International Law

January 29, 2015 by Michael Dye

Proposed Mugshot Removal Legislation, Florida Senate Bill 0276

Florida Senate Bill 0276 for the 2015 legislative session was introduced by Sen. Darren Soto of Kissimmee, Florida. The bill is intended to shut down the mug shot extortion industry. By now, most people are familiar with the industry. Bills have been introduced in previous sessions, but none have become law. Even if the earlier bills had become law, most were unconstitutional and would have been set aside. This bill is drafted to prohibit the commercialization as opposed to content. The First Amendment has nothing to do with whether or not this bill will accomplish its objective. The objective is to shut down the mug shot extortion industry and Bill 0276 will fail to accomplish its objective.

Mug Shot Removal Industry is Thriving

The extortion business is thriving on the internet right now. The mug shot extortion industry is just one of many. Certain websites label themselves as “consumer protection websites” are also considered part of the online extortion industry.

Mug Shot Removal Regulation Will Fail

Here is why Bill 0276 will fail. All internet domains are registered to an owner. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, hereinafter “ICANN” keeps track of what individual and/or company owns the various names. You can think of it as the internet’s registrar of deeds. Just like the registrar of deeds, you can do a search.

The largest, if not the largest, company in the mug shot publishing industry is mugshots.com. Please note that I am not linking to them. The owners of the website did not simply register the domain with Godaddy. Rather, it appears, the owners went to great lengths to create a jurisdictional gordian knot to shield themselves from liability in the United States. Click here to view the ICANN domain registration information. The ICANN registration information indicates that the website was registered by a corporation in Belize through a registration company in Australia.

The registrar, a website to purchase domains, is Fabulous.com. Fabulous is an Austrailian company. The registrant, person or corporation buying the domain, is International Whois Privacy Services Limited, hereinafter “IWPSL.” IWPSL acts as a proxy to register the website and hold it in trust for the owners. IWPSL’s registration address is in Belize. The listed servers are located in Canada and England. Additionally, those may be proxies as well. Mugshots.com is owned by JUKISSUUDESSA which is a limited liability corporation located in Nevis, West Indies.

Legal Manuvering

Mugshots.com and Mugshots.com Database appear to be two separate entities. By creating two separate entities, Mugshots.com and Mugshots.com Database may not have any liability due to the way the Florida Senate Bill 0267 is currently worded.

Solution

Most people find the mug shot publishing/extortion industry distasteful. With no less than 5 different jurisdictions involved, the only way to shut down the industry is to limit the access to the data or possibly creating federal legislation which would permit the federal government to seize offending domains. Police reports will and should always be a matter of public record. State legislatures may want to reconsider their positions on mugshots.

The Law Offices of Michael A. Dye, PA, 1 East Broward Boulevard #700, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 (954)990-0525 or
The Law Offices of Michael A. Dye, PA, 2 S Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33131 (305)459-3286

Convention on International Road Traffic

October 14, 2014 by Michael Dye

International Driving Permit Pursuant to the Convention on International Road Traffic

Convention on International Road Traffic, How to Turn a Misdemeanor into an International Conflict

If you practice criminal law in South Florida, you will defend people who are not residents or citizens of the United States. Treaties between the United States and various countries are fertile ground for finding affirmative defenses to some common criminal offenses. Pursuant to Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution States “all Treaties made,or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” To put it simply, treaties between the United States and another country which are 1) signed by the President and 2) ratified by the Senate trump state law.

So what happens when a treaty, being the supreme law of the land, and state law conflict? The answer is simple, the treaty prevails. I have had the privilege of representing individuals who were not US Citizens or residents that were cited or arrested for having no valid Florida Drivers License. All of them were in the United States on business and 3 of the 5 had an “International Driving Permit” in their possession. An International Driving Permit(hereinafter “IDP”) is a document that arose out of the Convention on International Road Traffic. It simply provides a translation of an individuals license in his or her native language into English. It is important to note that an IDP may or may not be required for the affirmative defense under the treaty, but it is good to have.

The Convention on International Road Traffic permits an individual who is licensed in one of the signatory countries to legally drive in any of the other signatory countries without having to be re-licensed in that country. Possession of a valid foreign drivers license from a signatory country is an absolute and complete defense to the charge of driving with no valid license because the treaty trumps Chapter 316 Florida Statutes.

Personally, I file this motion as a Motion to Dismiss under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190 for lack of probable cause. The Judge dismissed the case for “no probable cause” in 4 out of the 5 cases in which I filed the Motion. The one exception was an Israeli gentleman who did not have an IDP, but presented the court his drivers license from Israel. Unfortunately, the Judge could read Hebrew and motion was denied because his Israeli drivers license had expired. The case was later dismissed on other grounds.

Treaties are not just for traffic cases. There are numerous treaties involving family law, criminal interrogation and enforcement of foreign civil judgments. It is a good idea to see what treaties are on topic when you are representing a foreign nation.

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For additional information, please contact

The Law Offices of Michael A. Dye, PA, 1 E Broward Blvd #700, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 (954)990-0525 or
The Law Offices of Michael A. Dye, PA, 2 S Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33131 (305)459-3286

Florida Mugshot Removal