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As states have been relaxing their marijuana prohibitions and the feds have refused to budge on theirs, questions abound about whether and when federal law enforcement officials can investigate, charge, and prosecute marijuana users complying with state laws. A 2014 law, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, appeared to clarify that issue, prohibiting the Department of Justice from using federal funds to prevent States from implementing their own medical marijuana laws, including prosecuting legal medical marijuana users....

During a DUI stop, the results of a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test will often determine whether a driver is arrested or let go. But there are some important differences between these preliminary alcohol tests and the testing of blood, breath, or urine following a DUI arrest. What makes a PAS test different? During a traffic stop, if an officer suspects you may have been driving under the influence, he or she will be looking for the probable cause that’s required to make an arrest (which may already be present, depending on the reason behind the traffic stop)....

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. If you were pulled over for a DUI, how long can criminal charges hang over your head? If you got arrested for DUI last week, can prosecutors wait until next year to bring charges?...

True Beliebers will be disappointed to hear that Justin Bieber is in trouble again. The pop star was accused of smashing a man’s cell phone after the man filmed Bieber unsuccessfully chugging from a beer bong in Houston last month during his show after-party. Robert Morgan filed a complaint in Harris County Court in Texas, reports Courthouse News Service, detailing Bieber’s actions that night, and most of it is not nice....

The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the business practices of 14 companies involved in the lending of “subprime” mortgage loans. Although the FBI has not identified the firms, the New York Times reports that the inquiry “involves companies across the financial industry, including mortgage lenders, loan brokers and Wall Street banks that packaged home loans into securities.” Subprime mortgages – typically given to borrowers with low income or poor credit – usually carry high interest rates, and have come under increased scrutiny as nationwide foreclosure rates hit record highs....

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers nationwide to avoid eating certain types of raw tomatoes unless the source of the tomatoes can be traced to states or countries not associated with a recent outbreak of Salmonella infection. In a warning issued on Friday, FDA advises consumers to “not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes” unless the tomatoes are from states and countries not linked to the outbreak....

General Motors announced on August 17 that they would be recalling several of the 2009-2010 crossover SUV’s due to possible problems with the vehicle’s seatbelts. More than 243,000 vehicles, mainly in the United States, will be affected by the recall. The specific models under the GM recall include the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook. The New York Times reported a statement by GM asking dealers to inspect for seatbelt problems which can occur in the second row of the three-row vehicles when the seat is returned to the upright position after being folded down flat....

Several suspects are under arrest in connection with the hit-and-run killing of three trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Three 13-year-old girls were struck and killed by a driver while moving across a crosswalk in Santa Ana, California, on Friday night. According to the Los Angeles Times, police report the driver of a Honda CR-V was “going at a high rate of speed” when the SUV struck the girls; the vehicle was later found abandoned in a nearby parking lot....

How is it that the legal system is allowing Weldon Marc Gilbert, an accused child rapist and child molester, to view child porn in jail? Gilbert, currently held in a jail in Washington, stands accused of multiple counts of child rape and child sex crimes, reports the AP. Gilbert was a jet pilot prior to his arrest in 2007. He allegedly tempted more than a dozen boys to his house with promises of flying lessons, money and booze, reports the AP....

The San Francisco-based company that consulted on the engineering for the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007 has agreed to a settlement. URS Corp. was sued by more than 100 plaintiffs claiming the company missed warning signs in the bridge before it collapsed during the rush hour commute. Thirteen people died and 145 more were injured. According to the Associated Press, under the settlement agreement announced August 23, URS Corp has agreed to pay $52....

A North Carolina State Fair ride operator has been arrested for causing injuries that made national headlines last week. Timothy Dwayne Tutterrow, 46, of Quitman, Georgia, faces three counts of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly tampering with the “Vortex” ride at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh last Thursday. Tutterow allegedly restarted the ride as people were exiting, dropping some riders from what eyewitnesses estimated to be 20 or 30 feet in the air....

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to San Francisco’s controversial law banning public nudity. The two plaintiffs seeking to overturn the law, Oxane “Gypsy” Taub, and George Davis, both faced prosecution under the law after donning nothing at all at the city’s eccentric Bay to Breakers cross-city marathon, and at a local street fair in the city’s foregone hippy epicenter, the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Among San Francisco’s many claims to fame, the casual attitude toward nudity is one that has fallen out of fashion, at least legally....

Day 2 of jury selection in the Casey Anthony trial has been completed, and presiding Judge Perry is whittling the pool down to people who are free for the next 6 to 8 weeks. As part of the process, he explained to potential jurors that they will spend their afternoons and weekends stuck in an Orlando hotel room, cut off from most of society. When jurors are sequestered, they are usually put up in a hotel near the courthouse where they have limited access to television, newspapers and the internet....

It’s like an alternate universe episode of Maury. Sherri Shepherd … You ARE the mother! Comedian and actress, Sherri Shepherd has lost her maternity battle with soon to be ex-husband Lamar Sally. Reportedly, Shepherd and Sally paid a surrogate $30,000 to carry a child created using Sally’s sperm and a donor egg. Sometime before the baby was born, the couple split and Shepherd wanted nothing to do with the baby....

As Santa Claus checks his naughty or nice list, you should check your naughty or nice list too. Only your list should check the naughtiness of Christmas toys and whether they appear on a list of recalled products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission maintains a toy hazard recall list. If you open this list on your browser, you will notice that it’s quite long. And you’ll also notice some common safety risks that have led to toy recalls....

A panel of independent health experts appointed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has examined the effectiveness of strengthened laws that require the transfer of criminal defendants under age 18 to the adult justice system. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services, while acknowledging that “the rationale for the transfer of juveniles to the adult justice system is to deter future criminal activity,” found that the “transfer policies have generally resulted in increased arrest for subsequent crimes, including violent crime, among juveniles who were transferred compared with those retained in the juvenile justice system....

Most public officials or departments have some social media presence from the President of the United States on Twitter (who tweets from two different accounts) to the local township trustee on Facebook. And these accounts can raise some interesting First Amendment issues, especially when it comes to blocking access to posts. Just a few months ago, Twitter users blocked by President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit claiming they are being denied access to a public forum....

Consumer complaints against airlines are frequently in the news these days, and they come in a wide variety of forms. Reports about frequent and lengthy delays, or worse, travelers getting stranded at airports have become fairly common. But what if you got to your destination, and, after waiting at the carousel long enough to memorize all the types and colors of unclaimed suitcases, you’ve come to the awful realization that your luggage is “gone”?...

Notorious crime boss Whitey Bulger was sentenced to two life sentences plus five years on Thursday as punishment for his murder and racketeering convictions. Jurors in August convicted 84-year-old James “Whitey” Bulger for participating in 11 killings in the 1970s and 80s. Bulger will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison, CBS News reports. How did the court reach Bulger’s sentence? In 1982, Congress passed the Victim and Witness Protection Act (VWPA) which provided restitution for crime victims and allowed courts to use “victim impact statements” in sentencing hearings....

Child sex abuse has always existed, but in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it has renewed its status as a major issue of public concern. Parents have begun to fear teachers, coaches and babysitters. Legislators have responded with promises of tougher sentences and police vigilance. But did you know that 35.6% of sex offenses committed against minors are also committed by minors? Approximately 1/3 of known cases of child sex abuse involve child-on-child sex abuse....