KEYTLaw's Blog

Phoenix Dog-Fighting Ring Busted

azcentral.com: A dog-fighting ring in Phoenix was busted recently and nine people have been arrested. Two more spectators left with injured dogs, which were never found. Dog-fighting is usually associated with other illegalities. There is a strong body of evidence that animal cruelty is linked to other crimes, particularly crimes against humans. According to the New York Times:

“….We discovered that in homes where there was domestic violence or physical abuse of children, the incidence of animal cruelty was close to 90 percent. The most common pattern was that the abusive parent had used animal cruelty as a way of controlling the behaviors of others in the home. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at what links things like animal cruelty and child abuse and domestic violence. And one of the things is the need for power and control. Animal abuse is basically a power-and-control crime.”

Quote by Randall Lockwood, the A.S.P.C.A.’s then-senior vice president for forensic sciences and anticruelty projects and a member of the new Anti-Animal-Abuse Task Force in Baltimore.

Top Ten Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces

huffingtonpost.com: According to this slideshow, the top ten celebrity divorce settlements come with the rather dubious honor of the owing spouse funding such settlements as $100 million dollars (Tiger Woods). We suspect, but cannot prove, that most celebrities’ divorces do not play out as publicly as commoners’ because many celebrities hire attorneys and experts to negotiate behind the scenes and reach an out-of-court resolution. This dynamic strongly resembles collaborative law, an out-of court dispute resolution process in which the parties hire attorneys, divorce coaches, neutral financial experts and child development experts. Several attorneys in Phoenix are specially trained to practice in this area. Collaborative law saves families time, money and the uncertainty of court proceedings. It also typically results in a resolution that both parties may not love, but at least they can live with it. It certainly beats spending $100 million on a divorce settlement.

Top Three Mistakes Men Make After Divorce

huffingtonpost.com: Men (and women) make several mistakes after a divorce. Particularly common with men, according to this article, are (1) rushing back into marriage, (2) becoming the bachelor at-large, and (3) introducing your new “friend” to your children way too soon. If the divorce has resulted in a custody dispute, each of these mistakes could also result in your being portrayed negatively in court.

Man Arrested For Twin Brother’s Crime

Findlaw.com: Mitch Torbett was arrested in Tennessee for a crime committed by his identical – and deceased – twin brother. He’s suing authorities for the 36 hours he spent in jail and according to this article, he won’t likely win.

Will More People Denouce Their US Citizenship If Taxes Are Raised?

New York Times: “On April 30, the Treasury Department announced that 461 Americans had renounced their citizenship in the first quarter of 2012. A 1996 law requires that every person doing so be named, with their names published in the Federal Register. The idea is to shame those who may be renouncing their citizenship solely to escape taxation.

The extreme step of renouncing one’s citizenship is necessary to escape taxation by the United States, because the United States, alone among the major nations of the world, taxes its citizens wherever on earth they live.

Other countries tax only those who live and work within their borders; if their citizens live and work in another country, they are liable only for taxes incurred in that country.

Americans living abroad, however, must not only pay taxes in the country in which they are living, but United States taxes as well, although there is an exemption of $93,000 that is adjusted for inflation annually. The only legal way for American citizens to avoid American taxes is to renounce their citizenship and live their lives permanently in another country.”