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In Mississippi, it is illegal for individuals under 21 to consume alcohol. Therefore, if a minor is arrested for DUI, they will face legal consequences under the state’s underage drinking laws and DUI statutes. The severity of these consequences will depend on various factors, including the minor’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC), prior offenses, and the circumstances surrounding the arrest.

The law governing DUIs is found under Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30. The law governing minors arrested for DUI is specifically found under subsection 3 of the statute, the “Zero Tolerance for Minors” law. It applies when someone under 21 has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.02% or higher but less than 0.08%. If their BAC is 0.08% or higher, the minor will be treated as an adult first-offense DUI, and those laws will govern.

Under the Zero Tolerance law, if someone under 21 is convicted for the first time of breaking this law and takes a chemical test or if no test results are available, they will be fined $250. They must also attend an alcohol safety education program within six months. The court may also require them to participate in a victim impact panel. 

Introduction:

Being accused of a crime can be a daunting experience that has the potential to turn your life upside down. However, everyone deserves a fair trial and the right to defend themselves. That’s where criminal defense attorneys step in. In this blog post, we’ll explore the crucial roles that your criminal defense attorney plays in protecting your rights, explaining the legal process, and offering guidance during challenging times.

The Importance of Criminal Defense:

Drug Use During Pregnancy

Child abuse is a serious and devastating issue that affects millions of children worldwide. It can cause long-lasting harm to a child’s physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. One particularly concerning form of child abuse is drug use during pregnancy, which can have severe and lasting impacts on both the mother and the developing fetus.

Pregnant women who use drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine can cause serious harm to their developing fetus. These drugs can cross the placenta and disrupt the normal development of the fetus, causing a range of physical and mental health problems. For example, exposure to cocaine can increase the risk of premature birth, low birth weight, and cognitive and behavioral problems.

Know Your Rights

Face ID and Touch ID are not your friends when it comes to your phone and law enforcement. Recently, in a search warrant that gave law enforcement access to President Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen, federal authorities requested access to Mr. Cohen’s phone and other devices by “use of the fingerprints of the user . . . or by holding the device in front of the user’s face.” The police wanted to obtain access to Mr. Cohen’s data by forcing Mr. Cohen to place his finger on his iPhone’s fingerprint scanner or by forcing Mr. Cohen to look into his iPhone camera so that the Face ID would unlock the phone. The police requested access to  Mr. Cohen’s phone in this way because they did not know his passwords. 

The police cannot use a search warrant to force you to provide law enforcement your passcode, PIN, or password because they are protected by your Fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination. Essentially, your passwords are material you know, while Face ID, Touch ID, and other biometric data are information you have to protect your phone privacy. It is not a violation of your right against self-incrimination for police to force you to turn over information you have that may help their case against you. Thus, it is crucial to protect yourself. Here are several ways that you can.

Your Child’s Gender Transition in Mississippi Could Lead To Your Arrest 

Transgenderism is an extremely controversial topic in Mississippi and across the United States. Everyone seems to have a different opinion, and various states have created very different laws that govern transgender people and their ability to transition to their identified sex. Mississippi is no exception, and this Republican state has taken a firm stance against youths transitioning to a different gender. State legislators have already created laws that would penalize anyone assisting children who want to transition. But what happens if you are the parent of a transgender child? Could you really face legal penalties for helping them? Is it true that you might even face child abuse charges if you help your transgender child in Mississippi? Let’s find out.

The Current Penalties for Assisting Child Transitions in Mississippi

According to CBS News, after wrongfully convicting a man for raping her, writer Alice Sebold while she was a student at Syracuse University, New York state has agreed to pay $5.5 million to the man who spent 16 years in prison. Anthony Broadwater was convicted of raping Sebold in 1981. The settlement comes after his conviction was overturned in 2021. The settlement was signed the week of March 20, 2023 by lawyers for Broadwater and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Broadwater, 62, said in a statement relayed by one of his attorneys, “I appreciate what Attorney General James has done, and I hope and pray that others in my situation can achieve the same measure of justice. We all suffer from destroyed lives.” “Obviously no amount of money can erase the injustices Mr. Broadwater suffered, but the settlement now officially acknowledges them,” Sebold said in a statement released through a spokesperson.

In May 1981, Sebold was raped near campus while she was in her first year at Syracuse. She described the attack and the ensuing prosecution in a memoir titled “Lucky”, published in 1999. The book was pulled from bookshelves across the U.S. during the 2021-22 academic year due to its graphic descriptions of rape and stopped being distributed after a state court judge vacated Broadwater’s conviction. The judge found that the case that led to his initial conviction was flawed. In the memoir, Sebold wrote that she spotted a Black man in the street months after being raped and was sure that he was her attacker. “He was smiling as he approached. He recognized me. It was a stroll in the park to him; he had met an acquaintance on the street,” Sebold wrote. ” ‘Hey, girl,’ he said. ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere?’ ” 

Why is Welfare Fraud So Common in Mississippi?

Mississippi has been dealing with serious welfare fraud issues over the last few years. Whether politicians or common folk are taking this money illegally, welfare fraud is always illegal. It goes without saying that this money is set aside for those who are desperate, and the law looks unkindly upon anyone who attempts to circumvent or take advantage of this system. But why exactly is welfare fraud so common in the Magnolia State? Why do people engage in these crimes when the consequences can be so severe? The truth is that many people might not be aware of the legal penalties of welfare fraud. Let’s cover some of these consequences in more depth:

Mississippi’s Infamous Welfare Fraud Fiasco

According to the National Law Review, on January 10, 2023, a federal grand jury in Boise, Idaho returned an indictment charging an Idaho man with a hate crime. The indictment alleges that on October 12, 2022, a thirty-one (31) year old man attempted to cause bodily injury to two individuals in Boise by driving his car at them. The indictment further alleges that the attack was motivated by the actual and perceived sexual orientation of the victims. The Boise Police Department as well as the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office are the two agencies who investigated the case. Notably, it is crucial to mention that an indictment is merely a criminal charge, and the Idaho man charged is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

In 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released that there were 7,759 reported hate crimes in the US – by far the highest level in twelve (12) years. However, according to National Public Radio, some experts have expressed that the exact number of hate crimes in the US is likely higher as not every crime is reported to law enforcement, not every agency reports its data to the FBI, and many agencies report no incidents. 

What is a Hate Crime?

Another week in the United States and once again, there is another mass shooting that is covering the headlines. With any mass shooting tragedy, the national conversation almost automatically changes to gun laws, gun rights, mental health, and ways to prevent mass shootings from continuing to occur. Red flag laws are increasing in popularity across the county yet face heavy opposition from gun right and 2nd amendment advocates. As of July 1, 2020, 19 states have some sort of red flag law. Red flag laws are state laws that can go by various names, including “extreme risk protection orders (erpos),” “gun-violence restraining orders” and “risk warrants.” These laws allow law enforcement, family members, and even medical professionals in some states, to petition the court to temporarily remove firearms and ammunition from a person who is believed to present a danger to himself or herself or others. 

Uvalde, Texas 4th of July shooting 

The most recent mass shooting occurred this past 4th of July weekend when a solo gunman opened fire on onlookers of a holiday parade near Chicago, Illinois. Seven people were killed while more than 30 others were wounded. The gunman, twenty-one-year-old Robert Crimo III, has since been arrested in connection with the shootings and has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder.