New Year’s Eve is a fantastic time to get together with friends and family and reflect on the year coming to a close. It’s not really an opportune time to get arrested. We don’t mean that there’s ever a great time to be arrested, but with the courts closed around the holidays, you may have to wait a bit longer for your arraignment if you can’t make bail. Here are five dumb ways to get arrested on New Year’s Eve:...
Getting arrested for DUI over the weekend can be tricky, seeing as most courts (and most lawyer’s offices) are closed. But even if you do get busted for drunken driving on Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday, don’t panic. Here are five legal tips for dealing with weekend DUI arrests: 1. Do Not Resist Arrest. Fighting with officers, either verbally or physically, will not convince them to let you off for DUI....
While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) latest report shows that overall drunk driving fatalities were down from 2013 to 2014, alcohol-impaired-driving crashes still claimed almost 10,000 lives that year. And while drunk driving is a nation-wide problem, some states have it worse than others. A deeper dive into the number of fatal crashes that involve alcohol, coupled with DUI arrests, penalties, and state laws on drunk driving shows that certain states may not be doing so well when it comes to reducing the risks associated with impaired driving....
A brief barroom brawl has been the subject of a protracted legal battle, one that has outlived one of the brawlers. In 2006, Chris Kyle wrote an anecdote in his best-selling autobiography American Sniper in which he punched out a man called “Scruff Face” for speaking ill of Navy SEALs in Iraq. Scruff Face was later revealed to be Jesse Ventura – a former Navy SEAL himself and former Governor of Minnesota, who fought back legally....
The preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of Arizona immigration law S.B. 1070 has been upheld by the 9th Circuit. S.B. 1070, which inspired boycotts and international condemnation, was challenged by the Department of Justice on the grounds that it was preempted by the Supremacy Clause. The 9th Circuit agreed with the lower court’s assessment, finding that there are likely no set of circumstances under which the four challenged provisions of S....
Sweet butternut squash ravioli sounds delicious, right? It might be but Bertagni brand is recalling some of its Bertagni and Meijer ravioli products that may contain undeclared nuts, according to a company press release posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website last week. People who are sensitive or allergic to cashew or almonds should be particularly wary, as exposure to nuts may be life-threatening. The pasta maker – full name Bertagni 1882 SPA of Arcugnano, Italy – made the announcement on November 25 that it is recalling a specific lot of ravioli....
Celebrities and cocaine, is anyone else noticing a trend here? The latest star to grab headlines for possession of the white powder is singer Bruno Mars. The chart topper (real name: Peter Hernandez) was arrested for cocaine possession after a bathroom attendant at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas caught him with the drug. According to TMZ, the celebrity news outlet that always seems to sniff out the dirty details, a bathroom attendant notified hotel security when he saw a man with a white baggy in the stall....
For the first time ever, a state has agreed to pay for a transgender inmate’s sex reassignment operation. As part of a legal settlement, California will pay for the surgery for Shiloh Quine, a transgender woman who is serving a life sentence. The settlement with Quine follows a ruling from a federal judge that required the state to pay for the surgery for another inmate, Michelle Norsworthy. Instead, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Norsworthy would be paroled....
While it may be common knowledge that caffeine is considered a drug, one California man may be facing an unheard-of DUI charge. After allegedly cutting off an officer from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, he was arrested for DUI. However, his breathalyzer results were clear of any alcohol. When his blood sample was taken, it also showed no trace of any drugs or alcohol, excepting caffeine. The driver was arrested in August 2015, and the charges were not filed until June of 2016....
Can you copyright costumes? And do people still dress up as Power Rangers? Apparently they do, which is why we’re even contemplating the first question. SCG Power Rangers LLC, owner of all intellectual property rights associated with the Power Rangers franchise, has sued MyPartyShirt.com on these grounds. It believes that the website’s unofficial Power Rangers costumes constitute both copyright and trademark infringement. It’s indisputable that SCG owns the copyrights and trademarks in the designs and artwork that appear on the Power Rangers uniforms....
Defibrillator manufacturer Medtronic Inc. is warning patients and health care providers that an electrical wire (called a “lead”) that links the defibrillator to the heart could fracture. Medtronic is voluntarily suspending all distribution of the “Sprint Fidelis” leads. Medtronic defibrillators have included the Fidelis lead since 2004. According to a Press Release from Medtronic, Inc., the estimated 268,000 patients who have been implanted with Sprint Fidelis leads might experience lead fractures as “audible alerts, inappropriate shocks and/or loss of output,” and the company has identified five deaths “in which a Sprint Fidelis lead fracture may have been a possible or likely contributing factor....
If you have used a credit card at a Wendy’s fast food chain lately, your personal data may have been compromised. Wendy’s has again announced bad news about data breaches and how it has been dealing with multiple cyberattacks, some of which went on for months. The fast food chain says it is working with the payment card industry, federal law enforcement, and forensics experts throughout its investigation and said it will beef up security across all of its system....
After numerous reports on the potential harmful effects of the chemical bisphenol A, known as BPA, one more issue rears its ugly head: potential problems with sexual function in men. In a new report from Kaiser Permanente and published in the journal Human Reproduction, researchers spent five years studying workers in factories in China with relatively high levels of exposure to BPA. Numerous effects on sexual function were reported. Earlier research has linked BPA exposure to reproduction problems in animals, but the new study is the first to do so in humans, reports webmd....
A federal court ruled that Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies racially profiled Latinos while on immigration patrols in the Arizona county, reports The New York Times. Arpaio’s attorneys plan to appeal the federal judge’s ruling in the next 30 days. Race discrimination and racial profiling by law enforcement violates the Constitution. It’s against federal law in a variety of situations. In this case, Judge G. Murray Snow of United States District Court found Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies were pulling over and singling out people who are dark skinned and speak Spanish to check their immigration status....
For the second time this month, Rick Ross has been arrested. This time, he won’t be getting out – at least not for a while. Ross and his bodyguard were arrested today and charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and kidnapping. What happened? Earlier this month Ross (real name William Leonard Roberts II), and his bodyguard, Nadrian James, allegedly pistol-whipped a household employee during a fight. According to police, on June 7, Ross and James forced one of Ross’ employees into his guest house where he was held in a bedroom for several hours....
After about five minutes of reading Lil Wayne lyrics, this blogger couldn’t decide if the Grammy-winning rapper is offensive to the ladies, or just likes to please. Putting that consideration aside for a moment, news is out that a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted during a Lil Wayne recording session. Luckily for Weezy (seriously, does he not know of the original?), he’s not to blame. The alleged attacker is none other than Noel “Detail” Fisher–producer of Ray J and Akon fame....
New federal restrictions on the presence of lead and other harmful chemicals in children’s products take effect on Tuesday (February 10). The new product safety rules are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), passed by Congress in response to a number of high-profile recalls of toys in 2007 and 2008. According to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) News Release: “Starting on February 10, 2009, consumer products intended for children 12 and under cannot have more than 600 parts per million of lead in any accessible part,” although a one year stay will offer limited compliance relief to certain toy manufacturers and importers....
On the heels of Texas’ decision to execute Mexican national Humberto Leal Garcia late last week, the United Nations is speaking out, claiming that the United States violated international law. Accused of raping and killing a 16-year-old girl in 1994, Leal Garcia was denied access to the Mexican Embassy prior to his conviction. Despite this, the Supreme Court refused to stay his execution. Was this really illegal? Under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, treaty signatories must provide detained or arrested foreign nationals with access to their embassy or consulate....
Celebrity chef Paula Deen is using the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling as support for her defense in a racial discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed by a woman who claims she was subjected to a hostile work environment at Deen’s restaurants, CNN reports. But because the woman is white, she therefore doesn’t have the standing, or legal right, to claim racial discrimination, Deen’s lawyer argues in a motion filed Monday....
The screenwriter who found Philip Seymour Hoffman dead of a drug overdose denied a supermarket tabloid’s claim that he and Hoffman were lovers and has filed suit for $50 million. The National Enquirer ran a cover story claiming that playwright David Bar Katz was Hoffman’s “gay lover.” On Wednesday Katz filed a civil suit in New York seeking $5 million in damages and another $45 million in punitive damages. Katz’s lawsuit (attached below) calls the story “a complete fabrication....
