Tag Archives: legal news

Blog, Civil Rights, Legal News, Supreme Court

South Dakota: Bill Attempting to Silence NRA Passed by House Committee

Today, the House Judiciary Committee heard and passed House Bill 1200 by a 9-3 vote.  HB 1200 would severely limit your NRA’s ability to communicate with its membership in South Dakota.  HB 1200 now heads to the House floor where it will await full consideration.

If enacted, HB 1200 would require the NRA to disclose a list of its members if certain contributions are made to a ballot question committee or used for an independent communication expenditure.  These contributions are made so that NRA can inform its membership as well as Second Amendment supporters about legislation or other issues affecting their Second Amendment rights, and HB 1200 seeks to limit that ability.

It is critical that you contact your state Representative, and urge them to OPPOSE House Bill 1200.

HB 1200 is in conflict with the First Amendment.  It seeks to limit the free speech of organizations like the NRA unless they first disclose their members’ private information in the process.  Donors to organizations, regardless of their views on public policy matters, should be free to support causes they believe in without fear of retaliation, harassment, or intimidation by powerful government figures.  Because free speech is the right of every American, this legislation must be defeated.

Again, please click the “Take Action” button above or call (605) 773-3821 to contact your Representative, and urge them to OPPOSE House Bill 1200.

Sourced From – https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170222/south-dakota-bill-attempting-to-silence-nra-passed-by-house-committee

Blog, International, Legal News

Germany working on nationwide corruption ‘black list’: draft law

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German Economics Ministry want to create a nationwide database aimed at making it easier to block companies found guilty of fraud and other violations from receiving federal, state and local government contracts.

A legislative draft viewed by Reuters calls for companies found guilty of major violations to be blocked from government contracts for five years, with less serious charges to result in a three-year ban.

“The goal of the legislation is to ensure that government contracts are only awarded to companies that have not incurred major legal violations and that have competed fairly,” according to the draft.

Read Full – https://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2017/02/22/germany-working-on-nationwide-corruption-black-list-draft-law-n2289300

Blog, Business Law, Criminal, Legal News, Supreme Court

Best Buy- FBI link explored in Newport doctor’s effort to toss out computer photos in child porn case

Best Buy employees Thursday denied allegations by a Newport Beach doctor’s legal team that the FBI directed them to look for illicit material on customers’ computers during repairs.

Attorneys for Dr. Mark Albert Rettenmaier, a gynecological oncologist who practiced at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach until he was indicted in 2014 on two felony counts of possession of child pornography, are asking a federal judge to throw out photographic evidence in the case, alleging that it was discovered by Best Buy’s Geek Squad technicians improperly acting as paid FBI informants.

Thursday’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana was the second and final day of testimony in which Judge Cormac Carney allowed Rettenmaier’s attorneys to call witnesses to examine the relationship between the FBI and Geek Squad technicians.

Rettenmaier’s case began in November 2011 when he took a computer hard drive to a Best Buy store in Chino for repairs.

Read Full – http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-rettenmaier-20170112-story.html

Blog, Criminal, Legal News, Personal Injury

Dennis Rodman facing criminal charges in July hit-and-run, prosecutors say

by James Queally Contact Reporter

Former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman was charged with causing a hit-and-run crash, lying to police and driving without a valid license after police say he drove the wrong way down the 5 Freeway in Santa Ana earlier this year, prosecutors said.

Rodman, who rose to prominence for both his bad-boy image and his role on several of Michael Jordan’s championship Chicago Bulls teams in the 1990s, is due in court early next year.

He was charged with four misdemeanors: causing a hit-and-run accident with property damage, driving across a highway divider, giving false information to police and driving without a valid license, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Rodman, 55, could face up to two years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said. He will be arraigned in January.

Full Article – http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-dennis-rodman-charged-20161121-story.html

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

EU Police Agency: 314 Arrested in Organized Crime Raids

  • By MIKE CORDER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Oct 19, 2016, 8:40 AM

Police and other law enforcement organizations around the world cooperated in a massive weeklong operation targeting organized crime that led to 314 arrests, the seizure or 2.4 tons of cocaine and interception of hundreds of migrants, European Union police agency Europol announced Wednesday.

Law enforcement teams in 52 countries, supported by organizations including Interpol and EU border agency Frontex, took part in the series of interlinked raids and investigations that also focused on cybercrime and airline ticket fraud.

“The results are pretty impressive, I think, in terms of the number of arrests,” Europol Director Rob Wainwright told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I’m especially happy with the impact on trafficking human beings and the number of potential victims that we identified.”

Europol said the operation intercepted 745 migrants and identified 529 victims of human trafficking.

Wainwright said that the multi-agency operation involving nations around the world is an effective way of tackling modern organized crime networks.

“Crime is becoming more cross-border and criminal networks are becoming more agile at operating in different criminal markets simultaneously,” he said.

Another focus was airline fraud and police detained 193 people suspected of traveling using tickets bought with stolen or fake credit cards.

Such fraud costs the aviation industry an estimated $1 billion a year, Europol said. Wainwright said that there are vital security implications, too.

“We cannot allow anyone, in particular serious criminals and terrorists, to travel around the world anonymously and to endanger others,” he said in a statement.

Among other raids, Greek police discovered a fake travel agency that was facilitating migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, while in Austria police raiding a brothel also discovered a cannabis plantation, triggering a new investigation.

Sourced From – http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-police-agency-314-arrested-organized-crime-raids-42900532