what happens to a driver’s brain after they drive at a certain speed. In short, they will be prone to misjudging their velocity and, for example, approaching a highway exit ramp too fast. It can take time to mentally make the transition from faster to slower zones (or vice versa). Therefore, it’s important for drivers to double-check their speed when moving from one speed limit to another.

Because driving is so routine and natural for most people, it’s sometimes easy to forget that it’s a dangerous activity involving thousands of pounds of metal moving at high speeds. As Professor Mather’s research shows, drivers are also affected by a variety of effects that can alter their perception. All those factors add up and over 37,000 people die in car crashes in America every year—that’s over 100 a day.

Driving 35 mph, especially after you’ve been on the freeway, feels slow, while 35 mph on a bicycle feels like a bullet train. In a modern luxury car, even 70 mph can feel tedious. There are a few things going on here. Our eyes and our ears provide input for our perception of speed. On the freeway everything is far away, compared to city driving. The shoulders are wide, the road signs are set back, the closest trees might be 50 feet from the edge of the road, the other traffic nearly matches our speed. We don’t have any nearby markers to indicate how fast the world is zipping by. Compare that to when you’ve encountered a freeway work zone with concrete barriers at the edge of your lane. The lane width hasn’t gotten any narrower, but now you’re zooming past objects right next to you, and suddenly it feels too fast.

CAN YOU BE CRIMINALLY CHARGED FOR DRIVING TOO FAST?

Yes. Driving significantly over the limit (often 20-30 mph or more) or too fast for conditions (rain, fog, ice) can elevate a speeding ticket to criminal charges like Reckless Driving. Being convicted of this charge can lead to potential jail time, hefty fines, and license suspension.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Reckless Driving or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

ACLU Maps Out Washington’s Anti-Homeless Criminal Laws By County

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Poverty Defense, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Uncategorized, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Mapping Displacement - ACLU of Washington

Photo courtesy of ACLU WA

The Washington chapter of the ACLU gathered data on how many anti-homeless ordinances exist in Washington state, and how many unsheltered people are subjected to them across each county. They also tracked how many shelter beds are available in these counties. The information is very insightful on how cities and counties in WA state criminalize the homeless.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

In its findings, the ACLU concluded that Washington is facing a severe housing and homelessness crisis. The problem is a direct result of decades of policy failure, housing disinvestment, and growing inequality. Thousands of our neighbors are pushed into homelessness. Rather than addressing root causes, cities are doubling down on punishment. Local governments often respond to visible homelessness by enacting and enforcing laws that criminalize the basic act of existing in public — sleeping, sitting or trying to stay warm.

THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

In 2024’s City of Grants Pass v. Johnson,  the Supreme Court of the United States addressed the legality of an Oregon city ordinance that issued tickets to people sleeping in public when there were not enough available shelter beds. The court ruled that cities may punish people for sleeping in public, even when no shelter is available. The decision opened the door to further criminalization of people experiencing homelessness for unavoidable behavior tied directly to their life circumstances— signaling that survival itself can be punished. The case is criticized as undermining human dignity.

MAPPING THE CRISIS

Since this ruling, cities have become further emboldened in criminalizing people experiencing homelessness.

The issue of homelessness is incredibly complex, and the data we collected cannot fully represent the lived experience of those forced to live outside. While numbers are at times reductive and don’t show the whole story, they are a powerful visual tool to help build shared understanding of the pervasiveness of these laws and the crisis we are facing.

DATA GATHERING

The ACLU gathered three main data points:

  1. The Number of Anti-Homeless Ordinances In Each County.
  2. The Number of Unhoused Individuals In Each County.
  3. The Number of Low-Barrier Shelter Beds In Each County.

FINDINGS

Based on its data, the ACLU made the following conclusions:

  1. Access to Shelter And Other Services Varies Widely.
  2. Urban and Rural Counties Experience Similar Rates of Homelesness.
  3. Deep Funding Gaps In The State’s Housing Systems.
  4. Shelter Bed Availability Varies Darmatically By County.
  5. Counties Continue to Pass Anti-Homelessness Laws

CONCLUSION

The ACLU’s findings illustrate how uneven and disconnected Washington state’s homeless response has become. Whether someone can find a shelter bed, or simply exist outside without the threat of punishment, often depends entirely on where they live. Across the state, a clear pattern emerges. Instead of a coordinated, statewide response, Washington has developed a confusing patchwork of local laws that criminalize homelessness and punish people for being poor.

My opinion? Excellent work by the ACLU. Public safety concerns aside, we must remain committed to building a future where all Washingtonians – regardless of their housing status – are treated with dignity, fairness, and humanity. To this end, the ACLU is advocating for a bill which would set a clear and consistent statewide standards for criminal charges levied against houseless population.

The legislation is based on the premise that local governments should not be allowed to adopt or enforce laws that punish people for basic, life-sustaining activities on public property, such as sleeping or resting, unless adequate alternative shelter space is actually available. People should not face punishment simply because they have nowhere else to go. To learn more about the bill and ways to get involved, follow this link.

And please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

How Inflation Makes The Criminal Justice System Harsher Today Than It Was Yesterday

Bellingham Defense Attorney, felony, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Theft, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Inflation and Crime | Pinkerton

The rise of Inflation makes already-outdated criminal laws more punitive each year. In Washington State, for example, one can be charged with Felony Theft in the Second Degree for stealing property or services valued at a mere $750.00. Problematically, the Theft statute hasn’t been recently amended to reflect value increases due to inflation. This means the theft of everyday items now qualify as felonies, leading to harsher punishments (prison and parole instead of jail and probation).

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

Updating felony theft statutes is one simple way to reduce the number of people serving time in prison for low-level offenses. Making more minor thefts into misdemeanors will also spare more people from the often lifelong collateral consequences of felony convictions that can limit their access to public housing, welfare benefits, and even voting.

Decreasing the punishment for minor thefts is unlikely to encourage more thefts. As Pew Charitable Trusts found in their invaluable 2018 report, States Can Safely Raise Their Felony Theft Thresholds, Research Shows, South Carolina’s property crime rates actually continued to fall years after the threshold increased.

This isn’t unique to South Carolina, either. Pew’s article also included a brief comparison of crime rates in all 50 states, reporting that between 2000 and 2012, the 30 states that increased their thresholds had property crime rates similar to the 20 states that had not yet updated their laws.

My opinion? Keeping laws up-to-date is critical to saving taxpayer dollars and improving the effectiveness of Washington’s criminal-justice system. Updating the state’s theft statute is one small step to take to make Washington smarter on crime. Punishment for property-crime offenders must also focus on the victims of these crimes. An offender in prison isn’t working to reimburse his or her victim for the value of the stolen property. Instead, the victims pay, through tax dollars, to support the people who have wronged them.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Theft or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

State v. Ianniciello: The Right to Remain Silent

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Constitutional Rights, Fifth Amendment, Homicide & Manslaughter, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Self-Incrimination, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Washington Court of Appeals, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Photo courtesy of Premious Shots Productions.

In State v. Ianniciello, No. 86711-3-I (Dec. 15, 2025), the WA Court of Appeals reversed a defendant’s conviction for First Degree Murder. In its holding, the Court found the Ms. Ianniciello did not receive a fair trial because the State violated her Fifth Amendment right to silence by eliciting testimony regarding her pretrial silence in the wake of her husband’s murder and subsequent investigations.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On April 2, 2016, Ianniciello’s husband Tom was killed by a single gunshot to his head as he slept in his bed. Ianniciello called police after discovering Tom’s body in the bed. Police arrived and immediately began investigating. At the time of the murder, Tom and Ianniciello had been married for over sixteen years. The marriage was turbulent, as Tom had an issue with alcohol abuse and would become abusive to Ianniciello.

Police arrived and immediately began investigating. Detective Broggi, the lead detective, asked Ianniciello, “Did you shoot your husband?” Detective Broggi expressed concern with Ianniciello’s silent demeanor, saying “I want you to look at our side kind of this” because “you don’t seem overly concerned, or, you know, just upset about it.” Detective Broggi asked Ianniciello if she would be willing to take a polygraph examination, and Ianniciello agreed to do so. A few weeks later, on April 18, Ianniciello’s attorney contacted Detective Broggi, notified her that Ianniciello would not be taking a polygraph examination, and asked her to have no further contact with Ianniciello.

After nearly three years, the State charged Ianniciello with first-degree murder. Ianniciello’s first trial, in 2022, ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to render a unanimous verdict.

In 2024, the case proceeded to a second trial after which the jury rendered a guilty verdict. On appeal, Ianniciello argued the State violated her right to silence under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 9 of the Washington Constitution by eliciting testimony from multiple witnesses that she did not “reach out,” “call,” “check in,” or “provide information” to law enforcement.

COURT’S ANALYSIS & CONCLUSIONS

The Court of Appeals (Court) discussed Ianniciello’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In short, the State violates a defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights when the State calls to the attention to the accused’s pre-arrest silence to imply guilt.

The Court found that here, the record established that Ianniciello invoked her Fifth Amendment right to silence. She purposefully did not answer Detective Broggi’s questions and declined the offer to take a polygraph. This clear statement that Ianniciello would not provide additional information to the police and should not be contacted by them is sufficient to invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege.

Neverthess, at trial, the State elicited at trial direct testimony from two detectives about Ianniciello’s failure to contact them. During its examination of law enforcement officers, the State elicited testimony that Ianniciello did not reach out and did not check in on the status of the investigation. The State also continued this theme of drawing the jury’s attention to Ianniciello’s pre-arrest silence by eliciting testimony that Tom’s other family members would reach out and check in on the investigation, “but not Ms. Ianniciello.”

The Court found the State’s tactics and testimony from its witnesses violated Ianniciello’s Constitutional rights:

“The State’s conduct was an attempt to convince the jury that Ianniciello’s silence, by not communicating with law enforcement, demonstrated her guilt. This is precisely what the Fifth Amendment prohibits.” ~WA Court of Appeals

Next, the Court found that the State’s error was not harmless. Preliminarily, it commented that the State’s case depended largely on circumstantial evidence. More important,  the Court found that testimony from the State’s witnesses about Ianniciello’s pre-arrest silence may have swayed the jury – thus rendering the testimony not harmless – and the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt this constitutional error had no impact on the jury’s verdict.

With that, the Court of Appeals reversed Ianniciello’s conviction and remanded for a new trial.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Homicide, Manslaughter or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Roadside DUI Tests to Add Oral Fluid Screening

Bellingham Defense Attorney, DUI, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Technology, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Oral Swab Tests | DUI Drugs | Oxnard Criminal Defense Attorney | DUID

Photo Courtesy of Margaret Johnson: MargJohnsonVA – stock.adobe.com

In recent news, numerous states – including Washington State – are adopting some form of oral fluid specimen use in DUI cases. These technological advancements will transform how law enforcement agencies detect and prosecute DUI cases.

WHAT IS ORAL FLUID TESTING?

Oral fluid testing for DUI involves police using a swab to collect a saliva sample from a driver at a traffic stop to quickly screen for recent drug use (marijuana, cocaine, opioids, etc.) Oral fluid tests help establish probable cause for impairment in addition to field sobriety tests. They’re advocayed as fast, non-invasive tools to detect active impairment, complementing blood/urine tests by showing recent use, not just past usage. 

WHICH STATES ARE ACTIVELY USING ORAL FLUID TESTING?

Alabama initially conducted a pilot program established by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences and later transitioned to a permanent oral fluid toxicology program. Alabama’s field screening devices test for marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, opioids and benzodiazepines. Oral fluid devices are administered at roadside in a screening capacity to confirm any suspicion of drug use after law enforcement conducts a standardized field sobriety test. The results help obtain a search warrant to collect blood or oral fluid for a laboratory test that would provide evidence for trial.

Law enforcement officers in Indiana began using roadside screening around the state in December 2020 to build probable cause and determine whether or not to call for a DRE. Data collected through the program will be used to evaluate a possible expansion.

The Michigan legislature (Public Act 242 and 243 of 2016) authorized state police to develop an oral fluid pilot program. The initial pilot was conducted in five counties and used DREs to administer the oral fluid test. Unlike previous programs (like the three-year pilot program in Colorado that began in March of 2015), this program was not voluntary as drivers were not given the option of opting out from providing a sample. The program was extended for a second year and expanded statewide. Michigan State Police released a report concluding it found oral fluid testing accurate for purposes of preliminary roadside testing.

Vermont (SB 54) amended its implied consent law to include the testing of saliva in 2020 for evidentiary purposes only. Law enforcement officers can now require a person to submit to a saliva test when they have reasons to believe that they are under the influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. Saliva samples cannot be taken at roadside and must be analyzed in a laboratory.

HAS WASHINGTON STATE EMBRACED FLUID TESTING?

Yes. In 2024, the Legislature enacted RCW 46.61.5062. This statute, which goes into effect January 1, 2026, allows law enforcement agencies to utilize “oral fluid roadside information” as part of DUI enforcement. Law enforcement agencies must ensure the following:

  1. The oral fluid test instrument(s) used must be valid and reliable;
  2. Any officer who administers an oral fluid test is properly trained in the administration of the test;
  3. Prior to administering the test, the officer advised the subject of the following information:
    • The test is voluntary and does not constitute compliance with the implied consent requirement of RCW 46.20.308;
    • Test results may not be used against a person in a court of law; and
    • Submission to the test is not an alternative to any evidentiary breath or blood test; and
  1. The law enforcement agency establishes policies to protect personal identifying information from unnecessary and improper dissemination including, but not limited to:
    • Destruction of biological samples from oral fluid tests as soon as practicable after collection of test results; and
    • Prohibition against entering DNA samples or results from such tests into any database.

CONCERNS ABOUT ORAL FLUID TESTING

Drugs do not affect users uniformly or in a manner that is easy to measure. Differing characteristics of the drug, of the user, and of the circumstances in which the drug is used renders distinguishing between presence of drugs and impairment by drugs an opaque endeavor. There are no consistent standards in the manufacture of oral fluid tests. The lack of industry-wide consensus reflects research challenges like dearth of quality studies and information challenges. Finally, laws concerning the use of oral fluid tests are inconsistent across all 50 states.

LEGAL ARGUMENTS AND CHALLENGES

Challenges can be made from collection, preservation, and chain of custody to accuracy of results. Other challenges include the effect of methods of consumption on results, factors affecting the presence of a substance in one bodily fluid while being absent in another, and whether the results even indicate impairment.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with DUI or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Federal Intrusion Into State Criminal Law

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Federal Crimes & Prosecutions, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Race & Law, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

WATCH: Law enforcement expert explains DC Federalization, police reactions

Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Excellent working paper brief by Sentencing Reform Counsel  Liz Komar discusses how the expanding encroachment of federal criminal law on traditionally local offenses threatens justice, equity, and local democracy.

WHY IS FEDERAL INTRUSION INTO LOCALIZED CRIMES PROBLEMATIC?

In her brief, Komar writes that over-federalization can lengthen sentences and increase incarceration because federal sentences tend to be longer and carry higher mandatory minimums than their state counterparts. Furthermore, over-federalization may also result in arbitrary and racially disparate sentencing outcomes for similarly situated defendants. Finally, overly broad federal laws can be wielded by federal authorities to usurp the power of locally elected officials or to suppress protest. This comes as a significant infringement on democracy.

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS?

Rather than allow the encroachment of federal criminal law on traditionally local offenses, Ms. Komar’s brief suggests that federal lawmakers and leaders should do the following:

  • Respond to constituent concerns about crime by investing in community-based solutions, rather than with duplicative federal criminal statutes. Investment in evidence-based interventions like gun violence prevention and programs focusing on preventing youth crime and overdose reduction can respond to the underlying concerns of constituents.
  • Limit interventions by federal prosecutors in traditionally local offenses, particularly in the context of successive prosecutions (prosecutions in which individuals are prosecuted by both the local and federal authorities), or when there is conflict regarding a duly elected local prosecutor’s lawful exercise of discretion.
  • Abolish federal mandatory minimums. Federalizing local offenses tends ultimately to lengthen sentences because of the longer mandatory minimums at play in the federal system.
  • Improve the federal criminal legislative drafting process by requiring judiciary committee oversight of every bill proposing criminal offenses or penalties.
  • Repair the past harms of over-federalization through retroactive sentencing reforms. Some federal mandatory minimums, such as those involving crack cocaine or unlawful possession of a firearm, have played an outsize role in deepening racial disparities and lengthening sentences. Retroactive resentencing laws are a means of addressing these harms, reducing excess incarceration, and strengthening communities.

My opinion? Ms. Komar’s proposed reforms could help to halt the expansion of over-federalization. They can also reduce the unnecessary harm of overlapping and largely duplicative offenses.

Criminal conduct often falls under the jurisdiction of both state and federal laws. Take drug trafficking as an example. If someone brings illegal drugs into the U.S. from abroad, federal laws covering international drug smuggling come into play. But if that person intends to distribute those drugs within a particular state, they’ve also violated state drug laws. In such cases, it’s not just possible—it’s likely—that both federal and state prosecutors will be interested in the case.

These overlapping offenses give prosecutors significant discretion, especially when the crime crosses state lines or involves larger federal interests, like bank security or interstate commerce. This overlap makes the dual prosecution landscape much more common than most people realize.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

AI Technology Can Effectively Assist Police. But What’s the Risk?

Artificial Intelligence, Bellingham Defense Attorney, Constitutional Rights, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, police, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Technology, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Longeye

Photo courtesy of Longeye.

When a crime happens, police begin compiling a mountain of digital evidence. The evidence can include surveillance videos, phone records, crime scene photos and interviews. The evidence compiled into data sets can be quite substanial, weighty and lengthy. Be as it may, police agencies are hesitant to assign officers to these tasks, especially in light of budget constraints.

King 5 News reports that the Redmond Police Department addressed these challenges by using a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform to sift through evidence to solve crimes. In a recent case, an AI platform called Longeyehelped investigators on a cold case by combing through hours of jail phone calls, including a key confession.

HOW DOES LONGEYE WORK?

Longeye’s AI-powered workspace rapidly digests and understands video, photography, and text at speeds up to 100x faster than a human. It makes information searchable and parsable and it ‘reads’ the data contextually to find key intelligence that can break the case open. In theory, this saves thousands of desk hours, closing cases before the trail goes cold, avoiding burnout and getting police investigators back in the field.

Here, Longeye helped the Redmond Police Department process 60 hours of jail phone calls in a matter of minutes. This apparently saved a significant amount of time, and verified the lead investigator’s facts in the case. By using Longeye to search for and locate key information, the investigator was able to work more efficiently.

DOES LONGEYE USE AI FOR ILL PURPOSES?

In short, advocates of Longeye say it gives police more time to serve victims and close cases. Longeye does not create or predict information. It only points detectives to evidence they already have, helping them work smarter and faster. It verifies facts already known to police in a cold cases. It is not used to uncover new information.

WHAT ARE THE CRITICISMS OF LONGEYE?

Accordingt to Google’s AI Overview, key criticisms and concerns of Longeye include the following:
  • Risk of Errors (“Hallucinations”): A primary concern is that, like other large language models, the AI could generate incorrect information or misinterpret evidence (known as “hallucinations”). This could potentially misguide investigations, leading to wasted time or, more seriously, incorrect assumptions about suspects.
  • Wrongful Arrests: Critics point to the history of other technologies like facial recognition leading to wrongful arrests and worry Longeye could be subject to similar issues if not used with extreme caution.
  • Dependence on Human Oversight: The platform’s designers emphasize it is a tool to assist, not replace, human investigators. This means its ultimate reliability depends on the diligence of human officers to double-check the AI’s findings against original evidence, which might not always happen in practice.
  • Potential for Misuse: As with any powerful surveillance or investigation technology, there are general privacy concerns about how law enforcement uses the tool and what data they are looking for.
  • Unreliable in Court: Courts are already seeing problems with attorneys using other AI tools that cite nonexistent case law, raising fears about the admissibility and reliability of AI-generated insights as evidence. 

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Any ill-gotten evidence in a criminal case which was obtained, reviewed, presented and organized by AI tools can possibly be suppressed. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

The Age of Surveillance Creep

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Search and Seizure, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Surveillance Creep, Technology, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , ,

Beware surveillance-creep - The University of Auckland

Surveillance technology is growing at an alarming rate in our society. For example, AI-powered cameras use of artificial intelligence software to help people take better photos by identifying objects intelligently and optimizing the color and output based on the scene. These technological innovations are not lost upon law enforcement agencies. Tools like Flock Safety license plate readers have the capability to track individuals across cities and states.

Cities and municipalities and considering a variety of surveillance systems to fight crime. Advocates say it makes cities safer, improves traffic, speeds up airport and stadium lines, makes workers more productive and safeguards valuable company property. Problematically,  electronic data gleaned from cities, municipalities and law enforcement can, without any discretion, provide the information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies.  Suddenly, the gradual expansion of surveillance technology has now turned narrow safety programs into broad monitoring networks.

Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Creep.

WHAT IS “SURVEILLANCE CREEP?”

“Surveillance creep” is the idea that surveillance measures first installed for beneficial purposes are later used for more sinister purposes. While surveillance has always been about collecting data, it has now stretched into collecting much more personal information. While a type of surveillance may seem reasonable initially, its intentions past its initial purpose are mainly unknown and perverse. For example, with the rise of technologies to help people work from home comes the ability for employers to surveil their employees without their knowledge or at odd hours.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is one example of this type of surveillance. While having access to your friends and family online may seem like a simple and effective type of digital monitoring, this can lead to data collection and targeted advertising which is far less simple. A person’s use of social media also acts as a type of peer surveillance, where the watched watch each other, thus giving even more power to the watcher.

While many social media users are aware of small data collection on their sites, they continue to use the platform and give it their information willingly due to the addictive qualities of online social networking. Even data collection from advertising agencies seems light when compared to the potential threats of fraud and identity theft that can come from social media sites. The idea of social media and data collection has become so normalized that the threats of more sinister crimes are occurring more often.

FACIAL RECOGNITION

According to experts, large-scale companies are happy to sell facial recognition systems to law enforcement agencies. On the upside, the technology assists in finding criminals and missing persons. However, this technology is not always accurate. There are many instances of racial bias and misidentification when using facial recognition. In short, surveillance cameras being used for facial recognition do not recognize darker skin very well. These technological glitches and flaws tend to be negatively affected when it comes to facial recognition searches.

My advice? The government and large corporations are using surveillance as a way to creep into your daily life. You should have the right to contest that information. Seizures and searches of digital data must be cabined to probable cause, limited to specific categories of information relevant to the investigation, and closely overseen by a neutral judge.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime involving evidence gained through electronic surveillance. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

WA’s Drunk-Driving Deaths Surge As U.S. Trend Declines

Bellingham Defense Attorney, DUI, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Vehicular Homicide, , , ,
Which States are the Worst for Drunk Driving? - Safety - Automotive Fleet

Photo: Automotive Fleet

A very informative article in the Olympian reported that Washington State’s alcohol-related driving deaths surged as national trends declined.

THE DATA

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this year published data showing fatalities in drunk-driver-involved crashes dropped 7.6% during that time frame: from 13,458 to 12,429 deaths. However, Washington witnessed the opposite trend between those two years. Fatalities involving an alcohol-impaired driver increased 18.5% from 2022 to 2023, jumping from 205 to 243, per data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC).

WHAT EXPLAINS THE INCREASE?

In general, Washington saw its total traffic deaths and impaired-driving-related fatalities increase more than the national average during and after COVID. The overall number of traffic fatalities in the state increased dramatically between 2019 and 2023, climbing from 538 to 809. The year 2023 saw the highest number of such deaths since 1990. Apparently, many people’s behavioral health suffered during the pandemic. Washington encountered a steep rise in traffic deaths involving an alcohol-impaired driver starting in 2020, when COVID-19 first hit.

Other risky driving behaviors also have ballooned in recent years. Speeding driver-involved fatal crashes, for instance, spiked from 2019 to 2023. Also, impaired driver-involved traffic fatalities — a category that includes drivers on drugs — shot up from 254 in 2019 to 410 in 2023, a 61.4% increase.

Impairment in this category is defined as being under the influence of one or more drugs and/or having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.08%, or being flagged as impaired by law enforcement.

WA LEGISLATURE PUSHES FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY

Washington state lawmakers last session pursued legislation aimed at improving road safety. One stalled proposal, Senate Bill 5067, revived the push to lower the legal BAC level for drivers from 0.08% to 0.05%. Utah now abides by a 0.05% standard, as do certain states and provinces in Mexico and Canada.

Alao, a new state law that will require intelligent speed-limiters placed in vehicles for people convicted of reckless driving or who’ve had multiple infractions including excessive speeding. GPS-based devices under House Bill 1596, which takes effect in 2029, will prevent such drivers from zooming past the posted limit.

In addition, WTSC is backing up-and-coming car technology that identifies when a driver is legally impaired. If someone were deemed to be drunk, then their vehicle wouldn’t operate, thanks to “breath-based” tech from DADSS: the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Vehicular Homicide or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

 

Racial Disparities Appear To Exist In Whatcom County Jail’s Population

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Jail, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Race & Law, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

Jail_SG-6

Excellent article by journalist Hannah Edelman describe the racial disparities found in Whatcom County Jail’s Population.

RECENT DATA ON WHATCOM COUNTY’S JAIL POPULATION

Only 1% of Whatcom County’s residents are Black, according to the 2023 American Community Survey. However, new data found that Black people made up 8.4% of the jail’s population that same year. Similarly, Indigenous people accounted for 1.6% of the county’s population and 12.7% of the jail’s population. While there has not been an official Census survey since 2023, jail population data from 2024 found that 7.8% of the jail’s population was Black and 12.5% was Indigenous that year. The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, did not provide data on the jail’s Latino population.

RECENT DATA ON THE NATION’S JAIL POPULATION

National studies have found that traffic stops also disproportionately impact Black and Latino drivers. According to one analysis of almost 100 million traffic stops nationwide, police regularly stop Black and Latino drivers more than white drivers. These same groups were more likely to have their vehicles searched. The study also found that Black drivers were less likely to be stopped at night, when a driver’s race is much more difficult for police to identify.

The results of Whatcom County Jail’s population were consistent with trends found nationwide. In short, people of color in Whatcom County were disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.

PEOPLE OF COLOR IN WHATCOM JAIL FACE LENGTHIER JAIL SENTENCES

The amount of time that the jail’s population had spent in custody as of Sept. 2 also varied depending on race. White people had spent a median time of 41 days in jail since their arrest, while Black individuals had spent a median of 52 days in custody. That same metric was 28.5 days for Indigenous people and 72.5 for Latino people.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.