Author: Maysa Razavi

Match.com Will Begin Screening Members Against Sexual Offender Registries

A California woman, referred to publically only as Jane Doe, is suing match.com after she was sexually assaulted by a man she met through the popular dating website.  Ms. Doe is alleging that the man came to her house after their second date and forced her to perform a sex act. The law suit was not seeking money damages, but rather, a temporary restraining order prohibiting new members from signing up for the website until procedures have been implemented to screen members against sexual offender registries. Ms. Doe’s attacker has a history of violent sexual assault crimes which she believes would have been caught if the website had a screening process for its members.

Ms. Doe’s attorney, Mark Webb, suggested that when members pay, their credit cards could be run through sexual offender registries before allowing profiles to be published onto the site. Initially, an attorney for match.com stated that this proposed process was impossible. In a statement to the Associated Press on April 17, however, the website’s president, Mandy Ginsberg said screening processes were not implemented due to the “unreliability of the database” but after reviewing improvements, they will begin screening both current and new members. In the statement, Ms. Ginsberg said the website has “been advised that a combination of improved technology and an improved database now enables a sufficient degree of accuracy to move forward with this initiative, despite its continued imperfection.”… <Read More>

Four-Year-Old Returned Home after Immigration Mishap

BY MEREDITH KELLY

Four-year-old, Emily Ruiz, the American citizen daughter of illegal Guatemalan immigrants was finally returned to the United States on Wednesday, March 30 after an almost three-week ordeal. Almost three weeks prior, on March 11, the little girl was returning to the United States with her grandfather after spending the winter in Guatemala. The airplane, scheduled to arrive at JFK, was diverted to Dulles International Airport in DC due to bad weather. While at Dulles, Emily’s grandfather was detained by immigration authorities and told he would not be able to stay in the United States because of an immigration infraction twenty years ago. When the plane finally arrived at JFK, Emily was not on it. Due to an immigration infraction twenty years ago, Emily’s grandfather was told by authorities in DC that he was unable to stay in the country. This left the family with very limited options. According to her father, Leonel Ruiz, he was told that because of his status as an illegal immigrant, Emily would either be placed in the custody of the State of Virginia, or sent back to Guatemala with her grandfather. Fearful that his daughter would be adopted if placed with the Government, Mr. Ruiz decided it would be best for Emily to go back to Guatemala.… <Read More>

Beauty Queen Loses Title for Gaining Weight

BY MEREDITH KELLY

Former Miss San Antonio, 17 year old Domonique Ramirez is suing the Baxter County pageant organization for taking away her crown.  At 5-foot-8 and 129 pounds, Ms. Ramirez claimed that she was told to “get off the tacos” shortly before being stripped of her Miss San Antonio title in January. Losing her title also mean losing the opportunity to compete in the Miss Texas and possible Miss America competitions.

The pageant president, Linda Woods, testified in court on March 16 that photos of Ms. Ramirez in a bikini were completely “unusable,” even with the help of photo-editing software. The organization claims, however, that Ms. Ramirez’s title was taken away for violating the terms of her contract. In addition to gaining too much weight, she was apparently unreliable, did not attend required pageant events or write thank-you notes and was photographed modeling wedding gowns at a local bridal show. The pictures of the seventeen year old in a wedding gown “send the wrong message” and made the organization question if she was married. Ms. Ramirez denied being secretly married and said she thinks the pageant is trying to “cover up for their mistake” by making these allegations.  

 Caroline Haggard Flores, executive pageant director, testified on March 22 that Ms. Ramirez’s interviews and negative media attention have “degraded the crown” and made it almost impossible to get scholarships from universities.

 Closing arguments are expected later this week.… <Read More>

Child Pornography or Very Poor Decision-Making?

BY MEREDITH KELLY

Evan Emory, 21,  was arrested in Michigan on charges of manufacturing and distributing child pornography for which he can spend up to 20 years in prison and 25 years on the sex offender registry. What was his crime? Mr. Emory showed a video at a local nightclub, in which he was shown performing a sexually explicit song to a group of six year olds.

Prior to the nightclub incident, Emory performed and recorded kid-friendly songs, such as “Lunchlady Land,” for first grade students at a Muskegon, Michigan elementary school. After the students had left, Emory recorded the sexually explicit lyrics and edited the video to create the version which was played at the bar and posted on YouTube (it has sense been removed).

How did this escalate to child p

When parents caught wind of the video and what had happened, they went crazy even though they knew their children had not actually been exposed to the graphic lyrics. The Supreme Court has ruled that child pornography is not subject to the same First Amendment rights as adult pornography. In this case, however, no child was actually abused, leaving many unanswered questions regarding where to draw the line.

According to the article, the prosecutor in the case, Mr. Tague “says he wants to resolve the case in a way ‘that will send a message that this is wrong but will not ruin the young man’s life.'”

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

 … <Read More>

Can’t Buy Me Love

The New York Times had an interesting article about the modern marriage. The article states that the recession has taken a toll on marriage since there are more people in the age range of 24-34 who have never married are less than the number of people who have. For the first time ever, American college graduates that are married at age 30 is higher than people who have not attended college. However, statistics show that the number of marriages and divorces has remained the same, but the reasons for marriage and types of people getting married is what has significantly changed.

The article goes thorough a lot of reasons – but the number one reason is money. The recession has brought financial uncertainty, and people have less money to marry. College grads have more security, so it makes sense that they are the ones getting married. The roles of men and women have changed in modern society. Men aren’t looking for a pretty face who can cook, clean and take care of the children. Now people are looking for an equal in their partner for life.

It all makes sense when you look at the legal aspects marriage. One of the effects of marriage is the ability to be first to inherit according the intestacy statutes. In some states, there are statutes that state that any assets acquired during the marriage are considered community property of both spouses no matter who earns it during the marriage. When a couple gets divorced, the two things they fight about is custody of the children and separation of the assets.… <Read More>