This "Beta" link allows you to search Federal District Court filings and dockets online in each state. It's a good but limited resource for investigators.
Link: http://dockets.justia.com/
Favorite Quotes
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Private investigator in St. Louis claims newspaper reports damaged his business.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch defamed a private investigator and tarnished his company's reputation, the man claims in Federal Court. Alva Busch and Metro Investigations say the Post-Dispatch printed several articles by reporter Nicholas Pistor that it intended as an exposé of the Illinois Capital Litigation Trust Fund.
Link:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/09/29/Private_Eye_Says_Post-Dispatch_Defamed_Him.htm
Link:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/09/29/Private_Eye_Says_Post-Dispatch_Defamed_Him.htm
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Police in California outsource writing of police reports.
The police department in cash-strapped Vallejo, Calif., may have found a way to save a little money.
The Police Department is now using a transcription service based in Tennessee -- Nashville-McLintock Transcription and Consulting Services -- to write up its police reports.
The reports are dictated into a digital audio file then sent via a secure connection to Nashville-McClintock, where retired law-enforcement officials write them up.
The practice is less expensive than hiring new personnel and could possibly elicit more details from officers who might otherwise keep it brief if they had to do the typing themselves. The drawbacks, however, include both security and privacy issues.
Links:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Vallejo-Police-Outsource-Report-Writing-jw-62428102.html
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_13436704?source=rss
The Police Department is now using a transcription service based in Tennessee -- Nashville-McLintock Transcription and Consulting Services -- to write up its police reports.
The reports are dictated into a digital audio file then sent via a secure connection to Nashville-McClintock, where retired law-enforcement officials write them up.
The practice is less expensive than hiring new personnel and could possibly elicit more details from officers who might otherwise keep it brief if they had to do the typing themselves. The drawbacks, however, include both security and privacy issues.
Links:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Vallejo-Police-Outsource-Report-Writing-jw-62428102.html
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_13436704?source=rss
Boston police implements a new anti-lying policy.
BPD Commissioner Edward M. Davis’ push for a strict new anti-lying policy for Hub police was hailed by criminologists yesterday as a vital national breakthrough, but community activists were split as to whether the policy would fly.
“He should be applauded for taking this bold step - bold and certainly not popular among the rank and file,” said Northeastern University criminologist James A. Fox, who has worked with the BPD on internal policy through the years. “It makes a strong statement as to zero tolerance for lying.”
Nationally, according to criminal justice experts, no police force has enunciated a policy as strict as the one Davis is proposing. Davis told the Sunday Herald he is finalizing a “bright line” policy that puts cops on notice that lying verbally, in written reports, on the witness stand or in the course of an internal probe is a “one strike and you’re out” firing offense.
Barry Mullen, a Dorchester activist for 20 years, wondered why a fire-the-liars policy has not been enforced all along. “It’s really a no-brainer,” he said. He said civilian review boards are needed so cops do not hew to the “thin blue line.”
“I wouldn’t trust the fact that the police are going to police themselves,” he said. “The brotherhood out there, they’re going to watch out for each other.”
Link:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1200723&srvc=news&position=4
“He should be applauded for taking this bold step - bold and certainly not popular among the rank and file,” said Northeastern University criminologist James A. Fox, who has worked with the BPD on internal policy through the years. “It makes a strong statement as to zero tolerance for lying.”
Nationally, according to criminal justice experts, no police force has enunciated a policy as strict as the one Davis is proposing. Davis told the Sunday Herald he is finalizing a “bright line” policy that puts cops on notice that lying verbally, in written reports, on the witness stand or in the course of an internal probe is a “one strike and you’re out” firing offense.
Barry Mullen, a Dorchester activist for 20 years, wondered why a fire-the-liars policy has not been enforced all along. “It’s really a no-brainer,” he said. He said civilian review boards are needed so cops do not hew to the “thin blue line.”
“I wouldn’t trust the fact that the police are going to police themselves,” he said. “The brotherhood out there, they’re going to watch out for each other.”
Link:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1200723&srvc=news&position=4
Requesting public records in MA, sometimes results in long delays and high prices.
Last month Barry Rafkind, the volunteer editor of a Somerville news blog, sent a detailed request to city officials for information about parking tickets and the city’s responses to citizen complaints. Somerville officials said they would provide the information - but at a price. For the records Rafkind had in mind, the city wanted more than $200,000. Officials said that’s what it would cost to review the documents, delete personal information, and print them out.
“I guess they expect me to go away now,’’ said Rafkind, 28, of Somerville Voices. “Those are prohibitive costs that no one could afford to pay. They’re making no effort to respond to my request with good will.’’
Though Rafkind’s request was unusually broad - he asked for all of the city’s electronic data on parking tickets, appeals, and towing contracts, among other items - the response he received was hardly unique. Average citizens and professional reporters say public agencies have shown an increasing propensity to flout the state’s public records law by engaging in long delays or by charging exorbitant fees. The tendency of government agencies to charge sky-high prices for public information came into play earlier this year when the Globe asked Boston officials for the e-mails of six city officials, and the city said it would cost $30,000. It wasn’t until the Globe narrowed its request that it learned that Michael Kineavy, a senior aide to Mayor Thomas M. Menino, had been routinely deleting his e-mail, in apparent violation of the state’s public records law. The missing e-mails have emerged as a pivotal issue in the mayoral campaign.
The Kineavy request was made by the Globe, but Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office, which is responsible for enforcing the public records law, said most complaints about violations are made by ordinary individuals with little hope of raising the money government agencies often charge.
Some agencies attribute those charges to the cost of paying staff - including government attorneys - to find, review, and produce documents during difficult economic times when positions are being cut. On the other hand, some agencies have responded to even detailed requests by providing information at no charge.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/24/municipalities_often_set_high_price_for_public_records/
“I guess they expect me to go away now,’’ said Rafkind, 28, of Somerville Voices. “Those are prohibitive costs that no one could afford to pay. They’re making no effort to respond to my request with good will.’’
Though Rafkind’s request was unusually broad - he asked for all of the city’s electronic data on parking tickets, appeals, and towing contracts, among other items - the response he received was hardly unique. Average citizens and professional reporters say public agencies have shown an increasing propensity to flout the state’s public records law by engaging in long delays or by charging exorbitant fees. The tendency of government agencies to charge sky-high prices for public information came into play earlier this year when the Globe asked Boston officials for the e-mails of six city officials, and the city said it would cost $30,000. It wasn’t until the Globe narrowed its request that it learned that Michael Kineavy, a senior aide to Mayor Thomas M. Menino, had been routinely deleting his e-mail, in apparent violation of the state’s public records law. The missing e-mails have emerged as a pivotal issue in the mayoral campaign.
The Kineavy request was made by the Globe, but Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office, which is responsible for enforcing the public records law, said most complaints about violations are made by ordinary individuals with little hope of raising the money government agencies often charge.
Some agencies attribute those charges to the cost of paying staff - including government attorneys - to find, review, and produce documents during difficult economic times when positions are being cut. On the other hand, some agencies have responded to even detailed requests by providing information at no charge.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/24/municipalities_often_set_high_price_for_public_records/
Friday, September 25, 2009
Animal cruelty charges dropped against a suspended Moorestown, NJ police officer who is still accused of sexually assualting three young girls.
If animals could talk, a few cows in Burlington County might ask state legislators to hurry up and outlaw bestiality.
During a bizarre hearing there yesterday, a Superior Court judge dismissed animal-cruelty charges against a Moorestown police officer accused of sticking his penis into the mouths of five calves in rural Southampton in 2006, claiming a grand jury couldn't infer whether the cows had been "tormented" or "puzzled" by the situation or even irritated that they'd been duped out of a meal.
"If the cow had the cognitive ability to form thought and speak, would it say, 'Where's the milk? I'm not getting any milk,' " Judge James J. Morley asked.
Children, Morley said, seemed "comforted" when given pacifiers, but there's no way to know what bovine minds thought of Robert Melia Jr. substituting his member for a cow's teat.
Burlington County Assistant County Prosecutor Kevin Morgan was certainly irritated by the ruling, claiming the grand jury didn't see the videos of the alleged incident, including one in which one hungry calf allegedly head-butts Melia in the stomach.
"I think any reasonable juror could infer that a man's penis in the mouth of a calf is torment," Morgan argued. "It's a crime against nature."
Although a bill was introduced in 2005 to ban bestiality, New Jersey still has no explicit ban on the sexual penetration of animals, which is why the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office charged Melia with animal cruelty.
Morley said it was questionable whether Melia's alleged crimes against cows, although "disgusting," fit the definitions in the animal-cruelty statute.
Link:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20090924_Animal-cruelty_charges_dropped_against_Burlington_County_cop.html
During a bizarre hearing there yesterday, a Superior Court judge dismissed animal-cruelty charges against a Moorestown police officer accused of sticking his penis into the mouths of five calves in rural Southampton in 2006, claiming a grand jury couldn't infer whether the cows had been "tormented" or "puzzled" by the situation or even irritated that they'd been duped out of a meal.
"If the cow had the cognitive ability to form thought and speak, would it say, 'Where's the milk? I'm not getting any milk,' " Judge James J. Morley asked.
Children, Morley said, seemed "comforted" when given pacifiers, but there's no way to know what bovine minds thought of Robert Melia Jr. substituting his member for a cow's teat.
Burlington County Assistant County Prosecutor Kevin Morgan was certainly irritated by the ruling, claiming the grand jury didn't see the videos of the alleged incident, including one in which one hungry calf allegedly head-butts Melia in the stomach.
"I think any reasonable juror could infer that a man's penis in the mouth of a calf is torment," Morgan argued. "It's a crime against nature."
Although a bill was introduced in 2005 to ban bestiality, New Jersey still has no explicit ban on the sexual penetration of animals, which is why the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office charged Melia with animal cruelty.
Morley said it was questionable whether Melia's alleged crimes against cows, although "disgusting," fit the definitions in the animal-cruelty statute.
Link:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20090924_Animal-cruelty_charges_dropped_against_Burlington_County_cop.html
New OUI defense by a former deputy, claims he has an alcoholism disablity.
SARASOTA, Florida - A former deputy, fired because of his problems with alcohol, is suing the Sarasota sheriff because he claims the office discriminated against him because of his alcoholism disability.
The nine-page federal suit claims Sgt. Clinton Knowles "had begun to suffer from the effects and condition of alcoholism a recognized disability or handicap" under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 as well as the Florida Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit states that Knowles was discriminated against because his multiple requests for help from the Employee Assistance Program were either ignored or refused.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 states that a person who is an alcoholic is "protected by the ADA if s/he is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job. An employer may be required to provide an accommodation to an alcoholic."
Link: http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=114071&provider=top
The nine-page federal suit claims Sgt. Clinton Knowles "had begun to suffer from the effects and condition of alcoholism a recognized disability or handicap" under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 as well as the Florida Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit states that Knowles was discriminated against because his multiple requests for help from the Employee Assistance Program were either ignored or refused.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 states that a person who is an alcoholic is "protected by the ADA if s/he is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job. An employer may be required to provide an accommodation to an alcoholic."
Link: http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=114071&provider=top
How widespread are airline & pilot safety problems?
WASHINGTON - The regional airline that operated a plane that crashed and killed 50 people in upstate New York has been pushing pilots to fly even if they say they are too sick or too tired, a union official told Congress on Wednesday.
John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said regional airlines are continuing practices that jeopardize safety even in the wake of the Feb. 12 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407. Revelations about the conduct of the pilots in that crash prompted widespread criticism of the training, pay and working conditions of pilots at smaller carriers.
Prater, an airline captain, cited Colgan Air Inc. of Manassas, Va., and its parent, Pinnacle Airlines Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., as well as Trans States Airlines of Bridgeton, Mo., in his testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Colgan operated Flight 3407 for Continental Airlines, supplying the plane and the pilots, while the larger airline handled ticketing.
"The managements at Pinnacle and Colgan have not changed their ways. The management at Trans States Airlines haven't changed their ways. Do I need to go further? I have a big book," Prater said.
"I've been asking our pilots to report the type of pressures that managements place upon them, threatening their job, giving them discipline ... not just for fatigue or sick calls," Prater said.
Among the "worst practices" identified by the union is punishing captains who report problems or maintenance issues with planes, Prater said.
Link: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/dc/092409_regional_airlines_pressuring_pilots
John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said regional airlines are continuing practices that jeopardize safety even in the wake of the Feb. 12 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407. Revelations about the conduct of the pilots in that crash prompted widespread criticism of the training, pay and working conditions of pilots at smaller carriers.
Prater, an airline captain, cited Colgan Air Inc. of Manassas, Va., and its parent, Pinnacle Airlines Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., as well as Trans States Airlines of Bridgeton, Mo., in his testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Colgan operated Flight 3407 for Continental Airlines, supplying the plane and the pilots, while the larger airline handled ticketing.
"The managements at Pinnacle and Colgan have not changed their ways. The management at Trans States Airlines haven't changed their ways. Do I need to go further? I have a big book," Prater said.
"I've been asking our pilots to report the type of pressures that managements place upon them, threatening their job, giving them discipline ... not just for fatigue or sick calls," Prater said.
Among the "worst practices" identified by the union is punishing captains who report problems or maintenance issues with planes, Prater said.
Link: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/dc/092409_regional_airlines_pressuring_pilots
What have we lost with the new patient privacy notification law?
The new health care data breach notification law, which is set to go into effect Wednesday, has drawn harsh criticism from privacy advocates.
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an interim final rule requiring health care organizations subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations to notify individuals whose information has been breached. But privacy advocates contest a “harm threshold” provision of the interim final rule, which states that if a breach occurs, organizations should conduct a risk assessment and only need to issue breach notifications if they believe disclosure of the information “poses some harm to the individual.”
Privacy advocates told SCMagazineUS.com on Tuesday that they believe the HHS added this provision in response to overwhelming pressure from the health care industry.
“The key problem is, those who breach your information are the ones who get to decide if you are harmed or not,” Deborah Peel, founder and chairwoman of the nonprofit Patient Privacy Rights, told SCMagazineUS.com on Tuesday.
Link:
http://www.scmagazineus.com/Privacy-groups-blast-new-health-care-notification-rule/article/149444/
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an interim final rule requiring health care organizations subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations to notify individuals whose information has been breached. But privacy advocates contest a “harm threshold” provision of the interim final rule, which states that if a breach occurs, organizations should conduct a risk assessment and only need to issue breach notifications if they believe disclosure of the information “poses some harm to the individual.”
Privacy advocates told SCMagazineUS.com on Tuesday that they believe the HHS added this provision in response to overwhelming pressure from the health care industry.
“The key problem is, those who breach your information are the ones who get to decide if you are harmed or not,” Deborah Peel, founder and chairwoman of the nonprofit Patient Privacy Rights, told SCMagazineUS.com on Tuesday.
Link:
http://www.scmagazineus.com/Privacy-groups-blast-new-health-care-notification-rule/article/149444/
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Local MA private investigator in the news.
While ex-WRKO gabber Reese Hopkins cools his heels in a New York prison, he’s getting some big time help on the outside from a Stoughton gumshoe.
A private investigation firm whose president is a consultant for the TV show “48 Hours” has taken on the child rape case against the former Hub talk radio host.
Sean Mullen, vice president of the National Investigation Bureau Inc., believes Hopkins is “100 percent innocent.” Mullen became interested in the case after reading about it in the newspaper.
“It didn’t seem right,” Mullen told MediaBiz this week. So he reached out to the financially strapped Hopkins and took him on pro bono.
Hopkins has been at Riker’s Island for nearly a year awaiting trial for allegedly raping a girl when she was 11 and 12 years old. He was arrested last October, days after WRKO-AM (680) axed him amid budget woes.
Prosecutors say Hopkins raped the girl in a Manhatten apartment in 2004. The alleged victim was a friend of his girlfriend’s daughter.
Hopkins has said he didn’t assault the girl and was living and working in Connecticut at the time.
Link:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1199619&srvc=business&position=3
A private investigation firm whose president is a consultant for the TV show “48 Hours” has taken on the child rape case against the former Hub talk radio host.
Sean Mullen, vice president of the National Investigation Bureau Inc., believes Hopkins is “100 percent innocent.” Mullen became interested in the case after reading about it in the newspaper.
“It didn’t seem right,” Mullen told MediaBiz this week. So he reached out to the financially strapped Hopkins and took him on pro bono.
Hopkins has been at Riker’s Island for nearly a year awaiting trial for allegedly raping a girl when she was 11 and 12 years old. He was arrested last October, days after WRKO-AM (680) axed him amid budget woes.
Prosecutors say Hopkins raped the girl in a Manhatten apartment in 2004. The alleged victim was a friend of his girlfriend’s daughter.
Hopkins has said he didn’t assault the girl and was living and working in Connecticut at the time.
Link:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1199619&srvc=business&position=3
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Medical students are blogging and using social-networking websites such as Tweeter, posting confidential information about patients.
A new survey of medical-school deans finds that unprofessional conduct on blogs and social-networking sites is common among medical students. Although med students fully understand patient-confidentiality laws and are indoctrinated in the high ethical standards to which their white-coated profession is held, many of them still use Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and other sites to depict and discuss lewd behavior and sexual misconduct, make discriminatory statements and discuss patient cases in violation of confidentiality laws, according to the survey, which was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Of the 80 medical-school deans questioned, 60% reported incidents involving unprofessional postings and 13% admitted to incidents that violated patient privacy. Some offenses led to expulsion from school. But medical students, it seems, are no different from the rest of us when it comes to posting drunken party pictures online or tweeting about their daily comings, goings and musings — however inappropriate they may be. Many students feel they are entitled to post what they wish on their personal profiles, maintaining that the information is in fact personal and not subject to the same policies and guidelines that govern their professional behavior on campus. Though medical students would agree that physicians — and other professionals, like teachers — should be held to a higher standard of integrity by society, the new study suggests that they're confused by how rules apply, especially in cyberspace, once the white coat comes off. "They view their Facebook pages as their Internet persona," says Dr. Neil Parker, senior associate dean for student affairs for graduate medical education at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "They think it's something only for their friends, even though it's not private."
Link:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1925430,00.html
Link:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1925430,00.html
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A nurse is arrested for not drawing the blood of a supected OUI suspect in a timely fashion?
A head emergency room nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital has sued the city and a Chicago Police officer for handcuffing her and putting her in the back of a squad car during a dispute over drawing blood from a suspected drunken driver.
Lisa Hofstra said she was the “charge nurse” in the emergency room on Aug. 1 when the officer approached her at about 4 a.m. The officer requested she perform a blood work-up on a DUI suspect, the lawsuit said.
Hofstra told the officer the suspect needed to be admitted to the hospital before she could draw the person’s blood. Hofstra said she told a police lieutenant that it was the hospital’s protocol to wait until a suspect was admitted, and the lieutenant agreed, she said.
The lieutenant left the emergency room.
Then Hofstra called her supervisors, but before they could respond, the officer put her in handcuffs in front of her co-workers and escorted her to a squad car, according to the lawsuit.
“I in no way intended to block this police officer’s ability to do his job,” she said in a news conference today. “He went about it in the wrong way. ... I would like him to be reprimanded.”
Hofstra said she filed her lawsuit in federal court last month in an effort to have the officer punished for violating her rights.
Link:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1782491,nurse-lawsuit-cop-cuff-drawing-blood-092109.article
Lisa Hofstra said she was the “charge nurse” in the emergency room on Aug. 1 when the officer approached her at about 4 a.m. The officer requested she perform a blood work-up on a DUI suspect, the lawsuit said.
Hofstra told the officer the suspect needed to be admitted to the hospital before she could draw the person’s blood. Hofstra said she told a police lieutenant that it was the hospital’s protocol to wait until a suspect was admitted, and the lieutenant agreed, she said.
The lieutenant left the emergency room.
Then Hofstra called her supervisors, but before they could respond, the officer put her in handcuffs in front of her co-workers and escorted her to a squad car, according to the lawsuit.
“I in no way intended to block this police officer’s ability to do his job,” she said in a news conference today. “He went about it in the wrong way. ... I would like him to be reprimanded.”
Hofstra said she filed her lawsuit in federal court last month in an effort to have the officer punished for violating her rights.
Link:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1782491,nurse-lawsuit-cop-cuff-drawing-blood-092109.article
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Four men accused of rape by police in New York are exonerated but at what cost?
Four young men falsely accused of raping an 18-year-old student at Hofstra University were trying to return their lives to normal Friday after an ordeal that two of them described as traumatic. "I was really scared. I couldn't believe what was basically going through my mind. It was like a big nightmare, and I thought I was going to do time for something I didn't do," 20-year-old Kevin Taveras told HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell."
"It was devastating," he said. "I was there just letting the clock tick and tick."
Authorities dropped charges and freed the four men hours after their accuser changed her story about having been forcibly tied up and sexually assaulted in a dormitory bathroom.
"The woman admitted the encounters with each of the men were consensual," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
The woman recanted her story Wednesday after authorities told her that part of the incident was recorded on a cell phone video, Rice said. Only one of the four accused is a Hofstra student. He has been allowed to return to campus. None has publicly described what happened that night.
CNN affiliate WABC-TV of New York spoke with another of the accused, Stalin Felipe.
"We respect women," he said. "We know how to treat a lady. The thing they said with the rope, come on. That's disgusting. That's what we were looked at as: disgusting men."
"It did traumatize us," Felipe said. "I'm just happy to be home finally."
Taveras also spoke with WABC.
"It was traumatizing," he told the station. "It's supposed to be innocent until proven guilty."
They thought they might go to prison for 25 years for something they didn't do, Taveras said.
"We were treated like animals," he said.
His mother felt as though "she was imprisoned with me," Taveras told HLN. "My whole family was imprisoned because of this."
Taveras' attorney had sharp criticism for police in the case.
"They paraded their photos in front of the media. They held this press conference. They released all these terrible details about this alleged rape that never took place," Victor Daly-Rivera said.
The Nassau County Police Department had no comment, Sgt. Anthony Repalone told CNN on Friday.
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/18/hofstra.case/index.html
"It was devastating," he said. "I was there just letting the clock tick and tick."
Authorities dropped charges and freed the four men hours after their accuser changed her story about having been forcibly tied up and sexually assaulted in a dormitory bathroom.
"The woman admitted the encounters with each of the men were consensual," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
The woman recanted her story Wednesday after authorities told her that part of the incident was recorded on a cell phone video, Rice said. Only one of the four accused is a Hofstra student. He has been allowed to return to campus. None has publicly described what happened that night.
CNN affiliate WABC-TV of New York spoke with another of the accused, Stalin Felipe.
"We respect women," he said. "We know how to treat a lady. The thing they said with the rope, come on. That's disgusting. That's what we were looked at as: disgusting men."
"It did traumatize us," Felipe said. "I'm just happy to be home finally."
Taveras also spoke with WABC.
"It was traumatizing," he told the station. "It's supposed to be innocent until proven guilty."
They thought they might go to prison for 25 years for something they didn't do, Taveras said.
"We were treated like animals," he said.
His mother felt as though "she was imprisoned with me," Taveras told HLN. "My whole family was imprisoned because of this."
Taveras' attorney had sharp criticism for police in the case.
"They paraded their photos in front of the media. They held this press conference. They released all these terrible details about this alleged rape that never took place," Victor Daly-Rivera said.
The Nassau County Police Department had no comment, Sgt. Anthony Repalone told CNN on Friday.
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/18/hofstra.case/index.html
Blogger news; a New York Court dismisses libel case against unmasked commenter.
Long before Liskula Cohen's case brought online anonymity into the mainstream press, New York courts were already struggling with the law surrounding the outing of anonymous Internet speakers. For example, back in October 2007, a court in New York County denied a school board member's request to unmask "Orthomom," an anonymous blogger who had published critical comments about her. In June 2008, Judge Rory Bellantoni of Westchester County ruled that ex-Congressman Richard Ottinger and his wife could obtain the identity of an anonymous commenter to a forum on LoHud.com, an online news site operated by The Journal News that covers New York's Lower Hudson Valley.
In a recent development in the latter case, last month another judge in Westchester county dismissed the Ottingers' subsequent defamation lawsuit against Stuart Tiekert, the commenter unmasked in the previous proceeding. In his ruling, Judge Richard Liebowitz invoked New York's anti-SLAPP law and ruled that the Ottingers "failed to demonstrate that their action has a substantial basis in fact or law."
How can this be? Didn't the Ottingers have to make some kind of legal and factual showing in order to get Mr. Tiekert's identity in the first place? In fact, they did. Judge Bellantoni's ruling in 2008 relied expressly on Dendrite v. Doe, 775 A.2d 756 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2001), and Doe v. Cahill, 884 A.2d 451 (Del. 2005), two opinions which provide a strong measure of protection for anonymous speech. And while the details of his reasoning weren't made entirely clear, Judge Bellantoni concluded that "[t]he complaint and all the information provided to the court establishes that [the Ottingers] have set forth a prima facie cause of action against the fictitiously-named defendants." Slip op. at 5. So what gives? How did the Ottingers fail to come forward with "a substantial basis in fact or law"? Did Judge Liebowitz simply second-guess his former colleague's decision? The brevity and opacity of the court's recent ruling make it difficult to say for sure, but there's at least one reasonable explanation for these seemingly disparate outcomes.
Link:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2009/citing-anti-slapp-law-new-york-court-dismisses-libel-case-against-unmasked-commenter-0
In a recent development in the latter case, last month another judge in Westchester county dismissed the Ottingers' subsequent defamation lawsuit against Stuart Tiekert, the commenter unmasked in the previous proceeding. In his ruling, Judge Richard Liebowitz invoked New York's anti-SLAPP law and ruled that the Ottingers "failed to demonstrate that their action has a substantial basis in fact or law."
How can this be? Didn't the Ottingers have to make some kind of legal and factual showing in order to get Mr. Tiekert's identity in the first place? In fact, they did. Judge Bellantoni's ruling in 2008 relied expressly on Dendrite v. Doe, 775 A.2d 756 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2001), and Doe v. Cahill, 884 A.2d 451 (Del. 2005), two opinions which provide a strong measure of protection for anonymous speech. And while the details of his reasoning weren't made entirely clear, Judge Bellantoni concluded that "[t]he complaint and all the information provided to the court establishes that [the Ottingers] have set forth a prima facie cause of action against the fictitiously-named defendants." Slip op. at 5. So what gives? How did the Ottingers fail to come forward with "a substantial basis in fact or law"? Did Judge Liebowitz simply second-guess his former colleague's decision? The brevity and opacity of the court's recent ruling make it difficult to say for sure, but there's at least one reasonable explanation for these seemingly disparate outcomes.
Link:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2009/citing-anti-slapp-law-new-york-court-dismisses-libel-case-against-unmasked-commenter-0
Blogger news; A California Court Creates New Procedure for Uncovering Anonymous Commenters.
The Sacramento Bee and the Chronicle of Higher Education point us to a new online anonymity case from California. Last week, Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled (scroll to Item 7) on blogger David Greenwald's motion to quash a subpoena seeking the identity of commenters to his blog, the People's Vanguard of Davis. Taking an approach I've never seen before, the court — ahem — split the baby. Judge Chang decided that former UC Davis police officer Calvin Chang (no relation to the judge) cannot obtain directly any identifying information for the commenters in question, but he can employ a third-party expert to determine whether the comments were posted by specific UC Davis personnel whose names Chang will provide in advance.
Here's the back story: This summer, Mr. Chang's attorney served the subpoena on Google, Greenwald's former blog host, as part of Chang's employment discrimination and breach of contract action against the UC Davis. Greenwald published blog entries about Chang's lawsuit back in February 2009, a few days after the suit was filed, and several readers posted negative comments about Chang and his case. The subpoena seeks identifying information for seven anonymous and pseudonymous comments. Chang maintains that the individuals who left these comments are "managing agents" of the university, and that the comments themselves constitute evidence of breach of a previous settlement agreement by the university. Google informed Greenwald of the subpoena, and he challenged it, arguing that the First Amendment protects the rights of his commenters to speak anonymously and that the information is not relevant to Chang's suit against the university
Link:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2009/splitting-digital-baby-california-court-creates-new-procedure-uncovering-anonymous-comment
Here's the back story: This summer, Mr. Chang's attorney served the subpoena on Google, Greenwald's former blog host, as part of Chang's employment discrimination and breach of contract action against the UC Davis. Greenwald published blog entries about Chang's lawsuit back in February 2009, a few days after the suit was filed, and several readers posted negative comments about Chang and his case. The subpoena seeks identifying information for seven anonymous and pseudonymous comments. Chang maintains that the individuals who left these comments are "managing agents" of the university, and that the comments themselves constitute evidence of breach of a previous settlement agreement by the university. Google informed Greenwald of the subpoena, and he challenged it, arguing that the First Amendment protects the rights of his commenters to speak anonymously and that the information is not relevant to Chang's suit against the university
Link:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2009/splitting-digital-baby-california-court-creates-new-procedure-uncovering-anonymous-comment
The Boston Globe, reports on identity theft connection in Boston and California.
As cases of identity theft go, ours had, if not a happy ending, at least a noncatastrophic one. We were lucky, though. And without luck plus quick action, the outcome could have been a lot uglier. Three weeks ago, just back from vacation, my wife and I received a bundle of letters (“Dear Valued Customer’’) informing us that, per our request, all of our bank accounts - checking, savings, home equity line of credit - were being rerouted to an address in Los Angeles. We were advised to notify the bank if there were any problem.
The problem was, we’d never made any such request. In fact, as I discovered in less than a minute’s Web surfing, the address matched up with an LA strip mall. This did not bode well.
The call initiating the transfer had been placed four days earlier to the bank’s customer service office in Pennsylvania. (We’ve requested a copy or transcript, so far unsuccessfully.) The caller had asked how much cash was available through our line of credit and then said he was going through a marital separation and wanted the address change because he was moving.
Three of the accounts are held jointly in my wife’s name. Why alarm bells did not clang loudly at this point is unclear. Essentially, he was asking the bank rep to conspire in ripping off his soon-to-be ex-spouse. The conversation should have ended right there. It did not.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2009/09/19/identity_theft_hits_home/
The problem was, we’d never made any such request. In fact, as I discovered in less than a minute’s Web surfing, the address matched up with an LA strip mall. This did not bode well.
The call initiating the transfer had been placed four days earlier to the bank’s customer service office in Pennsylvania. (We’ve requested a copy or transcript, so far unsuccessfully.) The caller had asked how much cash was available through our line of credit and then said he was going through a marital separation and wanted the address change because he was moving.
Three of the accounts are held jointly in my wife’s name. Why alarm bells did not clang loudly at this point is unclear. Essentially, he was asking the bank rep to conspire in ripping off his soon-to-be ex-spouse. The conversation should have ended right there. It did not.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2009/09/19/identity_theft_hits_home/
Friday, September 18, 2009
Police lineups lead to wrongful convictions, five states change lineup procedure.
Police are dramatically changing the way they conduct suspect lineups after a mounting number of wrongful convictions based on mistaken identifications.
At least five states — Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia — and some major U.S. cities have either revamped or started changing the way law enforcement officials use photographic lineups to identify suspects. Since changing its policy in April, Dallas Police Lt. David Pughes says the department has conducted 1,400 lineups and believes "we're bringing a stronger piece of evidence to court."
Analysts say the changes are transforming the way police investigate crime.
"Challenges to lineups were first dismissed as misguided academic exercises, until (law enforcement officials) could see the concrete disasters resulting in exoneration," says Iowa State University psychology professor Gary Wells, an expert on eyewitness identification.
Of the 242 people exonerated through DNA testing in the past two decades, about 75% of those wrongful convictions involved some form of mistaken eyewitness identification, according to the Innocence Project, which attempts to exonerate the wrongfully convicted using DNA evidence. Stephen Saloom, Innocence Project policy director, says the group is pursuing lineup changes in 10 states during the next year.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-16-police-lineups_N.htm
At least five states — Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia — and some major U.S. cities have either revamped or started changing the way law enforcement officials use photographic lineups to identify suspects. Since changing its policy in April, Dallas Police Lt. David Pughes says the department has conducted 1,400 lineups and believes "we're bringing a stronger piece of evidence to court."
Analysts say the changes are transforming the way police investigate crime.
"Challenges to lineups were first dismissed as misguided academic exercises, until (law enforcement officials) could see the concrete disasters resulting in exoneration," says Iowa State University psychology professor Gary Wells, an expert on eyewitness identification.
Of the 242 people exonerated through DNA testing in the past two decades, about 75% of those wrongful convictions involved some form of mistaken eyewitness identification, according to the Innocence Project, which attempts to exonerate the wrongfully convicted using DNA evidence. Stephen Saloom, Innocence Project policy director, says the group is pursuing lineup changes in 10 states during the next year.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-16-police-lineups_N.htm
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Another criminal that won't need a private investigator.
MARTINSBURG- The popular online social networking site Facebook helped lead to an alleged burglar's arrest after he stopped to check his account on the victim's computer, but forgot to log out before leaving the home with two diamond rings.
Jonathan G. Parker, 19, of Fort Loudoun, Pa., was arraigned Tuesday one count of felony daytime burglary.
According to court records, Deputy P.D. Ware of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department responded on Aug. 28 to the victim's home after she reported the burglary.
She told police that someone had broken into her home through a bedroom window.
There were open cabinets in her garage, and other signs of a burglar.
The victim later noticed that the intruder also used her computer to check his Facebook status, and his account was still open when she checked the computer.
Link: http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/525232.html
Jonathan G. Parker, 19, of Fort Loudoun, Pa., was arraigned Tuesday one count of felony daytime burglary.
According to court records, Deputy P.D. Ware of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department responded on Aug. 28 to the victim's home after she reported the burglary.
She told police that someone had broken into her home through a bedroom window.
There were open cabinets in her garage, and other signs of a burglar.
The victim later noticed that the intruder also used her computer to check his Facebook status, and his account was still open when she checked the computer.
Link: http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/525232.html
A Judge and a prosecutor have a relationship during a capital murder case, what could be wrong with this picture?
The question of whether a romantic relationship between a judge and prosecutor is unfair won't be decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
The issue in the capital murder case of Charles Dean Hood roiled the legal community last summer, but the Court ruled Wednesday it would not consider the issue because defense attorneys did not raise it initially.
Defense attorney David Dow called the decision by Texas' highest criminal court "gutless."
"The question of whether there is a fundamental taint to this trial is, at this point, going to be decided by a federal court – if it's going to be decided by any court at all – because what the state court has said is, ‘We don't care,'" said Dow, litigation director for the Texas Defender Service.
Hood was not directly asking the appellate court for a new trial; rather, his petition sought to have the court decide if a secret affair between Judge Verla Sue Holland and Tom O'Connell, then the Collin County district attorney, had resulted in Hood's receiving an unfair trial in 1990. Hood is on death row for the 1989 robbery and murder of Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace in Plano. His attorneys had tried to explore the issue of whether the relationship between judge and prosecutor had affected the trial for years but had little except rumors.
Then a few weeks before Hood's June 2008 execution date, a former assistant district attorney filed an affidavit indicating he was aware of the relationship.
In September 2008, Hood's attorneys finally got the proof they needed by forcing depositions from the two parties under a civil procedure. At that time, Holland and O'Connell admitted to having a sexual relationship before Hood's trial, which had not been revealed to the defense at trial or during years of appeals.
Dow said he was stunned by the ruling. When the Court denied a stay on the issue last year, "it denied a stay because it said ‘There's no proof. Come back to us when you have some proof.'"
The service came back with that proof – acknowledgement from the two principals that an affair had occurred, "And what do they say?" Dow asked. "‘Tough, you lose any way."
The ruling came despite the fact that District Judge Greg Brewer had recommended Hood be allowed to pursue the claim, going so far as to say the state's "hands are unclean."
Link:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/091709dntexhood.186fc49f6.html
The issue in the capital murder case of Charles Dean Hood roiled the legal community last summer, but the Court ruled Wednesday it would not consider the issue because defense attorneys did not raise it initially.
Defense attorney David Dow called the decision by Texas' highest criminal court "gutless."
"The question of whether there is a fundamental taint to this trial is, at this point, going to be decided by a federal court – if it's going to be decided by any court at all – because what the state court has said is, ‘We don't care,'" said Dow, litigation director for the Texas Defender Service.
Hood was not directly asking the appellate court for a new trial; rather, his petition sought to have the court decide if a secret affair between Judge Verla Sue Holland and Tom O'Connell, then the Collin County district attorney, had resulted in Hood's receiving an unfair trial in 1990. Hood is on death row for the 1989 robbery and murder of Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace in Plano. His attorneys had tried to explore the issue of whether the relationship between judge and prosecutor had affected the trial for years but had little except rumors.
Then a few weeks before Hood's June 2008 execution date, a former assistant district attorney filed an affidavit indicating he was aware of the relationship.
In September 2008, Hood's attorneys finally got the proof they needed by forcing depositions from the two parties under a civil procedure. At that time, Holland and O'Connell admitted to having a sexual relationship before Hood's trial, which had not been revealed to the defense at trial or during years of appeals.
Dow said he was stunned by the ruling. When the Court denied a stay on the issue last year, "it denied a stay because it said ‘There's no proof. Come back to us when you have some proof.'"
The service came back with that proof – acknowledgement from the two principals that an affair had occurred, "And what do they say?" Dow asked. "‘Tough, you lose any way."
The ruling came despite the fact that District Judge Greg Brewer had recommended Hood be allowed to pursue the claim, going so far as to say the state's "hands are unclean."
Link:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/091709dntexhood.186fc49f6.html
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Privatizing prisons raises ethical concerns.
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.
City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.
So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being realized.
But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.
Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds "virtual offices." A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.
And it's unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it's not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"It will gradually be more clear as things go along," said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. "The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that's why they prefer not to be upfront."
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients "in all 50 states and most countries."
The company also boasts to have "rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide" and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers "within 72 hours."
Link:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifOx0LPKy5B_0KAyPHyNTEqdQz6QD9AM0VM80
City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.
So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being realized.
But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.
Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds "virtual offices." A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.
And it's unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it's not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"It will gradually be more clear as things go along," said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. "The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that's why they prefer not to be upfront."
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients "in all 50 states and most countries."
The company also boasts to have "rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide" and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers "within 72 hours."
Link:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifOx0LPKy5B_0KAyPHyNTEqdQz6QD9AM0VM80
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Police across the country Tweet & Facebook to solve crimes.
Community policing in the true sense isn't what it used to be given the state of local-level funding for hiring officers. Although police departments may not have the resources to engage the community face to face as often as they like, they're bridging the gap with Web 2.0 tools like Facebook and MySpace, as well as specialized law enforcement tools like CrimeDex and CrimeReports.com. Police have landed on Twitter too, where they hope to complement traditional media coverage by blasting out "tweets" to reach a segment of the population that might not read the daily news or watch it regularly on television.Soon after sites like Facebook and MySpace materialized, police realized that criminals aren't shy about posting their criminal exploits and documenting their crimes online -- sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. Police know sexual predators troll these sites for victims. Even murder suspects can leave clues on their Facebook or MySpace pages. Now there's an almost constant police presence on these sites: behind the scenes where they may be quietly hunting sex offenders, or an upfront approach by posting videos and evidence to elicit public response that might help solve a crime.
Recently police in Auburn, Maine, arrested three crooks involved in a vandalism case after posting surveillance video on the department's Facebook page.
"We went live with Facebook back in February, and one of the first days we went live we posted some surveillance photos from a security camera of some kids who had broken into a local hotel and done some damage," said Jason Moen, deputy chief of the Auburn Police Department. "Within 48 hours of posting, we had names, addresses, the kids identified, interviewed and charged with burglary."
But it's more than nabbing vandalism suspects. Police are using these sites more often to share data, photos and videos about a wide variety of crimes.
"Detectives use every means of the traditional ways and also the new ways," said Mark Economou, public information manager of the Boca Raton Police Department in Florida. "It's very valuable to be able to put up a surveillance video on YouTube. Where the local TV station will air it on the 6 o'clock news and you may not see it again, we can keep that video up forever." The Boca Raton P.D. posted a clip of an armed robbery on YouTube that's been clicked on nearly 2,000 times.
Link: http://www.govtech.com/717300
Recently police in Auburn, Maine, arrested three crooks involved in a vandalism case after posting surveillance video on the department's Facebook page.
"We went live with Facebook back in February, and one of the first days we went live we posted some surveillance photos from a security camera of some kids who had broken into a local hotel and done some damage," said Jason Moen, deputy chief of the Auburn Police Department. "Within 48 hours of posting, we had names, addresses, the kids identified, interviewed and charged with burglary."
But it's more than nabbing vandalism suspects. Police are using these sites more often to share data, photos and videos about a wide variety of crimes.
"Detectives use every means of the traditional ways and also the new ways," said Mark Economou, public information manager of the Boca Raton Police Department in Florida. "It's very valuable to be able to put up a surveillance video on YouTube. Where the local TV station will air it on the 6 o'clock news and you may not see it again, we can keep that video up forever." The Boca Raton P.D. posted a clip of an armed robbery on YouTube that's been clicked on nearly 2,000 times.
Link: http://www.govtech.com/717300
Can hairspray be responsible for a false positive reading on alcohol monitoring devices?
A 17-year-old girl’s alcohol-monitoring device was triggered by continued exposure to hairspray, not consumption to alcohol, a judge ruled Thursday.
“Based on the evidentiary hearing today, the court would find that it appears that the detection made by (the alcohol-monitoring device) was a false positive and so, based upon that, I’m not going to revoke her pre-trial release,” Walton County Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells said.
Elyse Tirico, formerly Elyse Bushee, is charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI with serious bodily injury in connection with a Jan. 4 accident that killed 16-year-old Meghan Burkhart-Smith, a fellow student at South Walton High School. But under questioning by defense attorney Clay Adkinson, Hawthorne said an alert could have been issued even if Tirico had not consumed alcohol. He said wearers of the device are given a list of so-called “banned products” that contain alcohol — including certain toiletries, perfumes and cleaning supplies — in order to avoid false alerts.
Link: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/release-20500-defuniak-springs.html
“Based on the evidentiary hearing today, the court would find that it appears that the detection made by (the alcohol-monitoring device) was a false positive and so, based upon that, I’m not going to revoke her pre-trial release,” Walton County Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells said.
Elyse Tirico, formerly Elyse Bushee, is charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI with serious bodily injury in connection with a Jan. 4 accident that killed 16-year-old Meghan Burkhart-Smith, a fellow student at South Walton High School. But under questioning by defense attorney Clay Adkinson, Hawthorne said an alert could have been issued even if Tirico had not consumed alcohol. He said wearers of the device are given a list of so-called “banned products” that contain alcohol — including certain toiletries, perfumes and cleaning supplies — in order to avoid false alerts.
Link: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/release-20500-defuniak-springs.html
Will police across the country use catheters on suspected drunk drivers? How close are we to becoming a police state?
BOISE, Idaho – When police officer Darryll Dowell is on patrol in the southwestern Idaho city of Nampa, he'll pull up at a stoplight and usually start casing the vehicle. Nowadays, his eyes will also focus on the driver's arms, as he tries to search for a plump, bouncy vein. "I was looking at people's arms and hands, thinking, 'I could draw from that,'" Dowell said. It's all part of training he and a select cadre of officers in Idaho and Texas have received in recent months to draw blood from those suspected of drunken or drugged driving. The federal program's aim is to determine if blood draws by cops can be an effective tool against drunk drivers and aid in their prosecution.
If the results seem promising after a year or two, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will encourage police nationwide to undergo similar training.
For years, defense attorneys in Idaho advised clients to always refuse breath tests, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Christine Starr said. When the state toughened the penalties for refusing the tests a few years ago, the problem lessened, but it's still the main reason that drunk driving cases go to trial in the Boise region, Starr said.
The nation's highest court ruled in 1966 that police could have blood tests forcibly done on a drunk driving suspect without a warrant, as long as the draw was based on a reasonable suspicion that a suspect was intoxicated, that it was done after an arrest and carried out in a medically approved manner.
The practice of cops drawing blood, implemented first in 1995 in Arizona, has also raised concerns about safety and the credibility of the evidence.
"I would imagine that a lot of people would be wary of having their blood drawn by an officer on the hood of their police vehicle," said Steve Oberman, chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' DUI Committee.
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_re_us/us_police_dui_blood
If the results seem promising after a year or two, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will encourage police nationwide to undergo similar training.
For years, defense attorneys in Idaho advised clients to always refuse breath tests, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Christine Starr said. When the state toughened the penalties for refusing the tests a few years ago, the problem lessened, but it's still the main reason that drunk driving cases go to trial in the Boise region, Starr said.
The nation's highest court ruled in 1966 that police could have blood tests forcibly done on a drunk driving suspect without a warrant, as long as the draw was based on a reasonable suspicion that a suspect was intoxicated, that it was done after an arrest and carried out in a medically approved manner.
The practice of cops drawing blood, implemented first in 1995 in Arizona, has also raised concerns about safety and the credibility of the evidence.
"I would imagine that a lot of people would be wary of having their blood drawn by an officer on the hood of their police vehicle," said Steve Oberman, chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' DUI Committee.
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_re_us/us_police_dui_blood
Saturday, September 12, 2009
A digital recording in Natick, MA and the police charge a man with unlawful wiretapping and possessing a device for wiretapping.
Police arrested a man they say caused a disturbance at a Honda dealership and who, it was later discovered, had been recording the exchange with a voice recorder in his pocket.
Chi Quang Truong, 46, of 63 Flanders Road, Westborough, was arrested at 2:05 p.m. Friday at Bernardi Honda on Worcester Street.
Lt. Brian Grassey said yesterday that Truong told Bernardi workers he was dissatisfied with his service and wanted to be compensated $300 for missing half a day's work.
Bernardi staff said they offered to give Truong, who was at the dealership for a tire rotation, his next oil change for free.
When Truong declined, workers said they offered him his next service - a 10,000 mile checkup, valued about $140 - for free. Truong, who officials said was at the dealership for about half an hour, refused the second offer.
Police said Truong became irate and blocked the dealership's service bay with his car. Workers at Bernardi asked Truong to leave and he refused, Grassey said.
Links:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/150820?comment_start=1&comment_count=5#see_comments
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/45069
Chi Quang Truong, 46, of 63 Flanders Road, Westborough, was arrested at 2:05 p.m. Friday at Bernardi Honda on Worcester Street.
Lt. Brian Grassey said yesterday that Truong told Bernardi workers he was dissatisfied with his service and wanted to be compensated $300 for missing half a day's work.
Bernardi staff said they offered to give Truong, who was at the dealership for a tire rotation, his next oil change for free.
When Truong declined, workers said they offered him his next service - a 10,000 mile checkup, valued about $140 - for free. Truong, who officials said was at the dealership for about half an hour, refused the second offer.
Police said Truong became irate and blocked the dealership's service bay with his car. Workers at Bernardi asked Truong to leave and he refused, Grassey said.
Links:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/150820?comment_start=1&comment_count=5#see_comments
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/45069
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Identity theft on the rise, across the country.
Gonzalez, of Miami, pleaded guilty last month to 19 felony charges in a Massachusetts indictment for tapping into the computer networks of T.J. Maxx, OfficeMax and other stores, stealing customers' data and selling it overseas. Federal prosecutors say he stole 40 million credit card numbers as a part of that scheme. He faces charges that he stole millions more from other companies.
Whatever tools an identity thief is using, whether Dumpster diving for individual credit card numbers, or stealing identities by the millions -- ``the damage that you can do to someone is exactly the same,'' said Wayne Ivey, a Florida law enforcement officer who has specialized in identity theft investigations for more than 15 years.
But this rapidly evolving crime is becoming more difficult to stop, Ivey said: Only one in 700 identity thieves is ever arrested.
``We're looking at a crime that has reached epidemic proportions,'' he said.
While a credit card company might forgive charges you claim you didn't make because your card was stolen, some craftier crooks can take the credit card information, coupled with other personal data, and apply for more credit, buy cars, a home, even get a job -- or get arrested -- using someone else's identity.
``The average person will expend over 400 hours trying to get their credit restored,'' Ivey said. ``And the [Federal Trade Commission] estimates the average length of time between when identity theft occurs and the victim finds out is more than 12 months.''
Much of the burden remains on consumers to protect themselves -- and urge companies to take better care of their customers' data.
``Hopefully, the American public will start to realize what's going on and push for more security,'' said Sean Arries, a security expert with Terremark in Miami. He helps companies detect security problems and provides advice on how to fix them.
While many major retailers have updated the security of their networks, many smaller stores have not.
A recent survey by the National Retail Federation showed that small merchants that have never been breached may have an unrealistic expectation of their security: 72 percent of them believe the risk their company faces from a data compromise is low, or not possible, while 67 percent of merchants who have been breached call the risk high.
Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1225963.html
Whatever tools an identity thief is using, whether Dumpster diving for individual credit card numbers, or stealing identities by the millions -- ``the damage that you can do to someone is exactly the same,'' said Wayne Ivey, a Florida law enforcement officer who has specialized in identity theft investigations for more than 15 years.
But this rapidly evolving crime is becoming more difficult to stop, Ivey said: Only one in 700 identity thieves is ever arrested.
``We're looking at a crime that has reached epidemic proportions,'' he said.
While a credit card company might forgive charges you claim you didn't make because your card was stolen, some craftier crooks can take the credit card information, coupled with other personal data, and apply for more credit, buy cars, a home, even get a job -- or get arrested -- using someone else's identity.
``The average person will expend over 400 hours trying to get their credit restored,'' Ivey said. ``And the [Federal Trade Commission] estimates the average length of time between when identity theft occurs and the victim finds out is more than 12 months.''
Much of the burden remains on consumers to protect themselves -- and urge companies to take better care of their customers' data.
``Hopefully, the American public will start to realize what's going on and push for more security,'' said Sean Arries, a security expert with Terremark in Miami. He helps companies detect security problems and provides advice on how to fix them.
While many major retailers have updated the security of their networks, many smaller stores have not.
A recent survey by the National Retail Federation showed that small merchants that have never been breached may have an unrealistic expectation of their security: 72 percent of them believe the risk their company faces from a data compromise is low, or not possible, while 67 percent of merchants who have been breached call the risk high.
Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1225963.html
Crime Reports.com website shares crime data with the public.
A growing number of police departments — nearly 1,000 nationwide — are using online crime mapping services to grab data from their police reports, identify crime trends and then push the information to the public through online maps and e-mail alerts.
"The more people understand what's going on in a neighborhood, the more they can respond to it," says East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis, who began using one such mapping program, CrimeReports.com, six months ago.
Crime mapping services report an increase in the number of police department subscribers:
• CrimeReports.com, which signed up its first agency, Washington's Metropolitan Police, in June 2007, has a roster of about 500 departments and 40 to 50 agencies coming online each month, says founder Greg Whisenant. Computer programs analyze electronic dispatch records and crime reports for common characteristics to create charts and maps, he says.
"Knowing about crime in your neighborhood will help you take action, even if it's as simple as turning on a porch light," Whisenant says.
CrimeReports.com charges police agencies $100 to $200 a month for the service.
What is CrimeReports.com?
CrimeReports.com provides law enforcement agencies with an affordable and easy-to-use Web-based service for managing and controlling the sharing of crime data with the public, in near real-time. Community members can then access their neighborhood crime information for free, empowering them to make informed decisions to help improve the safety of their families, friends, property and the community at large. Back to the top.
Why we created this site:
CrimeReports.com was created to help law enforcement agencies put crime data in the hands of those who care about it most—citizens. While crime statistics in a specific city may be available, they may not be accessible. CrimeReports.com standardizes the way law enforcement agencies communicate crime data to the public, down to the specific neighborhood or block they live on.
Link: http://crimereports.com/
"The more people understand what's going on in a neighborhood, the more they can respond to it," says East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis, who began using one such mapping program, CrimeReports.com, six months ago.
Crime mapping services report an increase in the number of police department subscribers:
• CrimeReports.com, which signed up its first agency, Washington's Metropolitan Police, in June 2007, has a roster of about 500 departments and 40 to 50 agencies coming online each month, says founder Greg Whisenant. Computer programs analyze electronic dispatch records and crime reports for common characteristics to create charts and maps, he says.
"Knowing about crime in your neighborhood will help you take action, even if it's as simple as turning on a porch light," Whisenant says.
CrimeReports.com charges police agencies $100 to $200 a month for the service.
What is CrimeReports.com?
CrimeReports.com provides law enforcement agencies with an affordable and easy-to-use Web-based service for managing and controlling the sharing of crime data with the public, in near real-time. Community members can then access their neighborhood crime information for free, empowering them to make informed decisions to help improve the safety of their families, friends, property and the community at large. Back to the top.
Why we created this site:
CrimeReports.com was created to help law enforcement agencies put crime data in the hands of those who care about it most—citizens. While crime statistics in a specific city may be available, they may not be accessible. CrimeReports.com standardizes the way law enforcement agencies communicate crime data to the public, down to the specific neighborhood or block they live on.
Link: http://crimereports.com/
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Forensic Science Degree website provides useful articles and links to schools across the country.
Dale Bertrand, sent me this link:
"Welcome to my forensic science education website. I created this website to help anyone who is interested in learning more about forensic science. Here you will find the results of my research. My database is the most comprehensive and searchable database of 300+ forensic science degree programs on the internet. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think using the contact form."
This website provides useful articles concerning Forensic science:
http://www.myforensicsciencedegree.com/forensic-science-articles/
Link: http://www.myforensicsciencedegree.com/
"Welcome to my forensic science education website. I created this website to help anyone who is interested in learning more about forensic science. Here you will find the results of my research. My database is the most comprehensive and searchable database of 300+ forensic science degree programs on the internet. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think using the contact form."
This website provides useful articles concerning Forensic science:
http://www.myforensicsciencedegree.com/forensic-science-articles/
Link: http://www.myforensicsciencedegree.com/
How safe is your email password?
When Elaine Cioni found out that her married boyfriend had other girlfriends, she became obsessed, federal prosecutors say. So she turned to YourHackerz.com.
And for only $100, YourHackerz.com provided Cioni, then living in Northern Virginia, with the password to her boyfriend's AOL e-mail account, court records show. For another $100, she got her boyfriend's wife's e-mail password. And then the passwords of at least one other girlfriend and the boyfriend's two children. None had any clue what Cioni was doing, they would later testify.
Cioni, however, went further and began making harassing phone calls to her boyfriend and his family, using a "spoofing" service to disguise her voice as a man's. This attracted the attention of federal authorities, who prosecuted Cioni, 53, in Alexandria last year for unauthorized access to computers, among other crimes. She was convicted and is serving a 15-month sentence.
But such services as YourHackerz.com are still active and plentiful, with clever names like "piratecrackers.com" and "hackmail.net." They boast of having little trouble hacking into such Web-based e-mail systems as AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook and Hotmail, and they advertise openly.
And, experts said, there doesn't appear to be much anyone can do about it.
Links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090602238.html
http://www.slickhackers.com/
http://www.yourhackerz.com/
And for only $100, YourHackerz.com provided Cioni, then living in Northern Virginia, with the password to her boyfriend's AOL e-mail account, court records show. For another $100, she got her boyfriend's wife's e-mail password. And then the passwords of at least one other girlfriend and the boyfriend's two children. None had any clue what Cioni was doing, they would later testify.
Cioni, however, went further and began making harassing phone calls to her boyfriend and his family, using a "spoofing" service to disguise her voice as a man's. This attracted the attention of federal authorities, who prosecuted Cioni, 53, in Alexandria last year for unauthorized access to computers, among other crimes. She was convicted and is serving a 15-month sentence.
But such services as YourHackerz.com are still active and plentiful, with clever names like "piratecrackers.com" and "hackmail.net." They boast of having little trouble hacking into such Web-based e-mail systems as AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook and Hotmail, and they advertise openly.
And, experts said, there doesn't appear to be much anyone can do about it.
Links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090602238.html
http://www.slickhackers.com/
http://www.yourhackerz.com/
Friday, September 4, 2009
Indiana police force a catheter into a suspected drunk driver, even though the breathalyzer test showed he was under the legal limit.
An Indiana man has filed a lawsuit claiming that police forcibly withdrew blood and urine from his body during a drunken driving arrest, WLWT-TV reported.
According to the suit, police arrested Jamie Lockard, 53, on suspicion of drunken driving in March. A Breathalyzer test showed he was under the legal limit, but Officer Brian Miller doubted the findings. Lockard and his attorney claim in the suit that police took him to Dearborn County Hospital and forced him to submit to a urine and blood test. Police said they obtained a warrant, but Lockard's attorney said his client was shackled to a gurney and had a catheter inserted against his will. "It has to be executed reasonably," said attorney Doug Garner. "No one would say this is reasonable behavior. It's reprehensible that anyone could think that this is appropriate." The blood test showed that Lockard's blood-alcohol level did not exceed Indiana's legal limit, police said.
Link: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/20703731/detail.html
According to the suit, police arrested Jamie Lockard, 53, on suspicion of drunken driving in March. A Breathalyzer test showed he was under the legal limit, but Officer Brian Miller doubted the findings. Lockard and his attorney claim in the suit that police took him to Dearborn County Hospital and forced him to submit to a urine and blood test. Police said they obtained a warrant, but Lockard's attorney said his client was shackled to a gurney and had a catheter inserted against his will. "It has to be executed reasonably," said attorney Doug Garner. "No one would say this is reasonable behavior. It's reprehensible that anyone could think that this is appropriate." The blood test showed that Lockard's blood-alcohol level did not exceed Indiana's legal limit, police said.
Link: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/20703731/detail.html
Police in Arkansas shoot the Fire Chief in the back in a courtroom.
It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps. The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court. Now the police chief has disbanded his force "until things calm down," a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff's deputies are asking where all the money from the tickets went. With 174 residents, the city can keep seven police officers on its rolls but missed payments on police and fire department vehicles and saw its last business close its doors a few weeks ago. It was anger over traffic tickets that brought Payne to city hall last week, said his lawyer, Randy Fishman. After Payne failed to get a traffic ticket dismissed on Aug. 27, police gave Payne or his son another ticket that day. Payne, 39, returned to court to vent his anger to Judge Tonya Alexander, Fishman said. It's unclear exactly what happened next, but Martin said an argument between Payne and the seven police officers who attended the hearing apparently escalated to a scuffle, ending when an officer shot Payne from behind.
Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5haXSW0np0eqNFStaxdAeRzXQzBkAD9AG58C03
Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5haXSW0np0eqNFStaxdAeRzXQzBkAD9AG58C03
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Financial hardship claims on the rise for jurors across the U.S.
Few people like jury duty. But for many people squeezed by the recession, a jury summons holds a new fear: financial ruin.
Judges and court officials around the country say they are seeing the impact of the recession in their courtrooms. While no one keeps overall statistics on juror excuses, those closest to the process say that in many parts of the country an increasing number of jurors are trying to get out of service, forcing courts to call an ever larger pool of jurors to meet their needs.
Ranae Johnson, the jury commissioner for Bonneville County, Idaho, said that she typically summoned 400 people for each two-week term of service, but that lately she “had to pop it up to 500” because of rising numbers of economic hardship claims. “We’re hearing it more than we used to,” Ms. Johnson said. “A lot more.”
“Most people, when they’re called for jury duty, assume if they are going to be on a trial, it’s going to be a long trial,” said Shari Seidman Diamond, a law professor at Northwestern University. In fact, Professor Diamond said, the typical trial takes just two or three days, and in many jurisdictions jurors are dismissed after one day if they are not placed on a jury. Longer cases prompt greater efforts to head for the exits, said Douglas L. Keene, a trial consultant in Austin, Tex. Those who are unemployed “can’t afford to not be out there looking for a job,” Mr. Keene said. And despite laws that protect jurors from being fired for their service, he said, people whose companies have gone through rounds of layoffs worry about the impact on them of several days away from the office. Fretful or angry jurors are a concern for plaintiffs’ lawyers in civil suits, Mr. Keene said, because the plaintiffs brought the suit and “are more likely to be blamed by the jurors for any inconvenience that jury duty caused them.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/us/02jury.html?_r=1&ref=us
Judges and court officials around the country say they are seeing the impact of the recession in their courtrooms. While no one keeps overall statistics on juror excuses, those closest to the process say that in many parts of the country an increasing number of jurors are trying to get out of service, forcing courts to call an ever larger pool of jurors to meet their needs.
Ranae Johnson, the jury commissioner for Bonneville County, Idaho, said that she typically summoned 400 people for each two-week term of service, but that lately she “had to pop it up to 500” because of rising numbers of economic hardship claims. “We’re hearing it more than we used to,” Ms. Johnson said. “A lot more.”
“Most people, when they’re called for jury duty, assume if they are going to be on a trial, it’s going to be a long trial,” said Shari Seidman Diamond, a law professor at Northwestern University. In fact, Professor Diamond said, the typical trial takes just two or three days, and in many jurisdictions jurors are dismissed after one day if they are not placed on a jury. Longer cases prompt greater efforts to head for the exits, said Douglas L. Keene, a trial consultant in Austin, Tex. Those who are unemployed “can’t afford to not be out there looking for a job,” Mr. Keene said. And despite laws that protect jurors from being fired for their service, he said, people whose companies have gone through rounds of layoffs worry about the impact on them of several days away from the office. Fretful or angry jurors are a concern for plaintiffs’ lawyers in civil suits, Mr. Keene said, because the plaintiffs brought the suit and “are more likely to be blamed by the jurors for any inconvenience that jury duty caused them.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/us/02jury.html?_r=1&ref=us
The Alibi Network provides alibis & excuses for the workplace and infidelity.
"Alibi Network is a cutting edge full service discreet agency providing alibis and excuses for absences as well as assistance with a variety of sensitive issues. We view ourselves as professional advisors who understand our clients’ unique situations. We explore various approaches with our clients and implement the best solution based on each individual case. We understand your need for privacy and we are completely discreet and confidential. Whether you are involved in discreet affairs or you are married and looking to spice up your relationship by spending time with your partner away from the every day life, we have a solution for you.
We provide alibis and excuses for our clients. Whether it is spending a night out with a special friend, taking a day off from work, sending a discreet gift, avoiding your neighbor's birthday party or planning a surprise for the loved ones.
Now it is all possible... And it is all discreet. We put you in control and let you choose between local and out of town alibis with the option to have alibis validated by live operators.
Alibi Network has been founded to provide services that would protect people's privacy and ensure their anonymity. Such privacy services include completely untraceable, confidential and anonymous purchasing which allows you to buy anything without anyone else knowing about it! We offer a completely private mail receiving and forwarding service through which you can get all mail and packages discreetly. And there is much more!"
Link: http://www.alibinetwork.com/index.jsp
We provide alibis and excuses for our clients. Whether it is spending a night out with a special friend, taking a day off from work, sending a discreet gift, avoiding your neighbor's birthday party or planning a surprise for the loved ones.
Now it is all possible... And it is all discreet. We put you in control and let you choose between local and out of town alibis with the option to have alibis validated by live operators.
Alibi Network has been founded to provide services that would protect people's privacy and ensure their anonymity. Such privacy services include completely untraceable, confidential and anonymous purchasing which allows you to buy anything without anyone else knowing about it! We offer a completely private mail receiving and forwarding service through which you can get all mail and packages discreetly. And there is much more!"
Link: http://www.alibinetwork.com/index.jsp
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
A judge in Ohio orders duct tape to be put over a defendant's mouth.
An Ohio judge unhappy with repeated interruptions from a robbery suspect ordered a deputy to put duct tape over the defendant's mouth. Canton Municipal Court Judge Stephen Belden says the taping last Thursday was the best way to restore order at a hearing for 51-year-old Harry Brown of Canton. Brown complained that his court-appointed attorney wasn't prepared and angered the judge with interruptions. After a warning, the judge told the bailiff to tape Brown's mouth shut.
Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_DEFENDANTS_MOUTH_TAPED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-09-01-11-32-56
Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_DEFENDANTS_MOUTH_TAPED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-09-01-11-32-56
Breathalyzer devices in vehicles have drawbacks.
HERE are two compelling facts about ignition-interlock devices for preventing drunk driving. One is that these devices are highly effective, despite the logical possibilities for bypassing them. The second is that they are rarely installed in the cars of people who have been known to drive while intoxicated. A person who has been drinking might naturally think of fooling the device by persuading a sober person to start the engine, but that is not enough to subvert the system, because the device requires breath samples while the person drives — at random intervals of five minutes to an hour. (At least one company is also integrating cameras with the interlocks to photograph the driver when he provides a breath sample.) The unit keeps a log of all tests, and it is sealed so that any attempts at tampering can be detected. Ignition-interlock devices are not perfectly effective; a drunk can often borrow another car. But in one recent study they were found to reduce repeat drunk-driving offenses by 65 percent. If they were widely installed, the devices would save up to 750 lives a year, a recent National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report estimated. Judges often fail to order installation, even when the law requires it. Offenders routinely ignore orders to get interlocks. And in areas where the installation is voluntary, few offenders install them. In 2007, only about 146,000 interlocks were in use. Part of the problem is that many already overburdened courts may lack the resources to monitor compliance. Some states make driver’s license renewal conditional on the installation of an ignition interlock, but there is often inadequate integration between courts and motor-vehicle departments. Finally, the cost of the interlocks discourages people from complying with court orders. The price of renting and maintaining a unit is $70 to $100 a month, and installation can be another $70 to $175. These charges increase the offender’s temptation to simply drive without a license.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/opinion/31cook.html?_r=2
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/opinion/31cook.html?_r=2
Law clerk shortage in MA courts
The state judiciary has abandoned a controversial proposal to fill coveted law clerk jobs at no cost to the government with newly hired private lawyers whose firms have pushed back their start dates because of the recession. Robert A. Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management of the trial courts, scuttled the proposal after receiving a written opinion he had sought from the state Ethics Commission, according to Joan Kenney, a spokeswoman for the judiciary. Kenney said in an e-mail that the commission did not provide a “definitive ruling.’’ But after Mulligan received the letter, she said, he spoke to a few of the chief justices who head trial-court departments and shelved the plan. As a result, the seven trial-court departments across Massachusetts begin September with a considerably smaller-than-usual complement of law clerks, who help judges with legal research and drafting memoranda.
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/01/proposal_to_let_law_firm_hires_help_state_courts_is_dropped/
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/01/proposal_to_let_law_firm_hires_help_state_courts_is_dropped/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)