New York’s Second Operation Hang Up Campaign Targets Cell Phone Use While Driving

The New York State Police are conducting a second Operation Hang Up enhanced enforcement campaign.

The campaign targets motorists that use their cell phone and other electronic devices while driving.

The first Operation Hang Up campaign took place over the 2011 Thanksgiving Holiday. State Police ticketed more than 800 drivers during that time period.

This latest enforcement campaign begins today (Monday, April 23, 2012) and continues through Sunday (April 29, 2012).

In 2011, the state Department of Motor Vehicles increased penalties for using cell phones while driving. Violations are now subject to two ‘points’ on a driver's license. Those points can increase a driver’s insurance rates, much like a speeding ticket or auto accident.”

With increased penalties and stepped-up enforcement, motorists who receive a ticket for using a cell phone should consider consulting an attorney to discuss their legal rights before pleading guilty.

Upstate New York Village Latest to Ban Puppy Mills

Seneca Daily News:

The Village of Interlaken is the latest community in upstate New York to ban so-called “puppy mills.”

The law prohibits the construction or operation of any new commercial pet breeder or large-scale kennel facility and halts the expansion of any existing facilities....

[D]ogs rescued from puppy mills often exhibit health and behavioral problems including severe malnutrition and injuries from living an entire life on wire mesh flooring....

The law was drafted by local attorney Steven Getman. It was passed following a public hearing in February and a review by the Seneca County Planning Board.

1.5 Million Credit Card Numbers Stolen

Details here:

The computer systems of a major credit card payment processing company called Global Payments have been hacked, reportedly compromising information on up to 1.5 million credit card account numbers.

New York expands DNA databank

Beginning in August, anyone convicted of a felony or penal law misdemeanor in New York State will have to provide a sample for the state's DNA databank under a new law.

Previously, less than fifty percent of convicted criminals were required to provide samples.

The new law also expands defendants' access to DNA testing and comparison both before and after conviction in appropriate circumstances, as well as to discovery after conviction where innocence is claimed.

According to supporters of the new law, the DNA databank provided leads in nearly 2,900 convictions. DNA evidence has also led to the exoneration of 27 New Yorkers who were wrongly convicted.

More information on the state’s DNA databank can be found here.

Report: New York law schools inflating job figures

According to the New York Post, Columbia, NYU and Fordham overpromise the economic benefit of a law degree, inflating the number of students who find employment after graduation by creating short-term school-funded jobs to temporarily boost the percentage of students employed for the ABA survey, which counts the employment figure nine months after graduation.

Town Court Goes Paperless

Gannett News:

Five work stations, including the judge's bench, are equipped with a Fujitsu Scansnap scanner — about the size of an old-fashion breadbox — and two Dell monitors.

At [the clerk's] desk, there's an additional monitor as well as an Iomega StorCenter digital file cabinet, small enough that it could be hidden behind a medium-size picture. All of them are hooked up to a trademarked docketing system called the CourtRoom Program, by Service Education Inc., and each has been loaded with an off-the-shelf Adobe software program that sorts, routes and shares, according to the standards [the judge] and [court clerk] developed.

Eventually, everything is channeled to offsite storage and backup through Red Barn Technology Group, based in the Town of Chenango.

Total cost: $4,339.97, which was paid for by a state grant

New rules proposed to prevent colleges from exploiting veterans

Fox News:

For-profit schools would be required to meet new standards covering everything from drop-out rates to transparency, under a proposal by senators who claim the colleges are exploiting members of the U.S. military for their government education benefits....

The bill would require many schools to offer support services to military students, and require the federal government to provide those students one-on-one education counseling. It also would require schools to disclose graduation rates, loan default rates and other information to prospective students.

National Consumer Protection Week: March 4 - 10, 2012

National Consumer Protection Week focuses attention on the importance of consumer information and provides people with free resources explaining their rights in the marketplace.

Among the topics covered this week are understanding loans and mortgages, money management and avoiding identity theft.

More information about National Consumer Protection Week can be found here.

Seneca Falls Town Hall Lawsuit Dismissed

Seneca Daily News:

SENECA FALLS— A lawsuit filed by the former Town Supervisor against a group of citizens asking to hold a referendum on renovating the town hall has been dismissed....

Acting Supreme Court Justice W. Patrick Falvey granted a motion to dismiss the case, agreeing with defense attorney Steven Getman that [Peter Same, the former supervisor] had waited too long to bring his case and had failed to properly serve all the necessary parties to the lawsuit.

New move to avoid ID errors in criminal cases

Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle:

A spate of exonerations in recent years has revealed the weaknesses of memory and witness identification. Of the 289 people exonerated nationally by DNA evidence over the past quarter-century, about 75 percent were wrongly identified by witnesses....

Local police agencies say they have embraced change. They've revised policies within the past two years to match improved identification guidelines from the state District Attorneys Association and the Division of Criminal Justice Services, or DCJS. They've also trained officers to ensure that communications with witnesses are not leading, and encouraged police to actually position themselves out of sight of a witness viewing a photo array so there are no unintended signals....

Still, some say more can be done to eliminate human error or intentional or unintentional directions from police to eyewitnesses....

A New York task force, created by Court of Appeals Chief Justice Jonathan Lippman, has studied the core causes of wrongful convictions and plans to push legislation to tackle the common issues, such as misidentification and false confessions....