Author Archives: Jay Butchko
False Imprisonment & Kidnapping In Florida Domestic Violence Cases
Both false imprisonment and kidnapping are serious crimes in Florida, but the average person tends to overthink them both. False imprisonment conjures up images of armed guards on doorways, while kidnapping is a body thrown in a car trunk and driven across state lines like one might see in the movies. In reality, both… Read More »
Too Many Things Are ‘Drug Paraphernalia’
Florida has a reputation for being tough on drug users, and one way this happens is that Florida’s legislature has delineated many, many different types of criminal charges for activities that involve drugs. One that is often seen is possession of drug paraphernalia, which is the ‘ownership or control’ of items that are intended… Read More »
Electronic Monitoring For Domestic Violence Defendants
On July 1, 2026, several new laws came into effect in Florida, including a regulation known before as HB 277. HB 277 makes changes to the state’s existing domestic violence laws, with the most notable alteration being the introduction of pilot programs in Pasco and Pinellas Counties to institute electric monitoring for certain people… Read More »
What Happens In Drug Court?
Miami-Dade County was the first district in the United States to launch what is known as drug court nowadays. The program was launched in 1989, and over time, studies have established that having it as an option helps to reduce recidivism and save on costs. However, these types of statistics do little to explain… Read More »
What Is A Waiver Of Prosecution?
In Florida, there is no one single crime of domestic violence – rather, the underlying crime, like battery, sexual assault, or kidnapping, is charged and domestic violence plays a role at sentencing. However, the legal process is not an unstoppable force; rather, if a ‘victim’ decides that they do not want to cooperate with… Read More »
What Does Cannabis Rescheduling Mean For Me?
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has the responsibility for placing controlled substances into ‘schedules,’ with each schedule containing drugs with different characteristics. In April 2026, the Acting Attorney General of the U.S. issued an order to both expedite a final hearing on the rescheduling of cannabis into Schedule III, and placing certain cannabis… Read More »
How Does Domestic Violence Affect Young Children?
In the strong majority of domestic violence cases in Florida, the participants are adults who have a specific relationship to each other – for example, spouses or people residing together as a family. However, domestic violence does affect children, whether or not they are victimized by a domestic abuser or simply have seen the… Read More »
Beneficiaries Of Presidential Clemency Arrested Again
In recent months, the office of Florida’s Attorney General has explicitly sought to rearrest individuals who had their drug-related sentences commuted by the outgoing President Biden in 2025, arguing that ‘autopen clemency’ released many individuals from prison when they should not have been released. While it is legally possible to do this with individuals… Read More »
Domestic Battery In Florida, What to Expect If You Are Arrested
In Florida, there is no such thing as one single crime called ‘domestic violence.’ Rather, a person will be charged with the underlying offense – for example, assault or kidnapping – and domestic violence factors will be used to raise or lower a sentence after a conviction. That said, there is one exceptional offense… Read More »
What Is Florida ‘Doctor Shopping?’
Some controlled substances have accepted medical uses, such as Adderall to treat ADHD or Zolpidem (Ambien) for chronic insomnia. In order to get them, a person must scrupulously follow rules and regulations, chief among them only procuring the medication from one medical professional. A person who seeks to obtain a controlled substance from more… Read More »