Title: FedEx employee suing me for twisting his ankle (dog got loose, no biting)

Question:
Hi,

 As the title says, the FedEx employee called me on my cellphone but I was at work because he saw the dog on leash and didn't want to go in. He decided to go in anyway on his own. My dog was attach to front yard pole but when the employee got closer the pole broke and my dog started chasing him. He fell and twisted his ankle, my dog didn't bite him.

Don't know if that helps but I'm renting in California  and I have a sign saying "BEWARE OF DOG" at my front gate.

I just got served today for $15k, I don't have that kind of money or can afford a lawyer. Please help.

Answer:
 You aren't being sued in small claims court, so this isn't a DIY project. You need an attorney. We hear the excuse that "I can't afford an attorney" all of the time in this sub. A lot of the time, what people really mean by that that is "I don't want to pay for an attorney. Give me some advice so I can get out of my legal predicament." Sorry, but you need an attorney. And even then you may not win. But you might also be able to settle.

You also need to contact your homeowner's or renter's insurance, inform them of this, and see what protections might extend to you here.Answer #2:  Contact your homeowners or renters insurance.


Title: Boss threatening to take me to court, not even sure for what

Question:
I live in Texas.  I've spent a few months at current job, and when I first started working my boss was extremely paranoid about people stealing clients and trying to contact them after quitting, and had me sign non- compete agreement.  Not being stupid, I'd never do anything like that regardless.

I recently told my boss I quit, respectfully, but I got a series of texts insinuating that I'm collaborating with a client, that I used company time to run personal errands, and that I need to turn over all client information or they'll "take me to court."  It doesn't even make sense, how do I "turn over client information?"

Should I just ignore this? I'm not vindictive, I don't hold a grudge even though the work environment could be toxic and the boss abusive.  I'd heard legal action threatened against the other guy that works there, as well.  Is it just a bunch of B.S.? It was a cash business, I don't even think I ever signed any tax forms or that they even have my address.

Just move on, cease contact, and don't worry?  I don't have much money so I'd rather not have to worry about hiring a lawyer for no reason.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any feedback

Answer: Ignore it. People who will actually take you to court will have you served. They won't bluster on about it in a text message.


Title: Broke Ammunition Law Traveling in Germany

Question:
I just got flagged going through security in Berlin’s airport. A single bullet was found in my backpack. I have never shot a gun and I think I must have picked up the bullet on ground years ago and left it in there (it has been through security dozens of times and was never found). I truly have no idea why it was in there and how it wasn’t flagged before.

I was charged with a criminal offense “paragraph 53 ABs Nr. 1 WaffG.”

I am free to go and am about to get on a flight to Greece. However, he said I would be charged and I have an appointed representative of some sort. I do not have contact information for this representative.

The US embassy in Berlin has a list of English speaking lawyers on their website. How should I go about being charged with a criminal offense in a foreign country?

Answer:
 German Law School Graduate here! (Not a lawyer yet) You should definitely contact the embassy. In case this actually goes to trial, you should get a lawyer. Almost every criminal defense lawyer in Germany will speak english, it won't hurt to ask the embassy for recommendations though.

The Border Patrol Office does not assign you a defender, that's up to a judge. Since this happened presumably today and courts don't work on the weekend, this will happen in the next couple weeks. If you get a defender assigned to you, they'll contact you.

I'm guessing you're a first time offender in Germany. Paragraph 53 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 WaffG is a misdemeanor. From my experience, you'll likely receive an "order of punishment" (Strafbefehl) and will have to pay a fine. No first time offender goes to jail for a single bullet. If you think the fine is too high, you have the possibility to go to trial and ask for a lesser sentence.Answer #2: Contact the embassy as soon as possible.


Title: Need advice about illegitimate child

Question:
I've received a notice of intent to collect child support on a child I do not believe to be mine. The letter has set up a meeting with someone from the child support department and says to bring income & other dependent paperwork. Do I have to legally provide these documents before paternity is established?

In Georgia

Answer:
 Your sister in law just posted the same story (the child is a girl about 7/8 years old, you've currently got a gf with two children 2 and 5 iirc).

You need a lawyer ASAP (like yesterday) to help establish that you are not the father.


Title: I really messed up, don’t know what to do

Question:
Throwaway for reasons.  I am 38 F married for 10 years, with husband for 15 total.

We have two young kids, 3 yrs and 4 months.

Husband yells and is verbally abusive to me when he gets mad at me. It got better for a while, hence kids, but looking back it was a mistake. Love my kids completely, but I see it now.

It’s gotten bad again over the past few months. He seems very happy with the kids but I feel like he has been keeping me around because it’s easier and of course, the responsibility of parenting the kids.

When things started flaring up again, a friend advised to record our arguments via audio on my phone in case I need proof or things get worse. He did not know. He can be incredibly nasty. He does not believe it’s abuse and says I provoke him and need to think before I speak.

So he started in on me yesterday but this time caught me recording and I tried poorly to deny it as I got flustered and he just lost it. Telling me I am deceptive, a liar, a degenerate law breaker. He said that any lawyer would tell me I broke the law. He said that he will tell everyone so they know what kind of person I am including the kids when they are older. He went on for a while until it was our older kid’s bedtime making comments about how I am completely dishonest and cannot be trusted ever again.

He slept in the living room. The kids were both up early around 7 and I came downstairs and told him I needed to bring the kids down did he want to go upstairs, he said no and to not touch him again (I gently touched his shoulder) and he didn’t care what I did, but when I brought them down he stared daggers at me, and eventually went upstairs.

I don’t know what to do. I am not scared physically but feel sick to my stomach. I know what I did was wrong.  I don’t think I can repair this but am worried he can use this against me should we divorce. Can I be in trouble legally? Could this affect my ability to have shared custody of my kids?

Answer:
 Absent a location we cannot tell you if you broke any laws by making a secret recording.

Get counselingAnswer #2: Washington DC is one party consent for recordings but Maryland is not. You have two locations in your post so it makes a difference where you did the recording. Answer #3: You should consult a divorce attorney immediately. You know what you need to do. Answer #4: Please talk to a lawyer but also get support.

The Verbally Abusive Relationship is the best book I’ve come across about verbal abuse. It gives examples of the types of verbal abuse there are, the fact that you and your partner are operating in two different realities (you’re being reasonable and he’s trying to gain power, so anything you respond to as a reasonable person is going to be twisted so he can maintain power over you); it breaks down the various categories of verbal abuse and gives scripts on how to respond/shut it down. It helped me to stop second guessing myself: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GUS7OG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect

Second, The Hotline can help you make a safety plan, and supportive chat. There is also a link here to emotional safety planning, which is important: https://www.thehotline.org/help/path-to-safety/

I’m sorry you’re in this situation and I wish you all the support in finding peace.


Title: If an employee is fasting because of their religion, are they obligated to tell their employer if they typically operate heavy machinery on the job?

Question:
A side effect of fasting is dizziness and many sites suggest not operating heavy machinery.  Given that a fast can impact an employee's job performance and potentially cause workplace accidents, does the employer have the right to know their employee is fasting?  How might such a thing be handled since a religious reason for fasting could complicate things?

I'm referring to the US but would be interested in how other countries handle this sort of thing.
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer:
 If an employee has religious obligations they can ask their employer for reasonable accommodations. If possible - the employer can assign them alternate work if the fast is going to violate safety restrictions.

The employer has to know about the religious accommodation request and has to be given the opportunity to accommodate. The employee passing out while operating heavy machinery isn't going to be covered by "it was a religious fast" without a lot of documentation.

>How might such a thing be handled since a religious reason for fasting could complicate things?

It depends on a number of factors including the size of the company but generally religious fasts will be on certain dates and most employers will accommodate when possible. When not possible - and this takes a lot for it to not be possible - employers will do what thy can to make this right.

To claim religious exemption you may have to demonstrate a history/past devotion to a slight manner (just looking up random religious holidays and converting once a week won't work - yes - people try that.)

If you are planning a fast and operate heavy equipment talk to your HR department before the date arrives and ask for some assistance on duties on that date.


Title: Passport was not delivered - Trip is in 6 days. What can I do?

Question: I live in Brooklyn but I'm leaving the country on the 22nd. I checked the status and tracking number that I received today but I wasn't notified that my passport was "delivered" by USPS on Feb 12. My roommates haven't seen it and the neighbors also haven't. I went to the post office and apparently the usual postman was on vacation and someone else delivered my passport. I'm prepping an un-received reissue form to have my passport overnighted but I'm worried that it still won't get to me in time. Any suggestions as to how I can pursue this?

Answer: If you live near a same-day Passport Office (the State Dept has a few) or are willing to drive, you can get one in person. Be sure to bring copies of your international travel plans with you.


Title: [OH] Part-time employee being required to work full-time

Question:
To keep this brief and to the point, my gf was hired as a part-time employee. Her manager left over 2 months ago, and she's been doing both jobs in the interim. She was informed today that she's expected to be "available by phone and email 24/7," yet she's only allowed to clock a total of 28 hours per week on her time sheet to adhere to "labor laws." Until now, she's been working 30-40 hours per week (that she does claim), plus at least an hour a day at home on email (unclaimed, but required by her job). She is almost never allowed to take her 30 minute lunch break, even during 14 hour shifts, and her paid 15 minute break is never given. She has interviewed for the open management position, but it's been 8 weeks and no decisions have been made. Meanwhile, she's brought in 1/3 of the total yearly revenue goal during that 8 week period, clearly qualifying her for the job.

What legal recourse do we have in this situation? She's made HR aware of the issues several times and feels legal action is the next step. Thanks in advance!

Answer: Start looking for a new job and contact the Ohio department of labor.


Title: Wanted to know if its possible to legally prevent my ex from coming to my shared apartment.

Question:
My roommate recently became romantically interested in my manipulative ex, and I don't want her in my household. There are three people living here, two of which don't want her here. Is there any way for me to add something to my lease stating she is not allowed on the premises? Similar to a restraining order but for a property.

Link to /r/relationships post:https://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/3isv40/my_18m_roommate_18m_had_sex_with_my_exgirlfriend/

Thanks.

Edit: I am in southern California.

Answer:
 Basically, no. Any of you can invite anybody you want over.

I know of three exceptions:

* If your ex is damaging the property or threatening the residents, you may be able to demand she leave.
* If you have a restraining order on your ex, she can't come into your home even if your roommate invites her. But you can't get a restraining order on your ex just because you don't like her; you'd probably have to demonstrate that there was domestic violence or something similar.
* The next time your lease is up for renegotiation, give him an ultimatum: she stays away or he moves out.

If he's subletting from you on a month-to-month lease, an ultimatum would mean you could get him out with thirty days' notice. But if he's subletting on a fixed-term lease (e.g. one year), you'll have to wait until that period is up. If he's not subletting, but instead the three of you are co-tenants (if all three of you and the landlord signed a single lease, you're probably co-tenants), you can't actually force him to do anything; all you can do is refuse to renew with him unless he agrees.

In short, though, there's no legal solution here. All you can really do is try to convince him to not be an asshole, and if he won't, get away from him at the earliest opportunity.


Title: Dog attack and hand injury

Question:
My girlfriend, my dog, and I were hiking when a large pitbull and two other people crested a hill.  The pit had no collar or leash and weighed about 100 pounds. My girlfriend quickly picked up our dog as he is a small terrier mix. The pit proceeded to jump up on my girlfriend, grab my dog by the nape of his neck, and rip him from her arms. I jumped on him and tried to pry my dog from its jaws. We beat its head with rocks, stabbed its eye with a stick, and I punched it in the face as hard as I could. At this point I realized that the dog had lost grip on my dog and now only had his harness. We then cut the harness, but the dog grabbed ahold of my puppy by his back leg. My dog and girlfriend then ran away while one of the women (not the dog owner) and myself pinned the pitbull down. My girlfriend set my dog down and he ran ahead of her on the trail. We haven't seen him since. I now have a broken hand from the incident and will have to miss work.

I have the dog owners first name and phone number. How do I proceed?

Answer: contact the dogs owner for medical expenses and other reasonable losses.  you can also contact them to pay for your dogs injuries.  if you aren't able to come to an agreement, then you will have to sue them.


Title: Reported identity fraud and customer service rep used my personal information to add me on social media

Question:
A few weeks ago, I was denied my graduate student loans. I found out it was because I was a victim of identity fraud so I filed a report with the FTC, Equifax, and the “furnisher” i.e., Synchrony Bank. I had never heard of this bank and called them to let them know these charges weren’t mine.

I was very kind to the customer service agent because I know their jobs are rough and tried to remain upbeat and chipper despite the frustration I was dealing with having my identity stolen. The next morning, I had a facebook friend request from the agent who helped me, as well as a follow request on Instagram and an add on Snapchat. My first and last name are listed on my Facebook but not on Snapchat/Instagram, which means he used my phone number to find me.

I was clearly disturbed, but since they said they are sending me a letter and it would take up to 30 days to receive it, I thought it would behoove me to have the representative as a direct contact.

It’s been 3 weeks and I still haven’t received the letter (perhaps because it’s coming from India?) and the rep sends me messages every other day saying things like “hello, beautiful, how are you?” and “you have such a genuine heart and a beautiful soul.”

I just find it ironic that I only met this individual because my privacy was violated and then he used my personal information to his benefit, further violating my privacy.

I’m trying to remain patient while I wait for my letter from Synchrony or Equifax stating that I am not associated with the charges. Do I have any legal rights in this situation?

Answer:
 Their company probably has strict rules against this sort of behavior. I'd definitely file a complaint with them.

>I was clearly disturbed, but since they said they are sending me a letter and it would take up to 30 days to receive it, I thought it would behoove me to have the representative as a direct contact.

No. No. No. No. Wrong. No. The rest of your post clearly highlights why this was a bad idea.

This guy is just some low level call center peon. Not some dude that you have an in with that gives you any sort of advantage. He probably reached the limit of his ability to assist you when you called him.

And anyone who engages in that sort of behavior, as he has, suffers from very questionable judgement. Like r/NiceGuys questionable judgement. You don't want anyone like that within 100 feet of you, under the circumstances you describe.

I would advise you be much more careful with your end of protecting your privacy.Answer #2: Legal rights to what? Defriend the person, and complain to the company if you want


Title: Mail is regularly opened, gift card was just stolen from a locked mail box. California.

Question:
Short version: my mail regularly comes late, and is often opened. A substantial Amazon gift card is missing from a greeting card that appears to be opened deliberately. It left Nevada may 18 and was delivered to Bay Area ca may 31. There is no postmark on the envelope. It was purchased from cvs on a credit card. I filed a report with usps and contacted my local PD. My dad (the sender) contacted Amazon and cvs. They both say the other has the card number, and neither are helping.

Are there any other steps to take? Mail box is locked and only myself and the mail carrier have a key.

Answer:
 you need to call the postmaster, they will set the dogs on your case and postmasters have the "hand of god" when dealing with the sanctity of the U.S. mail, those dudes don't mess about. Call the postoffice, e-mail the postmaster, they have power to help you. meanwhile, call Amazon and tell them the card was stolen, they can, and will work with the post office on where stuff is sent to etc....ezpeezeeAnswer #2: It almost certainly was stolen before it reached your mailbox. Probably at a sorting center. In the future your father should send gift cards via email.

Sorry about your luck...Answer #3: IANAL. File a complaint with the Postal Inspectors.

They are the scariest Federal law enforcement agency that you've never heard of.

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/contactUs/filecomplaint.aspxAnswer #4: The post office had Postal Inspectors for just this occasion. They're surprisingly badass, and they investigate postal fraud and theft.


Title: Can I report a fake pregnancy clinic?

Question:
I live in a town in Alberta Canada

In my city we have a Sexual Health Center and then I recently discovered a new "clinic" open.
Something on their Facebook page showed up on my timeline and when I went through their post history there was a ton of Christian propaganda type of stuff.

So I decided to Google them. More red flags.
They are endorsed by a Christian charity coalition  that did an article on the "clinic". There was a story of a girl that wanted an abortion until they showed her all her options, yada yada she kept the baby and everyone lived happily ever after.
There are no doctors or councillors at this clinic, only "client advocates".
This "clinic" is the first thing to show up on Google when I searched for "(city name) pregnant" and "(city name) abortion clinic"
My city doesn't have an abortion clinic but it does have a Sexual Health Center that has real
councillors and nurses.
Also in "related searches" Birthright International (a pro-life organization) pops up and they also have a location in my city.
Is there anything I can do to report the "clinic" or expose them somehow??
It just makes me sick knowing women are going to go there and get a bunch of bullshit persuasive  advice from people who aren't trained on the subject.

Thank You!

Answer:
 >My city doesn't have an abortion clinic

Abortion clinics are generally not a common thing in Alberta since abortions are dealt with as medical procedures and performed in hospitals or clinics. They don't need their own buildings.

You can try calling alberta health, they may have info on if it is legal for them to call themselves a clinic. You could also contact the alderman who covers that area, but there isn't a lot you can do to shut down a religious resource center for pregnant women.


Title: Roommate mailed pot (CO to CT)

Question:
My roommate mailed a package from CO to CT that had cannabis in it. It was flagged by the postal service. She was told that they would attempt to deliver it in CT and 10 min after she signed for it, the police would come. She was told all of this by a friend who is a postal worker that checked on the status of the package when it didn't arrive as expected.

She said that they would then send the package back to the return address (where I am) if no one signed for it in CT. My name is nowhere on the package. I will not sign for it.

My questions are:

1) What happens if no one signs for it?

2) Is there any way the cops could get a warrant to search my home?

2a) Do they have a right to search my stuff even though the warrant would be because of her activities? We have cannabis in the house, which is legal in CO, but we might have more than the limit per person. Do empty containers count? I work in the cannabis industry and keep my empties so I know what I've tried. Should I throw these away?

Any insight is appreciated!!!

Thank you!

Edit: formatting
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer:
 Your roommate is a giant moron. Yes, there's a good chance that the police could get a warrant. Whether they will or not is an unanswerable question. Answer #2: Clean your house of all contraband. Do this as soon as possible. The feds (USPIS or DEA depending on the amount) will likely be involved involved so legality of marijuana in your state is a non-factor.
Post this to r/ darknetmarkets as the folks there have a lot of knowledge of USPS controlled deliveries, although most likely they'll just make fun of you
*edit: if they attempt a controlled delivery at your house, do not sign for it, do not take possession of the package, do not speak to law enforcement. Refuse to speak to them without an attorney. Never do this again.


Title: [Texas] Gave money to man playing violin, was written a citation for impeding traffic. [UPDATE since Pretrial]

Question:
Click [here](https://redd.it/4pyiow) to see the previous post about what is going on.

**Update**

I went to my Pretrial hearing last week and represented myself. I was called back and spoke with the Assistant City Prosecutor(? not 100% sure if that was who she was, but I know for a fact it was NOT the actual city prosecutor). She showed me the "evidence" they had before I said anything.

**Dash cam Evidence** -
It starts off on the side of the road and it shows all the cars in the first lane to the left at the red stop light. I come into the footage walking to the violin case and placing the money into it, and then it shows me walking away. I was in the footage for a total of 3 seconds. It then shows the officer walking towards the road yelling at me, turning around, and then walking back to his patrol car. The entire time it shows the stop light still red but my vehicle was not in the footage.

After the video ended she said, "You were clearly impeding traffic, that no emergency vehicle could of passed by you because you were out of your vehicle and would of been unable to move it."

I said, "In all due respect, I disagree. I was cited under Texas Transportation code 545.363. As you are probably fully aware that it states the following : *An operator may not drive so slowly as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.*  By myself being at that stoplight, I was in compliance with the law. "

She pulled out her law book and started flipping through pages. She looked up and said "Well I know the intent of the officers and that they wanted to give you a citation for being outside of your vehicle and it unattended. So I'm going to talk to the officers and see if they want to amend the citation to the correct charge, which would likely be a parking one or I will dismiss it entirely. So we can either reset this pretrial and have it again, or just go straight to trial, it is up to you."

I decided to reset to have another pretrial in hopes that it is dismissed. Any advice or thoughts into the whole process and what type of new charge will be placed upon me?

Thank you.

Answer:
 What a complete waste of State time and resources.Answer #2: Moral of the story is not to correct them on their mistakes and let it go to court so that they can't amend the charges to the correct oneAnswer #3: I'm unclear about this. Are you saying that you were driving, and at a red light, you got out of your car (while it was still in a traffic lane, but the light was red) to put money in a violin case? And that a cop cited you for "impeding traffic"?

And your defense is "My car was out of sight of the dash cam, so you can't prove where I was, and besides, we were stopped anyway, so I couldn't have been impeding traffic that wasn't moving"?Answer #4: >So we can either reset this pretrial and have it again, or just go straight to trial, it is up to you.

Or, option 3, you drop the charges and stop wasting tax payer resources.Answer #5: >what type of new charge

Illegal parking, would be my guess.


Title: Parental rights and signing them away?

Question:
State : I live in NY, Ex-wife is in OH

So I have two children from my previous marriage that ended last year. The mother was granted custody ( Obviously ). I moved to NY to be with family while the divorce was in process. A bit of backstory should be noted that I left my wife for her infidelity and abusive nature , both physically and emotionally. She ended up getting back together with someone she cheated on me with a few days after I told her to leave my house and that it was over. I lost my house in OH and moved in with family in NY while the divorce was in process. Over the past year I would call frequently and beg to see my kids which she would always refuse. My girls would call me daddy and could hear in the background all the time them being yelled at because " Ex wife's boyfriend is your new daddy now, etc". When she was granted custody I still tried to get her to agree to visitation while calling frequently  ( which I should note it was hard to get her to answer the phone, she would pick up maybe 1 of the 10 times I would call), and she always refused. Fast forward to a week or so ago when I received a message from her boyfriend telling me to stop texting my ex wife or my number would be blocked. I texted every morning after work with the simple message "are the girls awake so I can call them " because she was using th excuse that they were sleeping for why my phone calls were never answered or returned. I told him it was not his business and that I have been respectful, stressing that because I knew anything I said may effect their reaction. The past two weeks I call twice a day and it always rings once and goes straight to voicemail so I'm sure he has made her block me. I have texts where she told me that my kids were not mine, she knew they were the product of her multiple infidelities and she only said they were mine so I would support her until her now boyfriend was ready to be done with drugs. How can I sign my rights away? I am scared to because if I have any future children, I read they will be taken away from me immediately. I don't really want to sign my rights away,  but I am barely staying afloat paying child support for two children who are most likely not mine and I will never be allowed to contact. I brought how she's been being up to the court but they shrugged it off and basically told me I would have to hire a lawyer to ask for a paternity and then pay for the tests themselves and I can't afford this at all. I don't want to sign my rights but with how toxic their mother is it might be best to just sever ties until they are old enough to know better and seek me out ? But with my current relationship, I don't want any kids we might have to be taken from us should we decide to. Can anyone offer any help?

Answer: You need an Ohio family law attorney to sort this out. Your divorce attorney should be able to help you. Some of this (visitation and contact schedules) should have been set down in the divorce decree. Answer #2: You're not going to be able to sign away rights to children to whom you are the legal father (regardless of biology) until somebody else adopts them or their biological father steps up (and it is very difficult in Ohio to overcome the presumption that you are the father of your wife's children; DNA may not even be sufficient). However, as their legal father you have the right to ask for a court order establishing a visitation schedule, including reasonable telephone contact.


Title: [PA] Girlfriend's father passed away. Now her brother is evicting her mother from her home of 20 years.

Question:
My girlfriend's father passed away unexpectedly in the last week of April. His home was left to my girlfriend and her brother. Her brother then said that her mother (his stepmother) would be evicted at the end of May. The mother has barely had time to grieve, let alone find a new home. She's lived in this home for 20 years, but he says that if she isn't out by May 31st, he'll have her forcibly removed.

Is there anything we can do to help her mother? Can he really evict her like that in such a short time? We're at a loss of what to do, and we just don't want her to end up homeless.

Edit:
Her mother and Father weren't married. Just together 20 years. The father's will was from 2005 and very dated. Her brother is much older and a high up lawyer. So he's been using that to slide through the process without her. He also strongly dislikes her mother, and he doesn't want to continue putting money into keeping the utilities on another month. She can't really afford an attorney. So what would her best option be?

Answer: First, in order to remove any tenant they must be given proper notice, which is often 30 days and in writing but varies by State. Secondly, if the gf is partial owner of the house and has given permission for her to live there, then she can't be evicted by the brother.  Thirdly, under no circumstances can the owner forcibly remove a tenant on their own. The Sheriff does the actual removal if the eviction order is granted.Answer #2: Why the hell didn't the dad leave a clause that said the wife could live there until she died and then be given to the children???  These are issues that will always come up.  My grandma knew we wouldn't want to sell her farm because it has been in the family for over 100 years - but none of us farmed.  She made it easy and said the farm must be sold and profits split.  Talk to your family before you die and write a will!!!!!!!  My husband and I have young children and have already made wills that let everyone know what we want done with our kids.


Title: Contractor Nightmare in RI

Question:
Apologies in advance for the length of this, Tl;dr at the bottom. We are currently under contract with a general contractor for some major renovations to our house. It has been a terrible experience so far and I need to know how to fire him. For reference my house is about 250 years old and my bathroom is less than 40 sq ft. We are having no tile work done and the shower is a tub base and surround walls. We we're told that the bathroom should be completed in 2 weeks and the total house project would take about 5 weeks. This also included wall removal, floor bracing, and major roof work.

A dumpster was delivered to our house on April 27th in preparation for the work and so we could use it to empty out some stuff from our house. He texted me on May 12th to say he was going to pull permits for the work. He started work in the bathroom on June 1st after a 2 week delay for some family issues which we were very understanding about. He texted me he was running late that morning, NBD we were just excited to get the work finally going. On that day he completely gutted the bathroom of any usable plumbing and installed an outdoor shower because the only thing left in the bathroom was the toilet. He forgot the plug for the shower so it was unusable that day. He said he would bring it the next day. We said that was fine.

June 2nd he texted and said he had a Dr appointment and would be late. He ended up only making it to install the plug so the shower would work because his Dr kept him all day because of serious health tests, but he was going to come and work Saturday. I said ok, hope you feel better. He called Saturday because he couldn't  because he was having a grandchild but was sorry and would definitely be here on Monday. I said ok, congrats, see you Monday. He texted Sunday night to see what time he could come and said he would be here at 8.

Monday June 5th came and he couldn't come because he had to watch his other grandchild because the mom just had a baby and no one came to release him from babysitting duty.

He came on Tuesday June 6th and started taking one of the walls down on another part of our house, but didn't do much work on the bathroom. I spoke with him that night and sent him photos of the flooring, shower unit, vanity, and lighting that we wanted.

Wednesday the 7th he didn't show up. I contacted him because we had, at that point, been without a shower/sink inside for almost a full week. He called and said he had been in the hospital all day, but was feeling much better and he would be here on Thursday.

He showed up Thursday June 8th and prepped to put in the new floor and sub-floor and sprayed the walls for mold. He also continued work on the wall upstairs.

Friday June 9th he called me to say that he didn't want to pull a permit, which I thought he had already pulled, and the electrician had been there and he was concerned that if the building inspector came out they would probably be a lot more work we would be required to do.  I said, ok you're the contractor do what you do. You know what's going on. The shower walls and tub were put in, but only mounted to one place in the wall, plywood was put down on the floor and the toilet was replaced so we would have it for the weekend. He was coming Saturday the 10th to do more work.

Our toilet sprung a major leak Friday night, June 9th, and we had to shut off the water main, it also was leaking into the basement when flushed and wasn't flushing properly. I texted him Saturday morning about the problem and he showed up about 1.5 hours later than he said he would be there. He fixed the leak in the house, but not the one in the basement, and left to go to Home Depot to get the flooring and some other materials. He never came back and when I texted him he said the they took an hour to get the flooring down and then he figured out he bought the wrong floor and had to go back and get the right flooring, by the time it was done it was late and he thought he texted me but forgot to press send.

Monday June 12th he came and leveled out the floor and brought the new flooring but did nothing with the toilet. I texted him that night that the flooring was ok, but we really needed to have the toilet fixed because it wasn't flushing right, it was leaking sewage into the basement, and the toilet was now also leaking at the base getting the new subfloor all wet. He said he would make sure to fix that Tuesday because he needed to put in all new plumbing for that issue.

Tuesday June 13th I get a text that he is very ill and was admitted to the hospital the night prior, but he called someone to come and fix the toilet. I got home, the toilet hadn't been touched and it was obvious no one had been at my home. When I texted him to ask, I apologized for home feeling badly and just needed to know that if he wasn't feeling well he was going to have someone here to fix the toilet because..ya know...sewage. The response I got from him was that he would be here the next day, but we could hire someone new if we wanted, he would understand, but our bathroom is a week behind and he just found out he has a year to live! Ok...I apologized for that, said we didn't have anyone else in mind to hire and asked what time he would be here in the morning. He said "8:30-9:00. Not looking for sympathy, just saying."

Now We're at the 14th, we had such a bad clog in the toilet from it not flushing right that it overflowed all over the new sub-floor and leaked right through to the basement. He showed up and pulled the toilet off and it was clogged, but also when he replace the toilet the Friday prior, he didn't replace the wax ring, so the old wax ring got stuck up in the toilet drain and that was our issue. He also said we had a main drain clog, but I wasn't here for that and we had no issues with the toilet prior to it being pulled off. I spoke with him that morning about him not finishing up the other work on our home and only completing the bathroom. He seems to have some serious health issues and I didn't want him to feel obligated because of the contract when his health is so dire. I didn't want him to have half the roof finished and him need to be admitted to the hospital again. He called me later that night after fixing the toilet to make sure it was working and wanted to let me know he understood if we wanted to hire someone else, but he now has hire more guys to be working with him and he thinks they can knock out the job in no time. I told him we talk about it, but I couldn't make the decision and I would get back to him.

Thursday the 15th, I waited around a bit for him and then texted him to see if he was running late, because I wanted to speak with him but needed to go to work. Apparently his truck broke down and he would be late. I said that was fine my bf could talk to him when he gets home. A few hours later he texts me and says he is going to pull a permit to "cover himself" because we think a 250 year old house should be done in a week or two. He has never had a deadline and his bath remodels can take 3-4 weeks. I told him that we were just going off the time-frame that he gave us when we signed the contract and that if he wanted to pull a permit that's fine. He was the one who said that he didn't want to pull it. He texted back to say that "Sometimes in old houses you can open up a can of worms and setbacks can cause days of delays. Everybody wants things done in 2-3 days. IMPOSSIBLE. I really don't like working on jobs when people are unhappy!!"

I responded with a type of WTF text just stating facts that we haven't caused the delays, we haven't been rude or yelled at him, we haven't given him a deadline. He set up the payment plan on a 5 week schedule and he was pretty confident at that time the work would be completed in that time frame. I told him I didn't like being treated as unreasonable since we have been so understanding and it isn't unreasonable for us to ask for a completion date. The work hasn't been done because he has only worked a total of 6 days out of 15 days, and they haven't been full days because he isn't here when I leave for work at 7:15 or when my BF gets home at 3:30. That is why the work isn't done.

He did not respond to this text so I texted him again to ask when he was going to come back to finish the work. He didn't respond to that so I called and left him a message to which he finally responded. He said he was waiting for the permit and should have it June 16th.

Friday June 16th came, his truck was still broken and he needed to go to the town hall for the permit. I called him last night because he didn't show up again and asked him since he has the permit now what is the plan to complete the bathroom. He said he now has his crew back and him and 3 guys will be here on Monday June 19th to finish the project "so quickly, you will be surprised." He stated that since he got the permit he needed to get an electrician in to rewire the bathroom and I asked him about the cost of that and he said he would eat it. In looking over my contract again I did notice that is included in the price of our bathroom remodel...He texted me this morning that now he needs to find a plumber and the plumber will need to pull a permit as well to do work on the bathroom. I don't know why he didn't tell me this last night on the phone when I was speaking to him but, ok.

At this point because of the payment schedule, we have paid him $1000 over what the bathroom should have cost, which was $8,500. From my estimation he has only purchased a little less than $800 worth of materials for this project and has worked a total of 6 days. We still have no running water or plumbing in the bathroom and the "new sub-floor" is now warped because of the major leak that we had.

How do we fire him and get our money back for this? I understand that getting a refund may require us to take him to court, but I have documentation on all of our conversations and dated pictures so I don't think that he can win if we take him to court. I just want to make sure we fire him properly so we don't end up screwing ourselves.

Tl;dr- Contractor gutted my bathroom over 2 weeks ago, installed an outdoor shower, which we have had to use in some really strange NE weather and still has not completed any part of the job. He left us with an unflushable toilet and also let raw sewage leak into our basement for 5 days. We paid him over the amount he is owed due to the payment schedule and the other work we hired him for. How do we fire him and get our money back?

Answer:
 You have to sue them, but the laws are heavily in favor of shady contractors.     Hopefully you win a judgement against them and they actually have the money to pay you.

He most likely will just file his company for bankruptcy and keep doing this to people under a new company.

Any contractor asking for the full amount before the work is complete is scamming you.

If you already fully paid him, your best option is to bug him until he actually finishes the job.  But do not give them any more money.


Title: My girlfriend is being forced to move towns due to her rapist father moving back in

Question:
To make the long story short: her dad molested her and her sister when they were very young; her older sister pressed charges later; he was arrested yet her mother decided to stay with him; he served about 4 years in prison and now he's about to get out on parole and move back in to my gf's mother's and father's home with her mother; now my gf(21) is being told he must stay away from her in a 35 mile radius, but our town is only about a 15 mile radius, meaning she'll have to uproot her life to accommodate this, including moving schools, quitting her jobs, and moving away from me. She does not want this restraining order, at least not at this length, and she would like to stay here. What can she do? Can she fight to lower the restraining order to a reasonable distance or remove it entirely? Could she simply change her address on paper to say she is at her grandmother's house and stay here? This is in California by the way.

Edit: Basically what she, her mother, and I are getting from the parole board is that his living situation will be examined and if he is not 35 miles from my gf's residence, they won't allow him parole.

Edit 2: I understand the ideal solution is that he would move, but sadly that's not going to happen, so I need solutions for our current problem.

Answer: Uhm.. That isnt how it works. He stays away from her. Not the other way around. She doesnt have to move.


Title: [PA] We started a 3d printed prosthetics club at a university under their knowledge and the legal services of the university now realized the liability is too high and wants to shut us down.

Question:
Our club focuses on the design and production of 3d printed prosthetics. The liability rests in the word production. They see us as liable for the production and don't want in the case of a failed prosthetic. The university lawyers are trying to bully us to stop our club so that they can save their own necks. Some of our members even went to legal services and were essentially intimidated and asked to cease and desist. We have crowd funded over 16,000 dollars and because of this we feel that we aren't being allowed to complete the tasks we basically promised to fulfill. The university itself has also said no waiver would be enough to cover them from liability is this true? Please any advice would be much appreciated we are only a group of undergraduate students trying to do something nice in the world and we are being quietly stomped on.

Sorry this is a first time post and I am trying to keep things vague but also detailed. I can edit the post or Message me for more details that I should add.

**EDIT** These are free prosthetics given to children in need not being sold or used for profit only humanitarian effort to help disabled children

Answer:
 No private messages here, sorry.

> The university lawyers are trying to bully us to stop our club so that they can save their own necks.

Then start a company off of campus grounds and get your own attorney to help with incorporation and other steps you will need.  Almost no institutions permit students to run a business on university property anyway.


Title: Filed a complaint against manager for sexual harassment; nothing happened. Now what?

Question:
I (22/f) was enduring endless, daily sexual harassment from my boss (55/m) - telling me that he thought I was probably good at giving head and wanted me to give him a bj, encouraging me to wear tighter clothes so he could see my body better. A different manager noticed this and told me that he could roll me off the project if I felt uncomfortable, which I thought was a bizarre way of dealing with things. Finally, I told someone else in the organization who brought it up to HR.

HR then called me and asked 1,000 questions and began their "investigation." They proceeded to interview every member of my all-male team, who I'm sure did not give up any real information because they were my boss's golden children and were afraid to say anything against him.

After the investigation, I realized that although I'm not on his team anymore, he still works at the company. What are my options?

EDIT1: I work at a "zero tolerance policy" when it comes to sexual harassment and this occurred in New York City although my company is global in nature.

Answer:
 It sounds like they took care of the problem.  They're not required to fire the guy.

Have you been demoted, pay cut, working on dummy-projects, or anything else adverse to your employment status?


Title: Stepmom said my dad beat her.

Question:
This may be long. I'm posting for my dad.

TL;DR: crazy stepmom attacked my dad and then told police he beat her up.

Background: My dad and stepmom live right on a lake in Texas. July third my stepmom sent a picture of her holding a 9mm in her mouth with her finger on the trigger. My dad had left to go stay with a friend to get away from her for a while. When things calmed down he told her if she ever did that again that was it because he wasn't going to live with "crazy." He took both guns that were in the house and hid them in the attic but told her he threw them in the lake.

Fast forward a month and her and my dad get into an argument again and she starts sending him all these texts saying she's not scared of him and she's gonna beat his ass etc etc. well after this all calms down again she gets ahold of my dads phone and deletes all the texts saying she's gonna beat him up and when my dad realized she deleted them he put a lock on his phone.

Situation: August 2. When she saw the lock on his phone she went off the deep end and started texting things life "if you can't forgive me then I'll jus remove myself from your life" and telling him he's not a Christian. He's responding with telling her he can't be with someone whose crazy and puts a gun in their mouth.

Now they are both texting each other from inside the house at this point. According to dad he walked into the living room/kitchen area and she came at him with a butcher knife. He said he threw his arms wide and asked her if she was going to put him out of his misery. She threw down the knife and the handle shattered on the tile and she reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt and tore it off him. Then she grabbed his shorts and tore those off( the shorts only had a safety pin holding them closed). She then grabbed him by the testicles and in response my dad said he bear hugged her and they went to the ground. When she still wouldn't let go he put her in a headlock until she did let go. She then ran down the pier, got in their boat and left.

Once she leaves she starts texting my dad that she's going to kill herself because her husband doesn't love her. One of her last texts was that she had slit her wrists and was bleeding out. (Obviously not true). And while she's supposedly bleeding out she continues to text my dad insults.

Two days later she goes to the police department and wants to press charges against my dad for beating her. She then has a sheriff meet her at the house to pick up her things. On August 7th a sheriff shows up at my dads to take his statement about what happened and my dad explains it all and shows the officer the texts between them and the picture of her holding a gun in her mouth. The sheriff told my dad he needed to talk to the judge and have her committed. My dad went down to the courthouse on Monday but the judge wouldn't talk to him because he didn't have the full report yet. His assistant told him to all her on Wednesday but he could give the print out of the texts and the picture to the officer in charge of his case so my dad did that.

This morning my stepmom showed up at the house on the boat and sat at the end of the pier. Well, we're not sure what time she showed up because she was there when we got up in the morning(I'd been there with him since Saturday). She called the house phone and left a message saying that whoever my dad had in the guest house they needed to leave because that was her house. Well no one was in there, my dad just had everything locked. She called the sheriff saying my dad was locking her out and my dad called saying she was trespassing. This is a tiny town so very small police force so no one came out but the sheriff called my dad and told him that she has every legal right to be there and he can't make her leave unless she attacks him or damages property. He told my dad that he recommended to her that she leave but he couldn't force her to and she told him she was having someone from another city come pick her up. She left in the boat after sitting on the pier for two hours.

Then later that day the sheriff called my dad back and said that the judge had issued a warrant for his arrest and they were going to help him out by not coming out to arrest him today but he needed to report to the sheriffs office at 8am tomorrow morning to be booked.

If your still with me thank you so much for hanging in there. My question is, what can/does my dad need to do? He can make bail tomorrow but knowing that she can come to the house and there's nothing he can do about it...my dad is scared of what she will do. He scared for his life on one hand but doesn't want to abandon the house because he's worked his entire life to be able to be where he is.

I should also mention he got laid off 14 months ago and has been doing small side jobs to try and get his bills paid, including medical bills for both of them because of an undisclosed issue in the house when my dad purchased it. They've only been married a year and the house was purchased before the marriage.

Sorry it's all jumbled. I'll try to answer any questions as best I can. Any help is appreciated.

Answer: He should hire and lawyer and ask the lawyer to get the content of those text messages from the phone company.


Title: Bank of America inadvertently got me arrested for not informing them that I was traveling.

Question:
[removed]
Topic:
Removed

Answer:
 BoA put a hold on your account when someone tried to use your card in a location that you don't normally use your card.  That's totally legal for them to do.  As soon as you found out that your card was on hold due to possible fraud, you should have called BoA, and authenticated yourself over the phone, and explained the situation.  They would have immediately removed the hold and your card would have been working and the merchant could have retried to place their denied charge.  Answer #2: you need to edit your post as there are at least two typos which make it impossible to determine what actually happened.

>Bank drove me to a banking center.

what?

>Police said that I had to give him my spare phone as a tip.

what? Are you absolutely sure that's what they said? Answer #3: Let me see if I've got this straight. You [post your tale to AskReddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/46qhrs/bank_of_america_inadvertently_got_me_arrested_i/?sort=confidence), where it gets removed. You post it here to /r/legaladvice after you made the following comment:

> Yea. I figure I'd start making Reddit posts about it. See if one post takes off. They'll likely refund me my costs incured to delete them all

> I'm going to try several different reddits...hopefully one gets upvoted. I'll try to play with the titles some.

> Any suggestions for which ones next?

Answer #4: Not legal advice but it's always good to have at least $100 in cash on you when traveling, usually hidden.


Title: Father of my child claimed our son, it was rejected and he's refiling to claim him again. (Missouri)

Question: The father of my son let's call him J, does very little in terms of care and providing. J makes nearly twice what I do and contributes very little to the care for my son. We live in the same home currently. He is not dependable. I buy all the food, clothes and medicine for my son. He's selfish with his money, spending a lot of it on beer, weed and fast food. I struggle to get bills paid while having to buy everything my son needs. He gets very angry and verbal abusive toward me when I ask him to help me care for him. He often drops him off with his parents on his days off. I've been depending on this tax return to help me get a lawyer to get child support and a custody agreement. I filed and claimed my son for obvious reasons, I provide 90% of his needs. His father filed after me and his claim was rejected for claiming him after I did. He's going to refile and claim him again so I lose my refund. Is there anything I can do to stop him? We are unmarried and not in a relationship we've been seperated a year.

Answer:
 You cannot control how/what people file.

The IRS will inquire when they see a dependent is claimed by 2 parties.  You can then show your proof.Answer #2: No. He can do whatever he wants. It is unlikely that refiling will change what the IRS already did.


Title: Legality of random drug test (r/trees x-post)

Question:
Hello all.  I live and work in a medical marijuana state.  Last year when I started the job their employee handbook specifically outlined the random testing policy saying you can and will be randomly tested which we had to sign off on.   Last year we were purchased by a new company.  Starting January 1 the new ownership company rolled out its own hand book (which we had to sign again) with ZERO mention of random testing, but it specifically says test will only be issued if an accident occurs or they have REASONABLE suspicion that you are under the influence of an ILLEGAL substance AT WORK.  No mention whatsoever of random testing.  Not to mention the fact that it specifically states “illegal substances”.  We were also told specifically we’d be abiding by the new handbook only going forward. This week 4 people were randomed middle of the day for absolutely no reason.  If they were to come back positive and fired, because of the new handbook wording could they take legal action for wrongful termination?  I’m assuming the HR dept hasn’t read through the new handbook as thoroughly as I.  Looking for thoughts on this.  Thanks!

Edit: located in Ohio.

Answer: Marijuana is very much an illegal drug.  You cannot claim wrongful termination if you are fired for using it.Answer #2: What state? Laws vary on random drug tests. And weed is an illegal substance in the USAnswer #3: There is a reason you're asked to provide location.  Do you have a prescription for medical use?Answer #4: State is not optional.


Title: [OK] Wisdom tooth extraction fail.

Question: So I went to the dentist to have my 3 of my wisdom teeth pulled. 2 were impacted one was not. The dentist (not oral surgeon) pulled the first one that wasn't impacted no problem. Then he started working on. My lower left after 4 hours on one tooth he broke the top part off and the roots are still encased in my jaw. Since he did that he out gauze in my mouth and sent me on my way. Now my mouth is on fire with pain. I can't talk or eat or even open my mouth to try and eat. What do I do reddit.

Answer: Go to the hospital.


Title: [NY] Fell asleep while driving and knocked over a road sign. How screwed am I?

Question: So basically I was running on very little sleep, overestimated my ability to drive, and accidently ran through a road sign. What's the most likely outcome for this? Losing my license? A massive fine? Jail time?

Answer: Did you report it or flee the scene?  Be ready to pay for repairs at the very least


Title: [MD] A store gave me boots and told me I can pay later. Do I have to pay?

Question: I received a $125 voucher from my work to get boots from a certain store. I picked out a nice pair of $250 boots and was ready to pay the difference, but the cashier had trouble applying the voucher due to a recent software change. The cashier said he didn't want to hold me up and told me to take the boots now and that I could pay the difference over the phone later when they figured out how to apply the voucher. He took down my name and email and he also still has my voucher which has my company name and employee number on it, but he doesn't have any credit card information or my address. I am wondering if I can get in any legal trouble if I decide to keep the boots and not answer the store's phone calls. Most of my coworkers have told me that I can definitely keep the boots and not pay because the store messed up by giving them to me but I feel like the store might be able to do something since I don't have a receipt saying that I paid for the boots. I'd appreciate any advice.

Answer: You work with a bunch of dishonest people. Don't take any more advice from them.  Do you really need to be told that you have to do what you agreed to do?  Answer #2: Yes, you must pay. You agreed to pay them. Not paying them and taking the boots would be stealing and you could get in legal trouble for it. Answer #3: Yes. You can be charged with theft.


Title: (Wisconsin) one roommate allows police in while the other denies them entry

Question:
This is not an actual situation but rather a hypothetical situation that I need help with for a criminal justice class.

Both roommates are in their dorm when the police knock on the door. One roommate says that they cannot come in but the other roommate says they can.

Are the police allowed to come in or not?

Answer:
 The U.S. Supreme Court dealt with this very issue in [*Georgia v. Randolph*, 547 U.S. 103 (2006)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-1067.ZO.html).  It held that if a physically-present co-occupant refuses to permit entry to the police, then any warrantless entry and search is unreasonable and therefore invalid as to that co-occupant.  The police can still come in, but anything they find will be subject to suppression.

However, nothing prevents the cooperating co-occupant from telling the police what he or she knows, or delivering evidence to the police, so that they can go and get a warrant to come back for a search.


Title: [KY] I work at a public school and have been suspended with pay due to putting a nurse's initials on a medical document. What are the possible consequences and what should I do?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 So you're forging initials and signing things that you haven't done? You can (and should) expect to be fired and possibly blacklisted. #3 is nothing but #1 and #2 show terrible judgement especially not counting medication and then certifying that you did count it. If you go to a lawyer there very well may tell you to resign immediately and not to answer any questions otherwise you may risk criminal charges. Answer #2: NAL.

Holy cow.  Medical professional (serving kids) breaking basic rules left and right?  I think there are pretty good odds that you will be fired and blacklisted. And if I had kids under your care, I would hope that’s the case.

The excuses you provide (“context” as you called it), go to prove that you cut corners to make your job easier.


Title: [Seattle Area, WA] Questions about alcohol and driving.

Question:
A few friends and I want to go to a party in Seattle.

I'm 17, the other riders are 18 and 18. The driver is 19 or 20. None of us are 21.

We'll likely be getting drunk at the party in Seattle. My question is, if we get pulled over then is anyone in trouble?

This is what I'm theorizing:

-The driver presents I.D if pulled over

-If requested, the driver will test on a breathalyzer and blow a straight zero.

-If any of the passengers are asked by the officer about their sobriety, we are all within our rights to decline to answer.

-The officer will have no way of knowing that we're under the age of 21, or that I'm under the age of 18. If asked for I.D, I will say "No thank you. I'm not operating a motor vehicle and am not required to present I.D."

Any holes in this plan?

Answer:
 You have to provide ID if asked -- it doesn't matter whether you're operating a vehicle or not.

The officer can use behavior and smell to search the car (check for open containers and the like) and to determine if underage people have been drinking.

As a daily drinker I can assure you that booze -- let alone "getting drunk" quantities of booze -- smell.


Title: Had a night out underage drinking, can't remember much but I got destroyed by a police officer, have a court date and don't even know what I'm being charged with. [PICTURES INCLUDED]

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Well you can start by not pretending we're stupid.  Don't tell us you weren't blackout drunk and then immediately after say you blacked out.  Don't pretend that you are reasonable person while blackout drunk, as that is false.  You are probably scraped up (you have no idea what "destroyed" is) because you were assaulting police officers and got hurt while they tried to restrain you.

Get an attorney, go to your court date, make better choices.Answer #2: Get a lawyer and show up to your court date.

Don't blame things on the police that you can't prove.

(PS: That isn't even close to "destroyed.")Answer #3: >so I wasn't blackout drunk(which I have been quite a few times, so yes I know what it's like and this wasn't it). My memory cuts off there.

You know blackout drunk is a description of when your memory cuts off right?

Show up to your court date. Then decide of you want to admit to knowing what really happened or if you want to admit to taking some kind of drug that fucked your memory in a major way. The "I was a totally reasonable person in control of my actions and yet too drunk to have any idea what happened" line will not convince a judge.

Also get a lawyer. Answer #4: Call a criminal defense attorney tomorrow morning because you're about to have a very expensive lesson in drinking in moderation. Also, don't drink while underage.


Title: Wrongful Termination?!

Question: I was working my machine at my job in  a factory when this cute girl walks by. She caught my eye, so I yelled a compliment at her she laughed and walked away. Later I was confronted by my boss who proceeded to bitch me out and then fire me for "sexual harassment" This obviously seems like wrongful termination. What is my best recourse against this sexism?

Answer:
 >What is my best recourse against this sexism?

Stop shouting sexually driven comments in the workplace.


Title: Attempting to collect large money sum won in a judgment against a former employer

Question:
My wife won a large sum of money in a wrongful termination case against a company based out of California. The company claimed that they were going into bankruptcy and wouldn't be able to pay, which the former CEO said under oath. We are currently in the process of trying to collect. We haven't yet hired a collections firm because they take 30% which is a large amount of money, we are trying to see if we can collect on our own, which will be very tricky.

&#x200B;

Most recent development is that I have a writ of execution and affidavit for writ of execution which we are sending to their bank's legal department, which I feel will be fruitless. Our next step will be to go through a process serving company and the US Marshalls which will have all the necessary documentation to serve them with the writ and a levy.

&#x200B;

Here's the rub: In doing research on this company, the former CEO that testified under oath about their bankruptcy is now working for a different company. This company not only sells the same product, but if you call the OLD company's corporate line, they answer and call back with the NEW company's name. I feel like they did a company name change etc. because the old company was a sinking ship, but they are now just going under the new companies name. Even if we deliver all of the proper legal documents and serve the company, or their bank, perhaps the old company will no longer exist along with their old bank account, since they are operating under a new name.

&#x200B;

How do we collect?

Answer: When things start getting complicated like this you hire a law firm or collections agency that deals with this regularly.  Depending on the circumstances surrounding the change in name the “new” company may or may not be legally obligated on the judgment.  It’s past the basics which we can advise you on, which would be to issues writs on the banks where they do business and perhaps try to do also do so on companies that might owe them money.


Title: [PA]Age of consent ?

Question: Hello, I'm a guy in highschool ( senior ) who's  considering asking out a girl.  I'm just little nervous legalities regarding age of consent .

Answer:
 The age of consent in PA is 16.  There are also "Romeo and Juliet laws" that make it legal for a 13,14, or 15 year old to consent to have sex with their peers within 4 years of age.  [This](http://www.pcar.org/laws-policy/age-consent) site has links to that info.

If you are over 18, it's worth noting that PA also has a "corruption of minors" law linked [here](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=18&div=0&chpt=63) that might be relevant if you are over 18.  I'm having trouble finding a firm answer on how that meshes with the age of consent.  But from what I'm reading if you are over 18 the safest bet is to not have sex with anyone under 18.  If you are under 18 then you should stay within the age ranges in the age of consent laws above.


Title: Is there a difference between IP and IP rights?

Question:
This is more of a phrasing question, and I'm sorry if this doesn't belong in this sub, but:

If you were to buy the rights to a piece of work/art, would you say "I'm buying the IP" or "I'm buying the rights to the IP?"
Or, in other words:
Would someone say "I've got the IP rights to this project" or "I've got the project's IP?"

Or is this specification unnecessary?
Thank you all in advance.

Answer: You can own the intellectual property. You can own the right to the use the intellectual property. You can own both. You can own neither.


Title: Responding officer didn't do anything?

Question: So yesterday my father was being an asshole to my mother and was gonna take her car for no reason even though she had to go to work, was yelling at her, and making her cry. As he has done on multiple occasions not only to her but to me as well, not only verbally but mentally and physically. he is diabetic and gets hypoglycemic and its like arguing with a 12 year old. So I decided to stand up for her and told him that if he didn't stop being an asshole I was going to beat his ass. He stopped being an ass almost immediately. About 10 minutes later though he tells me that if I ever touch him that he is going to shoot me. So being the smart mouth I am I tell him to try me, well he goes into his room and grabs his gun. He then comes over to where I was sitting pulled it out and said "don't think I won't". So at this point I leave the house, call 911, and head over to my friends house. I wouldn't have called 911 if it wasn't for the fact that for a few minutes I was scared for my life. I then tell the dispatcher what adress I was at. After that I wait about an hour and a half before calling 911. The dispatcher gives me the number for the responding officer. I call that officer up and he dismissed the case because I threatened him and he didn't want me to get into trouble. I then explained to the officer that I didn't want my dad to own guns anymore because he has shown on other occasions that he doesn't have the right mental capacities to own a gun. And he just told me to go to talk to someone named Robert _____ in one of the court thingy places about getting his guns away and placing a protection order against him. This is not the first time someone in my family has placed a protection order against him. I was told today by an ex cop that the way the officer handled the situation was completely wrong and that I should talk to his manager. Btw I am 18 edit: I guess I'm supposed to put my location so... Miami township Milford Ohio

Answer:
 What did you want the officer to do?

He got there, talked to your dad, got one side of the story, and made a decision based on what information he had.

The police cannot legally just take someone's guns away because you want them to.

If you believe he is a danger, go get a restraining order, or other court order to have him give up his guns.


Title: Can a woman get child support from her baby daddy's wife?

Question: I am posting for my coworker (we'll call J) who is married to a man that has 4 kids with another woman. This woman is claiming she is going to take J's money and get child support from her. This woman is already taking over half of J's husband's check each week even though she makes $5 more an hour than him. What is the law behind this for Oklahoma regarding receiving child support from someone who is not a parent of the children?  Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer:
 Advice for you:

Don't use the phrase "Babby daddy" It makes you sound immature.

Take all third party horror stories about child support with a very large grain of salt. People will only give you their half of the story. the rest of this story is very different.

Advice for J: Get a consult from a family law attorney in your area. Share with them the details of the child support agreement, and see if they advise revisiting the current agreement.


Title: My employer went to cancel someone else's insurance and accidentally canceled mine instead.

Question:
Edit-Oregon

I work for a large company (hundreds of employees) and have health insurance for myself as well as my family through them.

We recently received a hospital bill saying that the insurance claim was rejected.  Then the insurance company, when I called, said that my employer filed to cancel my insurance two months prior. My employer originally denied this, but then admitted that they meant to cancel the insurance of someone with a similar name, and accidentally canceled mine while keeping the other guy's open.

Meanwhile they had continued to take out insurance premiums and I get a health insurance statement and newsletter with each paycheck so I had no way to know that my insurance was canceled.

Employer says to work with insurance, then insurance says to talk to employer. Back to employer, who says work with the hospital to get the fees reduced.  (The hospital did tell me they can put me on a payment plan until it gets sorted out, but if it DOESN'T get sorted out I will still have to pay the full balance, payment plan or not).

My employer did a direct deposit with my paycheck of the premiums for the past 3 months (which had been taken out of my check) and says my insurance will be active again starting 9/1, but obviously I don't want my premiums back, I want my $60k hospital bill covered.

Are there any laws that protect me in this case? Who should I focus on fighting through this with, my employer or the insurance? And is there a specific type of lawyer I can look into if it gets that far?

Answer:
 Before you get lawyers involved, do this:

Contact the person in your HR department who is responsible for dealing with the health insurer.  Ask them to set up a three-way phone call between you, the HR person, and the Insurer to address this.

basically, what should happen is that the employer should call up the insurer, tell them that they made an error, and the insurer should retroactively reinstate your insurance and retroactively remove the other guys' insurance.  But, it actually requires getting the right people on the phone.  It's a little bit of a pain, which is why so many people are passing the buck -- they're being lazy and don't want to deal with it themselves.
Answer #2: It's quite possible that you could get your company to end up paying for this.  They promised you health insurance through work.  They made you pay for the health insurance.  They represented to you that you had health insurance.

As a result of their promise and representations, you ended up not having health insurance and instead owing a large amount of money to the hospital.  A good attorney should be able to make them pay.  You'll want to find a lawyer who does plaintiff side stuff - I'd imagine this would be some type of breach of contract claim.

Keep in mind that this may destroy your relationship with the company and may cost you your job.


Title: What exactly counts as defamation when it involves the public record? (See case inside LA)

Question:
This case involved someone in Louisiana who used public record to accuse a sheriff of corruption. The sheriff got a warrant and raided the residence. It was finally ruled as an unconstitutional raid because the man is also a public official. Why would the raid be upheld if he was just a citizen? If he's posting public record I'm not sure where the line blurs for what is and isn't defamatory.

http://np.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/4zrysk/sheriffs_raid_to_find_blogger_who_criticized_him/

Answer:
 Because the *Sheriff* is a public official, the standard for what is defamation is higher.

The criminal defamation statute did not incorporate that higher standard, and was thus unconstitutional. That made it so that what was posted was not a crime.

So, the search of the residence was not for the evidence of a crime, and was thus unconstitutional.

The status of the man whose residence was searched is irrelevant to the question.


Title: Got pulled over with .09 BAC level in my system charged with DWI. North Carolina.

Question: Had a few beers at the bar. I get pulled over bc something is wrong with my insurance. They take my plate. After performing well on the FST I show the officer where $147 had been taken out of my bank account via my iPhone app. The cop was very nice to me and he even told the magistrate that "he only blew a .09 and has been more than cooperative with me since the incident." I signed some papers at the magistrate then shook the arresting officers hand and said I will see you on Feb 21st sir. This if my first offense and I am so scared/hoping there is something I may be able to do.

Answer:
 You think they were being nice to you but they weren't. You need a lawyer asap. Answer #2: Whether you are the world's most respectful guy or spat on the officer, you still were charged with DWI. It is in your best interest to either look into court appointed counsel or, if you can afford it, speak with an attorney.Answer #3: >The cop was very nice to me and he even told the magistrate that "he only blew a .09 and has been more than cooperative with me since the incident."

That is good, antagonizing anyone involved in the court process certainly would not have helped. However, it sounds like you are still guilty and can be proven guilty.

>This if my first offense and I am so scared/hoping there is something I may be able to do.

Hire an attorney. You are guilty of a more serious misdemeanor. This could have a negative effect via fines, imprisonment, loss of your ability to drive, and challenges in future employment.

While this being a first offense and you being polite about it will mean you are likely to fall on the lesser end on the punishment scale, you should still take this very very seriously.


Title: Original article posted on Facebook from Quebec, Canada. Someone comments saying I plagiarized her article written 2 days ago.

Question:
I wrote an article about "13 Reasons" and made it 13 reasons not to commit suicide. I didn't look online for inspiration, I just wrote all of it in a single shot.

Someone comments on my Facebook post threatening legal actions because she wrote a similar article 2 days ago.

The only similarities I found are:
It's a list of 13 points.
At one point she mentions a resource against suicide, I did the same but mentioned 2 different resources.

Now she commented on several of my posts crying about copyrights and threatening legal action, along with posting about it on her Facebook page... I don't want to fight, I only wanted to help people fight against suicide...

Can she really do anything against me for a Facebook post?

Answer:
 Plagiarism - representing someone else's work as your own without proper credit - is an academic discipline issue, not a legal issue. The closest legal issue to "plagiarism" would be copyright infringement.

The idea of a list of 13 points, in an article about suicide, is not copyrightable. If you copied her text, or significant parts of it, you would be infringing unless you had her permission.Answer #2: IANAL but Unless it's very obviously a copy of her article or the majority of the points match I don't see her having a case. There are hundreds, if not thousands of lists online about reasons to not commit suicide.


Title: My parents are illegal to the US. They want to re-try getting citizenship best course of action? California.

Question:
My parents came to the US when they were both 16 and 18 respectively in the 80's. They met when she was 26 and he was 18. Since then they have lived here, and payed taxes, become working people of society. They have 5 children including me, all of who are well into their 20's and some even have kids.

&#x200B;

20 years ago, my parents were trying to get citizenship but were denied. They were given voluntary deportation but never left. Me and my siblings are US citizens by law so they kept us here. They have been in America longer than they have been in Mexico their entire life.

&#x200B;

Since this we have had an ICE raid at the house for my mom, her and my dad moved to a different house and they have been living there since.

&#x200B;

My mom does not work, she used to but my father makes enough so she doesn't have to work.

&#x200B;

My father makes Six figures and does his taxes on time every year, he owns a few houses and cars.

&#x200B;

They have never broken the law apart from being here illegally, not even a speeding ticket or parking fine. They raised us to the best of their ability and given us a good life. Recently my fathers mother has become sick and asked me to see if I can help him get citizenship, however I don't know how to even start the process.

&#x200B;

Here are the details in order :

&#x200B;

Mother and Father both came to this country at the early to mid 80's

They have 5 US citizen children, who are adults now.

They have previously tried to get citizenship but were denied and given voluntary deportation.

Ice raided our house and my parents moved.

Grandma became sick and my father wants to see her in mexico before she passes, my mother has been getting increasingly paranoid that the government is out to get her and only her.

&#x200B;

Thank you for reading and any advice given.

Answer: This is lawyer time. In the current climate, with an active deportation order, their chances of getting citizenship are between slim and none, but if anybody is going to be able to assist, it will be an experienced immigration attorney.


Title: 5th grader groped by 3rd grader on privately owned bus - Colorado

Question:
My 5th grade daughter goes to school in the next district over for unrelated reasons. This is common enough that a private company buses children from this district to that district. We, the parents, pay for this service.

A 3rd grade boy has been acting out enough lately that over the course of the last few weeks, my daughter has talked about his behavior on the bus. She said the bus driver (not the owner of the company) has asked the other bus riders if they want him kicked off (a whole other issue).

On Monday, my daughter told us that this boy pretended like he was going to or actually tried to grab her chest. She said she did not tell the bus driver at that time. She did not go to school Tuesday or Wednesday. Thursday she rode the bus without incident. This morning I took her to school because I over slept.

Today, when she got off the bus, she told my husband that the boy grabbed her chest. As she tells it, she sat with him on the bus because she was trying to be nice to the mean kid. They were playing a game and then they stopped for a few minutes. Then he grabbed her chest. By the way she was sitting (kind of a fetal position with her feet on the seat, against the window), she pushed him away with one of her feet. She also said that he told her to stand in the row and strip, though when exactly he said this is unclear. My daughter said she told the bus driver right before they reached the bus stop.

My husband called the principal of the school, who could not do much because it was on a privately owned bus. He called the owner of the bus company and left a message. Then he went to the police department to file a report.

To be frank, I know my daughter will be OK because she has supportive parents. We will do whatever we have to in order to protect your children We do not want this boy to get in trouble but more that he gets help. As far as we are concerned, behavior like this from a 3rd grader is learned at home...

My questions lie more within where to go from here. My husband has spoken to whom we believe he should. Did we miss anyone?

Are the school's hands really tied? What if he is not kicked off the bus? (She will not be riding until/unless he is.) How should we proceed? TIA
Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer:
 Social services?
This boy could have abuse issues.Answer #2: > My husband has spoken to whom we believe he should. Did we miss anyone?

Not that I can think of. Given the ages, this really isn't a legal issue, it's a school/transportation issue. Take it up with the appropriate people in those two areas.


Title: Footage of me taking a shower in college is online. Years later.

Question:
The video must be from 7 years ago and has been online for several years. That is me in the video taking a shower in a college swimming pool, absolutely no doubt.

I have reported it to the websites it's uploaded to and it's not been taken down yet.

What should I do?

I currently live in Oregon but the college is in Arizona.

Answer:
 Contact the police and file a report.  Then contact the school and send them the report.  Start with that.

Answer #2: Inform the college so that they can make sure it's not happening anymore. Inform the police as well. Talk to a lawyer about the possibility of litigation for seeking damages against the college.


Title: [CT] I was assaulted unprovoked and called 911 and now I am getting charged with a crime

Question:
I'm 20 years old and live at home while going to college.  The other night there was a very minor family argument between me and my little sister (12) against my mom.  I don't want to get into the specifics of this argument but know that my mom and sister are both on my side in the legal issue and willing to back me up as witnesses.  It wasn't loud and wasn't violent during this stage, just a minor family dispute.

Then my mom's boyfriend who doesn't live there and in fact I had last seen a month ago after only meeting him like 3 times came down stairs and went ballistic and threw me on the ground, choked me out, and punched me several times.  He's like twice my size too. My shirt was ripped in half and I ended up with a bruised eye the next day. Once he got off me I called 911.

Then the police came.  They asked questions and interviewed everyone.  My mom was mad at me for arguing with her so wasn't really standing with me but also didn't tell them I did anything wrong.  My little sister and her friend who was over that night and saw the whole thing told the police what happened and so did I.  The police who were interviewing me were very sympathetic and nice and kept asking if I was okay, but then the sergent came over and told them we were both going to get charged with disorderly conduct without even hearing any side of the story.  The cops who were working with me seemed surprised and one needed to clarify what was happening.  I asked what it was exactly I was getting charged with and the sergent told me I was getting the equivalent of a traffic ticket but now I find out its a misdemeanor and goes on my record as an arrest.

I spoke with a lawyer during a free consultation and told him what happened in more detail and with more specifics about the argument leading up to it and said he was "shocked" that I was charged with anything and that the guy wasn't taken away in handcuffs and charged with 3rd degree assault at minimum.  I can't afford a lawyer (I could in theory put it on a credit card but I feel that's not wise) so I won't be able to get his help further but I feel it's important to mention I did get professional input.

So then I went home and actually filed a complaint with the town hall over the handling of the situation.  I was told they would look into it and today they called me back and said the chief of police opened an investigation.

Then later today an officer called me and told me the court was moving my court date (originally scheduled for Thursday) to tomorrow and they were considering it domestic violence now which is the reason for the change.  I told him I can't do that as I have a final for a summer class and he said he would pass that on to the court.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but if I was issued a citation that had my court date as a specific day, aren't they not allowed to move it up with such short notice?  Also the lawyer I spoke with told me this couldn't be considered domestic violence since he didn't live there and I barely knew him.  I confirmed this is the law in CT with my own research.  So why is this being considered domestic violence now?

This whole situation feels like I'm having a clean record tarnished by a sergent who was too lazy to figure out what was actually going on.  How do I best handle this from here?

tl;dr: I was assaulted unprovoked by someone who is twice my sizs and called 911 and now somehow I'm getting charged with the same misdemeanor disorderly conduct he is, and the court is considering it domestic violence when it shouldn't be.  I can't afford a lawyer, so where do I go from here?

Answer:
 If you can't afford an attorney then you plead not guilty at your arraignment and ask for a public defender.Answer #2: You need to be at that court date even if they don't move it again. If you don't you'll wind up with a warrant for your arrest and will make things exponentially worse than they are right now.

You need a lawyer. End of story. If they're upping the charges to domestic violence, this is full blown lawyer territory. See if your school has a legal aid program. If they don't and you truly cannot afford an attorney, show up to court, plead not guilty, and request a public defender.

The police and DA are now adversaries. Do not speak to either without an attorney present. Period.


Title: Snuck into my school - did I commit a crime?

Question:
Today, I went to my high school with a summer sport and discovered that the doors were locked. They're normally open, but the doors were locked today, since janitors had the day off. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to see if I could get inside, so I went onto the roof and dropped into the courtyard, then entered the actual building. I did nothing destructive in the building, I just kinda walked around. Anyways, I believe that I have committed trespassing. Could I get into a lot of trouble for this?
(Iowa)

Answer:
 You have trespassed.

Don't admit to trespassing. Especially don't admit to it on social media accounts that can connect back to you. The sidebar suggests throwaways for a reason.

In all likelihood you'll be fine. Stop breaking and entering into places.


Title: [Texas] My boyfriends brother racked up tons of debt on his grandmothers card, now American Express is suing.

Question:
My boyfriends grandmother has had her daughter, my boyfriend, and my boyfriends brother as authorized users on her American Express card for years now. She has been an American Express cardholder for an extremely long time and has had no prior infractions at all.

My boyfriends brother used to be fiscally responsible, but his wife in recent years has made extremely unwise financial decisions. In a recent reckless move, my boyfriends brother footed an entire Disney vacation on his American Express credit card...without consulting anyone. She had given her grandson several chances to make payments on the debt, and he has not done so.

My boyfriends grandmother has tried several times to payoff the debt in one full lump sum, but American Express will not accept. They are currently suing her and we have no idea what to do.

She now has a process server planted outside of her house several hours of the day, and is trying to research her options before accepting the serve.

Would anyone have any advice on how to proceed? Is it even legal for American Express to not accept a payoff amount? This whole situation seems bizarre to me. Also, will this affect my boyfriends credit score? He is currently trying to remove any financial he ties to his grandmother just in case, but we are still terrified that this is going to impact his otherwise sparkling credit history.

Answer:
 > My boyfriends grandmother has tried several times to payoff the debt in one full lump sum

This part doesn't make sense. Are you saying she can't make payments on her credit card?  You can go to their website to make a payment.Answer #2: She does herself no legal good by avoiding the process.

She is obligated to pay the debt if the card is in her name.

She can then sue the brother to recoup her losses.Answer #3: Keep in mind that there are alternate methods of service, because your grandmother isn't the first person in history to dodge a process server. It's not like in the movies where evading the server bars the suit from proceeding.

The ONLY reason I can see AmEx refusing payment is if they sold it to a third party debt collector. In that case, depending on AmEx's relationship with the debt collector, she may be unable to pay AmEx.

Your BF's credit score will only be affected if he is listed as a joint account holder. An authorized user has no legal responsibility to repay the debt (at least as far as AmEx is concerned), whereas a joint account holder does. If ~~he~~ your BF's brother is simply an authorized user, congratulations: he just destroyed your grandmother's credit and got away scot-free.


Title: My 22F roommate was assaulted and possibly drugged by her now ex-girlfriend 28F. Portland, OR

Question:
I'll try to keep this short, will provide more details if asked just in case TL;DR: Roommate got really messed up by ex. Calling cops seems like it would lead to more problems. Looking for help.

 Roommate: Sarah Ex-Girlfriend Diana.

Sara and Diana were dating for about two months. Sarah went to spend the night at Diana's place as planned, and they had a couple drinks. Sarah remembers having her second glass of wine and that's it for the next 4 hours or so, so she's wondering if she was drugged. She's absolutely covered in wounds---bite marks all over her body, gauge ripped out, black eye, cuts and scratches across her throat, chunks of hair missing from when Diana dragged her around the house refusing to let her leave (this is about the time where Sarah came out of the blackout).

 &nbsp;

Sarah eventually managed to get outside, but Diana refused to give her clothing or shoes or wallet or coat or anything, specifically her wallet and keys. Sarah walked barefoot in an ice storm to a walmart where she could charge her phone, call for help, and clean up the bleeding. Seems simple: call the cops. Diana has said that if Sarah calls the cops, she'll say she was raped by Sarah. She's planning on using the two scratches on her cheek she got from assaulting Sarah as proof of the rape. Sarah's employment is such that even an accusation would cost her her job.

&nbsp;

 In addition, Diana has said if Sarah contacts the cops, she'll burn her coat and wallet along with her other possesions. Sarah's wallet has her year bus pass that can't be replaced for less than $800, all of her IDs, her work badges, everything. Not to mention my concern at having a dangerous person in possession of our house keys. There's also the last letter her deceased brother wrote her in there, which is obviously irreplacable. If she follows through on burning the things anyway, is that small claims worthy? How would we replace her things, not to mention her job?

&nbsp;

Any advice would be welcome, including telling me I'm an idiot for not calling the cops anyway!

TL;DR: Roommate got really messed up by ex. Calling cops seems like it would lead to more problems. Looking for help.

Answer:
 > Sarah's wallet has her year bus pass that can't be replaced for less than $800

[Trimet will replace them for $20](https://trimet.org/fares/1yearpass.htm), thankfully. She should head to the office at Pioneer Square to get a new one.

Call the cops. If Diana wants to dig herself a bigger hole in retaliation, so be it; she will be paying for it in the end if she decides to destroy the property.Answer #2: CALL THE COPS.  Her threats only make the situation worse for her; even moreso if she tries to act on them.Answer #3: When did this happen, last night? She needs to get into the hospital ASAP. Sometimes they can do testing to see if someone was drugged. GHB is hard to detect, but some other types stick around. Furthermore, she could have more significant injuries she is unaware of because she was unconscious. She needs to get to a hospital now.


Title: Los angeles, driving without headlights

Question:
I want to try to reduce or at least fight this ticket, I was clearly guilty so I don't know if pleading non guilty and showing up to court and praying for the cop to not show is the right move, but I want to get my point across to the judge that I could really use a reduced fine due to the lack of severity of the law break.

I came out of a parking lot and didn't turn my lights on for 25 seconds, right as I was about to the cop had already pulled me over. I physically could not have been driving for more than a block when I was pulled over, so I feel like its unfair to have to pay the same price as someone who could have really endangered people driving for miles without headlights. Lowering it or possibly even reducing it with a serious warning would be logical, IMO. Thats the way I'm thinking about it, but what do you guys think? Can I get it to payments, cut in half, without a point on the license?

PS I wrote this from my perspective but I'm tryin to help this girl, so keep in mind in court it'd be a 18 yr old girl being all im stressed and this is my 2nd ticket and i barely moved to LA a few months ago help me etc. So it'd be a lot nicer than whatever way I come across.

What do you guys think can be done? Thank you.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: It's a really good thing you weren't writing about yourself, because obviously in real life it would be ridiculous to argue that pulling out of a parking lot without headlights doesn't endanger people. Maybe that's not something your friend should say to the judge.


Title: When is is physical force appropriate?

Question: Edit: Texas. Went to a college party sober and had someone get in my face. Luckily, I was able to diffuse the situation. Now I'm wondering when is it okay to use force to subdue a harasser? Thanks!

Answer: If you can walk away, you should always walk away. You don't subdue harassers unless that's the last thing you can do.