Lawyer dog, a trained canine versed in court proceedings and criminal law. Okay, not really; but "lawyer dog" was a big issue in a recent case decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Warren Demseme was being interrogated for a crime when he told police to "just give me a lawyer dog," police did not cease their interrogation, and did not provide him with an attorney but continued questioning Demseme who later made admissions to the crime. This brings up issues of Miranda rights, the ones that you constantly hear on TV (you have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney etc.) and whether or not Demseme did enough to invoke his right to an attorney which would have stopped the interrogation before he made any incriminating statements. The Louisiana high court ruled,“if a suspect makes a reference to an attorney that is ambiguous or equivocal . . . the cessation of questioning is not required.” Whether or not you agree with the judges' interpretation it reiterates one firm point that isn't seen clearly on TV; you must invoke your Miranda rights. That means that if you are being interrogated by the police you need to clearly tell them that you want to speak to an attorney. More interestingly that also means that if you want to "remain silent" you need to tell police that you are using your right to remain silent. Simply not speaking will not stop an interrogation.

Thanksgiving is our nations most widely celebrated holiday of the year. It conjures up images of feasting, food comas and of course that silly bird bedecked with a snood, the infamous turkey! This nation loves it some turkey. In fact we consume more than 46 million turkeys each year during Thanksgiving alone. However, one lucky bird will receive a Presidential pardon this year. This tradition has roots as far back as 1863 when President Lincoln listened to the pleas of his son Tad who wanted to keep the gifted turkey as a pet. Lincoln acquiesced and granted the turkey clemency and Tad later named his new pet, Jack. Jack may be the first recorded pardoned turkey but he wasn't the last, even though not all turkeys that have gone to the White House have had his fortunate fate. In 1963, President Kennedy exclaimed "Let's keep him going" and started the media fanfare that White House turkeys have come to expect these days with the newspapers announcing the "pardoning" of the turkey. In the 1980s President Reagan instilled the tradition of sending these turkeys to children's farms. However, it was President H. W. Bush, who is quoted with the first official use of the term presidential pardon for a turkey. In 1989 animal rights activists were protesting near the White House when the first President Bush made the following speech; "But let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone's dinner table, not this guy -- he's granted a Presidential pardon as of right now -- and allow him to live out his days on a children's farm not far from here.” This cemented the tradition as we know it today.

Shopping online. Most of us do this on regular basis, especially now with the holidays and the infamous Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner; and if you are a person who likes a good deal chances are you may have also shopped on one of the many personal sale websites like Facebook, OfferUp or Craigslist. These sites allow people to sell object that they have directly to you, just meet up and give the person the agreed amount and you take home your prize; however, with the increase in personal sales there has also been an increase in crime, people taking the money and running or worse. For this reason new online exchange zones have been created. This is place often around or at police stations where you can ensure that you and the person you are buying from will both get exactly what you bargained. Check out "Keeping Internet Deals Safe" for more information and to learn where your closes online exchange zone is located, and tell your parents chances are they haven't heard about this yet. Safe Shopping!