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| January 08, 2010 |
| Thoughts from a Pocono Criminal Defense Lawyer |
| Posted By Patrick M. Rogan |
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| In the 1960s, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted experiments aimed at measuring everyday people's willingness to perform violent acts against others when told to do so by an authority figure. You may remember the results from psychology class: 65% of participants, obeying the authority figure's orders, inflicted maximum levels of pain on the experimental subject.
Of course, the "subject" was an actor and was never harmed. The participants told to inflict the pain were the real subjects, and their behavior generated a national discussion about obedience, conscience and human conformity.
I bring this up because, as a criminal defense lawyer, I regularly deal with people accused of having made criminal choices. Sometimes my clients are innocent of all wrongdoing; other times, they admit to having done wrong, but want to explain how or why they ended up doing what they did.
How conditions shape our choices remains the object of scientific inquiry, but since the Milgram experiments, we know that most people, under certain conditions, are capable of criminal behavior. An uncomfortable truth, maybe, but a truth nonetheless.
That is why when I look at the case, for example, of the Newfoundland man who recently pled guilty to helping an alleged killer flee, I try to reserve judgment. The man says he didn't know about the crimes at the beginning, and that when he found out he was too scared to stop. Is this the truth? Either way, he deserves to be heard and defended by a competent Pocono criminal defense lawyer.
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| December 21, 2009 |
| Schuylkill Hate Crimes Attorney |
| Posted By Patrick M. Rogan |
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| Last October, President Obama signed legislation expanding the definition of hate crimes to include assaults based upon sexual or gender identity. The definition already protected individuals on the basis of race, religion and nationality.
During the previous presidential administration, though the number of reported hate crimes rose, the number of prosecutions decreased dramatically.
Now, the federal government is looking more carefully at crimes motivated by bias. According to the New York Times, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has introduced more hate crimes cases this year than in any of the past eight years.
Recently, hate crimes have gotten press here in Pennsylvania as a result of several Shenandoah hate crimes indictments. Local and national news outlets, including Scranton's Times-Tribune, have reported that federal prosecutors indicted four police officers, including the town's police chief, on charges related to their having allegedly covered up a racially motivated beating that resulted in one man's death.
Two young men involved in the beating also face federal hate crime charges.
Hate crimes charges are nothing to play around with. When federal investigators and prosecutors come looking for you, they mean very serious business. Everyone even remotely involved with this case or others like it should immediately contact a Schuylkill hate crimes attorney.
If you or someone you love is charged with a hate crime, then you should call a Schuylkill hate crimes lawyer from Rogan Law. We can help guide you in the right direction and explain how a skilled attorney from our firm can help you. We have a proven success record and are fully prepared to defend your rights.
Contact Rogan Law today.
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