Medlin Law Firm - April 2020

And Maintain Green Living Spaces for Everyone Have you ever walked through a park and seen a plastic bottle or wrapper lying on the ground? If so, did you pick it up and properly dispose of it? You might not have realized it, but in that moment, you took a small step toward keeping your community — and, by extension, America — beautiful! DO YOUR PART TO KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL affiliate or another community improvement program close to home. Do your part to clean up your parks and spread awareness today.

Start plogging. If you’re passionate about staying active and cleaning up your neighborhood, then this is the perfect activity for you! Plogging combines jogging and picking up litter, which takes care of your health and keeps your community clean. Anybody can do it: Just throw on your running shoes, grab a bag, head out the door, and pick up any stray bits of trash you see on your morning jog or evening walk. Improve recycling through education. An important goal during Keep America Beautiful Month is to spread awareness about recycling. There are various ways to educate those around you about recycling and encourage them to do their part. At work, for example, you can volunteer to lead a recycling initiative by printing off guides and fostering discussions on why recycling is so essential. At home, you can make a commitment with your family to fulfill the three R’s of recycling: reduce, reuse, recycle.

April is Keep America Beautiful Month, and folks who celebrate aim to help each community in every state stay clean and green. Created by the nonprofit organization Keep America Beautiful, this holiday offers a perfect opportunity to roll up your sleeves and work to better the place you live in. Here are three ways to show your appreciation for a green America this month. Volunteer for the Great American Cleanup. This event is one of America’s largest community improvement programs, with hundreds of thousands of people participating each year. In 2019, over 550,000 volunteers participated in the GAC to bring natural beauty back into their communities. 2020 marks this event’s 22nd year, and you can be a part of it this month! Volunteer your time with a local Keep America Beautiful

To discover more ways to participate in Keep America Beautiful month, visit their website at KAB.org today!

John Grisham’s ‘The Innocent Man’ FROM GARY’S BOOKSHELF

Hey, readers. Gary here again.

deeply relevant true story that reveals many of the flaws in our judicial system.

With National Library We e k l a n d i n g i n April, I want to give a recommendation for a page turner I finished recently. John Grisham’s “The Innocent Man” is a gripping true crime story of murder and corruption. Fans will know that Grisham is no stranger to these hard- hitting dramas, and his first venture into nonfiction doesn’t disappoint. For those unfamiliar, Grisham was a lawyer well before becoming an author, and he clearly draws on his experiences while crafting his stories on criminal justice. “The Innocent Man” takes his talent for writing and his eye for legal nuance and puts it toward a compelling,

As the name suggests, the story follows the conviction of an innocent man, one Ron Williamson of Ada, Oklahoma. Ron is accused, found guilty of a murder that happened five years prior to his arrest, and eventually put on death row. Without revealing too much, the book chronicles the spurious investigation of the murder and the subsequent flawed trail, highlighting how certain evidence was abused while other elements of the case were completely ignored. This true story really lands close to home for me. As someone who’s worked with the Innocence Project, an organization that plays a role in Grisham’s story, I’ve helped to exonerate those wrongly convicted of heinous crimes. Whether you’re a fan of true crime stories or just want an expert breakdown of how our justice system can be deeply flawed, I highly recommend checking out this book from your local library.

– Gary L. Medlin, Esq.

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