Articles Posted in Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer

After Florida made hemp legal back in July of this year, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office made the announcement it would cease prosecuting most minor marijuana charges since the substance is almost identical from hemp.

Even with these developments, Miami Beach recently passed an ordinance banning people from getting the urge to smoke weed or hemp in public. Florida’s ACLU had criticized the new restrictions, saying that the law could have a disproportionate impact on children and people of color. The group argued that making the offense a felony was unnecessarily harsh as the city could dissuade people from public smoking just as easily with a civilian warning system.

Despite the concerns, Miami Beach has proceeded with the ban. With the new law, anyone seen smoking cannabis, hemp, or marijuana on a public right-of-way may receive a fine of up to $500 and a maximum of sixty days in county jail.

With the #MeToo movement more important than ever, there may be individuals curious as to whether sexual harassment itself is a crime. Is it possible to receive jail time for sexual harassment?

To get a better understanding of this, it’s worth defining what constitutes sexual harassment. Will giving a person of the opposite sex be considered sexual harassment? How about hugging a coworker?

At its essence, sexual harassment is behavior that is “unwanted”. This may include comments or touching a person. Though sexual harassment is often seen as something men do to women, a harasser can be male or female and they may harass another person regardless of their gender. Although it can happen anywhere, legal recourse for sexual harassment when out on the street may be limited.

The internet and social media have facilitated communication around the world immensely. However, with the greater reach of communication, there is greater scrutiny on what is and isn’t considered free speech. While certain speech is protected regardless of whether a person says it or posts it, some speech is not protected and may lead to prosecution.

Threats to commit bodily harm or kill someone, for example, are not considered free speech, whether it’s posted online or sent via a letter. This may also include hate speech which crosses the line into a threat. It is also illegal to make false reports or make a firearm threat against a group of people.

Another type of online crime that has emerged is sexual cyber harassment, which includes posting explicit images of someone without their consent. The crime is informally known as “revenge porn”. Even if a former spouse or love interest intentionally shared the explicit images, it is illegal to post them.