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Did you know that even Oklahoman murderers are on Facebook? The use of social media in prisons has even affected California’s inmates. Facebook, however, has responded, and is now in the process of working with law enforcement to close these pages down. One high-profile inmate that had a Facebook account was convicted murderer Justin L. Walker, who is in prison for murdering an Oklahoma sheriff. His Facebook account had photos of him smoking a homemade bong while in prison, smoking a joint, holding a bottle of alcohol, and even had a photo of him holding a bag of weed....

Oprah will find herself in front of a new audience later this month. The trial is set to begin for the talk show queen who will appear in court before a judge and jury to defend a defamation lawsuit. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, trial for the defamation lawsuit could begin as early as March 29. Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane, former headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, claims the talk show host defamed her....

This Halloween, parents should warn trick-or-treating children not to eat any treats before an adult has carefully examined them for evidence of tampering. And when shopping for that perfect Halloween costume, parents should be sure to look for the “Flame Resistant” label. Those are just a few of the tips offered by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in this year’s Halloween Safety Alert. The CPSC also offers tips on costume design, pedestrian safety, and choosing safe houses....

[DISCLAIMER: This article is not legal advice. For your safety, if you are being detained by police, you should follow all officer instructions.] An interesting legal quirk came to our attention the other day from this legal summary: “It’s not a criminal attempt to escape where the arrest was unlawful.” So, if an officer’s reason for arresting you is invalid or illegal, you can’t be charged with trying to flee that arrest....

Technology may be breaking barriers, but that doesn’t mean drivers should be breaking laws. A San Francisco Bay Area driver, charged with driving under the influence after being found asleep behind the wheel on the Bay Bridge last week, apparently claimed that his Tesla was on autopilot when confronted by the California Highway Patrol. That might be a new one, but it wasn’t a successful one. As the C.H.P. noted on Twitter afterward, “no it didn’t drive itself to the tow yard....

A California rapper who faked his own death has been arrested. No, you guys, it’s not Tupac. Tim Dog, born Timothy Blair, reportedly died in February from diabetes-related complications. But a woman named Esther Pilgrim has accused the “F— Compton” artist of faking his own death to avoid making court-ordered repayments to women he scammed, reports the New York Daily News. But is it illegal to fake your own death?...

In a real life Catch Me If You Can scheme, an impersonator claimed to be Oprah Winfrey’s nephew to get perks and a job. Oprah’s Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is suing alleged impersonator Justin Jackson and a co-conspirator in federal court. Also suing Jackson are Scott Garner, an OWN employee, and Reggie Love, former personal aide to President Barrack Obama. The Lawsuit The lawsuit alleges several instances of impersonation. It claims that Jackson Garner set up a meeting with a Coldwell Banker realtor to look at properties in Florida, pretending that the properties would be for Oprah....

With opioid addiction reaching epidemic levels in the United States, lawmakers and law enforcers are beginning to realize the problem can’t be addressed like most drug crimes. Standard fines and incarceration are no replacement for rehabilitation and treatment and cops, courts, and congresspeople are looking for better alternatives. While many jurisdictions already have specialized drug courts in place, New York took it one step further last month, instituting the nation’s first-ever opiate court designed steer offenders towards addiction treatment rather than criminal prosecution....

Manuel Antonio Noriega, erstwhile former dictator of Panama, will soon be heading for the Bastille. More precisely, he will soon be entering French custody. Last Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by the former strong man opposing his extradition to France. Later convicted of money laundering in absentia by a French court, he has been fighting his extradition to that country. Noriega claims that sending him to France would violate the Geneva Convention concerning the treatment of prisoners of war....

A New York couple accused of sex trafficking is adding more charges to their rap sheet: murder of a three month old baby, Carlos Santillana. Domingo Salazar and his wife, Norma Mendez, have been charged with the murder of a baby in a death that involved beating him and then placing the child’s remains in a tub full of wet concrete for eleven months. The remains were found following the couple’s sex trafficking arrest....

Yesterday, the Federal Second Circuit Court in Manhattan, New York, issued their decision denying the appeal of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous, anonymous digital black market, Silk Road. Ulbricht, who went by the web alias Dread Pirate Roberts, was sentenced to life in prison for founding and operating what has been described as the eBay for illegal drugs and other illegal items. At this point, he will continue to serve his sentence unless a Supreme Court appeal is filed and successful....

Pennsylvania legislators voted overwhelmingly this week to pass a medical marijuana bill into law, joining the growing group of states to legalize weed in a limited fashion. And it is very limited indeed in Pennsylvania, but the new legislation will address the needs of those who pressed hardest for its passage, a group of parents. The Pennsylvania medical marijuana law was sought by parents of epileptic children with debilitating seizures, some of whom went door to door trying to convince fellow citizens of the need for this legislation to be approved for over a year....

The Artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince is being sued by his former attorney. Prince has been sued for $50,000 by attorney Ed McPherson. The lawsuit claims that Prince never paid for his work on two cases. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior court on August 3. The suit alleges that Prince, Paisley Park Enterprises, Inc. and NPG Records breached their legal services agreement by failing to pay for legal McPherson’s legal work....

Gavin Swiatek, a biochemistry instructor at Rutgers University, has apparently been using his office hours to download hundreds of videos depicting child pornography. Police carried out the Rutgers child porn raid on Tuesday, arresting Swiatek at his Hillsborough, N.J. home. They also seized his personal and university-issued computers. Those computers were Swiatek’s downfall – police were able to track him down through the peer-to-peer file sharing network he used to download and trade the illegal content....

A sex offender working as Santa Claus in Jackson County, Missouri, was arrested more than a week before Christmas. James R. Gray, 50, was arrested and charged with failing to register as a sex offender because he failed to report his employment – which in this case was as a Santa in a “home decor-type store.” The Kansas City Star reports that it’s not illegal for a sex offender to portray Santa Claus, but not registering employment is another story....

When a mentally ill person is not receiving the proper care or medication, it may be necessary to call the cops to intervene. Individuals suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorders are not easily calmed down or treated by average civilians, even though they may have their best interests in mind. In many cases, calling the police may be the best option. So how should you deal with calling the cops when someone is mentally ill?...

Target says that about 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been affected by a data breach that occurred in the heart of the holiday shopping season. It is the second largest data breach in U.S. retail history. If you shopped at Target during the period of Thanksgiving to this week, and you used a credit or debit card to make your purchases, your account may be affected....

Both Indiana and now Arkansas are the center of a nationwide debate about Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs). Critics of the recently passed legislation say the laws will allow businesses to refuse service to gay, lesbian, and transgender customers under the protection of religious freedom. Indiana’s Gov. Mike Pence signed that state’s RFRA into law last week, and the Arkansas State House passed their own version yesterday. With all of the controversy surrounding the laws, let’s take a look at the actual text of each, and see how they compare to each other, and federal religious freedom legislation....

We’re all on the Internet now, which means criminals are, too. And some unwitting Internet users can become criminals if they’re not careful. In many ways, law enforcement and the general public are still figuring out how to best utilize the Internet, what’s out there, and what constitutes criminal behavior online. So here are some of the biggest Internet crime questions facing cops, hackers, and the rest of us: 1. Are There Illegal Internet Search Terms?...

For smokers, stoners, tokers, vapers, and now edible nibblers, tomorrow is a national holiday on par with Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one giant doobie, lit, puffed, and passed to the left. Every year, 4/20 celebrations around the country get bigger and bigger, as marijuana becomes more and more legal. Does that mean you have the right to blaze wherever you want on 4/20? Not quite. The feds still outlaw weed (though maybe not for long) and even in states where recreational pot is legal, being high in public may not be (though we don’t expect that to stop all of you)....