The FCC’s decision is a potential blow to broadband companies Few people can get through the day without using the internet. Whether you’re checking your email or sending documents to a work colleague, you probably need the web to get things done. In fact, a staggering 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created online every single day. With every page ... Read More The post FCC Puts a Leash on Broadband Providers appeared first on .
FCC Puts a Leash on Broadband Providers
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Thanksgiving Ritual: Alice's Restuarant Open Thread
It's Thanksgiving! Progressive radio stations around the country will be playing Arlo Guthrie's 18 minute version of Alice's Restaurant, about his trip down to White Hall St. in lower Manhattan to sit on the Group W bench and wait until... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Governor Rauner decides 160 clemency petitions on November 23, 2016
Governor Rauner released yet another batch of clemency decisions the day before Thanksgiving (11/23/2016), granting 8 individuals pardons and denying 152. One of the individuals pardoned was a Vietnam pilot convicted of reckless homicide in DuPage County for a car crash that happened over 60 years ago. Another pardoned individual had a 1965 felony forgery conviction in Douglas County. I am awaiting additional details about the other 6 pardoned individuals and will post an update here as soon as I have more information. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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Thankful for so much for so many reasons ... including all sorts of 2016 sentencing law and policy developments
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Involuntary Commitment Does Not Trigger Miranda, Court Rules
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “If I have an outstanding warrant, what should I do?” To many people, involuntary commitment in a psychiatric facility seems like the equivalent of jail when it comes to restricting your freedoms; for some, it could be considered even worse. However, the majority of the N.C. Court of Appeals feels differently, with a divided panel recently ruling that a man who was involuntarily committed after he tried to kill himself was not in custody for Miranda warning purposes. Continue reading →
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Happy Thanksgiving. Really.
Dinner is over here in the For the Defense household. We are fortunate. Lots of good food (too much, really) for the carnivores and the vegetarians. Enough good wine for those who indulge and no sneering at those who choose to abstain. The conversation was rich and warm. No hostility here where we all share a general set of attitudes - though with enough variation in focus and detail to keep it interesting. Despite the dogs' best efforts, they didn't manage to prevent the meal from being cooked. I only cut myself once. Thanksgiving is actually my favorite holiday. Family and friends and food without the trappings of one or another religion and without patriotic hoopla. It's not that I'm inherently opposed to holidays with those things, but for once we have one that's just about the pleasure of being together and sharing in a meal.And of course thanks. As I said, we are fortunate. Many are…
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WakeMed Pays Penalties for Non-Employed Medical Director Fees. Learn From Their Experience.
Smaller hospitals and surgery centers often use medical director fees. One concern is that there is often not a great deal of effort into determining whether these medical director fees violate the bans on physician self referrals. Each case is different, howver, one case to review is a recent one involving WakeMed Health and Hospitals in North Carolina. OIG alleged that WakeMed paid remuneration to one non-employed medical director in the form of medical director fees.After WakeMed disclosed conduct to OIG pursuant to its Corporate Integrity Agreement about payment of medical director fees, it agreed on October 26, 2016, to pay $146,235.38 for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law provisions applicable to physician self-referrals and kickbacks. Before your facility considers whether it should pay a directorship fee or whether as a physician or provider you should receive one, ensure that you have obtained a true legal opinion as to why that…
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Black Friday #cjreform reading list
Grits plans to spend some of the weekend catching up on my reading, and thought I'd share links to a few recent academic articles I'm hoping to get to in the coming days:"The Constitution of Police Violence": "[T]he same legal framework that authorizes and normalizes the ordinary traffic stop also permits and even encourages killings of unarmed suspects.""Out of Ferguson: Misdemeanors, Municipal Courts, Tax Distribution, and Constitutional Limitations": If fines and fees "serve a primary or even exclusive revenue raising function," should they be classified "as emanating from exercise of the taxing rather than the policing power of the municipality"? The article focuses on Missouri, where anti-tax ballot initiative by voters helped spur reliance on fines and fees for revenue."Consolidating Local Criminal Justice: Should Prosecutors Run the Jails?": Would making prosecutors responsible for jail costs limit…
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Can I Be Convicted If There’s No Evidence?
I rarely watch horror movies, but I’ve seen enough to know that most of the plots focus on young white kids doing something stupid. I define stupid as entering a creepy abandon house for no good reason. Many stand up comics have good rants on the horror film behavior of black people versus white people. A complete list of these differences was teased out by comedian Orlando Jones, and it can be found here. For example, Orlando believes that black folks would never “adopt a kid who turns out to be the devil”, or “eat grilled chicken”, and these are common activities for white horror film stars. Eddie Murphy believes that horror films will never star black folks because if “there’s a ghost in the house, [black people] get the fuck out”. The movie would last 30 seconds. No needless investigations of what’s lurking downstairs. (See Eddie Murphy’s…
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FBI: Homicides Uptick by 11 Percent in 2015, Violent Crimes Up Marginally
Murders in the U.S. shot up by more than 10 percent in 2015, compared to the year prior, while violent crimes overall inched upward about 4 percent during the same time frame. That’s according to the latest statistics reported by the FBI. This was the highest violent crime rate in three years. We must be mindful of the fact that these numbers are much lower than the crime levels reported a decade or two ago, but still a marked increase following several years of decline. These figures were highly anticipated because violent crime in the U.S. has been given greater scrutiny the last few months, particularly as it’s an issue that has been noted repeatedly by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. While certain violent crimes like rape, robbery and assault have fallen, the rise of homicide and other serious crimes has drawn concern. Addressing the latest figures in a meeting on curbing violent in certain areas, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch asserted…
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DeVries on Browser Histories and Obstruction of Justice
Juliana DeVries (University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Students) has posted 20 Years for Clearings Your Browser History? (Berkeley Crim. L. J., 2017, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In today’s world, average people create and delete massive...
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To In Propria Persona or not In Propria Persona? Sixth Circuit Affirms Appointment of Counsel for Unruly Defendant
Defense attorneys have their fair share of stories involving difficult clients, and many of us have served as "standby" counsel for defendants who wish to represent themselves (insert the old "fool for a client" adage here). In United States v. Pryor, however, the Sixth Circuit addressed a less frequent situation: one in which the defendant is so disruptive to the court's proceedings that it not clear, what, if anything he intends to do.Jermaine Pryor -- who would prefer we call him "Al Gomono Bey" -- (we will just call him Pryor) was indicted for conspiring to distribute heroin between 2012 and 2014. The indictment stemmed from an investigation law enforcement that involved several intercepted phone calls between other individuals and Prior, who went by the code names "Daffy" and "Taz."The procedural history of this case is...well...interesting. Although he never identified himself as such, Pryor…
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The Business Transaction Called “Dinner” At 1300 On Fillmore
The choice of an upscale soul food restaurant to Thanksgiving dinner was an interesting one. Since we were far from home, a restaurant was the only option, and why not try something interesting since it wasn’t going to be the Thanksgiving flavors that brought us home anyway? Reservations were made for 1300 On Fillmore in San Francisco. Here’s the review for Zagats: It seemed like an interesting idea to have Thanksgiving dinner here. It was not. We had 6:30 reservations, but weren’t seated until 7:30. We ordered a bottle of white wine and they gave us burgundy glasses. When I asked, a random guy came to the table, said “those are the only wine glasses we have,” and walked away. Either they ran out of clean wine glasses or are clueless. This guy, we later learned was the manager, had severe social issues. The wine bottle was left on the table as they had no ice buckets. The duck salad app, supposedly duck and confit, had one tiny bit of duck and a…
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Can I file a Personal Injury Lawsuit on Behalf of a Deceased Family Member?
When a person has died through the fault or negligence of someone or something else, do members of his or her immediate family have any legal recourse? In most cases, the answer is yes. Every state in the union gives surviving family members the option of suing the responsible party for wrongful death. In fact, the right to bring this type of suit will often extend to distant relatives, life partners and others who stand to suffer financially in consequence. In any such case, the responsible accident can have been of numerous types. Among other things, it might have stemmed from: A car accident. A defective product. Medical malpractice. Corporate, individual or governmental negligence. Malicious mischief. Deliberate intent. Potential Defendants in a Wrongful Death Suit Defendants in cases of wrongful death can run the gamut. For example, if a defective escalator should prove to have been responsible, the defendant roster could include: The negligent property owner. The…
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Do You Have to Worry About Being Charged with Marijuana Possession in Nevada?
If you are a resident of Nevada, you have probably heard about the fact that the recreational use of marijuana is supposed to become legal across the state. Because of this, you might have questions about whether or not you have to worry about being charged with marijuana possession in Las Vegas or elsewhere in Nevada. Right now, the answer is yes. Even though marijuana is scheduled to become legalized in Nevada, this law does not take effect until January 1st, 2017. In the meantime, you shouldn’t expect for police officers or judges to be lenient about marijuana use and possession. Until it is legalized, officers are expected to look for and charge citizens and tourists for possession of marijuana under the current laws. If you do not have a medical marijuana license, or if you do have a medical marijuana card but are in possession of more marijuana than the state allows, you can and will be charged for possession of the drug. This means that in general, it is probably…
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Guide to Colorado Biking Laws
Riding a bicycle is great for your health, great for the environment, and it’s fun! But, did you know that there are specific laws for bicyclists? Colorado statutes and local ordinances detail the laws for operating a bicycle (or any …The post Guide to Colorado Biking Laws appeared first on Colorado Springs Accident Attorney | Laybourne Law Firm.
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Modernisierung des Aktienrechts
Gemäss einer Medienmitteilung vom 23. November 2016 des Bundesamts für Justiz will der Bundesrat das Aktienrecht modernisieren, wozu er die entsprechende Botschaft zuhanden des Parlaments verabschiedet hat. Zentrale Punkte sind die Flexibilisierung der Gründungs- und Kapitalvorschriften und die Stärkung der Aktionärsrechte sowie eine massvolle Regulierung der Vergütungsvorschriften. Weiter will der Bundesrat die Finanzströme in der Rohstoffbranche transparenter machen und mittels Richtwerten die Gleichstellung zwischen Mann und Frau in der Vertretung im obersten Kader grosser börsenkotierter Gesellschaften fördern.Insbesondere sieht die Botschaft zum neuen Aktienrecht vor, dass beispielsweise neu auch ein Aktienkapital in ausländischer Währung und im Rahmen eines neuen Kapitalbands eine genehmigte Kapitalherabsetzung zulässig sein sollen. Ferner sollen künftig AG und GmbH ohne Urkundsperson gegründet,…
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OH3: Burning MJ on lot next to def, with his admission to firefighters it was his MJ and fire, justified knock-and-talk
The fire department was called to an open burn, and the police came along, too. There was the apparent smell of burning marijuana. The officers went to the nearest structure next door for a knock-and-talk about the burning marijuana. The … Continue reading →
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Friedman on Third-Party Doctrine
Perry Friedman has posted Revisiting the Third-Party Doctrine (Criminal Law Bulletin, Vol. 53, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Developed during the 1970’s, the third-party doctrine states that one has no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding information that they...
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Before you go out Drinking, Have a Plan
Before you go out Drinking, Have a Plan If you start the night off with a plan, you are more likely to end the night sleeping in your own bed instead of sleeping at the grey bar motel. Throughout the past 20 plus years I have been representing people for DUI in California, I have found that when people have a plan at the beginning of the night, their night tends to end more successfully. What does that mean to you? Before you go out drinking, formulate an action plan for your night. Decide several things before you leave your house. First, even before you decide who is going to drive, plan on eating something. I can’t tell you how many times clients, particularly women, tell me they hadn’t eaten all day before they got arrested for DUI. I can’t tell you how many client’s, especially men, who got arrested in the wee hours of the morning on their way to or from a fast food restaurant, trying to get some food in their systems before…
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More Pages to Explore .....
