Family and Criminal Law Blog

In the legal sense of the word, paternity refers to the legally established father of a child. Under the law, a child’s legal father has certain rights and responsibilities concerning that child. In establishing paternity, a person is declared to be the legal father of the child. Not every child will have a legal father although, of course, they will have one biologically speaking. Legal establishment of paternity can help a child foster a relationship with both parents.

The government and its agents, whether it be a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer, or someone else, is not without limits on its powers when it comes to the investigating, arresting, or prosecuting of those suspected of engaging in criminal activity. In fact, there are well established boundaries to their authority and violations of said boundaries can be used as a defense against criminal prosecution. The available criminal defenses will, of course, depend on the specific facts and circumstances surrounding a case. Entrapment, for instance is one criminal defense that, while it may be very useful in mounting a successful defense, is very limited in scope.

What is Entrapment?

Entrapment refers to a situation where a law enforcement officer coerces or induces someone else into committing a crime.

Many struggle with divorce. It marks such a fundamental life shift, a change to the core structure of the family, that uncertainty and other powerful emotions can run high. While divorce can be the best path towards a brighter future, it can still be difficult to go through.
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Even in the most amicable of divorces, it is likely that you will, at one time or another, need to go to divorce court. The judge will need to have you in court for a final hearing, at the very least. In less amicable divorces, it is more likely that you will be spending much more time in court as the court works to resolve any outstanding issues incident to divorce between you and your soon-to-be former spouse.
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Interacting with law enforcement can be intimidating. While it is important to remain respectful and as compliant as is reasonable, it is also important in interactions with law enforcement to know your rights. You see, the power of law enforcement officials is not without limits. Some of those limits come in the form of an individual’s constitutionally protected rights. The Fourth Amendment of the U.
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Divorce can be a difficult thing to go through for so many different reasons. The uncertainty of the process in and of itself can be a great source of anxiety. This can be especially true for those divorcing with children. Child custody is, of course, a big issue in divorce proceedings and goes to the very core of a person’s life and family. Should divorcing spouses be unable to reach an agreement regarding child custody arrangements, it will be up to the court to determine such an arrangement and it will be guided in this determination by the best interests of the child standard.
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Did you know that, according to the Texas District & County Attorneys Association, approximately 98% of criminal cases end in plea bargains? Plea bargains have come to play a vital role in the criminal justice system as the lack of resources, like prosecuting and defense attorneys, along with judges, juries, and other court resources, are not sufficient to process the flood of cases with a full blown criminal trial. Due to the courts and jails both being overloaded and overcrowded, prosecutors will often engage in negotiating a plea bargain with a defendant. This means they will try to reach an agreement that the defendant will plead guilty in exchange for something else, such as a lesser charge or lighter sentence.

What to Negotiate While Plea Bargaining

Plea bargaining can help a criminal defendant avoid the stress of a trial as well as negotiate for a lighter sentence. On the other side of things, plea bargaining allows the prosecutor to spare the court the time and expense of a trial when dockets are already clogged.
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Often, a woman who changed her name when she got married will want to revert her last name back to her maiden name after a divorce is finalized. This is not always the case, of course, there are many women who choose to keep their married last name after divorce. The choice is completely personal and everyone has their reasons for either changing or not changing their last name after a divorce.
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You made it through the holidays! Congratulations! Hopefully you managed to make some memories along the way too. Navigating the holidays while co-parenting after divorce is no small feat and you should definitely make a point to pause and give yourself credit where credit is due. That being said, as a co-parent, you know that the hurdles to jump seem to be ever present. How you manage yourself, your relationship with your co-parents, and your relationship with your children can be just as important after the holidays as it is during the holidays. Here, we will review some of the common mistakes co-parents make after the holidays in the hopes that it helps you avoid them as best as possible.
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The insanity defense gets a lot of attention for the role it has played in past high profile legal cases as well as for how often it gets featured in movies and television legal dramas. The truth of the matter is, however, that the insanity defense is not often raised and even less often successfully raised. In fact, various statistical analyses show that just about one percent of all U.S. felony cases involve the use of the insanity defense.
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Divorce can be the best option for a couple when things are just not working out. This is the truth and everyone involved can be better off when the two spouses go their own ways. Divorce, however, is a complex legal proceeding that has significant implications for all involved.
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