Posted on August 27, 2015 in Personal Injury

Bicycling, both as a means of transportation and for pleasure, has become increasingly more common in the Chicago metro area, especially during the warm summer months. Unfortunately, notoriously busy Chicago traffic and bicyclists do not always make for a good combination.

The chtribune is reporting that on August 26, 2012, a vehicle struck a bicyclist in the 600 block of East Marquette Road, which is located in the West Woodlawn neighborhood, at approximately 11:15 a.m. The bicyclist sustained serious injuries in the crash, and was transported to a local hospital by ambulance.

While the specific details of this accident are not yet available, a number of circumstances could have led to this type of accident. Many times, drivers are not as aware as they should be of their surroundings, and particularly of bicyclists and pedestrians. Drivers may become easily distracted by telephone calls, text messages, or other behaviors that are generally inappropriate while driving. When drivers do not drive safely, and, as a result, fail to take proper notice of nearby bicyclists, they may misjudge distances, underestimate movements, and ultimately cause collisions that can be life-threatening to all parties involved.

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 Posted on August 27, 2015 in Personal Injury

The dangers of engaging in texting and driving as a form of distracted driving are pretty well known at this point, and so are the dangerous consequences that result at times in such scenarios. Not only is the act of texting and driving illegal in the vast majority of states across the country, but if a driver who is texting gets into a car accident as the result of his or her negligence and causes injury, he or she can also face serious civil penalties in the event a lawsuit is filed.

According to a recently published news article, police are coming up with new ways of detecting whether drivers are texting, which may also be helpful to other drivers on the road who may be able to take advantage of the same tactics in order to avoid a crash.

How the Police Know You Are Texting

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 Posted on August 27, 2015 in Personal Injury

While there have been a recent number of media reports regarding the perceived increased traffic safety and decreased fatalities associated with car accidents in different scenarios involving teen drivers, bike riders, or pedestrians, crashes still happen. It is the opinion of many experts that safety efforts, when it comes to driving and obeying traffic laws, should continue until the number of avoidable accidents reaches zero. Whether or not that is a realistic goal, it is certainly a noble one and an effort that many can support since virtually every member of the public can potentially benefit from increased road safety.

Local Efforts

Communities around the Chicago area seem to consistently look at traffic issues in an effort to decrease dangerous conditions on roadways. According to a recently published news article, the local community of Naperville is planning to increase road safety efforts over the course of the next year. The community is able to do so thanks to a received grant aimed at conducting roadside safety checkpoints every week for the next 12 months. Currently, law enforcement in Naperville reports that it plans on conducting at least one roadside safety check per month.

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 Posted on August 27, 2015 in Personal Injury

It has long been known that drunk driving is a dangerous activity that can cause serious consequences, in both the legal aspect as well as in the personal lives of the individuals involved—particularly if this action contributes to a car accident. Those who choose to operate their vehicles while impaired can face criminal charges and a civil lawsuit if their actions lead to the injury of another or property damage.

Additional consequences can emerge depending on the circumstances, which can have financial effects as well as cause damage to the overall well-being of those involved. With all of these consequences in place, one may think that the incidence of drunk driving is nearly non-existent, but that cannot be farther from the truth. Drunk driving is an issue that almost every community across the country likely has to deal with in one aspect or another.

Shift in Perception

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 Posted on August 27, 2015 in Personal Injury

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the number of truck crashes and fatalities is on the rise. In 2011 alone, 3,757 died in collisions with trucks and more than 80,000 Americans were injured. Though trucks make up less than five percent of all vehicles on U.S. roadways, per mile driven, those same trucks cause fatalities at rate that is 17 percent higher than that for regular passenger vehicles.

Size of Trucks: A Contributing Factor

Along with the number of trucks on the road, the size of trucks will also increase as well. In fact, some will be longer than passenger airplanes and weigh up to 20 times more than a family car. Given the size disparity between trucks and cars, when trucks crash, most of the people who are injured or die are the occupants of the cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and even pedestrians involved, as opposed to the truck drivers themselves.

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 Posted on August 26, 2015 in Immigration

Immigration is a hotly debated topic nowadays, with viewpoints ranging all over the spectrum. However, the intensity of the debate can lead to serious misinformation being spread as fact, and it can have extremely negative effects on real people’s lives. One of the questions that has come up is the issue of whether undocumented immigrants even have rights to do things that most United States citizens consider elementary. The answer to such a question is important.

The Fourteenth Amendment

As far back as 1896, in the case of Yick Wo v. Hopkins, the Fourteenth Amendment was held to protect the rights of immigrants. To be sure, the majority opinion in the case stated that “The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is not confined to the protection of citizens.” While this jurisprudence is a good foundation upon which to base law, the question then comes up as to what rights the Fourteenth Amendment actually guarantees.

The amendment itself states that no one will be denied equal protection under the law, nor anyone deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The latter is fairly self-explanatory, and has been alluded to in Supreme Court jurisprudence countless times, enforcing immigrants’ rights under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

The definition of ‘equal protection,’ on the face of it, is also easy to parse, but it has become more complex over the years. Certain rights are reserved for United States citizens, such as voting and possessing certain types of firearms. Also, rights and privileges may be denied to immigrants (both documented and otherwise) if it can be proved that the discrimination furthers an ‘important’ governmental interest by means that are substantially related to that interest. Still, despite these disadvantages, the fundamental rights are protected.

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 Posted on August 19, 2015 in Immigration

On June 26, the landmark case of Obergefell v. Hodges was decided by the Supreme Court, granting marriage equality to homosexual couples. Among the many rights granted by a legal marriage, one of the most important is the ability to sponsor one’s spouse for immigration to the United States. This ruling will lead to an easier path for same-sex couples to obtain the appropriate legal documentation for immigration.

Getting a Fiance or Spouse Visa

The usual way to obtain a visa for one’s fiance is to apply for a K visa for them. A K visa is granted to couples who have not yet married, but intend to marry within 90 days of the foreign national’s arriving in the United States. Both halves of a couple must also be able to prove that they are free to marry (with no living spouses, or other potential issues) and that they have met in person (unless to do so would violate long-held cultural norms, such as in certain sects of Islam or Hinduism).

If a couple is already married, a U.S. citizen spouse may sponsor the other for permanent residence. Filing an I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, begins the process, coupled with an Application for Adjustment of Status if your spouse is already in the United States. This process can take months, and generally culminates in an investigation of your marriage to ensure its veracity.

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 Posted on August 12, 2015 in Immigration

In late June of 2015, Secretary Johnson of the Department of Homeland Security granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to nationals of Nepal after a serious earthquake in their homeland. This means that all Nepali nationals who qualify may apply for TPS, therefore allowing them to remain in the United States for a period of time even after the expiration of their visas.

Temporary Protected Status is granted to nationals of specific countries at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, and can help those from countries experiencing strife to stay in a safe place while the problems in their country are addressed.

A Response to ‘Extraordinary and Temporary’ Events

Temporary Protected Status was established in 1990 by the Immigration Act. Originally, the Attorney General had the power to institute TPS, but it was transferred to Homeland Security in 2003. While TPS is active, nationals of the country in question may remain in the United States and apply for work authorization, but it is not a pathway to Lawful Permanent Resident status, as it cannot be renewed except by authorization of the Homeland Security secretary.

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 Posted on August 05, 2015 in Immigration

When a person is granted the status of Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR, or ‘green card holder’), they are gifted with several new rights, but they also come with responsibilities that must be upheld. Many who attain LPR status have no idea of the obligations they now have, and it is important that you understand what is required lest you inadvertently break the law.

Privileges

The “rights” of LPRs are in reality more appropriately called privileges, because the U.S. government may revoke your LPR status at any time if you fail to fulfill the conditions of having it. Still, the list of advantages that LPRs possess over those on immigrant visas is significant in terms of convenience and security. Some include the right (or privilege) to:

• Live anywhere in the United States, with no restrictions;

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 Posted on July 29, 2015 in Immigration

Immigration law is a difficult discipline, especially when it comes to removal issues. A term that is heard very often in questions concerning possible deportation is aggravated felony. However, the experts are somewhat divided on what actually constitutes an aggravated felony, and what its ramifications are in terms of immigration benefits. The answer is complex, but not out of reach.

Definition and History

An aggravated felony is defined in a somewhat slippery fashion in terms of U.S. law. If one tries to search for a specific definition, one finds a list of crimes that fall under the category of aggravated felony, but not a list of criteria that makes the crimes in question aggravated felonies. Even the definition at 8 USC § 1101(a)(43) is simply a list of crimes.

The term ‘aggravated felony’ only appeared in U.S. immigration law in 1988, when modifications were made to the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA). At first, only certain drug crimes and murder were part of the group, but the Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and other legislation added several more over the next decade. As of this writing, the term has significantly expanded beyond its original definition, which is a source of controversy for multiple reasons.

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