Driver License Restoration Is Counterintuitive

One of the more rewarding aspects of my practice is driver license restoration evaluations for people who have lost their license though drinking and driving and are appealing to the DAAD to get it back. As attorneys all know, the process is a difficult one, and requires the ability of the client to demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that he or she has been sober/abstinent at least a year and has high probability of remaining so. They don't all have to be committed members of AA to achieve this; sometimes it is sufficient to show that there has been a substantial change in lifestyle sufficient to escape the gravitational…

Current Standards for Driver License Renewal Evaluations.

The New SUBSTANCE ABUSE EVALUATION (ALCOHOL AND DRUGS) AND REQUEST FOR HEARING requests far more information than previously sought by evaluators handling these cases. It also affords hearing officers the authority to reach conclusions about clients they have not done sufficient evaluation to assess, such as mental health diagnosis and its impact on sobriety. Moreover, they may not be qualified to offer an opinion on the subject if they had. Since the opinions issued by these officers do not contain their credentials, or even their first names, it is hard to know what they are qualified to determine. However, in addition to the information traditionally asked for in substance abuse evaluations, the DAAD is currently requiring...

False Allegations of Sexual Abuse: What Can Be Done

Over the past few years I have published several articles about the prevalence of false allegations of sexual abuse in child custody cases. The purpose of these articles has been to heighten the awareness of mental health professions, lawyers, the judiciary and the general public regarding these allegations, and to cite the research regarding how to differentiate true from false allegations of abuse. During this time, however, very little has changed; the same allegations are made in the same way, with more or less the same results. The typical scenario…

Therapy Court

Somewhere in America, today, somewhere in Michigan, or most likely, in several places in Michigan, court is in session. The presiding judge is not really a judge and has no legal training. He is not even a lawyer, nor has he made any effort to study the applicable …

Hypothetical Questions For Cross Examining Forensic Interviewers

Recently I was asked by an attorney in another state to provide some potential questions for cross-examining mental health experts in a sex abuse allegation case. The persons being interviewed were the treating therapist, whose recommendation was based solely on the mother's allegation of abuse, and someone who had been hired to do an “extended” post-forensic interview. Both of these tactics are still commonly employed by prosecutors or others involved in the forensic interviewing process when they are not happy with the evidence obtained through legitimate means. The fact that this process of incorporating sexist and intentionally biased evidence into legitimate legal process is still routine should give anyone genuinely concerned about achieving due process for men accused of these crimes the willies. It does me. Of course, these represent possible questions and could be reworded or rephrased to suit the needs of the case…