IN THE NEWS...
|
At the fascinating intersection of science and the law...
One Twin Committed the Crime — but Which One? A New DNA Test Can Finger the Culprit New York Times – March 1, 2019 A handful of criminal prosecutions have stalled because DNA tests cannot distinguish between suspects who are twins. Then scientists decided to create one. To read the full story, click here. |
|
Do American Women Still Need an Equal Rights Amendment?
New York Times – February 16, 2019
We’re already living in Phyllis Schlafly’s nightmare. When Phyllis Schlafly crusaded against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s as a threat to all-American motherhood, she handed out freshly baked bread and apple pie to state legislators. She warned of a dystopian post-E.R.A. future of women forced to enlist in the military, gay marriage, unisex toilets everywhere and homemakers driven into the workplace by husbands free to abandon them.
The E.R.A., which had been sailing to ratification, failed. Yet gay marriage is now the law. Women in the military see combat, although women are not required to register for the draft. Six women — so far — are running for president. A record-shattering number of women have claimed seats in Congress. And the percentage of prime-working-age women participating in the labor force has soared from 51 percent in 1972, when Congress passed the E.R.A., to more than 75 percent last year. So what protections did American women earn without a constitutional amendment? Did the country get everywhere the people pushing for the amendment wanted it to go? These questions, once theoretical, are newly relevant with a push to revive the Equal Rights Amendment.
To continue reading, click here.
New York Times – February 16, 2019
We’re already living in Phyllis Schlafly’s nightmare. When Phyllis Schlafly crusaded against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s as a threat to all-American motherhood, she handed out freshly baked bread and apple pie to state legislators. She warned of a dystopian post-E.R.A. future of women forced to enlist in the military, gay marriage, unisex toilets everywhere and homemakers driven into the workplace by husbands free to abandon them.
The E.R.A., which had been sailing to ratification, failed. Yet gay marriage is now the law. Women in the military see combat, although women are not required to register for the draft. Six women — so far — are running for president. A record-shattering number of women have claimed seats in Congress. And the percentage of prime-working-age women participating in the labor force has soared from 51 percent in 1972, when Congress passed the E.R.A., to more than 75 percent last year. So what protections did American women earn without a constitutional amendment? Did the country get everywhere the people pushing for the amendment wanted it to go? These questions, once theoretical, are newly relevant with a push to revive the Equal Rights Amendment.
To continue reading, click here.
Linnane & Associates Files Suit Against NYPD
Gothamist – January 10, 2019
We are proud to represent John Tran as he takes a stand for social justice and policing reform.
To read the full story, click here.
Gothamist – January 10, 2019
We are proud to represent John Tran as he takes a stand for social justice and policing reform.
To read the full story, click here.
|
How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor
New York Times – January 8, 2019 In many parts of America, like Corinth, Miss., judges are locking up defendants who can’t pay — sometimes for months at a time. Locking people up because they cannot pay fines has ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Still, decades after those cases were decided, the practice of jailing people who cannot pay persists, not least because Supreme Court decisions do not always make their way to local courts. “Precedent is one thing,” says Alec Karakatsanis, executive director of Civil Rights Corps, a Washington-based nonprofit. “The way a law is written is one thing. The way a law is actually experienced by poor people and people of color is another.” To continue reading, click here. |
Jailing the Wrong Man: Mug Shot Searches Persist in New York, Despite Serious Risks
New York Times – January 5, 2019
Inside a police station house in Queens about a year ago, St. Clair Steward insisted he had not been involved in a recent shooting. Mr. Steward told the police he had been resting at home. Investigators did not believe him. The motive behind the shooting was a mystery, but the victim had combed through pictures of people with past arrests and identified Mr. Steward, a father of eight, as the assailant. To the detectives involved, the shooting in January 2018 was just the latest in a long line of crimes solved by asking a victim to search through mug shots, an investigative technique used in New York City for more than 150 years. Detectives enter a description of the perpetrator into a database, which then spits out dozens or even hundreds of matching photos. The witness scrolls through, in hopes of recognizing the culprit.
But these open-ended photo searches also increase the likelihood of ensnaring an innocent person, according to studies and experts in eyewitness identification. The method has few safeguards to protect against a false identification and can lead police to focus on the wrong person from the outset of an investigation. To continue reading, click here.
New York Times – January 5, 2019
Inside a police station house in Queens about a year ago, St. Clair Steward insisted he had not been involved in a recent shooting. Mr. Steward told the police he had been resting at home. Investigators did not believe him. The motive behind the shooting was a mystery, but the victim had combed through pictures of people with past arrests and identified Mr. Steward, a father of eight, as the assailant. To the detectives involved, the shooting in January 2018 was just the latest in a long line of crimes solved by asking a victim to search through mug shots, an investigative technique used in New York City for more than 150 years. Detectives enter a description of the perpetrator into a database, which then spits out dozens or even hundreds of matching photos. The witness scrolls through, in hopes of recognizing the culprit.
But these open-ended photo searches also increase the likelihood of ensnaring an innocent person, according to studies and experts in eyewitness identification. The method has few safeguards to protect against a false identification and can lead police to focus on the wrong person from the outset of an investigation. To continue reading, click here.
NYC Prenups on the Rise
New York Magazine – nymag.com
New York Magazine – nymag.com
|
New York is an “equitable distribution” state, which means that any assets purchased or earned during the marriage are “marital property” to be distributed equitably upon divorce. It sounds reasonable, but “ownership” and “equitable” can be fuzzy concepts. For example, if a woman owned her co-op before her husband moved in, the apartment would be hers after the divorce. But if her husband helped make repairs during their marriage, he could be entitled to a percentage of the appreciation as determined by a judge. Unless, that is, she had a prenup that specified otherwise. Modern prenups seek to navigate the gray areas beforehand, specifically dissecting any financial interests that can be deemed “marital property,” whether that’s real estate, cars, boats, savings, stock portfolios, pensions, or future earnings. Young couples are also asking for prenups to protect future wealth. New York is one of only a few states to allow potential future earnings tied to professional licenses or partnerships or degrees to be deemed marital property. To continue reading, click here.
|
|
|
Six Ways to Have Better Relationships in 2019
New York Times – December 26, 2018 Even if the foundation of your relationship has long been built on trial and error, a relationship is nothing more than small growths and achievements, marked by the occasional misstep. The Smarter Living team has culled a few tips from our archive to help you grow in that new relationship, rekindle an old flame or turn a breakup into a positive experience. To continue reading, click here. What are your 2019 goals? Contact Linanne & Associates to discuss how we can help you to reach your 2019 #NewYearGoal. |
Senators Call for Ban on Tactics That Devastate Small Businesses
Bloomberg News – December 6, 2018
Many financial firms offering quick money require customers to sign confessions to get loans. By signing, the borrowers forfeit their right to defend themselves in court. Armed with a confession, lenders can accuse borrowers of not paying and legally seize their assets before they know what’s happened. Two U.S. senators are seeking to outlaw a legal tactic that predatory lenders have frequently used to seize money from small businesses. To continue reading, click here.
Bloomberg News – December 6, 2018
Many financial firms offering quick money require customers to sign confessions to get loans. By signing, the borrowers forfeit their right to defend themselves in court. Armed with a confession, lenders can accuse borrowers of not paying and legally seize their assets before they know what’s happened. Two U.S. senators are seeking to outlaw a legal tactic that predatory lenders have frequently used to seize money from small businesses. To continue reading, click here.
|
Can Emotions Be Controlled?
Psychology Today – November 27, 2018 Beliefs about emotions control our emotional health. From launching a business to either starting a family to writing a living will, what we believe about our emotions can significantly influence our behavior and outcomes, and can guide the strategies we use to manage our emotions in our everyday lives. Can we control our emotions? Research has a lot to say about that. To continue reading, click here. |
|
What Is It About the Word 'Wife'?
New York Times – November 22, 2018
After the wedding, he introduced me as his wife. I don’t know why this startled me so much, but each time he said it I shrunk inside. ...Ultimately “wife” was a role that I cast myself in and then tried to make fit. Rarely, if ever, did I communicate this internal tension to my husband. To continue reading, click here.
New York Times – November 22, 2018
After the wedding, he introduced me as his wife. I don’t know why this startled me so much, but each time he said it I shrunk inside. ...Ultimately “wife” was a role that I cast myself in and then tried to make fit. Rarely, if ever, did I communicate this internal tension to my husband. To continue reading, click here.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act . . . A comparison for businesses
Internal Revenue Service – October, 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA") changed deductions, depreciation, expensing, tax credits and other tax items that affect businesses. This side-by-side comparison can help businesses understand the changes and plan accordingly. Some provisions of the TCJA that affect individual taxpayers can also affect business taxes. Businesses and self-employed individuals should review tax reform changes for individuals and determine how these provisions work with their business situation. To continue reading and to visit a table comparing changes upcoming under the new tax law, click here.
Internal Revenue Service – October, 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA") changed deductions, depreciation, expensing, tax credits and other tax items that affect businesses. This side-by-side comparison can help businesses understand the changes and plan accordingly. Some provisions of the TCJA that affect individual taxpayers can also affect business taxes. Businesses and self-employed individuals should review tax reform changes for individuals and determine how these provisions work with their business situation. To continue reading and to visit a table comparing changes upcoming under the new tax law, click here.
|
Three reasons why you should consider getting a prenup
Business Insider – October 11, 2018 More millennials are signing prenups -- should you, too? Short for prenuptial agreement, prenups are no longer reserved for the rich and famous or those marrying multiple times; Americans marrying later in life with more assets to protect and millennials who fear divorce look to prenups as a source of protection. To continue reading, click here. |
‘At least you don’t have children.’ People think this makes divorce easier. For me, it doesn’t.
Washington Post – September 28, 2018
When my ex and I separated, I was faced with the impossible task of securing an affordable and safe one-bedroom in Los Angeles. I ended up where we began, signing a lease on a unit across the courtyard from him and my old life, the home where we got engaged, raised a dog, decorated Christmas trees with ornaments collected from our road trips, drank basil mojitos on the balcony, and tried and failed to become parents.
Whenever someone asks, “Are you married?” and I respond with, “I’m divorced,” I inhale and wait for it. No one invited them to ask a follow-up question, and yet they always do: “Do you have kids?” To continue reading, click here.
Washington Post – September 28, 2018
When my ex and I separated, I was faced with the impossible task of securing an affordable and safe one-bedroom in Los Angeles. I ended up where we began, signing a lease on a unit across the courtyard from him and my old life, the home where we got engaged, raised a dog, decorated Christmas trees with ornaments collected from our road trips, drank basil mojitos on the balcony, and tried and failed to become parents.
Whenever someone asks, “Are you married?” and I respond with, “I’m divorced,” I inhale and wait for it. No one invited them to ask a follow-up question, and yet they always do: “Do you have kids?” To continue reading, click here.
District Attorneys Dismantle Legacy of Tough Marijuana Enforcement
New York Times – September 7, 2018
Even as the authorities in New York City have scaled back enforcement of marijuana laws, a legacy of tough policies remains: People are hindered from getting jobs, apartments and access to education because of decades-old marijuana convictions and outstanding warrants. Now Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, is expected to announce next week that his office will vacate misdemeanor marijuana warrants dating to 1978. In Brooklyn, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is going further, offering people with low-level convictions for marijuana possession the chance to have them vacated and the underlying charges dismissed. To continue reading, click here.
New York Times – September 7, 2018
Even as the authorities in New York City have scaled back enforcement of marijuana laws, a legacy of tough policies remains: People are hindered from getting jobs, apartments and access to education because of decades-old marijuana convictions and outstanding warrants. Now Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, is expected to announce next week that his office will vacate misdemeanor marijuana warrants dating to 1978. In Brooklyn, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is going further, offering people with low-level convictions for marijuana possession the chance to have them vacated and the underlying charges dismissed. To continue reading, click here.
Should You Get a Divorce Now or Later?
New York Times – July 27, 2018
Lawyers and accountants often push their clients to plan for unpleasant events. Better to be prepared now than to pay the consequences later. But the Republican tax law that took effect in January has added a new urgency for wealthy Americans contemplating divorce. To continue reading, click here.
New York Times – July 27, 2018
Lawyers and accountants often push their clients to plan for unpleasant events. Better to be prepared now than to pay the consequences later. But the Republican tax law that took effect in January has added a new urgency for wealthy Americans contemplating divorce. To continue reading, click here.
|
What You Need to Know as a New York Tenant
New York Times – May 20, 2018 New York’s roughly one million rent-regulated apartments make up the largest portion of affordable housing in the city. Officially, there are mechanisms in place not only to govern the amount of rent charged for these units but also, crucially, to protect the rights of the people who live in them. In practice, though, the burden largely falls on tenants to be proactive in holding their landlords to account. To continue reading, click here. |
|
Why You Should Get Around to Drawing Up a Will
New York Times – February 8, 2017
No one likes to think about dying — and that is probably one reason most Americans lack wills. Fewer than half of American adults (42 percent) have a will, according to a survey published this week on Caring.com, a website that offers resources for older Americans and their caregivers. The most common excuse given for not having a will (or an alternative legal tool called a living trust) was, “I just haven’t gotten around to it,” cited by nearly half of survey participants who lacked one. To continue reading, click here.
New York Times – February 8, 2017
No one likes to think about dying — and that is probably one reason most Americans lack wills. Fewer than half of American adults (42 percent) have a will, according to a survey published this week on Caring.com, a website that offers resources for older Americans and their caregivers. The most common excuse given for not having a will (or an alternative legal tool called a living trust) was, “I just haven’t gotten around to it,” cited by nearly half of survey participants who lacked one. To continue reading, click here.
9 Mistakes That Will End Up Costing You In Divorce Court
Huffington Post – January 29, 2018
Going to court without a lawyer. This is the No. 1 mistake. Yes, you might do fine, but lawyers ― good lawyers who are in court often ― will know the procedures, the etiquette, the judge’s likes and dislikes and many other things that can be invaluable. You often only have one chance at a good result. Hedge your bets, improve your odds, get a good lawyer. Or at least consult with a lawyer ahead of time to better understand the process. To continue reading, click here.
Huffington Post – January 29, 2018
Going to court without a lawyer. This is the No. 1 mistake. Yes, you might do fine, but lawyers ― good lawyers who are in court often ― will know the procedures, the etiquette, the judge’s likes and dislikes and many other things that can be invaluable. You often only have one chance at a good result. Hedge your bets, improve your odds, get a good lawyer. Or at least consult with a lawyer ahead of time to better understand the process. To continue reading, click here.
13 Key Employment Issues For Startup And Emerging Companies
Forbes – January 10, 2018
Employers can fall into a myriad of employment-related traps. Numerous state and federal laws impact the hiring process and apply a wide variety of employment-related protections, including to discipline and termination issues. For many startup and emerging companies developing technology, the issues associated with the creation of intellectual property by employees and consultants are crucial. Employment litigation is expensive, disruptive, and distracting, and emerging companies should implement appropriate steps and agreements from the outset. To continue reading, click here.
Forbes – January 10, 2018
Employers can fall into a myriad of employment-related traps. Numerous state and federal laws impact the hiring process and apply a wide variety of employment-related protections, including to discipline and termination issues. For many startup and emerging companies developing technology, the issues associated with the creation of intellectual property by employees and consultants are crucial. Employment litigation is expensive, disruptive, and distracting, and emerging companies should implement appropriate steps and agreements from the outset. To continue reading, click here.