Can You Go to Jail for Refusing to Testify?

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In any court proceeding, witness testimony can be an important source of evidence.

It follows, then, that courts take calling witnesses pretty seriously. How seriously? Seriously enough that those who refuse to testify can, in some situations, be held in contempt of court, which may result in penalties including fines and even jail time.

What are the rules for testifying in court and how can you keep yourself from running afoul of them?

Fifth Amendment Right against Self-Incrimination

One person who can generally never be forced to testify in court is a criminal defendant. Under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." This means that a defendant that is charged with a crime can choose whether or not to testify in court. However, if the defendant does choose to testify, he generally cannot choose which questions to answer.

The Fifth Amendment also extends to other witnesses in criminal and civil proceedings; any time a witness' testimony might incriminate him or her in a crime, the witness can choose not to testify by invoking their Fifth Amendment rights. Unlike a criminal defendant, however, these witnesses can generally invoke their Fifth Amendment rights selectively during their testimony.

Being Subpoenaed to Testify

However, witnesses other than criminal defendants may also be compelled to testify in the form of a subpoena issued by a court. A subpoena may request a person to testify, provide documents, or bring other evidence to a court. If a person fails to obey the subpoena, they can be held in contempt and subject to fines, jail, or both.

There are several other types of witness who may be excused from testifying, even if they are subpoenaed:

Learn more about what happens in the courtroom and get some general tips for navigating a court proceeding at FindLaw's Learn About the Law section on Going to Court.

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Can You Go to Jail for Refusing to Testify?

Wilderness proposal sparks First Amendment fight

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A view of the 1,234-square-mile Joshua Tree National Park is seen April 7, 2008, in southeastern California. A large part of the park is designated to wilderness area. Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

SEATTLE -- The U.S. Forest Service is proposing permanent new rules that would require media organizations to obtain a permit to film and shoot photographs in more than 100 million acres of the nation's wilderness.

Under the plan, the Forest Service would consider the nature of a proposed project before approving a special use permit then charge fees of up to $1,500 for commercial filming and photography in federally designated wilderness areas.

Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, said such rules would be a clear violation of the First Amendment and raises concerns about press freedom, including whether denying a permit would amount to prior restraint.

"What if they deny you a permit because they don't like the story you're working on?" he asked.

Liz Close, the Forest Service's acting wilderness director, said the Wilderness Act of 1964 prohibits commercial enterprise in wilderness.

The rules exclude breaking news situations, defined as "an event or incident that arises suddenly, evolves quickly, and rapidly ceases to be newsworthy."

But Osterreicher said the agency ignores big distinctions between editorial and commercial use and also should not be allowed to define what constitutes breaking news.

"We're headed down a really slippery slope if we allowed the government to include editorial and news gathering activities in commercial use," he said.

Close said the current rules have been in place for 48 months, and the proposal released this month would make those guidelines permanent. Public comments are due by Nov. 3.

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Wilderness proposal sparks First Amendment fight

Forest Service clamps down on photography in wilderness

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Sunset in the Boundary Waters. Sean Collins

A picture in a national forest might cost you $1,000 if you snap it without a permit. Is this a threat to First Amendment rights?

The U.S. Forest Service is finalizing rules that will require journalists and photographers to have permission before taking a picture or shooting a video in a wilderness like the BWCA,the Oregonian reports.

Its pretty clearly unconstitutional, said Gregg Leslie, legal defense director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Alexandria, Va. They would have to show an important need to justify these limits, and they just cant.

The rules appear to apply only to reporters and photographers who are working on stories that may not be friendly to practices in the wilderness. They would still allow for breaking news coverage of fires and rescues.

With smartphones blurring the lines between reporters and camera crews, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said the agency should tread more carefully.

The Forest Service needs to rethink any policy that subjects noncommercial photographs and recordings to a burdensome permitting process for something as simple as taking a picture with a cell phone, Wyden said. Especially where reporters and bloggers are concerned, this policy raises troubling questions about inappropriate government limits on activity clearly protected by the First Amendment.

Most of the countrys wilderness is in the West. Nearly 50 wilderness areas have been designated in Oregon, including wide stretches of land around Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington.

The rules allow exceptions only for breaking news coverage of events like fires and rescues. Theyre more stringent than similar policies on wilderness areas managed by a different federal agency, the Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM does not require any special permit for newsgathering in wilderness areas.

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Forest Service clamps down on photography in wilderness

Bitcoin is NOT Napster. Its BitTorrent. — CoinDesk is Galactically Stupid – Video

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Bitcoin is NOT Napster. Its BitTorrent. -- CoinDesk is Galactically Stupid
Donate: https://blockchain.info/address/1LAYuQq6f11HccBgbe6bx8DiwKwzuYkPR3 Subscribe: http://patreon.com/madbitcoins Sponsor: http://MadBitcoins.com September 25th, 2014 -- Melbourne, Australia...

By: MadBitcoins

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Bitcoin is NOT Napster. Its BitTorrent. -- CoinDesk is Galactically Stupid - Video

Bitcoin Savings & Trust Comes Up $40 Million Short On The Trust Part

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Bitcoin is the buzz! Well, the latest buzz anyhow in the weird world of cyber-currencies. It seems like only yesterday that Liberty Reserve went down, see thisbut here we are again.

This article is not whether Bitcoin is going to make it or not as a cyber-currency. There are thousands of articles out that positing that Bitcoin will be different, that this time it is the real thing. Most of those articles seem to written by folks promoting Bitcoins. But there are a few well-researched articles out there that warn that Bitcoins days are numbered, see thisas just one example.

Again, this article is not about any of that. If you want to invest in something that doesnt materially exist, then Im going to be no more critical of you than I would be of anybody who invests in complex derivative contracts on the major stock markets, which are traded by the billions everyday just ask any partner, er, former partner of Lehmann Brothers about those.

No, this article doesnt go so far as to ponder the imponderables about Bitcoin. Instead, it is a lesson about how to invest, or rather not to invest, in Bitcoins, should one be so inclined.

Anytime something is new, and generates a buzz, it attracts both investors and the folks who sell them the investments, known as promoters. Inevitably, with any investments whether in Bitcoins or wheat futures or even seemingly innocuous mutual funds, some promoters are good and some promoters are bad.

Unfortunately, new things typically attract far more than their share of bad promoters. The reason is that many of the good promoters will sit on the sidelines for a while, waiting for things to shake out as they inevitably do. Thus, it is rare that the established investment firms will jump right in to something new. They wait a few years, let the market develop momentum, and then use their huge infrastructure, pools of existing clients, and seemingly endless advertising dollars to enter the movie only after they are convinced that folks are not going to walk out after the first few scenes.

Bad promoters have thus, quite predictably, settled upon Bitcoin like so many vultures. That brings us to the point of this article.

A good example is found in the recent final judgment obtained by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission against Mr. Tendon T. Shavers and his Bitcoin Savings & Trust (BTCST), by which Shavers used to defraud his suckers out of more than 700,000 Bitcoins. To give you an idea of the size of this fraud, the judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas requires Shavers to disgorge more than $40 million in ill-gotten gains and interest, and, oh, both Shavers and BTCST are each required to pay $150,000 in civil penalties.

According to the SECs Litigation Release 23090 dated September 22, 2014:

The Commission established, and the Court found, that from February 2011 through August 2012, Shavers offered and sold investments in BTCST over the internet. Shavers solicited all investments, and paid all purported returns, in bitcoins. Operating under the internet name, pirateat40, Shavers solicited investors in online chat rooms and on the Bitcoin Forum, an online forum dedicated to Bitcoin, promising them up to 7% returns weekly based on his claimed trading of bitcoin against the U.S. dollar, including selling bitcoins to individuals who wanted to buy them off the radar. In reality, Shavers used new bitcoins received from BTCST investors to pay purported returns on outstanding BTCST investments, and diverted BTCST investors bitcoins for his personal use. The Court further found that, even as he publicly denied the Ponzi scheme on the Bitcoin Forum, Shavers knowingly and intentionally operated BTCST as a sham and a Ponzi scheme, and repeatedly made materially false and misleading representations to BTCST investors and potential investors concerning the use of their bitcoins, how he would generate the promised returns, and the safety of their investments.

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Bitcoin Savings & Trust Comes Up $40 Million Short On The Trust Part

Chronic Psoriasis Leads Nurse To Commit Suicide

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A nurse committed suicide because she could not live with having psoriasis.

Hollie McEwen, 28, committed suicide by hanging in her home. Her family believes it was her chronic psoriasis that led to her suicide.

Her condition played a large part in what she decided to do, said Hollies father, Andrew. She was a beautiful, vibrant young woman who felt she couldn't deal with the condition. She felt this was the only way out.

Hollie was first diagnosed with psoriasis, a skin disease characterized by red, scaly patches, papules, and plaques that usually cause itching, when she was 12 months old. At that point, however, treatment kept it controlled.

It later reappeared due to stress and caused Hollie to suffer from depression, reports The Daily Mail. She killed herself just two days after seeking treatment for depression.

(via The Daily Mail)

Her skin condition played a large part in her problems as a teenager and when older I feel this was at the root of all the problems, said her mother Wendy.

Hollie had undergone treatment for psoriasis over the past two years, including hospital stays and steroids after suffering from anxiety attacks.

Letters Hollie wrote to her loved ones were found in her home.

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Chronic Psoriasis Leads Nurse To Commit Suicide

Celgene's Otezla Label Expanded to Include Plaque Psoriasis – Analyst Blog

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Celgene Corporation ( CELG ) announced a label expansion for its drug Otezla in the U.S. Otezla, already approved by the FDA for treating adults suffering from active psoriatic arthritis, can now be used in treatment-nave as well treatment experienced patients suffering from moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The FDA approved the drug, an oral and selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), to treat those patients for whom phototherapy or systemic therapy is suitable.

Celgene said that following the FDA nod, Otezla becomes the first inhibitor in the above category to gain approval in the U.S. for the plaque psoriasis indication. Currently, psoriasis patients are mostly treated with injectable drugs like AbbVie's ( ABBV ) Humira and Amgen's ( AMGN ) Enbrel.

The FDA cleared Otezla for the new indication primarily on the basis of encouraging data from two multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies - ESTEEM 1 and ESTEEM 2. The U.S. regulatory body, however, recommended that patients taking Otezla should have their body weights monitored on a regular basis. Moreover, patients with a history of depression or suicidal behavior should inform the same to their doctors before commencing Otezla therapy.

We remind investors that Otezla gained FDA approval for the psoriatic arthritis indication in March this year (read more: Update on Celgene's Product Portfolio ). The drug contributed $5 million to Celgene's top line in the second quarter of 2014. Approval for the additional indication, which offers significant commercial potential, will boost Otezla's sales going forward. According to the National Psoriasis Foundation, the immune-mediated, non-contagious chronic inflammatory skin disorder affects 7.5 million Americans.

Celgene is seeking EU approval for Otezla in the combined psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis indication, with an opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use expected by Dec 31, 2014. The candidate is further being evaluated for treating patients suffering from Behet's disease (phase III expected to commence by year end), ulcerative colitis (phase II b expected to commence by year end) and atopic dermatitis (phase II).

Celgene carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the health care space include Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) and Medivation ( MDVN ). Both the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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Celgene's Otezla Label Expanded to Include Plaque Psoriasis - Analyst Blog

Cricket World Cup 2015: booking and travel guide

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The reigning champions, India, have an array of batting talent, and the team will be looking to repeat its 2011 success, when they won against Sri Lanka in front of a home crowd in Mumbai.

However, home advantage could come into play this time around. The final will be held at the MCG in Melbourne (as indeed will Englands opening fixture, against Australia), so the local crowd will start the tournament with hopes high.

Other contenders include South Africa, who - despite regularly being among the pre-tournament favourites - have still never reached a World Cup final.

The full list of teams: England, South Africa, India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, UAE.

India claim victory against Sri Lanka in Mumbai in 2011 (Photo: Getty)

Where are Englands fixtures?

England will be playing them at venues in both Australia and New Zealand. The full list is as follows:

February 14: England v Australia at the MCG, Melbourne, Australia

About the venue city: It's a sports-obsessed, cultural city, which was recently rated as the world's most liveable. Telegraph Travel's expert, Cristian Bonetto writes that the city: "... is Australia's undisputed cool kid. The other capitals might fawn over their Melbourne-style cafes, bars and laneways, but only Melbourne delivers the real deal."

Read more: Melbourne travel guide

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Cricket World Cup 2015: booking and travel guide

How the world will travel in the next 100 years

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Travel to become and increasingly integrated part of people's everyday lives Remote destinations increase in popularity as workers seek escapism Travellers' to favour face-to-face recommendations instead of online reviews Google Streetview will be used to see exactly what resorts look like

By Emily Payne for MailOnline

Published: 08:46 EST, 25 September 2014 | Updated: 09:18 EST, 25 September 2014

The holidaymakers of the future will be able to fly in more comfort, enjoy a spa at every airport and ditch their phones when they arrive at their chosen resort.

Lonely Planet has consulted with experts to reveal how we will be travelling in the future and it seems the world is becoming more jetset.

But far from relying on anonymous tips posted online, there will also be a movement towards asking locals for help in planning our dream trips.

Travellers will take an advantage of faster, cheaper flights and go to global events, such as Rio Carnival

Workers tired of being tied to the office will seek 'unplugged' trips at hotels not offering phone signal or wifi

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of commercial air travel, Lonely Planet has compiled their predictions for the future of travel in conjunction with the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The concept of travel as a rare treat is disappearing, replaced by travel as a lifestyle choice, the travel company says.

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How the world will travel in the next 100 years