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License Suspension for Drug Charges Repealed

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A terrible law that required a license suspension for any drug conviction has been repealed! This is great news!

Today, the Governor signed a bill repealing that pointless law, and giving people a reasonable chance to get their lives back together even if they’ve been convicted for drug possession.

The automatic suspension of your driver’s license law was passed in 1989 as part of the “War on Drugs”. Any criminal drug charge, including simple marijuana possession, mandated a license suspension of 6 months to up to 5 years, and a $500 fee to reinstate your license after the suspension period passed.  [Read more…]

How to Avoid a Criminal Record – Pretrial Probation vs Pretrial Diversion

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I can’t have a criminal record. Is there anything you can do to help me?

We get this question nearly every day from callers facing minor criminal charges. For many people, the consequences of a criminal record are very frightening and can have a life-changing, negative impact.

A criminal record can prevent you from getting your dream job, a scholarship, an apartment, and cause a variety of other unpredictable problems, now and in the future.

Many organizations and schools routinely run CORI checks on members and volunteers. You need to submit to a CORI check to coach your child’s soccer team, volunteer to be a scout leader, or even just to chaperone a school field trip or event.

The good news is that there are often legal defense options available that can avoid a criminal record. We are able to take care of a lot of these case if you receive a criminal citation to a clerk magistrate’s hearing. But we can also work out a deal to avoid a permanent criminal record that will appear on a background check after an arraignment, or sometimes, technically, immediately before it happens. [Read more…]

Why Are Massachusetts State Police Using Helicopters to Stop Kids from Drinking?

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The annual “Blarney Blowout”, is a party weekend at UMass Amherst with a reputation for rowdiness. This year there were only a small number of arrests and a typical number of citations for minors with alcohol.

There was a huge police presence from surrounding communities, and students were told by police that they couldn’t gather in large groups.

The reporting suggests serious police state overkill. Some of the casual police techniques noted in the Daily Hampshire Gazette are a little chilling:

[Read more…]

Should I Become a Confidential Drug Informant for the Police?

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If you have been arrested or contacted by the police who are threatening you with serious drug charges, that is a very scary situation.  Increasingly, police are using these threats to try to get people to cooperate with them in drug investigations.

Confidential Informants (or CI’s) have always been a tool used by police to acquire inside information about criminal activity. But informing for the police can be very dangerous, and the promises the police make in order to get an informant’s cooperation are not reliable or accurate. [Read more…]

Massachusetts Drone Laws

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A recent announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration has ruled that unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly known as drones, have been categorized as aircraft, which means that these unmanned vehicles must be registered with the FAA and also come under Massachusetts law. Learning about how the new Massachusetts drone laws may affect you could help you avoid legal problems. [Read more…]

5 Things You Need to Know About Negligent Operation

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Receiving a citation or getting arrested for negligent operation of a motor vehicle can be overwhelming and confusing.

Very often, this charge happens just after you have been in an accident or had a near miss, so you are already shaken up. And in other cases, you don’t even think there was a problem with your driving, but the police are still accusing you of a crime. [Read more…]