With the Supreme Court trying to decide whether Texas has to allow a Confederate flag on some of its license plates, it got us to wondering – what exactly can we put on our license plates? After all, we’re paying for the plate, and it’s going on our car. Can’t we just put anything we want on our license plate? Then again, it’s an official plate, issued by the state and with the state flag emblazoned on it....
The question of whether your child can testify in a divorce proceeding depends on several factors. Among the most important variables a judge will consider when deciding whether to allow a child to testify is their age and maturity. Basically, judges must ensure that witnesses are competent to testify, much like when a defendant is ruled competent to stand trial. If a child is found to be competent and able to testify, the next consideration a court may take into account is the purpose for calling the child as a witness....
You want to foster an environment at your small business where all of your employees and customers feel comfortable. But political conversations, especially in the current climate, have the potential to cause some civil unrest in the office. And when those conversations center around the minimum wage and the right to unionize, they can get especially uncomfortable for workers and management. In-N-Out thought it had the right idea when it invoked a blanket ban on “any type of pin or stickers” to prohibit employees at an Austin location from wearing “Fight for $15” buttons in solidarity with a nationwide campaign for a $15 per hour minimum wage, the right to form a union without intimidation, and other improvements for low-wage workers....
You may know about a common law marriage, but what about a common law divorce? Just as couples who have an official ceremony may eventually divorce, couples who enter into a common law marriage may also divorce. But while it may not have taken any special planning to get married, it may take some special planning to end that common law marriage, reports Yahoo! If you’re getting divorced, you’ll have to follow the procedures for divorce in your state....
A federal lawsuit filed against American Airlines is alleging that contaminated airline food killed Othon Cortes. On a flight from Spain to New York, the 73-year-old Miami resident consumed a chicken meal. During a layover at JFK International, he fell ill. Despite stomach cramps, he and his wife boarded the flight to Miami. Once on board, he suffered from nausea and shortness of breath and eventually a heart attack. He was pronounced dead on arrival....
The image of lawyers as ambulance chasers is as old, and as pervasive, as the idea of lawyers as sharks. In fact, referring to attorneys as ambulance chasers is so common it’s not surprising that some people might think lawyers are literally chasing ambulances, looking for their next client. The short answer is no – lawyers aren’t running after ambulances. And here’s why: First and foremost, there are strict rules about how lawyers can contact potential clients and chasing ambulances to a potential client’s hospital bed is not allowed....
Maybe you don’t like needles. Maybe you don’t want to spend the last months of your life undergoing chemotherapy. It’s your body, but do you have the right to refuse medical treatment? Right to Choose, Right to Refuse? You have a right to informed consent. Essentially, doctors must tell you all the potential benefits, risks, and alternative methods of any medical procedure and get your consent before proceeding. Entwined with the right to informed consent is the right to refuse....
Losing a parent is difficult. The loss of an elder makes your mortality clear. But what is much less obvious is whether, with this death, you have inherited debts. The answer is that for the most part in most states and under most circumstances you, the adult child, do not personally inherit the debts of your elders. But there are some exceptions, and of course everything depends on the details of their finances....
Yet one more reason to learn how to use your privacy settings on Facebook. A Hanford, California, man is under arrest for the alleged imprisonment and torture of his girlfriend over a message he saw posted on her Facebook page. Anthony Lozano, 36, was arrested by King’s County sheriffs at his Hanford home on suspicion of false imprisonment, kidnapping, torture and other charges. According to the Hanford Sentinel, Lonzano flew into a rage when he saw a message from a friend on his 23 year-old girlfriend’s Facebook account asking how she was, because he assumed it meant she was having an affair....
If you have been following the path of alleged damage and destruction caused by imported Chinese drywall on thousands of homes build across the Southeast and other areas of the country, you know that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued many advisories regarding the defective drywall. The CPSC has had its say, a judge in federal court in Louisiana, finding against the manufacturers of the drywall has had his say, now a jury in Florida has had its say....
A drunk man who was killed by a train was released from police custody hours before his death. Christopher Milanese, 24, was killed on impact by the train after he laid down on the tracks. Milanese had been drinking the night before he was arrested in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2007. He was arrested for driving intoxicated by Boca Raton police, Courthouse News Service reports. He was given traffic citations at the police station and was released from custody....
The Obama administration plans to close Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and begin prosecutions. So now where will the Gitmo prisoners be transferred and housed? Perhaps to an empty state prison in Thomson, Illinois – 150 miles west of Chicago. On one side, 450 residents of the small town of Thomson are mostly welcoming and say it would bring back jobs to the area. On the other side, several Illinois lawmakers say placing detainees there would be too risky and make Chicago a target for terrorists....
For many veterans, transitioning to civilian life can at times feel like an insurmountable challenge. While combating a slew of mental health issues, poverty, and substance abuse, a devastating number of veterans wind up in handcuffs. Fortunately, Veterans Treatment Courts are coming to the rescue of countless vets who feel they are fighting an uphill battle against substance abuse, mental health issues, and a life of crime. But what is a Veterans Treatment Court?...
It’s a power that employers rarely use, but perhaps all should consider: How to remotely wipe cell phones that contain sensitive information – especially when the phones get stolen. All you need is an email address to command to a cell phone to self-destruct. Employers send the command via their company’s email server. But before you go wild with the power to wipe, experts say to make sure your workers have agreed to it....
Federal and state governments are using license-plate scanners to monitor cars on the road but is that legal? The ACLU isn’t so sure it is and they’ve launched an investigation into how states are using and storing the information. License-plate scanners are automated readers that photograph your license plate and send that information to law enforcement. Officials say the information is used to deal with crime, reports U.S. News. The real issue is how long they’re keeping that information....
At this point, it’s pretty safe to assume that every tech company, from Google and Twitter to that virtual reality “unicorn” you never heard of, is being sued for gender discrimination. And the claims are all pretty similar: female employees, especially engineers, are paid less than their male counterparts and given fewer opportunities for advancement, all with a little harassment. The names may change, but the song remains the same....
It seems like those opposed to the Prop 8 legislation passed in California have a friend in Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego. NBC News reports that the Republican mayor gave court testimony of how he supports gay marriage after he learned that his daughter was a lesbian and wanted to marry her partner. He said: “I believe the government should allow everyone to get married in exactly the same way....
Social media safety for teenagers is a serious concern, and a girl’s homicide in Maine shows us why. Nichole Cable, 15, was killed in an alleged fake kidnapping plot that went terribly wrong. Cable’s alleged killer, who used a fake Facebook profile, convinced her to meet him at the end of a street to score some marijuana, according to state police. But instead, the man duct-taped her and threw her in the back of a truck....
Yet one more reason we all should learn as much as possible about how to use the Facebook privacy settings. A teacher in Massachusetts was fired for her painfully straightforward Facebook comments made and posted on her wall. Comments calling school parents “snobby” and “arrogant,” and the students “germ bags,” did not go over too well. June Talvitie-Siple, supervisor of the high school math and science program in Cohasset, Mass, was forced to leave her position....
How do you un-do something that doesn’t exist in the first place? That is the question confronting gay married couples wishing to un-couple in the state of Texas. Under a 2005 amendment to the Texas Constitution, same sex marriage is not recognized in under Texas marriage laws. So what happens when a same sex couple married in another state sues for divorce in the Lone Star State? As reported by the Austin News, there is one more twist....
