As the landscape of marijuana legalization changes, the many related laws evolve accordingly. An Oregon court recently ruled that the smell of marijuana smoke cannot be considered inherently offensive. It is in fact pleasing to some people, and therefore not grounds to pursue any complaints concerning the odor. This ruling came about concerning an Oregonian […]
A pattern has emerged: the use of statistics showing low ratios of criminal convictions to criminal reports to support criticism of the U.S. legal system. How, the implication goes, can we trust the law we live under when Department of Justice surveys indicate that only 22 out of 619 robbery reports end in felony convictions, […]
We realize there is a chance you were buried in a mudslide several weeks ago and have only now tunneled out into the light of day. First of all, if so, welcome back! Second, you have some catching-up to do with Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation, which we think makes apposite a review of the Supreme […]
As Chris Watts of Colorado awaits trial for the murder of his pregnant wife Shanann and their two young daughters, speculation abounds whether the case may end in capital punishment, though so far the prosecution neither confirms nor denies that it will seek that result. Colorado, rightly cautious about death sentences, has not carried one out […]
The Debate In 2015, expanding the application of previous similar laws, the Texas legislature passed a law to allow citizens to take concealed guns into buildings on public college campuses. Two years later several professors from the University of Texas at Austin sued, calling the law unconstitutional. When their case was dismissed they appealed, and […]
Colorado law gives judges the authority to hide information about court cases from the public, information ranging from the least important details to the very fact of the cases’ existence. Judges use this power either by a procedure called sealing, which has strict limits set out in state codes, or by orders of suppression, which […]
With the passage of Colorado Amendment 64 in 2012, a new era of marijuana tolerance swept the state. As of January 1st, 2014, dispensaries which had gained the proper licensing from the state opened and began marijuana sales to the public. The result has been a steadily-increasing industry, with weed sales, including edibles, medicinal marijuana, […]
Paul Manafort is President Trump’s former campaign chairman who is currently the defendant in two upcoming trials on money laundering and bank fraud. On Friday, a judge ordered he spend the rest of his pretrial period in jail. The accusation which led to this pretrial charge is witness tampering. The Judge determined that since there is no […]
The Supreme Court recently overturned a long standing sport betting act called PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) which was originally enacted in 1992 by President Bush. This act essentially banned betting on sports at the federal level. However the repeal of this act does not necessarily legalize sports betting across the country. What […]
The East Area Rapist terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s. He was responsible for over 50 rapes, a dozen murders, and more than 100 burglaries. He came to be known as the Original Night Stalker, the Visalia Ransacker, and the Golden State Killer. Interest in this unresolved mystery was recently revived with the publication […]