Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made it official on September 7: her agency plans to change guidelines the Obama administration had set in 2011 for how schools should investigate and handle complaints of sexual misconduct. In a speech delivered at George Mason University, the head of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) said the Obama […]
Month: September 2017
Article: Pardoned by President, Sheriff Arpaio Wants Conviction Tossed
Donald Trump’s first presidential pardon went on August 25 to Joe Arpaio, the long-time Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, first elected in 1992 to head Arizona’s biggest local law agency and re-elected five times, before losing a sixth re-election bid last year. Arpaio received a “full and unconditional” pardon for his July 31 conviction on […]
Article: New York’s New Law on Sealing Criminal Records: How It Works, What It Covers
The New York state legislature passed, as part of the 2017-2018 budget bill, a new section 160.59, titled “Sealing of Certain Convictions,” which amends the state’s criminal laws. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it on April 10, 2017, and the new law will take effect 180 days later, on October 7, 2017, and will apply to […]
Article: New York Gangs Diversify into Credit Card Fraud, Related Crimes
When I first started practicing criminal defense law, using violence might have been enough to qualify someone for membership in most criminal gangs. But these days, many gangs have discovered more sophisticated tools can have as much a place as mere raw mayhem in their plans. One prominent case in point: credit card fraud. It’s […]