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Independence Day, also known colloquially as the Fourth of July, celebrates America's formal declaration of independence from colonial rule. The Second Continental Congress officially adopted the final version of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
But beyond the official creation and adoption of one of our nation's founding documents, how did the Fourth of July come to be a federally recognized holiday?
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Recording other people working out at the gym is rude, super lame, and creepy. Though, people who want their privacy may be dismayed to learn it may not be illegal.
No Privacy in Public Places
Since most gyms are accessible to the public, it is not a violation of privacy laws to record someone in a gym's common area. Typically the law does not prohibit watching or photographing activities that are outside a person's reasonable expectation of privacy.
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Poop typically doesn't arrive via delivery or in your mailbox, but when it does, it can be breaking news.
For example, an Iowa woman is facing criminal charges for allegedly mailing cow feces to her neighbors in response to their complaints about her dog barking. According to United Press International, the woman is now facing third-degree harassment charges, and must appear in court on Tuesday.
So is it illegal to mail poop to someone?
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Think your work emails are completely private? Think again. They may not be so confidential when your company gets dragged into court.
Uber's Chief Executive Travis Kalanick found this out the hard way when a federal judge ruled that the rideshare company had to disclose Kalanick's emails in a California lawsuit accusing the company of deceiving customers.
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When you lose your passport, international travel may become a bit of a nonstarter. Even if that means you're stuck in a foreign country.
Case in point: Pop star Chris Brown was stuck stateside and couldn't make it to a New Year's Eve gig he'd booked in the Philippines because he lost his passport. The Associated Press reports that Brown lost his passport the "day before the scheduled event." Bummer.
What should you do if you lose your passport?
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Obamacare's employer mandate went into effect January 1, and there are a few things that employers should know.
The mandate was supposed to go into effect last year, but it was delayed for a year to allow businesses to implement the necessary changes. So what were those changes exactly?
Here are five things employers should know about the Obamacare employer mandate:1. Some Businesses Are Not Happy About Mandate/Delay.
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You may have been injured a while ago, and you just haven't gotten around to pursuing your injury claim yet.
But beware: If you wait too long, you might be too late to get compensation in civil court for your injuries. On the other hand, even though a lot of time has passed, you shouldn't always assume that your case isn't worth pursuing.
So when is it too late to sue for injury?
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FindLaw's Blotter attempts to cover the latest in criminal news as well as provide common-sense explanations of the legal intricacies of the criminal justice system. With 2014 coming to a close, we've tried to reflect on the stories that have caught our readers' attentions most -- both news-based and general.
With that, here are the 10 most popular posts from FindLaw's Blotter in 2014:
Is It Illegal to Open Someone Else's Mail?
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A Florida lottery winner (and registered sex offender) is being sued by his alleged victims.
Timothy Poole opted to take about $2.2 million in a lump sum after purchasing a winning Florida Lottery ticket earlier this month. According to Orlando's WKMG-TV, Poole also is also being sued by two brothers who claim he abused them when they were children.
Can these alleged victims get a chunk of Poole's lotto winnings?Registered Sex Offender
Poole doesn't exactly have a spotless criminal record.
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Thanksgiving has been a battleground for retailers over the last decade, with consumerism encroaching ever-closer to many Americans' holiday traditions. But maybe we should be paying closer attention to our smartphones than to Black Friday ads.
According to studies by IBM, mobile devices accounted for "over half of all online traffic on [Thanksgiving]" on retail sites, The New York Times reports. Jay Henderson, director of IBM Smarter Commerce, called mobile use "a new Thanksgiving tradition.
