What makes a DUI checkpoint illegal? The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that DUI sobriety checkpoints are constitutional, despite challengers who claimed the stops violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. In what many attorneys refer to as the Fourth Amendment's "DUI exception," law enforcement agencies may set up checkpoints and stop vehicles to ensure the driver is not intoxicated, even without any specific reason to believe that a driver may be under the influence of alcohol. Still, there are limits on how DUI ...

Saving lives with Florida's 911 Good Samaritan Act In September 2011, 18-year-old football player Joey Boylan died after ingesting a lethal combination of prescription drugs. Afraid to call the police for fear of punishment, six of his friends decided to carry the unconscious Boylan into the home where they were partying and try to revive him. Unsuccessful, they put him on a bed and went to sleep while Joey slowly died of a drug overdose. Nine hours after Joey initially collapsed, his friends called 911. Sadly, Joey Boylan's case is not unique. Many people have died ...

Supreme Court to rule on validity of warrantless blood alcohol tests When an officer suspects that you are driving drunk, can you be forced to undergo a blood test against your will? This is the legal issue that is currently before the United States Supreme Court. The decision, which could affect how DUI suspects are treated nationwide, will decide whether the Fourth Amendment protects against compulsory blood tests in such a situation. The case, Missouri v. McNeely, started when a Missouri highway patrol officer pulled over Tyler McNeely for speeding one night. During ...

An Overview of Prenuptial Agreements in Virginia A prenuptial agreement, or prenup, is a contract between spouses that governs what their property and financial rights will be with regard to one another in the event of divorce, death or any other potential circumstance agreed upon by the couple. Topics often covered in a prenuptial agreement include: -Real estate -Division of bank accounts -Rights to past and future pensions and retirement accounts -Spousal support -Inheritance rights -Responsibility for debts Who Needs a Prenuptial Agreement? Traditionally, ...

Work Zones Increase Risk of Accidents for Workers and Drivers Drivers in Illinois are more than familiar with construction work zones and probably identify them more as an inconvenience than as area of increased traffic accident risk. But, every year in Illinois more than 7,000 motor vehicle crashes occur in work zones. Last year 24 people died in work zone traffic accidents. Of those deaths 21 were drivers and passengers of vehicles, one was a pedestrian in a work zone and two were construction workers. Therefore, being aware of roadside construction signs and slowing ...

Motorists: Exercise Caution When the Car Breaks Down Coming upon a stopped or stalled car within traffic is unexpected--and a possible catalyst for disaster. In a recent fatal accident near Zebulon, North Carolina a car that had run out of gas late at night was sitting partially in the traffic lane of the highway. A car ran into the stopped car, spun out of control, was struck by another vehicle causing it to burst into flames. The driver of that car died, and three other people were also injured in the accident. This tragedy is a sobering reminder that drivers need ...

Fatal Massachusetts DUI accidents illustrate penalties for drunk driving Two Massachusetts drunk driving accidents earlier this year show the potentially severe penalties awaiting those convicted of driving under the influence in the state. These penalties increase dramatically when a driver, passenger or pedestrian is injured or killed in an accident involving intoxication. A recent example involved Jay Franklin, of Upton, Massachusetts, who was driving in Westfield when he was involved in an accident while driving with three passengers. The crash occurred early on ...

Massachusetts increasing its monitoring of prescription painkillers Massachusetts' Online Prescription Monitoring Program collects prescribing and dispensing information for prescription medications that are subject to abuse, such as painkillers and stimulants. The idea behind reporting is to prevent the same person from obtaining controlled substances from multiple sources and to track doctors and pharmacies that have a tendency to "overprescribe" potentially abusive drugs. Essentially, the PMP program looks to reduce the number of "doctor shopping" ...

Unnecessary medical tests and treatments can harm patients Have you ever called your doctor because of a small concern only to be sent through a barrage of testing before even being seen by the physician? Have you ever been told by your doctor that you received unnecessary treatments because of a false positive on a test? If so, you are like many Americans who have been subjected to overtreatment by their physicians. While, on the surface, receiving unnecessary tests may seem like erring on the side of safety, they can actually have harmful consequences for the patient. ...

Four tips for a better co-parenting relationship after divorce For couples with children, divorce does not end a relationship but instead changes its focus. Although they no longer relate to one another in the context of marriage, in order to provide the best possible care for their children, divorced parents must learn to forge a new relationship as co-parents. The following tips may help smooth the transition for divorcing parents and help them provide a stable, healthy environment for their children. Model mutual respect Particularly in the immediate aftermath ...

Nevada's drug courts celebrate 20 years of success In the twenty years since its inception, the Nevada drug court program has become widely regarded as one of the state's most successful tools for helping to keep people out of prison. At a ceremony marking the anniversary of Nevada's drug courts, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Cherry said that no other court program "has had such a positive impact on the criminal justice system, the prison system and crime in general than Nevada's drug courts," the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported recently. The ...

Post-divorce parenting: How to make it work A divorce is a difficult process for everyone. But when going through a divorce with children, some of the most challenging work happens after the divorce. You and your former spouse need to negotiate how you will parent separately as co-parents. Accepting different parenting styles You and your former spouse may have very different styles of parenting. Remember that you probably cannot change the way your co-parent is parenting, so you need to learn to accept it. Your children may actually benefit from experience two ...

Tips for Co-Parenting After a Pennsylvania Divorce In many cases after divorce, people would like nothing more than to never talk to their ex-spouses again. Those who have children cannot simply ignore their ex-spouses after divorce, however. Under many Pennsylvania child custody arrangements both parents spend time with the children. Therefore, parents need to learn how to have a relationship with their ex-spouses that allows them to raise their children together. People can follow steps to make co-parenting after divorce more successful. Focus on the Child Parents ...

Steep fines for underage drinking under new Pennsylvania law In an effort to reduce underage drinking and public intoxication, Pennsylvania legislators teamed up with law enforcement agencies in college towns across the state to develop a new underage drinking law that is set to go into effect on December 24, 2012. The new policy is meant to send a strong message to college students and others under the age of 21 by imposing heavy fines on those who are caught violating the state's liquor laws. Under the new law, the maximum fines for public drunkenness or underage ...

Chicago Enacts New Firearm Law -- Again Lawmakers in Chicago turned their attention to gun control once again recently after months of frequent shootings in the summer of 2012. The Chicago City Council amended the Chicago gun ordinance in late July, the latest in a string of changes that aim to strike a balance between public safety and personal freedom. Frequent Change in Chicago Gun Law Chicago lawmakers outlawed the sale and possession of handguns in 1982, and the ban remained in place for nearly three decades before it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court ...

Distracted Driving in Georgia: More Than Just Cellphones Cellphone use and texting while driving have gotten a great deal of media attention in Georgia and around the country recently, and for good reason: Texting while driving increases the risk of accidents by a factor of 23, according to a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, and the risky habit has grown alarmingly widespread in recent years. But while cellphones remain a growing threat on Georgia roads, they are far from the only source of dangerous distractions for drivers. Georgia Distracted ...

Potential Pitfalls of Group Benefits Coverage Under ERISA If you have group medical, disability or life insurance coverage through your employer, chances are good that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, more commonly known as ERISA, sets administrative standards and claim hurdles for that coverage. ERISA does not mandate employers to give coverage, but rather sets standards for private pension and employee benefit plans if one exists. Some people question how effective ERISA actually is in the face of sub-standard coverage or when an insurance claim ...

Senate investigates tax practices of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has begun an inquiry into the tax accounting practices of two of the nation's largest corporations. Leading the charge is Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., who claims Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard both use loopholes in the corporate tax laws to move profits offshore and avoid paying taxes. However, the subcommittee investigation did confirm the companies are acting within the letter of the law. Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have used the tax investigation ...

Controversial public lands bill dies in Pennsylvania Senate With the end of the 2011 to 2012 Pennsylvania legislative session comes the death knell of a controversial, confusing land-use bill about when local governmental bodies can sell off certain public lands. The bill would have amended the state Donated or Dedicated Property Act of 1959 to clarify that municipalities can sell without court approval public lands that were bought but that have no restrictions or covenants that the parcels be preserved for public use such as for parks. Without the requirement of ...

Bankruptcy Industry Group, Illinois Senator Call for Reform For over 32 years, the federal bankruptcy code has given businesses and individuals opportunities to get rid of debt or restructure it to bring them relief. The bankruptcy code is not going away, but it could go through some changes soon if lawmakers and bankruptcy attorneys have their way. Specifically, they want to see changes made to Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to The Wall Street Journal. As with many older laws, experts believe that bankruptcy laws are outdated and out of touch with today's business ...

Controversial Oklahoma Workers' Comp Law Fails to Pass -- For Now Fresh off an overhaul of workers' compensation law in 2011, the Oklahoma legislature again took up workers' compensation reform in 2012. This time, the legislature was considering a measure that would allow large employers to "opt out" of workers' compensation entirely and instead cover workers under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, more commonly known as ERISA. The ERISA federal program that regulates private employee retirement plans would provide medical and indemnity benefits ...

Massachusetts crime lab chemist's actions may impact thousands of cases Thanks to a shocking scandal involving the gross misconduct of a single chemist, crime labs around the country are finding themselves in a unique position: under the microscope of judicial, legislative and social scrutiny. While the Massachusetts example only involves a single one of the state's eleven forensic evidence-processing labs, the one in Jamaica Plain, defense attorneys, civil rights activists and legal experts are concerned that the blatant failure of a single lab facility could be indicative ...

We' ve all heard of acupuncture in California and, to a degree, we all have an understanding of what it is. Something to do with needles, right? Well.. yes, but before you say, "no thanks, the doctor has a hard enough time getting me to take my flu vaccination!" take the time to read the following. In this two-part series, professionals in acupuncture in California will walk you through some very interesting background information on acupuncture treatment so that you can better appreciate the capabilities of this very ancient medical therapy. Acupuncture Treatment: ...

California Highway Patrol will be conducting a "maximum enforcement" campaign this holiday season in an effort to make arrests for drivers who are under the influence. This campaign will not only target drivers under the influence of alcohol, but under the influence of drugs as well. One major misconception people have is that drugs only include illegal drugs. However, drugs include prescription drugs as well. Author Robin G. Sagstetter's new book, Rights During a Police Stop/DUI in The United States: What Officers Can and Can Not Do http://www.realizeyourrights.com ...

AIDS Activist, Victor Mooney tweets a prayer on the steps of America's Parish - St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue. Mr. Mooney of Queens puts his faith first on World AIDS Day and the eight anniversary of the Blessed John Paul, benediction of his mission to raise the global awareness of HIV/AIDS, encouragement of voluntary HIV testing and access to anti-retroviral medicine for those who need them. "Reality may have anchored my pursuit to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but I operate in the spiritual world. The father says all things are possible and have no fear, ...