The limitations and restrictions that a criminal conviction can place on you in Roanoke have been detailed on this blog in the past. Being associated with criminal activity can hinder your chances at finding a job or securing housing, and a criminal conviction also places restrictions on your right to own a gun. Yet what many fail to realize (and what you may just be learning) is that certain other civil rights may be stripped from you when you are convicted of a crime. Chief among these is the right to vote.
How do you have the right to vote restored?
Understanding photo enforcement at intersections
If you live in Virginia, you may well have encountered some intersections at which red-light cameras have been installed. Perhaps you have even been the recipient of a ticket citing for you an alleged red-light violation caught by a photo enforcement camera system. Opening your mailbox to get this type of correspondence can certainly put a damper on your day. Understanding this technology can be important for you when determining how to proceed after receiving this type of ticket.
Yielding the right-of-way to pedestrians
When driving around Roanoke, you will inevitably come upon scenarios where pedestrians enter on to the roadway. The general assumption amongst many is that the road belongs to motorists and that pedestrians should keep to the sidewalks everywhere except those areas designated for them to cross. That assumption is largely correct, yet as is the case with many laws, there are exceptions. Many have come to members of our team here at Robert F. Rider, PLC. after having been cited for not yielding the right-of-way to pedestrians wondering how they might challenge such a supposed violation. The key to doing so is understanding when and where you have the right-of-way.
Fighting Breathalyzer test results
If you failed a Breathalyzer test and face drunk driving charges, you might feel that there is nothing you can do to build your defense. Fortunately, this is far from true. Breathalyzers are less dependable measurement tools than many people realize, and many other factors may impact the validity of the results they produce.
What areas of the brain does alcohol affect the most?
When you choose to challenge the drunk driving charges that have been filed against you, the common answer you are likely to receive is that the numbers do not lie. If you registered a blood-alcohol content measurement above .08 on a breath test in Roanoke, that may seem to be all that is needed to prove guilt. Yet the potential inaccuracies inherent in such devices have been detailed on this blog in the past. If you are going to challenge the accuracy of a breath test, then you may need to be able to counter by showing that your actions did not reflect one who was legally drunk.
New impaired driving law
In Virginia and around the country many people might feel they are part of a group that is somehow under siege. This may be related to a social issue like sexual orientation or religious preference or it may be related to someone's status if they have been involved in particular events.
Four injured when car strikes highway guardrail
It may be easy for people in Roanoke to simply assume that anyone who allegedly drives after drinking has little thought or care for the safety of others. Of course, such an assumption requires believing that any person suspected of driving under the influence knew of the dangers that they were creating and chose to drive anyway. Oftentimes, that simply is not the case. Rather, one who is accused of DUI may have indeed believed themselves to be lucid enough to drive, or perhaps felt that they had little choice but to drive after attempting to make alternate arrangements.
