Lifetime Registration for Juveniles Unconstitutional
In late December 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that lifetime sex offender registration for juvenile offenders was unconstitutional because it violated the due process rights of juveniles. Lifetime sex offender registration on a private registry is currently a part of Michigan law for juveniles who are 14-16 years old and convicted of a Tier […]
How to Obtain Your Criminal Record
Background Information Having full knowledge of your criminal record can be very important as your criminal record can not only impact many aspects of your life, but also your eligibility to expunge an offense or your ability to be removed from the sex offender registry. Even if you previously went to court, it is possible […]
Michigan CPS Cases and Child Protective Services Investigations
Michigan Child Protective Services Cases Child Protective Services investigations and cases tend to be very overwhelming. Many parents call us when CPS has contacted them, especially when the case involves sexual abuse allegations or physical abuse allegations. CPS cases and investigations are complicated and sometimes difficult to understand. Below is an explanation of what you can expect […]
How to Obtain Court Records
Background Information Regarding Court Records Most criminal convictions and criminal court records are public records, with a few exceptions. For example, if your case was disposed of under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act under MCL 762.11, et. seq., (commonly referred to as “HYTA” or “TYA”), your court file and records would not be public records. By law, […]
Changes to Michigan’s HYTA Law
Background for HYTA The Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, or HYTA, is a program for youth offenders charged with misdemeanors and certain felonies. Oftentimes young people get charged with an offense by making a mistake or uneducated decision and it later affects their ability to get jobs or get into college. HYTA helps to eliminate the criminal records of […]
Parental Alienation Syndrome
Parental Alienation Syndrome is most apparent when a child becomes brainwashed as a result of his or her parent’s conscious, or unconscious, efforts to turn the child against the other parent, and in combination with the child’s own attempts to cut the other parent down. In extreme cases, a child usually won’t want to communicate […]
Digital Dating, Teenagers & the Law
Over the past few years, the concept of dating has gone more digital than ever before. People access more online dating, online “hook up” sites, and other ways to meet new people than in previous years. If you search for “dating apps” in the App Store on the iPhone, there are over 3,000 results of […]
Protest Supporting Father Wrongfully Accused of Child Abuse
Early in 2014, it was just another day for a family and their 11-week-old baby, until the baby slipped off the father’s lap and he caught her by the face to stop her from falling on the ground. The family acted quickly, as any family would, and drove the baby to C.S. Mott’s Children’s Hospital […]
Statements by Children
On June 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its Opinion in the case of Ohio v. Clark. In its Opinion, the United States Supreme Court held that the introduction of statements by a child’s teachers regarding an allegation of child abuse do not violate a defendant’s Sixth Amendment Confrontation rights when the primary purpose […]
Woman Explains False Allegation
Recently, Smith Blythe, PC came across the story of Quentin Carter. Carter was incarcerated for 17 years following a false conviction of a sexual assault involving a ten-year-old neighbor. There was speculation that another man, Aurelias Marshall, who lived with the neighbor and her mother, forced the girl into making a false accusation against Carter to get […]