Law and Order
It wasn’t to escape jail time. Madoff, who is 70, is looking at a life sentence for his crimes. He had to know that coming into the courthouse to plead guilty. * * * By pleading guilty, Madoff cut his losses, not in the way most defendants do, by getting rid of a couple of…
[February 20, 2009 is the sixth anniversary of the fire at the Station nightclub.] Attorney General Patrick Lynch has given two principal excuses for his refusal to prosecute Denis LaRocque, the man who repeatedly inspected the Station nightclub in his capacity as a West Warwick Fire Inspector. Let us examine them. 1.) “Without malice or…
I would hope that we could all agree that the events that Bob Kerr describes are a travesty in their own right, although certainly accentuated by the fact that their victim is a veteran: Barone is a neighbor and friend and has testified in court on [Paul] Kelly’s behalf. He remembers when Pocahontas Cooley, Kelly’s…
Under “General Treasurer Frank Caprio on E-Verify and Immigration,” commenter JoeB asks: Has Lynch taken a stand on e-verify? Good question. Where does Rhode Island’s chief law enforcement officer stand on the question of a tool to aid compliance with certain laws? My quest to answer this question actually began last July. After some research…
… or “Gosh, we would make it illegal but …” The reason given in the past by General Assembly leadership for its failure to close out the technicality that makes prostitution legal indoors is that the consequences of doing so would fall disproportionately on women – i.e., the prostitutes. There is an easy solution to…
And while we’re on the subject of Democrats sponsoring sensible legislation, let’s not forget to mention that State Representatives Joanne Giannini (D-Providence), Elaine Coderre (D-Pawtucket), Helio Melo (D-East Providence), Al Gemma (D-Warwick), and Deborah Fellela (D-Johnston) have reintroduced the bill to the Rhode Island House (H5044) that would make indoor prostitution illegal in Rhode Island.…
Despite a lack of evidence (as far as I’m aware) that red-light cameras have any reductive effect on accidents and questions about whether they even turn a profit for the controlling authority, the General Assembly eliminated the sunset provision to their allowance last June, and the change went into effect without the governor’s signature. Happenings…
Bail Fifty billion is missing and presumed lost or stolen. Lacking a clear picture of how much of that is lost and how much is stolen, is $10,000,000 really an adequate bail amount? Madoff needed to send only an equal amount offshore during the course of his scheme to be ready for a sudden need…
Since it’s been a topic of discussion around here, it’s worth noting that — although Capitol Records continues on its litigious path, the Recording Industry Association of America is discerning the error of its ways: After years of suing thousands of people for allegedly stealing music via the Internet, the recording industry is set to…
We should all hope that Capitol Records fails in its efforts to claim a Providence family’s computer for inspection, but as the breadth of activities occurring on computers expands, the likelihood goes up that they will become subject to confiscation for one reason or another. In that light, even just the circumstances of the threat…