At Techdirt, Mike Masnick notes a curious regulatory smack on the wrist handed telco behemoth Verizon by the FCC: The big telcos don’t exactly have particularly good records protecting your privacy. And now the FCC has reached an agreement with Verizon to pay the largest ever fine to the FCC to settle a long-term practice of hiding the fact that customers could opt-out of having their private info shared with marketers. Even as the “largest” ever such fine, it’s still pennies for Verizon at $7.4 million. To start out the fun, the big problem giving rise to this spanking is corporate use of its customers’ personal info to create a secondary revenue stream by selling it to as many other businesses as it can. At issue was that Verizon is required to have either an opt-in system for sharing information on users with marketers or an opt-out system. But if they have an opt-out system, they have to clearly tell new customers that they can opt-out and how…
Saved By Regulation: Verizon Meets the US Treasury Edition
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Thursday Morning Reading Club
Reuters has a really good article about ISIS today, "In Northeast Syria, Islamic State Builds a Government." Among the many interesting points, it says Baghdadi is calling all the shots, even as to beheadings. He also still fights with the group... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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NJ - Twenty years later, has Megan’s Law delivered?
Maureen KankaOriginal Article 08/24/2014 It’s been 20 years since New Jersey’s Legislature passed Megan’s Law. The two decades since have been filled with legal challenges and disappointment it didn’t accomplish what many thought it would. It’s what happens when politics and emotion team to shortcut the legislative process. The law is named for Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed in 1994 when she was 7 after being lured into the home of a twice-convicted sex offender, Jesse Timmendequas,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Aggravated Battery in the Game of Golf
According to the Palm Beach Post, a relaxing day of golf turned violent when a man became agitated and attacked his two partners with a putter. According to the police report, Michael Rich, of Royal Palm Beach, is in jail facing two counts of aggravated battery. Rich allegedly hit Roy Hall on the back of his leg with a golf putter and then swinging the broken golf club like a sword, struck Anthony Nazzaro, 72 years old, on the wrist. In Florida, Aggravated Battery is defined as a simple battery, which is touching another person against their will or without their consent, and when committing the simple battery the person intentionally or knowingly causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, and permanent disfigurement to the victim or uses a deadly weapon, when committing the battery. Aggravated Battery is a felony of the second degree, punishable by up to 15 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. Great bodily harm is distinguished from slight, trivial, minor, or…
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MillerCoors Fraud: Embezzlement by Executives Colluding With Vendors
Last week MillerCoors filed suit against 14 individuals and 15 companies, alleging over $10 million was stolen from the company. The claims include civil theft, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy and racketeering. Former MillerCoors executives David Colletti (vice president of on-premise marketing) and Paul Edwards (director of on-premise channel marketing) are […]
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Florida Jail House Calls as Evidence
While in jail awaiting trial or release on bond, many inmates find the need to continuously telephone their family, their friends, and their lawyer from inside the jail. Inmates continuously telephone the outside world for many reasons: boredom, concern, and to “discuss their case.” One must always remember that every single call made from a correctional facility in Florida is recorded. Recorded jailhouse telephone calls will be used by the prosecutor, as evidence against the accused, even when the accused is confiding in his or her mother for moral support. This issue was recently ferreted out by the appellate courts in Florida in Bass v. State. Bass was being held pre-trial on the charges that he robbed and murdered a drug dealer in Bay County, Florida. Prior to Bass’ trail, the prosecutor filed a motion to permit the conversation between Bass and his mother, wherein he told her that he would take 15 years for what he has done, into evidence. The recorded…
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NY - Sex Offenders Housing Restrictions Are Pointless
Original Article 08/25/2014 By Jesse Singal On Thursday, Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times reported that “Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live.” In short, since 2005, sex offenders in the state can't live within 1,000 feet of a school, and a February ruling from the state's Department of Corrections and Community... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Thursday Morning Open Thread
Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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How Does a Virginia DUI Conviction Affect My Insurance
How Does a Virginia DUI Conviction Affect My Insurance If you are charged with a DUI in Virginia, there are many things to consider. You must consider your possibility of jail time, fines, suspension of your driving privileges in Virginia, and who to hire as your attorney, but you must also consider the consequences a […]
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FL - Why were service members targeted in local sex stings?
Original Article 08/26/2014 By Noah Pransky Former Army JAG tells 10 Investigates the Air Force is breaking the law by participating in local sex stings where no military members are involved. PINELLAS COUNTY - Not only have Central Florida law enforcement officers violated federal rules in conducting "To Catch a Predator"-inspired sex stings, but 10 Investigates has learned they may also violate longstanding federal law that prohibits the use of military resources to enforce state... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Convicted Ponzi Schemer Admits New Real Estate Fraud Charges
Eliyahu Weinstein, 39, Lakewood, New Jersey, who was previously sentenced to 22 years in prison for running a real estate investment fraud scheme that caused $200 million in losses, admitted that he also defrauded investors in connection with the Facebook IPO and several additional real estate deals and then laundered the proceeds of the scheme. Weinstein pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano to three counts of an indictment pending against him: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of committing wire fraud while on pretrial release, and one count of money laundering. Two co-defendants, Alex Schleider, 48, Lakewood, and Aaron Glucksman, 41, Brooklyn, New York, have already pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the scheme. Judge Pisano sentenced Glucksman on May 5, 2014, to 52 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered him to forfeit $1.2 million. Judge Pisano ordered Glucksman’s sentence to run…
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Ringleader of Nationwide Foreclosure Rescue Scam Gets 35 Year Prison Sentence
Charles Head, 40, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (formerly of Los Angeles and Orange County, California), was sentenced by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to 35 years in prison for his role in a scheme whereby victims were fraudulently led to complete transactions that substituted straw buyers for the victim homeowners on the titles of properties without the homeowners’ knowledge. . A hearing to determine the amount of restitution has been set for November 22, 2014. In sentencing, Judge Mueller noted that Charles Head had “created and implemented a very cynical scheme” and that Head’s life has “shown an inability to respect the law.” In 2013, Head was convicted in two jury trials of two conspiracies to commit mail fraud in connection with nationwide foreclosure rescue scams. He was also convicted of seven counts of mail fraud. According to evidence presented at trial and at his sentencing hearing, Head was the CEO of a group…
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So You Don’t Want To Win?
A call came in from an old pal, a partner in one of those huge, multi-national Biglaw firms that get the first call from important people about big cases, because resources. After going through the usual courtesies, we got down to business. Him: So it’s a small case, really. Not the sort of thing that you handle. Me: And yet you called. So what’s up. Him: Well, the defendant is, you know, “high profile.” Me: “High profile”? As in, an important guy you make a lot of money off? Him: Exactly. So can you do me a solid and take this case and cut him a good deal? Me: Wait, you want me to go in for the purpose of cutting a deal? Him: Exactly. Quick and easy, in and out. Me: So he doesn’t want to win? My pal then launched into an explanation, that his partner, the “white collar specialist” formerly know as the prosecutor, had already been contacted and explained…
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Minnesota DUIs At Lowest Levels in 20 Years
The number of DUI arrests across the state of Minnesota fell to its lowest level since 20 years, and authorities say improved enforcement and shifting public perception of drinking and driving are the biggest reasons for the decline. Minnesota police arrested 25,719 individuals for driving under the influence in 2013, and while that number still represents about 70 DUI arrests a day, that’s a huge improvement from just a few years ago when there were 41,951 such arrests in 2006. 19,036 Minnesotans received a criminal conviction, which also represents a 20-year low. Despite the downward trend, Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske said drunk driving is still a huge issue. “It’s obviously a problem,” said Roeske. “Some don’t care about the consequences. Some struggle with chemical dependency and that contributes to the poor choice of getting behind the wheel when impaired.” Crash data seems to confirm Roeske’s sentiments. 40…
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DEA Renews Arizona DoC's Registration to Import Pentobarbital
"Corrections department renews registration to import execution drug," is by Miranda Rivers of ASU's Cronkite News Online. The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday renewed the Arizona Department of Corrections’ registration to import pentobarbital, the drug of choice for executions in...
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San Antonio may criminalize giving to panhandlers
According to AP: Unable to dissuade panhandlers from asking people for money, the San Antonio police chief now wants authority for his officers to write Class C tickets to passersby who give people spare change! Problem is, asking for money is speech and, after Citizens United ruling, we all know money is speech. So First Amendment red flags abound.Here's Texas Civil Rights Project legal director Wayne Krause's money quote in the AP story, "The idea of criminalizing people giving is both unkind and legally unsound. ... The First Amendment protects the right to ask for help. It certainly protects the right to choose to whom we give assistance."It's great TCRP is fighting this, but it's too bad there wasn't any clergy in the room. Somebody could have quoted to the council from Matthew 25:36-47. Perhaps some of them will have time to review those passages before the ordinance comes before them next month.
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Robert S. Bennett (Absolutely No Relation)
I’ve written about Robert S. Bennett from time to time, and I’m not impressed by him. But neither was I impressed with the State Bar’s effort to disbar him, which effort succeeded in March. Robert S. Bennett was barred: from practicing law in Texas, holding himself out as an attorney at law, performing any legal services for others, accepting any fee directly or indirectly for legal services, appearing as counsel or in any representative capacity in any proceeding in any Texas court or before any administrative body or holding himself out to others or using his name, in any manner, in conjunction with the words ‘attorney at law,’ ‘attorney,’ ‘counselor at law,’ or ‘lawyer,'” So what’s Robert S. Bennett doing now? He’s “President” of “Bob Bennett Licensing Services.” In his LinkedIn page he categorizes the company as “legal services” (which would violate the…
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John Kerry at NATO: No Boots on Ground Against ISIS
John Kerry addressed the ISIS crisis at the NATO summit conference today, saying: “They’re an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, caliphate-desiring quasi-state with an irregular army, and leaving them in some capacity... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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School is Back in Session Throughout Idaho - Please Slow Down in School Zones and Around Bus Stops
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE Teresa Baker Public Information Officer Headquarters 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 884-7122 Fax (208) 884-7087 For Immediate Release: 9/5/14 at 12:30 p.m. IDAHO FALLS - Next week the last of Idaho's school children will be back in school and Idaho State Police along with local law enforcement agencies want to warn motorists of the danger that may be just around the corner as thousands of children travel to and from school each day. ISP reminds motorists to slow down and take notice of speed limits in school zones and to watch for children everywhere as they wait at bus stops or walk or ride their bikes or scooters to school. "Slow down," says Idaho State Police Lieutenant Chris Weadick, "It's the most obvious way to see what is going on around…
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225.05 and 225.30 of the Penal Law ...cont
'A defendant who has been arraigned in New York criminal court upon an information which charges a misdemeanor Other than one defined in article two hundred twenty-five of the penal law or in the multiple dwelling law, may, before entering of a plea of guilty or commencement of trial, request a hearing to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that he committed such misdemeanor.' In a case, the United States Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not require an Adversary determination of probable cause. The court held that the Fourth Amendment only requires a state to 'provide a fair and reliable determination of probable cause as a condition for any significant pretrial restraint of liberty'. The defendants having all been released on their own recognizance, they are not subject to any significant restraint of their liberty and therefore are not constitutionally entitled to even the limited Fourth Amendment judicial determination…
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