A dispute between former paramours over $1,000,000 lottery ticket has now taken over 5 years to get through the legal system. On July 4, 2007 a million-dollar lottery ticket was won by the plaintiff's girlfriend. She cashed in the winning ticket and refused to share it with him. The allegations in the lawsuit were that the parties had been living together since 1993 and had a verbal agreement to split any lottery winnings. The 2007 million-dollar winning payout has now been tied up for over 5 years and the recent decision now requires a jury to decide whether there was a verbal agreement.

The moral to the story? If you're going to buy lottery tickets with another person, put everything in writing and trust no one. Winning lottery tickets have a habit of developing the worst in some people and finding out you have made a deal with the devil after your request for your share has been rejected is going to take years of litigation and substantial attorneys fees. One can only guess what the attorneys fee contract with the rejected former boyfriend looks like.

Disputes between non-married couples are often times no different than in divorces. LaBovick Law Group has a dedicated division dealing with family law and divorce issues. In today's world, with more people choosing to not be married, disputes between former paramours are much more common. Hiring a lawyer with sufficient divorce skills and experience is of utmost importance when breaking up such a relationship.

So the California Supreme Court upheld marriage as a fundamental right for "all couples" in California! All couples means ALL couples, regardless of gender. Now same-sex marriages, which started in May 2008 are 100% safe in California. OR ARE THEY ?

In November 2008, the California Congress passed Proposition 8 in the Defense of Marriage Act. This defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Doesn't this effectively overturn the California Supreme Court’s decision?

Maybe the US Supreme Court will give us the answer. This month the Supreme Supremes heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Windsor, which is the case concerning the validity of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). DOMA provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman will be recognized by the federal government -- That means Medicare, Social Security and IRS, among others. In Windsor, two married women had a question when one died had the "marriage" was not recognized for purposes of the federal estate tax marital deduction. This caused the surviving " spouse" a higher tax burden when inheriting the estate.
The case has far-reaching implications for same-sex couples.

I give no opinion or endorsement to the Supremes here. The case is a real coin toss. But I would bet in this: they won't make a decision based on any "moral" basis. Rather they will either come down on States rights or on the Congress's right to take authority over the issue. Interesting felines for conservatives who I am sure are loathe to strike the DOMA.
States that recognize same-sex marriages could give federal recognition, which would mean that tax and estate planning is the same for both traditional and non-traditional married couples.
States that do not allow for same-sex marriage could face a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry!
This is one of the most interesting and far reaching decisions of the year. I'm excited to hear its resolution.

Not long ago, I was contemplating a career change that had been a dream of mine since I was a child. I wanted to be an attorney. But at 39 years old, raising two children, working a full-time job and the nearest law school over 75 miles from my home, I asked, “Is this goal realistic?”
After deciding it was not too late to pursue my law degree, the reality of the financial burden of law school was confronted. To pursue that degree as a working adult, I would not only need to find time, but financial resources as well. The following ideas will aid your quest for financial aid for education.
The first option I recommend is discerning whether you qualify for any grants or scholarships. This type of financial aid need not be repaid and can be quite lucrative. Both federal and state scholarships are widely available and can be researched on the appropriate Education Department website.
Next, our Federal Government has several loan options to explore; two of the most popular are Stafford Loans and Perkins Loans. These federal loans differ on the scope of availability based on need, as well as interest rates and terms but have one thing in common; you must be enrolled at least as a part-time student. For more information about federally sponsored loans, go to http://studentaid.gov.
As most federally sponsored loans are need based, it is a good idea to apply to state funded education loans as well. Some state’s programs are not need based but instead they are merit based. You may qualify for assistance via prior academic achievement.
Many employers also offer educational tuition assistance as well. Of course, the prospective academic degree must be related to your profession, but this is an important and viable possible source of funds to examine.
Lastly, do not forget that the IRS offers various tax credit programs that are related to secondary education and some tuition payments may be tax deductible as well. It is important to consult your accountant to be sure you take advantage of these tax benefits.
These points are just the tip of the iceberg with respect to tuition assistance. Be sure to explore all avenues and I am sure you will be able to achieve your educational goals.

Hotels are huge business in Florida. Thousands and thousands of visitors come in and out of south Florida every day. One would imagine that hotels would be tuned into the facts; the security in today’s world is an important aspect to their business model. However, our firm continues to get calls and take cases where hotels have failed to properly secure their business. Visitors have been harmed, hurt, raped and killed because hotels fail in the most basic of security responsibilities. Our advice is to choose your hotel wisely. Many times the larger brand names are the better choice for a quick stay, if you haven’t had time to investigate that charming bed and breakfast or small motel. Neighbors are important. Don’t stay in a questionable neighborhood or an industrial location if you can travel to a higher economic area and stay. The extra $20 per night may save your life. Most hotels have video surveillance. If you are hurt or become the victim of crime at hotel, call an attorney quickly so they can force the hotel to keep the video evidence secure. Finally, remember to lock your door at night. Most doors lock behind them, but don’t take it for granted. Make sure you are safe when you stay anywhere.

I have older children now, and my kids are looking at colleges and where to escape for their summers. Yet, I remember needing daycare for them. I also have friends who have either started having children later in life, have second families starting up, or are just lucky because they are younger than me. Meanwhile, I see that finding a safe and affordable daycare is a huge challenge. Did you know that the costs of childcare exceed a family’s annual median rent in almost half of the states? Literally, childcare is breaking the bank for the dual-income family. Why do families pay for such expensive care you ask? Well, there is no amount of money that can replace your child. Safety becomes job number one. People, especially moms, are willing to pay with blood, sweat and tears to keep their kids safe.

How do you know when your child is safe? Each state has a different set of licensing requirements and different enforcement efforts. This failure to standardize the level of safety in childcare institutions is making childcare dangerous in many parts of the country, where regulations are not in effect. Parents have so much to worry about: dangerous conditions of pedophile teachers, unsafe playgrounds, unsanitary conditions, the safety of our children, including from violence from other children, and so much more. In the past, bullying used to be when a big guy took your lunch money. Now bullying is a cyber campaign to destroy our reputation. Even worse, now we have rash or mentally-disturbed children who have brought automatic weapons to school to start a killing spree. It is very disturbing. The younger the child, the more we have to watch out for. For example, some people would take advantage of the inability of a child to vocalize an offense to them. It is just scary.

Parental involvement is mandatory to keep our children safe. Let everyone know you are close to your child and will find out what is going on at their school. For younger children, the unwanted pop-in visit is one of the best ways to find out just how well your child is being cared for. We have seen so many cases of hurt children on bad playground equipment and dangerous conditions that we feel it is important to always inspect where our child will learn and play. Do not subject your child to any unnecessary dangers!

Social media has now invaded the court system in the most unusual way. Recently, a Broward County Circuit Court judge was thrown off a case for being Facebook friends with the prosecutor. Florida's Attorney General objected to the process by claiming the judge was tried and convicted without due process. Now our local appeals court and the Florida Supreme Court are being asked to clarify the issue and give guidance as to whether or not lawyers practicing in front of judges can be Facebook friends.

This brings up an interesting issue. Lawyers and judges often times cut their legal teeth together either in the State Attorney’s Office, Public Defenders Office or private law firms before evolving their practices into seasoned attorneys or judges. I have known many judges on the bench and have socialized with them frequently. It does not impair their ability to be impartial in the cases where I have come before them. I have only one judge friend who has disqualified himself from hearing cases that I have been retained on as the trial attorney. This is because I asked this judge to be the godfather of one of my children. That relationship was deemed by both of us to be too intimate as to give off the appearance of impropriety. This is the standard by which relationships between lawyers and judges is governed, “the appearance of impropriety." Whether or not a judge can be influenced is not the relevant factor, it is the appearance of whether or not a judge can be influenced is what matters. Perception is greater than reality.

With the advent of social media, people who would not regularly communicate are now able to stay in touch with one another with very little effort. The Internet raises the level of intimacy in conversation. As a personal injury attorney, I warn every one of my clients to avoid posting things that may adversely affect their case in any form of social media. It never fails that one or more clients at any given time will not heed my warning and post something ridiculous on their social media for the world to see.

Now, it seems to have expanded to the relationship between lawyers and judges. I have a few Facebook friends who are judges. I can assure you that nothing improper has ever been communicated between the two of us regarding any legal matter that I may be working on or the Judge is presiding over. The Facebook relationship is purely social and has nothing to do with work. We are professionals and do not cross the line.

However, a litigant on the other side of the case that I may be prosecuting may feel differently. I have to look at it from their point of view as well. I may not feel comfortable with the judge who is a Facebook friend with the attorney on the other side of one of my cases. Therefore, I do not disagree with those who advocate the requirement that judges and attorneys not engage in any social media aspects or conversations. We can communicate the old fashioned way, face to face, and that’s not so bad after all.

The little known law of adverse possession is becoming a popular tool in the foreclosure crises that is still gripping Florida. Adverse possession allows any person who occupies property for seven years, maintains the property, and pays the taxes to take possession. This was a tool that has existed for hundreds of years, the goal was to keep property occupied and to ensure that the property was put to good use. In the American west this prevented out of state buyers from purchasing land and then not utilizing it. In the 21st century adverse possession occurs when someone occupies a vacant house and attempts to remain for seven years. In Boca Raton a 23 year old man has made national news attempting to adversely posses a water front mansion worth 2.5 million dollars. Andre De Palma Barbosa has been living in the waterfront house and last month filed papers with the county asserting his claim for adverse possession. The house is currently owned by Bank of America who took the deed of the house from the previous owner. Currently Barbosa is still occupying the home despite the best efforts of his neighbors to have him removed. According to the Palm Beach Post 38 claims have been filed for adverse possession in the county in the last 3 years.

Emails are NOT confidential. Get it! Emails are NOT Confidential!

How many times should we repeat it? An email is like sending one of those cheesy post cards on a holiday vacation. You know, the ones you write on the back of a crazy photograph and then send it across the world for every human hand that touches the card to read! That is what an email must be considered. If you can’t write it on a post card, then don’t write it in an email. Let’s make it a daily mantra. Email is NOT confidential.

Recently, the Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, General David Petraeus, was literally booted out of his job because he forgot the mantra. He decided to write a bunch of personal stuff in an email. Since his job requires a high degree of scrutiny and oversight, the FBI and others eventually read his email and investigated. They uncovered his affair with Paula Broadwell, the woman he hired to write his biography. Let’s not forget that David Patraeus is the modern war hero equivalent General Patton in the “War on Terror." So if our modern war heroes and CIA directors (and sometimes the combination of the two) can’t keep their email private, how can you?

All it takes is that little tip off. In the case of General Patraeus, it started with Broadwell’s “anonymous” email to Jill Kelley. Broadwell wrote the email with the intent to lightly harass her with an anonymous email because she was connected to the Petraeus family. Honestly I don’t know the details of that email. I was so disgusted that this personal relationship was actually considered major news, so I stopped paying attention to the details and looked for the big picture. Which is what? Email is NOT confidential! Let me prove it further.

What does Ms. Kelley do? She had a "friend” in the Tampa FBI office figure out who sent the anonymous email, which set off a chain reaction. This eventually led to Patraeus. So all you need is a buddy in law enforcement to trace your emails... Voila! You are no longer so anonymous.

Wow! An angry girlfriend unwittingly blew up the career and future generational admiration of the greatest general of our time. Why? Because Email is NOT confidential!

With less than a week until Election Day, it is important to know the items that will appear on the ballot on November 6. Most importantly, how these measures could potentially affect Floridians. There will be eleven items on the ballot, five which would offer tax breaks into the state constitution. You might be thinking, “Who doesn’t love a tax break?” Not so fast. Before you line up at the polls, make sure to take a closer look at these amendments and they could potentially affect you.

Here’s a quick recap of the tax amendments you will see on the ballot this season:

AMENDMENT 2- Allows for property tax discounts for disabled veterans.

AMENDMENT 4- Amends commercial and non-homestead property taxes. This amendment would save money for first-time home buyers, rental property owners and snowbirds. It could also cut taxes for homestead owners who lose value on their homes.

AMENDMENT 9- Authorizes the legislature to totally or partially exempt surviving spouses of military veterans or first responders who died in the line of duty from paying property taxes.

AMENDMENT 10- Would expand tangible personal property tax exemption for businesses from $25,000 to up to $50,000 for items such as computers and appliances.

AMENDMENT 11- Authorizes counties and municipalities to offer additional tax exemptions on homes of low-income seniors.

To read the full article, click here.

The integrity of our Supreme Court here in Florida is under attack. This is a very important topic in Florida. Rick Scott and his right wing supporters want to stack the Florida Supreme Court with reactionary judges. This will be very bad for Floridians and would bode poorly for the nation. Once politics settles into the judiciary, we have lost democracy. Once the Political Action Committees are able to manipulate the voting public by disseminating lies and innuendo to sway the voter, we all have lost the freedom to vote. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current make up of our Court. Justices Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince are up for retention. Each have the Justices have been retained in the past without vitriolic attacks or fanfare. So why now? The current political administration wants ALL the power. They do not believe in the separation of powers as our forefathers did. This can't happen; we must all vote to retain the integrity of the court. Vote YES on retaining the current justices. Your future may well depend upon it.

Please take the time to watch this short video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOdLJMzuSrE

If you are inclined to donate to the retention cause, you may do so here: www.defendjusticefl.com

There are loads of reasons why America is falling behind. We can look to our failure to produce. We can look to our economy. We can look to our lack of respect for education. We can blame our culture, our morals, our leadership. Literally, we can go on forever looking to the variety of reasons behind Americas ever-lowering status on the world’s stage. But since I used the term LITERALLY, let’s talk about that:

Recently, I read that the global literacy rates are as high as 84%. However, what these studies are finding are that people are not reading anything of relative substance. They are reading “lightly.” In other words, in the age of huge information transfers, emails and quick sound bites over the Internet and TV, people are reading less substantial and significant material. It is as if we are trying to cover more ground and in doing so we can’t get the details of anything we pass by.

Every single demographic group of American adults has declined in their reading throughout the past decade. This is what the National Endowment for the Arts found in their last study. This is the first time in our nation’s history that less than 50% of the American adult population is reading significant literature. While literacy is improving in developing countries (India & China are taking the world economy by storm; funny that their literacy rates are skyrocketing), we in the US are reading less and less deeply than ever before.
Lack of depth is going to be a terrible harbinger for our future ability to lead. Leadership is founded in many principles, but the best leaders are almost always readers. Business leads the world and if our future business leaders read less and less deeply, then we are in trouble.

Why does reading “lightly” vs. “deeply” matter? Because reading deeply means studying character and decision making in process. Deeply reading teaches the reader about character and leadership.

The evidence and benefits of reading are solidly founded. Reading, specifically deep reading, allows the reader to develop all the high level leadership skills that are found in the fully-transformed personality of great leaders. Deep readers learn how to have empathy for their employees, insight into their company and can see into the future for innovation. Reading improves general IQ scores, leads to innovation, increases vocabulary, helps in creativity, increases your verbal skills, raises your social IQ and helps develop your emotional intelligence. All of these traits and talents are necessary to be a great leader.

This blog is founded on the Harvard Business Review excerpt by John Coleman. Coleman noted that greatest business leaders have all been serious readers. Steve Jobs (Apple), Phil Knight (Nike), General Petraeus (anything on Presidents Lincoln & Grant), even Winston Churchill was both an avid reader and an avid writer (Nobel Prize in Literature 1953).

Coleman makes five great suggestions in working deep reading into your life:
- Join a reading group.
- Vary your reading.
- Apply your reading to your work.
- Encourage others.
- Read for fun.

I personally read because it is relaxing; I do not like television, and I have a hard time falling asleep without something to calm my mind. I find that I learn more reading a great book than listening to a class over the computer. I hope, if you haven’t taken the time to pick up a great book in a while, you stop and grab one today.

It was recently announced that Zimmerman will be charged in the Trayvon Martin case. The State Attorney Angela Corey is going to have an announcement at 6 p.m. Wednesday to announce more details of the case.

George Zimmerman is rightfully being prosecuted for murdering Trayvon Martin. It shouldn't take a Grand Jury to figure out that a representative of our community needs to decide whether his excuse for shooting a child in cold blood is acceptable. That is what a jury is for.

The parents of Trayvon Martin are going through a grieving cycle that often times leads to animosity and hard feelings between the parents. When a child is hurt or dies at the hands of another, parents will search for reasons or excuses why it happened.

Sometimes they start to blame each other. Sometimes, like in this case, there are no rational explanations or reasons other than some crazy wacko had it out for a person that he didn't think belonged in his neighborhood.

Zimmerman's attitude belies an underpinning of discriminatory beliefs against someone because of their skin color. In Zimmerman's mind, Trayvon didn't belong and that gave Zimmerman license to question and kill.

Shame on The Media in The Trayvon Martin Case

As the parents go through the anguish of all of the press and publicity surrounding the Trayvon Martin case, please keep in mind that they need their privacy in order to grieve. Perhaps the media should back off and leave them alone for a while. The Trayvon Martin case is not going to trial for months, and the media doesn't need soundbites or video clips of the parents to increase their ratings.

Did you recently have home renovations done by a contractor or subcontractor to improve the quality of your home? Was more harm than good done by that contractor? If so, you are just another homeowner victim in South Florida to be taken advantage of by shoddy contractors and Florida’s construction lien laws.

Here’s a typical scenario: the renovations are not completed on time or done properly so you the homeowner refuse to pay the remaining balance, contractor refuses to do any more work until he is paid the outstanding balance, a standoff ensues which ultimately leads to the contractor placing a lien on your home. At this point, most homeowners feel helpless since they have no recourse to prevent these contractors from filing liens on the homeowners’ property.

Florida’s construction lien laws are very favorable to anyone who performs work on one’s home. In theory, Florida’s homestead laws prevent just about any creditors from coming after your home which is why the lien laws are so tough against homeowners when they hire people to perform work for them.

Florida’s lien laws also have a prevailing party attorney’s fee provision which means whoever wins also recovers all of their attorney’s fees. This means that most naive homeowners choose to pay to remove the lien even though nothing was done in accordance with the original proposal or contract for fear of paying attorney’s fees.

Prior to paying off the bad contractor and hiring a new contractor to fix and finalize the home repairs, a few very important things need to be done to ensure that you preserve your claim against the contractor. After all, if the work wasn’t performed or done properly and a lien was filed, then the homeowners have protections against “frivolous liens”. There are ways to remove the liens and recover attorney fees from the contractors.

Nobody I know likes to be ripped off. I am sure that you would not enjoy it as well. It is unfortunate that this occurs, but is a reality that we all must face. In an effort to inoculate the public against being ripped off, each year the Internal Revenue Service provides a list of the twelve biggest tax frauds for that year. Many of these scams are simple in design and implementation, and well known methods of taking advantage of vulnerable people. These acts occur at all times of the year, but most of them come to fruition during tax season.

So as the tax deadline of April 15 quickly approaches, we want you to be aware of what is lurking out there. Most of the scams are easy to spot. Just remember a few cliches and you will stay safe.

First cliche – There are no free lunches!

Second cliche - If it sounds “too good to be true”, it is!

IRS List of Top Tax Ripoffs for 2012

1. Identity Theft
2. Phishing
3. Tax Preparer Fraud
4. Hiding Income Offshore
5. Free Money from the IRS
6. False or Inflated Income or Expenses
7. False Form 1099 Refund Claims]
8. Frivolous Arguments
9. Zero Wage Claims
10. Abusing Charitable Deductions
11. Disguised Corporate Ownership
12. Misusing Trusts

Let’s explore in more detail the top three:

Topping the list again is IDENTITY THEFT

Identity theft is the biggest problem in the electronic age. The internet and its electronic community have rushed forward, ahead of all methods of control, and create a “Wild West” atmosphere. The thing about the United States that makes us great is our respect for the rule of law. However, that is not true for the Internet. The controls, privacy protections, and rule of law are just not moving as fast as the Internet community is moving forward. False tax returns are one common way thieves take advantage of both the government and the victims. The IRS has stepped up efforts to control Identity Theft tax rip offs but because ID thieves use real social security numbers and easy to find personal information (see Face Book, Google +, and Twitter) it is a hard job. If you get a notice that more than one tax return was filed in your name, make sure you report it immediately. The IRS has create a significant system to catch ID theft on tax returns and last year they saved over $1,400,000,000 in taxpayer refunds, but the thieves are smart and the schemes are getting more and more complex. If you are suspect that your ID was stolen you need to contact the IRS ID Protection Unit at www.IRS.gov/identitytheft.

Fishing! No, wrong, sorry: Phishing!

Phishing is when ID thieves lure victims into giving valuable identity information to the ID thief. This is typically carried out using email requests or setting up websites that look and feel like a legitimate site. Because there is really no difference between a “Real Website” and a “Fraudulent Website” it is easy to mistake them. Once the ID thief has your information, you are likely to get ripped off.

Here is a KEY POINT with respect to the IRS. The IRS does not use email to collect, or even request personal information from taxpayers. They certainly do not use FaceBook, Twitter or any other social media to contact or collect information. Do not trust an email, FaceBook contact, or any electronic contact from the IRS. If you do get an email from the IRS, or even the EFTPS – which is the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, that looks legitimate but was unsolicited, you need to report that to the IRS through their specially designed Phishing unit at phishing@irs.gov.

Preparer Fraud

Almost nobody understands the tax code. Certainly those simple to fill in return forms are a nightmare to get right. So, many of us use accountants, CPA's, or tax attorneys to help us at the end of the tax year. But the expense of paying for a professional is quite burdensome for most people, so they either do it themselves, or look for a more economical option. The “Economical” route has created a space in the market for fraudulent tax preparers. These thieves will take money out of their clients’ refund, or charge unfair fees to prepare the return. They promote their service with unrealistic promises of guaranteed, overinflated refunds. Further, these thieves then have access to your personal information and can steal from you twice!

Here are some good standards to look for when choosing a Tax Preparer:

• Every paid “tax preparer” must get a “Preparer Tax Identification Number” (PTIN) from the IRS. This number must be placed on every prepared tax return. If your tax preparer does not have a PTIN then you should not sign the return.
• Every Preparer should give you a free copy of the return. If you are not given a copy of your tax return there may be a problem. If your Preparer is promising to get you an incredible or unusual amount on your return, I would be very wary.
• Tax preparers should be working on a set fee. They should not be on a contingency or commission basis and you should never have to pay the preparer from your refund.
• Finally, never allow a preparer to convince you to put false information on a tax return. That means you can never put in false income or false credits. If you do you are subjecting yourself to double jeopardy, because the preparer will have you and the IRS will also not be happy with your false information.

As a firm that concentrates on IRS Tax Fraud including Qui Tam and Whistleblower Issues we want you to beware of tax season scams! If you believe you are the victim of a scam, you need to report it as soon as possible. The IRS Criminal Division and the Dept. of Justice take online, telephone and in person scams seriously. If you have questions or have information about a tax fraud where more than $2,000,000 is at stake, call our office to report the fraud. Remember, when reporting tax fraud you must be first in line, you must have convincing information, and you must secure your claim to get paid the “Relator’s Share”. Call our office for a free consultation: LaBovick Law Group at 561-625-8400, or email info@labovick.com.

Recently our local paper published an article about two high school students in Palm Beach County who posted a racially-charged video on YouTube. While the school board struggles to figure out how to address the problem, the parents of the two teenage girls have hired a prominent criminal defense attorney. Oddly, the girls have not come out publicly and apologized or even attempted to explain their behavior. This is not an isolated incident by any means.

In Gainesville, FL a few weeks ago, two girls published a similar video on YouTube. I find this to be sad and frustrating at the same time. Our country has moved into the 21st century, and issues of racism, bigotry and prejudice should be behind us by now. In these instances, I blame the parents. Bigotry and racism are learned behaviors. Children learn most from the actions and words of their parents. While some may say it’s peer pressure and influence from outside forces that form these views, if the parents instill a strong moral compass in the child, outside influences can be denied.

I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in our country. My parents raised my brother and me in a way that we were colorblind and religiously tolerant. I cannot say the same for some of my acquaintances since we grew up in the era of the civil rights movement and social unrest. However, my bigoted acquaintances also had bigoted parents. As they say, the apple does not fall too far from the tree. We've come so far as the country in so many different respects it is a shame that we can't get past the base emotions of prejudice and bigotry. I am raising my children the same way I was raised, by being tolerant of others and by judging a person by the content of their character and nothing else. I wish the rest of us would do the same.

BP ruined a small part of the entire Earth – Maybe not a lot but certainly a little. The Gulf Oil Spill was a debacle of unimaginable proportion. Because we don’t see it or feel it, we tend to ignore it. Because the news doesn’t play up all the scientific evidence we forget the extent of the assault on the environment. But that does not mean we are safe from their poison. We are all, at least those of us who like seafood, going to eat a little bit of BP oil for the rest of our lives. Children born today will die of cancer from their polluting the Earth. This is simply the cost of oil on our society.

But bringing this tragedy to justice will be impossible if the courts are manipulated to seal and destroy important evidence. Capitalism is our best bet to repair the economy – not only our economy but the world economy. I am a fiscal conservative and almost libertarian in my republican political leaning. But that does not include the right’s desire to stem personal injury litigation.

We republicans should not support the politicizing of the judiciary. The only way capitalism works is when we have a strong judicial branch and a rule of law that protects the “small people” (to use the BP President’s description of Americans).

Recently a New Orleans newspaper, the Times-Picayune (1/31) reported that BP is using the legal strategy of striking and covering up evidence to manipulate the upcoming trial. BP continues to file a stream of motions to cover up the facts of the case. The information they want to exclude is right on point with why they are liable for the damages they caused. Things like prior criminal problems with federal regulators, past failings in the areas of safety, including deadly explosions as far back as 1995 are asked to be excluded. We need the judge to be strong in forcing BP to prove the legal standard for excluding that evidence, which is that the evidence will cause serious competitive harm to the company.

BP is a multibillion dollar a day enterprise! They caused the worst oil tragedy in the history of the planet. Yet, they suffered only a minor setback in their sales and oil production worldwide. We still fill up at BP! The world still uses BP products. There is almost nothing “we” will do to hurt BP - even if we have an actual “fair trial,” and the jury fully punishes BP with huge damages.

Imaging the hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars that were spent by the tobacco industry to settle cigarette cases. Recognize the fact that tobacco is still in business, and their CEOs are still making millions of dollars in salary to run those companies. They paid gigantic sums, almost unthinkable sums, and they are fine. Now imagine that all that cigarette settlement money is play money when compared to the oil industry. No award will be big enough to hurt BP because the normal juror simply has not frame of reference to think up sums of money that can actually harm the company! We just can’t imagine a number that high given our relative daily lives. So, let the evidence come in, and let the jury hit BP as hard as possible. My bet is that BP will cry out loud, but behind our backs they will be smiling because they will pay that sum out of their petty cash fund. Then let’s see if at the end of this year, the Times-Picayune runs a story that says BP oil execs 2012 bonuses are as big as the verdict.

Wow the jury got it wrong! Can the State get a do over? That is now the big question in the Casey Anthony case. The answer is no.

Our Bill of Rights says a person prosecuted for any crime can only be tried once. This is referred to the law against Double Jeopardy. Most people have only heard this term from a popular game show. It specifically prohibits the government from repeatedly bringing a citizen to trial on the same or similar charges. This means the government has but one chance to put their best case forward.

No dry runs or practice trials are allowed. Further, if the Government loses, they do not have a right to appeal. This prevents retrials after a not guilty verdict as well. Why then does a guilty person have a right to appeal? Our founding Fathers were very sensitive to the abuses of government power from English courts. They wanted to make sure that history would not repeat itself in our new country.

Continue reading "Double Jeopardy and the Casey Anthony Verdict" »

For all you Fox News fans, Rupert Murdoch and company are at it again. This time his British “News of the World” publication is under fire for hacking the cell phones of celebrities, murder victims and other crime victims to gather voice mail, text and e-mail messages all to gain a leg up on the competition.

When Murdoch and his son, James Murdoch, first became aware of the situation, they ignored it. Only after the British government threatened to become involved did the publication admit fault and close down. The “news” paper is Britain’s most widely read tabloid and it is believed to have hacked over four thousand (that’s right) victims. Apparently, this seems to be standard operating procedure in England.

Continue reading "Scandal shuts down News of the World after 168 yrs " »

Not since the O.J. Simpson verdict has a court case grabbed such world wide attention as that of Casey Anthony. The verdict is in, "Not Guilty on Murder Charges" and everyone has an opinion. Hollywood talking heads and "the beautiful people" are Tweeting about the gross miscarriage of justice.

The media and pundits had her convicted before jury selection had even started. Now that they are wrong, they blame the legal system and the jurors themselves. "How could this happen? A little girl is dead! How could this be?"

Well folks it happened. And it happened because the State couldn't prove it's case "beyond a reasonable doubt", the legal standard in THIS country. The jury sat through this case and heard all the evidence. Not Nancy Grace, not Aston Kutcher and certainly not Kim Kardashian!

Twelve civilians from our community were sworn to follow the law and they did just that. The
State proved the Defendant was a liar and the jury convicted her of those charges. There simply was no evidence to connect her to the tragic death of Caylee, not enough to prove the Defendant guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt".

Surely something bad happened but by whom? The Mom? The Dad? The Brother? The Defendant? Someone else? Who knows and we will never know and therein lies the reasonable doubt.

Like it or not, the system worked. As a former Supreme Court Justice once said, "better to free 100 guilty men, than convict one innocent one".

That is the way our legal system works. It was created by a group of our founding fathers who, by all accounts, were much smarter than we are.

Now that I have swept up the remnants of the firecrackers, sparklers and smoke bombs, the crepe paper to decorate the kids’ bikes for the parade have been put away, I reflect on the meaning of July 4th, as an American. Nearly 250 years ago a group of very smart, brave men hatched this wonderful idea now known as democracy. And through great personal sacrifice, put that plan into action.

Our Independence was gained from an oppressive government 235 years ago. And today, the notion of freedom rings loud and clear from our streets to our mountain tops. This thing known as democracy is not an easy thing-it takes hard work, tolerance and sacrifice. How difficult is it for any true red blooded American to stand by and watch our flag get burned in the name of free speech? How tough is it for us to watch our friends and loved ones go to war to protect those very freedoms that many of us take for granted?

Our country is facing some of its biggest challenges now and will for some time to come. But we, as Americans, will and surely must persevere. It is our nature, in the very fiber of our souls, to be free and fight to stay that way. So, while I finish cleaning up the festivities from the celebration of our Independence; I tip my hat, say a prayer and shed a tear for all of those currently and before me that have sacrificed so much. Many gave the ultimate sacrifice, for our freedom that we have; and often take for granted. Lasting memories and cherished freedom that can be passed on to our children and future generations to come.