Probate Court

By definition, probate is the the official proving of a will as authentic or valid in a probate court. Probate is the term used to describe the legal process of handling the estate and property of an individual that is deceased. It deals with the estate, especially the distribution of the deceased person's estate under a accurate and valid will.

Probate court is the court that basically specializes in the proper settlement of the decedent's (deceased person's) estate and property issues. The main purposes of the probate court is to determine the validity of an individual's will and to ensure that the details and instructions of the will are correctly enforced.

The Probate (or Surrogate) Court of New York handles all the estate and property proceedings within the State of New York. A probate/surrogate judge is elected countywide for a term of 10 years. The 62 counties of New York have one surrogate judge except New York County and Kings County, which have two judges each.

This is my photo of Greg and I used some of the photography tips from class. Pretty good, huh?

Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York State: Harsh or Just?

The Rockefeller drug laws are a series of laws that dictate the rules and regulations for narcotics in New York State. The laws are named after Nelson Rockefeller, New York's governor at the time. They basically determine the level of criminal offense and how much punishment is inflicted for the sale and possession of drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, morphine, and opium. (Photo: www.gothamgazette.com/.../Needle-and-candle.jpg)

According to the Rockefeller drug laws, the sale of two ounces of an illegal substance or the possession of four ounces of an illegal substance means a punishment of at least 15 years. The maximum punishment for sale or possession is life in prison.

The Rockefeller drug laws are controversial in nature because they state that drug offenders will receive the same amount of jail time as the crime of second-degree murder. The penalty of 15 years to life or 25 years to life spent in prison is a harsh one. Those convicted of the sale or possession of narcotics should not be penalized on the same level as a known killer. Narcotics-related crimes are serious and should be considered as offenses but the current laws in place are tough. There are those, however, that feel that drug charges are very serious and offenders should receive the harshest penalty available.