This post examines an opinion the Appellate Court of Illinois issued recently: Regions Bank v. Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc., 2014 IL App (5th) 130193 (2014). As the court explains in the opening sentence of its opinion, the plaintiff in the civil suit,Regions Bank, d/b/a Regions Morgan–Keegan Trust (“the Bank”), as independent administrator of the estates of Sheri Coleman, Garett Coleman, and Gavin Coleman, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Monroe County dismissing with prejudice its claims against the defendant, Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc., on the ground that the plaintiff failed to state any claim upon which relief could be granted.Regions Bank v. Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc., supra. As I have noted in earlier posts, and as Wikipedia explains, a motion asserting that the plaintiffs’ Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is how lawsuits with insufficient legal theories underlying their cause of…
The "High-Level Security Employee," Emails and Murder
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The Other Side of the American Rule
Much as I admire Wally Olson’s standing guard against the stupid and venal in law, his effort to demonstrate the inconsistency of the American Rule, that each party pays its own legal fees, through the case of Alabama prisoner, Anthony Warren, is a poor choice. Warren isn’t exactly the most sympathetic of “victims”: Warren is serving a 20-year sentence for attempted murder stemming from his running over a police officer during the chase, in which he also hit a school bus and a patrol car before crashing and being ejected from his vehicle. And for this he gets paid? The incident gained public attention with the release of a 2008 video of police officers punching and kicking Anthony Warren as he lay on the ground after leading them on a roughly 20-minute high-speed chase. Yes, he gets paid. Even bad guys, criminals who flee and clip a cop in the process, aren’t to be beaten to release the anger and frustration of cops. But what…
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Virginia revisits penalties for teen sexting
10-27-2014 Virginia: Should teenagers who exchange sexually explicit messages and photos face the same punishment as adults charged with producing and distributing child pornography? The Virginia State Crime Commission is revisiting the teen sexting issue and may again consider legislation that would lessen penalties — primarily intended for pornographers — in consensual cases involving
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Sex offender program gets funding for rest of fiscal year
10-26-2014 Nebraska: The state will step in to keep the Lincoln-based outpatient treatment program for sex offenders running until next summer. The STOP program, run by Lincoln psychologist Dr. Mary Paine, has been successful in reducing recidivism of people with sexually deviant behavior who are living in the Lincoln area. The program, once under the umbrella of the Lancaster County Mental
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In Which the News is Good
Dallas’s index Ebola Zaire patient, Thomas Duncan, was at home for four days while he was symptomatic with Ebola. His family were not infected with the virus. While Duncan infected two nurses at the hospital during his final days (when he was leaking blood from every available orifice) he didn’t infect the people who lived with him when he was very sick—sick enough to have gone to the hospital and been sent away. One of the commenters on my last Ebola post pointed out that Ebola has a very low basic reproduction number, R0, of about two. R0 is not an inherent characteristic of a virus, but depends on the environment. The R0 for Ebola Zaire has been calculated as 2.7 in some outbreaks, but 2.0 in this one in Africa. As long as R0 is greater than one, the disease will continue spreading. If R0 were intrinsic, Ebola Zaire would continue spreading until eventually everyone got sick. Fortunately, R0 will be lower in a more developed nation than in the…
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Georgia officers face criminal charges for alleged unlawful stops
With the frenzy of alleged unruly or disorderly police that has recently appeared to take over the news, some people may feel an unfair bias against officers who are simply working to protect the public. In Georgia, local officers have been indicted on criminal charges for violating the civil rights of Hispanic individuals. If convicted, they could face lengthy prison time. Two different officers have been indicted so far, and it is unclear if the former sheriff's deputy that they were allegedly working with has been charged as well. Apparently, the suspected conspiracy went beyond simply illegally stopping Hispanic drivers. Once pulled over, the officers are said to have demanded that the drivers pay them or face being arrested or, even worse, possibly deported. At least one motorist affected has been identified, and he or she claims that they forked out $300 after being threatened with legal action. Another motorist was allegedly detained for no reason.…
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New Domestic Violence Assessment Takes Effect Nov. 1
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and this month will culminate with a new law designed to protect victims of domestic abuse. On November 1, Oklahoma law enforcement officers responding to domestic calls will be required to ask certain questions to determine the risk a victim holds of being killed by his or her abuser. Currently, responding police are required by law only to give the victim a card with the phone number for the state domestic violence hotline. Supporters of the law say the new measure will not only give police more information about the nature of the assault, but will help victims of domestic abuse understand the dangers they face in an abusive relationship. A person in an abusive relationship may have a tendency to believe that the assault was a one-time deal, or may think that the abuser will change his or her ways, or that the abuse will never escalate. However, being confronted with questions like, “Has he or she ever…
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Cook County Man Whose Rape Conviction Overturned Denied Innocence Certificate
In 1983, a Cook County jury convicted Stanley Wrice of rape and deviant sexual assault and sentenced him to 100 years in prison. Through the years Wrice claimed his innocence, saying that his confession was the result of police torture at the hands of detectives working under the command of former Police Commander John Burge, who has since been convicted on charges of abuse, perjury and obstruction of justice. Wrice was released from prison in December 2013, after a judge threw out his conviction, finding that his confession had been the result of torture. Wrice had spent 31 years in prison. Last week, a Cook County judge denied his request for an innocence certificate, ruling that Wrice had failed to prove his innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Proving Innocence of Chicago Crime How could Wrice have had his conviction overturned due to a coerced confession, but be denied an innocence certificate? Because of the difference between actual innocence and innocence in…
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Interesting analysis of how summer impacts crime rates
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"Truth, Justice, and the American Style Plea Bargain"
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Lots of great new stuff at <em>Cannabis Law Prof Blog</em>
I am pleased to see that Professor Franklin Snyder continue to post lots and lots of great new content at Cannabis Law Prof Blog. Here are just some of the great posts worth checking out: Mark Kleiman: Hold Your Nose and Vote Yes on 91 in Oregon 2,500-Year-Old Siberian "Ice...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/pCUt4moT8SA" height="1" width="1"/>
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Notable new Cato working paper examines "Marijuana Policy in Colorado"
Dr. Jeffrey Miron, who is director of economic studies at the Cato Institute and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, has just produced this significant new Cato working paper titled "Marijuana Policy in Colorado." The paper is relatively short, though it includes lots of...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/lsbHv3ZE1Fg" height="1" width="1"/>
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Pair indicted for $2.1M Mortgage Fraud Involving Ohio Home
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Derryl L. Tanner, 47, Euclid, Ohio, and Julie A. Becker, 39, Cleveland, Ohio, are the subjects of a six-count indictment charging them of engaging in a $2.1 million mortgage-fraud scheme involving a Westlake, Ohio, home. The defendants engaged in a conspiracy in 2006 to defraud several lending institutions related to transactions involving a home at 1517 Fitzroy Street, Westlake, Ohio. Tanner learned that the builder of the home on Fitzroy was experiencing financial difficulties and was willing to sell the home for the cost of construction. Tanner enlisted Becker to serve as a straw buyer. He told her that if she allowed the property to be purchased in her name, she would not have to put any money down and would receive cash back at the time of closing for allowing her name to be used, according to the indictment. Becker signed promissory notes that she had no intention of repaying. Funds were temporarily transferred into an account in her name so she…
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Shocking Innocence Report: Government Killed Thousands
One of the major themes of abolitionism is that because the death penalty unavoidably risks killing the innocent -- and that sooner or later this is bound to happen -- it must end.The premise is right. The conclusion is wrong. It rests on the tacit view that the government's killing the innocent is an unacceptable price to pay, no matter how just the cause otherwise might be.There are two problems. One is that this view is false. The other is that, not unrelatedly, almost no one believes it.This was brought home to me graphically this weekend, when I read this article in the New York Review of Books. As a nation, we killed thousands of innocents because, though it was a mind-bending moral price, it was worth it, given the stakes. The article is a review of a new book, Descent into Hell: Civilian Memories of the Battle of Okinawa. This is the part that jumped out at me (emphasis added): The huge…
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CHP Officer Stole Nude Photos of DUI Suspect from Her Phone
I remember as a kid being told to find a police officer if I was ever in trouble, the idea being that we, as citizens, should be able to trust that law enforcement will protect and serve our best interests. As a child, I had no reason to question my parent’s advice. However, as an adult, I find it increasingly difficult to follow my parents’ words of wisdom. So what is the latest transgression in, what seems like, an ever-increasing upsurge of law enforcement transgressions? According to court documents obtained by the Contra Costa Times, a California Highway Patrol officer is alleged to have gone into the phone of a DUI suspect whom he pulled over and sent nude images to himself of the DUI suspect. Sean Harrinton, a five-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, and his partner pulled over a woman on August 29th of this year for making an unsafe lane change in Northern California. The woman allegedly failed field sobriety tests and was determined to have a…
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Monday Open Thread
I'll be in court today, which means a new open thread for you. Please be civil. If you are interested in the Marysville WA school shooting, and learning the "cast of characters, I highly recommend you read this 3,000 word post, with photos,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Notable new Cato working paper examines "Marijuana Policy in Colorado"
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What is the federal criminal Holder Amendment?
Soon to be ex Attorney General Eric Holder circulated a memo among the office of the United States Attorney directing that in routine drug cases, including border busts, that the amount of the drugs not be specified in the charges. This way many individuals will not be subject to the harsh mandatory minimums in federal drug cases. For information about the minimum sentences, click here. That means that in cases in which a person does not provide substantial assistance coooperation with the federal government or they are not eligible for safety valve, primarily because of a prior criminal record, they can still escape the long obligatory sentences. At the Law Offices of Russell Babcock we know how to navigate you through the maze of complex federal criminal laws and sentences and to obtain the lowest sentence possible, which means excaping the federal mandatory minimum sentences whenever possible.
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Cuál es elenmienda Holder federal?
Pronto para ser ex Fiscal General, Eric Holder, hizo circular un memorando entre la oficina del Fiscal de los Estados Unidos en la dirección de que los casos de drogas de rutina, incluyendo bustos de fronteras, que la cantidad de los drogas o narcoticas no se especificará en la acusacion formal. De esta manera muchas personas no estará sujeta a los mínimos obligatorios duras en casos federales de drogas. (Para obtener información sobre las condenas minimos, haga clic aquí.) Eso significa que en los casos en que una persona no proporciona coooperation asistencia sustancial con el gobierno federal o que no son elegibles para la válvula de escape, sobre todo debido a antecedentes penales, que pueden aún escapar de las sentencias obligatorias largas. En la oficina legal de Russell Babcock sabemos cómo navegar a través del laberinto de las leyes penales federales y oraciones complejas y de obtener la…
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Virginia Counterfeit Inspection Defense
If you have been charged with a counterfeit inspection contact me today for a free case strategy session. I’ll go over all your options and explain how we can get the best possible outcome. © marketing for Andrew Flusche, 2014. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh The post Virginia Counterfeit Inspection Defense appeared first on Andrew Flusche.
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