According to this article on the ABA GPS Solo Family Law publication, if you're a family lawyer and your client brings forth evidence that their spouse intentionally downloaded porn on the family computer, you can demonstrate that s/he is an unfit parent and restrict child custody in divorce proceedings. Possession of pornography is not illegal. Distribution to minors is. Keeping porn on your family computer makes it accessible to children.
Possession of child porn is EXTREMELY illegal. Basically, if you can prove that it's child pornography, your client's soon-to-be-ex-spouse is screwed. (pun intended.)
If you happen to represent the pervy client, refer them to a criminal lawyer. They're going to need all the help they can get.
tl;dr Watch your daily dose of lechery on your laptop or at work. (Actually, you probably don't want to do that last one either because most companies have installed spyware on company computers.) Bummer.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Rehabilitative Measures for Cheeky Juveniles
Finally! SF schools realize they need to curb their trigger fingers for suspending and expelling students. The most idiotic school punishment is taking kids that have committed minor infractions and giving them a break from school. Most every kid looks forward to staying home from school. Do you really think that allowing "nefarious" students a pass to be truant is really the right way to deal with them? Do you think that repeatedly nefarious students have stable home environments and will be monitored by their generally absentee parents? Illegal or annoying behavior typically stems from improper parental supervision, whether that be physical or emotional. Any parent can convince themselves that they're the best parent ever, but when it comes down to it, delinquents were corrupted somewhere along the line... Bad behavior doesn't mean juveniles are bad people, it just means that they're a bit counter-social.
So! SF schools have recognized that identifying kids as delinquents generally puts them on a path to more serious behavioral problems. Instead, they're focusing on rehabilitating students that have valid reasons for their delinquent behavior. They allow students the opportunity to defend themselves and enter into an open discussion about their behavioral issues. Wow! Treating students like human beings. Who knew?
tl;dr Kids = Mini-adults. Treat as such.
So! SF schools have recognized that identifying kids as delinquents generally puts them on a path to more serious behavioral problems. Instead, they're focusing on rehabilitating students that have valid reasons for their delinquent behavior. They allow students the opportunity to defend themselves and enter into an open discussion about their behavioral issues. Wow! Treating students like human beings. Who knew?
tl;dr Kids = Mini-adults. Treat as such.
Education Law. Also Known as Kids Being Stupid.
The best part of EdLaw is that we get to read cases about children in sticky situations. Some of them are fairly tame (do we expel this child for some benign reason?). Others are straight up distressing (parents beating children in homeschooling environments). Others are just plain ridiculous.
This kid made a website detailing plans to kill his teacher via hitman. Oh yeah, he also turned her into a Hitler .gif. He tried to pull the First Amendment card. He failed.
This kid gave a detailed plan to hack the school's computer system in a public newspaper. Boy-genius turned white-collar criminal. Whoops.
Lastly, my personal favorite. This gutsy young man brought a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" sign to a school pep rally. The administration didn't find it particularly amusing.
And, a most recent current event that I find amusing.
A school expelled one of their seniors for dropping f-bombs on twitter. While the tweet occurred off-premises, the student had signed onto Twitter at the school and the computer security system picked up on the profanity.
tl;dr Let them be children. Except for that hitman one. That's just creepy.
This kid made a website detailing plans to kill his teacher via hitman. Oh yeah, he also turned her into a Hitler .gif. He tried to pull the First Amendment card. He failed.
This kid gave a detailed plan to hack the school's computer system in a public newspaper. Boy-genius turned white-collar criminal. Whoops.
Lastly, my personal favorite. This gutsy young man brought a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" sign to a school pep rally. The administration didn't find it particularly amusing.
And, a most recent current event that I find amusing.
A school expelled one of their seniors for dropping f-bombs on twitter. While the tweet occurred off-premises, the student had signed onto Twitter at the school and the computer security system picked up on the profanity.
tl;dr Let them be children. Except for that hitman one. That's just creepy.
Inappropriate Google Searches
Sometimes law school yields extraordinarily inappropriate Google searches.
For example, my Education Law class requires statutory interpretation. As such, we read a number of statutes from the California Education Code every class.
While reading Cal. Ed. Code s. 48900, I happened upon a word I did not know. A word that had its own subsection of the statute. Cal. Ed. Code s. 48900 outlines grounds for suspension or expulsion of students enrolled in California public schools. While it includes the usual suspects like assault, robbery, extortion, sale/possession of illegal drugs, I happened upon s. 48900(p) which explicitly outlaws the unlawful offering, arrangement to sell, negotiation to sell, or sale of the prescription drug Soma.
Now, as a lifetime student relatively uneducated in drug subculture, I was exceedingly confused. What is this Soma? The only SOMA I'm familiar with is South of Market district in San Francisco.
So I turned to my law school bestie (sorry J-Koo) for the answer: Google. Apparently Soma is some sort of muscle relaxant that kids use in school to get through the day. They drift through classes in a pleasant haze. Additionally, it's an adequate date rape drug. That's probably more what the legislature was trying to prevent. In any case, I included my search history for your pleasure if you'd like to read more about it.
what is soma?
soma ca high school (FAIL)
soma outbreak ca high school (FAIL)
soma teen use
soma teen distribution
soma teacher ca distribution (FAIL)
soma illegal distribution california high school students (NOT CA, but just as good)
Reviewing my search history, I started to experience a wave of panic. What if someone else reviewed my search history? Did I alert the FBI as a suspect for Soma distribution? What if I ever decided to become a teacher and some sort of crazy search recorder released my information?
My neuroses meter started beeping like crazy. Frantically, I went to my search history and erased everything. Maybe no one would notice. Maybe nothing would be recorded. So what does a good neurotic person do? Post the results on her blog with a full explanation.
I, J-Hizzle, do not intend to distribute Soma to high school students.
In any case, this drug must be a serious problem if CA specifically outlawed it. I checked Westlaw for NY statutes and there were no references in the Ed. Law to prescription drug Soma. New York high school students may use Soma. I never heard any whispers of it when I was in school. Moreover, when I was doing my certification, there were no references to it. I suppose the West Coast is just more in vogue than the East Coast.
Of course, back in NY, we had to worry about more important drugs than Soma. Like heroin. Between 2006 to present day, there has been a HUGE outbreak of heroin and prescription pill popping among high school students (and apparently college students if you review the link below). Unfortunately, a boy from my high school passed away the year after we graduated from a heroin overdose. The high school I did the majority of my field work at had a huge heroin outbreak in 2008 where a bit less than a third of the senior class had to enter rehab during the middle of the year.
ny heroin outbreak
ny heroin outbreak long island high school students
More inappropriate Google searches:
--violent serial killers (I spent three hours on Wiki for that one the other day)
--violent sexual assault
--drug paraphernalia ca schools
--prostitution child
Really, this all applies to my education. Unfortunately.
tl;dr I hope the FBI doesn't check my search history.
For example, my Education Law class requires statutory interpretation. As such, we read a number of statutes from the California Education Code every class.
While reading Cal. Ed. Code s. 48900, I happened upon a word I did not know. A word that had its own subsection of the statute. Cal. Ed. Code s. 48900 outlines grounds for suspension or expulsion of students enrolled in California public schools. While it includes the usual suspects like assault, robbery, extortion, sale/possession of illegal drugs, I happened upon s. 48900(p) which explicitly outlaws the unlawful offering, arrangement to sell, negotiation to sell, or sale of the prescription drug Soma.
Now, as a lifetime student relatively uneducated in drug subculture, I was exceedingly confused. What is this Soma? The only SOMA I'm familiar with is South of Market district in San Francisco.
So I turned to my law school bestie (sorry J-Koo) for the answer: Google. Apparently Soma is some sort of muscle relaxant that kids use in school to get through the day. They drift through classes in a pleasant haze. Additionally, it's an adequate date rape drug. That's probably more what the legislature was trying to prevent. In any case, I included my search history for your pleasure if you'd like to read more about it.
what is soma?
soma ca high school (FAIL)
soma outbreak ca high school (FAIL)
soma teen use
soma teen distribution
soma teacher ca distribution (FAIL)
soma illegal distribution california high school students (NOT CA, but just as good)
Reviewing my search history, I started to experience a wave of panic. What if someone else reviewed my search history? Did I alert the FBI as a suspect for Soma distribution? What if I ever decided to become a teacher and some sort of crazy search recorder released my information?
My neuroses meter started beeping like crazy. Frantically, I went to my search history and erased everything. Maybe no one would notice. Maybe nothing would be recorded. So what does a good neurotic person do? Post the results on her blog with a full explanation.
I, J-Hizzle, do not intend to distribute Soma to high school students.
In any case, this drug must be a serious problem if CA specifically outlawed it. I checked Westlaw for NY statutes and there were no references in the Ed. Law to prescription drug Soma. New York high school students may use Soma. I never heard any whispers of it when I was in school. Moreover, when I was doing my certification, there were no references to it. I suppose the West Coast is just more in vogue than the East Coast.
Of course, back in NY, we had to worry about more important drugs than Soma. Like heroin. Between 2006 to present day, there has been a HUGE outbreak of heroin and prescription pill popping among high school students (and apparently college students if you review the link below). Unfortunately, a boy from my high school passed away the year after we graduated from a heroin overdose. The high school I did the majority of my field work at had a huge heroin outbreak in 2008 where a bit less than a third of the senior class had to enter rehab during the middle of the year.
ny heroin outbreak
ny heroin outbreak long island high school students
More inappropriate Google searches:
--violent serial killers (I spent three hours on Wiki for that one the other day)
--violent sexual assault
--drug paraphernalia ca schools
--prostitution child
Really, this all applies to my education. Unfortunately.
tl;dr I hope the FBI doesn't check my search history.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Things to Look Foward to: 3,000 Billable Hours/yr
These guys forgot to take Professional Ethics in law school. Whoops.
Suit by Fired Lawyer Claims Law Firm Encouraged Fraud with 3,000-Hour Billable Quota - News - ABA Journal
Suit by Fired Lawyer Claims Law Firm Encouraged Fraud with 3,000-Hour Billable Quota - News - ABA Journal
Friday, October 14, 2011
Teacher Fired for Facebook Activity
Facts: Teacher posts Facebook pic of her drinking alcohol. Parent anonymously complains to administration. Administration asks teacher to resign. Teacher resigns and sues school.
Issue: Was the teacher denied due process?
Conclusion: Due process was not violated because she resigned of her own accord.
Now, due process aside, the real issue here is whether such actions against the teacher were really necessary. Is this just a case of Georgians Overreacting? Or is there something else to this?
Granted, I wouldn't want my kids seeing their teacher like this. That might be slightly undermining for the teach. But the woman was on vacation. And this was the offending picture. Seriously, Georgia? You should be happy that women like that bother putting up with your kids. The least of your problems is a teacher double-fisting some booze on vacation.
Issue: Was the teacher denied due process?
Conclusion: Due process was not violated because she resigned of her own accord.
Now, due process aside, the real issue here is whether such actions against the teacher were really necessary. Is this just a case of Georgians Overreacting? Or is there something else to this?
Granted, I wouldn't want my kids seeing their teacher like this. That might be slightly undermining for the teach. But the woman was on vacation. And this was the offending picture. Seriously, Georgia? You should be happy that women like that bother putting up with your kids. The least of your problems is a teacher double-fisting some booze on vacation.
Some people say women don't belong in the profession. Suck it.
A testament to the fact that women are better than men: The Most Kick-Ass Female Lawyer Ever. No, really.
Accomplishing child birth and the Bar in the same day? I think we just found Superwoman. Granted, it was the Illinois Bar which is nowhere near as painful as CA or NY. But we can let that slide for once...
Accomplishing child birth and the Bar in the same day? I think we just found Superwoman. Granted, it was the Illinois Bar which is nowhere near as painful as CA or NY. But we can let that slide for once...
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