If you were pulled over for a DUI, would you know what to do? While you should never drive while intoxicated, you likely know whether or not this could be possible in your future. If you drink, you need to know what to do if you get pulled over for a DUI.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
The state of Texas has enacted a variety of different regulations that are each designed to help stem the increasing number of DWI accidents, injuries, and fatalities occurring within the state by making it less appealing for underage individuals to purchase alcohol, less appealing for people over the age of 21 to sell alcohol to underage individuals, and less appealing for individuals to drive while intoxicated. Many of these regulations establish strong penalties for alcohol-related offenses in order to make DWI less appealing. However, some of the strongest penalties are used in situations in which a child is in the car of a driver that is driving while intoxicated and situations in which an individual is harmed or killed by a driver that is driving while intoxicated.
DWI is always considered to be a serious offense, but driving with a child in the car while intoxicated is considered to be a much more serious offense. If an individual is pulled over and arrested for DWI and there was a child under the age of 15 present in the car, the driver will be arrested for felony DWI. An individual convicted of felony DWI will receive a minimum of 180 days in jail to a maximum of two years in jail and may be faced with up to a $10,000 fine. It is also important to note that the individual may be charged with other crimes related to the safety and well-being of the child depending on the specific situation.
Even though the act of DWI with a child present is considered to be an extremely serious offense, it is not the most serious alcohol-related offense for which an individual can be charged. If an individual is involved in an automobile accident in which someone was seriously injured and it is determined that the individual was driving while intoxicated, the individual will be arrested for DWI and for intoxication assault. Intoxication assault is a 3rd degree felony that carries a minimum jail time of two years up to a possible maximum of 10 years in jail and a possible fine of up to $10,000 if the individual is convicted. It is important to note that the individual may also receive all of the other penalties associated with a standard DWI arrest, including license revocation, if he or she is arrested and/or convicted for intoxication assault. If an individual is involved in an automobile accident in which someone was killed and it is determined that the individual was driving while intoxicated, the individual will be arrested for DWI and intoxication manslaughter or possibly manslaughter with the use of a deadly weapon. Intoxication manslaughter is a 2nd degree felony that carries a minimum jail time of two years up to a possible maximum of 20 years in prison and, in most situations, a $10,000 fine. The individual, just as with a charge of intoxication assault, will also usually have to face all of the other penalties associated with a standard DWI arrest if he or she is arrested and/or convicted.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
LANSING, Mich. - Dow Chemical Co. will talk with the Environmental Protection Agency about how to conduct a cleanup of dioxin-contaminated soil around 10 homes near the Tittabawassee River in Saginaw.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
New York residents could instead flock to California, where gay couples will be able to wed beginning June 17 - unless that state’s Supreme Court decides to stay its own ruling same-sex gay marriage. Upon their return home, in the eyes of the state, their unions would be no different from those of their heterosexual neighbors.
Gay couples could also travel outside the country to marry in Canada or one of the other nations where same-sex marriage is legal.
The move by Paterson’s administration does not legalize same-sex marriage in New York. The state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has said it can only be legalized by the Legislature, which failed to pass a proposed measure last year.
The memo, one of the strongest steps the state can take short of action by the Legislature, cited a Feb. 1 ruling by a New York Appellate Division court in a case involving a woman wed in Canada who was denied benefits by her partner’s employer.
The appellate judges determined that there is no legal impediment in New York to the recognition of a same-sex marriage. The state Legislature “may decide to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages solemnized abroad,” the ruling said. “Until it does so, however, such marriages are entitled to recognition in New York.”
In a video shown Saturday at the Empire State Pride Agenda’s spring dinner, the governor said he directed the move as “a strong step toward marriage equality right here in our state.”
“We’re aware that our advocacy is incomplete and we will keep trying until people who love each other and want to get married, regardless of who they are, have that opportunity,” Paterson said in the video, which was posted on the gay rights organization’s Web site.
Paterson spokeswoman Erin Duggan said the May 14 memo is intended to guide the actions of state agencies. It states that agencies must change policies and regulations to make sure “spouse,” “husband” and “wife” are clearly understood to include gay couples.
The memo says failure to include gay marriages in the dispensing of state services such as health care benefits could violate state human rights law. The agencies could face sanctions for any violations, it warns.
The agency changes can be instituted through internal memos or changes in regulations and would not require legislative action, Paterson counsel David Nocenti said in the memo, first reported by The New York Times.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Paterson, his running mate for lieutenant governor, campaigned in 2006 on a platform that included bringing equal rights to gays. Spitzer, however, said the state constitution didn’t sanction gay marriage.
Last year, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York was approved by the Democrat-led Assembly, but the Republican-led Senate hasn’t taken it up.
In California, a group opposed to gay marriage has asked the state Supreme Court to grant a stay of its May 15 ruling until after the November election, when voters are likely to face a ballot initiative that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Passage of the initiative would overrule the Supreme Court.
Justices have until June 16 to rule on the stay request, according to the memo sent Wednesday by e-mail to the state’s 58 county clerks.
The guidelines from Janet McKee, chief of California’s office of vital records, contained copies of new marriage forms that include lines for “Party A” and “Party B” instead of bride and groom. The gender-neutral nomenclature was developed in consultation with county clerks, according to the letter.
“Effective June 17, 2008, only the enclosed new forms may be issued for the issuance of marriage licenses in California,” the directive reads.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
A U.S. judge Monday threw out a record $1.5 billion verdict against Microsoft Corp, ruling the world’s largest software had not infringed on audio technology patents held by France’s Alcatel-Lucent.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
Recall those $1,000/hr billing rates that had the blogosphere buzzing last summer? Turns out, they may really be worth only $900/hr based on the results of a 2008 Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report released by Rain Today and summarized by Enricho Schaefer at Greatest American Lawyer. According to the report, discounting is a common practice, with 76 percent of all firms discounting their published fees by an average of 9.9 percent. And interestingly, larger firms are more likely to discount; 89 percent of firms with ten or more lawyers discount, versus only 59 percent of smaller firms. Nearly half of the responding firms employ service guarantees which allow clients to reduce payment based on dissatisfaction with value received.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
There are many meanings of the word immigrant such as theoretical, administrative or statistical. In the strictly theoretical way, an immigrant is the person who is born in a specific country but his parents has foreign origins or the person who crosses the border of a particular country with the intention of remaining there. In other words, a person is an immigrant when he or she becomes a part of one country population by other methods than by birth. The statistical and administrative meanings of the word immigrant very much vary and depend on the immigration laws and administrative decisions of a country. For instance, in the United States of America the two meanings of the immigrant is resulting by definitions and meanings set forth by the Bureau of Immigration. In the statistical meaning, immigrant is the word used for a person who is legally responsible for paying head taxes. The official immigration statistics are the subject matter to certain qualifications and try to reflect the total number of the immigrants. There are different agencies that provide statistical information about immigration. Even more, there are many professional organizations that make good analysis of the statistical methods used by the above named agencies. These organizations also provide their own programs, data or products for obtaining immigration statistics as exactly as possible. The immigration statistics are formulated in figures that indicate the total increase of the national population due to the immigration. These figures are quite exactly for the population increase projected in the last eight years. The immigration statistics are chancing every year as the number of immigrants is higher. The figures included in the statistics also increase by an estimated amount if people arrive by land. At the beginning of 2007, the immigration statistics derived from the Bureau of Immigration indicate an estimated number of 3,750,000 immigrants instead of 4,820,000 since 1898-1905.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
What is a Real Estate Release Agreement?
By: Mark Warner | 21/05/2008 | Law
This article is a useful research tool for those interested in learning more about Real Estate Release Agreements and how they might affect business dealings and contracts within the Real Estate industry.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
If you live in the “Show Me State” and you want to do a background check on someone then you need to find public records online in Missouri. These are records that are legally available to anyone who wishes to search for them, whether online or using more traditional time intensive manual search methods.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »
Q. What happens to a professional license when the practitioner is convicted of a second-degree crime?
According to N.J.S.A. 2C: 51-5A, a New Jersey health care practitioner such as a doctor, who is convicted of a second degree health care claims fraud crime or a similar crime, will permanently forfeit his or her license and will never be able to practice the profession. The only way to prevent that is for the defense to argue that such license forfeiture would be a serious injustice, which overrides the need to deter such conduct by others. The court may consider another period of license suspension, but no less than one year. If you are lucky and the court does not permanently forfeit your license right away, the sentence is not final for 10 days so that the prosecution may appeal it.
When a practitioner is convicted of third degree health care claims fraud or a similar crime for the first time, there will be mandatory license suspension for at least one year. The second conviction will cost you your license for good.
Q. How will the licensing agency be notified of forfeiture or suspension?
A court will enter an order of license forfeiture or suspension immediately after a plea of guilty or finding the defendant guilty, assuming any of this happens in New Jersey. The order is effective as of the date of conviction r guilty plea. If it is an out of state or a federal conviction, or the defendant forfeited his license in another state, the court will enter the forfeiture order upon application of the county prosecutor or the Attorney General.
Q. May a license forfeiture order be stayed while the case is pending appeal?
An order of license forfeiture or suspension will usually not be stayed pending appeal of a conviction or forfeiture or suspension order unless the appellant’s attorney convince the court that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. If the appeal is successful and the conviction is reversed or the order of license forfeiture or suspension is overturned, the court will notify the licensing agency within 10 days of the date of the order of reinstatement. That does not guarantee that the license will be restored because the agency, such as the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, may decide to suspend or revoke the license on its own motion.
Q. May a professional license be forfeited or suspended by a licensing agency?
Absolutely! This can be done by special application by the Attorney General. The situation may arise in a case where the issue of license forfeiture or suspension is not even discussed raised in a court when the practitioner pleads guilty or is found guilty. However, the fact that a court has not ordered license forfeiture or suspension does not stop the licensing agency from doing that on its own accord. The decision may be based on the argument that the conduct giving rise to the conviction demonstrates that the person is unfit to hold the license or is otherwise liable for an offense.
Q. Can a professional or medical license be reinstated in New Jersey?
N.J.S.A. 2C:52-27.1(a) provides the procedure for reinstatement of forfeited professional licenses. If the conviction record is expunged, the convicted practitioner who lost his or her license as the result of conviction may ask the court for an order to rescind the court’s order of forfeiture if the person can demonstrate that he or she is sufficiently rehabilitated. If an order to rescind the court’s order of debarment is granted, the next step is to apply to the licensing agency for license reinstatement.
Q. What happens to a professional license when the practitioner is convicted of a second-degree crime?
According to N.J.S.A. 2C: 51-5A, a New Jersey health care practitioner such as a doctor, who is convicted of a second degree health care claims fraud crime or a similar crime, will permanently forfeit his or her license and will never be able to practice the profession. The only way to prevent that is for the defense to argue that such license forfeiture would be a serious injustice, which overrides the need to deter such conduct by others. The court may consider another period of license suspension, but no less than one year. If you are lucky and the court does not permanently forfeit your license right away, the sentence is not final for 10 days so that the prosecution may appeal it.
When a practitioner is convicted of third degree health care claims fraud or a similar crime for the first time, there will be mandatory license suspension for at least one year. The second conviction will cost you your license for good.
Q. How will the licensing agency be notified of forfeiture or suspension?
A court will enter an order of license forfeiture or suspension immediately after a plea of guilty or finding the defendant guilty, assuming any of this happens in New Jersey. The order is effective as of the date of conviction r guilty plea. If it is an out of state or a federal conviction, or the defendant forfeited his license in another state, the court will enter the forfeiture order upon application of the county prosecutor or the Attorney General.
Q. May a license forfeiture order be stayed while the case is pending appeal?
An order of license forfeiture or suspension will usually not be stayed pending appeal of a conviction or forfeiture or suspension order unless the appellant’s attorney convince the court that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. If the appeal is successful and the conviction is reversed or the order of license forfeiture or suspension is overturned, the court will notify the licensing agency within 10 days of the date of the order of reinstatement. That does not guarantee that the license will be restored because the agency, such as the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, may decide to suspend or revoke the license on its own motion.
Q. May a professional license be forfeited or suspended by a licensing agency?
Absolutely! This can be done through a special application by the Attorney General. The situation may arise in a case where the issue of license forfeiture or suspension is not even discussed raised in a court when the practitioner pleads guilty or is found guilty. However, the fact that a court has not ordered license forfeiture or suspension does not stop the licensing agency from doing that on its own accord. The decision may be based on the argument that the conduct giving rise to the conviction demonstrates that the person is unfit to hold the license or is otherwise liable for an offense.
Q. Can a professional or medical license be reinstated in New Jersey?
N.J.S.A. 2C:52-27.1(a) provides the procedure for reinstatement of forfeited professional licenses. If the conviction record is expunged, the convicted practitioner who lost his or her license as the result of conviction may ask the court for an order to rescind the court’s order of forfeiture if the person can demonstrate that he or she is sufficiently rehabilitated. If an order to rescind the court’s order of debarment is granted, the next step is to apply to the licensing agency for license reinstatement.
Posted in Legal Questions | No Comments »