MICHAEL JACKSON’s father JOE JACKSON has suffered another setback in his bid to receive a monthly stipend from his son?s estate - his attorney’s law license has been placed on probation for two years. Long-serving Jackson legal eagle Brian Oxman has been disciplined by California Supreme Court for failing to drop a 2002 federal lawsuit and ignoring an order to pay sanctions imposed against him. He’ll continue to represent Joe Jackson but Oxman’s license could be suspended if he upsets lawmakers and regulators again. The Jackson family patriarch has argued he should receive more than $15,000 (GBP9,400)-a-month. A hearing on his petition is scheduled for next month.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — New Orleans Saints defensive end Bobby McCray was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, police said on Tuesday. Police spokesman Gary Flot said McCray was stopped by an officer who saw him speeding at about 4:30 am on Tuesday. He was booked into Orleans Parish Prison on charges of driving while intoxicated, speeding, careless operation of a motor vehicle and not having his vehicle registration with him. A Saints spokesman said officials of the NFL team were aware of the situation and would let the legal process take its course. McCray's attorney, Donald Foret, said he planned to talk to McCray later on Tuesday and did not comment further. The Saints, who opened the NFL season with 13 straight victories, were assured of the top seed in National Conference playoffs on Monday when Chicago beat Minnesota in overtime. They travel to Carolina this weekend for their final game of the regular season.

A woman from Ontario, Canada, filed a lawsuit last week claiming that she was the victim of a hit-and-run collusion by Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch. According to the suit, which was filed on December 28 in Erie County Court, Lynch's Porsche struck Kimberly Shpeley in Ontario's bar district at about 3:30 a.m. in May 2008, causing permanent injuries. Lynch initially pleaded guilty to failure to exercise due care toward a pedestrian and was fined $100, the Associated Press reports. He reached a plea deal with prosecutors, allowing him to avoid jail time. The suit does not specify the injuries Shpeley sustained or the monetary sum the plaintiff seeks. Rather, her lawyer, Timothy O'Connell, told the Vancouver Sun that Shpeley has decided to let the judge decide the appropriate dollar amount for damages. "Physically, she is doing as best she can," O'Connell said. "She is under doctor's care and will remain that way for some time to come." Lynch's lawyer, Michael Caffery, told the Associated Press that his 23-year-old client was not intoxicated at the time of the accident, and indicated that no DUI charges were filed.

Society has paved the way for alcoholism. Our judicial system promotes alcoholism as well. I’ll explain how. My name is Chris , and I am an alcoholic. I feel as if I was forced into alcoholism by the judicial system and the adolescent need for “alteration of the mind.” I was 17 years old and succeeding in high school in Lee’s Summit, Mo. I had better than average grades and nearly 100% attendance. I had already lettered in Drama and Cross Country. However, during this time I wasn’t drinking with friends. I hated alcohol! I hated the taste, the feeling it gave me and what it did to my peers. I chose to alter my sobriety with marijuana. Some friends looked down on me because of my choice of substance. Most of society did as well. But I knew I enjoyed marijuana and I could still function and make sensible decisions. I wasn’t slacking in school, sports, or life, like so many of my friends that drank. Life was going well. I was all set to graduate a semester early when my life turned upside down. I decided to ride with a friend, who was drinking and driving to a party. We were stopped by police for suspicion of DUI. I had marijuana and he was drunk. That said, we went to jail. Hundreds of dollars later, after hiring a lawyer, I was put on probation and into the judicial system. A few months into probation, I failed a urine test and tested positive for marijuana. I went back to court and was ordered into drug rehab for my “addiction to marijuana”. I could no longer smoke marijuana at this point. (Marijuana can stay in your system for up to 30* days) It was just too risky! I decided at this point that I had been making a stupid decision smoking marijuana and that drinking alcohol wouldn’t get me in trouble with the law. So slowly I began to drink alcohol. It didn’t seem to be a problem at first. People didn’t look down on me, it was legal and it was acceptable nearly everywhere. Beers turned into shots, shots turned into keg stands. I began fighting, skipping school, drinking until 3am. This was okay to people. This was what teens did. My probation officer didn’t seem to care if I drank alcohol, even underage. I got my first DWI right before my 18th birthday and I only got a warning from probation. At this point alcohol no longer bothered me and it seemed the trouble was less. More DWI’s, fights and social problems were to follow and my drinking led to me dropping out of school. Tens of Thousands of dollars went to lawyers and courts keeping me out of jail. I spent 34 days in jail for testing positive for marijuana during the alcohol probation. In October of 2006 I was arrested for my 6th DWI. I was driving on a hardship drivers license. I knew how the system worked at this point and my lawyer got this DWI nearly tossed out of court, yes, # 6! How was I not in a prison cell?! Because I was able to buy my way out of alcohol problems, I continued drinking. Although I knew I had an addiction and a problem long before this. New Years Eve 2006 into 2007 I woke up naked next to my best friends wife. I had no idea how I got there or how I even made it to their house. My friend woke me up and when I realized what was going on, I cried and broke down. This had to be my rock bottom. What had I done?! What can I do?! What do I do?! Well this wasn’t enough for me and I continued drinking. January 16th, 2007 3:15am. I’m headed home on I-70 from Whiskey Tangos in Grain Valley with 2 friends. It’s icy and sleeting. I’m drunk, speeding and feeling untouchable. I come up fast behind an SUV that is driving cautiously because of the weather, when I decide to change lanes abruptly and it sends my Jetta into a spin. We slide off the interstate narrowly missing a bridge post. The front tire dipped into a rut and sent us into a flipping barrel roll. Nobody was wearing a seat belt. Witnesses reported my Jetta flipping at least 7 times and seeing a body tossed from the car. The “body” was my sunroof. When the car came to a stop I just knew my friends had to be dead. I yelled and yelled, “are you all okay?!” They both answered yes. As we stumbled out of the mangled car in extreme pain and confusion, I knew this had to be the end. The end to my alcohol experiences and addiction. I managed to stay sober until February 25th, 2007. I was in a friends wedding in Florida when the urge came over me to drink. I drank a beer, took a shot of tequila and I felt myself slipping back into alcohol. I realized that wasn’t the route I wanted. I’ve been sober ever since. I have a beautiful family, a successful business and a home. Life is good. I still smoke marijuana on occasion. The only troubles that ever came with marijuana were the laws that prohibited it. Marijuana never influenced me to make stupid decisions or act like a fool. Alcohol did, and that’s socially alright. Our society and judicial system let me drink and drink and drink with *zero consequences. Yet when I chose the safer, less toxic option, I was ridiculed, looked down upon and thrown in jail. This is what happens to many Americans. Many are basically "forced" to be alcoholics! And alcoholism is okay. Thanks for reading MY story. If you choose to alter your state of mind, I hope you choose the safer alternative, marijuana. It’s time to end the ridicule. If marijuana were legal, I don’t think I would be an alcoholic. I’m sure the same goes for millions of others as well.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Authorities say a Colts practice squad wide receiver was arrested in Indianapolis on suspicion of drunken driving. A police report says 26-year-old Taj Smith was stopped about 3:30 a.m. Friday after an officer noticed the vehicle he was driving swerved across lanes and went above the 30 mph speed limit. • Sunday: Colts at Bills, 1 p.m. ET (CBS) The report says Smith smelled of alcohol and failed field sobriety and alcohol breath tests. The Marion County sheriff's department says Smith was released later Friday. Police didn't know whether he had a lawyer. Smith, who played two years at Syracuse, was signed to the Colts' practice squad in September. The team said Saturday it was aware of the matter but had no further comment.

Report: DUI charge against Monroe dropped AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Drunken driving charges against Texas kick returner D.J. Monroe have been dropped, his lawyer says. A plea agreement to an obstruction charge led to Monroe's reinstatement for the second-ranked Longhorns' Jan. 7 BCS title game against top-ranked Alabama at Pasadena, Calif. "He's extremely happy," Monroe's lawyer, Brian Roark, told the Austin American-Statesman after Friday's decision. Monroe received an indefinite suspension after being arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated in November, hours after a 47-14 win over Baylor. An unnamed athletic department spokesman said Coach Mack Brown planned to speak to Monroe and his family next week when he returns from a recruiting trip about his plans for the Angleton, Texas, freshman. Monroe set a school record with two touchdowns on kickoff returns in the regular season and added 110 yards on 20 carries at tailback.

VANCOUVER — Americans wanting to get into Canada to attend Olympic events may be told to turn around and go home if they’ve been convicted — or even charged — with drunk driving. In Canada, drunk driving is considered a criminal offence, though in the United States, it’s often considered a only a misdemeanour. Drunk driving doesn’t bar Canadians from the U.S., but it can bar Americans from getting into Canada and with thousands of Americans expected to come to Vancouver and Whistler for the Games, lawyers on both sides of the border say the potential is there for many to get an expensive shock. Seattle lawyer Scott Fox says he’s had a client turned away from the border even though he had only been charged, not convicted. But Phillip Chicola, the U.S. consul general in Vancouver, says Americans shouldn’t bother complaining to their government about it. Chicola says it’s Canada’s laws and there’s nothing his office can do to help.

VANCOUVER - You're an American who's arrived at the border just south of Vancouver, or perhaps landed at the airport, on the eve of the Olympics. Those pricey tickets to the opening ceremonies and medal round hockey suddenly have become worthless - to you, anyway - when the Canada Border Services agent orders you to turn around. The computer in his booth has told him you've got a conviction for driving under the influence in your home state, a crime that makes you inadmissible to Canada, something that's not the case for Canadians headed south. While impaired driving is a Criminal Code offence in Canada, the United States has a checkerboard of state laws governing driving under the influence - DUI - with varying levels of severity from misdemeanour to felony, and often light penalties unless damage, injury or death is involved. With thousands of Americans expected to come to Vancouver and Whistler for the Games in February, lawyers on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border say the potential is there for many to get an expensive shock. "It's a huge issue for people who want to go to the Olympics - for some who even a long time ago have had a DUI that was reduced (to a lesser charge) and they've long since forgotten about it,'' says Jon Scott Fox, whose practice in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue handles nothing but DUIs. "Those people will have an unpleasant surprise at the border.'' Fox says he got a call recently from a client turned back at the border who hadn't even been convicted. The charge was to be dismissed after the client had completed an alcohol treatment course. "Whatever database the border guards were accessing showed a pending case,'' he says. Upwards of a million Americans a year are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In Washington state alone, Fox says, 25,000 people were arrested last year for driving under the influence. "If even a small percentage of the people who have a conviction or a reduction try to cross (for the Olympics), those lines are going to get quite long,'' he says. Americans shouldn't bother complaining to their government about it. "There will be some and I will tell them, 'You have a DUI, sorry about that,''' says Phil Chicola, U.S. consul general in Vancouver. "You shouldn't drink and drive. I have no sympathy for those people.'' As criminal-record databases became more widely accessible in the wake of 9-11, convictions that would have escaped unnoticed now routinely pop up on Canadian border agents' screens. Canada Border Services doesn't classify DUIs separately but its statistics show that last year almost a thousand people were turned back in the Pacific region for a record of criminality - the vast majority for serious criminality that would have drawn jail sentences in Canada. Numbers are down so far this year. Someone who's deemed inadmissible for a less serious offence can be allowed entry for compelling reasons under a temporary residence permit issued at a border officer's discretion. But it's intended for things like family emergencies, not a once-in-a-lifetime Olympic excursion. "I don't specifically know but I don't think tickets to the Olympics is going to be a compelling reason,'' says agency spokeswoman Hannah Mahoney. "They do have the potential to be turned around at that point.'' Someone convicted of relatively minor criminality, including DUI, can be deemed rehabilitated if five to 10 trouble-free years have elapsed since they've completed their sentence. That decision also can be made by at the border but Vancouver lawyer Sam Hyman, who works to get clients declared rehabilitated, says agents have become more stringent since an auditor-general's report a couple of years ago criticized the way they used their discretion. "I've seen cases where multi-million-dollar deals were not felt by some officers to be compelling enough reasons, where jobs to Canada were at stake,'' he says. For multiple offences or more serious crimes, getting the rehabilitated designation can take up to a year. A pardon in the local jurisdiction is no guarantee of renewed admission into Canada, border services warns. Hyman handles dozens of DUI-related rehabilitation cases a year. "I can get upwards of 50 inquiries in a week,'' he says. DUI is what's called hybrid offence. In Canada, prosecutors can proceed by summary conviction (a misdemeanour in U.S. terms) or indictment (a felony), but under border rules it's always treated as the more serious of the two. There's no slack for an American who's had his DUI at home plea-bargained down to a lesser offence. Many U.S. states also have a separate DUI law for those under 21, with a low alcohol reading enough for conviction without evidence of impairment. They sometimes show up on the border agent's database even if the driver was a juvenile at the time. Neither Vancouver Olympic organizers, B.C. Tourism officials nor border services plan any special campaign to warn would-be Olympic tourists about the potential stumbling block. However, the U.S. State Department consular services web site for Canada includes travel tips that specifically mention drunk driving as a potential bar to entry. "These are Canada's rules,'' says Chicola. "I don't know that it should be a criminal offence but you've decided its a criminal offence. You make it a criminal offence, you have every right to turn them back.''