US Law and Cellphones

I will admit that I have a morbid interest in crime and criminal investigations. My brain is happy to think about what nasty things bad guys can get up to. As a fiction writer, that is not only going to be bad, it's going to lean towards pure evil—then take it one step further.

My stories are primarily set in the US, which means I have to spend a significant amount of time getting my head around various aspects of US law and police procedures. With there being differences between federal, state, and country (sometimes even city), it can seriously do the head in.

But the joys of being a fiction writer, I only need to be plausible. Not everything I read about US law will make its way into one of my manuscripts, but some readers might be interested in learning about the technological aspects of US law that I uncovered.

Today, it’s the little quirk associated with looking at an arrestee’s smartphone.

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Legal Proceedings

Has California taken PC lunacy to a new level?

Well, it’s official. The world has gone PC coo-coo, and California is leading the charge. There is no other way to describe it.

On October 4th, 2017, the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, signed legislation that will make lodging and showering facilities in aged-care homes effectively unisex — regardless how the residents feel about it — and send carers (nurses and doctors) to jail for up to one year if they mispronounce someone’s name. SB-219 amends the Health and Safety Code, adding clauses that are filled with ambiguity.

While it may seem like I’m making a joke about it, I’m not. It’s all a matter of wording, and how people can interpret those words. This is a can of worms that is about to wriggle all across the ground, out of control.Read More