YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: The government may not place restrictions on voting that would likely have the effect of limiting voting by racial minorities. 1Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified at 52 U.S.C. § 10301(a); U.S. Constitution, 14th amendment Last year, North Carolina changed some of its voting rules. Today, just one month ahead of the November elections, a federal
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Governor Jerry Brown signed into law today a measure that allows guns to be temporarily taken from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others due to mental instability or otherwise. The law is a response to the Isla Vista shooting rampage that occurred near the UC Santa Barbara campus back in May, during which a mentally disturbed 22 year old
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YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: You are entitled to a substantial “whistleblower award” for providing original information to the government about violations of federal financial regulations that leads to successful enforcement action where the penalties involved are over $1 million.1Section 21F(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(b)(1), and Rule 21F-3(a) thereunder, 17 C.F.R.
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YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: You have the right to sue a police officer for using his/her authority to violate your rights. 1U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1983 Photo: Occupy Wall Street demonstration Dec 2011. From Bigstockphoto.com A man in New York filed a lawsuit last week against NYPD police officers who he claims improperly arrested him and held him at the police station, all for
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YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: If you are charged with a serious crime, and cannot afford an attorney, the government must provide you with a defense attorney free of charge. 1U.S. Constitution, 6th amendment; Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963); Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972) More specifically, this means low-income people cannot be put in jail without being provided an attorney (usually a “public
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YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: After an arrest, if police don’t formally charge you with a crime within a short period of time, they must release you. 1U.S. Constitution, 6th Amendment [Update: Sentence was edited to clarify meaning] You might think there’s no way this kind of thing happens in our society, but in fact officials in the state of Mississippi
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YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: You have the right to protection against people who attempt to intimidate you in your efforts to vote or to register to vote. 1U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 245 Don’t like your member of Congress? Don’t complain, vote! (OK you can vote AND complain). If you haven’t yet been bombarded by hundreds of campaign ads, you may
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YOUR RIGHT OF THE DAY: The U.S. military is prohibited from investigating or enforcing state laws against civilians. 1Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 NCIS is not just a TV show. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is responsible for investigating crimes against or by members of the Navy and Marine Corps. While NCIS is allowed to investigate its members on or off base, it is strictly
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If you “host,” meaning, rent out your place on AirBnB or by any other means within the city of L.A., you may owe some taxes,1LAMC Sec 21.43(c) and the city is now working to make sure you pay up. Any person who rents out a room or house within the city must collect a “hotel” tax from guests, and then pay
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The recently opened marijuana farmers market in Boyle Heights was shut down temporarily until a judge determines whether it should be allowed or not. So who is to blame/thank for this? 1. L.A. voters who approved Proposition D in 2013 (and eligible voters who didn’t vote), which restricts where pot shops could do business and the number of them that
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