Category Archives: Family

People involved in contentious family law proceedings need to proceed cautiously …. They believe that mediation is only effective in family law cases under the..Family law news and headlines from around the web.

Blog, Criminal, Family, International, Legal News, Organized Crime

Mafia-linked funeral investigated amid coronavirus lockdown

Sicilian procession for brother of Cosa Nostra boss Luigi Sparacio claimed to have broken Covid-19 safety laws

Italian prosecutors are investigating the funeral of the brother of a former Sicilian mafia boss for allegedly breaching Italy’s coronavirus lockdown.

Photographs showed a funeral procession in Messina attended by dozens of people. Family and friends gathered on the streets to accompany the coffin carrying Rosario Sparacio, 70, the older brother of Luigi Sparacio, who was considered one of the most important heads of the Cosa Nostra in the 1990s and who eventually turned supergrass.

The news, first reported by the newspaper La Gazzetta del Sud, has sparked a row in Italy where since the beginning of March a government decree has banned all religious gatherings, including funerals and weddings, in order to contain the spread of Covid-19.

In the cities hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, coffins are awaiting burial, held in churches, and the corpses of those who have died at home are being kept in sealed rooms.

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Blog, Civil Rights, Family, Legal News, Supreme Court

ACLU questions Rhode Island cops stopping NY cars

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is questioning the constitutionality of Gov. Gina Raimondo’s directive allowing state police to stop vehicles with New York license plates.

The Democratic governor on Thursday called the measure extreme but pointed out New York City is the epicenter of the disease in the United States.

Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, says while Raimondo has the authority to suspend some state laws and regulations to address a medical emergency, she cannot suspend the Constitution.

He says under the Fourth Amendment, having a New York state license plate “simply does not, and cannot, constitute ‘probable cause’ to allow police to stop a car and interrogate the driver, no matter how laudable the goal of the stop may be.”

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Blog, Business Law, Family, International, Legal News, Supreme Court

In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration suspended an 82-year-old road safety law for some truck drivers, showing how much coronavirus is pressuring retailers and hospitals to maintain cleaning and medical supplies

  • The hours-of-service laws, which mandate how many hours a truck driver may work and have been in place for truck drivers since 1938, are suspended at a federal level for the first time in history.
  • As of Friday evening, truck drivers who are moving medical supplies and consumer goods like masks and hand sanitizer do not have to follow HOS.
  • It’s common on a local or state level to lift these safety regulations amid natural disasters, like floods or hurricanes, that require stores and hospitals to stay stocked with necessary goods.
  • Truck drivers move 70% of the nation’s goods by weight. They’re responsible for replenishing stores and hospitals with necessary items.

The federal administration that oversees regulations for America’s six million professional drivers has temporarily suspended a trucking safety law that’s been in place since 1938.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Friday evening that truck drivers who are moving goods “in support of emergency relief efforts related to the COVID-19 outbreaks” will temporarily not have to follow the hours-of-service laws, which mandate how many hours a truck driver may work.

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Blog, Business Law, Civil Rights, Criminal, Divorce, Family, Legal News, Organized Crime, Supreme Court

FBI Issues Cyber Alert As Organized Criminals Drive Dating Site Fraud Up 70%

The FBI has issued a warning for Americans to be wary of “confidence/romance scams,” after the Bureau saw a 70% annual rise in reported fraud, where dating sites were used to trick victims into sending money, purchasing items or even laundering or muling money for people met online. The shift from basic fraud to money laundering is a significant worry for U.S. law enforcement and represents a nasty twist in the age-old problem of romance scams.

In 2018, more than 18,000 complaints were received with losses totalling more than $362 million. And, to state the obvious, this is likely the tip of the iceberg. For every reported incident there will be others where victims don’t come forward.

In particular the FBI warns, threat actors “often use online dating sites to pose as U.S. citizens located in a foreign country, U.S. military members deployed overseas, or U.S. business owners seeking assistance with lucrative investments.”

Read Full Article – https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/08/06/fbi-warns-americans-as-cyber-crime-on-dating-sites-up-a-massive-70/#351ad11a53e5

Blog, Criminal, Family, International, Legal News

France to introduce 15 as legal age of consent for sex

France announced plans to make 15 the legal age of consent for sex after high-profile cases including those of two men who escaped rape charges for having sex with 11-year-old girls caused national outrage.

Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa told the AFP news agency Monday that “the government has decided to set the age at 15” following public consultations and recommendations from a panel of experts.

The legislation, which will be presented to lawmakers for approval later this month, is part of a slew of government measures to tackle sexual violence, gender-based discrimination and harassment.

Adults can be charged with groping and sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison if they’re found guilty of abusing a child under 15. The more serious charge of aggravated sexual assault or rape of a child carries a sentence of up to 20 years — but coercion or violence must be proven.

Full Article – https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/03/06/france-introduce-15-legal-age-consent-sex/399119002/