Police say that residents in a suburban Baton Rouge neighborhood called authorities to report that too many people were coming and going from a house in the area. Police claim that residents believed that the traffic to and from the home seemed suspicious.
Law enforcement apparently began to share the suspicion of the neighbors and opened an investigation. Many people use the Internet to conduct research into a wide variety of things, and law enforcement apparently browsed backpage.com during the south Baton Rouge probe. Authorities claim that officers found an ad on the Internet site, which police claim is linked to the home under suspicion.
Authorities claim to have set up a sting through the online ad. Police regularly use the same website to set up prostitution stings, according to The Advocate. That sting has led to the arrest of a couple. The 43-year-old man and 38-year-old woman were arrested on several charges, including prostitution, drug charges and other offenses.
What the police can and cannot do during a criminal investigation is always a point of contention in our courts. The Constitution places limits on what can and cannot be done, but the limits are essentially a form of framework. But the principles remain the supreme law of the land, over and above statutes. A constitutional violation is unlawful.
Because the rulings on constitutional principles derive from a framework, the legal issues can be complex. Each new situation may or may not be involved under previous rulings. Criminal defense lawyers bring challenges to criminal charges and police procedures to help protect against unreasonable government intrusions that violate the Constitution.
Source: The Advocate, “Prostitution arrests roil EBR neighborhood,” Ryan Broussard, July 11, 2013