Second Amendment Legal Update, February 2024

A monthly update, prepared for the Schuyler County Chapter of S.C.O.P.E. NY, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to preserving the 2nd Amendment rights for the residents of New York State. For a complete copy of this month’s report, click here.

Legal links of interest for the week ending June 7, 2013

Some of the stories about courts, the law and lawyers in the news this past week:

City's red light camera program may be challenged in court: lawsuit claims program denies constitutional right to due process.

When court takes up privacy, Scalia finds himself with unlikely teammates: Scalia, with those three liberal justices joining him, said that DNA sampling constitutes an impermissible search under the Fourth Amendment.

New York's Court of Appeals asked to hear fracking home rule cases: Attorneys for Norse Energy and an Otsego County farmer made the filing, asking the state’s highest court to take on the cases of upstate towns that changed their zoning laws in 2011 to ban hydrofracking and gas drilling

Ohio prosecutor fired after posing as an accused killer's girlfriend on Facebook: A prosecutor in Ohio has reportedly been fired after admitting to a chat with an accused killer’s alibi witnesses in an attempt to persuade them to change their testimony.

Judge's ruling challenges US transplant system: a federal judge has allowed one dying child - and a day later another - to essentially jump the line in rulings that could have ramifications for thousands of people awaiting new organs.

How the IRS scandal may damage anti-terror data mining: A Cornell law professor argues that explanations and justifications which might have worked in the past no longer are enough, thanks to the IRS.

Suppression hearing held in assault weapon case

Finger Lakes Times:

A seat belt violation and a broken taillight led to the traffic stop that uncovered two rifles, including an assault weapon, stolen from a Seneca Falls apartment complex last fall.

That was the testimony of several Seneca Falls police officers during a suppression hearing Friday for Gary Goodman in Seneca County Court. The Waterloo man, formerly of Geneva, faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property….

Local attorney Steven Getman is representing Goodman. Getman is contesting the legality of the search....

Judge Dennis Bender gave [District Attorney Barry] Porsch and Getman 20 days to submit written briefs on the hearing, after which he will issue a decision.

Goodman remains in the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bail or $20,000 bond.

Legal links of interest for the week ending March 22, 2013

Some of the stories about courts, the law and lawyers in the news this past week:

·         Study on wrongful convictions finds prosecutorial misconduct and weak defense play a significant role: The report may be useful to practitioners to help understand how these factors come into play and how to ameliorate or alleviate them
 ·         Russia slams Texas prosecutors for not charging parents of dead adopted boy: A Texas coroner had declared the child’s death in January accidental, but Moscow demanded a complete report from U.S. officials.
 ·         Congressman objects to Seneca-Cayuga land-into-trust bid:  Rep. Tom Reed (R), Seneca County’s representative in Congress opposes the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma’s application to put 230 acres of land it owns in Seneca and Cayuga counties into federal trust.
 ·         Public Access Guide to NY Courts available:  The Guide contains an application for the media when they seek to conduct coverage of court proceedings and will be available at all court clerks’ offices in the District and available at security posts on each floor of the Hall of Justice in Rochester, NY.
 ·         Red-light camera firms get heat over tickets: Legal challenges, public outcry not slowing industry growth
 ·         Stricter laws due in July to govern underage kids on social media: Sites such as Facebook will likely be forced to remove photos, audio recordings or other personal identifiers of children -- or else face stiff fines, under updates to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
 ·         Justices apply copyright first-sale doctrine to foreign goods: Libraries, museums, retailers and others who buy copyrighted goods made abroad can resell them without violating federal copyright law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
 ·         Just how bad off are law school graduates?  There are a surprising number of job postings for lawyers that offer no salary at all, including government law jobs.

For more on each of these stories, click the links above.

Legal links of interest for the week ending March 15, 2013

Some of the stories about courts, the law and lawyers in the news this past week:

Open meetings laws force public agencies to share more materials: The new requirement, an amendment to the state open meetings law, mandates that all public agencies make their agendas available to the public in advance of their meetings, as well as supplemental meeting materials such as resolutions or department reports.

Wife of millionaire LI real-estate mogul gets judge to ripup her prenup: Longtime divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, who has never overturned a prenup in his three-decade career and has no involvement in the Petrakis case, called the decision “really rare” and precedent setting.

Will FDA Use Obamacare to Tax Americans’ Smartphones and Tablets: Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are concerned that FDA may subject more smartphones and mobile apps to regulation as medical devices, which could result in their being taxed under Obamacare and harm the innovation and economic benefits of the U.S. mobile marketplace.

Attorney wants to exclude Jews from Abdel Hameed Shehadeh’supcoming terror trial: Lawyer Frederick Cohn will ask a judge to bar Jews from the jury hearing the case against Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, who’s accused of lying about trying to join jihadists in Pakistan.

Can lawyers ethically blog about their cases? According to the decision issued by the Virginia Supreme Court, not only can Virginia lawyers ethically blog about their cases, they can even list the names of their clients when doing so, as long as their blog includes an appropriate disclaimer.

N.Y. Schools See Decrease in U.S. News Rankings: Bob Morse, director of data research at U.S. News, attributed much of the churn to a revised methodology involving the weight given to schools' success at landing their graduates in jobs.

Judge halts mayor's soda ban, calls it 'arbitrary and capricious': Judge Tingling said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Board of Health overstepped their bounds, to enforce rules that should be established by the legislative bodies.

 For more on each of these stories, click the links above.

Hearing set in Seneca County assault weapons case

Finger Lakes Times

WATERLOO — A hearing will be held in the case of a Geneva man accused of having stolen assault weapons in Seneca Falls last September.During an appearance by Gary Goodman in Seneca County Court Monday, Judge Dennis Bender scheduled a suppression hearing for March 29. Goodman is being represented by local attorney Steven Getman.

New York Increases Penalties for Repeat Domestic Abusers

New York State has enacted new penalties for repeat domestic abusers, including tougher standards for bail pending trial.

The law was signed on Thursday (October 25).  It creates the crime of “Aggravated Family Offense.”  Under the law defendants who commit certain offenses against family members and have a previous conviction for doing so within the past five years can be charged with a Class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison.  The law also expands the definition of “Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree” to include when a defendant, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm, causes physical injury to an individual, or to a family or household member of that individual.

The new law also requires judges to consider various risk factors, including access to firearms and previous violations of orders of protection, when setting bail for people accused of a family offense.

For more on the new law and its requirements click here.

Legal Links of Interest for the week ending October 12, 2012

Some of the stories about the law and lawyers in the news this past week:

·         One Million Motorists Skipped Out On $35M InUnpaid Thruway Tolls: Records reviewed through a Freedom of Information request show that the New York State Thruway Authority's finances have been hurt by its inability to recoup tolls and fines from people who zip through EZ-Pass lanes scot-free.

·         New law expands farm distilleries' salesoptions:  Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation last week to allow licensed farm distilleries to sell liquor at the New York State Fair, local fairs and farmers’ markets.

·         It could become illegal to resell your iPhone 4,car or family antiques: If the Supreme Court upholds an appellate court ruling, it would mean that the copyright holders of anything you own that has been made in another country would have to give you permission to sell it.

·         New York traffic cameras use short yellow lights to increase ticket revenue: AAA New York has found that New York City intersections with cameras have yellow lights that are shorter by as much as 15 percent compared to the city standard.

·         New York Court of Appeals mulls if gang memberis a terrorist: The state’s highest court will consider whether the street gangsters who crashed a Bronx christening party, starting a fight that left a 10-year-old bystander dead, are also terrorists who deserve longer prison time.

·         Obama vs. Romney on the Supreme Court: Control of the Supreme Court, perhaps for a generation, is very much up for grab in the coming presidential election.