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Tuesday marked a major milestone for marijuana advocates in Washington State as dispensaries were finally cleared to sell their product for recreational use. People gathered outside the businesses long before the shops opened in anticipation of making their first legal recreational purchase. Supply was a concern, however, as only 100 of the 2,600 groups that …

There have been incredible advances in technology and science within the past few years. Law enforcement officials merely have to rub a swab inside a criminal suspect’s cheek in order to gain a wealth of information about the person. States such as California and Maryland have laws that permit law enforcement officials to obtain a …

Are fraud cases typically heard in state or federal court? Here in the District of Columbia, we have the Superior Court and we also have federal court, which is called the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. All prosecutors here are United States Attorneys, so the same prosecutorial agency will be handling …

The media was buzzing Monday with the news that Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray has signed into law emergency legislation allowing for concealed carry permits for gun owners who qualify. According to the popular local news site dcist.com, Gray signed the “License to Carry a Pistol Emergency Amendment Act of 2014” late Thursday, October 9, …

In a nutshell, second degree “money laundering” applies to almost any financial transaction involving proceeds from criminal activity in such a way that the funds appear to be legitimate. It requires the alleged money launderer to know, “or have reason to know,” that the funds originated from criminal activity and to have the intent to disguise the …

Former DC Mayor and current Councilman Marion Barry says his diabetes is to blame for the car collision he was involved in Saturday evening after driving on the wrong side of the road, according to USA9. It was around 9:15 p.m. when Barry was spotted driving his Jaguar X-Type into oncoming traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue …

After graduating from Vanderbilt Law School in 2000, I began working at a large law firm in Phoenix, Arizona. While my position was as a commercial litigation associate, I quickly learned that the “litigation” component of my job consisted almost entirely of researching caselaw and writing various motions and legal memoranda. I seldom, if ever, went to …

One of the most publicized murder trials within the past few years finally reached its conclusion when a jury found Drew Peterson guilty of killing his former wife, Kathleen Savio. Drew Peterson is also suspected of killing his current wife, Stacy Peterson, who was reported missing in 2007. During the media storm surrounding this case, …

What is the sex offender registry? The sex offender registry is a database that individuals who have been convicted of a sex offense, whether it was in DC or another jurisdiction, are put into if they reside, work, or go to school in the District of Columbia. Their personal information, meaning their name, date of …

On September 26, 2013, a divided three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals struck down a D.C. law that had been effective since 2009. D.C. Code Section 22-2511, entitled “Presence in a Motor Vehicle Containing a Firearm,” made it a felony offense for a person to be physically present in a vehicle …

A proposed bill which has garnered significant council support seeks to amend the District of Columbia Smoking Restriction Act to expand areas of the city where smoking is prohibited.  The bill, numbered B20-0095, is entitled the Smoking Restriction Amendment Act of 2013, and would ban smoking within 25 feet of parks, trails, community centers, and bus …