Legal Justice System

A Day in the Life of a Paralegal

May 15, 2012

For every theatre director there is a steadfast stage manager and for every President of the United States there is the White House Chief of Staff; for every successful lawyer and attorney there is a highly skilled paralegal whose duties, contrary to what some may believe, far transcend clerical work. There is no typical day [...]

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Zimmerman’s Arrest and First Courtroom Appearance

April 12, 2012

George Zimmerman made his first court appearance in a jailhouse courtroom earlier today. He turned himself in on Wednesday, after being issued an a capias arrest warrant, and has been charged with second degree murder in the slaying of 17-year old Trayvon Martin. Also on Wednesday, a new defense attorney, Mark O’Mara, officially took on [...]

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Robert Charles Towery’s Execution

March 8, 2012

At 11:26 am this morning, Robert Charles Towery was pronounced dead, nine minutes after he was lethally injected. The execution in Florence (60 miles outside Phoenix) marks the second within nine days for Arizona and the thirtieth since capital punishment was reintroduced into the state in 1992. Towery is the seventh American death row inmate [...]

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Velazquez Fights for Freedom

February 20, 2012

A week ago, Dateline aired ‘Conviction’ investigating whether Jon-Adrian Velazquez is innocent of murder. Velazquez was convicted of the 1997 killing of Albert Ward, a retired NYPD Officer, and sentenced from 25 to life. Always claiming his innocence, Velazquez wrote to Dateline Producer Dan Slepian after viewing the show’s profile of two men, David Lemus [...]

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Man Accused of Forcing Grandsons to Hike

February 15, 2012

Christopher Alan Carlson (mid 40s) has been charged with six counts of child abuse for allegedly forcing his grandchildren to hike the Grand Canyon without food or water in August. The Indianapolis man’s federal trial started today in Phoenix, Arizona. This morning a jury was selected and opening statements were scheduled for the afternoon. Carlson [...]

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The Law of Squatting

February 7, 2012

We’re not talking about squatting as part of gluteus maximus workout regime. We’re talking about this particular Oxford Dictionary definition of a squatter: “a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land”. But what is the exact legality of squatting? The recent headline chronicling Kenneth Robinson’s ‘adverse possession’ adventures brings this issue to [...]

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Barefoot Bandit Receives Federal Sentence

January 29, 2012

Do you remember the reality-inspired film Catch Me If You Can starring Leonardo DiCaprio? It seems a related Hollywood deal is in the making and the lead character is Colton Harris-Moore aka the “Barefoot Bandit”. Except Harris-Moore did not pretend to be a pilot; he just wanted to fly and impressively (or scarily) he did [...]

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The Firm Premiere Raises Juvenile vs. Adult Legal Issue

January 11, 2012

Sunday night, the TV legal drama The Firm premiered on NBC. The back story is based on John Grisham’s novel (1991) and subsequent film (1993), and follows the thrilling tales of Attorney Mitch McDeere ten years after the time period of the original works. The television series’ opening highlighted several of McDeere’s cases including defending [...]

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Top Five Legal & Justice News Stories of 2011

December 31, 2011

Many memorable events happened in 2011, stories that will be described in history books studied by future generations. Both Osama Bin Laden and Muammar Qaddafi were killed. Japan suffered a major earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Irene furiously stormed up the East Coast of North America. Specifically in the legal and criminal justice world, many [...]

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From Coast to Coast, Security Makes Headlines

December 29, 2011

When you ask people what the top of their list would be for what they want out of life, most people tend to answer “health”. I bet if you were to ask them to elaborate, the conversation would gradually transition to the topic of “safety…security…” What is security? Is it wanting your children to stay [...]

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