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Vandalizing school property can take many forms and many names. Sometimes called “malicious mischief,” “criminal mischief,” or “property damage,” vandalism can range from tagging the sides of buildings and bathroom stalls, to smashing windows on school buses and classrooms. Most vandals of school property are minors, and are therefore tried in the juvenile justice system. Standard remedies include: Restitution: to be paid to the property owner in the amount to repair or replace the item damaged Fines: often up to $500 Diversion: usually 12 months or more, that can range anywhere from warn-and-release to psychotherapy Probation: usually 12 months or more, with stiff penalties imposed if probation is violated, such as juvenile detention Detention: judges can sentence convicted vandals to full-time or weekend stays at detention centers, or even move then to juvenile homes with advanced supervision....

For most folks, once they’ve made the decision to get divorced, they want it over as quickly as possible. But just because you’ve signed the papers doesn’t mean your divorce is finalized. Half of all states have a waiting period between the filing of divorce papers and when the marriage is legally dissolved, which can range from ninety days in Washington and six months in California to even longer in some states....

Today is Election Day. And once Barack Obama’s tenure in office comes to a close over the next few months, a new president will take over the Oval Office and nominate a new Supreme Court justice as well. This could mean that some of the initiatives from the Obama administration may either be repealed in Congress or overturned by the Court. Here’s a look at five of those laws and what the future may hold for them in the next presidency....

Lawyers can seem “all that” during a consultation, but potential clients may want to do a little extra research before pulling the trigger on hiring them. Just a quick trip over to the lawyer’s website or state bar profile can reveal information that he or she may not have disclosed. In addition, ranking-and-review websites like Yelp provide oodles of sensitive information on attorneys from past clients. So if you’re curious, use these five quick ways to research whether your lawyer is legit:...

Like injuries sustained in automobile accidents, damages from injuries suffered in a bike accident may be recovered through a personal injury lawsuit. But how do you know when your bike accident is lawsuit-worthy? Here are five signs: The other party has been charged with a crime. In accidents where the defendant has been charged with a crime, negligence may be presumed if it’s proven that the defendant violated a criminal statute that was meant to prevent the type of injury that was suffered by the plaintiff....

Every summer, thousands of children fly alone for the purpose of visiting family, friends or summer camp. Though the overwhelming majority of these instances go smoothly, undoubtedly there will be at least one child who misses his flight or wanders around an airport for a few hours because of a delay. While the public’s first instinct is often to blame the airline, the fact is that it may not be responsible for mix-ups when children fly alone....

Food-related lawsuits come in waves, oftentimes showcasing similar fact patterns and events. We’ve seen this with foreign-object-in-food suits, as well as with the McDonald’s coffee incident and the subsequent “hot food” lawsuits that seemed to clog the courts overnight. On the heels of two tipsy toddler incidents, wherein both Applebee’s and Olive Garden allegedly served alcohol to young children, a Chicago mother is claiming that a Chili’s restaurant served her 4-year-old daughter an alcoholic Mudslide instead of a chocolate shake....

United States Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is busy drafting security plans for the 9/11 trials. He recently took a trip to New York to meet with federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials about the securing the courtrooms where, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the accused mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks and other 9/11 detainees will be tried. Attorney General Holder said the factors used to decide included “the nature of the offense, the location in which the offense occurred, the identity of the victims, and the manner in which the case was investigated....

The city of Berkeley, its police chief, and several of its police officers, will be required to face a class action lawsuit brought by protesters that were injured at a recent city council meeting. Though some of the charges brought were dropped, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White kept alive claims that the Berkeley police chief failed to enforce the police department’s own rules for policing demonstrations. These rules were recently adopted after violent tactics were used against demonstrators for Black Lives Matter back in 2014....

The twilight years – a time for men and women to relax and enjoy the life they spent years creating. Many children are put at ease knowing that their aging parents are in some type of retirement community, or in-house care. But do you know who’s caring for your elders? The SF Gate reports that the California Home Health Program is hiring felons. Yes, individuals convicted of violent felonies are being hired to enter into the homes of the elderly to help with healthcare services....

Since the majority of us no-time-for-breakfast commuters will never have the pleasure of eating a full gourmet meal while being chauffeured around in the back of a Rolls Royce, for food to qualify for breakfast, it must be edible with one hand. Distracted driving has been a problem ever since people started driving. However, the popularity of smart phones has actually forced state lawmakers to deal with the dangers of distracted driving head on....

Child custody issues are usually resolved as part of divorce proceedings. But what happens before the divorce is finalized? How do you sort out child custody if you and your spouse are separated? Fortunately, most child custody decisions are made on a single legal principle. Unfortunately, divorcing parents still tend to fight bitterly over custody. Here are your child custody rights before a divorce and some ideas for making child custody decisions during a separation....

A California federal appeals court has ruled that police may secretly place GPS tracking devices on suspects’ vehicles, without a warrant. The case goes back to 2007 in Oregon, when police secretly placed a warrantless GPS device on a Jeep owned by Juan Pineda-Moreno, who was suspected of commercially growing marijuana. Police tracked his movements and found that he made several trips to remote rural areas. Prosecutors later alleged that Pineda-Moreno was growing marijuana in the rural area he had been driving to....

If you’re worried about your dog’s potential to bite someone, can hanging a “Beware of Dog” sign on your property offer any sort of legal protection in the event of a dog bite lawsuit? Although in limited situations a “Beware of Dog” sign may actually help a litigious victim (by allegedly showing you knew of your dog’s vicious propensities), in general, warning passersby, guests, and even potential trespassers about the presence of a dog that may attack may actually be of help to you in defending yourself from a dog bite suit....

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ruled that gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers don’t need extra protection from discrimination in the workplace … because they are already covered. Any discrimination based on sexual orientation would amount to discrimination based on sex, which is prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The announcement comes three years after the EEOC prohibited discrimination based on gender identity, and less than a month after the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry....

The traditional summer season of hiring teenages is already upon us. Younger workers can be a great addition to a business - just imagine harnessing all that youthful energy. If small business owners have not finished their summer hiring or are looking to hire for after-school during the fall, there are special hiring considerations that can apply to minors. Federal law does not require employers to have minor work permits for employees under 18 years of age....

Although 80% of all businesses are family owned, only about 13% are ever run by the third generation. The desire to bring family members into the mix is strong, but may not always be the best decision for the business. It’s thus important to understand when and how to hire family members, and what to do when they’re brought into the fold. Here are the top 3 tips on how to make this process easier....

If your tree falls onto a neighbor’s property, it might not make a sound, but you may be liable. But in each of these situations where your tree topples onto your neighbor’s property, when are you liable? Here’s a general overview: Often, a tree on your property will crash into your neighbor’s property as a result of building or construction on your property. If, as a result of your own negligence while performing construction on your property you knock over your own tree, you will likely be held liable for the damage to your neighbor’s property....

As you’ve probably heard by now, the FCC this week voted to overturn Obama-era regulations, referred to as net neutrality, that prohibited internet service providers from either throttling content to certain customers or creating fast lanes for certain companies. There’s little doubt that the repeal of net neutrality will alter the internet as we know it, but is it a done deal? Maybe not. If you’re still seeing people on social media telling you to contact your congressperson, there might be a good reason for that....

Debt collectors are not our favorite people in the world. Times are tough, people get laid off, and bills go unpaid. It’s a difficult situation, especially when you experience illegal debt collection practices. But there are debt collection laws that protect consumers. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), for instance, was enacted to help safeguard consumers against certain unfair and abusive practices. However, the law only applies to debt collectors, not creditors....