Lynchburg Criminal Defense Blog

You may think of forgery as the copying or reproduction of literary or artistic works and passing them off as originals. According to FindLaw, this is forgery on a grand scale and generally makes big headlines once discovered. However, the more common incidences of forgery are much more mundane. Opportunities to commit forgery on university campuses are plentiful, but if found out, the penalties can be severe. 

If you live in a residence hall or in an apartment off campus with one or more roommates, it may be difficult, if not impossible, for you and your roommates to secure your possessions, even those of a personal or financial nature. Forging a signature to a check is one of the most common forms that the offense may take, and roommate situations may present the potential forger with ample opportunity.

It can be hard for Virginia veterans to readjust after returning home from active duty. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, many veterans turn to drinking alcohol as a coping mechanism. There is a link between PTSD and problems with alcohol, and having either condition puts a veteran more at risk for developing the other. Memories of trauma may prompt a veteran with an alcohol use disorder to go on a drinking binge, and suicide is a greater risk for veterans over 65 who have a drinking problem or depression in combination with PTSD. 

According to WTKR 3 News in Norfolk, a recent study by American Addiction Centers shows that both binge drinking and drunk driving are on the rise among veterans nationwide. Though lower than the national average in a state-by-state breakdown, Virginia's numbers are still a cause for concern among local advocates against drunk driving, who say that the upward trend indicates a need for treatment in this particular area because the problem of veterans drinking and driving is not going away on its own. 

In a college town, students sometimes get a bit of a bad reputation. Older people may assume they have less regard for the law and that they tend to get into more trouble. The cliched college experience, after all, includes underage drinking, drug use and frequent social gatherings.

This is somewhat unfair. Just because those cliches exist by no means indicates that all college students have that experience. For instance, one study asked college students if they had consumed alcohol in the previous month, and about 60 percent of them said that they had. However, the study looked at students between the ages of 18 and 22. Two-fifths of those students are at least 21 years old and can legally drink. Only those between 18 and 20 would be breaking the law, so it stands to reason that far less than 60 percent participated in illegal activity.

In Virginia, there are "white collar crimes" and "blue collar crimes". Mark B. Arthur knows well that these types of crimes can come with equally harsh penalties, making it important for you to have a strong defense regardless of what you're being accused of.

The terms white and blue collar crimes originated from the classes that these crimes were considered "typical" of. Lower classes were usually thought to commit blue collar crimes, while higher classes were thought to commit white collar crimes. Naturally, these days we understand that anyone can commit any sort of crime. The labels and definitions stuck, however.