Criminal

By Holly Filius on October 17, 2019

Whether you are making the choice to consider separation or divorce, or your spouse has made that decision and you are scrambling to make sense of it all, making the most of your initial divorce consultation with a divorce attorney is vital. Initial consultations are called initial consultations for a reason: you only get one. Some firms will offer free initial consultations, and others will charge a lower flat fee than an attorney’s typical hourly…

Georgia Criminal Appellate Law Blog

It’s a Gray Day in Georgia for Motions to Modify Sentence

By Scott Key on October 17, 2019

There is an important new case that changes the law concerning motions to modify sentence in Georgia. In Gray v. State, a case published on August 26, 2019, the Court of Appeals held that trial courts lose jurisdiction, under O.C.G.A. Section 17-10-1(f), to modify criminal sentences following either 120 days after the remittitur where there was an appeal or one year after sentencing even if the motion to modify is filed sooner than…

Wisconsin Trial Lawyers Blog

Why Child Custody Cases Can Be Complex for LGBTQ Parents

By GRGB Lawyers on October 17, 2019

By Attorney Max Stephenson LGBTQ parents can face some complex issues in child custody cases in Wisconsin. In many cases, these types of situations involve one of two types of disputes. First, as the rights of the LGBTQ community receive more public support, it is increasingly common for an LGBTQ spouse who was in a different-sex marriage to get divorced after acknowledging that he or she is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. In such cases,…

Sentencing Law and Policy

Large group of US Senators re-introduce bill to create National Criminal Justice Commission

By Douglas Berman on October 17, 2019

As detailed in this press release from the office of U.S. Senator Gary Peters, a sizable group of Senators have reintroduced a criminal justice reform bill that I have long viewed as worthwhile. Here are excerpts from the release: U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) [Wenesday] announced the reintroduction of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, bipartisan legislation that would task a National Criminal Justice Commission to assess the…

Sentencing Law and Policy

“Work, Pay, or Go to Jail: Court-Ordered Community Service in Los Angeles”

By Douglas Berman on October 17, 2019

The title of this post is the title of this notable new report coming from folks at UCLA. This webpage provides this overview of the report’s coverage: Work, Pay, or Go to Jail: Court-Ordered Community Service in Los Angeles is the first study to analyze a large-scale system of court-ordered community service in the contemporary United States. It finds that court-ordered community service functions as a system of unregulated and coercive labor, which worsens the…

Peyrouton Law Blog

Plea Bargains: What Are They & Why Are They Used?

By Alan Peyrouton on October 17, 2019

Plea bargains run our criminal justice system.90% of cases are settled by way of plea deals. When you’re charged with a crime, your lawyer will negotiate a plea bargain. But is a plea bargain your only way out? October 17, 2019 Some Basics About Plea Bargains A plea bargain is a pretrial settlement.Instead of going to trial and risking a guilty verdict, you may be considering a plea bargain.Plea deals are encouraged under Federal &…

Simple Justice

The Future of Pronouns

By Scott Greenfield on October 17, 2019

In a USA Today op-ed, former Republican turned confused former Republican, Tom Nichols, asks a snarky, yet very real question of the Democrats: Are you trying to lose? When we watched CNN’s LGBTQ town hall for the Democratic candidates Thursday, we had very different reactions. This is the event, you remember, where former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas said he’d punish religious institutions for refusing gay marriage, and where Sen. Kamala Harris of California started by informing …

Sentencing Law and Policy

Usual suspects playing usual roles in <em>Malvo</em> argument over juve LWOP sentencing

By Douglas Berman on October 16, 2019

In recent SCOTUS history, Eighth Amendment cases in the Supreme Court tended to be pretty predictable with certain Justices as regular votes for defendants, others as regular votes for the state, and Justice Kennedy (and sometimes the Chief Justice) being the key swing voter. But Justice Kennedy is now gone, and it appear from this SCOTUS review of the oral argument in Mathena v. Malvo that Justice Kennedy’s replacement, Justice Kavanaugh, may be slipping into…

Sentencing Law and Policy

House Judiciary subcommittee to hold oversight hearing on “Federal Bureau of Prisons and Implementation of the First Step Act”

By Douglas Berman on October 16, 2019

As detailed at this link, the US House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (of the Committee on the Judiciary) has scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday October 17 an “Oversight Hearing on the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Implementation of the First Step Act.” The witness list is available at this link. I am cautiously hopeful that this hearing will result in some significant new data and other information about…

Cleary Enforcement Watch

Be Prepared: How to Proactively Account for Data Privacy

By Cleary Gottlieb on October 16, 2019

Global Crisis Management Series: This post is part 15 in a series concerning topics further elaborated on in Cleary Gottlieb’s Global Crisis Management Handbook—a desk reference for spotting issues and avoiding common mistakes when faced with a crisis. The current version is available here. Have the right policies in place Ensure clear, readily accessible, and (where necessary) country-specific policies are in place indicating the permitted uses of company devices and other IT equipment, including…