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Discriminatory Impact Cited Marijuana is legal for recreational purposes in 11 US states, and it is legal for medical use in 33 states including New York. The criminalization of marijuana in the state of New York, however, has a long history. Marijuana was legal in New York until 1914, at which point it became a…

The statistics are stunning. Numerous studies have shown that nearly 3 billion people use social media. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have been praised for their benefits and criticized for their dangers, and both proponents and critics of social media probably have valid points to make. One danger of social media that…

Nursing home abuse and neglect is a nationwide problem and, unfortunately, the situation isn’t any better in New York than it is anywhere else. A 2011 study at Cornell University estimated that, in New York alone, over a quarter of a million elderly people have been subject to some form of abuse, whether inside or…

A criminal conviction, or even an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, can follow you around for the rest of your life. You may be denied housing, employment, or a professional license for this reason – and you might not even be told why, for example, that your employment application was rejected. New…

Lawyers like to use accident reconstruction specialists in motorcycle accident claims for one primary reason: You aren’t going to find a more persuasive witness than the laws of physics. And in a best-case scenario, an accident reconstruction specialist for the plaintiff will be able to prove that either (i) the accident was the defendant’s fault,…

To say that nursing home abuse is a horrifying act is an understatement. The appropriate adjective to describe the nursing home sexual abuse, however, would be “unspeakable” – except that we must speak of it, because it is a tragic reality. The December 2018 case of a nursing home resident who gave birth after having…

Campus sexual assault, and how schools handle it, is a hot-button political issue that stirs strong emotions on both sides of the debate. The Obama administration issued far-reaching reforms of campus sexual assault policy under Title IX by conditioning federal funding on schools’ compliance with certain reforms. The result was dozens of lawsuits filed by…

Something akin to a miracle occurred recently: Congress passed significant legislation with broad bipartisan support. The awkwardly-named “Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act,” or FIRST STEP Act (the “Act”), was signed by President Trump on December 21, 2018. The new legislation is designed to improve federal prison conditions, allow for the…

Troy, NY, Criminal Defense Law Firm If the police suspect you of committing a crime and seek you question you, remember that you have a constitutional right to remain silent. That means that if you tell the police you don’t want to talk to them without a lawyer present, they are obligated to stop questioning…

You have no doubt heard the ironic expression “pure as New York snow,” which conjures up the mental image of ice blackened with soot. Well that’s not what “black ice” is. In fact, black ice is clear as a mountain stream. It looks black because, ominously, it covers blacktop. It is clear because you see…