In 1999, the country was in shock when the nation’s first major school shooting took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two teenage boys shot and killed 13 people and injured more than 20 others before they committed suicide. Since then, more events involving gun violence have taken place, many in schools. In the past couple of years, there have been dozens of incidents in which high school students have committed acts of violence using a weapon at school. In one recent event, a Waukesha, Wisconsin teen threatened fellow students with a pellet gun, resulting in an altercation with a police officer. 

Teen Shot Three Times By Police

Early in December of 2019, a Waukesha South High School student brought a pellet gun into school to scare the other students because he “was tired of being picked on,” according to authorities. The boy became upset when another student asked him about his plans for his 18th birthday. According to the charges filed, the teen pulled a pellet gun that looked like a handgun from his backpack and pointed it directly toward the student’s head.

Our founding fathers established certain requirements when it came to creating a new country and a new government. Many of those provisions dealt with the individual and collective freedoms of citizens of the United States. These rights were given to people through the U.S. Constitution and its amendments. Some of the most important rights to those accused of criminal offenses in this country are referred to as “Miranda rights” after the conclusion of the 1966 Supreme Court case, Arizona v. Miranda. This landmark case established the requirement that suspects must be informed of their rights, a protocol used by all police forces around the country.

What Are Miranda Rights?

Your Miranda rights are those rights that are guaranteed to you in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These include the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right against self-incrimination. The case Arizona v. Miranda established that all police officers are required to inform you of these rights. All police departments have a different variation of the text used, but it typically sounds something like this:

When it comes to drunk driving laws, Wisconsin is relatively lenient compared to other states. In fact, Wisconsin is the only state in the country in which a first-time DUI offense is merely a ticket, rather than a criminal charge. Even when a person reaches his or her second, third, or even fourth conviction of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI), the sentence typically does not involve jail time. Rather, probation is usually given to those offenders, even if their driving privileges were revoked. Jail time can be expected, however, if there are certain aggravating factors present in the situation to warrant a need for incarceration. Aggravating factors in a Wisconsin OWI case can include causing bodily harm or injury to another person, committing OWI with a child in the vehicle, or one of the most serious charges: homicide while committing OWI.

Charges for Homicide While Driving Under the Influence

In all 50 states, operating a vehicle while you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol is illegal. Adding an aggravating factor to OWI, such as killing another person, makes the charges even more serious. In Wisconsin, a person commits the offense of homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle when he or she causes the death of another person due to the handling of the vehicle while he or she was under the influence of alcohol or any type of drug, had a BAC of 0.08 or more, or if he or she had a BAC of 0.04 or more and was driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). 

Nothing stays the same forever; the only constant is change. The same can be said when it comes to divorce decrees and the decisions that they contain. In Wisconsin, a divorce decree will include all of the information that is needed to settle a divorce, such as how property is being divided, how child custody has been determined, and whether or not spousal maintenance or child support is relevant for the case. As everyone knows, circumstances can change over time, and what may have been right when the divorce was finalized may not be appropriate for current or future situations. In scenarios such as these, you may need to modify your Wisconsin divorce decree.

Time Requirements For Modifications

It is important to know that you cannot change elements of your divorce decree just because you want to or because you do not like them. You actually need a valid reason to modify your decree, and even then, there are certain things you typically cannot change, such as property division.

Thanksgiving is upon us, with Christmas following soon after. Holiday get-togethers are a time for family and friends to gather and spend time with one another. It is not uncommon for adults to drink alcohol during these festive gatherings, but drinking too much and getting behind the wheel can result in criminal charges for those who choose to do so. Holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas are notorious for having staggering statistics on DUI-related traffic accidents, many of which turn out to be deadly. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 800 people died in alcohol-related car crashes during Thanksgiving holidays between 2013 and 2017. If you plan on drinking this holiday season, here are a few things you can do to prevent a serious and costly Wisconsin OWI charge:

1. Be smart about how you drink. If you plan on driving home after a holiday party, and you also plan on having a drink or two while you are there, you need to be responsible about your drinking habits. Always make sure you eat a decent meal before you start drinking. Drinking on an empty stomach not only enhances the effects of alcohol, but it also makes your body absorb the alcohol faster, meaning your BAC will be higher in less time than usual. Also, make sure to drink plenty of water and stop drinking at least one hour before you plan to leave.

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