10Apr 2023 by Charles E. Price
The state is nearing settlement with ACLU over indigenous legal services

The state is nearing settlement with ACLU over indigenous legal services

LEGAL
Maine's public defense agency for the poor and the ACLU are nearing a settlement on a plan to improve legal representation for criminal defendants, lawyers for both sides told the court Friday, though state budget decisions over the next few months may change the final outcome.Carol Garvan, legal director of the ACLU of Maine, and a lawyer for the state both said they are making progress on a multi-year agreement. Details of the proposed settlement are confidential. “We are well into the details of a settlement,” Assistant Attorney General Sean Magenis told the court Friday. Still unknown are the budget and statutory changes that state lawmakers could pass this year that may affect the settlement. Decisions such as to hire public defenders or adjust the mission of the Maine Commission…
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07Feb 2023 by Charles E. Price
Robot Lawyer Threatened with Legal Action

Robot Lawyer Threatened with Legal Action

ATTORNEY
Image Credit: State Bar of California Plans to use an AI-powered legal tool named Robot Lawyer to defend a traffic ticket that has been dropped after state bars threatened legal action against its use. Joshua Browder, the CEO of DoNotPay and developer of Robot Lawyer, created the tool to help defendants fight cases without an attorney. The tool works by listening to court proceedings, analyzing discussions using AI language models (including ChatGPT and DaVinci), and then telling the defendant what to say. However, state bars have put a stop to its use. It's the job of the state bars to regulate attorneys to make sure that they fully understand the law. State bars argue that the use of the tool is against the law because the unauthorized practice of law…
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04Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price
Won the lottery? Here are the legal implications

Won the lottery? Here are the legal implications

LEGAL
Some of us simply dream about winning the lottery while others are regular participants. The lottery is fun to play — thinking about what we'll do if we win — but it also serves an important purpose in each state. In Arizona, the money from ticket sales goes to programs and organizations that help Arizona communities such as education, health and human services, the environment and economic and business development.According to GoBankingRates.com, for one of the most popular lotteries in the United States, Mega Millions, your odds of winning are about 1 in 176 million. If you're playing a single-state lottery, your odds increase to 1 in 42 million. To put that in perspective, you are about 30,000 times more likely to experience a bathroom injury than you are to…
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04Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price
Arizona attorney general: Pre-state abortion ban enforceable

Arizona attorney general: Pre-state abortion ban enforceable

ATTORNEY
“Our office has concluded the Legislature has made its intentions clear with regards to abortion laws,” Brmovich said on Twitter. “ARS 13-3603 (the pre-statehood law) is back in effect and will not be repealed” when the new law takes effect in late September. The old law says anyone who helps a pregnant woman obtain an abortion can be sentenced to two to five years in prison. The only exception is if the life of the woman is in jeopardy. Abortion clinics across Arizona had stopped providing the procedures within hours of last Friday's Supreme Court ruling. They cited concerns that the old law could be enforced.Explaining the halt in procedures, Planned Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Brittany Forteno said the possibility of prosecutions was just too risky to continue providing…
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