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When a person fights a speeding ticket, the same basic principle of criminal defense apply: the prosecution must prove the case with evidence. Therefore, it makes sense that the best way to win a speeding ticket case is to knock out the evidence the ticket is based on. Since most tickets are based on evidence gathered by radar or laser speed detection devices, the following will focus on the main challenges to these two types of evidence....

The FDA released new sunscreen guidelines last week, and though they won’t be effective until summertime next year, they do raise some important considerations for those of you trying to figure out how to pick a sunscreen for this year’s summer fun. Perhaps the biggest change brought by the new sunscreen guidelines is to sunscreen’s SPF labeling. As you may know, there are two types of ultraviolent light–A and B (UVA, UVB)....

Everything’s bigger in Texas. But that doesn’t mean it’s better. The Lone Star state is hitting some big numbers in a very bad category. The Texas Education Agency revealed it has launched a whopping 162 investigations into alleged inappropriate teacher-student relationships between September 1 and May 31. The agency had a total of 188 investigations all of last year, the most in the nation, and the number of incidents has been rising for five straight years....

Dealing drugs is a dangerous business and you can’t count on not getting caught. Not even if you are the son of a Miami-Dade Police Department major and have other relatives on the force, and especially not if you leave evidence of your business lying around the house. Last month in Florida, Tyler Palmer, 20, was arrested on suspicion of dealing drugs after a raid on his home yielded cocaine, marijuana, pills, and cash....

Federal traffic safety officials announced last week that drivers age 21 to 24 have the highest involvement rates in traffic accidents involving alcohol consumption, as thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country prepare for a crackdown on DUI and DWI offenses over the December holidays. The report, Fatalities in Crashes Involving Alcohol-Impaired 21- to-24-Year-Old Drivers During the December Holidays, was released last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on the eve of a national law enforcement and public awareness effort that will continue through New Year’s Day....

Yesterday, a Dallas man filed what is believed to be the first same sex divorce petition in Texas. The couple was married in Massachusetts in 2006, but now lives in Texas. The case poses a question to the Texas court which has become increasingly common: will states that don’t recognize gay marriage allow same sex divorces? If not, how can these couples legally split if they no longer live where they were married?...

Over the weekend, University of Illinois Chicago engineering student Jabari Dean took to the comments section of a hip hop culture website and threatened to shoot students and staff at the University of Chicago. That threat led the FBI to close the school’s campus Monday, and led to Dean’s arrest the same day. It’s a reminder that law enforcement takes online threats seriously, especially when they involve campus shootings. A Credible Threat Dean’s threat, while allegedly buried in deep in a comment thread, was chillingly specific:...

Voters in Washington state and Colorado have legalized recreational marijuana use. These are the first two states in the nation where voters have decriminalized pot. The ballot initiatives in these states follow previous, successful efforts by states like California to legalize marijuana use for medicinal purposes. But now, adults over 21 in Washington or Colorado won’t need a doctor’s prescription to light up – though it should be noted that recreational marijuana use, like medicinal marijuana use, remains illegal under federal law, Bloomberg reports....

Employers are prohibited from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation. That’s the ruling of the federal 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, which has held that such discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It’s a major decision that makes a potential Supreme Court decision on the matter more likely. “Title VII” refers to a portion of the Civil Rights Act guaranteeing equal employment opportunity....

Toni Braxton is being sued by an advertising company for not making payments on posters produced for her cable-TV reality show “Braxton Family Values.” Advertising company National Promotions & Advertising (NPA) claims that the R&B singer owes more than $57,000. The advertising company is also suing the producers of the show, which airs on WEtv, The Urban Daily reports. Tony Braxton’s rep, however, says the singer doesn’t owe the company a dime....

On May 25, the CPSC announced its list of the manufacturing companies whose drywall showed emissions of high levels of hydrogen sulfide in testing. The testing was conducted for the CPSC at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in California. The Commission confirms there is a strong association between the hydrogen sulfide and metal corrosion. The CPSC confirms that of the samples tested, the top ten sulfur-emitting drywall samples were all produced in China....

It was a busy year for the Supreme Court, which started 2017 down one justice. Then Neil Gorsuch joined the Court in April, and immediately began making an impact. Lower federal and state courts handed down some influential rulings as well. Here are the major court decisions from 2017: Given the mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas this year, it’s only natural that gun control would be on everyone’s mind....

A man was taken into custody following a Target stabbing at a store in Pittsburgh. Police say the suspect stabbed three people. The incident began outside the store when the unidentified man slashed another man’s face with a knife and then ran into the store, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Two men then followed the suspect into the store looking for him. The knife-wielding suspect then chased one of the men and grabbed a 16-year-old female bystander....

Thomas Arthur was first indicted of murdering Troy Wicker in 1982. Three convictions (two of which were overturned), seven stays of execution, and 35 years later, Arthur was executed by the state of Alabama, mere minutes before his latest execution warrant expired. Arthur’s eighth attempt at a stay was denied by the Supreme Court, despite the dissent of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who questioned the state’s use of death penalty drug midazolam and its denial of phone service to Arthur’s attorneys during the execution....

It seems as though the Amanda Knox trial, which was the subject of a trashy Lifetime movie earlier this year, is never-ending In the latest news, the two court-appointed DNA experts who are assigned to analyze evidence that is the subject of Knox’s appeal have requested that the Italian court extend their deadline by 40 days. Improper DNA testing has been central to the Amanda Knox trial and appeal, the former of which ended with the Washington college student being sentenced to 26 years behind bars for the murder of her Italian roommate, Meredith Kercher....

There looks to be a resolution to the Brett Favre/Jen Sterger texts that have received as much screen time as the veteran quarterback has this season. When we last looked at the sexting scandal, Jen Sterger was demanding that the NFL suspend Favre or she would seek legal action against the football league. Let the lawsuit commence. The NFL has decided to fine Favre $50,000 for failing to cooperate with the investigation but the quarterback will not be suspended as Sterger demanded....

Maggie Wortman pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter on Monday, bringing the meth breast milk case one step closer to its end. The California mother was charged in the death of her 6-week-old son, who died of methamphetamine toxicity in November 2010. The child had ingested Wortman’s breast milk after she smoked the drug. Prosecutors believe medical professionals warned her of the dangers when she tested positive for meth while 6 months pregnant....

R&B singer Chris Brown and pop star Rihanna were no-shows at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, despite the show’s listing them both as performers in its intro. It turns out that Chris Brown might have been busy getting charged with “a felony in connection with a domestic violence incident.” Although earlier news reports indicated that police had not yet identified the alleged victim, an L.A. Times story indicates that “[t]he victim, who was later identified by sources familiar with the case as Rihanna, suffered visible injuries and identified Brown as her attacker, according to the police report....

After battling for nearly two decades, cigarette makers are finally being forced to add new warning labels that reflect the outcome of the case over “low-tar” and “light” cigarettes. The 1999 case found that cigarette makers, including R.J. Reynolds and Phillip Morris, had conspired to deceive the public as to the negative health effects of smoking. Today, it is well known that there is no such thing as a “safe cigarette,” and that “light” cigarettes are not any healthier....

Yesterday, plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a class action in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Facebook, Inc. over the use of names and likenesses of California minors in advertising on the social networking website. When a Facebook user “Likes” an advertisement, that user’s name and likeness may appear within advertisements on Facebook as an endorsement for commercial products or services. California law requires parental consent to use a minor’s name or likeness “for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services”....