Making divorce easier has reduced domestic violence
A detailed study shows that making “no-fault” divorces easier to get reduces domestic assaults, domestic murders and female suicides....
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Charlottesville can say “no message ads” on City buses
Charlottesville’s policy of not allowing ads for non-profit and political campaigns on the sides of City buses is constitutional, because the United States Supreme Court has held that ad space on the sides of buses is not a “public forum.”...
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Federal Judge Rebukes Perry for Delay
Judge John Gibney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia gave a 22-page smackdown to the campaigns of Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, John Huntsman and Rick Santorum when he ruled that he would not grant an injunction that would have required the State Board of Elections to put them on the […]...
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The Virginia Republican Primary and their “loyalty oath”
The State Board of Elections has decided that the 2012 Virginia Republican Primary for President should be closed only to those who have pledged to support their nominee. While there is no prohibition on them imposing such a requirement, it is a requirement that should have been enacted no later than December 7. But it wasn’t adopted until December 28. Now the RPV is reconsidering....
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Junk science in the courtroom
Junk science in the courtroom is being admitted in criminal cases in Virginia and around the country, and innocent people are being convicted because of it....
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Rick Perry’s lawsuit to get on the ballot…
Rick Perry’s lawsuit to get on the ballot for the Virginia Republican primary raises interesting issues, but ultimately it will lose....
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People v. Rivera — the Illinois Appellate Court Got It Right
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post discussing the pending case of People v. Rivera, in the Illinois Appellate Court. This case involved a horrible rape-murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker, committed in 1992. Juan Rivera confessed, but his confession made no sense and didn’t fit the facts. (For one thing, he stated in […]...
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Cost-Benefit Analysis — comparing lives to be lost with costs to trucking companies
Republican politicians are using cost-benefit analysis to justify opposing a rule that would make our roads safer — a rule to limit the number of hours that truck drivers can drive without adequate rest. If the political system doesn’t make roads safer, the tort law system will have to do it instead. And the trucking companies probably won’t be happy with that result....
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Why Criminal Defense Lawyers Should Keep Their Mouths Shut
The circus at Penn State involving Jerry Sandusky and the allegations of child abuse has me just shaking my head. Now I read an article that really makes me wonder whether Sandusky’s criminal lawyer shouldn’t just sit down and shut up. In this article — published last week — Joe Amendola is discussing with the […]...
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George Huguely Jury Selection Procedures
Jury selection for the George Huguely murder trial will include a jury questionnaire — a rare, but very helpful, procedure that will allow the lawyers to learn a great deal about prospective jurors without taking up a lot of time....
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