June 2022

Uvalde officials use a legal loophole to block the release of records : NPR

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP


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Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Uvalde city officials are using a legal loophole and several other broad exemptions in Texas to prevent the release of police records related to last month’s mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, according to a letter obtained by NPR in response to public information requests filed by member station Texas Public Radio.

Since the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School, law enforcement officials have provided little and conflicting information, amid mounting public pressure for transparency. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the state investigation, previously said that some accounts of the events were preliminary and may change as more witnesses are interviewed.

The City of Uvalde

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June 25, 2022 by LAW

In the words of Larysa Denysenko, Ukrainian legal expert: “Sexual violence is a tactic of intimidation, torture and humiliation” – Ukraine

Larysa Denysenko is a journalist, attorney, human rights activist and co-founder of the Association of Women’s Lawyers of Ukraine “JurFem”. Before the war, Denysenko and JurFem mainly advocated for women’s leadership in legal professions, provided mentorship and supported strategic court cases related to domestic violence and gender-based discrimination. Now, this has extended to representing the interests of those who have survived conflict-related sexual violence allegedly perpetrated by the Russian military in Ukraine.

During the first days of the invasion, we were providing legal advice to refugees and internally displaced people, in terms of the procedures, necessary documents, etc. At the beginning of March, the nature of the cases changed significantly. Both women and men – but mostly, women – were calling the hotline to report sexual violence that they, or their closed ones, had been subjected to in the context of the war.

Any violence – including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) – is about power relations and dominance. Perpetrators want to demonstrate their power; they want to prevail. That is why sexual violence is so common during wars and armed conflicts. The root of this aggression and impunity lies in domestic violence. The ratification of the Istanbul Convention

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June 25, 2022 by LEGAL

Liz Weston: Health insurance coverage concerns complicate decisions about retirement

Dear Liz: I work for a wonderful company that has a generous profit sharing plan. I am 61 years old and plan on working until I am 65 and eligible for Medicare.

Due to some health issues, I am reducing my hours and this will significantly reduce my income for the next four years. I thought this was a good plan because it keeps my health insurance intact, but now I am wondering if the lower earnings will affect my profit sharing when I retire. I know the final distribution is based on earnings and time on the job. Should I retire now, while my income is up, or should I wait until I am 65?

Answer: There are a lot of moving parts to any decision about retirement. How much will health insurance cost and how will you pay for it? How much do you have saved and how long are those funds likely to last? What’s the best time to apply for Social Security and how will that affect your retirement fund withdrawals? (It’s often best to delay Social Security as long as possible and draw down retirement savings instead, especially if you’re the primary earner, but individual

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June 24, 2022 by INSURANCE

What NYC’s Pay Transparency Law and Its Delayed Implementation Mean

​Despite delays and uncertainty about its implementation, one thing is for certain about New York City’s new pay transparency law: A lot of lawyers are going to get paid exploring it and its fluid, dynamic nature.

Earlier this year, the city enacted a law that requires employers to list the salary range in any job advertisement. Then, just as the law was about to go into effect in May, the city delayed its implementation to November with new amendments. This delay was implemented in part to allow both advocates of the law and those with concerns to continue discussing how this law can work in practice. 

The reason? The original version of the law left some terms undefined—including key ones for a law like this, such as “advertising” and “salary”—and the law was unclear on how hourly workers would be affected.

The May amendment signed by Mayor Eric Adams clarifies a few issues. There is now no financial penalty for a first violation if the employer resolves it within 30 days. And the law now specifically applies only to jobs that are performed at least in part within the city.

It’s likely that the mayor will sign another amendment

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June 24, 2022 by LAW

Opinion | ‘Detached From Reality’ Is Trump’s Best Defense at This Point

One potential charge that is getting a lot of attention on social media is conspiracy to defraud the United States, which would require the Department of Justice to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump agreed with others to obstruct a lawful function of the government by deceitful or dishonest means. I’ve charged that statute before when I was a federal prosecutor in the context of a dishonest tax avoidance scheme.

At the core of any fraud prosecution is proving the defendant’s dishonesty and intent to defraud beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s why Trump’s state of mind — in particular, proof regarding whether he believed what he was peddling — is so important. And why his rather complicated state of mind presents serious problems for prosecutors.

Some have suggested that prosecutors can sidestep this problem by relying on a willful or deliberate ignorance theory. In certain circumstances, the law recognizes that a defendant’s deliberate attempts to avoid knowledge of an incriminating fact demonstrates their knowledge of that fact. For example, if someone approaches you a few miles from the U.S. border and offers you $5,000 to drive a U-Haul across the border, your deliberate refusal to look at what’s

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June 24, 2022 by LEGAL
June 2022
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