Who, or What Is Probable Cause?
Welcome to Probable Cause, a legal Substack with the really low standard of review — just like the doctrine it’s named after. I’m Rick Horowitz, a Fresno-based criminal defense lawyer, and this is where I write (and sometimes rant) about the law, science, AI, and the occasionally bizarre intersection of all three.
A law-oriented Substack of criminal defense attorney Rick Horowitz
Probable Cause: The Legal Substack with the Really Low Standard of Review, is a Substack of Fresno-California-based criminal defense lawyer, Rick Horowitz. That’s me, and so from now on, I won’t talk about myself in the third person.
Because that’s weird.
My law office website is at RHDefense.com. I have a regular blog there, which I have maintained for many, many years (some posts may even pre-date my being a lawyer, although I haven’t checked lately to see if those old ones are still there).
Why the name “Probable Cause”?
I actually chose the name many years ago, when I first started blogging about legal issues. (I own probablecause.us, which re-directs to the Criminal Defense Blog portion of my law office website.) This was before I was even a lawyer, but after I became a law student. We were learning different “standards,” and we had been taught that “probable cause” was a “really low standard of review.”
Essentially, it comes into play usually when an appellate-level court is reviewing a lower (usually trial-level) court’s decision on something like authorizing a search warrant. And, unless the decision by the lower court is clearly erroneous, the appellate court will leave it alone.
This immediately struck me as a perfect name for a law blog. I figured, “Hey, I’ll be lucky if I get a few readers. And the standard for reviewing my blog is going to be really, really low.” Plus, I figured that unless I said something really-really-really provocative, I wasn’t going to get any comments. On that last point, I have, so far, been mostly right.
Back in the heyday of legal blogs, or “blawgs,” as some people like to call them. I was part of a small group of legal bloggers around the world (mostly the U.S., but even a few from other countries) who would sometimes riff off of one another’s posts. I don’t see much of that anymore, but at least two of the others from the past have shown up here on this platform.
But this “About” page is about me; not them. (Sorry, guys!)
If you’re interested in reading more about standards of review, there is a short article here, which does not include the standard of probable cause, and another, longer one, here, which does.
What do you plan to write about?
Well, mostly I plan to write about legal things: cases, concepts, and other cra—er, stuff. (Almost got carried away with the alliteration there. And I was going to say, “Craft.” (Yeah, right!))
However, it does occur to me that by divorcing this — that is, writing on Substack — from my law office website, it may be that I’ll occasionally dabble in something else, too. Maybe make it a little more personal? I don’t know yet. What would you like me to write about? I’m open for suggestions! You can email them to me using the email of rick at rhdefense.com.
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update. Plus, I want to feel like Sally Fields. I want to know that you like me! You really like me!
Seriously, though. One thing that keeps me going as a writer is knowing that people read, enjoy, and engage with what I write. I have a number of friends who regularly read my writing. Some few will actually inquire if they haven’t seen something in a while, because they say they enjoy my writing. (Okay, I’m bragging a little bit. But I’m guessing that if you hear that someone else besides me likes my writing, maybe you’ll give it a spin!)
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Disclaimer
Yikes! I almost forgot the disclaimer. So, here it is: I’m a criminal defense lawyer who practices, generally-speaking, in the central part of the San Joaquin Valley of California. As I write this, I almost never appear in a federal court, and I do not practice in any other state.
More to the point, nothing said on this website, or Substack, or newsletter, or whatever you want to call it, is legal advice. Legal advice is reserved for actual clients. You do not become a client by reading my posts, or receiving my newsletters.
If you have a question about a case, ***DO NOT POST IT HERE!*** I feel the need to emphasize that because someone actually did start putting information about his case on my law office website’s blog. To reverse-paraphrase Nike: Just Don’t Do It! Plus, I’m not going to respond with any legal advice, anyway. So not only would it be a Bad Idea™, but it won’t accomplish anything.
To reiterate: you want legal advice, call my office at (559) 233-8886, and be prepared to pay for it.
(Sorry. I get a little passionate about disclaimers, I guess.)
Thank you.
