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California’s new early release rules have sparked legal battles. New rules on early release, passed as part of legislation aimed at reducing the state’s prison population, are facing several legal challenges related to early release from county jails. According to the Sacramento Bee, both the Sacramento and Orange County sheriff’s unions, along with the Crime Victims United of California have all filed lawsuits to stop the law from taking effect....

Ah the selfie stick. It was named one of the 25 best inventions of 2014 by TIME last year. Despite its popularity and obvious amazing-ness, the selfie stick has been feeling a lot of hate lately. It’s being banned at concert venues, museums, and even at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference. Admittedly, selfie sticks can be a hazard in enclosed crowded areas and among priceless art and artifacts. With so many places banning selfie sticks, can your business do the same?...

Hip replacement surgery is a dangerous prospect, but for those who added all-metal hips to the procedure, the risk got even bigger. Last August, all recipients of a DePuy hip were notified that the company was voluntarily recalling its all-metal hips. Countless people who had received a DePuy hip were in need of revision surgery, which is just as risky as the first procedure. The all-metal hips were experiencing a 13% failure rate despite the fact that they should have lasted approximately 15 years....

Ed McMahon has settled a medical malpractice lawsuit with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, over the hospital’s treatment of neck injuries the entertainer suffered after a fall at a friend’s home in 2007. The longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” was injured in March of 2007 when he fell and broke his neck at the home of investor Robert Day, according to Reuters. McMahon had alleged that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center failed to properly diagnose his broken neck, sent him home without taking any X-rays, and botched two operations on the entertainer’s spine, Reuters reports: “The veteran TV announcer said the resulting discomfort and pain left him unable to work for many months....

While some of us would love to close up shop in the midst of a “bomb cyclone,” we may not have that luxury, putting employers in the unenviable position of asking employees to work in some frigid conditions. From postmen to presidents, most of us still have to go to work in cold weather, so the question then becomes how to keep your workers safe from some of the most common winter work injuries....

The manufacturers of 25 medical devices that have been on the market since before 1976 – including certain pacemakers, defibrillators, spinal screws, and prosthetic hip joints – will need to demonstrate that their products are still safe and effective, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today. The medical devices covered under today’s FDA announcement hit the market prior to passage of the Medical Device Amendments to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1976, which gave the FDA the authority to review and regulate new medical devices....

About 10 million pounds of snack foods including frozen pizzas, mozzarella bites, Philly cheese steaks, and others have been recalled after reports of an E. coli outbreak. Two dozen people in 15 states have become ill after eating the snacks, according to the FDA. Rich Products Corporation of Buffalo, New York, is pulling all products produced at a Georgia plant. The recalled products are stamped with “best by” dates from January 1, 2013 to September 29, 2014, reports NBC News....

In case you missed it, Wyoming became the 32nd state to legalize gay marriage, with the state’s attorney general giving his OK last week. According to Reuters, a federal district court struck down the Equality State’s same-sex marriage ban in mid-October, but stayed its ruling to give the state time to appeal. But Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael decided against appealing the decision, allowing gay marriage to proceed last Tuesday....

Now that Getty Images has made 35 million of its pictures free for non-commercial use online, some entrepreneurs may be able to take advantage of the offer – but with limitations. One caveat to embedding the free Getty images on a website or blog is that a footer crediting Getty and a link to the company’s licensing page will appear below the image, Forbes reports. But since businesses are “commercial” by nature, can you even use the free images without violating Getty’s policy?...

Although Pakistan-born U.S. citizen Faisal Shahzad entered a guilty plea to an attempted Times Square bombing he was unapologetic for his actions. Calling himself a “Muslim soldier,” car bomber suspect Faisal Shahzad entered a guilty plea to 10 terrorism and weapons counts, some of which carry mandatory life sentences, the New York Times reports. In court the 30-year-old Times Square car bomber suspect described himself as, “part of the answer to the U....

You’ve hired a lawyer – but now you’ve had a disagreement, or perhaps just buyer’s remorse. So when are you allowed to change your lawyer, and how do you do that? As a client, you generally have the right to get rid of your lawyer for any reason, at any time before your case is over. All you have to do is follow the procedure set by the court where your case is being heard....

Fun workplaces are all the rage, but it turns out they can also be dangerous. Rackspace Hosting, a cloud computing company, installed a two-story slide at its Texas headquarters and is now being sued for the second time over injuries sustained on the slide. While the first slide-related lawsuit against Rackspace settled in January, the latest was just filed this week. An IT executive sued Rackspace in 2013 after he broke his leg on the slide while touring the company’s office outside San Antonio....

We trust nursing homes to take care of our loved ones. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Even worse, we may not know until too late that a nursing home isn’t caring for someone we love as they should. So how can you spot nursing home neglect? And what can you do if you do spot it? Nursing home neglect can go undetected if relatives aren’t familiar with the types of neglect elders can face in nursing homes....

You don’t necessarily have to be a licensed barber or stylist to give a good haircut, but is it legal to charge for the privilege? Most people probably know at least one friend or family member who is always down to showcase his or her amateur haircutting skills. And when these amateur cuts are dispensed free of charge, the only problem might be with the quality of the haircut. But what about when an amateur haircut comes with a price tag?...

While most small businesses aren’t required to provide healthcare benefits to their employees, many choose to do so in order to attract and retain the best employees. However, even if you don’t need to offer health insurance to your employees, once you do, federal law prohibits you from discriminating in your health benefits coverage based on an employee or dependent’s gender, race, age, national origin, religion, or disability, and many states and local municipalities also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity....

Many big companies have employees, or even departments, to specifically assess the risks and liabilities of the company. But, as a small business, you probably don’t have the budget to have employees dedicated to risk management. One risk that’s important to identity and address is the possibility of your business having illegal online content. According to the Business 2 Community article written on this topic, here are a few common ways that your business’s content online may be violating laws....

Online bullying, also called cyberbullying, has become a widespread issue. As you may recall, a FindLaw survey in 2014 found that nearly one in 12 children had been the victim of online bullying. What can parents do about this? One Minnesota dad whose daughter was being bullied over Snapchat talked to the bullies’ father, filed a police report, and then fought back by posting the bullies’ (and their father’s) messages on YouTube, reports Minnesota Public Radio....

To understand how the law applies to your situation, you first need to understand the specialized terms used by lawyers and judges to describe the law. Known as legalese, these legal words and phrases can often seem obscure or overly complex, but that’s why we’re here. Our ongoing series Legalese From A to Z breaks down these words, letter by letter. This week, we take a look at some legal terms beginning with the letter “J”:...

Sure you’re a mom, but you’re also an entrepreneur running a successful business. And although those skill sets often overlap, there may be some pitfalls to treating your employees like your children. The following tips will help keep mothers, and the businesses they own, on top: Women-owned businesses have a poor track record for attracting investors, with venture-capital funds flocking to traditionally white-male-dominated tech startups. But don’t be discouraged: There are plenty of good ways for moms to fund their budding businesses....

Now here is a drop dead date: even though the House of Representatives passed a bill on December 3rd to permanently extend this year’s estate tax rates of 45% (with a $3.5 million exemption), if the Senate does not take up the legislation by Jan 1, the federal tax on inherited assets would disappear altogether in 2010. However, the estate tax would return with a vengeance in 2011, at much higher rates and lower exemptions....