Legal News
Religious movement’s sexual abuse response under a spotlight
It takes two. And therein lies the rub for an allegedly large number of sexual abuse victims who are members of the Jehovah’s Witness church. They say — and, in cases where the abuse victims are children, the advocates speaking on their behalf say — that they are stymied in their attempts to properly identify,…
Read MoreSecond-largest bankruptcy settlement of priest sex abuse claims
In the sad realm of child sexual abuse in the United States, is there anything more tragic and disheartening than the sordid tale of persistent abuse inflicted on children by clergy members of the Roman Catholic Church? Pedophilism is of course unlawful and egregious criminal conduct that targets and can forever haunt thereafter victims who…
Read MoreUK-cited child sexual abuse problem underscores global dimensions
Recent news coming in from the United Kingdom underscores both a staggering “local” problem relating to child sexual abuse and its trans-border dimensions that embrace the entire globe. The FBI and supporting investigatory task forces across America appreciate well the uphill battle they fight against pornographers and pedophiles focused upon obscene and illegal child imagery…
Read MorePSU rocked with record fine in child sex abuse scandal
Until last week, the largest fine ever issued by the federal government in a so-called Clery Act case was $350,000. That levy was assessed against Eastern Michigan University in 2008 for the failure of officials there to timely warn students of campus-posed dangers following the murder of a student. That exaction was eclipsed in a…
Read MoreSexual assault prominent news focus presently: What exactly is it?
Unless you’ve been on a weeks’-long hiatus to some remote corner of the earth or simply sworn off all media for a month, you are acutely aware that sexual assault allegations and stories have been front-and-center news items of late. We won’t get into the details of what’s been a focal point of public discourse…
Read MoreGoal of zero traffic deaths: Is that even reasonably conceivable?
What is the antidote to the “sharp uptick in roadway deaths” that a recent national news piece notes have been occurring in the United States over the past couple years? Likely, there is no such thing, at least not in any absolute sense. As long as human beings sit behind the wheel and navigate vehicles…
Read MoreHuman error a central catalyst in wrongful death outcomes
Virtually any caring and empathetic personal injury attorney can readily speak to the stark upside involved in helping injury victims and their families obtain closure and meaningful recoveries in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Bringing legal acumen and experience to bear on behalf of individuals who sorely need assistance is often a profoundly and…
Read MoreWas laxity not readily apparent in this child sexual abuse case?
The sad saga now being recounted in some national media outlets regarding the sexual abuse of young children is typical for its sketching of details that all too commonly feature in such cases There was an adult authority figure, namely, a school bus helper. That individual — a 38-year-old male — had ready access to…
Read MoreSexual assault survey with relevance to college campuses unveiled
We have noted the sad reality regarding sexual assault of women generally and the particularly high level of sex-based crimes against females that occur on American campuses across the country in prior select blog posts. We noted in a recent post entry, for example, the rather astounding report that “about 20 percent of female college…
Read MoreShared responsibility in sex crimes cases, Part 2
We noted in our immediately preceding blog post that “responsibility in a sex crimes matter can indeed be dispersed and broadly shared.” It is certainly important that the Southern California readers of our personal injury victims’ advocacy website at the Los Angeles law firm of Taylor & Ring understand and appreciate that point, because it…
Read MoreMany parties can share responsibility in a sex crimes case
Issues regarding culpability and legal liability routinely emerge in all areas of the law, which can make a timely consultation with a proven attorney a critically important first step for an injured victim to take. And that can be especially true in the realm of sex crimes, for several very important reasons. For starters, prosecutors…
Read MoreDoes a judge like this chill victims’ rape reports?
He apologized, but hey, well … whatever. That has undoubtedly got to be the reaction of legions of people who heard in media reports across the country last week what can only be termed as the outrageous comments of one man regarding rape. Unfortunately, that man is a judge. And from the statements he uttered…
Read MoreCampus sexual assault reporting, Part 2: introducing Callisto
We continue in today’s blog post with a topic we initially broached last week that has been termed “a hot topic in higher education.” Unfortunately, and as noted in our September 11 entry, that subject has nothing to do with anything salutary that is occurring on college campuses in California or elsewhere across the country.…
Read MoreSeriously, how scary has this texting-while-driving thing become?
You know that we’ve literally got a deadly serious problem with texting while driving when stories like this emerge: Cops see motorist “wrist driving” while holding a phone in each hand Cars driven by texting drivers end up in trees People are locked in on YouTube videos when behind the wheel The practice of bowing…
Read MoreLawsuit targets LAUSD in student sexual assault case
The Los Angeles Unified School District is no stranger to claims made by parents and other caregivers that school officials, teachers, coaches and other staff members either committed sexual assault acts against children or abetted them through laxity. A material update regarding one such claim was recently reported via a local media report describing an…
Read MoreAnd yet another sex-assault verdict that spawns public ire
Public indignation regarding perceived laxity in criminal sentencing outcomes for sexual-assault defendants is hardly a geographically confined concern. Indeed, it’s coast to coast. Many readers of our sexual victims’ advocacy blog at the long-tenured Los Angeles personal injury law firm of Taylor & Ring will readily note that after considering today’s post in conjunction with…
Read MoreUnwithering spotlight on California sex-assault case judge
California judge Aaron Persky got a recent dose of public attention so adverse that it has rendered him a virtual pariah in the minds of many state residents. Here’s ample proof of that, supplied courtesy of a recent profile of Persky appearing in the Los Angeles Times: reportedly, about 1.3 million people have signed a…
Read MoreClear momentum on California SOL removal for felony sex crimes
In baseball parlance, the California Assembly just threw a shutout last Thursday, overwhelmingly passing a bill addressing time limits related to sex crime prosecutions. Now that legislation moves to the Senate, which in all likelihood will endorse the bill with the same enthusiasm that House members did. Actually, it was the Senate that moved first,…
Read MoreCrackdown on child sex trafficking ring in California community
Operation “Baby Face” might ostensibly and at first glance sound like something totally innocuous and even uplifting. A photo contest for cute infants, for instance. Maybe an online zoo fundraiser betting that adorable animal shots will bring in viewer contributions. A statement uttered by one commentator in an article on Baby Face quickly belies any…
Read MoreTwin 33-foot trailer trucks: Does federal law allow for them?
Not yet. That is the answer to the above-posed headline question — at least as of today. As noted in a recent media piece discussing twin 33-foot trailer trucks, these true behemoths of the road are not currently approved for nationwide use on the country’s freeways and interstates. That could be changing, though, with a…
Read MoreThose e-cigarettes can be dangerous, especially for truckers
Smoking is a known health risk, of course, with a well-established nexus to cancer and other adverse outcomes. As such, warnings regarding the practice have become progressively more dire and explicit over time. Here’s one that could not have been remotely imagined even a year or so ago: Be careful with a certain type of…
Read MoreReport: USA Gymnastics gets no medal for policing sex offenders
“It’s horrible, but it’s not the worst.” As far as endorsements go, that is, what, rather … tepid? Depending on the context, the comment might not be much of a big deal, but the context is this: sexual predators having close access to millions of young American gymnasts in clubs and training facilities from California…
Read MoreNation’s vice president to spotlight untested rape kits
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has long taken a strong advocacy stance on behalf of sexual assault victims, and he will reportedly promote his involvement in that realm by rendering a cameo performance in an upcoming television episode on a long-running and popular series. That show is Law & Order: SVU (special victims unit), which…
Read MoreChild sex abuse sting underscores global dimensions of problem
Readers of our child advocacy legal blog at the Los Angeles law firm of Taylor & Ring know that, unfortunately, child sex abuse is not a narrowly confined and limited issue (and even if it were, of course, that would hardly make it any less tragic). Sadly, and as we have necessarily noted in prior…
Read MoreCalifornia ramping up school-based sexual harassment education
It’s really not hard to understand, say school officials, advocates promoting harassment-free school environments, many parents and other interested parties. Here’s the deal, in a nutshell: Much harmful and unlawful sexual conduct hat manifests itself in adulthood owes centrally to a perpetrator’s wrongful behaviors learned — and, importantly, not discouraged — years earlier. As in…
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