On October 16, the Department of Justice announced that Tuomey Healthcare System, of Sumter, South Carolina, has agreed to pay $72.4 million to settle a $237 million judgment from 2013 – affirmed by the Fourth Circuit in July 2015 – that the hospital billed for claims tainted by its violations of the Stark law. According to DOJ’s press release: The Department of Justice announced today that it has resolved a $237 million judgment against Tuomey Healthcare System for illegally billing the Medicare program for services referred by physicians with whom the hospital had improper financial relationships. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the United States will receive $72.4 million and Tuomey, based in Sumter, South Carolina, will be sold to Palmetto Health, a multi-hospital healthcare system based in Columbia, South Carolina. * * * The judgment against Tuomey related to violations of the Stark Law, a statute that prohibits…
Sumter, South Carolina hospital to pay $72.4 million, be sold to satisfy government’s judgment in whistleblower case
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Hing on Criminal Defense Counsel Strategies after Padilla
Bill Ong Hing (University of San Francisco - School of Law) has posted The Pressure Is On — Criminal Defense Counsel Strategies after Padilla v. Kentucky (Denver University Law Review, Vol. 92, No. 4, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the...
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What Will I be Asked at my Personal Injury Deposition?
Accidents happen. If you’ve suffered physical harm through no fault of your own, you may decide to seek restitution through a personal injury lawsuit. Whether you’ve fallen down the stairs at a casino or met with disaster in some less-dramatic way, the legal process will follow the same prescribed path. As lawyers from both sides seek to learn the facts of the matter, you will likely receive an order mandating your appearance at a deposition. What does such a summons mean? What will they expect you to say? Understanding the Personal Injury Deposition The question-and-answer period known as a deposition becomes an important tool for law firms as they attempt to glean information and ferret out the truth. During such a session, the person undergoing interrogation will answer under oath and in the presence of a recording device. A written transcription of the session will later serve as evidence in the case. Although the process may cause you some alarm, a little…
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"Nebraska to Vote on Abolishing Death Penalty After Petition Drive Succeeds"
From The New York Times: More than four months after the Nebraska legislature voted to abolish the death penalty, a petition drive by supporters of capital punishment in the state has succeeded in upending that vote and suspending the new...
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It's Official -- Nebraska DP Repeal Blocked Until the People Decide
Joanne Young reports in the Lincoln Journal Star:Secretary of State John Gale said Friday that Nebraska voters will decide if a law abolishing the death penalty is repealed or retained, and the repeal will be on hold until the vote in November 2016.* * *At least 56,942 signatures were required to add the petition referendum to the ballot. Ten percent of registered voters' signatures, or at least 113,883, were required to keep the repeal from going into effect."More than 143,000 signatures were verified to our…
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"Notable new polling on distinct sentencing/punishment issues"
Doug Berman has this post at Sentencing Law & Policy. In part: For a host of reasons, I am not sure these polls are especially consequential when it comes to changing the minds or votes of established politicians. After all,...
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Brobst on Public Records Requests for Government Databases
Jennifer A. Brobst (Southern Illinois University School of Law) has posted Reverse Sunshine in the Digital Wild Frontier: Protecting Individual Privacy Against Public Records Requests for Government Databases (Northern Kentucky Law Review, Vol. 42, No. 2, 2015) on SSRN. Here...
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New York DWI Arrests and Convictions: NY VTL 1192 Prosecutions When You are Not in the Car or Vehicle
It seems as if issues involving DWI, DUI and DWAI arrests routinely “pop up” all over the country and here in both New York State and New York City. The obvious reason as to why this happens is because DWI is an extremely serious, avoidable and potentially catastrophic offense. Whether you are charged with VTL 1192.4, VTL 1192.3 or VTL 1192.2 (or a felony DWI offense), the consequences to your career, financial future, and family is significant. Wrongfully accused or not, you must not only be prepared to defend yourself against the accusation of driving drunk, but you must have at least a general understanding of the law. This particular NY DWI blog entry will deal with the scenario where an accused drunk driver exits his or her vehicle prior to the police arriving and, therefore, the police cannot observe or confirm the accused was actually driving the vehicle in violation of VTL 1192. The question that we are left to tangle with is whether or not the prosecution…
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With A Jailhouse Lawyer, The Privilege Is All His
Honor among thieves? Well, murderers, really, but you get the point. For a man who has spent most of his life in prison, Frederick Cobia has a vaunted opinion about himself. And, defense attorneys say, it’s with good reason. Cobia says he’s “real sharp with the law,” and apparently he is, one way or another. According to Cobia, he’s got such mad jailhouse lawyer skillz that others spill their guts to him, confessing their crimes in the hope that he can save them. Using his skills as a jailhouse lawyer, Cobia says he engages fellow inmates in conversation. Inevitably, he says, they confess. Then, he turns the information over to law enforcement. In a twist on two time-honored cell-block traditions, the jailhouse lawyer has become one of Palm Beach County’s most notorious jailhouse snitches. During the last 2½ years, Cobia has been listed as a prosecution witness in 23 cases, testified in two murder trials and is…
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For A Nickel I Will
There is a critical mass of proponents to do away with state bar admission for lawyers and even the requirement that one be trained and validated in law at all. They come at it from two different directions. One side does so to open greater opportunity for young and solo practitioners to get clients from any source possible, anywhere possible. The other because of the A2J problem, access to justice as it’s called, in order to fulfill the needs of people who either can’t afford a lawyer, or are too cheap to pay for a lawyer because they would rather spend their money to buy the newest iToy. The former group is also a strong proponent of lawyers marketing themselves on the internet, puffing their mad skillz and experience even if they’ve only been admitted for 12 minutes. The ethical proscriptions against deception are just old lawyers’ way of keeping them down. What these different groups have in common is that they claim there is no…
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Random Shorts on Integrity
Whether you think Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, is a commie or the greatest progressive since, well, whenever, you have to admire this. Remember the time Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) met with Sandra Bland’s mother and shamelessly used it for political capital? Neither do we, because — though the Democratic presidential candidate apparently did meet Geneva Reed-Veal — he didn’t tell anyone about it. He did, however, promise to #SayHerName, which he did Tuesday during the first Democratic presidential debate. A two-fer. Not only did he keep his promise, but he refused to shamelessly capitalize on his meeting for purpose of self-aggrandizement. Love or hate his politics, you have to admire the fact that he did something he could have used to promote himself but didn’t. Nobody does that anymore. Bernie did. Radley Balko, writing about how St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch used his position to get…
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Why Do The Police Conduct Field Sobriety Tests And Can You Refuse to Do Them?
I'm asked this question all the time "if the police thought I was guilty, why did they ask me to do field sobriety tests instead of just arresting me?" This is a common issue in police investigations. Once the officer asks you to step out to the field sobriety tests, he or she has likely made the determination that you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Often times, the officer will make it appear that they are giving you an opportunity to prove you are not under the influence so that they can let you drive home. Sometimes the officer will say something to the effect of "I just want to make sure you're safe to drive home", or "I just have a couple of tests for you to do and you can be on your way". Both of these statements are lies. The officer is looking for additional information of impairment so he or she could build a case against you. The real issue is whether or not you can lawfully…
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Saturday College Football Open Thread
After my historic debacle last week, I've had to mortgage the house, break my 401(K), sell my stocks and break my piggy bank. But hope springs eternal and really, do my daughters REALLY need to go to college? The picks, with a little bit of analysis... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Abrams on The Law and Economics of Stop-and-Frisk
David Abrams (University of Pennsylvania Law School) has posted The Law and Economics of Stop-and-Frisk (Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, Vol. 46, Pg. 369, 2014) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The relevant economic and legal research relating to police...
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Adventist Health System Pays $115 Million to Whistleblower False Claims Act Case
Adventist Health System recently agreed to pay the United States $115 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and Stark Law by giving bonuses to physicians… read more → The post Adventist Health System Pays $115 Million to Whistleblower False Claims Act Case appeared first on .
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Mexico Claims El Chapo Injured in Failed Search Operation
The U.S. is still using electronic surveillance to locate Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Last week, intercepted cell phone signals or satellite communications (take your pick) led them to believe he was in the "Golden Triangle", the region shared by... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Italian Extradition Request Denied by U.S. Federal Court in Florida
A Florida pizza maker successfully fought off a request from Italy to extradite him so he could face prison time for a drug trafficking conviction. Although the U.S. government had… read more → The post Italian Extradition Request Denied by U.S. Federal Court in Florida appeared first on .
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"Lessons from Washington and Colorado: The Potential Financial Gains of Recreational Marijuana to Canada"
The title of this post is the title of this notable paper I just noticed on SSRN. The paper is authored by Nachshon Goltz and Ekaterina Bogdanov, and here is the abstract: While Colorado and Washington are among the jurisdictions spearheading the global trend towards legalization of recreational Cannabis (marijuana),...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/-SY8pBzrHWc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Ft. Bend District Attorney Argues Legal Loophole to Escape Grievance
On October 12, 2015, Denton County District Judge Jonathan Bailey issued a controversial ruling that effectively cleared Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey of “professional misconduct” for failing to disclose evidence that called into question the validity of the drug conviction of Jacob Estrada. The 2006 Estrada case was one of thousands in which former Department of Public Safety crime lab technician Jonathan Salvador fabricated evidence so prosecutors (mostly in the Harris County area) could secure convictions. Faulty Forensics of Jonathan Salvador When the Department of Public Safety informed prosecutors that Salvador’s evidence was severely flawed, Jacob Estrada was already in prison pursuant to a guilty plea induced by Salvador’s evidence in his case. District Attorney Healy and his chief narcotics prosecutor Mark Hanna were both informed about the Salvador fiasco. Estrada immediately requested release…
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Making a case for prison abolition, not just sentencing and prison reform
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