The Alford plea is a form of “alternative plea”, meaning that it does not correspond to traditional pleas of either guilty or not guilty. It is premised on the defendant’s acceptance of a plea bargain agreement while continuing to assert innocence. Typically, this involves a defendant’s … Continue reading
Tag Archives: ian c. pilarczyk
Reporter’s privilege (also known as journalist’s privilege), is a limited First Amendment right of journalists to shield their confidential sources from discovery. Forty states and D.C. have enacted press shield laws that protect reporter’s privilege. While there is no federal press shield … Continue reading
The common law felony murder rule holds that if a person kills another while committing or attempting to commit a felony, the killing is classified as murder. This can include unintended and accidental deaths caused during the felony, and also … Continue reading
False imprisonment is the act of confining or detaining someone with no legal justification and against their will, and is treated as a felony in some (but not all) states In contrast, kidnapping involves moving a person against their will, through use … Continue reading
While George Washington is known as the first president of the U.S., there were 8 “presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled” appointed under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, between 1781-1789. The name of only one of these is … Continue reading
The Massachusetts delegation was deeply divided over ratifying the Constitution and was dominated by anti-federalists. The “Massachusetts compromise” to introduce amendments, led by John Hanckock and Samual Adams, convinced states such as New York, New Hampshire and Virginia to vote to … Continue reading
The Massachusetts Constitution is the world’s oldest continuously-operative constitution, having been approved in 1780 (9 years before the U.S. Constitution). Its principal author was John Adams, who insisted the state be referred to as a ‘commonwealth’. It was also the … Continue reading
Clients subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury–whether as witnesses or suspects–are not entitled to be represented by counsel as the Sixth Amendment is not applicable to grand jury proceedings. As these are “closed” sessions, a witness or suspect wishing to have … Continue reading
Zac was kind enough to put together a Halloween blog for the Executive LLM program, which features one of my all-time favorites of my Legal Facts of the Week–suing Satan–and he also included some other favorites from the archives. Until … Continue reading
Approved by Congress in 1810 as a proposed 13th Amendment, the Titles of Nobility Amendment was designed to strip U.S. citizenship from any citizen who accepted an aristocratic title from a foreign country. Ratified by tweleve states (the last in 1812) … Continue reading
The U.S. Bill of Rights was inspired by several documents including the U.K.’s Bill of Rights passed in 1689. This Act set out certain basic rights, including: no royal interference with the law; freedom to petition the monarch with grievances; … Continue reading
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical use, with legislation pending in three more states. Massachusetts legalized medical marijuana in 2012 as a result of a ballot measure approved by 63% of state voters.