Author: Justin Lane

It looks like even the military is having trouble protecting the information of its servicemen and women. The Department of Justice announced at the end of last week that United States Army Sergeant Ammie Brothers of Columbus, Georgia pleaded guilty to charges of illegally obtaining personal information from the U.S. Army’s Knowledge Online computer system. Ammie used the information she obtained to harass and intimidate fellow military personnel. Charges covered acts including the misrepresentation of herself to credit card companies and authorizing charges she had made using their accounts. With the ongoing national debate over privacy in the United...

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. This week George Zimmerman found not guilty, McDonalds releases budget for minimum wage employees, Disney and Publix push for new legislation in Florida, recreational marijuana legislation proposed in D.C. and more. Top Video McDonalds Writes Unrealistic Budget for Minimum Wage Employees McDonald’s Corporation recently partnered with Visa Corporate to publish a website for all of its regular employees that features a sample monthly budget journal, in what seems to be an attempt to help employees allocate their monthly earnings. The budget, meant by McDonald’s and Visa to be...

In Mutual v. Bartlett, one of the most devastating decisions to come from the court for consumers this year, Justice Samuel Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. The customary practice of authoring an opinion routinely passes from one Justice to another at the direction of the Chief Justice. Another custom is for Justices to recuse, abstain from deciding on, themselves from cases in which they have a financial interest. Justice Alito recused himself from only one case, a case that decided the influence brand-name manufacturers can have over generic manufacturers through monetary agreements, due to his financial entanglements...

New legislation proposed by mega-corporations Disney and Publix seeks to put limits on the amount injured people are able to recover for their injuries. The new law will require patients to prove, in court, that medical treatments they received as a result of an injury were reasonable and necessary, invading the decision-making process during their treatment and recovery. “This new legislation would have a chilling effect on those seeking justice for wrongs they have suffered,” commented Rachael Gilmer, an attorney with the Levin Papantonio Law Firm, who practices in the area of personal injury litigation. Backed by the Florida Chamber of...

Gallup Polling is a name that has come to be associated with truthful and accurate polling, however, according to CNN, the numbers crunching giant has just agreed to pay $10.5 million dollars to settle claims that it defrauded the U.S. government by submitting federal false claims for payment. Of the $10.5 million settlement, the whistleblower, Mr. Michael Lindley, who exposed the alleged wrongdoing, will be rewarded with $1.9 million. “Whistleblowers are crucial in exposing practices that take advantage of the government and ultimately taxpayers,” commented Christopher Paulos, an attorney with the Levin, Papantonio law firm who practices in the...