While mall parking lots have been noticeably empty and department store lines practically nonexistent this holiday season, online shopping is as popular as ever. Cyber Monday has basically transformed into cyber November and December as consumers are saving money and time by clicking to buy instead of venturing out in the cold and rain. The benefits of online shopping are undeniable but do come with some downside. There is an increased risk of fraudulent transactions as consumers become less cautious with their credit cards. We used to think twice about buying online, but the suspicion over whom we buy from is all but gone. Consumers buy from all types of online vendors and they do so on public WIFI networks that are susceptible to hacking with a low degree of computer savvy. Another downside of the massive online shopping market is that it has created a new opportunity for thieves to ruin someone’s holiday spirit. Package theft has become a major issue over the last few…
Police Nab Howard County Package Thieves
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Winter Weather Road Conditions
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 12/14/2016 at 6:01 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office At this time, Idaho State Police is investigating a large number of crashes and slide-offs on Interstate 84 between Mountain Home and Burley. Drivers are advised to plan extra travel time. Please check 511.idaho.gov for updated road conditions and road closures. KJ / AM -------------
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UPDATE: Crash on I15 Near Fort Hall
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 12/14/16 5:20 p.m. ****FINAL UPDATE**** All lanes are now open. ****END UPDATE**** ****UPDATE**** The right lane is currently blocked. ****END UPDATE**** Idaho State Police is currently investigating a single vehicle crash southbound Interstate 15 at milepost 77, near Fort Hall. More information will be released as it becomes available. Please direct questions to the District Office. AM / NG -------------
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SCOTUS adds a few more criminal cases to its current merits docket
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Making the case for AG-nominee Jeff Sessions as an advocate for crime victims
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U.S. Department of Justice 2016 False Claims Act Statistics: Another Banner Year for DOJ and Back-to-Normal for Relators in Declined Cases
The Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) late today announced its False Claims Act recovery statistics and highlights for fiscal year 2016. Here is DOJ's press release, its cumulative statistics for 1987 through 2016, and DOJ's "Fact Sheet" Memo summarizing and extolling the significant False Claims Act settlements and judgments of the Obama administration for 2009 - 2016.2016 was another banner year for the False Claims Act enforcement: the third best ever with $4.7 billion in total FCA settlements/judgments. A few observations regarding the DOJ's 2016 statistics:2016 was DOJ's best year ever for recoveries in non-qui tam FCA cases, i.e. cases in which there was no relator and were direct-filed by DOJ. In 2016, DOJ recovered $1.856 billion, more than double last year's recovery in DOJ initiated cases, and about10% better than its best previous year in 2014.Relator settlements/judgments…
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Owner Of New Jersey Mobile Diagnostic Testing Facility Sued For Submitting Claims To Medicare for Cardiologist Who Was on Pre-Payment Review
A recent federal criminal and civil qui tam case relate to a Medicare provider billing for services provided by another provider who was on pre-payment review. Pre-payment review is also called "paper billing" and is ostensibly designed to ensure that doctors or providers submit claims within established rules and regulations, and which required them to submit documentation, including medical records, to support the services being billed to Medicare. Under pre-payment review, claims for reimbursement that do not have the documentation necessary to support the services being billed are rejected by the Medicare contractor. When a provider is placed on pre-payment review, it is often the death knell for a health care business since collections grind to a halt and often legitimate claims are denied or rejected for arbitrary reasons. It used to be used to train providers but it is now often used as a way to shut down a provider's Medicare practice.In…
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FAQ on Consecutive Sentences for Misdemeanors
The rules limiting consecutive sentences for misdemeanors can be tricky. This post addresses some of the issues that come up from time to time. First, a reminder about the rules. There are two, and they are both in G.S. 15A-1340.22(a). If the court imposes consecutive sentences for two or more misdemeanors, and the most serious misdemeanor is in Class A1, Class 1, or Class 2, the cumulative length of the sentences of imprisonment shall not exceed twice the maximum sentence authorized for the class and prior conviction level of the most serious offense. Consecutive sentences shall not be imposed if all convictions are for Class 3 misdemeanors. Do the rules apply in superior court? Yes. They are misdemeanor sentencing rules, not district court rules. The “twice the maximum sentence authorized” rule refers to this defendant, not the hypothetical worst-case defendant. The rule says the cumulative length of consecutive sentences shall not exceed twice the maximum…
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Interesting review of impact of Prop 47 on drug cases and offenders in California
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News Scan
Hate Crime Accuser Charged: A Muslim woman who claimed that three men screaming "Donald Trump" attacked her on a New York subway, has been charged with making a false police report. Anthony M. DeStefano of Newsday reports that a source with the NYPD has confirmed that Yasmin Seweid admitted that she was lying about the December 1 attack and that she has signed a statement admitting that she had fabricated the incident. This comes as Andrea Nobel of the Washington Times reports that outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited a mosque Monday to decry a spike in hate crimes against Muslims. How about mass shootings Attorney General Lynch? According to a study reported on NPR, mass shootings in the U.S. tripled from 2008 to 2014, and a lot of the shooters were radicalized Muslims. When a Jihadist killed 49 people in a gay nightclub last June, was that a hate crime? Ohio Court Upholds Another Death Sentence: …
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C E N S U R A D O
CENSURADO Como era previsible el señor Jaime Saavedra deberá renunciar, nuestro Presidente aceptar la renuncia y nombrar a sus sucesor dentro de las 72 horas de aceptada la renuncia. No tenía interés en opinar antes, durante o después de todo este circo, hoy lo hago en referencia a la intervención del Congresista Lescano quién precisó que la censura estaba viciada y que era nula porqué se habían introducido en el debate de hoy, 15-12-2016, sobre la censura al Ministro de Educación temas distintos a las preguntas formuladas en la interpelación, posición que no compartía el congresista Mulder a quien se le dio la palabra después que terminó el señor Lescano , Mulder dijo que la interpelación y la censura eran dos cosas distintas y que la interpretación del Congresista Lescano era producto de haber estudiado en una “universidad de…
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Defending Human Rights & the Trump Administration: The Front Line Moves to Washington, DC
Next month Congress will get to interview nominees for the incoming Trump administration. These cabinet nominees are important indicators as to whether his administration will be uphold and protect human rights or whether the inflammatory rhetoric from the campaign will become policy. The implications for human rights – here in the United States and internationally could not be more stark and hard as it may be to remember the incoming administration will have a huge impact globally as well as here in the United States. So far President-elect Trump’s nominees to lead foreign policy raise more alarm than confidence. Rex Tillerson, the nominee to be Secretary of State, has spent 40 years at the multi-national energy giant Exxon Mobil traveling extensively, negotiating deals with foreign governments focused on one thing: profits for the company. The next Secretary of State will face the challenge of armed extremist groups, stopping possible genocides in…
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Szojka et al. on Challenging the Credibility of Child Victims
Zsofia Szojka, Samantha J. Andrews, Michael E. Lamb, Stacia N. Stolzenberg and Thomas D. Lyon (University of London, University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge, Arizona State University (ASU) - School of Criminology & Criminal Justice and University of Southern California...
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Ständerat: Modernisierung des Grundbuchs
Der Ständerat hat in der Session vom 14. Dezember 2016 im Grundsatz den Vorschlägen des Bundesrats zur Modernisierung des Grundbuchs mit 35 zu 2 Stimmen zugestimmt (s. Medienmitteilung). Anders als der Nationalrat hat er auch kein Problem damit, die AHV-Nummer zu grundbuchlichen Zwecken zu verwenden. Nach ihm kann so sichergestellt werden, dass Personen im Grundbuch eindeutig identifiziert werden können. Die kleine Kammer hat am Mittwoch beschlossen, dass die Oberaufsichtsbehörde des Bundes eine zentrale Datenbank über die im Grundbuch geführten Personen betreiben soll. Zur Identifizierung soll die AHV-Nummer verwendet werden. Allerdings soll diese nur im internen Verhältnis sichtbar sein. Für den Publikumsverkehr wird den in der Datenbank verzeichneten Personen eine Grundbuchidentifikationsnummer zugeteilt. Zur Frage, ob die Kantone, die das Grundbuch mittels Informatik führen, private Aufgabenträger einsetzen…
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Spiked Drink Land Pro Soccer Player DUI
I’m a huge fan of England’s top flight soccer league, the English Premier League. While my team is Chelsea F.C. (go Blues!), I keep up with other players and teams. And like many other die-hard fans of the English Premier League, I was surprised when one of the league’s best players was caught driving drunk. Why was I surprised that Yaya Touré, of Manchester City F.C., was caught driving drunk? Because he is known for refusing alcohol due to his Muslim religion. Touré was charged in late November for an incident in which he was pulled over by police for driving with passengers while having a blood alcohol content of twice the legal limit in England of 0.08 percent. So if Touré doesn’t drink alcohol, how did he get caught driving under the influence? Touré believes that his drink was spike at the party that he had left. “Over the last two weeks there has been some confusion as to why I was charged with drink…
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Trump Mistakes Insulting Article as Complimentary
UnPresident-Elect Donald Trump today tweeted out his thanks to Financial Times for naming him person of the year. The article blasted him: A bigger concern may be a lack of knowledge about the world beyond his business empire. There is always the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Why you need to fight your NY Seat Belt Ticket, NY VTL 1129
Many people think that since a NY seat belt ticket carries 0 DMV points it’s safe to just plead guilty to. This belief is wrong. Pleading guilty to a New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1229 (NY VTL § 1129) No Seat Belt can cost you thousands of dollars. This is because a no seat belt conviction still triggers an auto insurance increase. Auto insurers do not base their insurance surcharges on DMV points, but on Insurance Demerit Point, or a “Merit Rating Plan.” Under your insurer’s demerit rating a NY seat belt conviction is a merit system violation. When merit system violations are found in the insured’s 36 month driving history, the car insurance company surcharge, or increases, the insurance premium. Moreover, if you are an out-of-state driver NY communicates the conviction to your home state through the Driver License Compact. The driver’s home state DMV and insurer will then treat the convicted…
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GOV TAPS DEL PINO
Governor Scott selected County Court Judge Vicky Del Pino to assume the Circuit Court seat vacated by Judge Stanford Blake. Heading to Circuit Court in the New Year Meanwhile, second only to the plethora of inauguration events, The Judge Blake retirement tour continues through the holidays, with pretty much every legal group known issuing awards and holding parties in his honor's honor. Next up: the South Sweetwater Probate lawyers society will be throwing a shin-ding to honor the departing judge. Things are winding down. Not too many trials for the next two weeks. So should we do our annual best books or do a top 20 movie countdown? Or just go dark like some other (federal) blogs? Money never sleeps and neither does Rumpole. See you in court. Site Feed
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Green & Levine on Disciplining Prosecutors for Abusing Discretion
Bruce A. Green and Samuel J. Levine (Fordham University School of Law and Touro College - Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center) have posted Disciplinary Regulation of Prosecutors as a Remedy for Abuses of Prosecutorial Discretion: A Descriptive and Normative Analysis...
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[Quiz] Do You Know Your Rights During a Traffic Stop in Virginia?
Back in October, the City of Fredericksburg published a video entitled What to Expect During a Traffic Stop. There is a lot of great information in the video, and I commend the city for proactively educating people. I also felt obligated to respond to a few of their points to help you, the citizen, understand exactly what rights you have when you’re pulled over in Virginia. Because I’ve seen how unfortunate the consequences can be when people do not understand their rights, I’ve created a 10 question quiz addressing issues that commonly arise during traffic stops in Virginia. Take the Quiz and be Entered to Win a $250 Amazon Gift Card Now through January 1st, every person who completes the quiz below will be entered to win a $250 Amazon gift card from Andrew Flusche. Here’s how it works: Complete the below quiz on or before Sunday January 1, 2017. Share the results of your quiz with us on Facebook (@andrewflusche) or Twitter (@aflusche) and…
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