Latest news with #Lunsford
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Huntsville lawyers facing court hearing over use of ChatGPT-created citations in federal prison lawsuit
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Attorneys for a Huntsville law firm working for the state of Alabama admitted in federal court Monday that one of their firm partners used ChatGPT to find case citations to strengthen their arguments – but the citations were made up, apparently invented by the AI tool. The story was first reported by and the case continues to unfold. It stems from a lawsuit filed by an Alabama prison inmate, Frankie Johnson, who alleges that state prison personnel failed to protect him, and he was attacked and stabbed multiple times on three different occasions. The issue the sides were arguing over was the timing of the defendant's efforts to question Johnson under oath. The false ChatGPT citations, used in two separate court filings by the lawyers arguing for the deposition, were caught and pointed out by Johnson's attorneys. The lawyers for the Huntsville-based law firm Butler Snow have apologized and said they didn't mean to mislead the court. U.S. District Court Judge Anna Manasco has set a Wednesday morning hearing in Birmingham to consider sanctions against lawyers in the case. The Butler Snow firm does a tremendous amount of business with the State of Alabama on ongoing prison lawsuits — including lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Butler Snow's lead attorney in those cases, William Lunsford, is listed as having been paid $42 million by the state — since fiscal 2020, according to state records. In court filings, Lunsford said he didn't provide the false citations, that was firm partner Matthew Reeves, who works with Lunsford on the prison lawsuits. Lunsford said in court filings that the mistake was unacceptable and is being reviewed. 'To begin this declaration, I am personally and professionally sorry for what has occurred,' Lunsford said in an affidavit filed with the federal court. 'These events do not reflect the nature or quality of work that I have worked for decades to ensure that every client receives. I apologize to the Court, to all parties, to opposing counsel and to the State of Alabama for the terrible decisions that led to an erroneous filing. We will ensure that this never occurs again.' On Monday, Lunsford and two other lawyers – whose names are on the documents with the false citations – submitted descriptions of their roles to the court. Reeves said he takes full responsibility and regrets the lapse in judgment and diligence. In his affidavit, Reeves said that in reviewing planned court filings by another lawyer in the case, he saw that some of the arguments needed case citations, so he went to ChatGPT, the AI program. 'I knew generally about ChatGPT,' he wrote in the affidavit. 'I performed a search to identify supporting case law for the proposition that discovery may proceed even during the pendency of other discovery issues, as to the Motion for Leave, and that general or boilerplate objections are not effective, as to the Motion to Compel. 'My search immediately identified purportedly applicable citations for those points of law. In my haste to finalize the motions and get them filed, I failed to verify the case citations returned by ChatGPT through independent review in Westlaw or PACER before including them in the Motion for Leave and Motion to Compel. I have now confirmed that the citations in the string cite on Paragraph 2 of the Motion for Leave after the citation to Rule 30(a)(2)(B) are inaccurate or do not exist.' Butler Snow Firm Partner Matthew Reeves He goes on to say that in the second court filing, the motion to compel, the citations are inaccurate and fail to support the argument. Johnson's lawyers, Jamilla Mensah and M. Wesley Smithart, notified the court about the false citations. They cited four examples and urged the court to take action. 'Defendant's complete fabrication of case law is suggestive of an abuse of the utilization of generative artificial intelligence and should be taken very seriously by this court,' the filing argued. 'As one district court articulated, 'the use of artificial intelligence must be accompanied by the application of actual intelligence in its execution.' 'Simply put, Defense counsel failed to substantiate—with any legitimate case law—that Defendant should be granted leave to depose Mr. Johnson on June 3, 2025.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New bills aim to boost animal welfare and track cruelty cases
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Lollypop Farm is taking steps to fight against animal cruelty and is looking to empower humane law enforcement officers to combat abuse and neglect. The animal shelter, collaborating with Assemblymember Jen Lunsford are introducing two animal protection bills in the New York State Assembly. The first designates animal welfare agencies with SPCA's 'qualified agencies,' helping to improve coordination with federal law enforcement, and enhancing the tracking of individuals who commit acts of cruelty. The second would establish the crime of endangering the welfare of an animal in two degrees. 'What we're finding is that when someone is found with multiple instances of animal cruelty, we don't have a harsh enough penalty to deal with what that really means,' Lunsford said Thursday. 'So, we wanted to give the judges more discretion to assess a situation and decide if someone needs a harsher penatly.' New Yorkers can voice their support for these bills: A-1609 and A-6602 by visiting the New York State Senate Website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A law seeks to protect children from sex offenders — 20 years later, the jury is still out
Mark Lunsford appears at a July 2005 rally in support of the Children's Safety Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. () Before his sentencing in March 2025, a convicted child rapist asked for a judgment that would have set him free in 2027. The Kansas resident received 25 years with no chance of parole. The reason? Jessica's Law, which Kansas lawmakers passed in 2006. Kansas was one of the first states to follow Florida's initial enactment of Jessica's Law 20 years ago in response to the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica 'Jessie' Lunsford in Homosassa, Florida. Forty-four other states have followed, altering how America polices, punishes and paroles pedophiles. Although the law differs in some details from state to state, it generally directs judges to sentence people convicted of sex crimes involving children to a minimum of 25 years. Jessica's Law also monitors offenders' movements after prison and strives to keep them away from places where children congregate, such as schools and parks. Many policymakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges have protested key aspects of the law. They are particularly opposed to its strict minimum sentencing guidelines, which they've described as oversimplified and counterproductive. Proponents, however, point to the law's origins: Jessica's February 2005 abduction, rape and murder by a repeat, convicted sex offender. They maintain the crime, which riveted the country for months and sent the third grader's father, Mark, on a national child protection crusade, exposed deep-seated flaws in law enforcement and the legal system that made children around the country vulnerable to sexual assault. Jessica's Law remains mostly intact throughout the country. But it has come under scrutiny and has undergone changes. As a journalism professor who directed a documentary about Lunsford's efforts to persuade politicians to pass the law that bears his daughter's name, I've kept up with its trials and tribulations. Twenty years after Florida introduced the law, the jury is still out on whether America's children are safer as a result. In making 'Jessie's Dad,' I filmed Lunsford visiting state capitals and Capitol Hill and interviewed many of his allies and detractors. I also reviewed interrogation footage and newsreels, attended the trial of John Couey — Jessica's killer — and pored over proposed and passed bills, court transcripts and police records. The resulting 2011 documentary highlights the law's major perceived pros and cons. The most glaring of the legal system's shortcomings before Jessica's Law, according to Lunsford and other activist groups, was lax treatment by the police and courts. That, they said, allowed many sex offenders who target children to roam free. As Lunsford hopscotched from state to state to push for the law's passage, he often noted that prior to raping and killing Jessie, Couey was convicted twice of molesting children but served only fractions of his sentences. 'One time they gave him (Couey) a 10-year sentence; he did two years,' Lunsford told me. 'One time, he (Couey) broke into a house and assaulted a child, and he would've gotten more time had he stolen their silverware.' Most of the states that have enacted Jessica's Law direct judges to sentence child rapists to a minimum of 25 years in prison. Besides mandatory minimum sentencing, most states that have passed Jessica's Law require sex-offender parolees to wear a GPS monitor — something Couey never did. Lunsford repeatedly pointed out that an electronic ankle bracelet, which tells the police the location of the person wearing it, could have led the police to Couey's room in his sister's trailer across the street from the Lunsford's mobile home. That's where Couey kept Jessie for three days before burying her alive in a backyard grave. In 2007, soon after Ohio passed its version of the law, Lunsford's son Josh faced felony charges for fondling his 14-year-old girlfriend. The girl's mother, who disapproved of their relationship, turned him in as soon as he turned 18 and became an adult in the eyes of the legal system. Josh ended up being charged with a misdemeanor, to which he pleaded guilty. He served 10 days in jail and 12 months under supervised release. Reeling from this incident, the elder Lunsford advocated amending Jessica's Law with so-called Romeo and Juliet provisions. These stipulations typically exempt most young adults from harsh sentencing when the age difference between them and their romantic teen partners adds up to fewer than four or five years. Pennsylvania, the second state after Florida to pass Jessica's Law in 2006, became the first to add a Romeo and Juliet provision in 2011. Today, 44 states have likewise adopted similar provisions. Legal challenges, too, have revamped parts of Jessica's Law in some states. In 2015, for instance, California's Supreme Court ruled the law violated the U.S. Constitution by infringing offenders' liberty and privacy. The law did so, the court determined, by universally ordering registered sex offenders to stay at least 2,000 feet away from schools and other places where children congregate. That meant they could not live within 2,000 feet of a school or places where children gathered. Prior to the ruling, the Jessica's Law residency restriction left many of California's registered sex offenders with few viable housing options. It thus forced scores of them onto the streets and contributed to the Golden State's homelessness crisis. Critics have also noted it is difficult to monitor homeless pedophiles. Although the California Supreme Court ruling technically applied only to San Diego County, it has spurred other parts of the state to restrict residency on a case-by-case basis. Another divisive Jessica's Law stipulation, however, may be too complex to simply included in the original Florida law, electronic tracking appeared to hold great promise. Today, 38 additional states electronically monitor sex offenders. Yet many accused and paroled sex offenders wearing ankle bracelets have nonetheless harmed children. For instance, David Renz broke free of his GPS monitor in 2013 while awaiting a child pornography trial in New York and raped a fourth grader. He also killed the 10-year-old girl's protector and school librarian, Lori Bresnahan. While others harmed children after cutting off their ankle bracelets, some, like Arkansas resident Leontarius Reed, committed sex crimes while wearing GPS devices. Reed was wearing the device after a previous nonsexual offense. Critics claim electronic monitoring numbs society into a misleading state of comfort. Others argue it's better than losing track of sex offenders. They also say it deters crime and has saved countless lives. Despite the widespread adoption of Jessica's Law, comprehensive research is still needed to measure its impact. Such a project would examine whether America's children are truly safer now than they were on May 1, 2005. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Boaz Dvir teaches journalism, directs and produces documentaries, and directs the Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative and the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Initiative at Penn State. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A law seeks to protect children from sex offenders − 20 years later, the jury is still out
Before his sentencing in March 2025, a convicted child rapist asked for a judgment that would have set him free in 2027. The Kansas resident received 25 years with no chance of parole. The reason? Jessica's Law, which Kansas lawmakers passed in 2006. Kansas was one of the first states to follow Florida's initial enactment of Jessica's Law 20 years ago in response to the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica 'Jessie' Lunsford in Homosassa, Florida. Forty-four other states have followed, altering how America polices, punishes and paroles pedophiles. Although the law differs in some details from state to state, it generally directs judges to sentence people convicted of sex crimes involving children to a minimum of 25 years. Jessica's Law also monitors offenders' movements after prison and strives to keep them away from places where children congregate, such as schools and parks. Many policymakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges have protested key aspects of the law. They are particularly opposed to its strict minimum sentencing guidelines, which they've described as oversimplified and counterproductive. Proponents, however, point to the law's origins: Jessica's February 2005 abduction, rape and murder by a repeat, convicted sex offender. They maintain the crime, which riveted the country for months and sent the third grader's father, Mark, on a national child protection crusade, exposed deep-seated flaws in law enforcement and the legal system that made children around the country vulnerable to sexual assault. Jessica's Law remains mostly intact throughout the country. But it has come under scrutiny and has undergone changes. As a journalism professor who directed a documentary about Lunsford's efforts to convince politicians to pass the law that bears his daughter's name, I've kept up with its trials and tribulations. Twenty years after Florida introduced the law, the jury is still out on whether America's children are safer as a result. In making 'Jessie's Dad,' I filmed Lunsford visiting state capitals and Capitol Hill and interviewed many of his allies and detractors. I also reviewed interrogation footage and newsreels, attended the trial of John Couey – Jessica's killer – and pored over proposed and passed bills, court transcripts and police records. The resulting 2011 documentary highlights the law's major perceived pros and cons. The most glaring of the legal system's shortcomings before Jessica's Law, according to Lunsford and other activist groups, was lax treatment by the police and courts. That, they said, allowed many sex offenders who target children to roam free. As Lunsford hopscotched from state to state to push for the law's passage, he often noted that prior to raping and killing Jessie, Couey was convicted twice of molesting children but served only fractions of his sentences. 'One time they gave him (Couey) a 10-year sentence; he did two years,' Lunsford told me. 'One time, he (Couey) broke into a house and assaulted a child, and he would've gotten more time had he stolen their silverware.' Most of the states that have enacted Jessica's Law direct judges to sentence child rapists to a minimum of 25 years in prison. Besides mandatory minimum sentencing, most states that have passed Jessica's Law require sex-offender parolees to wear a GPS monitor − something Couey never did. Lunsford repeatedly pointed out that an electronic ankle bracelet, which tells the police the location of the person wearing it, could have led the police to Couey's room in his sister's trailer across the street from the Lunsford's mobile home. That's where Couey kept Jessie for three days before burying her alive in a backyard grave. In 2007, soon after Ohio passed its version of the law, Lunsford's son Josh faced felony charges for fondling his 14-year-old girlfriend. The girl's mother, who disapproved of their relationship, turned him in as soon as he turned 18 and became an adult in the eyes of the legal system. Josh ended up being charged with a misdemeanor, to which he pleaded guilty. He served 10 days in jail and 12 months under supervised release. Reeling from this incident, the elder Lunsford advocated amending Jessica's Law with so-called Romeo and Juliet provisions. These stipulations typically exempt most young adults from harsh sentencing when the age difference between them and their romantic teen partners adds up to fewer than four or five years. Pennsylvania, the second state after Florida to pass Jessica's Law in 2006, became the first to add a Romeo and Juliet provision in 2011. Today, 44 states have likewise adopted similar provisions. Legal challenges, too, have revamped parts of Jessica's Law in some states. In 2015, for instance, California's Supreme Court ruled the law violated the U.S. Constitution by infringing offenders' liberty and privacy. The law did so, the court determined, by universally ordering registered sex offenders to stay at least 2,000 feet away from schools and other places where children congregate. That meant they could not live within 2,000 feet of a school or places where children gathered. Prior to the ruling, the Jessica's Law residency restriction left many of California's registered sex offenders with few viable housing options. It thus forced scores of them onto the streets and contributed to the Golden State's homelessness crisis. Critics have also noted it is difficult to monitor homeless pedophiles. Although the California Supreme Court ruling technically applied only to San Diego County, it has spurred other parts of the state to restrict residency on a case-by-case basis. Another divisive Jessica's Law stipulation, however, may be too complex to simply modify. When included in the original Florida law, electronic tracking appeared to hold great promise. Today, 38 additional states electronically monitor sex offenders. Yet many accused and paroled sex offenders wearing ankle bracelets have nonetheless harmed children. For instance, David Renz broke free of his GPS monitor in 2013 while awaiting a child pornography trial in New York and raped a fourth grader. He also killed the 10-year-old girl's protector and school librarian, Lori Bresnahan. While others harmed children after cutting off their ankle bracelets, some, like Arkansas resident Leontarius Reed, committed sex crimes while wearing GPS devices. Reed was wearing the device after a previous nonsexual offense. Critics claim electronic monitoring numbs society into a misleading state of comfort. Others argue it's better than losing track of sex offenders. They also say it deters crime and has saved countless lives. Despite the widespread adoption of Jessica's Law, comprehensive research is still needed to measure its impact. Such a project would examine whether America's children are truly safer now than they were on May 1, 2005. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Boaz Dvir, Penn State Read more: Older Australians are also hurting from the housing crisis. Where are the election policies to help them? States that impose severe prison sentences accomplish the opposite of what they say they want Gun violence in Philadelphia plummeted in 2024 − researchers aren't sure why, but here are 3 factors at play Boaz Dvir does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Blue state's Democrat AG should be investigated for ‘politically charged' prosecution of cop: police group
The National Police Association asked the Department of Justice to open a federal civil rights investigation into New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez after he prosecuted a police officer for fatally shooting a suspect who grabbed his partner's stun gun. Las Cruces Police Officer Brad Lunsford was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after he shot and killed Presley Eze after the suspect allegedly placed his hand on another police officer's stun gun. Lunsford was responding to a gas station after an attendant called 911 to report that Eze allegedly stole beer in August 2022. Torrez, a Democrat, thought the shooting by Lunsford wasn't justified and decided to prosecute Lunsford for voluntary manslaughter. Lunsford was convicted by a jury in February. "Today's verdict reaffirms a fundamental principle: No one is above the law, not even those sworn to uphold it. Officer Lunsford's actions were not just a tragic lapse in judgment; they were an egregious abuse of power that cost Presley Eze his life," Torrez said after the verdict was announced. National Guard Deployed To Blue City Overrun With Juvenile Crime, Fentanyl Is 'Not Enough,' State Gop Says Torrez also said that Lunsford's action was "yet another example of poor police tactics resulting in an unjustifiable use of force to subdue an individual resisting arrest for the commission of a minor crime." Read On The Fox News App Body camera video shows Lunsford engaging Eze in a conversation, but the suspect avoids giving his identity. Lunsford asks Eze several times to step out of the vehicle but is never given an answer, according to KFOX14, which is when Lunsford's partner, officer Keegan Arbogast, steps in. Arbogast asks Eze, "Are you going to cooperate or what?" to which Eze responds, "Yes, I'm going to cooperate." Cellphone video from the incident, according to the report, shows Eze disarming Arbogast by grabbing his taser. That's when Lunsford shoots Eze. Cbp In Texas Confiscates 242 Pounds Of Smuggled Mexican Bologna At Port Of Entry After the guilty verdict, Lunsford's attorney, Matt Chandler, argued that the right to a fair trial was violated when two jurors were improperly removed and replaced with alternates. "Every citizen is entitled to a fair and impartial jury," Chandler said. "In this case, we believe there was a direct violation of that right. Two jurors, who had been vetted and selected by the defense, were suddenly removed and replaced by alternate jurors. That alone is enough to call this verdict into question and demand a new trial." The judge who presided over Lunsford's case admitted to errors during a March hearing and allowed the police officer to be released under certain conditions. Lunsford has not been sentenced as Chandler argues that a new trial is needed. On Thursday, the National Police Association requested that the Department of Justice open a civil rights investigation into Torrez's prosecution of Lunsford, which the organization argued was "politically charged." In an interview with Fox News Digital, National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (ret.) said Lunsford's constitutional rights have been "trampled upon." "It's just extraordinary that a police officer would be charged with a felony for simply doing his job. But that's exactly what Attorney General Torrez has done in this case," Smith said. New Mexico Hs Baseball Player Charged, Team Suspended Amid Allegations Teen Urinated In Opponents' Water Jug Smith argued that Torrez used this case to benefit his political career. "We absolutely believe that Attorney General Torrez is using the Lunsford case for his own political activism and for his gain as an elected official. And what is not being considered is Officer Lunsford's record and the fact that he absolutely followed departmental policy, and he followed his training in this case," Smith said. Smith said the National Police Association is taking action against Torrez not only because of what's happening to Lunsford, but also for the potential effect it could have on police officers across the country. "This case will absolutely have a national impact, especially for police officers who have these far-left attorneys general and far-left state prosecutors who are more interested in putting police officers in prison than they are arresting and convicting actual criminals," she said. Fox News Digital reached out to Torrez' office, the New Mexico Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Justice for article source: Blue state's Democrat AG should be investigated for 'politically charged' prosecution of cop: police group
