State and federal laws define parental abduction as a non-custodial parent’s refusal to return a child after a lawful visit. Parental kidnapping is illegal in every state, and the abductor is usually prosecuted in state court. However, if a child abduction case...
Online shopping and banking apps are making it simpler for consumers to manage their finances, but what happens when security breaches of those services lead to identity theft for their users? NBC News reports that online thieves caused over $16 billion in losses for...
Being a successful medical professional is a complicated endeavor nowadays. Not only must physicians have subject matter expertise, but they must also comply with an ever-changing framework of laws, regulations and rules. Like anyone else, doctors may face criminal...
Federal law treats wire and mail fraud as two different subjects. While they are separate charges with their own penalties and processes, they share a good number of similarities. While the similarities often dictate how each charge gets treated, the distinctions...
Mail fraud gets treated seriously in the criminal courts. If you are accused of committing this type of crime, you could suffer heavy consequences that may last years. Why is mail fraud treated so harshly? Are certain instances of mail fraud treated differently than...
Under the Three Strikes law in California, offenders convicted of a second felony after a previous violent or serious felony conviction can receive twice the mandatory minimum prison sentence. A person who receives a third felony conviction must serve at least 25...
Most people in California likely assume that in order for authorities to prosecute them for a crime, they actually have to have committed a crime. Yet news stories often describe people facing criminal charges with terms like "attempted" or "conspiracy to." This means...
One of the cornerstones of the American criminal justice system is the right of the accused to receive a fair and impartial adjudication of their case. There may be times, however, where circumstances do not allow for this to happen in the specific area that...
Disagreements in the household among family members or between domestic partners happen. When tensions or interactions reach the point of abuse, domestic violence charges may result may result. Among other potential consequences of allegations of abuse involving...
As personal drones become more popular, federal and state authorities are looking for ways to monitor their use and keep the public safe. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides guidelines and a legal framework for drone...