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 […]
Author: Scott Limmer
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 […]
Article: House Judiciary Would Give DOJ Broad Powers to Ban New Drugs
A bill cleared by the House Judiciary Committee on July 12 would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSRA) to make it simpler and faster to ban new synthetic versions of already banned drugs, such as fentanyl, a fast-spreading synthetic opioid; K2 (also known as “spice”), a synthetic version of cannabis; and bath salts, a synthetic […]
Article: Suit Challenges DOE Procedure Mandates for College Sex Misconduct Cases
A recent University of Virginia (UVA) law graduate’s new lawsuit attacks the procedural standards for dealing with sexual misconduct cases the Department of Education (DOE) mandates for the nation’s colleges and universities. If successful, the lawsuit could Title IX enforcers to back off their aggressive readings of the specific procedures colleges and universities must use […]
Article: Appeals Court: Mugshots of Federal Defendants Need Not Be Released
Reversing a decision from 1996, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati has ruled the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) does not require the U.S. Marshals Service automatically to release mugshots taken when federal prisoners are booked. With all 16 judges participating in the July 14 decision, the 6th Circuit by a 9-7 vote held prisoners […]
Article: Out-of-State License Plates Don’t Justify Pot Search, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court, in Vasquez v. Lewis, has ruled that members of Kansas Highway Patrol cannot stop motorists and search their vehicles for marijuana merely because the vehicle has plates from a state with legalized marijuana use. Very late one night in mid-December 2011, Peter Vasquez was driving into eastern Kansas on I-70 in […]
Article: Mandatory Arrest in Domestic Violence Cases
NYS Domestic Violence = Mandatory Arrest New York dramatically changed its criminal law procedures when it implemented a “mandatory arrest” law for cases involving domestic violence. If the police are called for a potential domestic violence incident and they have probable cause to believe you committed an act of domestic violence, they are required to […]
Article: Crack Down on Free Speech, Federal Bureaucrats Tell University
Remember when government agencies proclaimed their devotion to American values like independence and the right to speak your mind freely? Ah, those were the days… but no sense living in the past. Nowadays, you’re far more likely to find federal agencies trying to force U.S. educators into combatting outbreaks of outmoded ideas like the First […]