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A bill sitting in a New Jersey State Assembly committee would prohibit individuals from legally changing their name if they were convicted of certain crimes. It would also require a background check for anyone who applied to have their name changed. Bill A2486 would require NJ state police to cross reference the name and fingerprintsRead More

NYPD officers must hand out business cards identifying themselves and providing information on how to file a complaint under a new rule that took effect on Friday, Oct. 19. Police are also required to explain the purpose of the interaction and obtain clear consent for a search where applicable. Called the Right to Know Act,Read More

Being charged with a crime is an intimidating situation to find oneself in. The impact of a criminal conviction goes far beyond the prison or jail sentence, probation, or fines that one might face. Having a criminal record can potentially change how the world perceives and reacts to a person, and can drastically alter one’sRead More

The NJ Supreme Court has ruled that the state open public records law does not cover police dashcam videos. Advocates for public records transparency had been arguing that dashcams could be used to prove definitively whether or not officers follow or break the law. The decision stems from a case involving a Tuckerton police officerRead More

Depression and loss of dignity should not be a part of the aging experience. However, a 2012 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that 49 percent of nursing home residents were suffering from depression. While it’s true that thanks to federal regulations, today’s nursing homes are a huge improvement over those of theRead More

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered that police not arrest individuals with no prior criminal record who are found smoking marijuana in public. Instead, such people will face criminal summonses. Those who have been convicted of a violent offense in the past three years can still be arrested for smoking marijuana inRead More

Canadian penal infractions are divided into two broad categories: statutory infractions and criminal infractions. Statutory infractions: In this first category, the Canadian provinces (for example Quebec) have the ability to impose sanctions for minor penal violations. The most common provincial law that imposes these types of sanction is the Highway Safety Code. The sanction imposedRead More

The Coalition for Future Mobility (CFM), an industry group hoping to get mainstream acceptance of self-driving cars, recently gained two powerful allies: the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), an national industry trade body representing 360 alcoholic beverage companies, and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR), an industry-funded nonprofit that battles underage drinkingRead More

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Feb. 14 that he will support the proposed amendment of sexual harassment laws to include language prohibiting police officers from engaging in sexual conduct with detainees. New York State’s sexual assault laws already specify that such actions—even when claimed to be consensual—are illegal among prison guards and probation officers.