Westchester New York Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Marijuana Legalization Bill Signed Into Law in New York

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. New York previously considered the legalization of recreational marijuana. And in 2019, laws went into effect which decriminalized the drug. Yet possessing small amounts of...

Common Child Custody Issues After an Agreement Is Reached

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Child custody cases can be complicated. Not only that, when custody is at issue, emotions are running high. As such, parents often are unable to come to an agreement about...

Domestic Violence and Coronavirus: A Recipe for Potential Disaster

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Across the country, citizens have been under stay-at-home orders due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Even now that pandemic restrictions are being lifted, some are sti...

Death of George Floyd: What Is the Police Officer Charged With?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In May of 2020, the United States saw protests and riots after George Floyd died while being arrested by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In a widely-circulated video, as...

Veterans Treatment Courts in New York State

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Veterans are people who served the United State in active military, naval, or air service. In New York alone, there are 700,000 vets. In general, they are less likely to co...

Bird Nesting – A Recent Trend for Divorcing Couples With Children

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. For divorcing couples, the effects of the divorce on the children is of paramount concern. Recently, a new approach to living situations during divorce has been found to mi...

DWAI by Drugs in New York: What You Need to Know

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In 2018, 12.6 million people drove under the influence of drugs. And in 2016, 43.6% of fatally-injured drivers tested positive for drugs; half of those drivers tested posit...

Decriminalizing Sex Work: Will Prostitution Become Legal?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. It is often referred to as the “oldest profession.” Yet prostitution and patronizing a sex worker are crimes that, in some circumstances, carry heavy criminal penalties. Re...

Family Offense Petitions: How to Request Relief in Family Court

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Not every Order of Protection is issued by a criminal court. Indeed, many are issued in family and matrimonial proceedings. Accordingly, people choose to use the Family Cou...

January is National Stalking Awareness Month

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Each year, an estimated 6 to 7.5 million people in the United States are stalked. Stalking is a serious and dangerous offense that impacts every community. And it is a crim...

NY’s Zero Tolerance Law – When People Under Age 21 Drink & Drive

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In 2016, 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. And young people are considered to be at a higher risk of involvement in such fatal crashes. As such, New Y...

Constructive Possession: Is the Contraband Really Yours?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. You can be charged with a variety of crimes for possessing illegal contraband. Namely, this includes drugs, weapons, and stolen property. But what happens if you are not ph...