Legislation to overhaul the way the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food safety has passed the House. The large scale changes to FDA food regulation now move to the Senate. One new power the FDA would have under this legislation is the power to order the recall of tainted foods. You might have thought they could already do that, but currently they are only allowed to ask companies to voluntarily issue recalls....
The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against mobile phone carrier AT&T for allegedly misleading customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds significantly. In its complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the FTC alleges that AT&T failed to disclose to customers with unlimited mobile data plans that once a certain amount of data had been used during a single billing cycle, AT&T reduces the speed of that user’s data....
It turns out that Howard Stern isn’t going anywhere. After ongoing threats to leave Sirius XM, the so called “shock jock” has signed a new contract. The Howard Stern contract is for a term of five years, though the parties didn’t detail the financial terms of the agreement. Under the new deal, Sirius XM can transmit Howard Stern’s program on mobile devices. The previous Howard Stern contract was worth $500 million dollars....
Two 12-year-old Wisconsin girls are accused of stabbing a peer nearly to death, all over a supposed belief in the “Slenderman” meme. The girls allegedly lured a friend into the woods, supposedly for a game of hide and seek. There, police say one of the girls stabbed the victim with a knife, almost killing her. The girls allegedly told police they committed the act in an attempt to impress “Slenderman.”...
The Lohan clan didn’t have enough to do recently, what with the incarnation of their most famous member, Miss Lindsay. So for good measure, a domestic violence dispute has broken out between Michael Lohan Sr. and fiancée Kate Major. The alleged altercation between the two has resulted in a reported “Temporary Order of Protection” for Major, against Lohan. According to The HollywoodGossip, a fight broke out between Lohan and Kate Major just before Michael Sr....
Prosecutors are appealing the infamous Montana teacher rape case – the one in which a teacher received a 30-day sentence for raping a 14-year-old student. Stacey Dean Rambold, 47, was released in September after his short stint in jail, but his days of freedom may soon be numbered. The Montana Attorney General’s Office filed its appeal with the state supreme court. An appeal is a review of the trial court’s application of the law....
Rapper Mystikal just checked into a Louisiana jail to serve out the remainder of his 90-day sentence, TMZ reports. The punishment stemmed from a domestic violence charge back in February. Mystikal (real name Michael Tyler) was arrested in Baton Rouge for domestic abuse. It’s remains unclear what actions led to his arrest, but a judge ruled that it was enough to violate his probation. Yes, the singer of hits as “Shake Ya Ass” and “Bouncin’ Back (Bumpin’ Me Against the Wall)” was on 5-years probation at the time....
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) has released its top 10 types of consumer complaints received in 2008. With the state of the economy over the last year, it’s not too surprising that debt collection complaints top the list of most common consumer complaints to state Attorneys General across the country. Part of the duty of each state’s Attorney General (AG) is to protect the state’s consumers against illegal commercial activities....
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has released a new mobile app that allows riders to discreetly report criminal activity on the trains. BART Watch, available on iTunes and Android in English, Spanish, and Chinese, empowers users to snap photos or send quick texts to BART police rather than try to call 911 or run to a train’s intercom. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost told SFGate that it’s “sort of like texting police,” and you can even do it anonymously....
In a battle of David vs. Goliath, it appears David has won, or at least survived to fight another battle. That’s good news for Pabst fans. Odd Contracts Make for Rough Partnerships Demand for Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) outstripped its production years ago, thanks to the hipster and baby boomer generations. To compensate, in 1999, Pabst entered into a series of five-year production and distribution contracts with MillerCoors to produce PBR in its facilities....
Music legend Paul Simon and his wife were arrested on domestic violence charges following a spat between spouses Saturday. Simon, 72, and wife Edie Brickell, 47, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at their home in New Canaan, Connecticut, but they appeared holding hands in court Monday. Brickell told CNN through her lawyer that she “picked a fight with [her] husband” but that that “it’s orderly now.” What will happen to the domestic violence charges against the singer and his wife?...
After Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned millions of Toyota drivers to “stop driving it” regarding recalled Toyotas, he subsequently backed off a little bit. NPR reports that Ray LaHood concedes that he spoke in haste. He still says that Toyota drivers should take their cars to a Toyota dealership and repair the gas pedal defect. According to NPR, LaHood’s final say about Toyota issues with safety is this: “What I meant to say or what I thought I said was, if you own one of these cars or if you’re in doubt, take it to the dealer and they’re going to fix it....
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that schools may limit students’ rights to free speech under the First Amendment when the student’s expression could be interpreted as advocating drug use. Writing for a 5-4 majority in Morse v. Frederick , Chief Justice John Roberts wrote “[b]ecause schools may take steps to safeguard those entrusted to their care from speech that can reasonably be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use, the school officials in this case did not violate the First Amendment by confiscating the pro-drug banner and suspending [Joseph] Frederick....
Taylor Armstrong’s abuse at the hands of her late husband Russell will be the subject of two interviews set to air this week. Speaking about Russell’s August suicide, the Real Housewife of Beverly Hills revealed that she was physically abused at least 20 times during their marriage. His attorney reminds the public that there are no medical or police reports to corroborate these allegations. Taylor Armstrong told Entertainment Tonight that she did not report the abuse because she loved Russell and did not want him to be jailed....
When victims of crime appear to be targeted for their race, nationality, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation, one of the first questions that gets asked is whether the attack was a hate crime. As when Dylann Roof shot and killed nine parishioners in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina after telling them, “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go....
Knock-knock. Police officers are at your door, armed with a search warrant. But is that search warrant legally valid? The Fourth Amendment protects your privacy by generally requiring police to get a valid search warrant before they can conduct a search of your home (or other places where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy). The warrant must be filed in good faith by an officer and be based on reliable information showing probable cause to search your premises....
The term RICO gets thrown around often in connection with such a wide variety of cases, it’s hard to really get the gist of it. So what is RICO? And what does it have to do with Harvey Weinstein? Is he involved in some Hollywood Mafia? Not exactly, at least he hasn’t been charged with that one yet. RICO stands for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Law. It was created in the 1970s to prosecute mobster bosses, who seemed to always be able to slip out of the hands of prosecutors who could only nail lower level criminals....
If you thought Hustler’s mobile strip club was ridiculous, meet Vincent George, Sr. and Vincent George, Jr., a father-and-son team accused of operating a brothel on wheels. The pair has been indicted on charges of promoting prostitution, sex trafficking and money laundering. Their business partners, six Manhattan cab drivers, have also been indicted. Together, the group allegedly shuttled women around town while they engaged in sex acts in the cabs’ back seats....
A retired U.S. Navy officer and former Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking a constructive trust over profits made by the Edward Snowden documentary “Citizenfour.” The suit by Horace Edwards names Snowden, “Citizenfour” director Laura Poitras, and The Weinstein Company, among others, as defendants, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The lawsuit seeks to establish the constructive trust “on behalf of the American people” in order to “redress unjust enrichment” from the defendants’ alleged misuse of classified government information....
Welcome to FindLaw’s DUI Law series. If you have been charged with a DUI, know someone who has, or just want to know about the law and how to protect your rights during a DUI stop, please come back each week for more information. Drunk driving is dangerous and can have serious consequences for the drinking driver and everyone around. But DUI is a relatively common crime, one committed by people of all backgrounds and classes....
