New York Paralegal Blog

It's a really tough and uncomfortable question to ask: how different was the racism of Nazi Germany from the racism in the United States, especially during the time of Jim Crow laws? Both periods involved horrific discrimination, violence, and the idea that one race was superior to another. But digging a bit deeper, we find some crucial differences in their ultimate goals and how their societies were structured. Let's break it down: Hitler's Germany: A Quest for "Purity" and Annihilation Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany was built on an extreme and terrifying idea: the world needed to be "purified" by getting rid of "inferior" races. Top Dog Race: They believed in an "Aryan master race" (mostly Northern Europeans, especially Germans) as the peak of humanity. "Subhuman" and Targeted for Death: Groups like Jewish people, Roma (Gypsies), Slavic people, and Black people were labeled "subhuman." The goal wasn...

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is an invaluable source for understanding crime trends across the nation. While we're always looking at the most recent data, sometimes it's helpful to revisit past years to see patterns and shifts. Let's take a quick look at some key insights from the 2019 FBI UCR data, focusing on violent crime. In 2019, there were an estimated 1,203,808 violent crimes nationwide, representing a slight decrease of 0.5% compared to 2018. This category includes murder, rape (revised definition), robbery, and aggravated assault. Looking deeper into the violent crime offenses and associated arrest demographics: Aggravated assaults accounted for the largest portion, making up 68.2% of violent crimes reported. Of the 274,376 arrests for aggravated assault, White individuals accounted for 61.8% (169,467 arrests) and Black or African American individuals accounted for 33.2% (91,164 arrests). Robberies comprised 22.3% of violent crime...

The United States, a nation historically shaped by immigration, maintains a comprehensive legal framework governing entry into the country. While the motivations for seeking a new life in the U.S. are often deeply compelling, it is critical to understand that circumventing official ports of entry and established procedures is a violation of federal law. This act, commonly referred to as "illegal entry," carries significant civil and criminal consequences under the United States Code. The legal ramifications become even more severe for those who re-enter after being formally deported. The Initial Offense: Improper Entry At the core of this issue is Section 1325 of Title 8 of the United States Code (8 U.S.C. § 1325), titled "Improper entry by alien." This statute explicitly makes it a federal offense to enter or attempt to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers. This includes crossing the border betwee...

By: Joel Irving  The landscape of federal policy surrounding diversity and discrimination underwent a notable transformation during the Trump administration. A series of executive actions signaled a clear intent to move away from established diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and to significantly curtail the application of a legal concept known as "disparate impact." This represented a distinct pivot, emphasizing what the administration termed a "merit-based" system for federal employment and operations. At the forefront of these changes was a significant executive order, "Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy." This directive didn't mince words: its stated goal was to eliminate the use of disparate impact liability "in all contexts to the maximum degree possible." For federal agencies, this translated into a mandate to deprioritize the enforcement of disparate impact claims. They were also instructed to review exist...

WASHINGTON – Markus Walder, former head of North America Offshore Banking at an international bank headquartered in Zurich; Susanne D. Rüegg Meier, a former manager with the international bank; Andreas Bachmann, a former banker at a subsidiary of the international bank; and Josef Dörig, the founder of a Swiss trust company, have been charged with conspiring with other Swiss bankers to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. The four are charged in a superseding indictment together with four other defendants (Marco Parenti Adami, Emanuel Agustino, Michele Bergantino and Roger Schaerer) who were charged in an indictment returned on Feb. 23, 2011.

Washington – Sarah Pender was behind bars serving a 110-year sentence before she escaped in August from the Rockville Correctional Facility in Indiana. Today, she is the most wanted woman in America after being added to the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted fugitive list. Pender, 29, was convicted in 2002 on two counts of murder. In 2000, Pender and her boyfriend purchased a shotgun and returned to their residence where they shot their two roommates. After killing the roommates, Pender and her boyfriend disposed of the bodies in a trash dumpster. While serving her sentence, prison authorities believe Pender befriended a correctional officer, who allegedly helped her escape. Prison security footage on the day she escaped shows Pender walking toward a prison exit at the same time the guard drove into the facility to get gasoline. Authorities believe the guard hid her in the vehicle and drove her off the prison grounds where she met up with her get-away driver. “Sarah Pender is a dangerous fug...

(openPR) - Texas (August 20, 2008) – The global law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP is proud to congratulate Alexandre R. Chequer, Jorge G. De Presno-Arizpe, Marcelo Oliveira Mello, Antonio Bastos Sarmento, and Ivan Tauil on their inclusion in the inaugural edition of the 2009 Chambers Latin America “Leaders in their Field” legal directory. The Firm is also pleased to announce its recognition as one of the top law firms in the directory. Thompson & Knight is ranked in Brazil for Corporate/M&A and Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas and in Mexico for Labor & Employment and Real Estate. The directory will be published in October 2008. Chequer is included in the publication’s Corporate/M&A and Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas sections for Brazil. He is a Partner in the Firm’s International Energy Practice Group and practices from the São Paulo and Houston offices. His practice focuses on project development, representing clients in energy, ethanol...