If you are a new business owner in Kentucky, one of the first things you will need to create once you begin hiring employees, is an employee handbook. This valuable resource is a necessary tool for your employees so they can reference the material for information regarding conduct. It is also beneficial for you to use as you train and instruct your employees to be the kind of workers your organization needs to succeed. QuickBooks has shared some helpful suggestions for you as you begin to draft and compile your own employee handbook. Some of the things you should do include the following: Set boundaries: Your employee handbook is an excellent place to discuss boundaries and define the types of behavior that are acceptable. If you amend or change the rules at any time, the handbook should be updated to reflect the differences. Use simple language: While you may be tempted to write formally and with reference to legal jargon, doing so can cause confusion for your employees.…
How can you create an effective employee handbook?
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Critiquing proposed Austin police union contract
The Austin Justice Coalition has compiled a comprehensive summary of criticisms of the local police union contract as the union votes this week and the city council prepares for a pivotal vote in early December. Here's a discussion from the October episode of Just Liberty's Reasonably Suspicious podcast, with accompanying graphics from Sukyi McMahon:For more background, check out a speech from Campaign Zero's Sam Sinyangwe (audio/transcript) and his power point materials critiquing Austin's contract, from an accountability perspective, as among the worst in the country.
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Violating a Court Order in California
If you are given an order by a Los Angeles court you are required, by law, to follow that order. Violating a court order can have serious consequences, including jail time and criminal charges. If you are facing charges for violating a court order in Los Angeles you should not hesitate to contact an attorney. […]
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Drug Smuggling Rises on the Border as Human Trafficking Falls
Drug smuggling appears to be rising at the border between the United States and Mexico as human trafficking falls due to tougher enforcement. A Fox News report in May explored how the Mexican cartels may be responding to the decline in human smuggling by boosting drug smuggling. Like any large corporation that responds to a sagging line of revenue, the Mexican cartels who control the border have replaced a decline in human smuggling with an increase in drug smuggling, the report stated. Fox quoted border agents who said the cartels are seeking to replace their lost revenues from human smuggling with narcotics money. Drug smuggling increases at the border Border Patrol Agent Marlene Castro in the Rio Grande in South Texas said: “They need to make their profits somewhere. They were making so much money from human trafficking. Now that’s at a near all-time low, so they’re trying to make money on narcotics…marijuana, meth, and cocaine.” The trend is…
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How Long Does it Take to Settle a Personal Injury Claim and Lawsuit?
If you’re considering filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit in Maryland you may be asking yourself: “how long does it take to settle a personal injury lawsuit?” At the Law Offices of Randolph Rice, we have years of experience taking our clients personal injury claims to trial. However, before ever considering a lawsuit, we always attempt to settle a personal injury case and claim with the insurance company. Below we will discuss how long it takes to settle a personal injury case in Maryland. How long does a personal injury claim take? A personal injury claim will take as long as necessary to ensure that the victim is fully compensated for their injuries and damages. Personal injury claims are intended to compensate the victims of an accident for their medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. It would be premature to settle a personal injury claim prior to the expiration of the medical treatment and lost time from work. For that reason, a…
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2 Harassment Prevention Orders Vacated In Lawrence District Court
MT, a woman in her mid sixties, lived in a single family house in Andover with her husband. Immediately adjacent to MT’s property lived a family in another single family house. MT had issues. MT did not like certain things that her next door neighbors did in their yard. When the neighbors would come outside MT would go out into her yard and stare at the neighbors. Then MT began shouting obscenities at the neighbors (in the presence of the neighbor’s minor children). The neighbors began to keep a diary of the incidents and finally in October of 2016 went to Lawrence District Court and both the husband and wife were granted Harassment Prevention Orders against MT. The orders were to expire on October 24, 2017. In December of 2016 MT saw her neighbor in the yard; MT went outside into her yard and walked over to the property line and began to stare at the neighbor. The neighbor got out his camera and began to film MT. The neighbor then went into his house and…
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Understaffing at Texas prisons and the implications for decarceration
Your correspondent was quoted in a page one article in the Houston Chronicle today, "Mass exodus of Texas prison guards leaves some units understaffed," about guard shortages at Texas prisons, a topic that Grits has covered for many years. (The author, Keri Blakinger, is new to the Chronicle and the beat, so cut her a little slack for being late to the party; she got here as quickly as she could.)Statewide, the turnover rate among prison guards was 28 percent last year, but at some units it was much higher.County-by-county numbers show that staffing challenges can be highly localized and specific, as in the Texas Panhandle. Hartley and Dallam counties are not in an area particularly known for oil and gas, but a cheese factory in Dalhart has typically pulled away would-be prison workers, Henson said. The other two — Mitchell and Dawson counties — are in the oil-rich Permian Basin. "Whether people will work in prisons depends on hyperlocal…
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"Justice reform is real and conservative governors are leading the way"
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In Orange County CA, do defendants have any protection from corrupt police or district attorneys?
Even if you aren’t familiar with the justice system, most people have heard of Miranda rights by watching TV. These are rights that are guaranteed to a person when he/she is arrested and the police want to interrogate the person. Before the police question anyone they have placed in custody, they must read these rights and make certain that the suspect either agrees or disagrees with them. It is not ambiguous. The person has to explicitly agree to talk to the police knowing that he doesn’t have to. These are the Miranda rights: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?” When a police officer testifies falsely that the defendant waived his Miranda…
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Do Jacksonville Police Officers Use Pedestrian Safety Laws As a Pretext To Search African American Citizens? And If So, At What Cost?
The Florida Time Union released a story with some eye-popping statistics relating to the use of pedestrian citations in the city’s most crime ridden areas of Jacksonville. Jacksonville criminal defense attorneys often challenge these pretextual stops, but the case law continues to generally support the use of profiling, as long as there is a lawful basis for the stop. With so many pedestrian safety statutes on the books, it’s easy for a law enforcement officer to pick and choose who the officer wants to stop and question, under the guise of pedestrian safety. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officers will often conduct a stop and talk or a stop and frisk search on individuals they believe are suspicious and if they uncover something illegal, they will make an arrest. But what effect does their detention have on a citizen who has done nothing wrong? Won’t that person feel profiled? Unjustly singled out? How big of a group is…
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FCPA Violators Beware—SEC to Double Down on Enforcement
The SEC has signaled plans to double down on its FCPA enforcement efforts and speed up FCPA investigations. On November 9, 2017, Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, delivered a speech at New York University School of Law to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the FCPA and the 20th anniversary of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Anti-Bribery Convention. In his speech, Peikin stressed the importance of the FCPA to the Commission’s enforcement mission and noted that the Commission will continue its commitment to FCPA enforcement. Pointing out that the Commission has brought 106 FCPA-related actions against individuals and corporations since forming its designated FCPA Unit in 2010, Peikin highlighted the Commission’s success in fostering a more predictable and uniform approach to FCPA enforcement and domestic and international partnerships in fighting corruption. Peikin stressed the importance of collaborating…
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Minson on Maternal Imprisonment
Shona Minson (Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford) has posted Briefing Paper: The Impact of Maternal Imprisonment upon a Child's Wellbeing and Their Relationship with Their Mother: Findings from 'Who Cares? Analysing the Place of Children in Maternal Sentencing Decisions...
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PROSECUTORS ARE REQUIRED TO GIVE THE DEFENSE ALL EVIDENCE, INCLUDING EVIDENCE THAT MAY BE FAVORABLE TO THE DEFENDANT.
When a person is charged with a crime, the prosecution is bound by law to provide all the evidence supporting the charge or charges, including evidence that might exonerate the defendant. Evidence that is favorable to the defendant is called “exculpatory evidence” and back in 1963, the United States Supreme Court held that the prosecution must give all this exculpatory evidence to the defense. This case, Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, was the seminal case on exculpatory evidence. These days, attorneys refer to Brady evidence when they are talking about exculpatory evidence. Unfortunately, the prosecution sometimes plays fast and loose with exculpatory evidence. And if the defense doesn’t know the evidence exists, it may be hidden by the prosecution and not available in the discovery, leaving the defendant at a disadvantage. This doesn’t happen in every case, most prosecutors run an honest practice, but it happens. A few years ago, the Orange County…
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Senator Robert Menendez Jury Hangs: Mistrial Declared
Here is a story from Max Greenwood of The Hill and another from Bill Wichert of Law 360. Make no mistake about it, this was a great and hard-fought victory for Menendez's lead defense attorneys Abbe Lowell and Raymond Brown...
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New Orleans Man Ordered Released After More Than Seven Years Awaiting Trial
A New Orleans man who has spent nearly eight years in jail awaiting trial on a drug charge should soon be released, according to the Advocate. Kevin Smith was arrested in 2010 when police say they discovered crack cocaine inside a safe in his home. Because Smith was on parole for an unrelated drug conviction, he was denied bail. A series of delays saw Smith spending the better part of a decade behind bars. First, the charges were dismissed and new charges brought after prosecutors discovered evidence that should have been turned over to Smith’s defense team. This restarted the clock on the statutory two-year deadline to try the case. Then, hurricane Isaac hit. Due to a state law established after hurricane Katrina, the two-year window was restarted again. In 2012, the case was transferred to a different department and lost in the shuffle. Years later, Smith was offered a plea deal but rejected it, maintaining his innocence in the case. “He could have come home as…
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News Scan
Ohio Embraces Sentencing Reform: The Ohio Legislature has passed a sentencing reform measure, the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (TCAP) law, to reduce the state prison population and leave non-violent offenders in the community for rehabilitation. Josh Sweigart of the Dayton Daily News reports that the TCAP prevents low-level felons from being sentenced to prison in the state's 10 largest counties. The bill's supporters point to over 4,000 prison inmates who would have qualified for county jail, probation and services last year, rather than time in state prison. Under the new law, counties can receive grants to increase probation staff and services for offenders. Law enforcement officials are not buying the happy talk. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones called TCAP and "unfunded mandate that's coming our way and it's going to shove felons down our throats. We're going to have to start pushing…
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George Takei Facing Allegations of Sexual Assault
It seems like every day there is a new story about how a Hollywood superstar or producer and sexual assault. George Takei is the latest star to be accused of engaging in unsavory (and illegal) sexual behavior. According to a former male model and actor, Takei forcefully groped him while they were at Takei’s Los […]
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Rapper Fetty Was arrested for DUI
On November 3, 2017, police in New York City arrested Rapper Fetty Wap for DUI and other traffic offenses. Police contacted the rapper after he was spotted drag racing on a a New York City highway. Fetty Was was s given a breathalyzer test and had a blood alcohol concentration of.09. The New York legal limit of .08. If you are arrested for drunk driving, or if you get a traffic ticket in Novato, San Rafael, Sausalito, or anywhere in Marin County call an experienced aggressive traffic ticket and DUI defense attorney for help. Continue reading The post Rapper Fetty Was arrested for DUI appeared first on Marin DUI Lawyer Blog.
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Blocking crash SB US95 at MP 312 Offramp
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 2 Patrol 2700 North and South Highway Lewiston, ID 83501-1732 (208) 799-5151 Fax (208) 799-5146 For Immediate Release: 11/16/2017 7:10 PM Please direct questions to the District Office The Idaho State Police are responding to a blocking crash southbound US95 on the offramp near milepost 312. The entire ramp is blocked. Please use alternate routes until further notice. MRW -------------
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Couple Accused of Embezzling High School Band Trip Payments
A married couple who own a travel business were charged with embezzlement after they allegedly accepted payment for booking international trips to Japan for San Diego high school band members and their parents, and then cancelled the trips. The company then filed for bankruptcy and the people were not offered refunds for the thousands of dollars they had spent. Brad and Margie Matheson are the proprietors of a Georgia based travel service called Harmony International. In January 2016, they extended a package to four San Diego area high school’s band departments. The offer was for the school’s band members to take an international trip where parents could accompany their children to Japan. Brad Matheson presented the offer in a Skype meeting telling parents and students, “If you register before March 1, 2016, for this group, you’ll receive free trip cancellation insurance.” He stated this offer was intended as an added incentive bonus in order to…
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