Posts

A recent press release from the Department of Justice announced the largest-ever nationwide sweep of fraudsters targeting the nation’s seniors. The sweep targeted over 260 fraudsters and accounted for approximately $750 million. The DOJ’s press release explained that this sweep includes 13 percent more criminals, and 28 percent more money, than last year’s sweep. And while some of the same old scams were utilized, one of those scams, dubbed the tech support scam, is as scary as they come, and the DOJ had found that it was increasingly being used to target seniors....

Mama June of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” allegedly received death threats on her Facebook page by a man who faces felony charges as a result. Andrew Kurt Summers turned himself to McIntyre, Georgia, police on Monday after officers obtained a warrant for his arrest, TMZ reports. June (legally June Thompson) claims that Summers threatened to “shoot both her and Pumpkin” (the nickname for June’s 14-year-old daughter Lauryn Thompson.) When Facebook death threats and reality TV collide, what’s the legal result?...

A federal gun law on “straw purchases” has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, preventing buyers from purchasing a gun just to transfer it to someone else. In a 5-4 decision, the High Court determined that even if the ultimate recipient of the firearm is legally permitted to own a gun, federal laws intended to prevent sham transactions known as “straw purchases” are still valid, reports The Associated Press....

For Amy’s Baking Company, “Kitchen Nightmares” was just the beginning of a primetime public image nightmare from which the owners can’t seem to rouse themselves. Ever since the episode featuring the Scottsdale, Arizona, eatery aired May 10 on Fox, owners Salomon “Samy” and Amanda “Amy” Bouzaglo have had more than 1,000 rotten tomatoes digitally flung at them through scathing Yelp reviews. Even more “haters” (as Amy would call them) have taken to Facebook....

Taxpayers who earn $42,000 or less can get free tax preparation services this Saturday (March 21st) at more than 1,250 locations nationwide, under the Internal Revenue Service’s annual “Super Saturday” tax filing assistance program. The free income tax return filing assistance will be provided at more than 250 local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers that will be open on Saturday, and more than 1,000 community organizations that are partnering with the IRS to offer free taxpayer help....

It’s not enough that you need to worry about Indian call centers impersonating IRS agents, or fake emails from courts demanding information for jury duty, now consumers need to be on the lookout for phone calls from fake government officials demanding payment via gift card. The Federal Communications Commission issued a warning regarding the gift card scam last week, even hosting a Twitter “town hall” to answer questions about the scheme....

A Minnesota meat company is recalling about 188,000 pounds of ground beef due to possible e. Coli contamination and links to six cases of illness in Wisconsin and California. The affected ground beef – produced by Rochester Meat Company of Rochester, Minnesota on October 30 and November 6, 2007 – was not available for purchase by consumers, but was distributed to restaurants and food service organizations nationwide. A News Release from the U....

Joe Jackson may be one step closer to obtaining a monthly stipend from the King of Pop’s estate. According to the Associated Press, a judge has ruled that Joe Jacskon can review receive some hospital records related to his superstar son’s death. As previously discussed, Joe Jackson, 80, said that his son helped him with living expenses for years and needs a stipend to cover his monthly expenses. Michael Jackson will did not name Joe Jackson, and he cannot challenge the handpicked executors, as previously discussed in FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life....

Sarah Palin is not a lawyer but she might soon play one on TV. Specifically, she has signed a deal to preside over a courtroom on a new arbitration entertainment show that has not yet been made or sold but is expected to appear next year, in the fall of 2017. Unlike her TV judge predecessors – most famously, Judge Joseph Wapner and Judge Judy Sheindlin – Sarah Palin did not attend law school or pass the bar exam, so she cannot be a judge in real life....

Listeria concerns have prompted a massive recall of products that include onions processed by Gills Onions. The recall initially was limited to several Trader Joe’s products, but has now grown to include a substantial list of prepared foods. The recall is only precautionary and no sickness has been reported, according to the company. Still, the issue of contaminated food is big and listeria is no joke. It can cause serious illness, especially for people who are more vulnerable to it....

Robert Wagner is responsible for Hollywood actress Natalie Wood’s drowning death off Catalina Island near Los Angeles in 1981, according Dennis Davern. Davern was the captain of the boat on which Wood was sailing when she drowned. Now, three decades after investigators concluded that her death was a tragic accident, her case has been reopened. It’s a new development in a case that has long been shrouded in mystery. Wood, the star of such iconic movies as Miracle on 34th Street and Rebel Without a Cause, died at the age of 43....

The attempted murder trial of actor Shelley Malil began this week. On Tuesday, August 31, the victim who survived an alleged stabbing by the defendant testified. Kendra Beebe told the court she was stabbed 23 times by the actor, who was her on and off boyfriend, on the evening of August 10, 2008. A friend who was visiting helped fend off the attack. Malil, who is best known for his part in the Steve Carell film “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin,” is accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary, according to NBC San Diego....

Should Jared Loughner be forcibly drugged? Loughner’s mental competency has been the focus of his trial for the Tucson, Arizona shootings. Loughner was declared mentally incompetent and unfit to stand trial. He has been in a federal facility ever since. Two doctors have independently come to the conclusion that Loughner is schizophrenic. Because of his mental incompetency, Loughner’s trial has been delayed until he can be found competent to stand trial....

In a 9-0 ruling, last week the Supreme Court upheld the ruling of a U.S. appeals court, allowing the billion dollar shareholders lawsuit against Merck & Company to proceed. As we discussed previously, the Merck lawsuit was brought on behalf of a group of investors. Merck is accused of knowingly misleading those investors about the health risks of the drug Vioxx, which they claimed artificially inflated their stock prices. Despite the arguments by attorneys for Merck, the justices found that the investors’ claims were not prohibited by the statute of limitations....

In one of the two closely watched and highly controversial travel ban cases that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up on review this term, an order of dismissal has been issued. However, the dismissal only applies to Executive Order 13,780, a.k.a. travel ban 2.0, which had expired as of September 24, 2017. As the Court explained in a brief order, because the travel ban in issue had expired, the legal case no longer presented a “live case or controversy....

The widely reported trial of two former Bear Stearns Co. fund managers ended with a surprise verdict on Thursday: not guilty. Despite our dampened collective mood and the need the country has to find someone or something to blame for the market debacle of last year, this one didn’t quite stick. Much to prosecutors’ surprise, the email evidence they had counted on to seal the fate of fund managers Matthew Tannin and Ralph Cioffi failed to convince the jury of their guilt....

Few things are as terrifying as the thought of a loved one, especially a child, being kidnapped. So when the phone rings and someone says they have your daughter and will kill her immediately if you hang up or fail to wire $10,000, most parents will do whatever is possible to save their child. That’s exactly the kind of compliance scam artists are counting on when they call unsuspecting parents and relatives, a practice that’s been on the rise in recent years....

Following last night’s announcement that a grand jury in Ferguson decided not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown, many may have questions about how grand juries operate. Grand juries are generally called on to decide whether there is probable cause to bring criminal charges against an individual, typically in cases which may result in serious, felony charges. Although all states have laws allowing for grand juries, not all states make use of grand juries....

Former “Home Improvement” sitcom star Taran Noah Smith is all grown up – but the ex-actor apparently still has some room for personal improvement when it comes to parallel parking and alleged drug use. Police in Burbank, Calif., arrested Smith, 27, in connection with driving under the influence and drug possession about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. (However, several other sources, including the local Burbank Leader, reported Smith was arrested early Wednesday....

Recently, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) released a list of the 10 riskiest foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Though the report from which the list comes provides useful information, looking at the list alone misses a very important caveat – the FDA does not regulate meat or poultry, which are more often linked to many food borne illnesses, including E. coli and salmonella....