VA Family Law News

MySpace post becomes communicating a written threat

The Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed the finding that the appellant posted a threat on his MySpace profile that placed the recipient in reasonable apprehension of death or bodily injury.

 

The appellant contended that the postings to his MySpace account were not communications to the purported victim because they were published to a public site and not directed to the victim. He also contended that the postings were lyrics, not threats, despite the graphic and violent content. The court of appeals found neither argument persuasive.

 

The full opinion may be found at JOHN ANDREW-COLLINS HOLCOMB v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.

Update from Avvo.com postings

Article - Religion and Childhood Vaccinations

Cole Miller PLLC congratulates our colleague, Virginia Haizlip. Ms. Haizlip recently had an article published in The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. This professional achievement recognizes Ms. Haizlip’s research and writing on matters of children’s immunizations.

Parenting is challenging in the best of times. It becomes increasingly difficult when parents separate and divorce. One frequent source of disagreement between parents is whether or not to vaccinate their children.

The science of vaccination supports the effectiveness of vaccination, and demonstrates the risk as well. There are also valid religious reasons for a parent to choose not to vaccinate his or her children.

Ms. Haizlip’s article explores the differences between states with regard to their treatment of a parent’s religious objections to vaccination. 

Her article is in the Spring 2010 issue of the Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.