Under current Washington law, a person can vacate an unlimited number of felonies but only one misdemeanor. A proposed bill, likely to pass this session, would change this disparity and streamline the process. Vacating a criminal conviction allows a person to truthfully state that they have not been convicted of a crime in job interviews, Read More…
Category: Legal News
Washington to Consider Changes to Sexting Teens and Child Pornography Laws
When laws are hastily written, vague or overly broad, they can do more harm than good. I have previously written about the criminal sexual offense of Dealing in Depictions of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct. That crime is currently defined as any person that “develops, duplicates, publishes, prints, disseminates, exchanges, finances, attempts to Read More…
Stay Silent – Exercise Your 5th Amendment Rights!
A federal court conviction for possessing child pornography was recently upheld in a case that illustrates exercising one’s 5th Amendment rights is a wise thing to do (U.S. v. Chilaca No 17-10296). Remaining silent is particularly advised if English is not your native language. In this instance, the defendant really helped the government (and hurt Read More…