Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Jeff Sessions: Introduce Us to Your Russian Friends!

Yesterday it came to light that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two meetings with the same Russian diplomat that Michael Flynn had talked to during the transition period. ICYMI, those meetings led to Flynn’s firing from the Trump Administration.

Sessions did not mention these meetings at his confirmation hearing–in fact, he said that he didn’t know anything about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. Now Democrats are calling for Sessions’ resignation, but Republicans say he didn’t do anything wrong, as he was only asked about the Trump campaign’s alleged communications with Russia, not his own communication. The Russian ambassador in question, Sergey Kislyak, is considered to be one of Russia’s top spies and spy-recruiters. Sessions reportedly met with him on two occasions; once in July during the Republican convention and then again in September. Sessions was on the Senate Armed Services Committee during both of these time periods.

Jeff Sessions lied under oath about his contacts with a country that’s actively trying to undermine our democracy. So yes, he should resign.

— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) March 2, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: March 2, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

The future is now–there’s a robot lawyer that can get you out of parking tickets in the United Kingdom…sort of. Joshua Browder, 19, who is certainly way more impressive than I was at the same age, made a “robot lawyer” that helps people appeal parking tickets. Since the site, donotpay.co.uk launched late in 2015, it has appealed more than $3 million in parking tickets, and it may soon make its way across the pond to the United States.

Browder is now a freshman at Stanford University, and he launched donotpay.co.uk (aka the robot lawyer) last year. It’s still in beta mode right now, but the full version will go live this spring.

The concept is pretty simple–if you need to appeal a parking ticket you go to the site and it takes you step-by-step through the process. According to Business Insider:

Once you sign in, a chat screen pops up. To learn about your case, the bot asks questions like ‘Were you the one driving?’ and ‘Was it hard to understand the parking signs?’ It then spits out an appeal letter, which you mail to the court. If the robot is completely confused, it tells you how to contact Browder directly.

The robot lawyer is also being taught how to help people navigate certain insurance claims and deal with delayed or cancelled flights.

So, the robot lawyer isn’t a lawyer exactly, but rather a tool that can automize tasks that were traditionally done by a lawyer–and often done expensively. Of course, the robot lawyer cannot dispense subjective legal advice, because that is something that only humans can legally do.

Robot lawyer is, however, learning:

Browder programmed his robot based on a conversation algorithm. It uses keywords, pronouns, and word order to understand the user’s issue. He says that the more people use the robot, the more intelligent it becomes. Its algorithm can quickly analyze large amounts of data while improving itself in the process.

Browder has big plans for this kind of tech–he’s starting to program in New York City laws, and he’s working on a version that will help Syrian refugees apply for asylum. Browder’s tech, whether or not you want to call it a “robot lawyer,” is pretty cool, and it’s certainly a cost and time-saving measure. I don’t think we’ll see robots arguing in a courtroom anytime soon, but we may all have an easier time when we get into a scuffle with a broken parking meter.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Get a Parking Ticket? A New “Robot Lawyer” May Soon Be Able to Help appeared first on Law Street.

Even though the holidays are fast approaching and a lot of things are starting to slow down in anticipation, the news last week definitely didn’t. The beginning of the week saw the aftermath of a tragic hostage situation in Sydney, Australia, and the Sony hack continued to dominate the news cycle for the rest of the week. Our number one story this week was by Hannah R. Winsten, who wrote about Australia’s amazing response to the horrifying hostage crisis. The number two spot went to Ashley Shaw, with a piece on an off-duty cop arresting a man for stealing his parking spot. Finally, number three went to Anneliese Mahoney, who wrote about the continuing Sony Hacking scandal. ICYMI: check out what everyone was reading on Law Street last week.

#1 Australians School the World on How To Not Be Racist

This is a terrible, awful thing that happened in Sydney, and I think it’s safe to say that our hearts are collectively with the hostages and their families. However, the people of Sydney are handling this tragedy remarkably well. And I mean like, really, REALLY well. People of the United States—and actually, the whole rest of the world—take note. Read the full article here.

#2 Off-Duty Cop Arrests Man for Taking Parking Spot

Frank Maio saw what my sisters would tell you was Princess Parking out in front of a Deerfield Beach shoe store. (Princess Parking, as defined by Urban Dictionary, is “just like rock star parking or prime parking; when one finds the perfect parking spot, right next to or in front of the entrance to wherever he or she is going.”) But when he went to claim the spot, something horrible occurred: Clausel Pierre pulled into the spot first! Read the full article here.

#3 Disturbing New Developments in the Continuing Sony Hacking Scandal

Another day, another leak. It seems like the leaking of some information to do with Hollywood–whether it be nude photos, salaries, or emails–happens on pretty much a weekly basis now. However, this leak from entertainment super-company Sony is probably going to go down in history to top all others. And I don’t think it’s quite done spitting out Hollywood gossip and insider information. Read the full article here.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICMYI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

It’s Christmas time. And that means it is the best time of the year to go shopping. No crowded stores, no long lines, no fighting over a pair of on-sale shoes that I want to buy someone–definitely not myself, though, all my Christmas shopping is for my loved ones–with a lady who also wants to buy those shoes for someone–definitely not herself. Oh wait! That doesn’t sound like any Christmas shopping that I have ever done. Mine sounds more like this story (which took place in January 2011 not at Christmas, but which stills sounds like something that would happen at Christmas).

Frank Maio saw what my sisters would tell you was Princess Parking out in front of a Deerfield Beach shoe store. (Princess Parking, as defined by Urban Dictionary, is “just like rock star parking or prime parking; when one finds the perfect parking spot, right next to or in front of the entrance to wherever he or she is going.”) But when he went to claim the spot, something horrible occurred: Clausel Pierre pulled into the spot first!

Now, we all have experienced and/or caused this event. When it happens to me, I yell things I am not proud of yelling and fume about it for hours while plotting a revenge that I have absolutely no intention of actually enacting as big as I talk. So imagine how much I cheered when I heard what Maio did to handle this situation.

Courtesy of Giphy.

He asked Pierre to move. Tough, right? I wouldn’t have the guts to confront the guy at all; however, that actually was not the end of it. Pierre said no. I mean, he claimed something along the lines of it wasn’t reserved and he got there first and blah blah blah a whole lot of stuff that might have been true but certainly did not get Maio the royal parking spot he felt he deserved. So then he had to go a step farther.

Did I happen to mention that Maio was an off-duty cop who was at the shoe store to do some moonlighting as a security guard? Well, that is exactly what was happening here. And believe me, this cop was not afraid to use his power for his own gain. Park in the spot he wanted? Well, do not think he would be too mature to arrest you for that. Don’t believe me? Ask Pierre. Because yes, he was arrested for parking in the spot this police officer wanted.

Pierre was so confused that he was being arrested, that he called 911. You can listen to a recording of the call below. According to Pierre, the officer not only arrested him, he roughed him up a bit too.

Pierre has been fighting the charges against him (including battery against law enforcement and resisting arrest) for two years and finally he had some success! The charges were dropped (since apparently a judge realized that Maio’s statements over the last couple of years were conflicting); however, Pierre was not throwing a party over his victory. He said he’d been hurt and he wanted payback. So he recently initiated a lawsuit.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Will he win? I don’t know. But I do know that this whole thing has taught me a lesson: when someone takes a spot I think belongs to me, it might seem like a good idea to fight for it, after all, it is the principal of the thing, but if I am still fighting for it years later, it might have been an even better idea to just park a couple of spots down. Oh. And if I ever become a cop, I am going to do my best not to arrest people on trumped up charges no matter how tempting it might be to arrest the person who got in front of me at the grocery store with 500 million items when I only had like two and then wouldn’t let me cut–but I am digressing, because really, abuse of power only comes back to sue you in the long run.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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