Articles Posted in Summonses

United States District Court Violation Notices – a Dangerous Trap for the Uninformed People who commit minor offenses on federal property (such as parks, beaches, government buildings, or national monuments) sometimes receive United States District Court Violation Notices. These notices look a bit like traffic tickets or criminal summonses (see links below). They typically list…

If you are reading this blog, you may be one of the many people under the impression that smoking and possessing marijuana in New York City is now legal. Or, perhaps you’ve been issued a summons accusing you of doing so. First of all, marijuana possession is still illegal in New York City and State,…

A majority of our clients are booked, processed and “put through the system,” meaning they are brought to central booking shortly after arrest and then brought out before a Judge for an arraignment on the charges. Usually, this arraignment occurs within roughly 24 hours of the arrest. Other clients are issued Desk Appearance Tickets (“D.A.T.’s”)…

Many frustrated bar and restaurant owners in New York City have been cited for violating section 65 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law (“ABC Law”) on account of a sale to a minor. Oftentimes, the City will send in junior “explorers” or other underage people to purposefully purchase alcohol in a restaurant or bar in…

The great British jurist Sir Edward Coke has been quoted as stating regarding corporations that, “It is a fiction, a shade, a nonentity, but a reality for legal purposes. A corporation aggregate is only in abstracto–it is invisible, immortal, and rests only in intendment and consideration of the law.” Perhaps because of the view that…

Arrested for Possessing a Small Amount of Marijuana While the issuance of criminal court desk appearance tickets may have gone down in light of a re-energized debate as to the wisdom of continued illegality of marijuana, the number of NYC marijuana summonses or pink summonses issued appears to have increased. This occurrence probably has as…

We have discussed the forgery laws in New York in general. This post will cover the a common type of arrest in New York City: underage people being caught with a fake ID or New York State Driver’s license. Many young people in the greater New York City area carry a fake ID in order…

The New York Times has reported that a Brooklyn judge has decided to elevate the standard for legal sufficiency of the accusatory instruments in summons matters involving open containers of alcohol. Up until now, summons judges had usually upheld a summons which simply stated something to the effect that, “at t/p/o (meaning the time and…

Never mind drug-dealing and violence – it appears the NYPD is cracking down on people who remain in New York City’s parks after closing time, despite the fact that signs which indicate closing times are often small and go unseen. As a result, we have seen an increase in the number of law-abiding citizens (including…

Now that the warm weather is here, most native New Yorkers and tourists can enjoy the sunny weather by going to any one of our gorgeous parks to take in all of the historic sights and sounds the city has to offer. Well, maybe not the sounds so much these days…You may have noticed green…