New Jersey bill would ratchet up sentences for child porn convictions On March 18, the New Jersey Senate passed a bill that could have important implications for anyone accused of possessing child pornography or distributing child pornography. While the bill still needs to clear the New Jersey Assembly and be signed by the governor to become law, so far it has received broad bipartisan support; it flew through the Senate on a unanimous vote, and is not likely to lose momentum. Mandatory sentences, expanded definition of distribution of child pornography The new ...

Fatal 2 car, truck accident on I80 reportedly caused by wrong-way, drunk driver A terrible confluence of events led to a deadly accident on Interstate 80 earlier this month. A man driving a minivan allegedly got behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol. The resulting motor vehicle accident caused one fatality and involved three vehicles. According to police reports, the minivan driver -- who is from Chicago -- drove west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80. He drove straight into another car, causing the vehicle to spin into the median. While in the ...

Sacramento distracted driving awareness campaign in full effect Sacramento residents are likely to be familiar with the phrase "Phone in one hand; ticket in the other." The slogan is part of the media campaign aimed at informing California motorists of the consequences of driving while distracted. Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced two pilot programs -- in Sacramento, California and Delaware -- to spread awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. The federal government provided $2.4 million for agencies in those two states ...

Parents can be dangerous drivers All it takes is a cry, a giggle, a dropped toy or pacifier. If you are a motorist who routinely transports your kids, you may find your loved ones as a distraction on the road. Nevertheless, it is important to keep your attention on the task of driving. According to Distraction.gov, 3,331 people were killed in car accidents involving a distracted driver in 2011. Furthermore, an additional 387,000 individuals were injured in motor vehicle crashes caused by inattentive motorists in this same year. A study from the Safe Kids Worldwide ...

Cross collateralization can leave people with hard choices in bankruptcy Credit unions are a popular alternative to traditional banks for many people. Members say they enjoy an atmosphere that is more focused on the customer and the better rates they can sometimes get on loans and savings accounts. However, credit unions often use cross collateralization with their loans, which can be detrimental to the borrower, especially when the borrower is seeking discharge of his or her debts in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a valuable ...

US Supreme Court to decide if warrantless blood draws OK in DWI cases Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving the right of those suspected of driving while under the influence to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The case before the Supreme Court stemmed from an incident in which a driver was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. The law enforcement official believed the driver was under the influence of alcohol and performed field sobriety tests. The motorist refused a request to take a breathalyzer, ...

First U.S. Actos trial underway in California Superior Court In early March 2013, the first trial of a lawsuit involving the diabetes drug, Actos, began in a Los Angeles courtroom. The case involves a type 2 diabetes patient who took Actos to treat his diabetes symptoms and then developed bladder cancer. The plaintiff sued Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the drug manufacturing giant based in Osaka, Japan, alleging that the company hid evidence of a dangerous link between its drug and a heightened chance of developing bladder cancer. A Bloomberg article details early testimony ...

U.S. Supreme Court decides one of two drug-sniffing dog cases The use of drug-sniffing dogs seems commonplace to police work these days, but certain constitutional issues regarding the Fourth Amendment's protection from unreasonable search and seizure involving drug-sniffing dogs have not yet been resolved. The resolution of these issues is profound for criminal defense purposes. Near the end of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases on the potential limits to police using drug-sniffing dogs. The first dealt with the reasonableness of a warrantless search ...

Child pornography cases increasing in Washington Few crimes receive as much attention in the media as child pornography charges. If the offender has any occupation that provides access to children, there will be additional pressure on prosecutors to obtain a conviction. Because these cases have such a high-profile, many of the suspects are presumed guilty before they have an opportunity to offer a defense against the accusations. This can impact a person's entire life - families can be ruined, jobs and professional licenses may be in jeopardy, and this is before any ...

Wisconsin's new child pornography law faces criticism In 2012, a new law was enacted in Wisconsin that imposes a mandatory prison sentence for individuals convicted of the charge of possessing child pornography. In an attempt to ensure consistency in sentencing, the law requires individuals to be sentenced to three years in prison in almost all circumstances. As the new law is being applied to new cases, however, some judges and other members of the court system say this one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate. Under the old law, judges had the discretion to ...

Defending theft crimes - a look beyond the legal system Theft crimes often have a mental health connection. Studies have shown that addictive/compulsive behaviors like those present in substance abuse cases are often seen in those who compulsively commit theft crimes such as shoplifting. For others, there may be some traumatic event that contributes to the urge to steal. Recognizing that theft is not just a legal issue changes the focus to a holistic approach in the defense of this criminal charge. Competing considerations Obviously, anyone facing theft charges ...

When prescription medicine hurts instead of helps the patient Doctors, nurses, hospitals and pharmacists have the duty to see that medication is prescribed carefully and appropriately, filled accurately and administered correctly. The stakes couldn't be higher: prescription mistakes can cause injury, death and addiction. Medical professionals are expected to adhere to the reasonable standards and practices of others within in their specialties in their communities. Failure to do so may open them up to medical malpractice liability. Patient screening In contemplation ...

No criminal charges in fatal ski collision, prosecutors say A Colorado ski trip took a deadly turn recently when two skiers collided on Aspen Mountain. After an investigation of the incident, prosecutors have decided not to press criminal charges against the surviving skier, CBS News reported. The collision occurred on February 4, 2013, when a 48-year-old woman was struck by another skier while standing on lower Spar Gulch, the mountain's main run. The woman had reportedly come to a stop after skiing down an expert trail when she was struck by another skier who merged ...

Studies show head injuries more serious than suspected According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.7 million people in the U.S. suffer traumatic brain injuries each year. Medical professionals classify TBI as an acquired form of brain damage where sudden trauma to the head causes damage to the brain. TBI can range from mild, such as when people get struck in the head and sustain a momentary loss of consciousness, to severe injuries where an object pierces the skull and penetrates brain tissue. Three studies published in March 2013 reveal that ...

With 1 in 5 households in Britain spending more than 10% of their income on gas and electricity according to new research, many consumers are looking for ways to make savings on their utility bills . Using a price comparison site such as comparethemarket.com is one way of making sure you have the most affordable deal on the market. Russell Davis, Director of Utilities at comparethemarket.com explains: "With gas and electricity bills taking up a significant percentage of household income for so many people, making a saving can make a big difference to the household ...

"It is not a secret that many online pawn stores keep on limiting the list of valuables they accept. The reasoning behind this business model, I believe, is their inability to move these types of items and or make big profits on them. Here, at PawnUp.com, we want to make a difference and help more people get more cash for their items as often as possible. For these reasons, we decided to increase our list of accepted items again." - said Jay Martin, a spokesperson for PawnUp.com. Online pawnshop PawnUp.com has helped thousands of people to get cash for their ...

NEW YORK (March 21, 2013) -- In its 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine outlined six domains of quality in medical care: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity. But, Dr. Tara Bishop writes in a new viewpoint article published online March 21, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), current quality measures for the outpatient setting do not include all of these domains. As a result, quality measurement and quality improvement efforts in the outpatient setting have neglected critical ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) —An evaluation of practice patterns in California hospitals showed a large variation in the use of metal devices called inferior vena cava filters, or VCFs, despite little evidence of their safety and effectiveness. Led by UC Davis physicians, the study demonstrated that hospital rather than patient characteristics best predict VCF use. Patients in larger, urban and private hospitals with more than 400 beds were most likely to be treated with one of the metal devices, which are placed intravenously to prevent pulmonary embolism, a serious and often ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) —New research from UC Davis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that blocking an enzyme that promotes inflammation can prevent the tissue damage following a heart attack that often leads to heart failure. Led by Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, cardiologist and professor of internal medicine, a team of researchers tested a compound that inhibits the enzyme soluble epoxide hydrolase -- or sEH -- one of the key players in the robust immune-system response that heals tissue following an injury. The enzyme, however, can become ...

A new study of genetically modified immune cells by scientists from UCLA and the California Institute of Technology could help improve a promising treatment for melanoma, an often fatal form of skin cancer. The research, which appears March 21 in the advance online edition of the journal Cancer Discovery, was led by James Heath, a member of UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Heath is a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at UCLA and also holds the Elizabeth W. ...

This press release is available in German. During spatial learning, space is represented in the hippocampus through plastic changes in the connections between neurons. Jozsef Csicsvari and his collaborators investigate spatial learning in rats using the cheeseboard maze apparatus. This apparatus contains many holes, some of which are selected to hide food in order to test spatial memory. During learning trials, animals learn where the rewards are located, and after a period sleep, the researchers test whether the animal can recall these reward locations. In previous ...

Deep subduction of continental crust and rapid exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks, and its mechanism have been one of the most important issues of the world's attention in the Dabie orogen. Professor LIU Shaofeng from State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and his co-author set out to tackle this problem. Their study results fully demonstrated that basin sediments recorded Dabie formation process and supplied important trails for Dabie uplifting and exhumation. Their work, entitled "Mesozoic ...

Amid changing weather and water patterns worldwide and forecasts of more severe transformations to come, calls have been growing for the UN Security Council to include water issues on its agenda. And there's rising international support for adopting "universal water security" as one of the Sustainable Development Goals -- a set of mid-term global objectives being formulated to succeed the UN's Millennium Development Goals, agreed by world leaders in 2000 for achievement by 2015. But what does "water security" mean? The absence of a definition undermines progress ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (March 22, 2013) – Every five years, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) gathers top researchers in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to set the research agenda for the next five years. The findings and recommendations of these expert workgroups are presented in a series of detailed "Challenges in IBD Research" reports, now available in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the CCFA. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Each workgroup is assigned to specific topic areas ...

Boston, MA – In new research published in the April 4, 2013 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) demonstrate that some variants in our genes that could put a person at risk for inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease or rheumatoid arthritis, have been the target of natural selection over the course of human history. The research team, led by Philip De Jager, MD, PhD, BWH Department of Neurology, and Barbara Stranger, PhD, University of Chicago looked at genome-wide association studies ...