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Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Issues Guidance, Signaling Good News for Recreational Marijuana Industry

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Entrepreneurs looking to enter Massachusetts’ newly minted recreational marijuana market can sleep a bit easier tonight after a statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling (the top federal prosecutor for the state) regarding his enforcement priorities surrounding marijuana sales. Copyright: jirkaejc / 123RF Stock PhotoAs many in the industry are aware, federal prosecutors for years were guided by the “Cole Memo,” which endorsed a hands-off approach to enforcement against businesses operating where marijuana had been legalized under a state-sanctioned program. But this January, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo and issued his own Memorandum instructing federal prosecutors to “follow well-established principles that govern all federal prosecutions” in actions involving cannabis-related businesses. While this announcement initially sent shockwaves through the industry, we counseled companies to cautiously continue business as…

Calabresi on Special Counsel

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Steven G. Calabresi (Northwestern University - Pritzker School of Law) has posted Congress Has Not Created an Inferior Office of Special Counsel Since 1999 on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The defenders of the constitutionality of Robert Mueller's appointment as...

4 Things to Know about NJ’s Bill Targeting Harassment Deals

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Timothy J. Ford, quoted As published in Law360, July 16, 2018, 3:25 PM EDT Pending New Jersey legislation that would bar workplace harassment settlements subject to nondisclosure agreements captures the zeitgeist of the #MeToo movement on its surface, but Garden State attorneys who analyzed the measure say there’s more to the proposal than meets the eye. The Senate last month unanimously blessed the initiative, which was instituted by both legislative chambers in the wake of high-profile sex scandals that felled the careers of film producer Harvey Weinstein, late Fox News chief Roger Ailes and countless other celebrities. Now pending before the Assembly in two identical bills, the lesser known parts of the legislation have sparked discussions in legal circles. Here are four takeaways attorneys should know about S121 and A1242. The Measure Doesn’t Require Disclosure While the defense bar and the New Jersey Bar Association have raised concerns that the ban on…

Nursing homes, consultants settle whistleblower claims for $10 million

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On July 18, the Department of Justice announced that two consulting firms and nine skilled nursing facilities in Florida and Alabama agreed to pay $10 million to settle civil claims, originally brought by three former employees of one of the nursing homes. DOJ’s press release stated: Southern SNF Management, Inc., Rehab Services in Motion d/b/a Dynamic Rehab and nine affiliated skilled nursing facilities in Florida and Alabama have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting or causing the submission of false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services, the Department of Justice announced today.  Under the agreement, Southern SNF, Dynamic Rehab and the nine skilled nursing facilities will pay the United States a total of $10 million. “Today’s settlement demonstrates our continuing commitment to ensure that Medicare providers do not place their own financial gain over patients’…

Baltimore County Circuit Court

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The Baltimore County Circuit court is the trial court of general jurisdiction in Baltimore County, Maryland. Baltimore County Circuit Court Contact Information Physical Address: 401 Bosley Avenue Towson, Maryland 21204 Google map for the Baltimore County Circuit court. Mailing Address for Baltimore County Circuit Court Circuit Court for Baltimore County  County Courts Building  P.O. Box 6754  Towson MD 21285-6754 Phone Numbers for the Baltimore County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office: 410-887-2601 Adoptions: 410-887-3069 Appeals: 410-887-3090 Child Support: 410-887-7670 Civil: 410-887-2622 Civil Assignment: 410-887-2660 Copy Center: 410-887-2618 Courtroom Clerks: 410-887-3414 Criminal: 410-887-2625 Criminal Assignment: 410-887-2694 Family Law: 410-887-2614 Foreclosures: 410-887-2652 Juvenile: 410-887-3836 Land Records (Deeds): 410-887-3088 Licenses (Business and Marriage): 410-887-2607 Trusts: 410-887-3469 Baltimore…

ICE Repeatedly Targets U.S. Citizens By Mistake

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According to a recent Newsweek article, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been accused of wrongfully detaining hundreds of American citizens for days, months, or even years in some cases. Between 2008 and the beginning of 2018, immigration judges terminated or suspended deportation proceedings against 880 individuals whose claims of citizenship merited further investigation prior to deportation.   ICE Repeatedly Targets U.S. Citizen by Mistake In one extreme case, ICE detained a U.S. citizen for nearly three-and-one-half years, simply due to an administrative error when looking for the man’s father in an immigration database. Even worse, after federal officials realized that the man had been wrongfully detained, they still refused to release him and attempted to deport him on the basis of a U.S. interpretation of a Jamaican law. An immigration judge ordered him deported, but a U.S. District Court finally ruled that the man should be freed from an…

Crash on I15 Near Hamer Blocks Lane

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IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 07/18/18 2:10 PM Please direct questions to the District Office Idaho State Police are on scene of a crash southbound on I15 at mile post 155 near Hamer, ID. The left lane is currently blocked and will be for a period of time while units investigate the crash. More information will be released as it becomes available. 2406 -------------

What to Do If Charged with Importuning

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You may have never heard the legal term “importuning” until you or a loved are charged with this crime. If this is the case, then you should definitely know what it is exactly and what to do if you’re charged with importuning. Importuning definition First, be advised that importuning is defined as “approaching or soliciting someone, as in soliciting a prostitute or a minor for sex.” Most likely, an importuning charge involves such a sex crime, and the worst would involve a minor. Texas law takes sex crimes against minors — those under age 18 — very seriously. If you face a charge of importuning or encouraging a minor to have sex, you face a charge which can lead to a large fine and years in prison. It could also mean you’d have to register as a sex offender, if convicted, on the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry. All this makes it clear that, if charged with importuning, you need an experienced sex crime defense lawyer, which our…

How to Beat a Charge of Pandering Obscenity Involving a Minor

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If you unjustly face a charge of pandering obscenity involving a minor, you should know your legal options to beat such a charge and have it reduced or even dropped. What is pandering obscenity? First, you should understand precisely what is meant by “pandering obscenity” involving a minor. This often can mean possession or promotion of child porn. It’s a serious charge which requires a strong Texas child porn defense attorney. Pandering means that a person tries to recruit, encourage or promote someone into illegal sex work or prostitution. Like “pimping,” it constitutes exploitation of illegal workers. As for obscenity, under Texas obscenity law (Texas Penal Code Chapter 43.21) this means material that’s “patently offensive” or serves a “prurient interest in sex.” However, the actual definition of obscene material is handled on a case by case basis. Essentially, to be considered sexually obscene, material must depict…

Atlanta Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers Quoted

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Readers know that I am a criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta who handles lots of federal cases. Most folks also know that various prosecutors employ full-time press officers who put together a “press release” every time that something happens that the prosecutor hopes to see published.  And most of us are so inundated and overwhelmed with information from so many sources that we have a hard time figuring out what is true and what is, to use the recently coined term, “fake news.”  So, let me use a case in which I am involved to demonstrate how all this happens and how sometimes it is important for a lawyer to have his or her client’s side mentioned as part of all this publicity. The local federal prosecutors have their website where they give out their “news,” such as announcing a new set of charges or that someone got convicted and sentenced.  Here is a recent one announcing the guilty plea by my client. Note that it is a…

False Imprisonment: What You Need to Know

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When a relationship within your home turns toxic, there can be a lot of resentment. These negative feelings can become so extreme that one could commit something that is considered unreasonable, tragic, or out-of-line, such as locking their partner in a room for an absurd amount of time to teach them some type of lesson. There are many reasons that people commit these actions, but typically, either stems from revenge or from the need to get them out of their way. In New Jersey, false imprisonment is seen as a type of domestic violence because it often happens between people who had or still have an intimate relationship. The conviction of unlawful imprisonment is serious and can negatively affect someone for the rest of their life. False Imprisonment The name might seem straightforward, but what is considered false imprisonment is different than putting someone else behind bars for a false conviction. If you knowingly restrain another person in an unlawful manner – taking…

Midwest Innocence Project Client Laquanda “Faye” Jacobs Released After 26 Years of Wrongful Incarceration

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Midwest Innocence Project (MIP) client Laquanda “Faye” Jacobs was released yesterday in Newport, Arkansas, after being wrongly incarcerated for 26 years. Jacobs, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole as a juvenile offender, was resentenced to time served after the United States Supreme Court ruled that children cannot receive a mandatory sentence of life without parole. As such, Jacobs has yet to be exonerated. In 1993, Jacobs was wrongfully convicted of capital murder. At the time of the crime, witnesses described the shooter as a woman in her thirties with scars under her eyes wearing black pants and a black coat. Despite this description, then 16-year-old Jacobs was arrested one hour after the crime, still wearing the white dress she wore to church earlier that morning. “Faye’s case has all the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction — incentivized testimony, procedures known to lead to eyewitness misidentifications and absolutely…

Allocating Parental Rights and Responsibilities in an Ohio Divorce

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When you decide to get a divorce, there are many things you have to consider as you and your spouse separate your lives from each other. If you have children, there are even more things you have to deal with, such as who the child will live with and how to divide or share decision-making responsibilities. Divorcing with children is not easy, but it does not have to be overly complicated and difficult. If you have the help of an experienced divorce attorney, many of your child custody issues can be dealt with as well. Parental Rights and Responsibilities Like many states, Ohio no longer uses the term “custody.” Instead, Ohio determines what rights and responsibilities each parent will have in regard to the child. There are two types of parenting arrangements that Ohio courts usually assign: Shared parenting, meaning both parents have parenting rights and responsibilities; or One parent is awarded residential and legal custody. Ohio courts recognize that the best…

Drivers with three or more DWI convictions must serve 180 continuous days in jail; sentence permitting two days a week in jail vacated

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By: Thomas F. Dorn, Jr. On July 17, 2018, in an opinion approved for publication, the Appellate Division in State of New Jersey v Anicama  (A-0452-16T4) held that a driver who had been given a 180 day jail time sentence for a fourth drunk driving conviction could not serve his jail time two days a week for 90 weeks.  Defendant Anicama pled guilty to Driving While Intoxicated in municipal court.  He had three prior DWI convictions and a prior controlled substance conviction.  Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant received a ten year loss of license and 180 days in jail.  Defendant requested that his 180 day jail sentence be served two days a week because he claimed that a continuous jail sentence would result in the loss of his restaurant business.  The municipal court judge granted defendant’s two day a week jail sentence request, citing N.J.S.A. 2B:12-22 as authority.  The State appealed, claiming that the serving of the 180 days…

Robinson & Robinson on Shadow Vigilantes

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Paul H. Robinson and Sarah Robinson (University of Pennsylvania Law School and Independent) have posted Shadow Vigilantes: How Distrust in the Justice System Breeds a New Kind of Lawlessness: Section III. The Subversions and Perversions of Shadow Vigilantism (Prometheus Books...

“She said she was 19. How can I be charged with RAPE?”

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I frequently get this question – “how can they charge me with rape? She said she was 19!” The answer is simple, a representation of the age of an apparently consenting person means nothing! Bupkis! Nada! Absolutely nothing! What matters is the age of the person – that is – the ACTUAL age. The law does not care that some young woman or man tells you a bold-faced lie. It is not a defense to a charge of sexual misconduct – including rape. Whenever the issue of age comes up there we want to believe the person with whom we want to “be.” Why would they lie? Maybe you have an idea that they are lying but you ignore that little bell ringing a warning in the back of your mind because hormones are raging – and well you get the picture. If you hear that little bell, STOP! It is illegal in Idaho to have sexual contact with a minor regardless of consent. The only real exception to that rule involves a consenting partner who is 16 or 17…

Even a “Little” Mistake Can Mean Big Restitution

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It’s something you might now have considered. As far as you’re concerned, you made just a little mistake.  That aside, you don’t really think your charges mean you’ll be sent to jail. You’re ready to pay whatever fines the judge orders. And, yes – you know you’ll have to dip into your pocket for court costs. However, you might have to take out a personal loan for one other expense. You need to be prepared to pay court-ordered restitution. More than likely, you already have an inkling as to the legal definition of restitution. Restitution may be relevant in contract disputes to make up for economic losses. When it comes to criminal charges, restitution means providing some sort of restoration to the victim. Let’s say for example you decided to take some spray paint to a building in Jersey City. No doubt your “artistic” antics are seen by the court as graffiti. Under New Jersey law, it’s already a crime of the…

Can New Jersey’s Dying Malls Be Saved?

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Jason R. Rittie, quoted As published in New Jersey Monthly Magazine, July 17, 2018 It’s lunchtime on a Tuesday, and there are no shoppers in sight at the Phillipsburg Mall. Just outside the entrance, a guy is smoking weed. Inside, the loudest sound is the echo of my own footsteps. In the distance, I detect the hum of the mall’s HVAC system. No one is manning the customer service desk on this afternoon. The ice cream shop is dark—though its blackboard still advertises a “buy one cone, get one free” special. I turn a corner and a few shoppers come into view. A woman with a shopping bag enters a Hallmark Store, and a half-dozen customers browse the aisles of Old Navy. But apart from the cashier, I appear to be the only one in Kohl’s, one of just two anchor stores left in the mall following the closing earlier this year of Sears and Bon-Ton, a department store chain that is liquidating its 256 stores. I try the wing housing Gold’s Gym,…

Update 2 - Crash Blocks Lane on Interstate 84 at Cloverdale Overpass in Meridian

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IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: 07/19/2018 at 10:49 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***Update 2*** On Thursday, July 19, 2018, at 7:11 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a two-vehicle injury crash westbound Interstate 84 at milepost 47, near the Cloverdale Overpass in Meridian. Anthony Andree, 22, of Nampa, was driving in a 2003 Jeep Liberty. Andree slowed rapidly, and was struck from behind by a 2005 Dodge Caravan, driven by Kaetlyn Wesselman, 18, of Meridian. Wesselman was transported by ground ambulance to St Luke's Meridian Medical Center in Meridian. Andree and Wesselman were wearing seatbelts. The left lane was blocked for approximately two hours while crews worked…

Does Fault Matter in a Los Angeles Hit and Run Case?

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Many of our clients are involved in hit and runs with no fault of their own. They are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and are then left to deal with a criminal offense. Unfortunately, fault is not an issue in a Los Angeles Hit and Run case, but there are many defenses available that may help reduce your case or dismiss it altogether. Let’s consider an example to understand how fault plays a role in a Hit and Run, or lack thereof. It is not as simple as it may seem. When there is an alleged hit and run, both parties are required to stop and exchange information. It is not just the party that may or may not be at fault. Therefore, if you are the person who was hit by another driver, you are also obligated to stay and provide information. This is especially an issue in multi car accidents, where you are caught in between two cars. Donny was driving to work one day and had an important meeting that he needed to be at. As he was driving down the highway, he was…
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