The "war on drugs" has gone on for nearly 40 years and there's no victory in sight. But, there's plenty of victims...sadly some of the victims aren't aware of some of the scariest consequences that a drug conviction can result in. For example, in New York State possession of less than an ounce of marijuana isn't a criminal offense, its simply a "violation" called "Unlawful Possession of Marijuana"(UPM). On paper its a pretty innocent sounding offense, roughly the equivalent of a traffic ticket. You pay a fine and go your way...well, not quite!
For first time offenders caught with more than an ounce of pot (a misdemeanor) the typical resolution is a plea bargain down to a UPM violation. Sounds good, right? Well, what most people don't know (and a lot of attorneys don't either) is that even a conviction for a violation like UPM can deprive you of college financial aid for ONE YEAR! Yep, its right there in the 1998 Higher Education Act passed by Congress. So, if you're in college or about to go to college are are relying on either Federal or State tuition aid, be careful about accepting any pleas to minor pot (or other drug offenses). It could really cost you down the road...
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
Town and Village Justice Courts-NYT Article
Ummm....long time no post (from me). It was a busy summer with several cases that really dragged on. If anyone hasn't seen the terrific series of articles in the New York Times about the village and town justice court system in NYS, you really should check it out. Here's a link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/nyregion/26courts.html
It's some very good reporting about a situation that's a total mess in some places. The Times largely focused on upstate T&V courts, many of which have non-lawyer justices handling a variety of criminal and civil cases. From personal experience I can say that working in a court where the judge isn't a lawyer (and doesn't know a whole lot about the law) is scary, frustrating and sometimes, painful. The sad thing is that it's not like the vast majority of these judges don't want to do the "right thing". They do!! The trouble is they don't understand that our criminal law system (as much of a mess as it is) hangs by a thread...and that thread is insuring that every defendent gets at least a bare minimum of due process. All too often, that's what's missing in these courts.
Fortunately, most of the courts I regularly practice in do have attorneys serving as town justices. The major problem in those courts is the lack of a "record". There's no court stenographer or audio tape of proceedings in these courts and that makes it very hard to make an effective appeal of a mistaken judicial decision.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/nyregion/26courts.html
It's some very good reporting about a situation that's a total mess in some places. The Times largely focused on upstate T&V courts, many of which have non-lawyer justices handling a variety of criminal and civil cases. From personal experience I can say that working in a court where the judge isn't a lawyer (and doesn't know a whole lot about the law) is scary, frustrating and sometimes, painful. The sad thing is that it's not like the vast majority of these judges don't want to do the "right thing". They do!! The trouble is they don't understand that our criminal law system (as much of a mess as it is) hangs by a thread...and that thread is insuring that every defendent gets at least a bare minimum of due process. All too often, that's what's missing in these courts.
Fortunately, most of the courts I regularly practice in do have attorneys serving as town justices. The major problem in those courts is the lack of a "record". There's no court stenographer or audio tape of proceedings in these courts and that makes it very hard to make an effective appeal of a mistaken judicial decision.
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