The pandemic has been running our lives since March. There isn’t a single aspect of life that it hasn’t impacted. Many of us have grown tired of all the restrictions the virus has placed on our lives and are starting to rebel against the shutdown...
California is known for its earthquakes. Unlike wildfires which can be somewhat predictable and avoidable, there’s never much warning before an earthquake occurs. Even with the surprisingly accurate MyShake earthquake phone app you usually have less than a minute to prepare yourself for the...
Police chases might look exciting on television, but the reality is much different. Evading the police in California is dangerous, especially if the event takes place in a place that is heavily populated by either other drivers or pedestrians.
Fleeing from the police, even if they only want to question you, can result in serious legal consequences.
You’ve just been involved in an accident. As far as you can tell, it’s not a big deal. You barely bumped the other car’s back bumper. There can’t possibly be any damage to their car so surely it’s perfectly acceptable for you to simply drive around their car and get on with your day.
Wrong.
Leaving the scene of an accident is a very bad move that can land you in serious legal trouble.
As soon as you decide to leave the scene of an accident, you’re considered a hit and run driver. California lawmakers have little patience for hit and run drivers. It doesn’t matter how severe or minor the accident is, if you were involved, you’re legally required to stop your vehicle, survey the damage, and exchange name, contact information, and insurance information with the other driver. In most cases, it’s in your best interest to have the police investigate the accident. If you and the other driver decide that the accident doesn’t justify a police investigation, you’re still required to report the accident. You have 24 hours to notify the police.
If the accident involved someone getting hurt, you’re expected to provide assistance with the injury.
There’s nothing worse than noisy neighbors. Without fail, neighbors only seem to get noisy after you’ve had a long day and only want to crawl into bed and sleep for twelve straight hours. The more exhausted you are, the louder they seem to get. Figuring out...
When you bring a dog into your family, you assume that you’re getting a healthy animal who will be a buddy and best friend for several years. Unfortunately, sometimes things don’t work out the way you hope. Instead of a pet who will go on hikes and give you comfort, your new dog develops health problems that ruin your financial stability.
If you find yourself in this situation, you might want to look into California’s dog lemon laws.
California is one of 22 states that currently have lemon laws in place that are designed to protect pet owners. They are surprisingly similar to vehicular lemon laws.
Child abuse laws are designed to protect children from being hurt. They’re good laws that make a lot of sense. Unfortunately, they are also laws that can be used against people, particularly parents who are engaged in a child custody dispute. It’s not unheard of for one parent to accuse the other parent of child abuse in order to obtain full custody of the children. It’s an accusation that can deal a lasting blow to both sides.
While there have been instances of men lodging false child abuse claims against women, it’s far more common for a woman to falsely accuse a man of child abuse. Data collected by the Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) indicates that 85% of all child abuse protective orders are filed by men and issued against men. One lawyer estimates that approximately 90% of those that are filed during a divorce and that mention child abuse are a tactical move to gain custody of the children.
California’s family court judges are legally obligated to take all child abuse accusations seriously. The last thing anyone wants is for a child to be hurt because the court failed to act. As soon as one parent accuses the other of child abuse, the court will take action, usually siding with the parent who made the accusation. If you are the one accused of abusing children, you shouldn’t assume that you’re promptly out of luck. You do have to be willing to take a defensive stance.
It’s in your best interest to demand that the court investigate the accusations. Be prepared for this to involve an in-depth and invasive investigation into your background. Court-appointed experts will interview several people which can include:
We’re all familiar with the Miranda Rights, which basically grants us the ability to not tell the police anything if we’re arrested. While we’ve heard thousands of television cops recite the famous words “you have the right to remain silent” few of us actually know...
Unemployment fraud isn’t new. There have been instances of it dating all the way back to when the system for helping people stay financially solvent after they suddenly lost a job was first created.
The high number of people who were forced to claim unemployment benefits when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States, combined with some unexpected unemployment bonuses the government instituted in an attempt to keep the economy running has triggered an interest in unemployment fraud.
Loree Levy, a spokesperson for the California Employment Development Department, recently confirmed that the state is on the lookout for people who are committing unemployment fraud. "We certainly have legitimate PUA claims in California, but we do suspect that a big part of the unusual recent rise in PUA claims is linked to fraud." (source)
Levy’s department released a press release the addressed the issue. “These perpetrators are often using stolen identity information from national and global data breaches, as well as exploiting expedited payment efforts in the federal PUA program," the release stated. (source)
In California, you can be charged with unemployment fraud if it’s believed that you knowingly supplied inaccurate information to obtain unemployment benefits you aren’t entitled to. Even if you’re application isn’t approved, you can be charged with unemployment fraud.
Examples of unemployment fraud include:
Street fighting, barroom brawls, and throwing a punch at a guy who steals your parking space. In the movies, these things never seem like a big deal. The worst thing that ever seems to happen to the characters who are involved in public fighting is that they spend a few hours in jail.
Sadly, real-life doesn’t mirror the movies. California has public fighting laws. If you’re busted for public fighting in California, you’ll face serious consequences.
There is nothing quite as gut-wrenching as opening your front door and finding the police standing on the other side. They never bring good news.
Experiencing a moment of panic and indecision when they ask to be let in is perfectly natural. Questions that will likely run through your mind at this point include:
Most of the people impacted by California’s spay/neuter laws barely noticed a change. The reason for this is because the vast majority of the people who are mentioned in the law were already spaying and neutering their pets. Why California Created Spay/Neuter Pet Laws California lawmakers realized...