A new bill was recently signed in to law, which makes acts of cruelty to animals a federal crime. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act was signed in to law by President Donald Trump on Monday, November 25th. The bill, which was passed unanimously by the House and Senate, classifies acts of animal cruelty as a federal felony offense with a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
WGRZ 2 On Your Side reported on the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, with anchor Maryalice Demler interviewing attorney Barry Covert to provide legal analysis on the new law. Read below for attorney Barry Covert’s comments to WGRZ on the new federal animal cruelty law. You can also click the video below to watch WGRZ’s full report, which includes Barry Covert’s legal analysis.
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New York State Upcoming Prison Bail Reform
New York State will enact new prison bail reform next year. The reform, which takes effect on January 1, 2020, will eliminate cash bail as well as pretrial detention for misdemeanor and non-violent offenses. In addition, it is reported that the reform will result in the release of hundreds of inmates.
WGRZ 2 On Your Side recently reported that there is some push back and criticism of New York State’s upcoming prison reform. Specifically, President Donald Trump criticized New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo on Twitter regarding the prison reform.
WGRZ interviewed attorney Barry Covert to provide legal analysis on the prison bail reform. In addition, WGRZ’s story included comments from New York State Senators Patrick Gallivan and Tim Kennedy, who have opposing viewpoints regarding the upcoming reform.
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Legal Analysis of FBI Raid on Buffalo City Hall
Federal Agents recently raided Buffalo City Hall. FBI agents along with agents from the investigative arm of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) conducted what was described as “court authorized activities” for over eight hours inside Buffalo City Hall.
WGRZ 2 On Your Side reported on the raid and interviewed attorney Barry Covert to provide legal analysis as part of their coverage of the story.
As reported by WGRZ, the raid was for the execution of a court authorized search warrant. The FBI would not disclose what they were looking for or what the raid was connected to. However, the activity focused primarily on the Office of Strategic Planning, which is located on the third floor of Buffalo City Hall.
Several agents worked behind a guarded closed door for over eight hours. News cameras captured federal agents removing several carts containing boxes of documents covered in tarps. A spokesperson for the FBI indicated that, as part of the search warrant, agents spoke with a number of people who work in the Office of Strategic Planning.
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