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Unless someone has a rather extreme sense of civic duty, it’s probably safe to say that just about no one likes being slapped with a new tax. With that in mind, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood probably didn’t win over many fans in discussing the possibility of taxing motorists based on how many miles they have driven, as opposed to how much gas they use. The reason? In an interview with the AP, LaHood explained that the “[g]asoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation’s transportation system moving....

As recreational and medicinal marijuana use becomes legal in more states, companies with drug-free employment policies are wondering how long they will be able to enforce them. So long as marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, states are allowed to choose whether employers can mandate drug-free policies. Because federal law still considers marijuana use to be illegal, employers are allowed to make employment policies regarding its use, so long as they are in-line with state law....

Losing a job can be a devastating and unexpected experience. It can disrupt stability and force you to worry about things like paying the mortgage and maintaining health insurance coverage. In this difficult economy, those facing job loss or layoff are not alone. The U.S. Department of Labor reported an unemployment rate of 7.6% in January 2009, the highest percentage in fifteen years, with 11.6 million Americans unemployed. In 2008 alone, an estimated 2....

The cast of MTV reality series Jersey Shore are no strangers to the law. Next up to face a courtroom is Jwoww, now sued over one of the cast’s favorite pastimes: tanning. To be more specific, the suit centers around Jwoww’s tanning lotion bottle design. Jwoww, also known as Jenni Farley, was approached by a partnership called Phigogam about launching a tanning lotion line, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, they even got so far as to hammer out what the bottle would look like, The Hollywood Reporter reports....

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit against Security National Automotive Acceptance Company (SNAAC) today for unfair debt collection practices. Here is what you need to know: SNAAC Tactics Security National Automotive Acceptance Company is an auto loan company that specializes in providing service members with loans to buy used cars. When customers defaulted on loans, SNAAC allegedly used unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices to induce payments for the loans....

He wasn’t drunk or riding a mower down the street, but Phil Ray Gage of Oklahoma City was still arrested for mowing his neighbor’s lawn last Friday morning. Acting on a complaint from a different neighbor, police approached Gage outside his home at 4:30 a.m., informing him that early morning mowing is against the law. He was subsequently arrested and cited for disturbing the police. Technically, in many jurisdictions it is illegal to mow one’s lawn at such an hour....

Rapper Meek Mill, incarcerated since November 2017 on parole violation charges, was released on bail yesterday by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Mill’s release caused celebrations both locally in Philadelphia, where he is from, and as part of a nationwide movement for criminal justice reform. New Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who earlier this year released a revolutionary policy memo attempting “to end mass incarcerations and bring balance back to sentencing,” did not oppose Mill’s release....

While you’re out celebrating, others are out stealing your car. Especially if it’s New Year’s Day. New Year’s Day was the top holiday for reported car thefts in 2010, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). It fell just ahead of Memorial Day and Halloween, which came in second and third. Thieves seem to be taking advantage of widespread inebriation. Actually, they’re probably taking advantage of a car owner’s decision not to drink and drive....

Calling all single Alaskan ladies: It looks like Track Palin, Sarah Palin’s son, is headed for divorce. Track and his soon-to-be ex-wife filed for divorce this week. The couple married in 2011 and they have a 1-year-old little girl named Kyla. Track, 23, is the oldest of Sarah Palin’s children and is an Army Reservist, just so you know ladies. Perhaps more interesting than the news of Track’s divorce is what it’s revealed about Alaska’s divorce laws, since that’s where the papers were filed....

Trampolines provide great exercise. But since competitive trampoline joined the Summer Olympics in 2000, broken bones and head injuries nationwide have increased, reports the Consumer Products Safety Commission in a recently re-issued warning notice on trampoline safety. And with a recent increase in commercial trampoline parks, especially in the Chicago area, injuries and hospitalizations continue to spike, reports Fox Chicago News. Since Xtreme Trampolines opened in Carol Stream, Ill., in November 2010, 16 ambulances have been dispatched to the park, reports the Chicago Tribune....

Dharun Ravi has been indicted by a New Jersey grand jury for his involvement in the events that led to Tyler Clementi’s suicide. For those who don’t recall, Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutger’s University, jumped off the George Washington Bridge last fall after Ravi used a hidden webcam to stream video of Clementi during a romantic encounter with a man. Clementi’s suicide was part of a national wave of teen suicides induced by anti-gay bullying....

If the idea of a sheriff rounding up a bunch of citizens to hunt down criminals sounds antiquated, that’s because it is. While perhaps necessary in a wild west lacking established law enforcement institutions, we generally leave the matters of search, arrest, and punishment to the professionals now. So it may surprise you to learn that there are modern day sheriff’s posses, still operating in the much-less-wild west, although you probably won’t be surprised to learn who is in charge of “America’s largest volunteer posse....

It’s understandable if you’ve used “parole” and “probation” interchangeably – they both describe the legal status of an offender who has been conditionally released into the world. But parole and probation are not the same thing. They actually describe two different punishments and processes – one carried out by the traditional criminal justice system, and the other by the correctional system. Plus, only parole, by definition, involves jail. This is because probation is actually an alternative to jail....

A federal judge has reinstated federal protections for gray wolves in Wyoming but stopped short of declaring them once again endangered or threatened. The ruling marks the latest twist in an extended legal battle between the state of Wyoming and federal authorities regarding the wolves, reports USA Today. In 2012, the wolves were delisted from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, and control over maintaining the wolves’ population was transferred to individual states, including Wyoming....

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that a number of diabetes drugs – including Avandia – will now carry “black box” warnings on the risk of heart failure associated with use of the drugs. The upgraded warning emphasizes that the drugs may cause or worsen heart failure in certain patients. The “black box” warning is FDA’s strongest form of warning. FDA’s review of Avandia and possible increased risk of heart attacks is ongoing....

What a sixth season! Alicia was the State’s Attorney, and then she wasn’t. Cary was headed to jail, and then he wasn’t. Diane was out, and now she’s back in. And now Kalinda is on the run? The seventh season of “The Good Wife” kicks off this Sunday, so here’s what we’re looking forward to when the firm of Florrick Agos & Lockhart returns: It seems like we get a new law firm every season....

In South Haven, Michigan, five high school students were arrested and are now facing charges for statutory rape as adults. The students are all aged 17 or 18, while the single victim is under 16 years old. Apart from the severity of these allegations, the fact that the five students charged with the felonies are on the school’s varsity basketball team is making national headlines. Currently, details on the incident are scant....

Banks and the building industry are purportedly working together with Senators on “cramdown” legislation affecting bankruptcy judges’ powers regarding mortgage loan modifications. The rule change would give bankruptcy judges the power to change repayment terms for certain homeowners who declare bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal reports that lenders including Citigroup are cooperating with key Senators on “cramdown” legislation to increase bankruptcy judges’ power to modify the payment terms on primary home mortgages....

After 20 years of marriage, Chris Rock and his wife Malaak Compton Rock are divorcing. Before the couple married in 1996, they signed a prenuptial agreement. Now that they’re divorcing, that prenuptial agreement may not be worth the paper it’s printed on. Til’ The Prenup Ends Rock and Compton’s prenuptial agreement probably limited how much Compton would get of Rock’s income and assets should they ever divorce. However, there is a sunset provision in the agreement....

Hot yoga guru Bikram Choudhury has to chill now, legally speaking. He is not entitled to copyright protection for his 26-position exercise sequence done in hundred-degree heat. Bikram, a name now associated with hot yoga, has been fighting this legal battle since 2011. Two former students opened a studio in New York teaching the poses they learned from the master in 2009. The guru filed suit two years later, claiming he owned “graceful flow” yoga....