By Melinda Arora, Thomson Reuters

17 May 2013Investigative Insights

The Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program is now accepting applications for funding under the Edward Bryne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program.  According to their website, this program furthers the Department’s mission by assisting state, local, and tribal efforts to prevent or reduce crime and violence.  They stated that JAG funds may be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, strategic planning, research and evaluation (including forensics), data collection, training, personnel, equipment, forensic laboratories, supplies, contractual support, and criminal justice information systems that will improve or enhance such areas as:

• Law enforcement programs
• Prosecution and court programs
• Prevention and education programs
• Corrections and community corrections programs
• Drug treatment and enforcement programs
• Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs
• Crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation)

Application deadline: May 30, 2013.  Learn more and apply to this grant.

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More grants:
Read Part 1 of our 3-part series – Policing grant opportunities (with deadlines in late April, 2013)
Read Part 2 of our 3-part series – Child Support Enforcement grant programs
Read Part 3 of our 3-part series – COPS grant opportunities (June 4, 2013 deadline)

26 Apr 2013Thomson Reuters

The Thomson Reuters Foundation has just launched a completely re-designed website that provides better and faster access to its award-winning services: free legal assistance, journalism training, and in-depth coverage of the world’s under-reported stories.

The revamped Trust.org brings together the Foundation’s extensive range of news and service which includes:

Read the full story.

24 Apr 2013Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters Foundation celebrates its 30 years anniversary today and launches a re-designed website which provides streamlined, quicker access to key Foundation news and services which includes: (more…)

India’s 2013 monsoon season is predicted to be normal this year, but even normal monsoon seasons can leave many regions facing droughts while others get plentiful rainfall. A drought this year could trigger mass migration to cities like Mumbai as families seek jobs and water. It would also affect crops, diminishing farm incomes and thus reducing economic growth in the area. Today’s graphic tracks the last 100 years of rainfall in India.

By Michael Scott Leonard, Senior Legal Correspondent

16 Apr 2013Michael Scott Leonard

Three passengers suing Caribbean Airlines over a 2011 crash in Guyana are arguing that a treaty governing international air travel does not apply to their claims because Guyana was still a British colony when it took effect.

In a brief asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to deny the airline’s dismissal motion, Rajendra, Prampatie and Shanti Persaud say the court has jurisdiction over their personal injury action because Guyana is not a “high contracting party” to the Warsaw Convention.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Aviation.)

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An electrical contractor defrauded the Department of Defense by supplying more than $428,000 worth of unapproved parts, many of which were defective, the U.S. government has alleged in a New York federal court complaint.

16 Apr 2013Catherine Tomasko

The United States claims that Electrical & Electronic Controls Inc. of Brewster, N.Y., violated the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, by substituting cheaper parts instead of those specified in its contract.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Government Contract.) (more…)

03 Apr 2013Stuart Gittleman

An enforcement agreement between the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and broker-dealer MD Sass Securities offers guidance on what disclosures FINRA will look for when examining brokers engaged in the private placement of securities, especially for affiliated entities.

This guidance may be particularly appropriate for offerings under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS, Act, which relaxes rules for emerging-company capital raising. Some of the startups are expected to raise capital through private placements, in many cases with the investment bank also engaged in selling the investments. (more…)

According to a study released last week, the U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans. The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number. When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war’s death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000. Today’s graphic tracks the death toll over the war’s 10-year period. Make sure to check out this collection of some of Reuters iconic images from the conflict, where photographers provide a personal account of the events they captured.

The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that the personal representative of an estate cannot recover damages from an attorney whose alleged malpractice resulted in massive estate and inheritance tax bills because the claim did not arise during the decedent’s lifetime.

18 Mar 2013Donna Higgins

The state high court said in its decision that a cause of action based on increased estate taxes does not accrue until after the decedent’s death, meaning it does not qualify as a survival claim that can be brought by a personal representative.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Professional Liability.) (more…)

The suit accuses a medical transport accreditation committee of abusing its enforcement authority to force smaller companies out of the air-ambulance market. Here, air-ambulance rescue workers evacuate a passenger injured during an aircraft crash landing.

A Utah air-ambulance operator has moved for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in its federal antitrust lawsuit against the accrediting agency that decertified it in July.

08 Mar 2013Michael Scott Leonard

Classic Helicopter Group’s motion, filed Jan. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, argues that the decision by the nonprofit Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems to withdraw Classic’s accreditation has already caused the company “irreparable harm.”

(Westlaw users: Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Aviation.) (more…)