Law Offices of Bryan J McIntyre, LLC

01/31/2025

I’ve been thinking about the importance of our Constitution a lot recently, for some reason. Here’s what the US Supreme Court used to think about it:

“In times of unrest, whether caused by crime or racial conflict or fear of internal subversion, this basic law and the values that it represents may appear unrealistic or "extravagant" to some. But the values were those of the authors of our fundamental constitutional concepts. In times not altogether unlike our own they won—by legal and constitutional means in England, and by revolution on this continent—a right of personal security against arbitrary intrusions by official power. If times have changed, reducing everyman's scope to do as he pleases in an urban and industrial world, the changes have made the values served by the Fourth Amendment more, not less, important.” Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 US 443, 455 (1990).

10/24/2024

Did you know you can be guilty of a DUI for “sleeping it off” in your car? As long as you have the keys and could start the car/get it moving, that’s close enough for Illinois law.

Pro tip: if you absolutely cannot get a ride home, throw your keys in the bushes somewhere, THEN sleep it off. Don’t look for them until you sober up.

10/11/2024

It’s not everyday that someone serving mandatory life gets a second chance at sentencing, let alone a second chance at a life outside prison. Today, we got both for one of the most obviously reformed defendants I’ve ever met. Sometimes Justice really does happen!

"Each received what amounts to a death sentence for one horrifying but familiar reason: race," writes attorney and advocate Jennifer Soble.

09/28/2024

Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the smell of burnt cannabis does not (without other factors) provide probable cause to search even during a traffic stop.

Most, if not all, drug detection animals are trained to alert to the smell of burnt cannabis. To the best of my knowledge, none are trained to give specific alerts for different substances. Seems like it’s time to retire a generation of canines.