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Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Returns After More Than 30 Years: What the New DOJ Rule Changes
Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Returns After More Than 30 Years: What the New DOJ Rule Changes
For more than three decades, federal law contained a procedure allowing some prohibited persons to seek restoration of their firearm rights, but the administrative process was effectively unavailable. That is now changing. On August 20, 2026, the Department of Justice published a final rule creating a functioning process for federal firearm rights restoration under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) and new 28 C.F.R. Part 107.
The development is important for people with old felony convictions, but the new program is considerably broader and more complicated than a simple process for restoring the rights of people convicted of nonviolent felonies. The rule establishes detailed presumptions, extensive evidentiary requirements, and an individualized review focused on whether an applicant is likely to pose a danger to public safety and whether restoration would be contrary to the public interest.
Retrograde Extrapolation in DUI Cases: Science, Strategy, and Cross-Examination
Retrograde extrapolation is the process of estimating a driver’s earlier blood alcohol concentration from a later test. In DUI and Michigan OWI cases, the calculation can appear precise, but its reliability depends on facts that are often missing.
What Is Retrograde Extrapolation in a DUI Case?
Understanding the Disconnect Defense in a Michigan DUI Case
The disconnect defense in a Michigan OWI case applies when the chemical test result does not match the defendant’s observable behavior. If a breath or blood test reports a high BAC but the officer’s observations, police video, driving evidence, and field sobriety performance show little or no meaningful impairment, that inconsistency may create reasonable doubt.
This defense is especially important in high-BAC and Michigan Super Drunk cases, where the reported number is 0.17 or higher. At that level, prosecutors often expect a jury to assume serious impairment. But a high BAC number also creates a higher evidentiary expectation. If the person on the video does not look, speak, walk, or perform like someone at the reported BAC, the number itself may become vulnerable.
The disconnect defense does not prove that the driver was sober. It asks a more precise trial question: does the chemical result fit the person the officer actually observed?
If You’ve Been Accused of a Crime, Be Careful What You Tell AI
People now ask ChatGPT and Claude everything, including what to do after an arrest, whether the police can prove a case, and how to explain suspicious facts. If you have been accused of a crime, that can be a serious mistake. A recent federal court opinion shows why people should be very cautious before typing case facts, strategy, timelines, or explanations into a consumer AI platform.
A recent opinion from the Southern District of New York, United States v. Heppner, addressed whether a criminal defendant’s communications with the AI platform Claude were protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work-product doctrine. On the facts before it, the court said no. The Harvard Law Review’s discussion of the decision is worth reading, and helped inspire this article.
The practical lesson is straightforward. AI is not your lawyer. A public AI platform is not the same thing as a confidential legal channel. If you are under investigation, worried about charges, or already facing prosecution, you should assume that discussing your case with AI can create risks your lawyer would rather have avoided.
HPRP Michigan – What Healthcare Providers Need to Know Before Deciding
Michigan’s Health Professional Recovery Program, known as HPRP, is a monitoring program that HPRP Michigan healthcare professionals encounter most often after a criminal charge raises the question of an underlying substance use or mental health disorder. It is described as voluntary and non-disciplinary. In practice it functions more like a condition of continued licensure, and the Monitoring Agreement it requires is a notarized legal document that can govern every aspect of a practitioner’s professional and personal life for years. In practice, it functions more like a condition of continued licensure, and the Monitoring Agreement it requires is a notarized legal document that can govern every aspect of a practitioner’s professional and personal life for years.
The decision to enter HPRP, and when to enter, is among the most consequential decisions a Michigan healthcare professional can make after an alcohol or drug-related charge. It should never be made without coordination between a criminal defense attorney and a healthcare licensing attorney.
When Does a Criminal Charge Put HPRP Michigan Healthcare Professionals at Risk?
License Restoration Revocation Lawyers in Michigan
Has Your Michigan Driver License Been Revoked? This article will explain the process for getting it back.
Key Points:
- Check eligibility and obtain a complete driving record.
Can You Drive After Drunk Driving Arrest Before the Court Date in Michigan?
When you’re arrested for a DUI in Michigan, the arresting officer will take your driver’s license and destroy it. This plastic license will be replaced with a temporary permit or a paper license, depending on the circumstances of your arrest. This paper license differs from your regular driver’s license as it lacks your photo but still permits unlimited driving.
The police and your attorney will refer to this paper license as a “DI-177.” The title of it is Breath Blood or Urine Report. This is a Michigan Temporary Driving Permit acts as your temporary driver’s license until you’re either convicted of the OWI or your case gets dismissed.
This paper license is only issued if you consented to a test allowing law enforcement to measure your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) during your arrest. This does not include the roadside test, only the test back at the station.
OUID: Operating under the Influence of Drugs in Michigan
Most Michiganders know the OWI meaning, which is our state’s generic acronym for operating while intoxicated. When alcohol is not the impairing substance, however, a related but different MI OWI crime sometimes called “drugged driving,” can be committed by a motorist in Michigan. This violation is called Operating under the Influence of Drugs or OUID.
Three quick informational points about drugged driving and drunk driving cases need to be made by drug charge attorney Patrick Barone. By clarifying these issues now, such information will help the reader understand more about OUID cases.
First, in the USA, DUI vs DWI represent the abbreviations used in the largest number of states, as their preferred acronym (over 40 states and the District of Columbia). The use of “DUI lawyers” or DUI attorneys” (or substitute a “W” for the “U”) will be used in these states, (e.g., Texas DWI lawyer near me, South Carolina DUI attorney).