Teen Chat Room – get answers to your questions about the law
Ask your questions and make your comments to Judge Tom and your peers here.
Courtney
My ex gave me herpes and I've been through and I'm very angry that he is maliciously spreading it around to other women so I started threatening to talk us billboards whatever means to stop him! I've been very angry and have made comments that sounded bad about destroying him I'm sure he will try and file some type of charges against me and I'm being pretty conservative about how mean in was to him however, I'm just devastated over him giving me this disease and infecting women when he knows! What if any rights do I have to protect myself from him creating emails and texts messages to make me look worse than I am?
6/17/2013 5:07 pm
Reply
Adam Colon
i was ordered to receieve a court ordered drug evaluation- and when i went to the counselor he stated that he didnt think iwas telling the thruth about the last time i used he gave me approximatley a minute and a half to do a urine analysis test, i stated that i could not provide urine even though i was trying, and he stated that he was going to recommend 6-12 weeks drug treatment, i think his diagnosis was very biased and i was going to see if there was a way i could get a second opinion with better results, either by going to a different counselor, or provide my probation officer with a negative urine sample
6/17/2013 2:57 pm
Reply
Anonymous
what if a minor trespasses onto another persons drveway? what would their punishment be?
6/17/2013 1:09 pm
Reply
Corinna
I'm a writer and currently I'm writing a dramatic novel about a girl who gets passed around foster homes and ends up in juvenile hall. I was wondering how long is the punishment in juvie for destruction of property? Does it change if the girl has a track record? I'm curious on how long a sentence is in juvie for different crimes.
6/15/2013 10:07 pm
Reply
Judge Tom
Dear Corinna: It really depends on the specific facts of the case, the juvenile's record and the state laws. The more serious the offense (assault, weapons charges, robbery, etc.), the more likely it is for the juvenile to spend some time in juvenile detention or even be sentenced to the department of corrections for juveniles (prison). If the destruction of property involves a lot of damage, again, then it's more likely that some time may be imposed especially when the minor already has a record. Depending on the state's laws, a period of time in detention may be ordered by the judge, but limited to, for example, one year and same with the Department of Juvenile Corrections. Detention is more equivalent to jail while the Dept. of Corrections is like prison for minors. Again, either of these options may be within a judge's discretion. Good luck on your novel.
6/16/2013 7:03 am
Alexandria
How do you use this website/site???
6/14/2013 11:09 am
Reply
Judge Tom
Feel free to ask your question or post your comment here or you can send it via email at the contact link.
6/15/2013 11:36 am
Anonymous
Are there any rules about a school age budding writer using a pen name? The goals include anonymity. I'm concerned that if I have to register as a trade name that this causes 3 problems. As a minor, how can I sign a form? If I want anonymity this is a public registration. And it costs a lot more money than I expect I would get even if I self-published my writing in print form. I want to do this the right way when taking a high school Creative Writing elective and also see how far I can get toward self-publishing.
By the way, if the law professor from Atlanta recently in the news had registered his pseudonym someplace would he have been immune from the ridicule once he was found out? Or are some of the things he is accused of doing under his pseudonym beyond what is allowed and protected?
6/13/2013 10:09 am
Reply
Judge Tom
We're not aware of any rules that restrict a budding author or even an established one (Stephen King, for example) from using a pen name. You don't have to register a trade name, which may not apply to you in the first place, to protect your work. A copyright is the protection you seek and you can do that by simply adding to your work "Copyright 2013 (your name or pen name). Filing with the Copyright Office in Washington provides greater protection & proof certain of a date. Good luck.
(This is information only - not legal advice).
6/13/2013 11:10 am
