Private prison: will lie for money?

Would a private prison company mislead the government to avoid paying taxes? According to New Mexico, that’s what CoreCivic did when it requested and received a multi-million dollar tax refund for housing federal inmates within the state. Article here. The scheme uncovered by New Mexico involved the mechanism used to house federal inmates. Rather than… read more…

Liability for excessive force includes violations of agency policy

Police misconduct is often defined by the use of excessive force. In Oklahoma, these excessive force claims can be proved in two ways. The first method is grounded in a constitutional standard that substantially borrows from the Fourth Amendment. There is one primary difference between the state and federal standards: whether the reasonableness of the… read more…

What is a case worth?

Accident victims have a right to know the compensation they are entitled to, and our civil justice system is designed to compensate people financially. That means determining how to quantify damages and injuries that may not be susceptible to a precise mathematical calculation. Another consideration is a defendant’s ability to pay. A paper judgment is… read more…

Aurora shooting of innocent man: will federal law provide a remedy?

Richard “Gary” Black was a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also lived in Aurora, CO, where city officials permit officers to kill citizens and resume their duties before the investigation into the killing is completed. On Monday, this practice resulted in Mr. Black being gunned down by an Aurora police officer while Mr. Black was defending… read more…