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For over a century, the core of America’s postal system was the Railway Mail Service.

On board Railway Post Office (RPO) train cars, teams of clerks worked to ensure that mail was canceled, sorted and loaded into sacks for delivery across the nation, at speeds of up to 85 miles an hour.

In recognition of this critical service, the National Postal Museum celebrates Train Day every year in May, marking the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Train tracks connecting the East and West coasts allowed the Post Office Department to quickly move mail across the entire country.

Join us on May 19 and 20 to partake in our annual Train Day Celebration and experience the rich history of the Railway Post Office through specialized activities and exhibits.

Visitors can play the RPO Sorting Challenge and try to sort the mail aboard an authentic train car before time runs out. Program participants additionally have the opportunity to learn the lingo of the Railway Post Office and crack the secret code of the railroad crews by communicating via train whistle.

Thanks to the following program partners, visitors can also enjoy elaborate model train railroad displays running throughout the museum. The National Postal Museum is pleased to host the Rappahannock Model Railroaders, The Washington, Virginia & Maryland Garden Railway Society and the Northern Virginia NTRAK. (more…)

By personal injury and insurance bad faith lawyer Scott Glovsky, who is barred and practices in the state of California with the Law Offices of Scott Glovsky.

In 2017, California enacted a law that allows terminally-ill individuals to ask pharmaceutical companies to allow them to access experimental drugs that have not yet been approved for public consumption.

The idea behind the law is simple, the drug trial and approval process is long and arduous and many of the patients that may benefit from the drugs in question may die well before the drug is approved for the public. Therefore, it allows drug companies to provide access to experimental drugs, if the company so chooses, to terminally ill patients prior to Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) approval and without opening itself up to liability in the event the drug causes the patient to die earlier.

Much like legalization of marijuana, however, there are federal rules that govern access to experimental medications that cannot be trumped by state law and drug companies that allow access to experimental medications risk having their drugs denied approval if a patient outside of the regular clinical trial process has an adverse reaction or dies from the medication.

As development of these medications and conduct of drug trials is expensive, drug companies are loathe to risk drug approval for one desperate patient and often decline to allow access outside of the clinical trial.

President Trump has come out in support of a national “Right to Try” law that would allow drug companies to provide access to terminally ill patients without risking any ongoing clinical trial.

Versions of the law have been floated and one that passed the Senate last year prohibited the FDA from using patient outcomes from a “Right to Try” situation in determining whether to approve a drug, unless it was critical to determining a drug’s safety.

The drug approval process is stringent for a reason. As dangerous drugs sometimes end up with FDA approval, how many would be on the market without the oversight that is currently in place? But for people with no other options who are facing death, the possibility that their lives could even be extended for a little while overcomes any fear they may have about a drug’s lack of testing.

“Regardless of how much testing is required, sometimes drugs end up on the market that cause people injury and sometimes death. The testing conducted by the FDA is critical,” said Scott Glovsky, a Pasadena Dangerous Drug Lawyer. “However, terminally ill individuals that may benefit from a drug in testing should have the opportunity to access those medications, provided they understand all of the possible consequences. Even a small extension on life can be a huge benefit.”

This column is written by Metro DC Houses, a local real estate team serving DC, MD, VA made up of Colin Johnson, the immediate past President for the D.C. Association of Realtors and Christopher Suranna, the current President for the D.C. Association of Realtors.

We saw a blog post at Streetsblog NYC that said that Central Park in NYC will go car free starting on June 27 and it raised a question with us; what is the value of a parking space in DC?

We found that since 2003 the value of a parking space has only gone up .79%. That’s right folks! In one of the hottest markets in the country, appreciating double digits in some areas, the price of a parking space has only gone up by .79%.

We took a look at sales of 1-bedroom condos in three zip codes since 2003 and compared prices of those with parking versus those without parking since parking spaces are often incorporated with the sale.

We chose the Dupont area (20036), Logan Circle area (20005) and Capitol Hill (20003). The locations vary in density and obviously there is a difference in changes to the neighborhoods in that time period, but the findings were interesting.

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By sex crimes attorney Sean P. Barrett, who is barred and practices in the state of Connecticut, with Billings & Barrett.

Big tech companies across the country did their best to stop an anti-trafficking bill that made its way to the House at the end of February.

The bill, which passed by a vote of 388-25, was a huge defeat for big tech companies in Washington and beyond. The bill, known as FOSTA, moved to the Senate and was passed with a 97-2 vote.

President Donald Trump then signed the bill into law earlier in April. FOSTA is short for Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act. Big tech fought hard to slow the bill down before it was passed because it reduces the free speech protections that were once in place for the Internet.

The bill has been endorsed by the Internet Association, which is the representative for Google and Facebook. On the other side of the aisle the bill was deemed as ill-fated because it will hurt small businesses and force sex workers to move offline.

The new legislation puts forth an exception to Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act. This act protects operates of websites from liability when it comes to content generated by users. FOSTA now says that Section 230 no longer applies to any civil or criminal charges of sex trafficking or conduct that facilitates or promotes prostitution.

The changes to Section 230 will be retroactively applied to all websites that fall under the new bill. In fact, Craigslist already removed its personals section to avoid any legal recourse from the new legislation. Another website, known as Backpage, has been shut down and the founders were criminally charged just before FOSTA was signed into law.

“Freedom of speech has always been a hot topic and now that some protections to free speech online have been removed the conversation should really heat up,” Sean P. Barrett, of Billings & Barrett, said.

Opposition to the bill includes sex workers, who claim they will have trouble screening clients since they will be forced offline. They worry that this will make things unsafe for them in their profession. It will take some time, but the new bill should give a clear picture of how the sex industry will operate moving forward.

By drug crimes attorney John B. Fabriele, III, who is barred and practices in the state of New Jersey, with John B. Fabriele, LLC.

Legislators in both the New Jersey House and Senate have introduced bills that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana, a move that would make New Jersey the tenth state to allow citizens to possess and use the drug.

The bills, which are not identical, both seek to achieve the goal of allowing New Jersey citizens to legally possess small amounts of marijuana while also creating the framework for production and sale of the drug.

Differences in the bill include the number of authorized “dispensaries,” which is where the drug would be sold, whether individuals can legally grow the plant in their homes, and the tax rate assessed on sales.

“Ultimately, however, the bills align with the stated goal of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, that being the legalization of marijuana,” said John B. Fabriele, III, a New Jersey Drug Crimes Lawyer. “Regardless of the outcome, individuals need to remember that marijuana continues to be a Schedule I narcotic under Federal law, meaning that transportation of legally-obtained marijuana across state lines can result in Federal drug charges.”

The conflict between Federal and state laws related to marijuana continue to be a problem. The reason is the concept of “preemption”. Article IV, Clause II of the United States Constitution is what is commonly called the Supremacy Clause, and it says that the Constitution and the laws of the United States are the “Supreme law of the land,” and that any state law that conflicts with Federal law is without effect.

Marijuana is considered by the Federal government to be a Schedule I drug, making its use and possession illegal, and under the Supremacy clause, any state law to the contrary may be invalid.

Federal law enforcement has, by and large, allowed states to carry out this legalization without interference or attempts to override state legislation.

What they have not done, however, is change Federal law, so anyone who is in possession of marijuana in accordance with State law is in violation of Federal law. If you were to transport that marijuana across state lines, or enter a location governed by Federal law (like an airport), you would be subject to Federal prosecution.

If New Jersey moves forward with legalization of marijuana, individuals who intend to take advantage of the change need to be acutely aware of how, when and where they possess and use the drug, and know their rights in terms of use and possession.

Lack of knowledge about a law is never a defense, and as it stands right now marijuana use and possession is still illegal in New Jersey and the United States overall. If that changes in New Jersey, be sure you understand how it has changed before you put yourself in a situation where your lawyer must explain it to you.

We’re making our communities stronger in D.C. by bringing youth voices to the decision table — and Mikva Challenge DC is showing us how.

Modeled after the successful civic engagement program in Chicago, Mikva Challenge DC empowers students to be informed and engaged citizens. The organization helps students understand ‘democracy is a verb’ and that it is possible to change their communities — and democracy as a whole — by taking action.

“To fully understand and be a part of the D.C. community, you must understand the experience of the youth that live here,” said Robyn Lingo, Mikva Challenge DC Executive Director.

We care about our neighborhoods and our neighbors in D.C. We know the issues that impact all of us don’t just change on their own.

Mikva’s signature work is an Issues to Action program in which local teachers implement a curriculum that empowers students to explore their communities from an asset based perspective. Students identify issues that are important to them and their community, research the issue and ultimately develop a plan and take action.

Mikva encourages students to speak up about issues that matter to them through programs like Project Soapbox, a public speaking competition. These speeches become a catalyst for change that students use to go transform their communities. “We are able to provide a platform and a format, but mostly it’s giving young people an opportunity,” Robyn Lingo shared.

The impact lasts a lifetime. Over 69% of Mikva students continue to volunteer in their communities compared to 36% of 18-29 year olds nationwide, thousands vote and volunteer with campaigns during election cycles and some go on to become civic leaders or return as volunteers with the program.

Help DC youth find their seat at the table. Volunteer or donate to today: http://www.mikvachallenge.org/dc2018/.