The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Monday said the number of federal criminal cases dropped by more than 15% in 2020 compared with the prior year, a sign of the COVID-19 pandemic’s outsized effect on federal criminal proceedings. Continue reading “Federal Criminal Cases Dropped In 2020”
The House on Friday passed a comprehensive reform bill ending federal prohibitions on marijuana in a historic vote that marks the next significant step forward in the growing movement to legalize cannabis in the U.S.
Continue reading “House Approves Federal Marijuana Decriminalization in Historic Vote”
Voters in five states in the general election approved have legalized marijuana usage. Husch Blackwell LLP attorneys say employers need to understand the new laws and workplace obligations and use caution when drug testing employees for marijuana in states that have legalized medical or off-duty use of the drug. Continue reading “As More States Legalize Marijuana, Employers Need These Guidelines”
Marsy’s Law – In January 2019, a Dollar Tree employee in Masaryktown, Florida, called 911 after a homeless man stole $70 of beer, wine, candy and cookies. A sheriff’s deputy had little trouble finding him – the man had passed out drunk in a nearby ditch with an open box of Reese’s Pieces. Continue reading “Marsy’s Law was meant to protect crime victims. It now hides the identities of cops.”
COVID-19 – Stories are emerging about how thousands of people who thought they were protected from being evicted from their rental homes until January were not protected at all. Those who are protected have to win a legal fight first. The Washington Post reports:
Continue reading “The CDC’s COVID-19 eviction ban doesn’t seem to have stopped many evictions”
President Donald Trump on Saturday signed a bill named Savanna’s Act, for a Fargo murder victim, to address cases of missing and murdered Native Americans.
Continue reading “Savanna’s Act addresses missing, murdered Native Americans”
President Donald Trump is trying to refashion his 2020 presidential campaign into a 1980s-style “tough on crime” platform. He’s now tweeted “LAW & ORDER!” with no context more than a dozen times. He’s gone to Kenosha, Wisconsin, the site of recent protests and riots after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, only to deflect questions about whether systemic racism is real, argue that people “want the police to be police,” and condemn “dangerous anti-police rhetoric.” Continue reading “Trump’s criminal justice policy, explained”
Deciding whether to send your children back to the school building in the Fall, home school, or opt for online learning has been a difficult one for many Iowa families. Continue reading “How do divorced parents decide on their child’s return to school?”
Recreational use of marijuana is illegal in Iowa and under federal law, but Des Moines officials on Monday took steps to make marijuana possession law enforcement’s lowest priority. Continue reading “Des Moines studies decriminalization, here’s what you should know”