A Tale of Two States and Three Survivors: | Marci A. Hamilton | Verdict | Legal Analysis and Commentary from Justia

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In New York, for anything other than a first-degree felony sexual assault occurring after 2006, the statute of limitations (“SOL”) cuts off prosecution when the victim is 23, at the latest.  For civil claims, too, a victim would have had to file his suit by age 23 at the very latest, and likely much earlier than that.

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Until 2002, Pennsylvania was as bad as New York regarding child sexual abuse SOLs.  Once you turned 20, you were shut out of court.  But in August 2002, the state extended the civil SOL to the victim’s 30th birthday.  Then, in 2005, it extended the criminal SOL to the victim’s 50th birthday.  Neither extension, however, was retroactive, which means that if someone turned 20 before August 2002, he or she would not get the benefit of the 10-year civil extension without putting forward a legal theory alleging misrepresentation, fraud, or conspiracy.

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This simple comparison of child sexual abuse SOLs in two contiguous states, New York and Pennsylvania, should give readers an idea of the confusion and complexity when we widen the lens to take in all 50 states.

I (Hamilton) have a website, www.sol-reform.com, for which I regularly update a 50-state survey of criminal and civil SOLs for child sexual abuse.  It is a Herculean task that takes a large team of students to accomplish.  Not only must the law in 50 states be kept current, but updates are constantly occurring, as the law is in constant flux.

Whatever limitation is set in a particular state, eventually a case of heinous abuse is discovered that is time-barred–leading to a grave injustice.  Then the state extends the SOL so the next equally heinous case will be covered.  But unless the SOLs are eliminated, there will always be the next awful case.

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Read entire article by Atty. Hamilton here.

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Your Android Phone Is Secretly Recording Everything You Do (Updated)-Gizmodo

If you have any decently modern Android phone, everything you do is being recorded by hidden software lurking inside. It even circumvents web encryption and grabs everything–including your passwords andGoogle queries.

Worse: it’s the handset manufacturers and the carriers who–in the name of “making your user experience better”–install this software without any way for you to opt-out. This video, recorded by 25-year-old Android developer Trevor Eckhart, shows how it works. This is bad. Really bad.

Update 1: Nokia claims they don’t use Carrier IQ’s spyware.
Update 2: Hackers have found Carrier IQ in Apple iPhone, but only works in diagnostic mode–which is off by default–and only logs technical data.

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Read entire article and see the video by clicking the first link below:

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