December 2009

A Year in Review…According to Facebook

December 25, 2009

A few days ago, Facebook released the top trends of 2009. These are categories of words found in status updates. For example, "Family" includes words like Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, etc. Meanwhile, "Lady Gaga" includes phrases like "Poker Face." The number two category includes words like "law school" is just the phrase "FML." Enjoy the [...]

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California Bill Would Require Witnesses to Report Violent Crimes

December 19, 2009

Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) announced a proposed amendment to California's criminal code. The amendment would require witnesses to violent crimes to report the incident to police. Failure to report the crime could result in up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,500. The current California law requires witnesses to report crimes [...]

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Florida: Judges Cannot be Facebook Friends with Litigants

December 9, 2009

Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee responded to a few questions from one Florida judge about the use of social networking sites. The Committee found that judges cannot accept friend requests from litigants in their court. They take special care to note: This opinion should not be interpreted to mean that the inquiring judge is prohibited [...]

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Non-profit Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Torture Memo Lawyers

December 2, 2009

On November 27th a group of lawyers filed complaints with the Washington, D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility to disbar William Haynes II, John Choon Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales for their participation in the torture memos. Haynes was the former General Counsel for the Department of Defense, while Yoo was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for [...]

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