I had some oddball legal questions after getting a toll bill for a bridge I never drove across in Michigan. I handled my own $60 annoyance with a phone call; the bridge company was pretty courteous about it, even. These questions are more abstract about the legality of how they're processing tolling. Before handling it, I kind of rabbitholed on the entire situation and since this bridge is the first in the state of Michigan (that I know of) to collect tolls under the 2021 bridge tolling law there isn't any applicable case law in the state on the subject that I could find.

Some background information -

A municipality in Michigan leased two of their bridges to a private company to repair and convert to toll bridges. They were originally sold outright, but the agreement was later amended to a lease to conform to 23 USC 129, which also stipulates that the state in which the bridges were located had to have a law allowing companies to collect tolls. The company purchasing the bridges lobbied the state legislature and got 2020 P.A. 353 passed, which added MCL 117.5k.

This toll bridge charges tolls under the authority of MCL 117.5k which states that :

"(6) A user fee may be imposed on the use of a public bridge facility only if the user fee is imposed for the use of a public bridge facility that is constructed or renovated after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section. If a user fails to pay a user fee, a reasonable late fee may be charged to the user. A user fee, late fee, or administrative fee charged under this subsection is not subject to regulation by any other governmental agency. A city may enforce and collect or authorize a concessionaire or another person to enforce and collect the payment of a user fee, late fee, or administrative fee under this subsection. A user fee may be imposed, charged, and collected by manual, digital, or electronic means, including, but not limited to, video, transponder, tag, camera, or any other similar technology."

I cannot find anything in this law that defines "user" nor can I find anything in existing Michigan law that would definitively clarify that point. The bridge operators take pictures of the license plate only and bill by mail based on the most recent registered owner of that license plate according to the Secretary of State. Unlike other states like New York or Washington, the Michigan legislature declined to specifically assign the responsibility to pay the toll to the vehicle's registered owner - even declining to advance 2022-SB-1151 which would have done just that. MCL 254.322 which covers tolling on the Mackinaw Bridge specifies that "all individuals or vehicles using the bridge shall pay tolls" a distinction that is not found in MCL 117.5k.

First question - Based on the law as it is written, does the tolling company have a responsibility to prove that the registered owner of the vehicle was driving or otherwise "using" the vehicle at the time the toll bridge was crossed in order to collect the toll based solely on the license plate?

Also present in MCL 117.5k is the city or operators legal remedy for users not paying tolls:

"(7) If a person fails to pay a user fee as required under subsection (6) within 180 days, the city or a person authorized by the city may bring a civil action against the person to collect the user fee. If the civil action results in a judgment against the person owing the user fee, the person owing the user fee must reimburse the city for all costs of enforcement and collection, including filing and attorney fees."

In the case of this particular bridge, in the contract signed between the city and the bridge operator indemnifies the city against any costs or attorney's fees arising from the operation of the bridge.

"The Parties agree that the City shall have no responsibility or liability for the design, planning, permitting, construction, operation, repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the Independence Bridge, and that UBP shall be liable for all such obligations, and any and all liabilities, costs, expenses, fines, fees, attorney fees, damages, injuries, and any other charges, except to the extent caused by the acts or omissions of the City, its contractors, or any other party for whom the City is legally responsible."

I'm pretty sure (NAL) that the judge in the civil action can just award whatever they feel like for fees to whomever, but I thought it was an odd omission to not include fees incurred by the "concessionaire" in this subsection of the law, despite specifically including them in subsection 6 of the same law.

Second question - In the case of civil actions brought by the bridge operator the cost to the city would be 0 as per the lease contract. Could the judge, at their discretion, award $0 for the enforcement, collection, and attorney's fees due to the law specifying that only the city's costs "must" be reimbursed.

(I know the second question is a bit of a silly semantic argument)

Post-Script:

Both of these questions are purely hypothetical; the bridge operator sent the first invoices for pay by mail approximately two weeks ago so it is impossible for someone to be in actual litigation over these issues. I'm just looking for thoughts and opinions on the matter either way, or the argument both ways. If anyone is interested in seeing the full text of the lease contract between the city and the bridge operator I can send it, it's a public record document and posted online, but the javascript link can't be posted.

With the events in California I have been made aware of a CA law called Leonard’s law, which allows for 1st amendment protections on private university campuses.

I tried searching google scholar for case law involving the law, but only found two results among the many cases which simply involved a person named “Leonard.”

Is there any way to search for court cases involving a specific law?

Hii!!

Im a 14 year old girl that wants to become a lawyer

Which type of lawyer handles sexual offenses? Like r@pe? Im sorry if this is a weird question or anything but I have people that I know that have been S3xual Abused or r@ped and since then I knew I wanted to help others

​

so please tell me which type of lawyer I should become and what type of study I have to do

Someone used my debit card to pay two credit cards totaling almost $3000. It was just those two transactions (one for 300 and one for 2500) to two separate credit cards - they haven’t posted yet officially as it is Sunday but I have spoken to my bank.

The weirdest thing is- I had JUST gotten paid and got a tax refund deposited less than 24 hrs before they did this. And they used almost exactly what was in my account (it currently has only $7 now). I almost never keep that much in my account I just hadn’t gotten a change to transfer any yet.

I’m in the US- isn’t this amount a felony?! Do I make a police report??

Going in tomorrow to hopefully get this resolved. Was told it can take up to 45 business days??? I’m terrified. It was all my money.

What title states. It’s a lot but I’ll try to keep it simple. Ever since it happened to me, I’ve been helping others with this issue. I currently have a FB group with 500+ members, who have gone through it. My mod is currently in a personal suit she’s doing herself (has some legal experience), but I was wondering if this would be eligible for a class, and if so, how do we go about it?

Basically, they’re closing accounts & holding funds they say they can’t verify. Chase refuses to use “3rd party verifications”. So a number on paystub of check or websites won’t work. They refuse to call the check writer or talk to them. It has to be in their system. It appears LexusNexus is the system they use. They change their contract all the time, my mod has been tracking the changes via software. I’ve also requested my account info several times, which I’m allowed by law. They never send it out.

I became aware of this issue 2 years ago when it happens to me. I had a $7k college fund check (529 plan) cashed out. I deposited it, and it was held for 7 days. It was initially released, then the next day, they took it back, & closed my account for “fraud.” I went to the local branch, and I was personally told by an assistant manager that they had called the wrong company, who told them they didn’t write any check to me. I was also told another person was having this same issue. They verified the check over the phone, however back office denied it. The only option I was told was I had to go into a local branch with a representative of the check writing company. However that wasn’t possible as they were based out of another state. Eventually after back & Roth for 2 & 1/2 months, I finally had a Csr tell me I could get a notarized letter from check writer, stating they wrote me the check with all important info. BUT that this could still be denied by back office. Thankfully it wasn’t. Because they closed my account & held the funds in a suspense account, I got no interest. I have people currently dealing with this, whom are waiting on larger amounts of money, and some have been waiting several months. One I know is close to a year, atp (they had just found my group)

Since this, chase has stopped accepting the notarized letters, the reps in the branch, talking to the check writer, etc. They tell the CFPB they can’t release until it’s verified. The only way I’ve found is telling people to update their info with LexusNexus, therefore bypassing Chase. It just seems like Chase is going out of their way to make it harder for people to get their legal funds.

That’s basically the short version of- it’s a lot more, but basically what can be done about this? Especially in regards to starting a class action. If it’s even possible?

My old employment contract had a single clause in the obligations section that said I agree to "keep the confidentiality of all information and documents aquired while performing my duties". That is it, no other details regarding time frame, etc. would this be considered a non disclosure agreement?

A new job is asking me to disclose all previous non-disclosure/non-compete agreements, I don't know if I need to mention this since it's very vague and not really defined at all.

Also, that clause is right next to other clauses that obviously expire once the contract is over (like needing to complete all duties assigned to me). Does this mean the confidentiality clause also expires then, since nowhere else is it mentioned that it would continue indefinitely?

Your opinions, please. My daughter is dying from cirrhosis. I strongly believe (as does her family) that her job as a 911 operator--and the county's lack of mental health support-- caused her disease.

Background: M is a 42-year-old mother of 2 teenagers and has been married 21 years. She married young, but was a good mom and a hard-worker. She graduated college after her boys were born, and landed a job she loved at the sheriff's office as a 911 operator.

Almost immediately she relayed horror stories of dying children, abusive spouses and grieving widows. Violence, accidents, fires.

She was proud of her job. Her only complaints were repeated often: There was no closure in her job (What happened to that child? Did I get her help in time? Did that man bleed to death? Did she restart her husband's heart?), and there was no mental health support. If an operator was upset after a call, they were allowed to visit a "quiet room" for reflection, then it was back to work.

She received commendations for her service and was very, very good at it.

She formed close bonds with her co-workers. They started performing their own counseling with each other by meeting up after work and sharing stories. Soon she became much more than a social drinker. She drank to forget. She drank to escape. She drank to relate. She started drinking at home, to excess when she was out, and tried (many times without success) to hide her addiction. Her kids discovered her passed out more than once. She started neglecting her husband, house and children, but never her job. She became abusive to the three of them, but put on a front with everyone else. I definitely noticed a change in her, but believed her when she said she was just too busy to see us very often.

Her co-workers, superiors and supervisors became her drinking buddies. They noticed her declining, knew she wasn't doing well, and still never gave her mental health support. When she became sick, they fired her.

Many more details of course, but I just want to know if there's any chance we can help her family and help change the system so it doesn't keep happening. Her husband and children will need life-long therapy. The boys have dropped out of school and both suffer from trauma and severe depression. I fear that her husband may take his own life after she passes.

I've contacted every doctor, agency and hotline I can. It's killing me now, too, and puts a huge strain on my own marriage.

Your professional opinion, please. Would any reputable attorney take on a sheriff's office or am I just grasping at straws? Thank you very much.

What does everyone think would happen if an American killed another American in, say, Iran...assuming the U.S. chose NOT to prosecute or didn't have enough evidence, or maybe even didn't know about about it?

I'm aware America doesn't normally extradite it's citizens to hostile nations; but suppose an anti-ayatollah American killed a pro-ayatollah American in Iran. Suppose both were dual Iranian U.S. citizens, or if you prefer, that both were simply American citizens. The Iranian regime would be of course fuming, since the person killed was one of its cultmembers. It wants extradition. But America, obviously, doesn't find the death to be an unwelcome development. Yet it was still a U.S. citizen killed...

Lastly, suppose Iran refused to share any and all evidence or intelligence with the U.S.

What do you think would be the outcome? Extradition or not? And why? Feel free to add some variation to the question if you think it would make an interesting answer. You could assume the two people were both U.S. dual citizens but each with a different second nationality and how that might affect the outcome, for example.

Hello! I am a Texas resident who recently had a background check completed for a side job, which showed that I had an arrest warrant from Riverside, CA under my name and DOB. After looking up my case number, it appears my brother used my information when booked for a misdemeanor (illegal substance possession).

My first issue is that my side job will not allow me to work until it is cleared.

Second, I have a work trip scheduled in 2 weeks that would require me to fly out to Colorado and I am concerned the warrant would impact my ability to fly and result in me getting fired if I can't go.

Lastly, I have a pretty pricey, non-refundable overseas trip planned at the end of May which I am also concerned I will be losing a lot of money because of this.

Kindly advise on how to quickly and properly handle this situation. Also if anyone has any advice on lawsuits and if it would be even worth it in this scenario, l'd appreciate the advice! Thank you in advance!

I will try and make this simple as possible. My cousin is in probate trying to get her Moms estate. Her Moms ex boyfriend never married never lived together put a petition against the probate.

He commented two crimes 1) Harrasment - while she was in the hospital. 2) burglary while in the hospital

I have called the non emergency police department and explained everything and they agreed that these are both crimes and that I need to get a restraining order and file a police report. Below is a briefing of what he did before he put a petition against the probate.

Harassment was against me. He kept texting me when my Aunt was in the hospital and told me to stay away from her or I would have consequences. I have several texts telling me that I must stand down. He also verbally told another family member that if he didn’t he will put a restraining order on me… this is my Aunt who I grew up with- I have more say than he does. He sent texts saying he would get his lawyer involved and I have many more .. he also kept calling me after the service trying to be nice, the service was July 22, 2023, the phone calls kept coming, he sent a text that was so disrespectful to my mother (this is her little sister that passed) and called her asking why l wasn’t answering his calls. His last call was Dec 27th I did not answer, then he showed up at my door the same night asking my mom if I was here, and that he needed to show me a headstone he wanted to order for her gravesite. He said he needed someone in the family to approve. My mom said we have been exposed to Covid and to leave us alone, then closed the door. I blocked his number that night. I also sent him a text while my aunt was in the hospital telling him to leave us alone so we can take care of this as a family. I have everything I need the texts, witnesses, the call log. I have called the nonemergency police number in and in my area and they said yes that is a crime.

My issue is my cousin is only 22 years old and is afraid she’s going to lose the estate if anything happens or if I file a police report, or restraining order.

Personally I would think this would make it harder even worse for him. He has the probate in a hold because he had to cancel and will rescheduled when he can.. he is not entitled to the estate and he’s just playing games right now I believe…

The second crime is burglary. We don’t know how he got the key to her mother‘s house he never had one before and her mom was not in the right state of mind in the hospital.. but he got a key and it wasn’t from anybody who is alive today, and he entered her residence without permission-this is burglary in Washoe county Nevada. He also took items and he is holding up the probate because he wants his items and half the cost of what he paid for while they were dating. That’s kind of an oxymoron when he already illegally took items from her home.

So the question is if we file these police reports and restraining order what will happen to probate? I hope this makes sense I live in Washoe county Nevada. I’ve read all the NRS laws and there’s nothing out there about what happens to the hold on probate- my cousin is afraid she will lose it if the restraining order is placed and the two other police reports are filed. Thank you in advance!

I'm working on a research paper related to immigration law and came across a complex case that I need some insight on. The individual involved, originally from a country with ongoing conflicts and digital record challenges, had a paper ID from childhood stating a birth year of 2000. This birth year was carried over into their passport and used throughout their schooling. The individual later applied for a visa in 2020, providing biometric data at an embassy, then moved to another country for studies but faced residency cancellation after 5 months. After a brief return to their home country, where they did not provide biometric data for a new visa application, they successfully re-entered the second country with a student residency permit and continued their studies. In 2022, the person moved to the UK and claimed asylum, but with a revised birth year of 2006, which was updated in a new electronic ID but not on their passport. The UK government accepted this claim, granting refugee status with the updated age. Considering these ID discrepancies and movements, could there be potential issues if this person applies for a visa or attempts to enter the previously mentioned country with a UK refugee travel document and a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)?

Okay I have 2 daughters they are 12 and 14 years old we live in Delaware.

They told me they only want to be at their mother's house only 1 day a week. They told me she has a short temper and doesn't care about what they want and need.

My oldest told her that she is scared of a dog that she is getting mother said she didn't care and is getting the dog anyway.

Whats my best way to go by this? I have very little income too

I have never been taught to drive. And never imagined I would be able to have a car. And I've always been placed by my family in places where a car is required to leave or to work. Currently I am in a place where there's not even a bus. I don't even have a bicycle. And I have 0 dollars. I'm lucky I have a phone. I am entirely dependent on them. I told them I want to go somewhere I don't need a car so I can work and become independent. I am 29 years old and have developed depression because of it. I don't have one friend. (I've been severely isolated) I can't do anything all day. They responded by telling me that they are going to put me on the street in 2 months. I also haven't seen a doctor in over 10 years.

Is there anything about this situation that is illegal? And what can I do? Are there charity lawyers?

Two members from a well known gaming competitive team (OpTic Gaming) in the call of duty world filed a lawsuit in the district court accusing Activision of a monopoly. Their accusations are pretty serious and they aren’t wrong when they say that Activision has a huge control in the competitive call of duty area. The case was recently dismissed and I am not sure why; does any lawyer want to give their input on what may have caused it to be dismissed and sent to arbitration instead of going to trial? And personally what would Activision need to do to be considered a “monopoly” as in the past they did acquire a massive gaming league which forced teams to play in the Activision league to prevention competition. Their resources are also huge.

https://www.esports.net/news/cod/scump-lawsuit-dismissed-courts/

Long story short, I got a PPP. Bank gave me misinformation. I filled the docs out based on what they told me in writing in email. I was approved. Later trying to get debt forgiveness, the SBA kicked back stating that the amount I qualified for was far less than what I was given and they would only forgive the amount I should have qualified for. The bank tried to tell me I owed them the rest. I fought it and sent them a 15+ page document with supporting documents, emails, chat logs and so on where I was told it was OK to do what I did. They submitted it to the SBA and I was later told the SBA wouldn't budge but they were working on getting a final ruling.

Last communication with that bank was approximately a year ago with no final ruling report. While my phone number has changed since then, they primarily contacted me via email and I've searched my spam box. I haven't received anything from them outside of advertisement. I have a feeling that even if the SBA declined to pay all of it off, with all of the documentation I presented, the bank has decided to eat it because they know I have enough docs to make it clear that they screwed up.

Should I worry about this biting me in the ass 5-10 years from now, or should I just maintain my copies of the documents and consider it a closed case unless I get contacted again about it? How long do I have before they can no longer pursue me for the money? There is also nothing on my credit report about it.

I (38m) have a child endangerment felony in Ohio (non-drug/sex/violence related). Provided I pass the bar and get licensed, how challenging would it be to get hired? Would certain focuses be easier/harder than others?

Inspired by a recent post. How has legal training or practice changed you as a person?

Hello, I'm currently in my second year of law school, but my best and most enjoyable school subject has always been math. I got 120/120 in my high school final math exam which is in my country about 1/10000, and I still help my friend with math even though he is already going for his Master's in computer science.

I still enjoy law school, and by no means want to quit it, but I've still had this thought lingering in my mind if I could somehow utilize this math "talent" to my advantage while still becoming a lawyer. I can study all the math, data science etc. I want in my current university, but I'm trying to assess if I could somehow concretely benefit from having taking courses - or even got another degree - in for example math, statistics (which seems the most interesting to me), data science or some other related field. Thank you for any opinions!

Like the title says, my fiancés mom died in 2020, his step dad moved to Miami leaving the house in a small town in Florida basically unoccupied. We were 19 at the time and had moved across the country because the family situation was abusive.

My fiancés stepbrother moved into this house and has lived there until this day.

His mom has her name on the deed of the house and had a will, which said that the house belongs to my fiancé or his two siblings after her death (not the stepbrother or anyone in that family), but in order to go through with the will, I guess his stepdad had to submit the death certificate (which he had but said he didn’t know where it went), so her will was never enacted. So the things I’m wondering are:

Could a lawyer help find the death certificate to release the will or whatever?

How long after a person dies do you have to get their will enacted?

If the will does say my fiancé is entitled to the house, would it be a costly process to move his step brother out?

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

My 21 y/o nephew (“Neph”) was in a car accident a little over a week ago and has been in ICU since. In an attempt to keep his girlfriend (Griff) and my husband’s family away (Neph’s paternal relatives, father passed in 2015) his mom or one of his siblings set up a password with the nurses so that only people who know it can visit him. He’s been sedated until about 2 days ago, at which point he immediately began asking for Griff, so she was given the password. He later asked to see another of my nephews (his cousin) we’ll call “Gingey.” He’s still sleeping quite a bit but when he’s awake he’s coherent and answers/asks questions, can hold a conversation, asks Griff for kisses, scrolls through social media and responds appropriately to “give me a thumbs up”, “blink for me”, etc. He knows the basics like his name, what year it is, where he is, etc. He asks to see certain people or asks for someone to leave so another person he wants to see can come in the room (limited to 2 visitors at a time). The two people he consistently asks for and doesn’t want to leave his side are Griff and Gingey.

Today, his older brother (“Black Sheep” or BS) went to visit and Gingey agreed to step outside since Neph freaks out a little if Griff isn’t there when he wakes up. While in the back, BS changed the admittance password which is now keeping Gingey and the rest of us from seeing Neph, despite Neph having stated he wants to see Gingey, my husband, my sister-in-law and her husband. When Gingey asked the nurse to ask Neph if he wants to see him, the nurse told him she can’t do that and that he’ll have to get the password from either the mom or one of the siblings.

Question 1: What, if anything, can we do to be able to see Neph?

Question 2: With no PoA in place and Neph being an adult of sound mind and capable of communicating his wishes, how are his siblings and mother able to override his own wishes when allowing who can or cannot visit?

I am curious to understand whether pre-sentence report enhancements are generally dismissed or upheld during the sentencing phase. While I understand that each case is unique and subject to various factors, gaining a broader perspective on this matter would be invaluable to me. Additionally, I am interested in knowing how easily these enhancements can be objected to or challenged.

Hi there!

I have a school project in 2 days. The project is a made-up court case where I am on the defense. I have all the needed evidence and arguments against the prosecution except one. The "case" is about a man not helping and not caring about his dying wife at all and they are prosecuting him for abandoning her and being the reason for her death by leaving her sick. One of the main things is that the man was thinking about wanting for her to die because he has to go to a wedding of a wealthy person where he will get all the great food etc. (they were poor) and for him to be able to go there she would need to die at least 2 weeks before or just after the wedding (traditions of his village were not to celebrate anything after death) and he was hoping for that to happen asap. Now since I have something to use for countering their evidence on everything else I can think of being usable as evidence I just need help on this one.

Now to get to the point: I am wondering if there are any laws prohibiting someone guessing what a person was thinking and what he wanted to happen? Surely you can't use guessing somebody's thoughts for evidence in court, but I just don't know if that's a real law or if it goes under some general laws about evidence. I've heard about similar stuff in movies and series, but I need it to be real. If they bring that up (which they surely will) I need a basis to object on and an exact law to do so. If there is anyone who can respond until Monday I would appreciate it so much!

Thanks in advance!

(Please keep in mind this is all coming from someone still in school so don't judge me on stupid questions and basis to go on like movies).

Basically just title. I have no idea why evading taxes by corporations through tax havens is not considered tax evasion and charged accordingly.

Hello, I currently reside in West Virginia. How bad is it if I received unredacted checks from a FOIA, then a month later received unredacted TIN number from a FOIA to the same public body?

In other words even with Presidential Immunity that SCOTUS could rule on in the Federal cases, can a State always prosecute an ex President? Or is there a possible interpretation SCOTUS could issue that would kill the Media Manipuation and Campaign Fraud case in NY before it concluded?

(I guess on reflection, my question is a hypothetical if somehow they were assert that running for office constitutes an official act?).

I signed a purchase agreement to buy a home in PA. After signing I noticed that the seller's disclosure contained false information. For example they had checked that there was no structural damage when serious structural damage originating from the adjoining homes roof state of disrepair. Yet in the Seller's disclosure they checked no for structural damage. Now they're saying $6500 in structural damage after pointing this out. The seller seems to have zero interest in returning the deposit ($2000) despite the inaccuracies in the S.D which are blatant. I do not want their contract anymore. But it seems to be primarily up to the seller. I don't know what to do and I am looking for suggestions on how I can get my $2000 deposit back from the title company.

How do these work? how does someone call a person up to the stand? Does one get notified if they are being called up to the stand?

For a civil case, how does it compare to a criminal hearing?

Is there such a thing? I just officially started a film production company and didn’t know if there were people willing to help out Pro-Bono, or where do I even go about finding a business lawyer for stuff like contracts, insurance, etc.?