There's a festering problem in Florida's criminal justice system: some state prosecutors are misusing our state's racketeering laws to wring guilty pleas out of innocent people and petty criminals afraid of spending decades in prison for crimes they didn't commit. Abuse is rampant of Florida's version of the federal government's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; known more commonly by its acronym, RICO. The federal version was created 40 years ago to fight the Mafia and the businesses and labor unions it controlled. Today in Jacksonville and elsewhere ...

In a new campaign, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is cracking down on drunk drivers who pose a higher risk. These drivers fall into one of two categories: - Those with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 percent or more - Those who have a prior DUI/DWI arrest in the past 10 years NTSB data estimates that up to 70 percent of all alcohol-related car accident fatalities involved these types of drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides more insight: roughly 8,000 of the nearly 11,000 road deaths last year were ...

Accidents that kill or injure very young children are particularly troubling. Children who are not yet school age are highly vulnerable to all sorts of dangers -- including being run over by a car that is backing up. The federal data on the prevalence of back-up car accidents is eye-opening. According to estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 228 people are killed in car accidents each year and 17,000 people are injured. The agency's data indicates that almost half of these deaths -- about 100 -- are of children under 5 years old. Children ...

Elderly and infirm residents are made more vulnerable if the facilities they inhabit are made unsafe by nursing home negligence. Medication errors, abusive employees and inadequate security can all cause immediate injuries and other harm to people who most deserve society's protection. In some cases, the harm takes longer to develop. Nursing home malnutrition may take months to detect and respond to if staff fails to heed subtle signs of inadequate food intake or physical decline. Other evidence of nursing home mistreatment includes bed sores, which can develop as a ...

Everyone has read stories about a divorce that is spiraling out of control, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars as the couple fights over every single thing. Custody of the children, spousal support and property division can be extremely expensive and time-consuming if the parties are focused on going to court. Parties who can resolve these issues on their own can remove most of the stress from the process while saving those thousands of dollars. Many divorces involve issues which need attention. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of any divorce is the child custody ...

In Florida, red light cameras have been used since 2008 to enforce traffic laws at intersections 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In practice, red light cameras create difficult legal issues and unfair outcomes; for example, notices of infraction are mailed to the registered owner's vehicle whether or not the owner was driving, meaning that the registered owner is held responsible for the ticket regardless of guilt--and if the registered owner fails to pay the ticket within 30 days from when it was mailed, the notice becomes a bonafide traffic citation with license ...

Certain employees can face the potential for serious injury every time they go into work. At a construction site, many different occupations are present, and any mistake can have severe consequences. When an injury happens, employees may not know what remedies are available to them, or how to begin the process of recovering compensation for their injuries. New Jersey Workers' Compensation System For those injured on the job in New Jersey, the legislature has set up the workers' compensation system to provide a way for employees to recover compensation quickly for ...

At the close of Florida's 2010 legislative session, a comprehensive bill aimed at revamping the state's child support and alimony schemes was passed. The new changes did not go into effect immediately, however. Instead, target dates were set, determining when each set of updates to the family law code would take effect. The alimony provisions and certain aspects of the child support statute have already been tested to an extent: they went into effect in July and October of 2010, respectively. However, several significant changes to Florida's child support guidelines only ...

While safety features like airbags and anti-lock brakes come standard on many vehicles, one of the most beneficial safety systems is still lacking on some vehicles. Electronic stability control systems (ESC) help drivers maintain control of the vehicle. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, ESC systems use sensors to detect the speed and direction of the wheels. During a turn, if the car drifts in a direction different from the orientation of the wheels, the system can reduce acceleration and brake individual wheels to help the driver regain control ...

Recent Tragic Queens Construction Accident Illustrates Problem Just days ago, a job-site accident in Queens tragically killed a young, Latino construction worker. The 26-year-old man was helping construct a 65-foot wall when the cinder-block wall suddenly collapsed, killing him and seriously injuring three others. Early reports indicate that the wall failed as scaffolding collapsed and fell onto the wall. Sadly, the victim was a father, survived by his pregnant wife and two children. The Queens construction accident is still under investigation, but presumably there ...

Safety on the road is a pressing concern for almost all Americans. Considering the sheer volume of large trucks and other commercial carriers populating the nation's highways, the federal regulations governing operators could vastly impact any driver or passenger. Everyone wants the highways to be safer for both motorists and commercial truck drivers, so one might think newly proposed trucking safety regulations would be universally praised. Yet, new trucking regulations proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) meant to allay certain safety ...

Though the great recession officially ended more than a year ago, far too many individuals and families continue to experience the long-lasting effects of a difficult economy. National unemployment rates remain near 10 percent, and even those who are able to find jobs are often overqualified and underpaid for their work. According to the Chicago Tribune, one in four homeowners owes more on a mortgage than their homes are worth. These challenges have left numerous people unable to meet their existing financial obligations and looking for alternatives. In many cases, those ...

Lottery.co.uk has launched a redesigned version of its website in order to provide a better user experience for visitors. The site was first launched in 1996 and has since grown to include a lot more content and functionality which could not have been foreseen last Millennium, leading to the decision for a complete overhaul. The redesign has focused on user experience, with a completely new navigation to make everything easier to find for lottery players. Features on the site such as the lottery results, the lottery numbers generator and the news section are all ...

Cruise Amour has announced the launch of its new technology, Search Your Way, which will be available on its website. The technology is designed to make searching for a holiday easier by allowing customers to search for their next holidays the way they want to rather than forcing them to go through the process of researching every cruise line available. Cruise Amour has created two new search criteria Cruise Type and Formality. These options means customers can pick from cruise options such as Friends & Family, Couples Getaway and Adults only, with Formality Options ...

Littlewoods Europe has launched its new season collection for Spring 2011, including their own brand Savoir range which has been restyled to suit the modern mature woman. The Savoir range features 400 ladies fashion lines, available in sizes 10 to 32, including petite and standard fit options. Following extensive research and consultation with customers aged 50 and over, Littlewoods Europe has changed the blocks and patterns used to create the Savoir range. The hem lengths, cut of the waist and the width of the shoulders in the garments have been adjusted to better suit ...

Bupa Care Homes in Yorkshire are preparing to enjoy a number of storytelling events in support of National Storytelling Week (29 January to 5 February 2011). This year, Bupa has teamed up with charity The Reader Organisation, which has been working with care homes since 2006, promoting the links between reading and wellbeing. Members of the local community and local school children have been invited to take part in the events, which are also designed to celebrate the art and value of story telling. Residents in Bupa's care homes will be reading and will be read ...

Valued Opinions has revealed the latest views on the willingness of the UK public to upgrade to 3D technology. Since the release of James Cameron's Avatar in late 2009 the 3D concept has boomed. In the last year 3D movies have been rolled out on a regular basis and nearly all cinemas now show at least one 3D movie at a time. The next stage in 3D technology was released in September, roughly a year to date since the release of Avatar; it is of course 3D TV. Since then, paid subscription TV services have been battling it out to be the one to raise the stakes by releasing ...

Lottery.co.uk has announced the launch of its mobile website. The mobile version will reside on the same URL as the main site and will automatically detect when a mobile user connects to the site and display the pages specially formatted for the device. The new mobile site has been fully optimized for mobile users with completely redesigned pages making it easier to use on a mobile phone. The launch of the mobile site marks Lottery.co.uk as the first big lottery site to launch a dedicated mobile site. The Lottery.co.uk mobile site is more convenient for users who ...

UK Gear Limited are set to steal a march on their competitors with the launch of the new PT-1000 - an ultra durable road and trail running shoe that promises to redefine the athletic shoe market. The first shoe in the world designed to last 1,000 running miles, the PT-1000 features UK Gear's classified Force Dynamic System technology which has taken over 8 years to develop with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC). This, combined with an extensive durability test programme at SATRA laboratories, underpins the company's confidence in its 1,000 mile claim. Comments ...

Compliance Safety Systems is pleased to announce a new service relationship with Fikes Truck Line, a coast-to-coast transportation service company specializing in flatbed, heavy haul and van. Compliance Safety Systems is providing Fikes Truck Line of Hope, AR an innovative roadside inspection and monitoring program to manage compliance with the new CSA 2010 mandates. Through this new program, Fikes will be able to access real-time contract driver and safety information, giving them the ability to respond to issues as they arise in a timely manner. The new program is ...

Credit card provider, MBNA Ireland, has revamped its online card management area, offering easier navigation and improved services. The new facility is called Online Card Services and features new and improved account management options. The new-look section of the website has been developed with the help of feedback from customers and includes a new step-by-step guide on how to get the most from online card services. As well as improved services, MBNA Ireland, which is owned by the Bank of America, has also worked hard to make card information clearer and on-site content ...

The UK's largest credit card provider, MBNA, has announced the start of its two-year programme that will see its 6 million customer base moved over to contactless cards by January 1st 2012. To achieve this, MBNA will issue a new contactless credit card each time a new or replacement card request is made by a customer, the lender estimates that most of its card-holders will have the ability to pay without a PIN by the start of 2012. Contactless payment is a relatively new option at the checkout and is currently limited to GBP15 per transaction, but the card provider can ...

Married people may think they communicate well with their partners, but psychologists have found that they don't always convey messages to their loved ones as well as they think — and in some cases, the spouses communicate no better than strangers. The same communication problem also is true with close friends, a recent study has found. "People commonly believe that they communicate better with close friends than with strangers. That closeness can lead people to overestimate how well they communicate, a phenomenon we term the 'closeness-communication bias,'" said Boaz ...

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 20, 2011 – Results from the PROSPECT clinical trial shed new light on the types of vulnerable plaque that are most likely to cause sudden, unexpected adverse cardiac events, and on the ability to identify them through imaging techniques before they occur. The trial, Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree (PROSPECT), is the first prospective natural history study of atherosclerosis using multi-modality imaging to characterize the coronary tree. The study findings were published in the January 20, 2011 ...

Just over a year after the earthquake in Haiti killed 222,000 people there's a new problem that is killing Haitians. A cholera outbreak has doctors in the area scrambling and the water-borne illness has already claimed 3600 lives according to officials with Médicin Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). Stefan Pukatzki, a bacteriologist in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, is hoping that down the road he can help prevent deadly cholera outbreaks. His lab studies Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that makes up the disease, and he has discovered ...