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Former wrestler Hulk Hogan is taking on a different kind of opponent today, Gawker Media. Opening statements were heard in his suit in Florida against the website for posting a sex tape that shows him sleeping with shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge’s wife in 2012, according to Reuters. “They have essentially replaced sticks and stones with clicks and phones,” Hogan’s attorney said of Gawker. The Hulk and the Love Sponge were best friends before the scandal, one of a few for Hogan....

A California radio personality has sued KISS bassist and lead singer Gene Simmons, alleging he made “several aggressive, unwanted sexual advances” and even groped her during an interview last month. The interview took place in a green room at one of Simmons’ Rock & Brews restaurant locations in California, where the woman, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the lawsuit, claims Simmons placed her hand on his knee despite repeated protests and touched her inappropriately during a photo shoot after the interview....

If you pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain and got a really bad deal, or relied on the assistance of ineffective counsel, you may now feel that you were unjustly convicted. Vacating a Conviction: Definition In general, to vacate a conviction means to set aside the verdict. In other words, it will appear as if the first trial and conviction never happened. Prosecutors will have the opportunity to pursue your case again, which means you may have to go endure another round of the criminal trial process....

Traffic tickets for speeding, running a stop sign, red light violations, and other seemingly minor rules of the road can sometimes result in penalties beyond what one might expect. Frequently, when a person learns that the traffic violation they are charged with has the potential to land them behind bars, or cause them to lose their license, or maybe just inflict financial pain, they will begin to look for a traffic attorney....

The education of Lauryn Hill on the legal consequences of tax evasion will continue in prison, as the singer has been sentenced to three months behind bars. Hill, 37, of South Orange, New Jersey, was also sentenced to three months of additional home confinement on Monday, the Associated Press reports. It wasn’t immediately clear where she’d be incarcerated, but TMZ reports the judge ordered her to report to prison by July 8....

An Austin court recently upheld the tossing out of a malpractice suit a former client filed against his attorney over failure to sue doctors for Celebrex related medical malpractice. The case highlights a key element to legal malpractice claims: plaintiffs must prove they would have won the case they claim their lawyer botched. As Andrews reports, Mark Hackett first sued the makers of the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex for allegedly causing him kidney disease....

The money bail system, under which a criminal defendant may be required to post a cash bond to secure his or her release from jail before trial, has come under increasing scrutiny in the past few years. Critics claim that jurisdictions were using automatic bail requirements to raise municipal funds while keeping poor and indigent defendants incarcerated before any determination of guilt. But several jurisdictions are proactively addressing the problems, one of them being New York City....

A Texas court has upheld the use of a man’s MySpace posts in his murder conviction, despite lingering questions about whether he actually wrote the posts. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled there was “ample circumstantial evidence” to prove Ronnie Tienda Jr. created and maintained the MySpace posts that boasted about a 2007 murder, the Associated Press reports. “I kill to stay rich!” one MySpace post said, while another included a photo of Tienda’s distinctive gang tattoo, according to the AP....

Friday is the 20th anniversary of the killings that led to the murder trial of former athlete and actor O.J. Simpson. As you may recall, Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed June 13, 1994. O.J.’s news-breaking acquittal for their murders occurred a little more than a year later; he’s currently in prison for an unrelated armed-robbery conviction. So what legal lessons did we learn from O....

What is public intoxication? With St. Patrick’s Day looming, it’s a timely question worth asking. Each state defines it differently, but there are some common elements to the crime, along with ways to fight a public-intoxication charge in court. In general, public intoxication alleges a person is visibly drunk or under the influence of drugs in a public place. Also called being “drunk and disorderly,” the laws aim to prevent intoxicated individuals from disturbing others, and from hurting themselves....

Today the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Texas legal provisions that would have severely restricted access to abortions in that state. Five justices agreed that the law placed an undue burden on women in violation of constitutional rights, and the decision is considered significant nationwide. At question were provisions in a law that added requirements for clinics performing abortions and their physicians, ostensibly to protect women. But the majority of the court found the contrary, writing that the restrictions did little for women’s health....

A federal appeals court has released a secret Justice Department memo that justifies a 2011 drone attack that killed Anwar al Awlaki, an American-born Islamist preacher and suspected al Qaeda leader. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals released a redacted version of the secret Obama administration memorandum on Monday. The memo (which starts on page 67 after the opinion) states that since the U.S. government considered al Awlaki to be an “operational leader” of an “enemy force,” it was legal for the Central Intelligence Agency to attack him with a drone even though he was a U....

Yesterday’s shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon left 10 people dead, seven injured, and many wondering how such tragedies became commonplace. It was the 45th school shooting in the US this year. “Somehow this has become routine,” observed President Obama, speaking to reporters after the incident was announced. “We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months.” Dire Predictions From the President President Obama predicted gun lobbyists would respond to the shootings with a call for less control....

As the economic crisis lingers and job losses increase, more and more people are turning to unemployment benefits for help making ends meet. But a number of states are warning that their unemployment insurance funds are running close to empty. CNN.com is reporting that “California, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky and Arkansas have less than six months’ worth of unemployment trust fund reserves, putting the funds at high risk of insolvency” – citing data from the National Employment Law Project....

Amanda Bynes has been charged with two criminal counts of hit-and-run following two separate crashes earlier this year. The former child star could face up to six months in jail for each count as well as a $1,000 fine, reports ABC News. Amanda Bynes’ hit-and-run charges follow a particularly bad driving year for the actress. Bynes was arrested for driving under the influence on April 6. Four days later, the first of her alleged hit-and-runs took place....

A class action lawsuit has been filed on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation against AT&T and Apple by three customers in San Jose, California. It has further been amended to including additional iPad customers who wish to join the class. The lawsuit was filed by the law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Berstein, which specializes in consumer class action cases. The lawsuit was filed in United States District court by customers who feel they were misled after AT&T dropped its unlimited 3G data plans after the iPad was released....

Arizona police can now ask about immigration status during stops, rules the Supreme Court of the United States. While considering Arizona’s immigration law, the Supreme Court upheld certain parts of the law, while striking down other parts. As a result of the divided 5-3 decision, Arizona police will now immediately enforce that part of the law that allows police immigration checks. Two years ago, SB 1070 was passed in Arizona that allowed the state to conduct these immigration checks and also making it a crime for illegal immigrants to seek work or fail to carry proper immigration papers, reports Yahoo!...

A federal jury has awarded $25 million to a black steelworker who sued for racial harassment at a now-defunct plant in upstate New York. Elijah Turley worked 14 years at the ArcelorMittal plant in Lackawanna, N.Y., but a series of racist incidents between 2005 and 2008 left him a physical and emotional wreck, his attorney told jurors, according to The Buffalo News. Turley’s coworkers taunted him by calling him “monkey” and “boy....

A California law that places sale restrictions and labeling requirements on certain violent video games is unconstitutionally broad and violates free speech guarantees, according to a federal appeals court decision issued Friday. The 2005 California law prohibits the sale or rental of “violent video games” to minors under 18 years of age, and requires that such games be distributed with a prominent “18” label on their packaging. A constitutional challenge to the law was brought by a number of companies that create, manufacturer, and distribute video games....

As has been previously reported in this blog, the CPSC has recalled folding strollers due to fingertip amputation hazards to children. Today, the Commission has announced a voluntary recall in conjunction with Graco Children’s Products Inc., of Atlanta, Ga., for the Graco Passage™, Alano™ and Spree™ Strollers and Travel Systems strollers. The CPSC states that the hinges on the stroller’s canopy pose a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to children when the consumer is opening or closing the canopy....