Good Law | Bad Law

On this episode of Case In Point, Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law, looks at the White House Opioid Commission’s report and suggestions for how to handle the country’s opioid crisis. The 130-page report outlines a plan that focuses on education and law enforcement rather than more controversial, but possibly, more effective measures such as Safe Injection Facilities.   Safe Injection Facilities are something we’ve been talking a lot about recently at Good Law | Bad Law and Freiwald Law since speaking with Scott Burris, a Temple Law Professor, Executive Director of the Center for Public Health Law Research, and an advocate for Safe Injection Facilities in the United States.   Safe Injection Facilities have seen great success in other countries in both reducing the number of overdose deaths as well as the number of drug users. But, these potential solutions are not a part of the Opioid Commission's recommendations.   If you’d like more information on Safe Injection Facilities you can listen to our episode of Good Law | Bad Law with Scott Burris (https://thelawmatters.podbean.com/e/good-law-bad-law-46-safe-injection-sites-w-scott-burris/) or you can head over to our website and read a recent article written by Aaron Freiwald (https://www.freiwaldlaw.com/blog/safe-injection-facilities)   As always, let us know what you think!   Intro Music: 5 Cents Back by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/  

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by State Senator Daylin Leach.   Daylin Leach, a former attorney, is State Senator in Pennsylvania’ 17th Senatorial District and is running for Congress in the 7th Congressional District. State Senator Leach is known for being one of the most liberal members of the Pennsylvania Legislature and he is proud of that distinction.   In our discussion today, we talk about gerrymandering in our country and what it means for voters. State Senator Leach explains “packing and cracking,” which are the two ways a district can be gerrymandered. “Packing” he explained, is when all one parties voters are stuffed into one district so that party has an overwhelming majority. This leaves less of that party’s voters in the other districts making it harder for them to win. “Cracking” on the other hand, is when one party tries to spread all of the other party’s voters out over many districts. This again, leaves fewer voters in each district.   In addition to gerrymandering, we also talk about the state of the opioid crisis in our country and the White House commission led by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. We talk about proposed solutions and break down what they are really proposing.   Join us for this intriguing conversation with the always controversial – and funny – State Senator Leach.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Daylin Leach   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com  

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Tiffany Palmer, a Family Law attorney who focuses on the rights of same sex parents.   Aaron and Tiffany discuss legal parentage and the difficulties that can arise when you are not a biological parent to your child. Though Tiffany focuses her practice on LGBT families, these issues affect all types of families. As surrogacy and other forms of alternative child bearing are becoming more common-place so too will the issues of parentage.   When the court decides that you are not a child’s parent everyone involved suffers the consequences. You may lose visitation to the child and may not even be allowed to see them again depending on the situation and your child loses a parent.   In today’s episode Tiffany tells us of a few cases where parentage has been questioned and challenged and some of the ways you can guarantee your rights as a child’s parent even if you aren’t biologically related.   Join us for this intriguing conversation as we discuss legal parentage with Philadelphia Attorney Tiffany Palmer.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Tiffany Palmer   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

On this episode of Case In Point, Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law, talks about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or EMTALA. EMTALA was enacted in 1986 and made it illegal for emergency departments to refuse to treat a patient because of their perceived inability to pay. The EMTALA act makes emergency departments evaluate and stabilize any patient that comes through the door.   Before EMTALA was enacted many emergency rooms utilized a practice called “dumping” or “patient dumping” where they would turn a patient away at the door even though that person might be in critical condition. Patients would sometimes have to travel over 20 miles to another hospital to try and get treatment. This practice was especially common for women in labor, thus the name Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.   Today, Diane Black, a congress-woman from Tennessee is trying to remove EMTALA and let hospitals choose who they treat. Diane Black is a former Emergency Room nurse and is now running for the governor of Tennessee.   As history has shown us, when hospitals can choose who they treat and who they turn away, people who truly need care get left behind. EMTALA was not made to make emergency room workers jobs harder, it was enacted to protect patients.   Listen in and if you would like more information you can visit our website Freiwaldlaw.com and read a blog post Aaron wrote about EMTALA: https://www.freiwaldlaw.com/news-item/emtala   As always, let us know what you think!   Intro Music: 5 Cents Back by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/

In part two of Good Law | Bad Law 47, host Aaron Freiwald is joined for the first time by three guests: Joanna Visser Adjoian, Giovanni Reid, and John Pace. Joanna runs the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project in Philadelphia PA.   The YSRP works with juveniles who have been prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system, including those who have been sentenced to life without parole. They help kids and young adults through the entire process from sentencing through their time in jail, offering them support and guidance, and finally with re-entry back into their community.   Joanna brought along two gentlemen that had benefited from the YSRP services Giovanni and John. Both gentlemen have been recently released and were kind enough to come in and share their stories with us.   To learn more about what YSRP does you can visit their website: https://ysrp.org/ To learn more about the Juvenile Law Center you can visit their website: http://jlc.org/ To learn about the cases that have made it possible for these young adults to have a chance at a free life click on the links below: Roper v. Simmons made it illegal for courts to hand down the death penalty to minors. Graham v. Florida declared it was cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to a life without parole sentence. Montgomery v. Louisiana made the courts go back and re-try cases where a juvenile had been given a life without parole sentence.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Joanna Visser Adjoian, Giovanni Reid, and John Pace       Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Brooke McCarthy a fellow at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, PA. Brooke is here to discuss mandatory life without parole sentences for Juveniles who have committed very serious crimes.   The Juvenile Law Center works to help over-turn or re-negotiate sentences of youths that have been convicted of violent crimes. Brooke tells us about three crucial cases that paved the way for organizations like the Juvenile Law Center to do what they are doing: Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, and Montgomery v. Louisiana.   Here are the cases we discuss on the show: Roper v. Simmons made it illegal for courts to hand down the death penalty to minors. Graham v. Florida declared it was cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to a life without parole sentence. Montgomery v. Louisiana made the courts go back and re-try cases where a juvenile had been given a life without parole sentence.   Join us for this riveting conversation as we discuss the Juvenile Law Center and mandatory life sentences for juveniles.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Brooke McCarthy     Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Scott Burris, Professor at the Temple University Law School and Executive Director at the Public Health Law Research Center.   The Public Health Law Research Center is an organization that operates out of the Temple University Beasley School of Law where Scott teaches. Professor Burris has been a longtime advocate of Safe Injection Sites as a way of curbing injury and death associated with opioid use. Safe injection Sites or CUES have been set up in some other countries and share the philosophy of the “Needle Share” programs. The idea is, if we provide people resources and a safe place to inject their drugs we can offer them the help they need to turn their lives around.   The countries that have implemented these programs are seeing positive results. The Safe Injection Sites provide clean needles, privacy, alcohol wipes, and a place to recover from their usage. They are also staffed with professionals who can offer them resources as well as assist in the case of an overdose.   Some worry that Safe Injection Sites will bring more drug users to their neighborhood. Professor Burris says, studies have found the opposite to be true. Safe Injection Sites reduce the rate of drug use as well as drug related illnesses.   Join us today as Professor Scott Burris and Aaron Freiwald discuss this fascinating and provocative approach to the opioid epidemic. If you would like to contact the Public Health Research Center you can visit their website http://phlr.org/.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Scott Burris   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by the Vice President of Eastern State Penitentiary, Sean Kelly.   Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829 on the outskirts of the city and was one of the most iconic and influential prisons in its time. Utilizing a new concept of “time as punishment”, Eastern State was designed with one thing in mind: Solitary Confinement. Each prisoner was isolated for up to six years. Though this punishment style was harsh and met great criticism from the start, many of the prisons built in the 1800’s across the world adopted this unique style. Eastern State Penitentiary was built in a wagon wheel pattern. Each hallway came together at a central hub which made it easy for guards to look down each hallway to make sure everything was in order.   During its operational life from 1829 through 1971 Eastern State Penitentiary was home to some of America’s most iconic prisoners including Al Capone and Slick Willy Sutton.   Join us for this fascinating conversation with Sean Kelly and head over to our YouTube channel Good Law | Bad Law to see the ins and outs of the massive structure.   And, if you’re in the Philadelphia area in the Month of October, head over to Eastern State for “Terror Behind the Walls” where the entire prison is turned into a haunted house full of the best scares and thrills in Philadelphia.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Sean Kelly   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

After the tragedy that was the mass shooting in Las Vegas last week we saw an outcry for gun reform. People calling for gun bans, buy-back programs, and stricter regulations. On the other side, we saw people saying it was too soon and emotions were to high to begin this discussion.   We saw late night hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel calling for change. In tears because of the immense weight of the event.   No matter what your stance is, we can all agree events like this shouldn’t happen.   The problem is, change doesn’t come from a single speech. Change doesn’t come from one or two late night hosts calling for it. Change comes from people like you, like us, stepping up and using our voices. Electing the people that will make the changes we believe in. Writing our congressmen and women; asking them to propose the changes we want to see. Change comes when we, the people, make our voices heard.   This has been another episode of Case in Point, a Good Law | Bad Law production.

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by two attorneys, Josh Kershenbaum and Grace Osa-Edoh from the law firm Frankel and Kershnbaum.  In this episode, we discuss First Amendment rights of elementary and high school students.   Recently, the “take a knee” movement has been catching a lot of people’s attention after President Trump began calling out the NFL and specific players, including Former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, for taking a knee during the National Anthem.  As attention has grown, more and more athletes as well as musicians (like Stevie Wonder) and even students in schools around the country have joined in “taking a knee.”    The last point is where we focus our conversation.  Josh and Grace specialize in education law and cases against schools on behalf of students and their families.  We learn in this episode that students do not lose First Amendment protections on their speech just because they are in school, with a few exceptions. Join us for this riveting conversation as we discuss the Take a Knee movement and some landmark Supreme Court cases in this area including Tinker and Barnette.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Josh Kershenbaum & Grace Osa-Edoh     Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Frank McClellan, a Temple University Law School professor and Special Counsel at Freiwald Law.   Frank McClellan has a special interest in health care in our Country; teaching health care law at Temple and believing that our current system creates opportunities for discrimination and judgment by health care providers. Frank has been on the show before to discuss he book that talks about this exact subject, but today, he is in to talk about the “Affordable Care Act” or “Obama Care” and how it differs from the “American Health Care Act”.   This is the first in what will be a continuing series looking at the different health care options and proposals being talked about in our country and throughout the world. From a single-payer system, a multi-payer system, a private health care system, or a completely government run system. We want to examine all sides of the issue and present you with all the facts so you can make your own judgement.   If you are in the Philadelphia area and want to join Frank for a town hall discussion on health care send him an email at Frank@Temple.edu.                The discussion will take place on Saturday, September 30th from 10am – 12pm at the Temple University Law School.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest:  Frank McClellan   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Marissa Bluestine, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.   The name of the show is Good Law | Bad Law because we not only talk about the good in the law, how the law helps people, but also, the bad in the law, such as the criminal justice system failing people. The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is an organization that helps those who have been affected by a legal system that failed them; people that have been wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn’t commit.   Marissa Bluestine and Aaron Freiwald have an amazing conversation about not only what the PA Innocence Project does, but about many aspects of our criminal justice system, how people end up wrongfully convicted, the impact wrongful convictions have on society, and what we can do to make an impact.   If you want to learn more about the PA Innocence Project visit their website at: http://innocenceprojectpa.org/   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest:  Marissa Bluestine   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Last week was National Hazing Prevention week, a week where we think about and talk about hazing; how to prevent it, what it is, what it means, how to handle it, etc. In the news, we saw stories about Universities that are stepping up and making changes to their protocol to make an impact on the hazing epidemic.   But, hazing is not a one week a year problem. It’s not a one month a year problem. It’s a daily problem, one that happens everyday across all Universities and students of all different races, statuses, income levels, etc. So, as we move on from Hazing Prevention Week, as we go back to our normal lives, how can we make an impact on the problem the rest of the year? What are Universities doing to make an impact?   Aaron Freiwald mentions many stories that have recently come into light such as the LSU hazing incident that has led to a student’s death and the Penn State hazing incident that lead to another student’s death, and other stories that have come out, showing the epidemic that is hazing on college campuses.   This has been another episode of Case In Point, a Good law | Bad Law production.   Remember to subscribe and check out our other episodes!

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Reggie Shuford, the Executive Director for the Pennsylvania ACLU.   Today we’re talking about free speech and the ACLU’s involvement over the years protecting our first amendment right. The ACLU has been involved in some of the most controversial events regarding freedom of speech from the Skokie Illinois Nazi March, to the more recent events in Charlottesville Virginia.   In both of those cases the ACLU supported the rights of people who had an opinion or message they didn’t agree with.  One of the things Reggie points out in the episode is, the ACLU is an organization that stands for all civil rights and sometimes, they have to support people who have beliefs or messages that go against what they as people or even an organization believe. To him, it’s one of the things that makes the ACLU unique. Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest:  Reggie Shuford   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by attorney Joshua Prince from, the Civil Rights Defense Firm, to discuss the Second Amendment and the issue of guns in schools.   Joshua Prince handles cases involving gun owners’ rights and the second amendment most notably the Goslin case. The Goslin case, found here, is a case involving a student who accidentally brought a pocket knife into school. Joshua became involved while the case was being appealed because he saw more was at stake. As he explains, this case could pave the way in guns in Pennsylvania schools.   We not only talk about the Goslin case, but also the Heller case, which in 2008 settled the question of whether an individual’s right to “bear arms” is found in the Second Amendment. Join us for this intriguing episode of Good Law | Bad Law.   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Joshua Prince   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com