Legal Commentary
Res ipsa loquitur 
Commentary by Jonathan Turley. ("The thing itself speaks")
Post Frequency: 12.1/day Last Entry: November 21, 2009 at 08:11:10 Recent Entries: 3686
By Jonathan Turley
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Stewardess, the Man Next to Me Skinks: California Man Arrested at Airport With 15 Reptiles Tied to Body
Posted on November 21, 2009It was probably not the reptile logo on an Izod shirt that gave Michael Plank, 40, away at the Los Angeles International Airport. It was more likely the 15 live lizards strapped to his chest under the shirt, including 11 skinks. Customs agents lifted Plank’s shirt only to find two geckos, two monitor lizards and [...
Funeral Director and Missouri Politician Pleads Guilty to Mishandling of Corpses
Posted on November 21, 2009Harold Warren Sr., 77, a Missouri funeral home director has pleaded guilty to intentionally giving three families the wrong cremated remains. This includes leaving a woman’s body in an electrical room for 10 months without embalming or refrigeration...
California Man Arrested for Paying Teen to Spit in His Face
Posted on November 21, 2009Prosecutors in Thousand Oaks, California have brought a novel charge in a bizarre case. Charles Hersel, 39, has been charged with misdemeanor child annoyance after allegedly paying a teenager $31 to spit in his face. The teenager arranged the deal through MySpace...
I?ll Huff and I?ll Puff . . .: English Architects Build Wolf-Proof, Fire-Proof Straw House
Posted on November 21, 2009You cannot trust anything today. After generations were taught how the little pig who built his house out of straw was negligent, a straw house has not only been built in England but it has even passed the industry standard fire safety test. Called the Balehaus@Bath, it is built of pre-fabricated straw-bale and [...
Video: Connecticut Officer Drives 94 Miles an Hour on Non-Emergency Call and Kills Two Teenagers
Posted on November 21, 2009Milford, Connecticut police officer Jason Anderson has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of reckless driving in an accident that killed 19-year-old David Servin and 19-year-old Ashlie Krakowski. Anderson was driving at 94 miles per hour at the time and the crash was caught on the dashcam of another [...
Shock Lobster: Company Invents Lobster Stunning Machine
Posted on November 20, 2009With the increased use of tasers on humans, it was perhaps inevitable that the crustacean set would demand their own stunning device. Simon Buckhaven of CrustaStun has developed a system that allows lobsters to be zapped to death in a device rather than boiled alive...
Bacterial Spray: Procter and Gamble Recalls Vicks Nasal Spray
Posted on November 20, 2009We have a new major recall this morning. Procter & Gamble is recalling Vicks Sinex nasal spray in the United States, Britain and Germany because of the presence of bacteria. Shooting live bacteria up your nose puts a new meaning in the gamble that comes with Procter & Gamble...
Shock Video: Officers Stop Bicyclists on Video and . . . Hug them
Posted on November 20, 2009I am confused. Where’s the taser? These are real officers who are encouraging bikers to wear helmets.
Court: Corps of Engineers Responsible for Flood Damage in New Orleans
Posted on November 20, 2009A federal judge in New Orleans has found “monumental negligence” by the U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers in the operation and maintenance of a shipping channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. The finding allows residents to collect damages against the U...
Pat Robertson Claims Islam Not Religion ? and Virginia Governor-Elect McDonnell Refuses to Disavow Comment
Posted on November 20, 2009Pat Robertson has declared that Islam is not a religion but a “violent political system.” For many, such statements are nothing new from Robertson. However, it was a bit more surprising yesterday to learn that Virginia Governor Elect Bob McDonnell has refused to disavow that view...
Barney The Bovine Canine: Man Barred From Owning Dogs for Ten Years After Overfeeding Dalmatian
Posted on November 20, 2009John Green 50, has attained the novel status of being banned from keeping dogs for ten years. Green’s victim was a Dalmatian named Barney, who he overfed to the point that he weighed “11 stone” — a stone is roughly the equivalent to 14 pounds...
Court: Paranoid Schizophrenic with IQ of 61 and Manic Depression is Eligible for Execution
Posted on November 20, 2009Donald Giles would appear to have the trifecta of mental incompetence arguments against execution. He is a paranoid schizophrenic with an IQ of 61 and a history of suicide attempts and depression. However, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Martin McDonald has ruled that Giles, 41, may be put to death if the jury so [...
With Friends Like These . . . : Woman Loses Disability Payments Due to Facebook Page
Posted on November 20, 2009Nathalie Blanchard seems to have had one “friend” too many on her Facebook page. The Quebec woman is on long-term sick leave but posted pictures of herself on the beach and enjoying a show with the Chippendales. One of the viewers was the insurance company paying for her total disability due to depression [...
Bathe or Tase: Police Officer Tasers 10-Year-Old Girl Who Refused to Take Shower
Posted on November 19, 2009Arkansas police officer Dustin Bradshaw, used a Taser on a 10-year-old girl at the mother?s request after the little girl refused to take a shower and refused to obey him. Bradshaw went to the house on a domestic disturbance call and found the girl on the floor screaming and refusing to listen to her mother...
Psalm Like It Hot: Conservatives Rally Around Psalm 109
Posted on November 19, 2009Conservatives have picked a curious new slogan to oppose President Barack Obama: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” It is a quote from Psalm 109:8, but conservatives leave off the full passage: ?Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow...
Scout or Scab? Union Threatens Legal Action Over Scout Who Cleared Trash
Posted on November 19, 2009Nick Balzano, president of the Service Employees International Union’s Allentown chapter, may have picked the wrong target for a threat of legal action by the union. Balzano threated the city with a grievance filing after Boy Scout Kevin Anderson, 17, says he cleared a walking path in an east Allentown, Pa...
Sharia Court Stones Woman to Death for Adultery ? Gives Man 100 Lashes
Posted on November 19, 2009The Sharia courts of Somalia have another atrocity to their credit. The Islamic court of al-Shabab sentenced a woman to be stoned to death for adultery. The man was given 100 lashes. The 20-year-old woman is a divorcee who admitted to having sex with another single person...
Court Rules Against Arizona Deputy on Swiping Lawyer?s Note ? Arpaio To Defy Court
Posted on November 19, 2009There has been a ruling in the Arizona case where an officer, Officer Adam Stoddard with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is clearly shown on this videotape reading and then swiping the confidential papers of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia in court...
Prison Barbie: Accountant Steals a Half Million Dollars and Buys Dolls
Posted on November 19, 2009Accountant Margot Jean Strawn, 58, has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing $500,000 from a trust account. What is a little more striking is what she used the money for: to buy dolls on the Internet. The Orange County District Attorney’s office says that Strawn wrote herself checks while managing a [...
Lehigh Students Arrested for Failing to Leave Tip
Posted on November 19, 2009Lehigh students Leslie Pope and John Wagner believe that they now know why tipping is mandatory at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem. After they received what they called horrendous service, they paid the bill with no tip. They ended up in jail for the $16...
Detective Offers Conflicting Testimony in World Bank Case
Posted on November 18, 2009This afternoon, the Plaintiffs in the World Bank/IMF protest case filed a notice with the Court of the receipt of an affidavit in the case from a police detective, who contradicts the sworn testimony of former D.C. (and current Philadelphia) Police Chief Charles Ramsey...
Tweet Torts: Rocker Courtney Love Sued by Designer For Defamation on Twitter
Posted on November 18, 2009We have been following the expansion of defamation cases linked to Internet sites, here, and here. We now have an interesting Twitter case involving rock star Courtney Love, who lost her bid recently to dismiss a libel action filed by designer Dawn Simorangkir...
The Arresting Look: English Police Denounce ?Shrek? Felon as ?Too Ugly? for Crime
Posted on November 18, 2009This is a bit harsh. Police has nicknamed David Holyoak, 33, as “Shrek” and publicly stated that he is “too ugly” for crime and a menace to criminal gangs. The Manchester man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for robbery and police officers used the occasion to warn people of entering a life of [...
Xenophon v. Xenu: Leading Australian Senator Calls for Criminal Investigation of Church of Scientology
Posted on November 18, 2009In the aftermath of the criminal conviction in France (here), the Church of Scientology is facing a call for a criminal investigation in Australia from Senator Nick Xenophon, who presented the case against the church before the legislature. Xenophon, used parliamentary privilege to present the case against the Church, presumably insulating himself from civil liability and [...
O?Reilly: ?I Don?t Care About The Constitution?
Posted on November 18, 2009Conservative commentators continue their war on the Constitution this week with increasingly shrill rhetoric of how our laws and civil liberties are endangering us. Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly, however, achieved a remarkable low by declaring “I don’t care about the Constitution” on air in a discussion of Attorney General Eric Holder’s [...
Sentence First, Verdict Afterwards: Obama Assures Public KSM Will Be Convicted and Executed
Posted on November 18, 2009It was the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland that declared “Sentence first! Verdict afterwards.” However, President Barack Obama appears to have taken a lesson our two from her majesty. Today, President Obama assured Americans that they should not be offended by trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court because he will [...
Not Ready for Prime Time: Minnesota Thugs Videotape Themselves Attacking People and Supply Names in YouTube Segment
Posted on November 18, 2009Minneapolis and St. Paul are looking for a group of thugs whom videotaped themselves beating up pedestrians and threatening people. They should be relatively easy to locate: they included their real names and street names in formal credits on a YouTube video entitled “Watch This T...
Shaming Undermines Justice
Posted on November 17, 2009Here is today’s column in USA Today on the continuing trend toward shaming or creative punishments. Shame is back in the United States with a vengeance. Across the country, judges and prosecutors and jailers are freelancing by imposing their own brands of retributive justice: forcing people to wear humiliating clothing, parade in public and even sleep in [...
Wolf, Dog, or Wog? Breeders Raises Troubling Legal Questions Over Hybrid Wolf/Dogs
Posted on November 17, 2009It appears that the recent popularity over new hybrid dog breeds (like Labradoodles) has spawned a more dangerous market for hybrid dog/wolf pups. Animal activists are warning about the potential for attacks. Moreover, the new breeds could still be illegal in some states and may expose owners to strict liability...
Qaddafi Hires a Room Full of Attractive Italian Women to Convince Them to Come to Libya for a Vacation and Conversion
Posted on November 17, 2009Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qaddafi (aka Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi) may have bombed at the United Nations with his rambling speech, but he is still trying to win the hearts and minds of the young. This week, Qaddafi spoke to an audience of young Italian women about the need for them to convert and come [...
Sheer Genius: Sweet Child O Mine Performed Mano-a-Mano
Posted on November 17, 2009Gerry Phillips is to hand farts what Louis Armstrong is to trumpets. What is amazing is that Guns and Roses did a version of Phillips’ masterpiece:
More Randy Than Good: Man Agrees To Remove Pile of Hundreds of Dead Deer from Property
Posted on November 17, 2009In North Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Randy Good has created a novel and disgusting nuisance. He has agreed to remove a pile of hundreds of dead deer from his property which has neighbors gagging from the odor. In torts, we often debate what constitutes a nuisance...
Hello, Cali Calling: Texas Man Arrested After Selling Pot Door-to-Door Until Knocking on the Door of a Police Officer
Posted on November 17, 2009Anthony Carrazco, 19, has learned the perils of door-to-door sales. Carrazco, however, was not selling Hoovers or Avon. He was selling marijuana door-to-door until he knocked on the door of a Brownsville cop. He was not amused to learn that rather than “Avon calling” it was the Cali Cartel...
Family Accuses Chicago Officers of Dangling Suspect Out of a Window and then Dropping Him
Posted on November 16, 2009The family of Matthias Mayhorn has filed a complaint against two Chicago police officers alleging that they dangled Mayhorn out of a second floor window, fired their weapons near him, and then dropped him. They also allege that the officers refused to call immediate medical attention...
Gay Teen Burned, Decapitated, and Dismembered ? Police Blame Lifestyle
Posted on November 16, 2009George Steven Lopez Mercado was a gay teen in Puerto Rico who was found on the side of a road partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered. The response of the police was reportedly horror . . . at his lifestyle. According to reports, the police investigator assigned to the case, Angel Rodriguez Colon, [...
The DUI Necessity Defense: Montana Supreme Court Rules That Woman Can Claim Necessity Defense in Driving Drunk to Avoid Fight
Posted on November 16, 2009Necessity defenses in tort and criminal law are always somewhat controversial and rarely successful in criminal prosecutions. However, Lisa Marie Leprowse has secured a reversal of her DUI conviction from the Montana Supreme Court, which ruled that the trial court erred in not allowing her to argue that she drove drunk to avoid a [...
President Obama Calls On China to Be More Transparent and Open ? And Then Bars The Release of Any More Photos of Detainee Abuse to the Media and Public
Posted on November 16, 2009President Barack Obama and his Administration set a new level of hypocrisy this weekend with calls on the Chinese government and military to end censorship and be more open with the public while barring disclosure of embarrassing photos of detainee abuse...
Connecticut Teacher Arrested After Stealing Money for Another Teacher and Caught on Videotape
Posted on November 16, 2009There are theories on the rational criminal actor, but I doubt Susan Dinnean, 55, would qualify in Wilton, Connecticut. The teacher at Middlebrook Middle School is accused of stealing $20 from the purse of another teacher — resulting in her loss of a $95,000 a year job...
A Bit Too Fresh: Chinese Discover Way To Keep Fish Alive After Being Fried
Posted on November 16, 2009This is obviously a cultural divide. This video shows how the Chinese have devised a way to keep a fish alive during frying so that it can be eaten alive. I find the whole video perfectly disturbing and disgusting. What is striking is how our cultures differ on such subjects...
Warning Shot: Las Vegas Officer Accidentally Fired Gun At Cuffed Suspect
Posted on November 16, 2009This video should be in every police academy training program. The female officer shown in the video from Las Vegas stands with gun drawn while a suspect is cuffed and then accidently discharges her weapon — barely missing both the suspect and the other officer...
You Would Be Crazy Not To Own a Gun: Senators Propose Law To Guarantee Gun Ownership for Mentally Incapacitated Veterans
Posted on November 16, 2009We recently saw a court rule that a quadriplegic has a right to hunt with a special chair where he literally blows away deer by blowing into a tube attached to the trigger. Now, Senators have adopted a provision to guarantee the right of “mentally incapacitated” veterans to buy firearms...
A Fan of Dogs
Posted on November 15, 2009Proof that dogs are too smart to pay $10,000 to sweat to death in a self-help program, here. However, the Fandangle tribe is likely to sue this pooch for property infringement.
Indian Tribe Sues Self-Help Author Over Use of Sweat Lodge
Posted on November 15, 2009We previously followed the investigation into the three deaths in a sweat lodge run by “Spiritual Warrior” James Arthur Ray at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona, Arizona. Now, the Lakota Sioux Tribe is suing, demanding the prosecution of Ray under the 1869 Treaty of Fr...
Bain of His Existence: Man Dies in Mother?s Home After Being Tasered Twice by Police
Posted on November 15, 2009We have another death associated with a taser. Darryl Bain, 43, was tasered twice and died in the Long Island home of his mother in Coram, New York. His brother called police to report that Bain was high on cocaine and had barricaded himself in the house with his 78-year-old mother...
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Man Convicted After Turning in a Discarded Shotgun to Police
Posted on November 15, 2009Paul Clarke, 27, a veteran, thought that he was doing the right thing when he found a shotgun in his garden. He took the shotgun to the police station and was immediately arrested for possession of a firearm without permit and criminally charged — an offense that brings five years imprisonment...
Journalist Charged with Pornography for Sending Pictures of Woman in Unassisted Child Birth to Government Officials
Posted on November 15, 2009There is a disturbing trial being held in Zambia where the news editor of The Post, Chansa Kabwela, sent photos of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park without assistance to highlight the costs of a nursing strike and poor government policies. She was right...
?Religious Convictions?: When Children Die, Religion Is No Defense
Posted on November 15, 2009Here is today’s column from the Washington Post on the benefits of a new type of “good-faith” defense. While “religious convictions” are usually a reference to personal faith, it turns out that it has a distinct and disturbing meaning for criminal sentencing...
City of Fights: Internet Promotion Sparks Violence in Paris
Posted on November 14, 2009We often discuss liability issues associated with promotional events. Now, it seems that the French are dealing with the same problem. An Internet company canceled a promotional event in which it promised to hand out thousands of dollars in cash. The result was violence as the crowd took out their disappointment on police [...
And the American Challenger Sets, Jumps and . . .
Posted on November 14, 2009The agony of defeat . . . The fact is that if this kitten actually made this jump, there would be an immediate steroid controversy.
School Accused of Terrorizing Students With Faked Murder
Posted on November 14, 2009Parents at the Fox Hill Primary School in Sheffield England are a bit put out over a curious educational program at the school. When children showed up at the school recently, they were met by a bloody crime scene, a dead teacher on the ground, and police...
The Lawyers Who Say Meep! High School Calls Police After Attorney Says Meep to Principal
Posted on November 14, 2009First there were the Knights Who Say Ni! (below). Now we have the problem of the lawyers who say Meep! After reading the recent publications over the decision of the principal of Danvers High School banning students from saying the word “Meep,” Entertainment lawyer Theodora Michaels decided to act and wrote a letter using [...
Federal Court Upholds Right of Woman to Sue After Police Officers Tackle Her In Emergency Room During Premature Birth
Posted on November 14, 2009A federal court of appeals has ruled that Melanie Dawn Williams, 24, can sue after she was tackled by Jacksonville, Florida police in a hospital where she was experiencing a premature birth. Once inside the ER and she screamed, ?I?m pregnant. Someone help me...
Kelo?s Revenge: Pfizer Abandons New London Site After Town Used Eminent Domain to Destroy Homes of Residents
Posted on November 13, 2009Many of us expressed outrage at the actions of the city leaders of New London, Connecticut when they used eminent domain to seize the property of citizens against their will in order to give it to the Pfizer corporation. This anger grew with the inexplicable decision of the Supreme Court in Kelo v...
Arranged Marriage Between 14-year-Old Girl and 23-Year-Old Man Ends with Gunfire and Arrest
Posted on November 13, 2009Vincent Mosby, 23, is a defendant at the heart of a bizarre criminal case. Mosby is accused of marrying a 14-year-old girl under a contract for a dowry purchased at Wal-Mart and then threatening her family when they removed the girl. The girl’s family reportedly agreed to the marriage out of fear that she was [...
Perils of the Press VII: Beaver Leaves Impression on Bell
Posted on November 13, 2009CBS Correspondent Debbye Turner Bell has learned the wisdom of at least half of W.C. Fields warning ?Never work with children or animals.? A beaver sprayed the reporter during a segment of The Early Show. This is not what journalism school trains you for at Northwestern or Columbia...
The Secret of NIMH: Scientists Develop Super-Smart Rat
Posted on November 13, 2009Scientists have made a breakthrough in research increasing brain activity and memory. They have created Hobbie-J, the world’s smartest rat. Hobbie-j is the result of a sinister organization known NIMH. Ok, it is less sinister when spelled out: U...
Larry King and a Moment of Merciful Silence
Posted on November 13, 2009It is rare on national television to have a guest refuse to speak and then just sit there, but that was the scene on Larry King Live with Carrie Prejean. It is always exciting to see legal technicalities and interpretations become the subject du jour for celebrity talk shows...
Hasan Charged With 13 Counts of Premeditated Murder as Obama Calls for Investigation of Warning Signs
Posted on November 13, 2009Maj. Nidal M. Hasan was charged by the Army with 13 counts of premeditated murder. To the chagrin of conservative commentators, he is not charged with terrorism, a controversy I discussed last night on this segment of Rachel Maddow. While many have been calling for a terrorism charge in the military trial, the Uniform Code [...
Ex-Rep. William Jefferson Given 13-Year Sentence
Posted on November 13, 2009The former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson received a sentence of 13 years today — the longest term ever imposed on a congressman convicted of bribery. However, it was significantly below the 27 years sought by the Justice Department, which also failed in its attempt to have Jefferson immediately incarcerated...
9-11 Defendants to be Given Real Trials as Holder Stands on Principle ? Sort Of
Posted on November 13, 2009Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered actual trials for five 9/11 suspects rather than military tribunals. The decision places the United States squarely back on the road of the rule of law in giving due process even to our most hated defendants. The five defendants include 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed...
Keeping Corpses Straight: Rhode Island Governor Bars Same Sex Couples From Joint Funeral Arrangements
Posted on November 12, 2009It appears that opponents of same-sex marriage cannot even tolerate the thought of gay couples being buried together. Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri (R) has vetoed a bill that would have added “domestic partners” to the list of people authorized by law to make joint funeral arrangements...
Catholic Church in Delaware Files for Bankruptcy Protection on Eve of Sexual-Abuse Trial
Posted on November 12, 2009The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington appears to have learned a few secular lessons from corporate felons in that state. On the eve of the first trial of dozens of sex-abuse cases with hundreds of millions in potential damages, the diocese filed for bankruptcy to try to make any damages more difficult to collect...
Marine Reservist Attacks Bearded Greek Orthodox Priest Mistaken for Terrorist
Posted on November 12, 2009A Marine reservist, Jasen Bruce, is under arrest in Tampa after beating a man whom he believed was a Muslim terrorist. The man turned out to be Father Alexios Marakis, a bearded Greek Orthodox priest in a traditional Greek robe. Marakis was lost and had pulled over for directions when he approached Bruce, who [...
Abating Mrs. Cartwright: English Woman Declared Noise Nuisance for Vocalizing Intimate Moments in Her Home
Posted on November 12, 2009While English courts are generally viewed as rather buttoned down and proper, a trial last week was rated strictly adults only. The Newcastle Crown Court played a recording of Caroline and Steve Cartwright having sex in a novel nuisance case. Neighbors have complained that the couple is a bit vocal in their amorous [...
Alma Market: North Carolina School Ordered to Stop Selling Grades as Fundraiser
Posted on November 12, 2009Educators at the Rosewood Middle School had struggled with raising money. Candy and other traditional items did not generate much money for the Goldsboro, North Carolina school. Then they found a commodity that the public was hankering for: they started to sell grades...
Semper Fraud: Federal Prosecutors Charge Another For ?Stolen Valor?
Posted on November 12, 2009We have another criminal case of unauthorized wearing of medals — a growing line of such cases of “stolen valor” cases. Steven Burton, 39, of Palm Springs, California would wear enough Navy medals to make a Soviet general blush, but he never served a day in the military...
ACORN Challenges Congressional Ban on Federal Funds
Posted on November 12, 2009ACORN is continuing its approach of “the best defense is a good offense.” The group has not only sued the filmmakers who recently disclosed misconduct by the organization, but it is now suing Congress for its ban on federal funding to the organization, alleging a bill of attainder in singling out the non-profit...
A Place Called Mom?s: Russian Man Given Sentence Reduction After Killing and Eating Mother Due to His Being Hungry
Posted on November 11, 2009A Russian judge gave a new meaning to mitigating factors in sentencing. Sergey Gavrilov, 27, killed and ate his mother in souther Russia. The judge, however, gave the man a lenient sentence on the grounds that he was hungry. Gavrilov himself offered a curious defense: ‘I did not like the meat very much...
O?Reilly: ?We Can?t Kill All Of The Muslims So We Wanna Win As Many Hearts and Minds? As Possible
Posted on November 11, 2009Bill O’Reilly made an extraordinary statement last night in addressing the difficult fact that “we can’t kill all the Muslims.” This follows an equally bizarre statement from his interviewee Fox News contributor Col. Ralph Peters that there are no Christian or Jewish terrorists...
Form Follows Function: Columbia Professor Arrested for Punching Female University Employee
Posted on November 11, 2009Well-known Columbia architecture professor Lionel McIntyre, 59, was arrested yesterday in a Harlem bar after punching a female university employee, Camille Davis, in the face at a Harlem bar. The argument was over race relations (McIntyre is black and Davis is white) and the two got into an argument over “white privilege...
When In Romulus, Do As the Romulans Do: Vatican See Looks for Sinless Extraterrestrial Life
Posted on November 11, 2009The Vatican appears to have gotten over that whole Galileo business when they were willing to put scientists to death for saying that the Earth moved around the Sun. Now, the Pope’s chief astronomer, Father Jose Gabriel Funes, says that intelligent life may exist on other planets and the Holy See is looking to [...
Glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com Wins in Trademark Challenge Against Glenn Beck
Posted on November 11, 2009Glenn Beck has lost a bizarre trademark fight with the founder of glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com, Isaac Eiland-Hall. Eiland-Hall created the Internet sensation to mock the style of Beck and Fox News — leading to a challenge over the use of Beck’s name with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)...
Chicago Man Sues Former Attorney and Loyola For Abuse by Mother
Posted on November 11, 2009There is an interesting lawsuit filed in Chicago where Carlos J. Carillo, 23, is suing attorney Stacey Platt and the Loyola Child Law Center for representing him as a minor during a divorce proceeding with his parents but not acting on their knowledge of his mother’s child abuse...
Blowing Away Deer: Judge Rules That Quadriplegic Has Right to Gun To Hunt
Posted on November 11, 2009A New Jersey judge has ruled at a quadriplegic must be allowed to buy a gun for hunting, which will be mounted on his wheelchair and fired by blowing into a tube. James Cap has been paralyzed for 30 years after an injury in a high school football game...
Texas Woman Allegedly Fakes Breast Cancer to Pay for Breast Implants
Posted on November 10, 2009We have previously seen stories where people fake cancer or illnesses to get friends and co-workers to give them money. However, Trista Joy Lathern, 24, of Texas takes the cake. She is accused of faking breast cancer in order to get friends to donate money, so she could get breast implants to save [...
Lost Army of King Cambyses II Found
Posted on November 10, 2009Once again, as a military history buff, I find this incredibly cool. Archeologists may have solved one of the great mysteries of military history: the lost army of Persian King Cambyses II. Loss 2,500 years ago, it is believed to have been found — or what is left of it — by [...
Maclaren Recalls Strollers After Severing of Fingertips of Children
Posted on November 10, 2009One of the leading stroller manufacturers, Maclaren, has recalled strollers after its products resulted in the horrific severing of the fingertips of a dozen children. The recall involves one million strollers. The children placed their fingers in the hinge while the stroller was being unfolded...
Girl Suspended After Shaving Head for Cancer Victims ? Including Her Dying Father
Posted on November 10, 2009Emily Pridham, 15, stood out when she showed up at Mount Alvernia College in Brisbane, Australia with a shaven head. She was suspended for violating the school’s dress code, even though she shaved her head to raise money for cancer research — her father is dying of cancer...
New Zealand Cancels Dead Rabbit Toss Competition
Posted on November 10, 2009It appears that you have missed your chance to participate in the annual Dead Rabbit Throw competition in New Zealand. Animal welfare activists seem to have found it somehow distasteful to have families try to throw dead rabbits the farthest. The annual “Rabbit Throw” was held in the town of Waiau but was cancelled after [...
Bird Zen
Posted on November 10, 2009I give you this moment of starlings zen. I suggest that you watch this video before facing rush-hour traffic. Here is another hypnotic video of Starlings in Scotland:
New York Bus Driver Kills Man on First Day Back From Suspension for Texting While Driving
Posted on November 10, 2009While MARTA drivers in Atlanta appear to be petitioning God with prayer (here), drivers in New York appear to be texting friends with gossip. The difference is that the MARTA driver stopped the bus. NYC Transit driver Jeremy Philhower is the subject of an investigation after running over and killing Seth Kahn, 22, [...
God is My Co-Pilot: Atlanta MARTA Driver Forces Passengers to Pray
Posted on November 10, 2009A MARTA bus driver in Atlanta has been suspended after he allegedly stopped the bus and told passengers to pray. LeRoy Matthews stopped the bus on Nov. 3rd at 7:30 pm for the impromptu religious observance. in a complaint against Matthews, he stopped the bus suddenly and then stood in got out of his seat [...
Video: Subway Car Stops Inches from Woman on Track
Posted on November 10, 2009While subway operators are often accused of negligence or texting or sleeping, it is important to keep in mind those operators who fulfill their duties with stellar success. This video appears to show a drunk woman who owes her life to not only this operator but the two people who frantically alert the operator [...
Witch Doctors in Tanzania Accused of Killing Albinos for Magical Body Parts
Posted on November 09, 2009As we have been following on this blog, witch doctors in Africa continue to cause great suffering and abuses, here and here and here and here. Now, there is a report from Tanzania that witch doctors have caused the slaughter of more than 50 albinos for their body parts...
Canadian Judge Finds Catholic Bishop Thwarted Investigation of Abusive Priest
Posted on November 09, 2009A Canadian judge made a disturbing finding in the sentencing of Father Bernard Cloutier who was convicted of abusing young boys. The judge heard evidence that retired Bishop Gérard Dionne thwarted a 1983 police investigation into Cloutier?s sexual abuse...
The Lion?s Den: National Zoo the Scene of an All-Too-Real Predator-Prey Exhibit
Posted on November 09, 2009Families got a bit too real of a zoological lesson at the National Zoo this week when a deer somehow jumped into the wrong exhibit: the lion enclosure. Nature took it from there. The deer was from the nearby park. For those who do not live in Washington, we have a great population of [...
Officer Assigned to Anti-Shoplifting Duty is Convicted of Shoplifting
Posted on November 09, 2009Peter Cokell, 34, was convicted recently for stealing two PlayStation 3 games in England. No surprise there. What is a bit odd is that he was the police officer assigned to prevent shoplifting at the store. Cokell was assigned to an HMV store when he was caught putting the games underneath his “stab vest...
Pet Cemetery: Long Island Woman Accused of Being Serial Pet Killer
Posted on November 09, 2009Police in Suffolk County are investigating what they claim could be the Ted Bundy of pet serial killers. Sharon McDonough is accused of torturing, killing, and burying dozens of pets in her Long Island backyard. Police believe that as many as 20 pets may be buried in the yard in a case reminiscent of the [...
Big-Box Banishment: Wal-Mart Bans Gay Couple From Store for Life After They Prove Their Did NOT Shoplift
Posted on November 09, 2009Attorneys Joe Paolucci and Thomas Hitchcock were declared persona non grata recently by Wal-Mart – banished from the store for life. Their banishment came after they had proven that they had not shoplifted a package of bic lighters from the store...
Thank God: The Boy Who Was Denied Chemotherapy For Religious Reasons (and Ordered into Treatment by a Judge) Is Now Cancer Free
Posted on November 09, 2009Many followed the case (here) of Daniel Hauser of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota when his fundamentalist Mom fled with him to avoid chemotherapy for his cancer on religious grounds. Few may be aware of the end of the story. He has completed his last chemotherapy sessions and is now cancer-free — thanks to [...
OK, That?s Scary
Posted on November 08, 2009The look on this dog captures the meaning of Halloween. It is not clear if this is a compliment or a warning from the owners.
Video: Torpedo Sinks French Ship
Posted on November 08, 2009For those of us who are military history buffs, this video is amazing. On the video, you can see the impact of modern torpedoes on large shipping. Gone are the days when sailors have time to abandon a ship. The damage of a single torpedo here is astonishing and alarming...
Separation Anxiety: British Courts To Decide Who Is a Jew
Posted on November 08, 2009There is an intriguing case in London where the British courts will decide who is a Jew and who decides such a question. The British have long maintained publicly supported religious schools — an affront to the separation of church and state. Now, inevitably, the state must decide who can be excluded from [...
Baby Trafficking: Police Arrest Doctors and Nurses in Baby Selling Syndicate
Posted on November 08, 2009We have another horrific baby-selling conspiracy. Previously such a scheme was uncovered in China, here. Now, a similar scheme has been uncovered in Mexico City where staff told mothers at the Central West Hospital that their babies died and were cremated — only to sell them to wealthy couples...
DWF (Driving While Female): Two Professors Arrested in Saudi Arabia for Driving Themselves to the Mall
Posted on November 08, 2009Jeddah police arrested two female professors from King Abdulaziz University this week for the crime of driving themselves to the mall. Police were shocked by the sight of a woman behind the wheel of a car and immediately pulled them over. We have previously followed the struggle of women to enjoy this freedom [...
Is This Your Homework, Larry? Students in Two Cases Implicated in Crimes After Allegedly Leaving Homework at the Crime Scene
Posted on November 07, 2009Despite the claims of parents about always doing your homework, homework has been the undoing of many a fine criminal. In two cases this week, alleged high school and college felons were implicated when they left homework at the scene of the crime. The first crime occurred at the University of Arizona where fraternity pledges [...
The Meaning of Guts
Posted on November 07, 2009Who says that a math geek cannot become a super hero? Mahmoud Vahidnia is a math student at Tehran’s Sharif Technical University where he recently won the gold medal at the country’s National Math Olympics (yes, geeks have an Olympics of their own)...
A Lesson in Equine Etiquette
Posted on November 07, 2009This must be a mother horse. Fortunately, the girl in the video was not injured but this horse appears to be teaching her a lesson about proper equine etiquette. This is a lesson that some adults have had to learn on occasion:
Sharia Family Values: Man Stoned to Death in Somalia for Adultery While Pregnant Woman Spared To Be Stoned Immediately After Giving Birth
Posted on November 07, 2009The Sharia courts of southern Somalia are busy again showing the world the importance of the separation of mosque and state. In the latest outrage, the Sharia court of al-Shabab ordered Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, stoned to death in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the town of Merka...
Meet Mary Strey: The World?s Most Honest Drunk Driver
Posted on November 07, 2009Mary Strey may be condemned for driving while drunk, but there is something redeeming in the 911 call below where she calls to report herself to police in Neillsville, Wisconsin. Strey of Granton, Wisconsin had the sense of responsibility to call the police on herself on October 24th...
Korean Woman Passed Driver?s Exam on 950th Attempt
Posted on November 07, 2009While many of us were opposed to women-only parking spots in South Korea, we may want to make an exception for Cha Sa-Soon who just passed her written driver’s license exam after 950 attempts. She appears to be the previously unidentified woman who flunked the test 771 times, here...
Hezbollah Bans ?The Diary of Anne Frank? As Zionist Propaganda
Posted on November 06, 2009The good people at Hezbollah are offering the world another insight into extremist thought. The militant group has banned “The Diary of Anne Frank” from schools as Zionist propaganda by focusing on the plight of some Jews. I suppose when you are teaching kids to blow up innocent people, an account of an [...
Sesame Shill? PBS Accused of Showing Anti-Fox Bias ?On the Street?
Posted on November 06, 2009While conservatives believe that the Pledge of Allegiance “drives Liberals crazy,” Sesame Street seems to have the same effect on them. Conservatives are outraged by what they view as a dissing from Oscar the Grouch and an unnamed muppet who referred to a network called “Pox News” in a dismissive way...
Blockbuster Lawsuit: Texas Woman Sues Over Publication of Video Selections on Facebook
Posted on November 06, 2009Blockbuster and Facebook are the defendants in two interesting privacy lawsuits in Texas where Cathryn Harris is suing them for revealing her name and movie rental tastes. Even more shocking is that anyone is still renting “The Jewel of Nile” with Michael Douglas in 2009...
Congressman Promises to Drive Liberals Crazy with Pledge of Allegiance and Then Stumbles on the Words
Posted on November 06, 2009Rep. Todd Akin is under fire for claiming that saying the Pledge of Allegiance “drives liberals crazy.” However, the Missouri congressman seems to stumble on the words when he leads a group of teabaggers in Washington. Red Skelton did it a bit better: Of course, Democrats do not help themselves by sitting through the pledge as [...
Fighting the Biblical Beast in Texas: Evangelical Kindergarten Teacher Challenges Fingerprinting as a Sign of the Biblical Beast
Posted on November 06, 2009An evangelical Christian kindergarten teacher has sued Texas to contest the state’s right to require her to submit to fingerprinting. Pam McLaurin, however, is not alleging privacy or contractual violations. She is alleging that fingerprinting is the Mark of the Beast foretold in the Book of Revelations and thus violates her religious beliefs...
Step One: Drive By, Step Two . . . : Wisconsin Man Forgets to Roll Down Window in Drive-By Shooting ? And Then Files Insurance Claim for Window
Posted on November 06, 2009It appears that felons in the small town of Appleton, Wisconsin have to learn a bit about drive-by shootings if they are going to compete with nearby Milwaukee or Chicago. Andrew J. Burwitz, 20 will appear (aptly) in Outagamie County Court after being accused of an attempted drive-by shooting...
The Sacking of Secularism: Chief Rabbi Denounces Secularism as Threat to Western Civilization
Posted on November 05, 2009Secularists are often blamed by religious figures for everything from hurricanes to teen pregnancies. Now, it appears that secularists are also responsible for religious extremism and, oh yes, the demise of Western Civilization and Europe as we know it...
Bear Necessities of Law: Man Acquitted of Disturbing Bears in San Francisco Zoo
Posted on November 05, 2009Kenneth Herron may have picked the wrong cage but apparently the right counsel. Herron was acquitted of “disturbing dangerous animals” on a novel defense by deputy public defender James Conger. Conger argued that the bears were actually not that disturbed when Herron came into their cage after the San Francisco Zoo closed...
Sign of the Times: Prosecutor Forces Mother and Daughter to Wear Humilitating Signs in His Own Forms of Punishment
Posted on November 05, 2009Another case is using the court system for entertaining justice. Evelyn Border, 55 and her daughter, Tina Griekspoor, in Bedford, Pa. have been sentenced to sit outside a courthouse with a sign saying that they stole a gift card from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday...
Lady?s Man: Italian Court Convicts Twenty-Three Americans in Kidnapping Case of Abu Omar
Posted on November 05, 2009Twenty-three suspects, including the former CIA station chief in Milan Robert Lady, were convicted of kidnapping by an Italian court for the CIA’s “extraordinary renditions.” It is the first such trial on the controversial practice...
Ohio Police Taser Man After He Runs Into Burning Home to Save Sister and Friends
Posted on November 05, 2009MIke Bartlett of Kent, Ohio probably thought that the worst thing that happened to him on Sunday was finding his house on fire at 4:30 am. He was wrong. After Bartlett ran in and out of the house to save people, he was tasered by officers standing outside and arrested...
Praising the Dear One? Videos Raise Concerns Over Use of School Children To Praise the President
Posted on November 05, 2009We have been discussing the propriety of public schools putting on worshipful performances about President Barack Obama. While I voted for him and support many of his policies, it does concern me to see children enlisted in such performances, which are not the norm in American education or politics...
Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gays to Marry
Posted on November 04, 2009The gay-rights movement has suffered a harsh defeat at the hands of voters in Maine. The voters repealed a law that allowed for same-sex marriage — reducing the states allowing same-sex marriage or civil unions. Maine is now the 31st state to reject same-sex marriage...
Hanging Rascell: New York Man Arrested for Hanging Girlfriend?s Cat ? and Videotaping Himself in the Act
Posted on November 04, 2009In Syracuse, New York, Rascell Williams is looking at a curious charge for a horrible crime. Williams, 28, is charged with hanging his girlfriend’s four-month-old kitten with a belt and making a video of the animal struggling. It was discovered by the girlfriend, Joanne Cichy, the day after Halloween and turned over the police...
Save Money, Live Shorter? Wal-Mart Accused of Violating CDC Guidelines in Policies that Spread Flu
Posted on November 04, 2009What would we do without Wal-Mart? When Wal-Mart is not destroying historic sites or abusing employees and customers (here) it is working hard to guarantee the efficient spread of swine flu or H1N1. The Center of Disease Control (CDC) is now intervening to address Wal-Mart draconian labor practices which violate the CDC guidelines, [...
Massachusetts Officer Charged With Stealing Child Pornography From Evidence Vault
Posted on November 04, 2009Prosecutors in Adams, Massachusetts have a novel case involving evidence that will be used twice in separate unrelated trials, including for one crime after the evidence was put into the evidence vault itself. Adams Police Officer Alan C. Vigiard, 45, is accused of possession of child pornography...
Saudi Court Upholds Planned Beheading and Crucifixion of Convicted Rapist
Posted on November 04, 2009A Saudi court has reviewed and upheld the sentence of a 22-year-old man to be beheaded and crucified for the raping of five children. It is the latest medieval measure from the Saudi Sharia courts. There is little sympathy of the man who was found guilty of raping five children and leaving one to die in [...
Video: Arizona Officer Swipes Document From Defense File Behind the Back of Defense Counsel in Courtroom
Posted on November 04, 2009This is one of the most incredible videos that I have seen. In the video above, Officer Adam Stoddard with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is clearly shown reading confidential papers of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia while she is addressing the court on behalf of jail inmate Antonio Lozano (accused [...
Al-Qaeda Magazine: New Publication Faces Resistance Over Home Delivery
Posted on November 04, 2009Yes, it appears that Al-Qaeda has its own magazine. It appears that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has published the magazines Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Battle) and Sada al-Jihad (The Echo of Jihad). The organization is the branch of al-Qaeda that operates primarily in Saudi Arabia...
Going Postal: Reporters Reportedly Throw Punches in Press Room at the Washington Post
Posted on November 03, 2009The Washington Post recently saw a journalistic battle of a different kind when Style reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia and editor Henry Allen got into a physical altercation. Punches reportedly flew from the reporters until other journalists intervened — and presumably began to try to grab an exclusive on the cause for the fight...
San Jose Police Taser Man and Break His Arm After He Tries to Clean His Hands
Posted on November 03, 2009Scott Wright paid a heavy price for clean hands. Wright was working on his old Cadillac in a parking lot when San Jose police approached. When Wright reaches for a rag to wipe off the oil on his hands, the police tasered him and then beat him with their batons — breaking [...
Lawyer Charged in Bizarre Attack on State Legislator In Indiana
Posted on November 03, 2009Prosecutors in Carmel, Indiana have a perfectly bizarre crime involving a state representative, a lawyer, money-laundering for the Russian mob, a porn store, and a decades old grudge. In the case, Indiana State Representative Ed DeLaney was injured by longtime foe, lawyer Augustus Mendenhall, 38, in what the latter says was an elaborate [...
Giant Breathalyzer Found Drunk in Ohio
Posted on November 03, 2009Ok, one arrest on Halloween in Oxford, Ohio got a bit weird when a giant Breathalyzer was given a breathalyzer and then arrested for drunk driving. This is the type of metaphysical brain teaser that you normally only get in freshman philosophy courses, but it happened to James Miller, 18...
Turkey Torts: Illinois Case To Determine Proper Way to Eat Sandwich
Posted on November 03, 2009A tort action in Chicago presents a somewhat novel dispute over the proper way to eat a sandwich. Mackenzie Seiler went to Jimmy John’s restaurant for a Turkey Tom sandwich. He went into anaphylactic shock after he bite into the sandwich, which turned out to be tuna and filled with cheese and mayonnaise...
Shock Video: Minneapolis Officer Tasers Man in Neck While His Hands Are on Hood of the Car
Posted on November 03, 2009In a highly disturbing video, Minneapolis police officers are shown tasering a man who is clearly shown with his hands on the hood of a car and not resisting arrest. Rolando Ruiz is seen and heard screaming in pain from the taser, which is applied to the back of his [...
Alaskan Police Taser 81-Year-Old Minister in Traffic Stop
Posted on November 03, 2009Military police at the Eielson Air Force Base are facing questions of the need to taser Glen M. Wilcox, an 81-year-old Episcopalian priest. Wilcox was caught allegedly going 11 miles over the speed limit. The officers with the 354th Security Forces Squadron said that they pulled Wilcox over just after 1 p...
Planned Parenthood Hits Former Director in Texas With Restraining Order
Posted on November 02, 2009There is an interesting fight between Planned Parenthood and its former director in Bryan, Texas. Abby Johnson worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years, but decided to leave after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. This has led to the filing of a restraining order against her by her former employer after she [...
Recent Harvard Law Grad Arrested in Arson of Sept. 11th Memorial
Posted on November 02, 2009Brian Schroeder, a 26-year-old 2009 graduate of Harvard Law School, has been reportedly charged in the arson of the Sept. 11 memorial in Manhattan. Schroeder turned himself in on November 1st. He is accused of breaking into the chapel and setting it on fire...
Obama Administration Finally Investigates Torture! . . . Oh Wait, It?s In Sri Lanka
Posted on November 02, 2009It appears that there is no limit to our hypocrisy on torture. While blocking any criminal investigation or prosecution of American officials for our torture program, the Obama Administration is demanding to question the Sri Lanken Army Chief Sarath Fonseka over allegations of the torture in Sri Lanka...
Faithful Flock to See Virgin Mary in Bird Poop
Posted on November 02, 2009In Bryon, Texas, people are flocking to see the image of the Virgin Mary found in a bird dropping on a truck mirror. It appears that Salvador Pachuca examines all of his bird droppings before washing his truck and found a divine rendition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in bird poop...
Is that a Ferret Or Are You Just . . .? Florida Man Arrested for ?Special Weapon?
Posted on November 02, 2009In Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Rodney Bolton, 38, has been charged with attempted theft of a Ferret from a pet shop by hiding it down his pants. The charges to his crime, however, are even more unique. Bolton clearly understood the dangers of secreting ferrets in one’s underwear since he allegedly induced the animal to [...
Telebuddy Terror: Tinky Winky Threatens to Cap Woman In London For Purse
Posted on November 02, 2009Jerry Falwell tried to warn the world about the Purple Telebubby Tinky Winky, but everyone laughed, here. Well, their not laughing now in London where the television character is being sought by police in a Halloween armed robbery. Tinky Winky was implicated in the crime of robbing a woman at gunpoint in the center of London...
FBI: Dick Cheney Failed to Recollect Information on 72 Occasions in Plame Investigation
Posted on November 02, 2009Former Vice President Dick Cheney found himself in the same position of not only his aide Scooter Libby but countless criminal defendants. He simply could not remember a thing about his involvement in the leaks involving Valerie Plame. Indeed, he had little recollection of his own actions on 72 occasions — even after shown material [...
The Morning After
Posted on November 01, 2009Ok, I will be the first. Yes, I raided the kids’ bags last night for snickers, but Leslie did the same for Heath bars. We have assembled a record of candy collection in our house. (Yes, we decided not to offer the kids the Vatican’s offer of an alternative fun mass)...
Shocking Costume: Party City Costume Results in Electrical Shocks at Halloween
Posted on November 01, 2009We often follow dangerous products on this blog, such as the Halloween flashlight had risked bursting into flames. It turns out one such product literally walked in my front door. I will be reporting a dangerous product discovered by my son, Benjamin, who wore a costume of a man riding an ostrich at [...
How Not To Drive a Forklift
Posted on November 01, 2009For those of us putting away the tons of Halloween candy, be careful on the use of the family forklift. This is not unique among forklift accidents: watch this incredible video.
Akron Professor Resigns Over New Policy Requiring DNA Samples From All Employees
Posted on November 01, 2009The University of Akron has taken the radical step of demanding that all faculty and employees submit a DNA sample — causing one adjunct professor Matt Williams (who teaches four communications and continuing education courses) to resign. Williams notes “It’s not enough that the university doesn’t pay us a living wage, or [...
Shock Video: Utah Officer Tasers Man for Traffic Ticket in Front of Pregnant Wife
Posted on November 01, 2009On this video, a Utah officer appears to taser a him for a traffic ticket simply because he does not immediately obey the officer’s demands. Watch how the officer immediately pulls out his taser when the man is simply refusing to sign the ticket...
Video: Man Mocks Police, Police Taser Man, Man Escapes Police
Posted on November 01, 2009This is a bizarre video. The police officers are trying to arrest a man who is mocking them and not cooperating. The officers decide to taser him rather than simply force his hands into cuffs. The man screams “I am being illegally tasered, I am defending myself” and proceeds to escape...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! THE 2009 LIST OF SPOOKY TORTS AND SCARY CRIMES
Posted on October 31, 2009Halloween is the favorite holiday for all torts professors and personal injury lawyers. (Indeed, I am convinced it was invented by a personal injury lawyer). Common carrier hay rides, lighting vegetables on fire, handing out foodstuffs without a permit ...
Illinois Teacher Suspended For Assigning an Article on Homosexuality in the Animal Kingdom
Posted on October 31, 2009Dan Delong, an English teacher at Southwestern High School in Piasa, Illinois has been suspended for allegedly allowing students in his English classes to read an article about homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Delong allegedly had his class read was published in a 2006 edition of “The Gay Animal Kingdom” and is available at [...
Hold the Rap: Utah Police Charge Teens For Rapping a McDonald?s
Posted on October 31, 2009While police officers are being fired for ticketing protected progeny in Stockton, Utah, teenagers are being arrested in American Fork, Utah for rapping at McDonald’s drive-through. They insist that they are innocent, but the police insist that it was indeed a bad rap, but a good collar...
City Father: Utah Mayor Fires Officer For Giving Son Ticket
Posted on October 31, 2009Officer Joshua Rowell in Stockton, Utah (population 443) has been reinstated this week after being fired by Mayor Dan Rydalch. It appears that Rowell had the audacity to ticket the mayor’s son and was fired on the spot by an anger father. He was out of a job until the Top Kopp — [...
The Trouble With Ewoks: Al Roker Assaulted on Today Show
Posted on October 31, 2009The dangers of drunk Ewoks is a little known danger for costume parties. However, the Today Show became the unwitting focus of inebriated Ewoks, including Al Roker who appears have a claim for sexual assault. Ewoks too often are treated as cute denizens of a far off planet...
The Abused Devout Woman Defense? New York Muslim Woman Tries to Kill Husband For Forcing Her To Eat Pork and Wear Short Skirts
Posted on October 30, 2009New York prosecutors are dealing with an attempted honor killing of a different sort. We have been following such cases on this blog, but Rabia Sarwar, 37, may be category unto herself after she allegedly slit her husband’s throat after he forced by her to eat pork, wear short skirts and drink [...
Strike Out: Montana Jury Rules Against Manufacturer of Louisville Slugger in Aluminum Bat Death
Posted on October 30, 2009A Montana jury has rendered a surprising verdict. The jury ruled against the manufacturer of the Louisville Slugger bat, Hillerich and Bradsby. Notably, the jury rejected design defect claims but found a warning defect in the death of 18-year-old Brandon Patch who was hit in the head with a ball hit by a aluminum [...
Pope Nixes Halloween
Posted on October 30, 2009Note to self: have kids skip the Vatican this Halloween. Pope Benedict XVI has joined Kimberly Daniels at the Christian Broadcasting Network in issuing his own warning against Christians participating in Halloween. The Pope wants Catholics to know that the holiday is dangerous to not just their waistline but their eternal souls...
Christian Columnist Warns of Demon Conspiracy To Invade the Souls of Children Through The Candy
Posted on October 30, 2009With many of us preparing for Halloween on Saturday, we have a disturbing warning from Kimberly Daniels on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s Web site: demons (real demons) have contaminated Halloween candy to invade the souls of our children (and presumably late-night candy stealing parents)...
Eight Years For Al-Marri: Sleeper Agent Given Low Sentence by Judge Outraged by Abuses of the United States
Posted on October 30, 2009In a potentially important ruling for detainees held by the United States, Illinois U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm rejected prosecution demands and sentenced Qatar native Ali al-Marri to just eight years in jail — with a possible release in less than six years...
Just Getting Worse and Worcestershire: Baker Eats Steak and Goes to Jail in Wisconsin
Posted on October 30, 2009Culinary crimes and misdemeanors are becoming the rage. In Illinois, it is Jamaican-Chicken that proved the undoing of a judge. In Wisconsin, the culprit is a Jack Daniels steak that trapped Ian Baker, 23, in his fourth drunk driving charge. Baker was ordered to take part in the Intoxicated Driver Intervention Program [...
Prosecutor Found in South Carolina Cemetery with Teenaged Stripper
Posted on October 30, 2009South Carolina appears to have finally moved beyond the Sanford affair. Deputy assistant attorney general Roland Corning, 66, has been fired after he was stopped in his SUV by police during his lunch break. The problem was that he was found with a stripper, Viagra, and sex toys in a cemetery...
Ponzi Pampers: Lawyer Accused of Pyramid Scheme Involving Adoptions
Posted on October 29, 2009With Bernie Madoff and other crooks, we have become used to Ponzi schemes. However, lawyer Kevin Cohen of Roslyn, New York is accused of a rather unique variation on this criminal theme: a baby Ponzi scheme. Cohen faces up to 15 years in the case and is described by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice [...
Cats in Space
Posted on October 29, 2009I give you a cat in zero gravity. This does not seem particularly enjoyable for the kitty. Indeed, one might say it is a bit cruel since the cat has no idea why it is being tossed from person to person in zero gravity. We better hope that the denizens of the cat planet [...
Disgraced Ex-Detroit Mayor Sues Lawyer Who Disclosed Evidence that Led to His Criminal Conviction
Posted on October 29, 2009Now this is a novel case. Disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (and current Compuware worker in Texas) has sued lawyer Mike Stefani who leaked steamy text messages to a newspaper — ultimately ensnaring Kilpatrick in the scandal that led to his criminal conviction...
Big Brothers? Tennessee Judge Strips Blogger of Anonymity in Defamation Case
Posted on October 29, 2009In yet another blow to confidentiality on the Internet, Tennessee Judge Thomas Brothers has ruled a married couple that runs a real estate business and a halfway house for recovering drug abusers may confirm the identity an anonymous blogger critic. The critic used a blog called Stop Swartz to accuse Donald and Terry Keller [...
Somali Man Marries Sixth Wife ? He is 112 and She is 17
Posted on October 29, 2009Ahmed Muhamed Dore is 112 and has 18 children by five wives. However, this week he added a sixth wife, Safia Abdulleh, 17. The marriage was blessed under the Islamic traditions of the area. It is part of a disturbing trend of cases where young girls are married off to older men [...
Not So Sharpie: Iowa Men Arrested After Allegedly Trying to Burglarize Apartment with Poor Man?s Mask
Posted on October 29, 2009Matthew McNelly, 23, and Joey Miller, 20, have discovered that, since the days of highwaymen, the purpose of a mask in crime is not just to conceal your identity but to take off the mask when rejoining society. The two Iowa men used Sharpie markers to draw disguises on their faces — making them [...
La Livas Loca: Judge Accepts Jerk Chicken in Lieu of Community Service
Posted on October 29, 2009Associate Judge Robert Livas may be put on a vegan diet. The former prosecutor and former police officer is in hot water over a curious order that he placed for Jamaican-style chicken as part of a plea agreement with Darrius Logan. Logan, 24, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and criminal trespass charges and [...
Wisconsin Legislator Falls During Sobriety Check in Third Arrest for DUI in One Year
Posted on October 28, 2009Rep. Jeffrey Wood has achieved a degree of unwanted national fame after being shown in a police dashcam falling down during a sobriety test. From both a legal and political standpoint, falling down is never good during such tests. It does not make it better when this is Wood’s third arrest in [...
Corpus Delicti: Rhode Island Man Flees Hit-and-Run With One of Three Victims Lodged on Windshield
Posted on October 28, 2009When Christopher Swiridowsky, 30, decided to flee the scene after mowing down three pedestrians he had a one problem: one of the victims was lodged in his windshield. Swiridowsky hit the people around 1:35 am on Sunday after the victims had pulled over on the side of the road to deal with an unrelated accident...
Woman in Australia Succeeds in Killing Two Men in the Identical Way at the Same Intersection ? Seven Years Apart
Posted on October 28, 2009A woman in South Australia has achieved a certain infamy among drivers: she has succeeded in killing two people seven years apart in the same intersection in the same way. Michelle Thiele’s driving skills (or the lack thereof) are the subject of a rather understated response by the coroner...
Hankering for a Better Husband: Minnesota Mother of Four Shoots Husband and Then Blames Her 3-Year-Old Child
Posted on October 28, 2009Betsy M. Hanks, 25, is a real catch looking for a new husband. The Minnesota woman first shot her common-law husband in the head and then tried to blame the killing on her 3-year-old son. Hanks called 911 on the morning of Oct. 20th to report that she had found Matthew D...
A Bit Too Scary: Maryland Officer Arrested For Pulling Gun on Character in Haunted House
Posted on October 28, 2009Maryland police Sgt. Eric Janik, 37, may not get the thrust of trick of treat traditions. The Baltimore police office went to a haunted house called the House of Screams with friends and when confronted by a character dressed as Leatherface with a chainsaw (sans the chain, of course), Janik pulled out his service [...
Perils of the Press VI: BBC Reporter Attacked By Thugs on Video
Posted on October 28, 2009We have previously followed the perils of the press (here), but this videotape shows how reporters can be attacked for simply walking around with a cameraman. Paresh Patel was attacked by drunken thugs in Manchester. What is astonishing is that neither John Nugent, 22, nor David Neville McKenna, 27, will spend time in [...
Nanny State Bans Nannies: English Town Bars Parents and Nannies from Playgrounds
Posted on October 28, 2009We previously discussed whether England was becoming a “Nanny State.” Now, it turns out that even the nanny is not welcomed. The city fathers (and mothers) of Watford has solved the danger of strangers bothering children by banning parents from playground areas...
Church of Scientology Accused of Hampering Criminal Inquiry in Australia
Posted on October 27, 2009In light of today’s conviction of the Church of Scientology in France, this story from Australia may be of interest. The Church is being accused of actively subverting an investigation into the death of Australian private Edward Alexander McBride...
Church of Scientology and Six Leaders Found Guilty of Fraud in France
Posted on October 27, 2009Given the recent refusal of a Scientology spokesman to discuss the basis of Church’s beliefs, we are unlikely to get much of a response on the conviction this week of the Church for fraud in Paris. The court convicted the Church and fined it more than 600,000 euros ($900,000)...
Disability Claim Found Bananas: Federal Judge Rules Bonnet Macaque Not A Service Animal
Posted on October 27, 2009There is an interesting decision out of Springfield, Missouri where federal judge Richard Dorr has ruled that a Bonnet Macaque named Richard is not a “service animal” under the Americans with Disabilities Act and his owner Debby Rose is not disabled...
This Too Shall Pass: Man Refuses To Go To Bathroom For 16 Days After Swallowing Heroin Bags
Posted on October 27, 2009It is very common for “mules” to swallow balloons of heroin or other narcotics — only to be put under observation until they “produce” the evidence. It is one of the least glamorous jobs for police officers. However, Damien Ankrah, 28, showed remarkable tenacity in a case in England where he refused to [...
Judge Herman Thomas Acquitted
Posted on October 27, 2009In a surprise verdict, a jury acquitted former judge Herman Thomas of sexual abuse, attempted sodomy, and assault related to allegations that he brought inmates to his chambers for sex and spankings. The judge insisted that he brought the men to his office to “mentor” them, but prosecutors put forward evidence of semen on [...
Snakes on a Ferry: Norwegian Man Found with Tarantula, 14 Pythons, and 10 Lizards Taped to His Body
Posted on October 27, 2009Norwegian police had a bit of a surprise when they noticed something moving on the body of a 22-year-old man getting off a ferry. They found a tarantula in a bag during a routine stop and then in a strip search discovered 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his [...
Officer Races Car at 104 mph on Personal Errand With Lights and Sirens ? Kills Woman Crossing Street with Husband
Posted on October 27, 2009Sandra Simpson, 61, probably thought of a myriad of dangers in London but never saw this one coming. Simpson was killed by officer Malcolm Searles, who was driving his patrol car as fast as 104 mph in a 40 mph zone with his sirens and lights on — to deliver a birthday card to [...
Guess Jeans: Video Shows Arsenal Hidden in Baggy Jeans
Posted on October 27, 2009While this site often explores police abuse allegations related to overreactions or excessive force by officers (as well as members of the legal community), this video shows the type of hidden dangers that officers face. The only thing this kid does not pull out of his baggy pants is a 75mm howitzer...
Is New York Facing a Financial China Syndrome?
Posted on October 27, 2009We have previously discussed the dangers of increasing taxation in places like New York city. Now it appears that the city is facing a tax-version of the China Syndrome where over-taxation may be causing wealthier families to flee, which increases the need for higher taxes on those remaining...
Video: How Not to Park Your BMW
Posted on October 26, 2009This video outside worked out place in Thornhill, Ontario is simply astonishing. The driver of the X5 or X3 BMW flees the scene after ruining two cars. Even the recent Korean over-sized parking spaces would not have avoided this one. It is not clear who was driving, but he or she left a memorable video of [...
Iranians Round Up Satanists (aka Westernized Teens)
Posted on October 26, 2009I guess Black Sabbath will skip that tour in Iran. The Iranian government has arrested a dozen people for “promoting satanism” through underground music and “blasphemous video clips.” Fortunately, the Obama Administration recently supported a resolution supporting Muslim countries in establishing a “balancing” of free speech and respect for religion, here...
Hooked on Automatics: Somalia Islamic Militants Force Children to Watch Executions and Learn to Use Weapons
Posted on October 26, 2009The Islamic al-Shabaab militia is well known for its harsh application of Sharia law in Somalia. However, it turns out that they have the same concerns about the children growing up with the wrong priorities and values as to people in the West. In the case of the al-Shabaab, the problem is [...
Video: Beware the Bat
Posted on October 26, 2009This has to be one of the most bizarre videos floating around the Internet, but in the spirit of Halloween I have to share it with you. It is a person who scares the daylights out of people in a giant bat costume. Notably, the men seem to react by attacking the big bat, who [...
Shooting the Messenger: Prosecutors Subpoena Grades and Emails of Students of Innocence Project
Posted on October 26, 2009There is an incredible story out of Chicago and my alma mater Northwestern University. The Cook County District Attorney has issued a sweeping subpoena to the Innocence Project at the acclaimed Medill School of Journalism — demanding such things as the grades and emails of students who worked on an investigation of the case [...
Ice Man Cometh: San Bernadino Police Accused of Beating Suspect and Then Keeping Him ?On Ice? Without Booking, Charges, or Access to Counsel
Posted on October 26, 2009San Bernadino police are under criticism today after the release of this video from a cellphone appears to show officers beating a suspect with a baton without cause. The man, Darren Johnson, 43, is a barber shop owner who was allegedly held without charge for two days and was never booked in [...
Twelve Ambivalent Men: Washington Jury Polled After Not Guilty Verdict Only To Be Sent Back and Then Reaches Guilty Verdict
Posted on October 26, 2009Patricia Sylvester may have learned the ultimate lesson of “never ask a question in trial that you do not know the answer to.” Sylvester, 49, was overjoyed when a jury came back with a “not guilty” to vehicular assault in Island County Superior Court in Washington...
A Puggle Pup Named Pip: Man Charged After Giving Puppy Alcohol
Posted on October 26, 2009In Iowa City, Jared Colony, 28, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after giving a puggle puppy named Pip vodka in its bowl as a joke with friends. When the friend returned after 30 minutes, the 4-month-old puppy was barely breathing and Colony reportedly laughed “Pip’s just a little drunk right now...
Video: Police Beat and Taser Foreign Student In San Jose
Posted on October 25, 2009This video is the focus of an investigation into the beating of a San Jose State student Phoung Ho by officers. Police reportedly had difficulty communicating with Ho and the encounter with the math major ended in beating Ho with batons and using a taser on him...
A Cat and a Teddy
Posted on October 25, 2009On this Sunday, let us not forget the simple pleasures. Who needs a sleep comfort number when you have a perfect teddy?
Saudi Journalist To Be Flogged for Airing Interview Involving Sexual Boasts
Posted on October 25, 2009In an attack both on free speech and the free press, Saudia Arabia has ordered a female journalist to be flogged 60 times for airing an interview with a man who bragged about his sex life. Rosanna Al-Yami was also given a two-year travel ban for her role in the episode of “A Thick [...
Putting the Fun Back Into DWI: Allegedly Intoxicated Mother Crashes Car and Kills One Child After Asking Girls to Vote on the Likelihood of a Crash
Posted on October 25, 2009Carmen Huertas, 31, had a fun game to play with a car packed with girls going to a slumber party at her house. No it wasn’t counting VW bugs or out-of-state license plates. She asked which of the seven girls thought that she would crash. Since at least one girl was begging her [...
The Watchers: The LAPD Releases IWatch in a Rather Orwellian Video
Posted on October 25, 2009Ok, it may be early in the morning before sufficient caffeine, but this video is a little creepy, right? What is remarkably about having an entire city looking for signs of terrorism is that a great deal of private surveillance is fed into the police...
Video: Scientology Spokesman Walks Out of Nightline Interview When Asked About His Beliefs
Posted on October 25, 2009Nightline has been running a fascinating investigation into the Church of Scientology. This investigation includes this video of a walk-out of the spokesman for Scientology when asked simply about the beliefs of the church. According to the spokesman, it is “offensive” to be asked about what Scientologists specifically believe about the origins of [...
Helicopter Mystery or Shutter Fun?
Posted on October 24, 2009This is either a mysterious lighter than air helicopter or a photographer who was able to synchronize his cameras? shutter speed with the helicopters rotors. I still prefer fixed wing aircraft. Nal located this information from this site: They do this all the time during maintenance tests...
New York Mayor Bloomberg Sets Dubious Record of the Most Any Individual Has Spent on Himself for Public Office
Posted on October 24, 2009New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has achieved a national record and perhaps a world record. Unfortunately, it is not for track or field, but the most any individual has spent of his own money in the pursuit of public office. He has already spent $85 million on his own reelection and [...
Potty Mouth Police: Kansas Man Arrested for Using Bad Language With Another Driver
Posted on October 24, 2009Mike Shahrokhi, 43, of Leawood, Kansas has been charged with disorderly conduct after using the word f— in an argument with another driver. He may now spend 30 days for his potty mouth. The argument began while driving and ended up in a convenience store parking lot where Shahrokhi let loose with some bad [...
Parking in Pink: Korea Experiments With Women-Only Parking Spots
Posted on October 24, 2009This may be a benefit that women want to pass by. It appears that in some parts of South Korea women are being given special pink painted parking spots. That might not be so bad except for the reason: the space are wider to give extra assistance to female drivers...
No Comprendo La Constitución: Dallas Police Ticketed Dozens of Drivers for Not Speaking English
Posted on October 24, 2009Dallas police officers have cited drivers for not being able to speak English after least 38 times in the past three years. After these citations were disclosed by the media, Chief David Kunkle insisted that it was a big mistake and that such citations are only appropriate for non-English drivers of commercial vehicles...
Strange Bedfellows: Guam Archdiocese Reportedly Cites Islamic Terrorists For Moral Support in Fight Against Same-Sex Marriage
Posted on October 24, 2009As Guam debates legislation recognizing same-sex marriage, the Catholic Church appears to have reached out to some strange sources of support in its opposition: Islamic terrorists. In a letter being circulated from the Archdiocese of Agaña, Catholics are told that Islamic extremists may engage in suicide bombings but that they at least “value [...
Friends Don?t Let Friends Drink and Recline: Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty to DUI For Motorized Comfy Chair
Posted on October 23, 2009Dennis Anderson, 62, of Proctor, Minnesota is not exactly your typical DUI defendant. He pleaded guilty after being arrested while “driving” drunk. The vehicle in question was his modified La-Z-Boy recliner. The Proctor Police Department report that Anderson had a blood alcohol level of three times the limit when he left a bar in [...
Victim in Notorious Rape Case Recants Her Story
Posted on October 23, 2009The woman at the center of one of the most shocking rape cases of the last decade has recanted her story. Megan Williams has now admitted that she made up the story of being raped and abused in a trailer in West Virginia in 2007 that sent six people to prison...
Japanese Man Sues After Doctors Unnecessarily Remove His Rectum
Posted on October 23, 2009As years of teaching torts, I cannot quite recall anything quite this bad for a medical malpractice case. A Japanese man is suing after discovering that doctors removed his rectum and implanted an artificial rectum unnecessarily. The doctor had misdiagnosed the man with rectal cancer at a university hospital in western Miyazaki...
Former New York Police Chief Bernard Kerik Jailed
Posted on October 23, 2009Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has been sent to jail to await his corruption trial next week. I am not sure which is worse, the jailing or the view of Judge Stephen Robinson of the defendant, who he described as “a toxic combination of self-minded focus and arrogance...
FOP FLOP: Chicago Police Throw Benefit for Officer Who Allegedly Drove Drunk, Killed Two People, and Fled the Scene of the Accident
Posted on October 23, 2009The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police union is being hit with complaints over a benefit planned this week at the police union headquarters for officer Joseph Frugoli, who is accused of crashing into a car while driving drunk on the Dan Ryan in April, killing two people...
Appeal in Aisle 3: Albertsons Loses Bathroom Break Case
Posted on October 23, 2009An unnamed Albertsons cashier has won an appeal in a disability case (and $200,000) where her store manager refused to allow her to take a bathroom break — leading to an embarrassing accident at the checkout counter. Once again, I wonder at the legal judgment in taking this case to adjudication and appeal...
You Scream, I Scream . . . Kansas City Man Charged With Luring Girls with Ice Cream Laced With Sedatives for Pornographic Pictures
Posted on October 23, 2009Police say this cheerful mug shot is dangerously deceptive. James Phillips Edwards, 60, has been charged by Kansas City police with allegedly luring children with sedative-laced ice cream and then filming them in pornographic poses after they lost consciousness...
North Dakota Woman Arrested For Broadcasting Porn Near School
Posted on October 22, 2009In light of our recent posting on the man arrested for making coffee in the nude in his own home, this case out of Grand Forks is interesting. Nicole Altendorf, 37, is accused of watching pornography in her own home but allowing the images and noises to be seen and heard from Lake Agassiz [...
Things That Tick Me Off: Apple
Posted on October 22, 2009I wanted to ask the people on this blog if they have had the same bizarre experience that I have just had with Apple. I have been a lifelong Apple user and have literally owned every major model since the first Apple computer. I also use the iPhone...
The Marquis de Sade Defense: Former Judge Claims To Have Been Schooling Inmates Allegedly Raped and Spanked in His Chambers
Posted on October 22, 2009Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman is offering a defense in his criminal case that may strike some as more appropriate for the Marquis de Sade than an Alabama jurist. Accused of having inmates brought to his chamber for sex and spanking, Herman insists that he was trying to rehabilitate and educate the men...
The Last Samurai: Man Attacks Police With Swastika-Covered Samurai Sword and Survives
Posted on October 22, 2009While (like today) we often chronicle cases of police abuse or controversies, we do have on occasion the opportunity to recognize extraordinary police work and commendable restraint. Such is the case with the apprehension of George Rogers, 36, who attacked Philadelphia police with a samurai sword covered with swastikas and a skull...
Arizona Muslim Runs Over 20-Year-Old Daughter and Friend for Allegedly Being ?Too Westernized?
Posted on October 22, 2009Police in Peoria, Arizona believe that they have another attempted honor killing. Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, ran over his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Faleh Almaleki, and her friend Amal Edan Khalaf because he allegedly viewed her as “too Westernized...
Too Much Focus, Too Little Family: Focus on the Family Employee Pleads Guilty to Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child
Posted on October 22, 2009A Former Focus on the Family employee in Colorado Springs, Juan Ovalle, appears a bit too focused on the kinder. He has been sentenced to five years probation for attempting to lure an underage teen into having sex with him. He founded Spanish Christian Audio in 2001 to help Christian organizations with their audio [...
George Bush: Motivational Speaker
Posted on October 22, 2009George Bush appears to have finally found his calling. According to this report, he will start his new career this month as a motivational speaker with “Get Motivated!” (the exclamation point is part of the official name) in Fort Worth, Texas...
Video: British Columbia Police Officer Stomps and Kicks Suspect Without Cause
Posted on October 22, 2009This video out of British Columbia is instructive on the use of gratuitous force. Most abuse video that we see often involves serious injuries that lead to litigation. However, most cases of abuse are small acts of physical harm that rarely result in complaints let alone lawsuits...
The Turley Trebuchet
Posted on October 22, 2009I give you (as promised) the Turley Trebuchet. Today Jack will release his Trebuchet (a gravity catapult) upon his fifth grade class — as well as a small torsion catapult (made with an office clip and less historically interesting). We went “old school” for this Trebuchet — using all original material from metal, wood, leather, twine, [...
Expresso Machoato: Virginia Man Charged After Making Coffee in the Nude
Posted on October 21, 2009Eric Williamson, a 29-year-old Springfield man has been charged in Fairfax County with the crime of making coffee in the nude — in his own home. A neighbor called the police after she walked by Williamson’s house with her seven-year-old son and saw him making espresso exposo...
Mukasey: Our Laws Brought About 9-11 Attacks
Posted on October 21, 2009Former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey now appears to be blaming our legal system for the 9-11 attacks as opposed to documented failures by the FBI and the failure of the Bush Administration to heed direct warnings of an imminent attack. In an op-ed piece this week, Mukasey puts the blame squarely on [...
Israel To Seek Change in Law of War to Block War Crimes Investigation
Posted on October 21, 2009Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be morphing into George W. Bush. Faced with findings of a respected former war crimes prosecutor that Israel may have committed war crimes in its Gaza offensive, the prime minister instructed his government to seek changes to the international laws of war to retroactively justify any actions [...
Passing the Cups: California Pageant Seeks Reimbursement for Prejean?s Augmentation Surgery
Posted on October 21, 2009Now, this is some pretty vicious litigation. Miss California USA officials want Carrie Prejean to give back the $5,200 that they say she borrowed to have her breasts augmented last year. Prejean is suing the pageant in a lawsuit that includes a privacy violation related to the disclosure of the augmentation...
If Arrested, Keep Your Mouth Shut: Nashville Police Auction Off Drug Dealer?s Gold Teeth
Posted on October 21, 2009It is often said that the government would take the gold out of your teeth if allowed. Well, the Metro Police of Nashville is doing precisely that — putting the gem encrusted “grills” of a drug dealer out for bids. The department put the item on its eBid site as “one set of custom made [...
California Sex Crimes Prosecutor Accused of Raping Another Prosecutor
Posted on October 21, 2009Former Contra Costa County sex crimes prosecutor Michael Gressett has been accused of a sex crime in the raping of a colleague. The California lawyer is free on bail after being indicted on the charges, which he denies through counsel. While Deputy District Attorney, Gressett has run three times for district attorney...
Losing the Old Ball and Chain: Saudi Wife Files for Divorce After Learning Her Nickname in Husband?s Cellphone is ?Guantanamo?
Posted on October 21, 2009There’s the “old ball and chain,” “the old lady,” and my personal favorite “she who must be obeyed.” However, a Saudi Arabian woman has filed for divorce after discovering the nickname that her husband gave her on his cellphone: “Guantanamo...
Police Officer Gets Caught in ?Compromising Position? in Bar, Gets Thrown Out, Returns to Destroy the Evidence . . . And Receives Just a Five Day Suspension
Posted on October 20, 2009The Norfolk Constabulary has a curious notion of discipline for its officers. Acting Specials Chief Inspector Dean Saxton, 30, is accused of first causing a ruckus in a bar (or “public house”) and then returning a few days later to destroy the evidence of the controversy...
Canine Restraint
Posted on October 20, 2009We often discuss the meaning of judicial restraint, but this dog shows the meaning of restraint that judges and agencies could learn from. The kitten needs a few points for guts as well.
Report: ATF Bans French Wine Over Saucy Poem on Label
Posted on October 20, 2009When I first read this story, I was sure it was a hoax, but now I am not sure. According to wine sites, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has denied a permit to import Château Haut Gay (AOC Bordeaux Supérieur) because the label is “an incentive to debauchery...
Wanted: Single Good, Democratically Elected African Leader to Collect $5 Million
Posted on October 20, 2009The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is famous for handing out $5 million each year as a prize for African good governance. This year it is keeping its money and prize for lack of anyone who could claim both democratic election and good government on the continent of Africa...
Suicidal Speech: Minnesota Case Raises Difficult Questions Over Assisted Suicide and Free Speech
Posted on October 20, 2009Prosecutors in Minneapolis have a fascinating case involving assisted suicide and free speech. Nurse William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, is accused of using Internet chat rooms to convince people to commit suicide, giving them step-by-step instructions on how to kill themselves — preferably so he could watch...
Video: Russians Show How Its Buses Have The World?s Best On-Time Record
Posted on October 20, 2009Next time you think of running across the street before the light changes, think of this Russian . . . who may be the luckiest man in the world. The important thing is that the Russian bus came in on schedule.
Throwing in the Towel: FAA Fines US Airways $5.4 Million for Such Violations As Using A Towel Instead of an Oil Cap in Engine
Posted on October 20, 2009US Airways is facing a major fine over a wide range of safety and maintenance violations on its airplanes. The one that caught my eye was a plane in December 2007 that returned to Denver with a low oil-pressure warning. Mechanics appear to have lost the caps for the oil sump so they [...
From the Mouths of Babes: Balloon Boy?s Statement May Lead to Charges For Parents
Posted on October 19, 2009Sheriff Jim Alderden of Larimer County appears on the verge of charging Richard and Mayumi Heene with a criminal hoax after her six-year-old son Falcon made a revealing statement during an interview on CNN. In the meantime, Falcon is saying a bit too much in another forum: the video below where he raps [...
Father Kills 22-Year-Old Pregnant Daughter in Honor Killing
Posted on October 19, 2009We have yet another “honor killing” in the Middle East. An unnamed Jordanian man was charged on Sunday with murdering his 22-year-old daughter after finding out that she was pregnant. He killed her and her unborn child with a sword to preserve the honor of his family...
Polar Attraction: Sharpton Threatens Limbaugh With Lawsuit
Posted on October 19, 2009In American politics there are few more polarizing figures than Al Sharpton and Rush Limbaugh. Now, in what will be a spasmodic moment of euphoria for many, Sharpton and Limbaugh may be going to court with the former suing the latter for defamation. Putting aside the sheer joy of the moment for many, [...
Ivy League Clipping: Harvard Loses Half a Billion Dollars in Bad Investment Gamble
Posted on October 19, 2009Harvard University is reeling from a uniquely bad business gamble. The school lost at least $500 million when it bet that interest rates would rise. The money went to investment banks this year due to $1.1 billion of interest-rate swaps intended to hedge variable-rate debt for capital projects...
Just Say No To Blasphemy: U.S. Supports Egypt in Limiting Anti-Religious Speech
Posted on October 19, 2009Here is today’s column in USA Today on the Obama Administration’s decision to join the U.N. Human Rights Council and support Egypt in recognizing limits on free speech for those who insult or denigrate religion. While the exception was included in a resolution heralding free speech, it was viewed as a major victory [...
Rights of the Rubenesque: London Considers Making Fatism a Form of Hate Speech
Posted on October 19, 2009Today’s column on blasphemy laws may be too narrow. In San Francisco and London, activists are demanding that denigrating someone as fat should be treated as a hate crime like race, age, or faith. “Fatism” is already banned in San Franscisco in housing and workplaces...
How Obama Can Earn the Nobel Prize
Posted on October 18, 2009Below is today’s brief column in the Los Angeles Times where I joined other writers on how each of us believes President Obama can earn the Nobel Prize, here. For civil libertarians, Obama’s selection is the ultimate triumph of hope over experience...
A Dog and a Chick
Posted on October 18, 2009There are some who remind us of the virtue of restraint. I am not sure if this is the world’s calmest dog or the world’s bravest chick — or both. I will go with both.
Sacrificial Study: New Research Finds Pain in Religious Live Sacrifices
Posted on October 18, 2009There has long been tension between animal activists and religious adherents over the sacrificing of live animals. Jewish and Muslim leaders have long argued that the sacrifices are not any more painful than what occurs in slaughter houses. Now a study is challenging that assumption and leading to calls in England for a [...
Creationism to Be Renamed Separatism After New Interpretation Released of Genesis
Posted on October 18, 2009Professor Ellen van Wolde, a world acclaimed Old Testament scholar, may have introduced a considerable problem for creationists. What if the Bible never actually said God “created the Heaven and the Earth”? Van Wolde has issued an intriguing paper suggesting that a mistranslation is responsible for an error in the first sentence of [...
Somalia Extremists Crackdown on ?UnIslamic? Use of Bras
Posted on October 18, 2009Muslim extremists in Somalia are taking to the streets to address the latest threat to Islam under Sharia law: bras. The men from Al Shabaab have been whipping women found to be wearing the “deceptive” garments. Women are complaining that they have been told to take off the garments and shake their breasts by [...
My Way or the Yahweh: Rabbis Ground Shabbos Elevators With New Religious Interpretation
Posted on October 18, 2009There is an interesting potential contract case brewing in New York and other cities with large Orthodox Jewish populations. Various buildings in New York cater to Orthodox residents in offering such things as Shabbos elevators, which stop on every floor from Friday evening to Saturday evening so that residents do not have to push [...
Off Target: Store Under Attack of Illegal Alien Costume
Posted on October 17, 2009Target is under attack for one of its new Halloween costumes: the illegal alien. The space alien is dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with “illegal alien” blazoned across its front and holds a large card reading “green card.” It is beyond me how a major company could approve such an insulting costume, but [...
Letter Leporidae: Rabbits Are Not Just For Fuel Anymore . . .
Posted on October 17, 2009In light of our disturbing Bunny Briquettes story, this video shows that rabbits are useful for many things beyond combustible fuel. Indeed, Sweden may want to consider dispersing its excess rabbits to offices as letter openers. The FBI alone could use this army of mail opening Leporidae...
Dead Man Left for Days on Balcony After Neighbors Assumed Body Was Halloween Decoration
Posted on October 17, 2009The Halloween-related crime and tort stories have begun early this year. A 75-year-old man, Mostafa Mahmoud Zayed, was left decomposing on a balcony in Los Angeles for days because neighbors thought he was a Halloween display. Zayed died from a gunshot to one eye and was left slumped over in a chair on the third-floor [...
Step Away From the Mozzarella Caprese: Florida Chef Arrested for Threatening to Shoot Server
Posted on October 17, 2009Chef Mark DeCraepeo at Pizza Time in Boca Raton had been pushed just about as far as you can go as an Italian chef. One of his cousins working as a waitress at the restaurant hanged a ticket for another mozzarella caprese after he has already prepared the dish...
Chicago High School Reports 115 Pregnant and New Mothers Out of 800 Students
Posted on October 17, 2009This is an amazing and depressing statistic. There are 800 girls at Chicago’s Paul Robeson High School. Out of 800 girls, 115 are now pregnant or recently had children. Robeson Principal Gerald Morrow responds with perhaps the most unassailable observation: “It can be a lot of things that are happening in the home or [...
Bunny Briquettes: Stockholm Burns Rabbits to Heat City
Posted on October 17, 2009City officials in Stockholm are feeling the heat over rabbit fuel. The city relies on green technology, including biofuel to reduce pollution and global warming. So, when thousands of rabbits had to be culled from Sweden’s parks and streets, they were used as fuel in the city heating plant...
Video: Baby Rolls in Stroller In Front of Passing Train
Posted on October 16, 2009This video is hard to watch. However, the most extraordinary thing is that this six-month-old baby boy survived with only a small bump on the head. It appears that what saved the baby was the fact that he was strapped in the seat, which was pushed with the train to the end of the platform...
Duick Blind: California Woman Sues After Being ?Punked? by Toyota
Posted on October 16, 2009There is an interesting torts lawsuit in Los Angeles where Amber Duick has filed against Toyota for a weird advertising campaign that she said “punked” her and convinced her that she was being stalked by an English man called Sebastian Bowler...
Ohio Woman Charged After Claiming to Win Lottery and Causing Panic by Offering to Pay for Shopping Spree By Customers
Posted on October 16, 2009Linda Brown, 45, has been given a novel criminal charge. Brown entered a store and announced that she had won the lottery for $1.5 million and was going to pay for a shopping spree for everyone in the store. The result was pandemonium and a charge of aggravated menacing...
Louisiana Justice of the Peace Refuses to Marry Interracial Couples
Posted on October 16, 2009Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana has become an infamous figure overnight after he refused to marry an interracial couple out of concern for their possible children. However, he helpfully explained “I’m not a racist...
Question of the Day: Can You Serve This Man Under Dram Shop Laws?
Posted on October 16, 2009In torts, we have been exploring the requirements of state dram shop law for bars, restaurants, and other businesses. This video would probably constitute one extreme on the scale from serving and “over-serving” in the industry. Most cases are a bit more difficult for businesses to determine the limit for consumption (here)...
Italian Couple Files Suit After Setting Sail on a Gay Cruise
Posted on October 16, 2009An Italian couple has filed a provocative lawsuit seeking damages from a cruise that took them from Italy to Spain. After setting sail, the couple found out that they were on the “Revuelta” (”Revolution”) cruise for gay couples...
Meet Dr. Sima Samar ? The Person Obama Beat Out for the Nobel Prize
Posted on October 15, 2009In light of the recent disclosure that President Obama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize just 12 days after taking office and was initially opposed from the majority of the Committee (here), there is some interest on who was stepped over for the honor...
Majority of Nobel Committee Reportedly Objected to Awarding Obama Prize
Posted on October 15, 2009Various people, including civil libertarians, have criticized the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama given his expansion on Bush policies and his opposition to war crimes investigations. Others have criticized the fact that he was nominated after less than two weeks in office and selected after less than a year in [...
Pee-Wee Football Coach Reportedly Gave Police Officer Cellphone with Bestiality Image ? Leading to Discovery of Hundreds of Child Porn Images
Posted on October 15, 2009The same day that a Wisconsin man was arrested after a bartender found child pornography on his cellphone (here), a Tennessee man and Pee-Wee football league coach, Raymond Travis, 51, was arrested after he handed over a cellphone to police containing bestiality pictures...
Obama Moves to Change Law to Avoid Supreme Court Ruling on Withheld Detainee Photos
Posted on October 15, 2009President BarackN Obama, the world’s newest Nobel peace laureate, is again expanding on the policies of former President George Bush and fighting to conceal evidence of U.S. torture and abuse. As did the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration is seeking to change the law after courts rejected its absurd argument that the President can [...
Batty and Booked: Man Arrested for Assault of Officer With Pillow
Posted on October 15, 2009We have recently seen police charge individuals for assault through flatulence (here). However, assault via a pillow is something new. Erik John Batty, 40, is facing the charge of battery when he threw a pillow at Officer Myles J. Lawler. Police were called to the Driftwood Mobile Home Park by Erik’s father, George Batty, 62, [...
Parents Arrested After Washing Out Mouth of Daughter with Soap
Posted on October 15, 2009Adriyanna Herdener and Wilfredo Rivera were arrested for child abuse after they admitted to washing out the mouth of their 8-year-old daughter with soap for swearing. The parents had left the soap in the girl’s mouth for 10 minutes and when she began to vomit, they decided to take her to the hospital...
Canadian Trucker Fined for Smoking in a Workplace: His Own Truck
Posted on October 15, 2009While we recently discussed criticism of the evolving “nanny state” in England, it appears that Canada may also have a degree of runaway paternalistic regulations. Truck driver Brad Weber, 44, was fined recently for smoking in his workplace...
Wisconsin Man Arrested After Leaving Cellphone at Bar Containing Child Pornography
Posted on October 15, 2009Aaron R. Klein, 24, of Brookfield, Wisconsin may spend a number of years in prison for what began as an unpaid bar bill. Klein was unable to pay his bar tab and agreed to leave his cellphone as security at the bar. When the bartender opened the phone to find Klein’s telephone number, [...
Gnome Nazi Invasion!
Posted on October 14, 2009First there was Al Qaeda, then Swine Flu, and . . . now that you think you are over the worst of it . . . here come the Gnome Nazis. A German artist Ottmar Hoerl has arranged 1,250 garden gnomes with their arms outstretched in the stiff-armed Hitler salute in the historic [...
Burrito Bomb: South Carolina Charges Teen with Throwing Deadly Missile at Car
Posted on October 14, 2009South Carolina police have charged a 15-year-old boy with the serious offense of throwing a deadly missile at a moving car. The missile was a burrito. Driver John Addie says that a hard object (possibly a bottle) hit his car before the burrito came through his window...
Detroit?s $18.5 Million Solitaire Game
Posted on October 14, 2009Detroit has long held the reputation as one of the worst run cities in the nation, particularly with its top politicians continually the subject of corruption scandals and criminal indictments, here. Now, an internal report has revealed that the city spent more than $18...
The Scales of Justice: Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Fish Murder
Posted on October 14, 2009It appears that Oregon police take fish murder more seriously than Texas police. We previously saw how police declined to charge a woman who fried and ate her ex-husband’s pet fish, here. Now, Donald Earl Fite III has pleaded guilty to stabbing Sarah Harris’ pet betta (Siamese fighting) fish, DeLorean, to death when [...
Eagle Scout Suspended for Having 2-Inch Pocketknife Locked in Car
Posted on October 14, 2009The same week as the horrendous story of a six-year-old cub scout being suspended and sent to reform school for bringing his cub scout mess kit to eat lunch (here), New York educators have added another ridiculous case out of the “zero tolerance” madness gripping schools...
The Wedding Crasher: Women Sues Bride?s Brother and Hyatt for Fall at Wedding
Posted on October 14, 2009Thanks to one of my torts students, we have another interesting “dram shop” case. In New Jersey, Christine Mancision has filed a lawsuit after she was hurt by the drunken brother of the bride, Mary Graeber, at a wedding. James Graeber apparently is well named...
Question of the Day: Are Farmers Liable for Cows Falling From Great Heights?
Posted on October 14, 2009As anyone who has taken my torts class can attest, I collect bizarre torts cases, often falling body cases and res ipsa loquitur cases. One appears to have gotten away a few years ago that a current student just sent in. Charles Everson Jr. and his wife Linda barely escaped injury when [...
Sotomayor Joins Conservative Colleagues Over Possible Constitutional Claims by Corporations in Class Action Cases
Posted on October 13, 2009In light of today’s column on cases testing Sotomayor’s views (and possible alliance with conservatives in key areas), this story may be of some interest. Sotomayor joined Chief Justice john G. Roberts, Jr. and Justice Anthony Kennedy in raising concerns over whether courts are violating the constitutional rights of corporations in class action cases...
Attorney Orly Taitz Fined $20,000 for Frivolous ?Birther? Litigation
Posted on October 13, 2009The bill is in for Orly Taitz, the California lawyer leading the “Birther” litigation: $20,000 for sanctionable conduct. U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land previously issued a stern warning to attorney Orly Taitz and others in the so-called “birther” campaign: do not file another such “frivolous” lawsuit or you will face sanctions...
Murder, She Spoke: Court Overturns Convictions Due to Prosecutors Use of Defendant?s Nickname ?Murder?
Posted on October 13, 2009There is an important decision out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where the conviction of Laval Farmer was overturned due to the prosecutors’ repeated use of his nickname “murder.” After all, his nickname is not “Attempted Murder” Farmer, which is what he was tried for...
School Suspends Six-Year-Old For Bringing Cub Scout Kit to School
Posted on October 13, 2009School officials in Newark, Delaware have given the nation another example of mindless “zero-tolerance” abuse. In this case, officials suspended 6-year-old Zachary Christie because the boy brought his new cub scout camping utensils to school to eat his lunch...
National Treasure: Nicolas Cage Owes IRS Over $6 Million
Posted on October 13, 2009Nicolas Cage has been hit by a lien for over $6,257,005 in unpaid income tax for 2007. It is not known if the IRS has started digging near Mount Rushmore. The lien states that Cage owes more than $70,190 on his 2002 taxes, $179,738 for 2003, $110,617 for 2004 and a whopping $6,257,005 for [...
Tall Tale or Felony Crime? Colorado Man Charged With ?Stolen Valor? After Making Up Heroic Stories
Posted on October 13, 2009Richard Strandlof lived a life of distinction. He spoke to children and the media as a survivor first of the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 and then survived a roadside bomb that killed four fellow Marines. He will now add a further distinction as a defendant in a rare “stolen valor” prosecution after [...
Simply Sonia: Sotomayor?s Colleagues Pick Docket Virtually Tailored To Force Her To Choose Sides
Posted on October 13, 2009Here is this week’s column from Roll Call. It explores the interesting selection of cases this term for the Supreme Court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s colleagues could not have selected cases more carefully to address areas of uncertainty from her confirmation hearing...
Question of the Day: Besides Woody Allen, Who Is The Last Guy Polanski Would Want as a Character Witness?
Posted on October 12, 2009It appears that when I suggested Woody Allen was the last person Polanski who want as an advocate (here), I spoke too hastily. As the French continue their campaign to force the return of Roman Polanski to their country (and avoid extradition to the United States for his rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1997), [...
Netanyahu Vows to Block Any War Crimes Trial of Israeli Official
Posted on October 12, 2009Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to allow any Israelis to stand trial for war crimes even if demanded by the United Nations or world court. It is a position that defies the entire basis of international legal process created by the Nuremberg Tribunals since no country has a right to determine [...
Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Goal Post of Life: School Board to Meet on Christian Cheerleader Controversy
Posted on October 12, 2009This week, the Catoosa County School Board in Ringgold, Georgia will meet on controversy over the cheerleaders of Georgia’s Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School who use Biblical verses as part of their displays to root for the football team to ?commit to the Lord? and ?take courage and do it...
Bountiful Birth: Utah Man Misses Birth of Child After Being Arrested for Groping the Delivery Nurse
Posted on October 12, 2009Adam Jay Manning of Bountiful, Utah is not exactly going to be picked as Daddy of the Year. Indeed, when his kid asks where Manning was when he was born, he will be able to proudly state “I was in jail for groping the delivery nurse.” While his girlfriend was in the process of delivery, Manning, [...
Teen Happy Hours: Study Proposes a Weekly Alcohol Allowance for the Children
Posted on October 12, 2009Given our earlier story of how English parents are no longer allowed to buy alcohol with their teenagers present at the store, this may be a bit of a mixed message. A study has concluded that parents should supply alcohol to their teenagers at home rather than have them venture out for more dangerous [...
Citizens Say WTF so Wisconsin Says TFW
Posted on September 30, 2009It appears that blogging and texting lingo has finally brought down the halls of government. The Wisconsin Tourism Federation has been known as WTF for many years until the snickers of the new generation of texting citizens drowned out their message...
Florida Supreme Court Upholds Sanction Against Lawyer Who Called Judge a ?Witch? on a Blog
Posted on September 30, 2009Florida State bar authorities have fined trial lawyer Sean Conway $1,200 for criticizing Ft. Lauderdale Judge Cheryl Aleman on a blog, including calling Conway an “evil, unfair witch.” We previously discussed this case, here. The ruling is a major blow to free speech and another case of courts or the bar overreaching in [...
Supreme Court Takes Chicago Handgun Case in Major Test of Second Amendment Rights
Posted on September 30, 2009The Supreme Court has accepted a major handgun case, McDonald v. Chicago, that will define the scope of the recently recognized individual right under the Second Amendment. It will also allow new Justice Sonia Sotomayor to vote on the very issue that led to much of the opposition against her in her confirmation...
Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Goal Post of Life: Georgia Roots Out Christian Cheerleaders
Posted on September 30, 2009The cheerleaders of Georgia’s Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School appear to be short a cheer for separation of church and state doctrine. They have triggered a constitutional controversy by using Biblical verses as part of their displays to root for the football team to ?commit to the Lord? and ?take courage and do [...
Question of the Day: Who Is The Last Guy You Want As a Character Witness in a Child Molestation Case?
Posted on September 30, 2009Answer: Woody Allen. That’s right, Woody Allen who became something of a pariah over his relationship with Mia Farrow?s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn is now calling for charges to be dropped against fellow filmmaker Roman Polanski for his sex with a thirteen year old girl in 1977...
Pissed Off: Endangered Shrimp Wiped Out By Urinating Tourists
Posted on September 30, 2009Many endangered species are threatened by industry and urban sprawl. However, tourists have made something of a statement by going to Australia’s famed Ayers Rock, or Uluru, and pissed away a rare species of shrimp, Branchinella latzi. It appears that tourists see Uluru as something of a urinal...
Free Shooters in Arizona! Friday is Bring Your Gun to Bars Day
Posted on September 30, 2009It is time to get loaded in Arizona. As we previously discussed, Arizona passed a law protecting the right to bear arms in bars. Well, the day has arrived for those who felt naked in bars with everyone ordering shooters while they left theirs at home...
Nothing to Relish: Massachusetts Man Gets 18 Months for Stealing Hot Dog
Posted on September 29, 2009Antonio Judd really really wanted a hot dog. He grabbed a dog from a person on the street in Worchester and will now pay his debt to society with eighteen months in jail. Judd has a prior record of assault and was found with a pellet gun — but the hot dog was long gone...
Sudafed Head: Indiana Women Arrested for Buying Two Over-The-Counter Medicines Within a Week
Posted on September 29, 2009Sally Harpold is a Sudafed Head . . . or is she an Actifed Head? Well, the important thing is that she has been finally locked away in Clinton, Indiana where she was caught buying two cold medicines with seven days. Vermillion County Prosecutor Nina Alexander (left) racked up the major coup four [...
Teenager Arrested in Duct-Taping of Cat Crime
Posted on September 29, 2009Police have arrested James Davis, 19, who has reportedly admitted to committing the horrific crime of duct-taping a cat and throwing it away. The gray tabby was rescued and had its fur cut off to get the tape off. The cat was eventually rescued by a Bengal...
Tank Tort: Another Drunk Russian Soldier Takes Armored Vehicle for a Spin
Posted on September 29, 2009We previously watched the video below of a drunken Russian tank driver careening around a town a. Now we have another incident in Perm, Russia where a drunken instructor took an armored infantry vehicle to go buy more booze. He said it was the only vehicle he could locate at the time...
Seattle Officer Fired Over Videotaped Beating of Teenage Girl in Cell
Posted on September 29, 2009King County deputy Paul Schene, 31, has been fired over his beating a 15-year-old girl on Nov. 29 incident in a holding cell at SeaTac City Hall. The video below shows a shocking escalation of violence by Schene. Schene and another deputy arrested a pair of 15-year-old girls for investigation of auto theft after they [...
U.N. Report: Israel Committed War Crimes In Gaza
Posted on September 29, 2009The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict will issue a report today accusing Israel of “actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity” during its military incursion into Gaza from December 27 to January 18...
This Year?s ?Must? in Authoritarian Fashion: The English To Launch Campaign Showing Jealous Fingerprints Begging For National Identification Cards
Posted on September 28, 2009While France and Italy may claim to lead fashion, the English have spent over £544,000 to show English citizens what is a must in their year’s wear: a fingerprint. The government is trying to convince the English that only a nerd lives without a fingerprinted national identity card in a new campaign featuring [...
Question of the Day: Is This Impersonating a Police Officer?
Posted on September 28, 2009The Space Hijackers pride themselves on creative and artistic forms of protest — often against police abuse. They were a bit surprised to learn that citizens can easily confuse a person in red high heels, frilly stockings, and a helmet for a police officer...
Kodac and Kevlar Moment: Video Appears to Show Pittsburgh Police During G20 Protests Using an Arrested Citizen as a Prop for a Group Photo
Posted on September 28, 2009Now this video is a bit difficult to explain. It appears that police took an arrested protester, made him kneel in front of them, and then took a group picture in Pittsburgh. From my own protest cases, I can confirm that police departments will often take a picture with arresting officers for purposes of creating [...
Muggle Rebellion: Bush White House Blocked Award to J.K. Rowling Due To Her Connection to Witchcraft
Posted on September 28, 2009In this new book, Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor, Matt Latimer has an interesting insight into the presidency of George W. Bush. When author J.K. Rowling was proposed as a recipient for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Bush nixed the idea because Rowling’s Harry Potter series “encouraged witchcraft...
Court Orders Disbarred Lawyer Locked Out of His Office After He Allegedly Continues to Practice Law
Posted on September 28, 2009Allen Feingold had a less than conventional approach to litigation, such as allegedly choking a 74-year-old judge after an adverse arbitration ruling. Now, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe has ordered that he be locked out of his office to prevent him from continuing to practice law after his disbarment...
Return to Nature: Georgia Probation Officials Send Sex Offenders to Live in the Woods
Posted on September 28, 2009Over the last decade, legislators have rushed to impose broader and broader restrictions on sex offenders that prohibit them from living within certain distances of churches, schools, and other locations. The result is often effective banishment or homelessness for sex offenders...
Bring home A Nice Jewish Boy . . . or Else: Illinois Supreme Court Upholds ?Jewish Clause?
Posted on September 27, 2009The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the so-called “Jewish Clause” in a will of a deceased Chicago dentist who wanted to disinherit any children or grandchildren who failed to marry a Jew. Max Feinberg’s will result in four grandchildren being disinherited...
Client Fires Orly Taitz and Threatens Bar Complaint Against Her As Judge Explores Sanctions
Posted on September 27, 2009Orly Taitz, the lawyer and de facto leader of the “Birther” litigation, has filed a motion to withdraw from further representation of Dr. Connie Rhodes after Rhodes accused her of filing new papers in Rhodes v. MacDonald without her approval and after she agreed to be deployed by the military...
William Safire Dies at 79
Posted on September 27, 2009Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist William Safire died today at 79. Bill was a friend and often encouraged me through the years as a columnist and commentator. He was one of the most interesting men that I have known in my life and, like millions, I will miss him...
Roman Polanski Arrested in Switzerland
Posted on September 27, 2009While justice delayed may be justice denied, but justice appears to have caught up with Roman Polanski — just 31 years delayed. To the surprise of his family and lawyers, Swiss authorities arrested the seventy-six-year-old famous director on the outstanding international warrant...
Breakfast is Served and Served and Served . . .
Posted on September 27, 2009And you thought you had too many mouths to feed. I don’t understand why I cannot get four kids to eat breakfast like this. Breakfast in the Turley house is a cross between feeding time on the Serengeti and the Roman games.
Christians Protest Placement of Ganesh (Elephant God) Statue at Calgary Zoo
Posted on September 27, 2009A Christian group in Calgary has organized a campaign to protest an elephant statue in the zoo that resembles Ganesh, the Hindu God. The group is challenging the three-meter statue as “selective religious partiality.” Ganesh is the remover of obstacles and was placed at the Elephant Crossing exhibit in 2006...
The Menace in Middleville: The Michigan DHS Files Complaint Against Woman Who Watched Neighborhood Kids While They Waited For Their School Bus
Posted on September 26, 2009Lisa Snyder has been finally stopped. Because some parents in her neighborhood have to go to work before the bus picks up their kids in front of Snyder’s house, Snyder watches three children in Middleville, Michigan for the 15 or so minutes while they wait...
Lost in Translation: Muammar Gaddafi?s Rambling UN Speech Smites Interpreter
Posted on September 26, 2009Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (Moamer Kadhafi) shocked many in refusing to use the vaulted United Nations interpreters and instead brought his own. However, in the course of his rambling, stream-of-conscious speech this week, the interpreter was heard saying into a live microphone, “I just can’t take it any more” and reportedly [...
Air Stalker: California Pilot Arrested for Violating Restraining Order With Private Airplane
Posted on September 26, 2009A California pilot Tom Huey has been arrested for allegedly violating a restraining order by buzzing the neighborhood of a woman and dropping leaflets referring to her from his Beech single-engine plane. The neighborhood issued an alert, here. The police issued a statement that “[t]he leaflets referenced a specific person and contained defamatory language and racial slurs...
Surprise Surrogate: Ohio Mother Gives Birth To Baby in Mistaken Implanted Embryo Case
Posted on September 26, 2009Carolyn Savage of Sylvania, Ohio has given birth to a baby boy in a bizarre case of negligence by a fertility clinic. Savage, 40, has agreed that the baby is not hers after the clinic implanted the wrong embryo. The Savages have agreed not only to have the baby but to give up [...
Sacrebleu! The French Move Against Air Brushing and Photoshopping of Magazine Pictures
Posted on September 26, 2009In what may be the most dangerous and potentially explosive act since the storming of the Bastille, French leaders are taking on French models and declaring war on airbrushing. The French Parliament (and members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party) is proposing to force magazines and other publishers to print a warning for photographs [...
Polish Court Awards Damages to Woman Who Was Compared in Article to the Nazis for Trying to Obtain an Abortion for Health Reasons
Posted on September 25, 2009A Polish court has awarded Alicja Tysiac $11,000 against a Catholic magazine, Gosc Niedzielny, after the magazine compared her to a child killer and a Nazi. While it is impressive to see a court levy such damages against a Catholic publication in this very Catholic nation, the ruling does raise freedom of speech [...
Fastener Fetish: New York Judge Dismisses Motion for ?Negligent Stapling?
Posted on September 25, 2009New York Supreme Court Judge Charles Markey takes stapling very, very seriously. The New York judge dismissed a motion for default judgment due to “negligent” stapling by the law firm. That’s right, “negligent stapling.” The judge observed that two clerk cut themselves on a staple on the filing and considered that sufficient grounds to [...
Two Men Arrested for Attempting to Kidnap 14-Year-Old Girl to Marry a Boy in Fargo
Posted on September 25, 2009Dragan Jovanovic, 42, and Elvis Tahirovic, 18, were arrested this week in a bizarre kidnapping conspiracy: they drove from Fargo, North Dakota to to Bowling Green to kidnap a 14-year-old girl so that she could marry a Jovanovic’s 14-year-old son (who met her on the Internet)...
Video: New Jersey Children Taught to Sing Obama?s Praises
Posted on September 25, 2009This video raises an interesting question for educators and lawyers alike. These students at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, NJ are being taught to chant and sing praises of the President Barack Obama. Is that an appropriate exercise in a public school or does it smack of [...
School Fires Lunch Lady For Telling Parents That Boys Tied Daughter to Fence and Whipped Her
Posted on September 25, 2009Carol Hill was fired at the Great Tey Primary School in Essex after she told Scott David that his seven-year-old daughter Chloe had been tied to a fence and whipped with a skipping rope by bullies. The school had only mentioned “an incident” and did not reveal the names of the boys...
Legal Question of the Day: Should A Lawyer Be Able to Wear Jeans and Hats in Court?
Posted on September 25, 2009Attorney Todd C. Bank really liked his Operation Desert Storm hat. Almost as much as Eastern District of New York Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis (left) disliked it. Bank, a sole practitioner in Queens, lost his constitutional claim that he had a right to wear jeans and a hat of his choice in [...
Florida Man Challenges Law Criminalizing the Publication of Address and Telephone of Police Officers
Posted on September 24, 2009There is an interesting case developing in Florida where Robert Brayshaw is facing a year in jail under a law that makes it a crime to post a local police officer?s phone number and address. The law raises serious constitutional questions under the first amendment...
When Does Disrespect Become Disorder?
Posted on September 24, 2009Below is today’s column on the aftermath of the Joe Wilson controversy. The threat of the Democrats to punish members using certain words to criticize the President raises some novel and unresolved constitutional questions. When Does Disrespect Become Disorder? This month, Rep...
In Defense of Man-Cow Relations: New Jersey Judge Drops Charges Against Police Officer for Having Sex with Cows On the Grounds That They May Have Enjoyed It
Posted on September 24, 2009New Jersey police officer Robert Melia Jr. will not face criminal charges for allegedly having sex with five calves under a perfectly bizarre ruling by Judge James J. Morley. We previously discussed the case, here. Morley dismissed animal cruelty charges on the grounds that the cows may have enjoyed having sex with [...
Self-Diagnosis: Woman Complains About Stabbing Sensations for Months Before Doctors Find The Cause: A Six-Inch Knife
Posted on September 24, 2009Shanghai, China (The Weekly Vice) – Ying Shi, 26, apparently was correct when she complained repeatedly to doctors about a stabbing pain in her stomach, but doctors could not imagine what it might be . . . until they finally took an x-ray months later...
Contrition Through Aggression: ACORN Sues Filmmakers While Claiming Regret Over Misconduct of its Employees
Posted on September 24, 2009As we discussed earlier, ACORN has decided to move forward with a lawsuit against the independent filmmakers who showed its employees engaged in potentially unlawful conduct. While insisting that it is terribly sorry for the actions of its employees, ACORN is pursuing the people who forced the misconduct into the open: filmmakers James [...
Dr. Phil?s Fun With Felons: Couple Charged After Bragging About Life of Crime on Television Show
Posted on September 23, 2009The perils of being on Dr. Phil. Matthew Eaton, 34, and his wife, Laura, 26, appeared on the “Dr. Phil Show” and bragged about how they shoplifted and then sold stolen items on the Internet. The parents of three young children boasted how they had made as much as $1 million...
Chicago Nurse Sues After Being Arrested for Asking to Speak to a Supervisor Before Taking Blood of a Suspect
Posted on September 23, 2009Lisa Hofstra, a nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, has filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Chicago and a Chicago Police officer named Rodriguez (first name unknown) after she was arrested for wanting to speak to a supervisor before taking the blood from a suspect on Rodriguez’s orders...
Half-a-Pug Each: Court Orders Joint Custody of Pet for Former New Jersey Couple
Posted on September 23, 2009A New Jersey court has handed down a ruling that may be cited in thousands of disputes over pets by divorcing or separating couples. Doreen Houseman and Eric Dare split up after 13 years as an unmarried couple in 2006 and agreed on the easy division of possessions with one notable exception: Dexter, [...
Jury Acquits Denver Officer Who Broke Teeth of Man By Slamming His Head Into the Pavement
Posted on September 23, 2009It took a jury only two hours to acquit Denver Police officer Cpl. Michael Cordova of excessive force, even though a videotape (below) of his actions breaking the teeth of John Heaney caused public outrage. Cordova faced a charge of third-degree assault after he slammed Heaney’s face into the pavement while Cordova served as [...
Repostiltskin: Repo Man Allegedly Drags Mother Holding Infant and Then Abandons Four-Year-Old Along a Road Five Miles Away
Posted on September 23, 2009A car dealership in Ohio can honestly say that it will not charge customers “their first born.” The second born will do fine. In Cleveland, Ohio, Salimah Tutstone has charged that a repo company employee not only improperly repossessed her car but dragged her and her 1-year-old child while she fought to get her [...
Perils of the Press V
Posted on September 23, 2009This video of a reporter hit by a studio light somehow missed our “perils of the press” series. For prior entries, click here and here and here. I cannot imagine a stronger worker’s comp case.
English Judge Orders That Pedophile Teacher May Resume Relationship with Victim
Posted on September 23, 2009An English judge, Judge Anthony Pitts, has shocked police and prosecutors by expressly permitting prep school music teacher Helen Goddard, 26, to continue her relationship with a 15-year-old student after she is released from prison. Goodard received a 15-month sentence for her lesbian affair with the 15-year-old student...
Naked Gun: Police Called After Citizens See Naked Men Running Around Intersections . . . Only To Find The Police Were Already on the Scene
Posted on September 22, 2009When citizens were alarmed at the sight of naked men running around intersections at 4 pm, they immediately called the police. They then learned that there were already officers on the scene — running around the police van naked. It appears that, not only were two officers running around the van naked at traffic lights, [...
Buffy The Propaganda Payer? Obama Administration Accused of Asking NEA Artists To Promote the President and His Policies
Posted on September 22, 2009Buffy Wicks, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement has been accused (with others) of encouraging artists supported by the National Endowment for the Arts to produce works supporting President Obama and his policies. The story first appeared in BigGovernment...
California Police Repeatedly Taser and Partially Strip Double Amputee in Public ? But Bring No Charges After Six Days Incarceration
Posted on September 22, 2009Police in Merced, California are looking into a case of a double amputee who claims that he was tasered twice by police in his wheelchair, partially stripped in public, and then held for days without charge. Gregory Williams, 40, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and resisting arrest but never charged...
Flying Human Cargo Class: Meet the Future of Air Travel
Posted on September 22, 2009We previously discussed the interest of RyanAir in transporting humans like cargo in planes by removing traditional seats. This is the inevitable continuation of the downward trend in airline comfort and passenger expectations. Now, there is a design by Design Q on the market that could be coming to an airport near you...
Made in China: Officials Accused of Seizing and Selling Babies for Foreign Adoption
Posted on September 22, 2009There is an incredible story in the Los Angeles Times about a new scourge of corruption in China: the removal and selling of babies against the wishes of their parents. The officials are first finding families in violation of child care laws and then, instead of imposing a fine, they are taking the [...
Bowling for Dealers: Florida Police Caught on Tape Playing Wii During Drug Raid
Posted on September 22, 2009When police raided the home of drug dealer Michael Difalco, it did not take long for them to find what they were looking for. The officers of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force were caught on video playing Wii Bowling during the nine-hour drug raid...
Nigeria Demands Apology From Sony for Commercial
Posted on September 21, 2009The nation of Nigeria is shocked that Sony is making fun of the country’s reputation as the haven for Internet fraud. The country is demanding an apology for this commercial — and the transfer of money to help release $10 million from the account of a deceased wealthy uncle...
Teenager Killed on His Way Back From a Birthday Party By a Drunken Ex-Con Driving a Stolen Car ? Parents Sue Parents of the Birthday Boy and the Owner of the Stolen Car
Posted on September 21, 2009Lawsuits against bars and businesses under Dram Shop laws have become routine, though still somewhat controversial when owners are sued for the excessive drinking of third parties, here and here and here. We have seen a few cases where parents or home owners have been sued, though those cases are far more controversial, here...
Filings in Jefferson Case Reveal New Improper Relationship Between an FBI Agent and a Witness
Posted on September 21, 2009The post-trial proceedings in the case of former congressman William Jefferson took a sordid turn today with the discussion of yet another allegation of an FBI agent having a sexual relationship with a witness. FBI agent John Guandolo appears to have had had such a relationship with the government’s lead informant, Lori Mody...
Candy Addiction: Father Arrested After His Son Handed Out Cocaine in Daycare After Being Told It Was ?Candy?
Posted on September 21, 2009Shaheed Wright, 25, was arrested in New Jersey last week after he allegedly hid cocaine in his four-year-old son’s jacket and told him it was “candy. His son believed him and took the cocaine to school and shared it with his classmates. Police found several baggies of the drugs at the day care center...
Wife Argues With Husband So She Allegedly Runs Over . . . His Best Friend
Posted on September 21, 2009In Oklahoma, Rebekah Leigh Crouch, 27, has a curious way of preserving a relationship: she is accused of running over her husband’s best friend. Crouch believed that the friend, Mathew Dewayne Dowling, 33, was encouraging her husband to leave her so she allegedly ran him over after an argument with her husband...
Fair and Balanced . . . and Staged? Fox Producer Found Rallying 9/12 Protesters
Posted on September 21, 2009Fox News has announced that it has punished a producer who is captured on this video rallying crowds in a 9/12 protest. According to Huffington Post, the employee is Fox News producer Heidi Noonan. Here is the clip from Fox on the make-up of the crowd: It is not clear whether Fox is equally concerned over [...
Simian Sensibilities
Posted on September 20, 2009Given our evolution stories this week, this picture was apropos. Of course, there are limits to simian evolution:
Can a Creationist Be A Good Mayor? St. Petersburg Debates Whether a Mayor?s Religious Beliefs Are Relevant to His Competence to Lead
Posted on September 20, 2009There is an interesting debate going on in St. Petersburg where mayoral candidate Bill Foster is being attacked for his belief in creationism. As Florida’s fourth-largest city, St. Petersburg has tried to attract businesses and industry. His critics claim that high-tech companies are going to get the wrong impression if the Mayor believes [...
Obama Administration Moves to Dismiss Lawsuit By Gay Married Couples Over Federal Benefits
Posted on September 20, 2009Civil libertarians have been objecting that liberals are ignoring the Obama Administration’s continuation of a number of Bush programs and policies — in contradiction to President Obama’s presidential campaign promises. From torture to unlawful surveillance, Obama has continued the positions of President Bush in federal courts in seeking to dismiss lawsuits and claim sweeping [...
Texas Woman Speaks At Length About a Sex Ed Proposal and Her Own Virginal Status . . . Only To Be Told That The Board Addressed the Issue The Day Before
Posted on September 20, 2009In his video, former schoolteacher Deborah Parish shows the value of a good day planner. Parish speaks passionately about what she believed was a sex education proposal and goes at great lengths to explain her own status as a 56-year-old virgin and how she still “technically” maintains this status ...
?Suffer Little Children . . . and Forbid Them Not?: California Pastor Gets Life Sentence For Abuse of Adopted Daughters
Posted on September 20, 2009Pastor Jessica Banks, 65, has been sentenced to life in prison for drugging, beating, and locking up her five adopted daughters. The conviction includes counts of sexual abuse for two of the girls. Banks ran the Word of Life Apostolic Church out of a storefront in a mall in Riverside County...
?It?s Waaaay Better Than Fast Food?: Man Finds Wendy?s Spoon Lodged in Stomach
Posted on September 19, 2009For most personal injury lawyers it does not get better than this. Your client has suffered from two years of poor health, vomiting and stomach pain. Doctors finally use an endoscope and find the culprit: a spoon bearing the clearly marked name of Wendy’s...
Baltimore Mom Accused Telling Son to Attack Teenage Boy
Posted on September 19, 2009This week, prosecutors charged a mother with holding a six-year-old boy down while ordering her five-year-old son to beat him in the face, here. Now, a Maryland mother, A Maryland mother Kimberley Lyn Cudanin, 34, is accused of telling her 16-year-old son Audre and at least four friend to attack a 14-year-old boy, [...
Jewish Patrols in Jerusalem Are Targeting ?Mixed? Jewish and Arab Couples in Campaign for Religious Separation
Posted on September 19, 2009There is a growing controversy in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood where groups of Jewish men are regularly patrolling the streets to prevent Jewish women from dating and socializing with Arab men. The group called Eish L’Yahadut (Fire for Judaism) is composed of roughly 40 men who have been accused of some violent encounters [...
The Face of War
Posted on September 19, 2009At the request of some of our regulars, I am posting two pictures from the recent paint war battle referenced earlier. To avoid embarrassment to my fellow soldiers, I have not posted their own battle-scared images. It is of course difficult to see photos from this period without feeling a sense of guilt that I [...
South African Sports Head Apologizes for Concealing Semenya?s Gender
Posted on September 19, 2009During the controversy over the gender of Caster Semenya, one person was absolutely clear in denying rumors that Semenya was a man or hermaphrodite: the president of Athletics South Africa Leonard Chuene. Chuene now admits that he lied to the international sporting officials and the public...
I Walk The Line: Town Mayor Bans Police From Chasing Suspects
Posted on September 19, 2009The city of Wellford, South Carolina may be a felon’s dream come true. Mayor Sallie Peake has banned police officers from chasing suspects on foot or in a car. Peake’s new direction came in a September 2, 2009 memo where she announced ?[a]s of this date, there are to be no more foot chases when [...
Arizona Couple Sues Wal-Mart After Store Calls the Police on Them For Developing Pictures of Their Children in a Bathtub ? And the Children Are Taken By the State
Posted on September 18, 2009An Arizona coupe, Lisa and Anthony “A.J.” Demaree, have filed an interesting lawsuit against Walmart (and the state) after being accused of sexual abuse and having their children taken away the State. Their suspected crime? Developing pictures of their children taking a bath...
Alleged West Virginia Burglar Nailed After Facebook Fix
Posted on September 18, 2009We have seen Facebook involved in various alleged crimes through the years (here, here). However, Jonathan Parker, 19, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, has created a category of his own in alleged Facebook felonies: he was arrested after leaving his Facebook account on a victim’s computer — apparently after stopping during a burglary to [...
Cincinnati Mother Arrested After Holding Down Six-Year-Old Boy and Ordering Her Five-Year-Old To Beat Him
Posted on September 18, 2009Tiffany Hunter, 26, takes a different approach to neighborhood or schoolyard fights than most parents. While most parents tell their children to avoid fights, Hunter is accused of holding down a 6-year-old boy and ordering her 5-year-old boy to beat him in the face...
Sneezegate: Chuck Todd Contaminates White House With Unguarded Sneeze
Posted on September 18, 2009The White House was the scene of a bio-hazard attack today when NBC White House reporter Chuck Todd sneezed into his hand rather than into his government-approved, network-supplied sleeve. The shocking violation of health security rules was captured on the video below and immediately caught by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius [...
Seller Beware: New Federal Program Allows for Casual Sellers to Be Fined for Up to $15 Million
Posted on September 18, 2009Generally, the law distinguishes between casual buyers and commercial sellers in tort and criminal law. For example, product liability for defects does not extend to garage sales and transactions between private individuals. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning that the government will now be enforcing rules under the “Resale Round-up” program [...
Demonstrated Genius: Video Prank Shows How Innocent People Can Unwittingly Become Radical Protest Leaders
Posted on September 18, 2009As someone who represents people accused of unlawful demonstrations (and were not in fact protesters), I have finally found a video that I can use in their defense. This is an enormously funny video on how pranksters got pedestrians to look like they are leading a radical protest...
Minnesota Judge Accused of Steering Parties in His Court to His Own Divorce Attorney and Getting a Discount on His Own Bill Is Given a Six-Month Suspension ? But Allowed to Remain on the Bench
Posted on September 18, 2009Goodhue County District Judge Timothy Blakely, 46, is accused of being a rainmaker from the bench. He was found by a state investigation to have been referring parties in his court to his own divorce lawyer, “Super Lawyer” Christine Stroemer who allegedly gave him a discount on his own bill for fees...
Happy Rosh Hashanah From Ahmadinejad: Holocaust is a ?Lie? and Israel ?Will Not Last Long?
Posted on September 18, 2009Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave his traditional Rosh Hashanah speech — effectively wishing Jews a Happy New Year by saying that they may not see another. Ahmadinejad told worshippers at Tehran University that “[t]he pretext (Holocaust) for the creation of the Zionist regime (Israel) is false … It is a lie based on an unprovable [...
Happy Constitution Day (Explanation Below)
Posted on September 17, 2009Today, I have the honor of being the Constitution Day Speaker for the Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. A recent poll in Oklahoma City, however, suggests that before we celebrate the Constitution, we may have to explain what it is. This includes gaps in such basis knowledge as “who was the [...
Federal Judge Calls Obama ?Birther? Challenge ?Frivolous? and Orly Taitz Calls for Judge to Be Tried for Treason
Posted on September 17, 2009U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land issued a stern warning to attorney Orly Taitz (left) and others in the so-called “birther” campaign: do not file another such “frivolous” lawsuit or you will face sanctions. Land threw out the lawsuit filed on behalf of Capt...
Louisiana Approves New Rules Allowing Teachers to Challenge the Basis of Evolution While California Court Rules that Teacher Violated Constitution By Criticizing Evolution
Posted on September 17, 2009There is a couple of interesting stories on the continued struggle over teaching evolution in public schools. In Louisiana, the state has approved special rules allowing teachers to challenge the basis of the theory of creationism. In California, a court ruled that a history teacher’s criticism of creationism violated the Constitution...
Poll: Thirty-Two Percent of Conservatives Believe Obama is Foreign-Born While Almost Twenty Percent Believe He Is the Actual Anti-Christ
Posted on September 17, 2009A new poll by the Public Policy Polling group of New Jersey voters is out, here. An impressive 32% of conservatives believe that President Barack Obama is foreign born. With an additional 19% expressing uncertainty, that brings the figure to 51% of the polled citizens expressing the belief or suspicion that he is [...
Video: English Police Search for Mad Chicken Licker
Posted on September 17, 2009Police in England are using this video put on the Internet to search for a man who calls himself Adeel Ayub after he (and apparently an accomplish) filmed Ayub committing gross acts of vandalism at a Asda store (owned by Walmart), including opening packages and licking fresh chickens...
The True Test of a Father?s Love: Dad Catches Foul Ball in Phillies Game Only To Watch in Horror As Daughter Throws It Back
Posted on September 16, 2009I love this video. Steve Monforto is overjoyed with catching a foul ball in the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals. He proudly gives the ball to his daughter only to watch her throw it back. Ultimately, a father’s love overcomes a fan’s loss as you can see in the [...
To Do List: Buy Milk, Visit Grandpa, Drop Off Corpse ? North Carolina Man Arrested for Driving Around Dead Friend on Errands
Posted on September 16, 2009Eric Henry, Jr., 19, of Winnabow, North Carolina may have had the best intentions when his friend, John Ferguson, 23, died from a suspected overdose and put him in the car. However, he appears to have concluded that there was a lack of urgency in getting him to a hospital and instead [...
Ohio Death Row Inmate Given One-Week Reprieve After Officials Fail to Find a Vein
Posted on September 16, 2009Romell Broom, 52, was given a rare one-week reprieve when officials struggled for hours to find a vein strong enough to handle lethal injection. The scene was particularly grotesque for critics of the death penalty as Broom awaited his death for hours as he was pricked and probed...
House Democrats Seek to Curtail Member Speech in the Wake of Wilson Controversy
Posted on September 16, 2009In a move that raises serious questions under Article One and the First Amendment to the Constitution, House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has announced new rules for what members can and cannot say on the floor and in committee. The rules are remarkably broad and arbitrary in limiting comments regarding the President...
For a Good Time, Call Juror 12: Juror Held in Contempt in Trial of Anand Jon Alexander For Contacting Sister
Posted on September 16, 2009Alvin Dymally selected a poor place for a pick up. Dymally was a juror in the rape trial of fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander, 35. While other jurors were staring at the defendant, Dymally apparently could not take his eyes off the defendant’s sister Sanjana...
Grudge Match: Hulk Hogan Sues Zuckerman Spaeder For Malpractice
Posted on September 16, 2009The death match is on! Hulk Hogan versus Morris “Sandy” Weinberg Jr. This grudge match is set for Florida with a $1.5 million purse. Hogan (whose real name is Terry Bollea is suing his two former attorneys, Morris “Sandy” Weinberg Jr...
Mommy?s Little Helper: Cincinnati Woman Arrested for Spanking Two-Year-Old Son of a Stranger
Posted on September 16, 2009Grandmother Gloria Ballard is accused of spanking another person’s two-year-old child in a Cincinnati store. Dannay Jones says that Ballard was telling her how to handle her son when she grabbed Sean Goode, put him over her knee and spanked him...
Burglary and Bushid?: Johns Hopkins Student Kills Intruder With Samurai Sword
Posted on September 15, 2009A Johns Hopkins University student appears to take a literal view of the Castle Doctrine: he defends his domicile with an actual sword. The student encountered a man who had broken into the garage of his off-campus housing and proceeded to kill him with a Samurai sword...
Urine Good Company, Mr. Stark: Congressman Tells Constituent that He Will Not Pee on His Leg
Posted on September 15, 2009Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif) appears to have a curious way of showing respect: he urinates on your leg. At least that is the impression from this YouTube clip where Stark tells a critic of the health bill: “I wouldn’t dignify you by peeing on your leg, it wouldn’t be worth wasting the [...
Lawyer Loses Bid To Claim Over $100,000 in Deductions for Prostitutes and Related Expenses
Posted on September 15, 2009Attorney William Halby has lost another effort to allow him to deduct his “medical” use of prostitutes from his taxes. He lost a claim of over $100,000 in deductions before the federal Tax Court. The opinion is fascinating. The problem is that Halby’s use of prostitutes was neither doctor ordered nor legal in New [...
The Tweet That Got Away: Obama Calls Kanye West a ?Jackass?
Posted on September 15, 2009In the rush to tweet the news by leading networks, journalists can sometimes find that technology moves a bit faster than editors. It appears that President Barack Obama made an off-the-record comment that called Kanye West a “Jackass.” It ran on a twitter from ABC’s Terry Moran and appears to have led to [...
Guilty By a Hair? Florida Woman Accused of False Imprisonment By Holding Customer?s Hair
Posted on September 15, 2009Chanda Davina Warren, 21, has a novel criminal charge. Police say that she was running a beauty shop out of her apartment when she demanded payment for a hair styling half way through the haircut to pay her bills. When the customer refused, she allegedly grabbed her hair and held scissors to it [...
Florida Man Insists on Being Able to Drink Shoplifted Beer Before Paying Debt to Society
Posted on September 15, 2009There is a certain logic to the position of George R. Linthicum II, who was arrested after shoplifting beer from a Florida convenience store. If he was going to go to jail, he insisted that the police at least allow him to drink one of the beers. Linthicum is charged Wednesday with shoplifting, battery, possession [...
Lord of the Flies II: Parents and Activists Call For End of School Farm Program After Students Vote to Cull Lamb
Posted on September 15, 2009A popular farming and livestock program at a primary school in Kent may be shutdown after the student council voted to ignore objections from parents and animal activists and have a six-month-old lamb named Marcus slaughtered for cash. The 14-member council composed of 6 to 11 year old children voted to turn Marcus into [...
Wilson Admonished ? With Only Seven Republicans Voting for the Sanction
Posted on September 15, 2009Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, has achieved the ignoble distinction of being admonished by the House after refusing to apologize on the floor for his outburst during the presidential address of President Barack Obama. What is astonishing is that only seven Republicans voted to uphold the House rules and to admonish their colleague in [...
Fairley Certain: Prosecutor Decides that No Charges Are Appropriate for Officer Who Shot an Unarmed Fire Chief in Courtroom ? But Fire Chief Should be Charged
Posted on September 14, 2009We previously discussed the case of Fire Chief Don Payne in Jericho, Arkansas where he went to court for a second time in one day to complain about the police use of abusive speed traps in the small town. An argument erupted in front of Judge Tonya Alexander and Payne was shot from behind by [...
Legal Question of the Day: Can Kanye West Face Legal Action For His MTV Conduct?
Posted on September 14, 2009The video below shows what would be considered rude and brutish conduct in every culture from the American society to the Klingon society. But was it actionable? When Kanye West grabbed country-pop star Taylor Swift’s mike at the ceremony, there may have been a minor assault but the most likely charge, if any was brought, [...
ACORN Threatens Legal Action Against Filmmaker Over Investigative Film
Posted on September 14, 2009ACORN has fired the two employees shown in the recent undercover video by filmmaker James O’Keefe of Veritas Visuals– showing the staffers advising a faux pimp and prostitute (here) on how to get federal assistance and lie on federal forms...
Danish Viral Video of Mother Seeking the Father of Her Son is a Fake ? and Possible Pitch for Tourism
Posted on September 14, 2009This is an amazing story. This video went viral and shows an attractive Danish woman who used YouTube (and other sites) to look for the father of her baby boy (”August”) after a drunken one-night stand in Denmark. It now appears that she is actually an actress named Ditte Arnth Jorgensen and [...
Insurance With the Works: Indiana Board Latest to Rule That Employers Must Pay For Weight Loss of Workers
Posted on September 14, 2009There is an interesting decision out of Indianapolis where a board has ruled that Boston’s Gourmet Pizza must pay for weigh-loss surgery of a 340-pound employee, Adam Childers, after he suffered a back injury at work. Boston’s Gourmet Pizza will have to pay for a lap-band surgery for Childers under a 4-3 decision of the workers’ [...
Federal Judge Blasts Lenient Treatment of Blogger Andrew M. Sullivan in Drug Case
Posted on September 14, 2009In a rare rebuke to prosecutors, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings has criticized the decision of the United States Attorneys office to drop charges against well-known blogger Andrew M. Sullivan, who was arrested by park rangers on a Cape Cod national beach for possession of marijuana on July 13th...
Waste Not Want Not: Green Bike Shop Owner Given Citation for Not Having Enough Trash
Posted on September 14, 2009Bike shop owner Mark Howard prides himself on running a green business with virtually no trash. It is a bit too green for English authorities, who hit him with a citation. The reason? Not enough trash. Howard was given a £180 fine because officers simply do not believe that anyone is that efficient...
THE PERILS OF ALL YOU CAN EAT RESTAURANTS
Posted on September 13, 2009There is nothing sadder than binge eating. The terrible thing is when he woke up, he immediately stumbled over to the all-you-can-eat dessert table.
Police Officer Finds Missing Cat, Takes It To a Field, Shoots It In the Head, and Throw It In the Trash
Posted on September 13, 2009Police in Raymore, Missouri have a curious way to recovering missing pets. When 19-year-old Tobey disappeared on Labor Day, she was eventually found by a police officer. However, since it did not have a tag, the dispatcher ordered the officer to take the cat directly to a field and “put him down...
Minnesota Man Shoots Himself While Trying to Loosen Lug Nut on Tire With Shotgun
Posted on September 13, 2009Most of us when faced with a stuck lug nut on a flat tire will look for some leverage. A man in South Kitsap, Washington, however, looked for something with a bit more firepower. He was injured when he tried to loosen the nut with a 12-gauge shotgun...
Twelve-Year-Old ?Child-Bride? in Yemen Dies in Labor
Posted on September 13, 2009Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, 12, is the latest victim of the tradition of child-bride under Sharia law in some Muslim countries. She died after three-days of labor trying to give birth to a child that was the result of her marriage to a 24-year-old man in Yemen...
Movie Selection of the Fittest: Creationists Block Internationally Acclaimed Movie on Darwin From Being Shown in U.S.
Posted on September 13, 2009In an act of utter cowardice, United States distributors appears to be caving into a creationist campaign to bar the movie Creation on the life of Charles Darwin. The film explores his loss of faith following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie...
Pawlenty Suggests Minnesota May Join Tenth Amendment Challenge to the Federal Health Bill
Posted on September 12, 2009Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) appears to have joined those governors threatening constitutional challenges under the Tenth Amendment to any federal health care bill. I discussed these arguments last night on this segment of Countdown and earlier on this segment of the Rachel Maddow show...
Monkey Business: Arizona Man Hit with Dozens of Tickets as Mysterious Speeding Monkey
Posted on September 12, 2009Dave VonTesmar of Phoenix has a novel defense to a series of speeding tickets: I am not the monkey in that picture and you cannot prove that I am. “Someone” driving VonTesmar’s car has been racking up dozens of speeding tickets while wearing monkey and giraffe masks...
Pressing the Flesh: Newt Gingrich?s Group Awards Porn Executive with ?Entrepreneur of the Year Award?
Posted on September 12, 2009Newt Gingrich’s selection for “Entrepreneur of the Year” came not only as a surprise to executive Allison Vivas but Gingrich’s supporters. You see, Vivas is the president of adult entertainment studio Pink Visual, a porn operation...
Media Report: Caster Semenya is a Hermaphrodite
Posted on September 12, 2009Now, here’s a novel legal question. If someone is a hermaphrodite, can they choose to run in either male or female races? That is a question that may face international sporting events after a report that an examination of Caster Semenya, 18, discovered that she has both male and female sexual organs...
Homeowner Convicted for Beating Armed Robber ? Faces Tort Liability
Posted on September 12, 2009There is an interesting case out of England on the limits of self-defense, a question that we often discuss in class. Munir Hussain, 52, has been convicted for attacking an armed robber who broke into his house and held him and his family hostage — while reportedly promising to kill them all...
Madonna Accused of Sinking Bulgarian Ship and Killing 15 People
Posted on September 11, 2009The Bulgarian Church has announced that it has found the culprit in the sinking of a boat this week that killed 15 people: Madonna. This may not come as a surprise to some, but it appears that Madonna’s show was such an affront to God that he decided to kill a bunch of Bulgarian [...
Georgia Accused of Killing Hundreds of Turtles To Protect Them From Their Owner
Posted on September 11, 2009The State of Georgia has a curious way of protecting animals. In 2005, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources raided the home of amateur herpetologist Steve Santhuff and seized 500 turtles. Santhuff was ultimately able to prove that he had not guilty of criminal charges when a jury acquitted him of all charges...
It?s Okay To Be Gay in Uruguay: Civil Unions are Recognized in the First Latin American Country
Posted on September 11, 2009“It’s okay if U R Gay in Uruguay.” That slogan could become one of the biggest tourist attractions of the year. This week Uruguay became the first Latin American country to legalize civil unions for homosexual couples. Under the new law, gay and straight couples will be allowed to form civil unions after living together [...
A Heckle Becomes a Rallying Cry: Joe Wilson Calls for Donations to Keep From ?Being Muzzled?
Posted on September 11, 2009Rep. Joe Wilson has gone on the offensive with the release of this fund-raising video calling for contributions to prevent critics from “muzzling” him. This follows a \flood of contributions to his opponent Rob Miller in the immediate aftermath of his outburst on the floor of the House of Representatives during the President’s address [...
Texas Teenager Arrested in Wendy?s Prank Posted on YouTube
Posted on September 11, 2009James Tyler Markle, 19, has been arrested in another prank case. In this case, his prank at a Wendy’s in Texas cost over $20,000 and resulted in charges of one count of terrorizing and one count of felony criminal damage to property. The prankster posted the prank on YouTube, which ultimately proved his undoing: The incident [...
Eight Angry Men: Jury Sent Home After Alleged Brawl During Deliberations
Posted on September 11, 2009It is not clear what is more interesting the legal problems in the trial over Merck?s osteoporosis drug Fosamax or the alleged assaults occurring in the jury room during deliberations. United States District Judge John Keenan in Manhattan was forced to issue the novel “time out” order this week and send home the eight [...
Cats Frame Another Biped: Florida Man Arrested in Confrontation with Feline Fifth Column
Posted on September 11, 2009When will this country wake up to the cat menace? After following cases of cats framing humans (here and here), we have yet another example of the feline Fifth Column. Robert Taylor fell victim to a classic cat trap. He returned home to find that his cat had used his bed as [...
Law Professor Charged With Tax Violations and Claims an A.D.D. Defense
Posted on September 10, 2009Minnesota prosecutors have charged Hamline University professor Robin Magee with 11 felony counts for failing to file tax returns and filing false returns. In addition to to criminal law, tax law is one of Magee’s specialties and she also practices as a tax lawyer...
Getting Scratch For Crack: Florida Man Arrested in Alleged Flea-to-Crack Scheme
Posted on September 10, 2009Jeffie Dewitt Morris, 36, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida is not your typical addict looking for a fix. Morris came up with the idea of shoplifting flea and tick medication to pay for crack. Morris was stopped at a Wal-Mart with hot flea and tick medication that he hoped to sell for drugs...
California Assemblyman Michael Duvall Resigns After Boasting of How He Sleeps With Lobbyists
Posted on September 10, 2009Republican California Assemblyman Michael D. Duvall has resigned shortly after the release of the video below where he brags in disgusting and graphic detail about sleeping with lobbyists in his office. The conservative politicians who was known for campaigning on family and Christian values may now return to selling insurance with his partner [...
GOP Rep. Joe Wilson Calls the President a Liar During Address to Congress
Posted on September 10, 2009In one of the most extraordinary breaches of congressional etiquette in the history of presidential addresses to Congress, Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.) screamed at President Barack Obama last night “You lie” during his speech on health care...
SPACE BUTTERFLY
Posted on September 10, 2009I give you the space butterfly. This was taken by the Hubble telescope. It is believed to dwarf Rex Harrison’s Giant Lunar Moth. For collectors, the problem is not the size of the net, but the speed of the insect. This particular specimen of lepidoptera racing at over 600,000 mph from a dying star...
British Express Anger Over Deaths in Rescue of New York Times Reporter Who Ignored Repeated Warnings Not to Go Into Taliban Stronghold
Posted on September 10, 2009New York Times reporter and blogger Stephen Farrell is being criticized in the wake of his rescue by British commandos, a rescue that claimed the lives of a woman, child, and a British soldier. Commanders are expressing anger that Farrell not only ignored repeated warnings not to go to the site in hostile territory, [...
ACORNs in the Fire: Video Allegedly Shows Employees Advising a (Faux) Pimp and Prostitute on How To Lie to the Government and Seek Support
Posted on September 10, 2009ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has long been a target for conservative organizations and one such organization has released this video purportedly shown ACORN’s Baltimore office assisting two investigators posing as a prostitute and a pimp in getting federal assistance for a brothel...
Assault with a Slimey Weapon: Florida Man Accused of Attacking People With Jellyfish
Posted on September 10, 2009I am pretty sure that this is a unique crime. Keith Edward Marriott, 41, is charged with repeatedly pretending to drown in Madeira Beach, Florida and then throwing jellyfish at people who came to help him. Marriott is accused of pretending to drown and then floating back to the top of the water to [...
Now Playing at the Supremes: Hillary the Movie (The Sequel)
Posted on September 09, 2009Most of us despise sequels, but the Supreme Court has a hankering to rehear the case of Hillary: the Movie. Today, the Supreme Court will be taking up the case for a second time — and its ultimate reviews could hold great significance for campaign financing...
Video: Ohio Congresswoman Tells Supporter that Obama is Not a Citizen and Can?t Be President
Posted on September 09, 2009Republicans may want to just keep away from open mikes for a while. After a ranking Republican in California was caught describing in disgusting detail sex with a lobbyist, Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) was caught whispering to a constituent that she agrees that President Obama is not a legitimate president due to [...
Shock Video: California Legislator Caught on Tape Graphically Describing Sex With Lobbyist in Office
Posted on September 09, 2009Republican California Assemblyman Michael D. Duvall appears to like to brag about his sexual conquests. The problem is that he did so next to a live mike, in a state legislative room . . . and the woman was a lobbyist who he said had sex with him in his office...
Ninth Circuit: California Judge Improperly Influenced Jury to Convict Defendant
Posted on September 09, 2009Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Virga improperly influenced a jury to find a defendant guilty in a sexual assault case. The actions of the former prosecutor have resulted in a new trial being ordered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...
Former Prosecutor Suspended for Shoplifting
Posted on September 09, 2009Former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Dennis Fisher has been barred from practicing law for another year as punishment for stealing two knives. He was accused of not only stealing the knives but resisting employees who tried to stop him. He was fired as a prosecutor after his arrest for thefts from stores in Grand [...
The Ultimate Pick Up Line: Robber Allegedly Returns to Ask Victim Out on a Date
Posted on September 09, 2009If Stephfon Bennett, 20, thought that “Hey, I’m the guy who robbed you, wanna go out?” is a good pick up line, he was right. The Columbia police picked him up after Bennett allegedly returned to the home of a woman he robbed to ask her on a date...
Putting Customers in the Big Box: Wal-Mart Employees Beat Shoplifter to Death
Posted on September 09, 2009Wal-Mart in China appears to take shoplifting pretty seriously. Wal-Mart employees found a woman shoplifting and, despite efforts of witnesses to stop them, beat her to death. The matter is now being handled as a murder rather than shoplifting case...
Constitutional Illiteracy: Texas Orders All Schools To Teach ?Bible Literacy?
Posted on September 08, 2009Texas legislators have continued their battle to add religious training in public schools. The state has a new law that requires that Texas public schools incorporate Bible literacy into the curriculum — though it offers no guidelines or instructions in how to do so...
Be Prepared, But No Packing: English Scouts Told Not To Carry Penknives to End ?Knife Culture?
Posted on September 08, 2009Scouts in England have been told that they are no longer allowed to carry their classic penknives in a move against a “knife culture” by English officials. Both scouts and their parents are asked not to carry knives so not to foster criminal images...
Taliban Call For An Investigation of a Bombing ? By Someone Else
Posted on September 08, 2009There must have been a bit of confusion in the German military headquarters. The Taliban has called for an investigation into a bombing ordered by the German commander in Afghanistan. That’s right, the Taliban who routinely bomb civilians, throw acid on little girls, and commit acts of terrorism as a matter of religion...
Making Sarkozy?s Short List: French President Seeks Citizens Who Can Measure Up
Posted on September 08, 2009It is well-known that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a bit sensitive about being 5′ 5” tall. He often stands on his toes for pictures or uses a box. He has, however, come up with a new idea. If you can make yourself taller, you can make the world smaller...
Off Key: Piper Calls on City Employees To Oppose Obama?s ?Muslim? Stamp
Posted on September 08, 2009Clarksville Tennessee Mayor Johnny Piper has achieved his own degree of infamy for himself and his town. Piper forwarded an email to every City Council member, department head, many city employees, friends and family to raise the alarm over President Barack Obama’s decision to release a stamp to honor Muslims...
Legal Question of the Day: Did He Win?
Posted on September 08, 2009You be the judge . . . This is reportedly from the Soundpony Street Sprints held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You certainly have to give him credit for competitive spirit. However, does the bike and rider have to cross together to win?
Bad Hair Day: Florida Prisoner Escapes in Boxers and Eludes Police
Posted on September 08, 2009Reed Ashton Hair, 20, has achieved something of a feat. He escaped in handcuffs wearing only boxer shorts. Yet, he remains at large. Hair was arrested for stolen property when he bolted into the dark and not a hair was found. In case you see a 6′1” man in boxers and cuffs, please call the [...
Iowa School Accused of Strip Searching Teenage Girls in Search of Stolen Money
Posted on September 07, 2009School officials in at Atlantic High School (”Home of the Trojans & Trojanns“) in Des Moines, Iowa are facing questions of why five teenage girls were forced to take off their clothing for a search after a classmate reported $100 missing from her purse...
Things That Tick Me Off: The History Channel
Posted on September 07, 2009As a history nut, one of the most annoying contradictions in life is the fact that the History Channel continues to use history in its title after abandoning such programming in a mindless rush for ratings. Just as you rarely hear music on MTV, you rarely see history on the History Channel...
HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!
Posted on September 07, 2009Happy Labor Day to everyone. We are setting up for our traditional grilling experience with neighbors and friends, though it is pretty overcast in Virginia. The kids are grumbling about school starting tomorrow and the end of summer, but they have one last hurrah before hitting the books...
Faithful Rally Around Paster Anderson as ?Caring Human Being? as Anderson Reaffirms His Desire to See Obama Die
Posted on September 07, 2009The members of the Faithful Word Baptist Church have gathered to affirm their support for their pastor, Steven L. Anderson, who has called for the death of President Barack Obama and “melted like a snail.” Anderson went out of his way to reaffirm his desire to see Obama die...
Really, Really Cold Case: New York Detectives Re-Open the 400-Year-Old Unsolved Murder of John Colman
Posted on September 07, 2009The murder of John Colman is not exactly a cold case, it is positively glacial. New York detectives have taken up the case 400 years after the English seaman was found murdered and buried in a shallow grave. No weapon, no motive. The culprit, however, is believed to be out of the [...
Evolution Claims Another Victim: Evangelical Motorcyclist Injured While Jumping Giant Creationist Crab
Posted on September 06, 2009Freedom Worship Baptist Church in Blanchester, Ohio wanted to demonstrate the fallacy of evolution of the human species and appears to have succeeded. The Church arranged forStunt driver Louis Re of New York to jump in a motocycle over a giant horseshoe crab — an example often cited by creationists to show creatures have [...
Dutch Prosecutors Charge Arab Group With Hate Speech Over Cartoon
Posted on September 06, 2009We have been following the trend among Western countries in rolling back on free speech with different forms of blasphemy laws, here. Much of this attack on free speech began after the controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad. Now, Dutch prosecutors are charging an Arab group for publishing cartoons questioning the [...
Former Business Dean at Illinois College of Law Charged With Theft and Forgery
Posted on September 06, 2009The University of Illinois College of Law has already had a bad year with allegations of less qualified students being given entrance into the school as favors for politicians. Now, Dean Ming Liu Bengtsson, 38, the assistant business dean at the law school has been arrested for allegedly stealing $20,000 at her previous job [...
Arizona Man Arrested After Video Shows Him Trying to Feed Kitten to Python and Then Kicking It to Death
Posted on September 06, 2009Jeremy Tuffly, 28, may be the leading contender for the worst human being of the week. The Mesa, Arizona man is shown in the videotape below trying to feed a 6-week-old kitten to a python snake. After repeatedly throwing the kitten at the snake (only to have the kitten run back to him), [...
Super sizing the Body of Christ
Posted on September 06, 2009Jesus is now not just available everywhere, but he is even more beefy. None of this should surprise anyone in the fast food or religious areas. After all, a Catholic priest confirmed that an image on a Mexican restaurant fry stove was that of the Virgin Mary here...
Parents Unite Against Obama?s ?Brainwashing? Speech to Students
Posted on September 06, 2009OK this is getting bizarre. This mother breaks into tears when she thinks of the President of the United States speaking to her children in school. We are less than two days away from Obama’s brain-washing, soul-crushing, communist-loving subliminal speech to our children...
HARMONY
Posted on September 06, 2009In light of our recent reaffirmation of the civility rule on this blog, I give you evidence that species with generations of “difficulties” can overcome such instincts and impulses to achieve harmony. If you are more of a dog person, the message remains the same:
Wichita Police Officer Orders Grandmother to Stop CPR on Drowned Boy Despite Alleged Signs of Recovery ? The Boy Dies
Posted on September 05, 2009Pam Jordan says that she was hopeful when she began CPR on her three-year-old grandson Isaiah Jones after he drowned in the family’s pool. He was allegedly regaining color and coughing. That stopped, she claims, when a Wichita police officer arrived and inexplicably ordered her to stop and move away from the child...
Secessionists and Separatists Discover the Tenth Amendment
Posted on September 05, 2009Suddenly, it appears that most extreme elements of our political debate have discovered the Tenth Amendment in arguing for either secession or a type of state independence that borders on separatism. This video of a Texas secessionist rally is shocking given the chants of “we hate the United States” but it is most telling [...
Have You Seen His Man Sweating Near You?
Posted on September 05, 2009?The FBI is seeking a man who it calls the “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” Robber in a new wanted poster. He is rather easy to spot and possibly to smell. To paraphrase Hans and Franz, the FBI wants (please add Austrian accent) “to lock you up...
Sheriff Under Investigation After Allegedly Giving Taser to Man Who Appears on Video to Shock Son as Joke
Posted on September 05, 2009This video is the subject of an investigation into Hallwood Chief of Police Wilson Glenn, who is accused of giving his taser to a father who then appears to tase his son as a joke. Handing over a police weapon for laughs and giggles is hardly good police practice...
Men Lining Up for Admission in John School
Posted on September 04, 2009Well, there are mandatory parenting and driving schools. Now, there are “John schools” for men caught soliciting prostitutes. Cities are turning to John schools to curb prostitution. They might have to teach some old dogs new tricks. This week, an octogenarian was arrested in a sting targeting johns outside of Washington...
Shooting Payne: Fire Chief Argues with Police Officers About Speed Traps ? Police Officer Shoots Fire Chief
Posted on September 04, 2009There was a bizarre scene in Ericho, Arkansas where Fire Chief Don Payne went to court for a second time in one day to complain about the police use of abusive speed traps in the small town. An argument erupted in front of Judge Tonya Alexander and Payne was shot from behind by one [...
One Orr in the Water: Defendant Stops Trial After Eating Own Waste in Court
Posted on September 04, 2009OK, this is incredibly disgusting but it is another example of what lawyers sometimes have to deal with in court. James Orr, 66, stopped his trial for robbery and kidnapping when he removed his colostomy bag and began to consume the contents. While this particular act is thankfully uncommon, the courts have to [...
Indiana Officer Not Satisfied When Breathalyzer Clears Man, So They Use of a Catheter and Then Charge Him With Obstruction When He Is Shown Again to Be Sober
Posted on September 04, 2009In Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Officer Brian Miller was not happy when Jamie Lockard, 53, agreed to a Breathalyzer that showed that he was not driving drunk. So, Miller and his colleagues arrested Lockard anyway, strapped him to a gurney and took blood as well as allegedly using a catheter against his will to extract [...
Reich Message All Wrong? German AIDS Awareness Video Under Attack
Posted on September 04, 2009There is an interesting controversy brewing internationally over the use of the advert (shown below) entitled “Aids is Mass Murder” featuring Adolph Hitler as engaged in unprotected sex. It is a PETA-like shock video that has many activists complaining that it vilifies HIV-positive people...
Hi, I?m Amy Gdala: Doctors Isolate Part of the Brain that Recognizes Appropriate Distance Between People
Posted on September 04, 2009It turns out that your “personal space” is all in your head. There is a fascinating story in the current issue of Nature involving the ability of human to sense and maintain proper “personal space.” Researchers at Caltech found a woman who had extensive damage to her amygdala, the part of the brain [...
Ohio Police Officer Holds Knife to Neck of Girlfriend and Kicks Her in the Stomach ? Gets a $150 Fine and an Anger Management Class
Posted on September 04, 2009A Willard police officer Joshua Dorsey, 28, received what is being criticized as a remarkably light sentence after allegedly pressing a knife to the chin or neck of his girlfriend and kicking her in the stomach. He was ordered to undergo anger management and fined $150...
Judge Recuses Himself After Denouncing Latte Drinking, Cigar-Smoking Lawyer
Posted on September 03, 2009Judge John Doyle is facing accusations that he is an latte-hating, cigar-smoker baiting jurist or worse. Doyle recused himself after losing his patience with a bank lawyer, Farzad Milani, and telling him that he could not allow the lawyer to sit in his office ?smoking his Cohiba cigars and drinking his lattes” while the [...
Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Under Fire For Master?s Thesis
Posted on September 03, 2009Who says no one will read your college or university thesis? Robert F. McDonnell, Republican candidate for Governor in Virginia, is now wishing that he had chosen a simple paper on the life and times of Thomas Jefferson. Instead, as a masters student at Regents University, he wrote a thesis against government policies [...
Australian Man Faces Twenty Years for Sharing Baby-Swinging Video
Posted on September 03, 2009There is an extraordinary case out of Queensland, Australia. Chris Illingworth, 61, is charged for merely copying and watching a viral video of a man swinging a baby. Prosecutors have charged that he distributed a child abuse video –even though the government itself rated the video as MA15+ (appropriate for anyone over 15)...
The Supremes: Picking the Top Nine Justices of All Time
Posted on September 03, 2009Last night I discussed the growing speculation that Justice John Paul Stevens, an icon of the Court with over three decades of service, may be preparing to retire (here). On both a personal and jurisprudential level, Stevens remains one of my favorite judicial figures...
Bridal Moments II: Weddings Are [Usually] No Laughing Matter
Posted on September 03, 2009Melissa and Andrew Engstrom’s wedding was not halted by anyone objecting to the union, but rather . . . Of course, this is still better than the bride who took an unexpected swim . . .
Former Attorney General Arrested After Allegedly Killing Bicyclist in Road Rage Incident
Posted on September 03, 2009When he served as the attorney general for Ontario, Michael Bryant argued for harsh punishment for criminals, including a crackdown traffic crimes such a speeders. He is now accused in a shocking act of road rage that killed a bicyclist who Bryant allegedly rammed into a mailbox...
Till Prison Do Us Part: Man Claims Private Necessity in Robbing Bank to Escape Wife
Posted on September 03, 2009Anthony Miller, 39, does not appear to have heard of a no-fault divorce. Caught in a joyless marriage, Miller says that he did the only thing that he could of to escape his wife: he robbed a bank and waited to be arrested. Miller met his wife through a Christian dating Web site and [...
Out on a Limb: Bank of American Refuses to Cash Check Unless Man Can Grow New Thumb
Posted on September 02, 2009Bank of America may have given out money like a drunken sailor before the federal bailout, but it held the line with Steve Valdez. The bank refused to allow Valdez to cash a check after he stubbornly refused to give them his thumbprint to confirm his identification...
Top 500: Vote For Your Favorite Lawyers
Posted on September 02, 2009The annual selection of the top 500 lawyers in America has begun at LawDragon. You can vote for your favorite colleagues, teachers, or counsel. While I am happy to be on the ballot, I am more happy to see others not on the ballot. Notably, John Ashcroft is no longer on the list...
Hatchery Horror: Video Shows Live Chicks Being Discharged By Being Thrown Live Into Grinder
Posted on September 02, 2009An undercover video by Mercy for Animals purportedly reveals a shocking treatment of baby chicks at the Hy-Line North America’s hatchery in Spencer, Iowa. The video below shows workers discarding unwanted chicks by sending them alive into a grinder while others are left to die on the factory floor...
Mommy?s Little Helper: Georgia Man Charged With Slapping Toddler to Stop Her From Crying at Wal-Mart
Posted on September 02, 2009There is an interesting criminal and torts case out of Georgia. Roger Stephens, 61, is accused of slapping a 2-year-old child across the face when she would not stop crying. That is bad enough, but the child was not his. The mother told police that her child was crying in a Stone Mountain Wal-Mart when [...
Maryland College President Under Fire For Lavish Spending
Posted on September 02, 2009Public schools are cutting back deeply during this economic downturn but you would not know it from reading the credit card bill for Brian Keith Johnson, the Montgomery College president. Johnson appears to have personally taken on the cause of stimulating the economy with his state-funded spending...
Stevens: Speculation Grows Over Stevens Resignation
Posted on September 02, 2009Due to its cultural insularity and secrecy, legal commentators often have to act like old Sovietologists who would predict shifts in power by who in the Politburo was standing where on top of Lenin’s tomb. For Supremologists, there are other common indicators: the most prominent is the reduction of judicial clerks...
WORKERS OF THE WORD UNITE! WOMAN FIRED FOR WRITING IN ALL CAPS
Posted on September 01, 2009Vicki Walker was fired because she was a habitual user of all caps on emails. She was reinstated after a New Zealand board found in her favor and ordered payment of lost wages. Walker worked as an accountant for ProCare Health and was accused of writing emails with words in red, in bold and in [...
Miss California Superior Court: Carrier Prejean Sues Pageant Over Termination
Posted on September 01, 2009Former Miss California Carrie Prejean, 22, has sued Miss California USA for llibel, public disclosure of private facts, religious discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress stemming from the controversy over her position on gay marriage...
Is Moody Not Just Messy But Mad? Man Arrested for Repeatedly Climbing Into Outhouse Toilet
Posted on September 01, 2009Gary Moody appears to have a problem. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to trespass in a pit toilet in White Mountain National Forest property in New Hampshire. He was ordered to seek help. However, he has now been arrested again for climbing down into a pit toilet at the park...
New York Settles Mass Arrest Case ? Drops Charges
Posted on September 01, 2009There is a mass arrest story. As has been discussed earlier, we have an ongoing arrest case in Washington, D.C., here. In May 2007 police arrested dozens of young people who police alleged were basically rioting through the streets. The students insisted that they were on their way to a funeral [...
The First Thing We Do Kill All The Lawyer Blogs
Posted on September 01, 2009When Dick the Butcher declared in Shakespeare’s Henry VI “The first thing we do let’s kill all the lawyers,” he may have been prophetic. Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann has written on his blog that his unscientific survey shows that legal blogs tend to have a lifespan of less than a year...
Rollover: Former Toyota Lawyer Accuses Company of Destroying Evidence of Rollover Problems
Posted on August 31, 2009Attorney Dimitrios Biller was the former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales USA and handled rollover cases for the company. He has now done a rollover of his own — accusing the car manufacturer of destroying evidence of rollover in a “ruthless conspiracy” to hide dangers...
Brooklyn ?Doctor? Wins Bail ? Just $11 Million in Cash
Posted on August 31, 2009Michail Sorodsky, a Brooklyn man accused of practicing medicine without a license and abusing patients under anesthesia, has won bail — sort of. The court set bail at either $11 million cash or $33 million bail bond. The constitutional question is whether an $11 million bail is the same as a denial [...
Shock Video: Officers Beat DUI Suspect in Cell ? and Later Cleared in Internal Investigation
Posted on August 31, 2009An Illinois sheriff this week is seeking to reverse a board decision reinstating three officers in Tazewell county, Illinois despite this shocking video tape. On the video, Sergeant Richard Johnston, and correctional officers Jeffery Bieber and Justin Piro are shown beating Becky Behm after she was arrested on a charge of driving under the [...
De-Evolution: Missouri School Officials Order Return of Band T-Shirts Showing Picture of Evolution
Posted on August 31, 2009Evolution in Sedalia, Missouri appears to be moving in reverse. The band leaders of the Smith-Cotton High School Tiger Pride Marching Band thought that they had a cute idea in showing the images of monkeys evolving into band members under the words ?Brass Evolutions 2009...
West Virginia Lawyer Tells Jury that Raped Prostitutes Were Not Like Their Mothers and Daughters ? Nothing More Than ?Whores? and ?Tramps?
Posted on August 31, 2009West Virginia defense lawyer Ed ReBrook had a difficult case in representing Thomas H. Gravely, 31, who was accused of raping Charleston prostitutes. However, critics charge that he made a difficult case worse by calling no witnesses and using highly offensive terms to describe the victims...
The Thin White Line: Memphis Officer Arrested in Major Cocaine Bush
Posted on August 30, 2009While Memphis officials trying to keep tasers out of the hands of their officers (here), they are also trying to do the same with narcotics. A major bust this week led to the arrest of officer Lowell Duke, 37, who is accused of participating in a large drug operation...
Memphis Turns Down Tasers For Its Officers
Posted on August 30, 2009In a rare departure from the trend in the expanding use of tasers by law enforcement, the city council of Memphis has refused a request by the Memphis Police Department to add tasers to its arsenal. Memphis Police Chief Elena Danishevskaya requested the authority but the city council was unwilling to approve the use of the [...
You Had Me At ?Hello, Your Honor?: Houston Judge Indicted After Allegedly Offering to Help Woman in Exchange for a Sexual Relationship
Posted on August 30, 2009Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law judge Donald W. Jackson, 59, has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge of official oppression – allegedly offering to get a DWI defendant help in dismissing her case in exchange for a sexual relationship. Notably, he allegedly insisted that he was not interested in “a one-night stand” in seeking to [...
Who Would You Want to Drive You to the Governor?s Mansion? Corzine Spokesperson Raises Driving Skills As Criteria for Office
Posted on August 30, 2009In an interesting twist to the usual negative political traditions in New Jersey, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has attacked Republican challenger Chris Christie’s driving record, denouncing him as “a complete menace to society on the highways of New Jersey” with 13 moving violations over the last two and a half decades...
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Posted on August 30, 2009You read the Tennessee Williams play. Now you can see the real thing. No doubt sunning themselves after entrapping humans.
The Big Easy: Former Deputy and Current Illinois Reserve Officer Arrested in Drug Bust
Posted on August 30, 2009While Memphis is dealing with an officer who allegedly helped run a major cocaine operation (here), Illinois police are dealing with a former Harvey police deputy marshal and an Illinois State Police reserve officer who has been arrested in a drugs and weapons operation...
Florida Police Officer Drives 100-Miles-an-Hour Without Lights, Siren, or Reason and Cripples Teenager ? Not Given Sobriety Test and Will Not Be Criminally Charged
Posted on August 29, 2009Former Altamonte Springs police officer Mark Maupin drove 100-mile-an-hour without siren or lights for no apparent reason. He ended up hitting teenager Erskin Bell who was left paralyzed and his family was left with massive monthly medical bills. Officers at the scene, however, did not give Maupin a sobriety test and now he [...
The Trouble With Hairy: Nebraska Man Arrested For Entering Ladies Room at Health Club Covered in Towels
Posted on August 29, 2009Lincoln, Nebraska (The Weekly Vice) – Gregory Tyrrell, 45, is a registered sex offender who allegedly came up with a dangerously idea. He covered himself with towels from head to toe and repeatedly went into the women’s locker room in a Lincoln, Nebraska health club...
Accused Pedophile Commits Suicide Minutes Before Jury Delivers Not Guilty Verdict
Posted on August 29, 2009William Telano Evans committed suicide in Florida this week just minutes before a jury reaching a verdict acquitting him of sexually abusing a girl three decades ago. The case turned on a technical defense rather than an innocence claim. Evans was charged with sexual battery between the summer of 1980 and Jan...
South Carolina Man Goes Dragonfly Hunting with Rifle and Shoots Friend
Posted on August 29, 2009It appears that folks in South Carolina prefer to bag for dragonflies with old-fashioned way: with a hunting rifle. A South Carolina man reportedly decided to use a rifle rather than a net to catch dragonflies at a hunting club in Johnsonville, South Carolina (pop...
Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel ?Amends? Financial Disclosure Form to More Than Double His Reported Income
Posted on August 29, 2009Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel has played a large role in tax policy — and advocated increasing taxes to pay for the massive spending of this Congress. He is now accused of underreporting his own income by a shocking degree. Republicans have complained that the media and blogs have been relatively [...
Cincinnati Police Officer Suspended After Tasering Woman on Her Knees With Her Hands in the Air
Posted on August 28, 2009Cincinnati Police Officer Anthony Plummer is accused to tasering the wrong person in the wrong way. First, he allegedly tasered a woman who was on her knees with her hands in the air. Second, it turned out to be Celeste Thomas, 26, daughter of City Councilman Cecil Thomas, a former police officer who [...
Pastor Prays for President Obama?s Death on Eve of His Visit to Arizona
Posted on August 28, 2009Pastor Steven Anderson has used his position at Faithful World Baptist Church, in Tempe, Arizona to bring just a little more hate into the world. Pastor Anderson is praying for the death of President Obama and an eternity in hell. “Nope. I’m not gonna pray for his good...
Dutch Royals Win While Italian PM Sues Media
Posted on August 28, 2009The Dutch royal family of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander has prevailed in its suit against the Associated Press for taking pictures of them on vacation in Argentina. In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is suing the media for the coverage of his private life...
California Deputy Attorney General Ellyn Levinson Loses Torts Case Involving Horseback Riding Injury
Posted on August 28, 2009California Deputy Attorney General Ellyn Levinson has lost her personal injury case against a rancher who allowed her to ride one of his horses as a party. A California court ruled that falling off the horse was Levinson’s own fault and not that of the owner...
Blameless? Novelist Lisa Ann Reardon Arrested for Attempted Murder of Father
Posted on August 28, 2009Novelist Lisa Ann Reardon, 47, has been arrested for shooting her father in . . . well . . . the rear. George Hicks escaped the assault by running into his house when Reardon allegedly fired repeated shots from a 20-gauge shotgun. Reardon is being held on charges of assault with intent to [...
Good Citizens Don?t Wear Plaid: Richmond Schools Ban Stripes and Plaids as Key to Success
Posted on August 28, 2009While other school officials are struggling against the scourges of drugs and violence, officials at the Richmond Community Schools in Indiana have started a campaign against the ravages of stripes and plaids. Officials have prohibited clothing other than solid colors and have parents seeing solid red...
Former Adjunct Law Professor Arrested After Taking Two Guns and 53 Rounds of Ammunition in Law Library
Posted on August 27, 2009Former University of Louisville Adjunct Law Professor Thomas H. Irwin, 56, was arrested this week after bringing two handguns and 53 rounds of ammunition into the campus law library. Irwin had been declared a “persona non grata” in December 2008 for alleged harassment of another employee at the school...
Detroit Muslim Woman Sues After Being Told To Remove Hijab in Court
Posted on August 27, 2009Raneen Albaghdady, a Muslim in Detroit, is suing ayne Circuit Judge J. William Callahan who told her to remove her hijab or scarf in his courtroom (like the one shown to the left of a different woman). She alleges denial of her freedom of religion as well as denial of access to the courts...
Video: Rep. Lynn Jenkins Announces that Republicans Are Looking for ?Great White Hope?
Posted on August 27, 2009The Topeka Capitol-Journal is reporting that Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) told a town hall meeting that Republicans are searching for the “great white hope.” In the videotape, the newspaper reports that Jenkins says “Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope...
D.C. Attorney General?s Declaration in Protest Case Challenged by Council Members and Lawyers
Posted on August 27, 2009The controversy continues over the District’s alleged destruction of evidence and withholding of documents in the World Bank protest case. The case deals with the mass arrests conducted without probable cause during the World Bank/IMF protests of 2002...
Saudi Arabian Father Forces 10-Year-Old Daughter To Return to 80-Year-Old Husband
Posted on August 27, 2009A ten-year-old girl found hiding in her aunt’s home was forcibly returned to her eighty-year-old husband by her father. While the man would be called a pedophile in the West, he is called a husband under Sharia law in Saudi Arabia and could rightfully demand the return of the child wife...
Florida: No Parents Better Than Gay Parents
Posted on August 27, 2009The state of Florida has argued that its ban on gay foster parents is based on the “fact” that gay households are often unstable and unhealthy. The law is a lingering remnant of the reprehensible national campaign by Anita Bryant against gay rights...
Florida Parents Protest Ban on Students Wearing ?Islam is of the Devil? T-Shirts
Posted on August 27, 2009Parents of the Dove World Outreach Center recently sent their children to local public schools with their own messages of faith: t-shirts that read “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL.” They then protested after school officials sent their children home and are threatening possible legal action...
Client Calls: Former Client Shoots Lawyer in Chicago While Lawyer Shoots Former Client in North Carolina
Posted on August 26, 2009We have two cases of lawyers encountering former clients in their homes in stories this week. In one case, Chicago retired attorney Carl Kuhn, 82, was allegedly killed by his former client Terry Bratcher, 43, and another man, Keith Allen, 21. In South Carolina, attorney and state senator R...
Ted Kennedy Dies at 77
Posted on August 26, 2009The ‘Lion of the Senate” is dead. Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy lost his battle with brain cancer on Tuesday and died at 77. With his death, the country lost one of the most tireless and passionate voices for the poor and powerless in our nation...
Saudi Arabia Bans ?Evil? Summer Festivals
Posted on August 26, 2009The morals police in Saudi Arabia has directed their attention toward the latest conspiracy to corrupt the youth and undermine Islam: summer festivals. The religious police have declared that these festivals improperly encourage the mixing of men and women and involve such evil acts as dancing and magic shows...
Indiana Deputy Sheriff Arrested For Allegedly Soliciting Women at Speedway Gas Station
Posted on August 26, 2009Indianapolis deputy sheriff, Paul Wagner, 25, has been arrested for allegedly soliciting women for sex by offering them free sodas or candy bars while working as a security officer at a Speedway gas station. He has not only been charged with solicitation of prostitution but also official misconduct after being put under surveillance...
Oregon Police Do NOT Taser Naked Man
Posted on August 26, 2009Raymond Lawrence Roberson, 70, first threatened to blow up his van, threatened anyone who came near him, paraded around with a rifle, and then shutdown a highway after barricading himself in his van. When he emerged, he stripped naked and was tackled by police...
Stephen Colbert: The ?Sexualized? Stalinesque Anti-Christ
Posted on August 25, 2009The good people at Christwire have finally identified the threat to both this nation and its collective soul. It is not Al Qaeda or gay gym teachers. It is Stephen Colbert. Stephenson Billings who bills himself as an Investigative Journalist, Motivational Children’s Party Entertainer and Antique Soda Bottle Collector has written a [...
Rhode Island to Shutdown for Twelve Days
Posted on August 25, 2009Rhode Island is the latest state government to discover that the public simply cannot afford a government — at least for twelve days. With hundreds of billions spent on Iraq and Afghanistan (with new calls for an increase in Afghanistan), it is understandably confusing for many citizens as states sell off government buildings and [...
Obama Administration Loses Bid to Keep Secret the Recipients of $2 Trillion in Stimulus Money
Posted on August 25, 2009For months, many Democrats and civil libertarians have complained about the disconnect between what President Obama says and what he does as President. One area of the greatest criticism has been the effort of the Obama Administration to block public review of embarrassing pictures, White House logs, controversial memoranda, or disclosure of governmental actions [...
Sign of the Times
Posted on August 25, 2009With new reports on a soaring deficit and runaway spending and debt, this sign could not be more apropos. It is part of a website showing an array of humor-based pitches for change. Find these people and give them money.
Walmart Conquers the Wilderness: Virginia Board Allows Big Box Store to Build Near Civil War Battlefield
Posted on August 25, 2009It took almost 150 years, but Virginia has finally surrendered at the Battle for the Wilderness — without firing a shot. In a terrible blow to historians and preservationists, the Orange County Board of Supervisors caved into pressure from Walmart and business groups to allow the construction of a huge Walmart store next to [...
Judges in ?Kids for Cash? Scandal Drop Pleas and Demand Trial
Posted on August 25, 2009The former Pennsylvania judges charged in the “kids for cash” corruption scandal — Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan — have withdrawn their guilty pleas and demanded a trial. They took the step after Senior U...
Meet Meth Man and Crank Boy: Police Break Up Alleged Meth and Comics Ring
Posted on August 25, 2009Holy Crystal Ice, Batman, those comic dealers could be meth dealers. Brothers Aaron and Alfonzo Castro are accused of running a large methamphetamine ring in the Denver area and laundering the cash through a high-end comic business, including first-edition Superman and Batman titles...
A Pence of Power and a Paucity of Sense: London Police Drop Case Against Film Maker For Stealing .003 Pence in Electricity ? After Spending $8,200
Posted on August 24, 2009Mark Guard, 44, is a film maker and electricity thief. Arrested for stealing .003 pence of power, the police and prosecutors spent $8,200 prosecuting Guard before dropping the case and finally letting their Guard down. Guard was filming a documentary about crime and the homeless when he filmed squatters going through an open window in [...
Flip and Fall: Chicago Woman Sues Zoo for Dolphin-Induced Fall
Posted on August 24, 2009The Dolphin did it. That is likely to be the defense of the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, which is being sued for the 2008 fall of Allecyn Edwards. Edwards fell while walking near the exhibit of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins were performing and where there are dolphins performing there is usually water...
Bitter Port: Formerly Anonymous Blogger Attacks Model and Announces Lawsuit Against Google
Posted on August 24, 2009The anonymous blogger who called model Liskula Cohen a “ho” and “skank” has been identified. According to reports, it was blogger Rosemary Port, who is now threatening a lawsuit of her own against Google. Former Vogue cover model, Cohen, 36, succeeded in her effort to find the identity of Port...
Man v. Cat: Utah Man Arrested After Shooting Bystanders in Confrontation with Feline
Posted on August 24, 2009Besides taking one of the most memorable mug shots, Kay Fotheringham, 52, is notable as the latest victim of the cat conspiracy. We have already seen how a cat framed a man by downloading porn on his computer (here). Now, a feline felon caused Fotheringham to wound a driver’s ed instructor and student [...
Report: Justice Department To Re-Open Nearly a Dozen Prisoner-Abuse Cases
Posted on August 24, 2009The Justice Department appears close to re-opening nearly a dozen prisoner abuse cases that were all but buried by the Bush Administration. The move comes after a recommendation of the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility...
Small Change: Man Opposes Child Support that Resulted From ?Consumer Transaction? With Prostitute
Posted on August 23, 2009An Australian man is opposing child support on novel grounds: that payment would violate the Trade Practices Act. The man insists that he paid a prostitute for sex and that the sex was a “consumer transaction” and was confined by its terms to the sexual act...
Man Steals Painting of Virgin Mary to Pay For Abortion For an Underaged Girl He Raped
Posted on August 23, 2009If I recall correctly from my high school preparatory seminary, there are venal sinners and mortal sinners, but we might have to find a third category for Aurelio Vallerillo-Sanchez, 39. He was convicted of stealing a 300-year-old painting of the Virgin Mary to pay for an abortion for a teenage girl who he [...
HOT DOG
Posted on August 23, 2009During the dog days of summer, there are certain signs to look for when it is time to service the ac unit. Let it not be said that canine intelligence is wanting in any way.
Connecticut Police Officer Accused of Impersonating Brother and Raping His Girlfriend
Posted on August 23, 2009Jared Rohrig, an Orange, Connecticut police officer was charged in a bizarre crime this week: he raped his twin brother’s girlfriend by posing as Joe Rohrig on July 19th. The likeness was so close that the girlfriend was unable to spot the trick until she noticed the telltale absence of a cowboy tatoo [...
British MP Under Attack for Walking Out of Segregated Wedding in East London
Posted on August 23, 2009MP Jim Fitzpatrick is under fire by the large Muslim population in East London after he and his wife left a wedding party when they were told that it was segregated by gender due to the Islamic faith of the couple. Tory candidate Tim Archer attacked Fitzpatrick, saying that he “is playing a certain [...
Marriott Blames Mother Raped in One of Its Garages in Counterclaim to Tort Lawsuit
Posted on August 22, 2009Stamford Marriott Hotel and Spa has allowed its attorneys to aggressively pursue a mother of two children who was pulled into her van and raped in front of her children in a Marriott hotel. Marriott now asserts that the 40-year-old mother was responsible in the attack, failed to “mitigate their damages,” and has sought [...
Negro Educational Emergency Drive Fires PittGirl After Learning Her Identity
Posted on August 22, 2009The Negro Educational Emergency Drive did not take long to fire Virginia Montanez after she revealed that she was the popular — and once anonymous — blogger PittGirl. PittGirl was a favorite of readers in Pittsburgh and would dish out funny jabs against the political establishment, particularly the mayor...
Palin-Hannity in 2012 ? A DNC Fantasy Moves Closer to Reality
Posted on August 22, 2009It is a dream of many a Democratic strategist: A Hannity-Palin Ticket or Palin-Hannity Ticket in 2012. According to one news report, Sean Hannity added fuel to the speculation this week by saying that he would not rule out a run and would await direction from the Almighty...
Taliban Cut Off Fingers of Women Voting in National Elections
Posted on August 22, 2009The Taliban has made good on its horrific promise to cut off the fingers of people with the tell-tale dye stains on their fingers after voting in the national elections. This does not surprise me about these extremists who believe any atrocity in the name of Allah is permitted...
Shock Video: BYU Professor Tasered in Court
Posted on August 21, 2009We have been following questionable uses of tasers by police. This video from 2004 raises some disturbing questions where a former BYU professor Tom Lowery is tasered in court during a rambling argument. It is clear that the use of the force, in my view, was unnecessary and improper — particularly in a [...
Six Police Officers Shoot Man 43 Times in Self-Defense ? Stopping to Reload in Three Volleys
Posted on August 21, 2009Police insist that they were acting in self-defense when they shoot Alonzo Heyward in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There is no question that Heyward was carrying a rifle around his neighborhood and ranting about suicide. However, it was the response to the danger that has people demanding answers: the six officers fired 59 rounds [...
How Can It Be [Legally] Wrong When It Feels So Right: Sen. John Ensign Defends Affair as Not ?Legally Wrong?
Posted on August 21, 2009This week Sen. John Ensign announced that he would remain in the Senate and insisted that he had not “done anything legally wrong.” He also rejected analogies to Bill Clinton, who he voted to convict in his Senate trial. Ensign’s statement is fascinating from a legal standpoint...
Police Officer Fired (and Three Suspended) for Photo of Twin Peaks Waitress Holding Assault Rifle
Posted on August 21, 2009A Twin Peaks restaurant advertises scantily dressed waitresses and a “fun, friendly and sometimes flirty atmosphere.” It was a bit too much for Round Rock Texas police officers who had a waitress pose on their police cruiser holding an assault rifle...
Two New York Criminal Defense Attorneys Convicted of Witness Tampering
Posted on August 21, 2009Criminal defense attorney and television commentator Robert Simels, 62, has been convicted in Brooklyn of plotting to kill witnesses. Also convicted was attorney Arienne Irving, 31, who was convicted of witness tampering. The jury only acquitted Simels on one count dealing with false statements after deliberating for seven days...
Police Taser Sets Homeless Man on Fire
Posted on August 21, 2009We have another case of a man bursting into flames after being tasered. Recently, an Australian man burst into flames after being tasered. In Lancaster, Ohio a homeless man named Daniel Wood, 31, caught fire after being tasered due to chemicals from an aerosol can he was inhaling...
Bank Mistakingly Forecloses on Home and Kicks Florida Family Out With Only Three Hours Notice
Posted on August 20, 2009Anna Ramirez has a right to be a bit peeved. Recently, her family (including her husband, daughter and grand children) was thrown on the street with little warning and her house auctioned off at a fraction of what she paid for it. It turns out that foreclosure was a mistake by Chase [...
Record Bender or Gender Bender: South African Runner Faces Gender Testing
Posted on August 20, 2009South African Caster Semenya, 18, is facing an rare legal challenge in her sports career. The problem is not drug testing but gender testing. Various people have accused Semenya of being a male and sports officials are planning gender testing to result the dispute...
Nutter Threatens to Shutdown Court System and Cut Police Force
Posted on August 20, 2009As we continue to pour money into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, cities are continuing to shutdown for lack of money (here). The latest such story comes from Philadelphia where officials are facing a shutdown of the entire court system due to budget shortfalls...
U.S. News and World Report Releases 2010 Top Rankings of Colleges
Posted on August 20, 2009U.S. News and World Report has released this year’s ranking of the top colleges and universities in the country. Harvard and Princeton tie for the top spot among national universities. Here are the top twenty choices: Costs 2008 Total enrollment Fall 2008 Acceptance rate Compare RANK 1: Harvard University Cambridge, MA 2009-2010 Tuition [...
One Glad Lawyer: Leading California Lawyer Avoids Criminal Charges In Running Over Girl Scouts
Posted on August 20, 2009Lawyers often joke to clients that it was not like they ran over a group of girl scouts. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal partner Paul Glad made that common joke a reality when he ran over a group of mother and children selling Girl Scout cookies in Burlingame, California...
Law Professor and Leading Massachusetts Lawyer Accused of Involvement in the Illegal Home Pot Growing Business
Posted on August 20, 2009Timothy Wilton, a professor at Suffolk University Law School, and Kathy Jo Cook, former president of the Women?s Bar Association of Massachusetts, have been accused by their son (and stepson) of knowledge of his drug dealing and home pot growing operation...
Justice Denied: Seventh Circuit Rejects Challenge to Gun Registration Law
Posted on August 20, 2009The Seventh Circuit continues to push the envelope on the recently recognized individual right to bear arms. In an interesting opinion by Judge Diana Wood, a three-judge panel ruled that the town of Cicero could still require gun registration without violating the Second Amendment...
Police Officers Arrested After Allegedly Smoking Pot at Police Softball Game and Then Fleeing Pursuing Officers
Posted on August 19, 2009Two police officers fled a police softball game with thousands of police from around the country after they were found smoking pot in their van. One officer, Souza, reportedly resisted arrest and had to be pepper sprayed. Shayne Souza, 47, and Kevin Fujioka, 37, allegedly parking illegally when other officers smelled the weed...
New Jersey City Finds Solution to Solving Street Crime: Get Rid of the People
Posted on August 19, 2009The officials in Paterson, New Jersey appear to be closing in on the problem of crime in their city: the citizens. The city is considering the first citywide curfew on adults to curb crime. No people, no crime — that sounds simple enough. The ordinance would prevent people of all ages from [...
State Court Strikes Down Oklahoma Abortion Law Requiring Ultrasound
Posted on August 19, 2009Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki L. Robertson has struck down that state’s 2008 law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and offer women detailed information about the tests before performing abortions. The law was challenged as an effort to harass and deter women from obtaining abortions...
Supreme Court Stays Execution and Says Evidence of Innocence Should Be Given Evidentiary Hearing
Posted on August 19, 2009In a major ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered an evidentiary hearing on innocence claims of Troy Davis, who is on death row in Georgia for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail. Not only did the Supreme Court stop the execution, but it created new law on the right of the [...
Afghanistan Government Calls on Media Not To Report Violence on Election Day
Posted on August 19, 2009The Afghan government has decided that the next best thing to having a violence free election day is to have a day without any reported violence. The government has told the media not to carry reports of violence on election day — fearing that citizens may be reluctant to vote if they are informed [...
Former Vogue Model Succeeds in Forcing Google to Reveal Identity of Anonymous Critic
Posted on August 19, 2009Former Vogue cover model, Liskula Cohen, 36, has succeeded in her court case to find the identity of an anonymous critic who wrote bad things about her in a “Skanks in NYC” blog. A Manhattan supreme court Justice Joan Madden ruled that Cohen was entitled to the information and ordered Google to turn over the information...
If He Kissimmee Once, Will He Kissimmee Again? Man Spends Three Months In Jail After Officer Claims Breath Mint was Crack Cocaine
Posted on August 19, 2009All Donald May wanted was fresh breath. Instead, he got the months in the slammer. When an officer in Kissimmee, Florida pulled May over for expired plates, he saw a white mint in his mouth. The officer said it looked like crack cocaine and had him spit it out...
California Divorce Lawyer Pleads No Contest to Sexual Battery of Clients
Posted on August 18, 2009Sacramento divorce attorney Gary Appelblatt, 58, has pleaded no contest to four counts of sexual battery and one additional count of attempted sexual contact. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary E. Ransom will now sentence Appelblatt, who is looking at likely jail time for a bizarre series of assaults on clients...
Study: Ninety Percent of U.S. Bills Have Traces of Cocaine
Posted on August 18, 2009A study by Yuegang Zuo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, has made a surprising discovery: ninety percent of U.S. bills tested by this laboratory had traces of cocaine on it. One of the culprits is the cash machine, which tends to spread contamination to other bills...
Arizona Man Accused of Trying to Sell Car in ?Cash for Clunkers? Program After Fatal Hit-and-Run
Posted on August 18, 2009Timothy Kissida, 23, was not exactly the poster boy for the “cash for clunkers” program. Kissida is accused of killing Chuck Waldrop, 52, in a hit and run accident. He then went that day to a dealer and traded in the damaged car in the “cash for clunkers” program in Phoenix, Arizona...
Tweeting God: Company Sets Up Twitter Site to Insert Tweets in Western Wall
Posted on August 18, 2009Annoying tweets are not just for the public anymore. We can now tweet the Almighty through a new Twitter site: twitter.com/thekotel. Alon Nir will print out your tweets and insert them in the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Of course, you have to put some trust in both Lord and Nir: he lives in [...
Exploding Apt: EU Concerned Over Alleged Exploding IPhones
Posted on August 18, 2009As an IPhone user, I am generally happy (with the exception of a tendency for the phone to dial people on its own). It does have some cool apps. The EU, however, is more concerning over whether it is apt to explode. While Apple insists that these are “isolated incidents,” the EU is investigating various [...
Hit, Haul, and Run: Texas Man Accuses of Hitting Bicyclist, Pulling Him into Car, and Driving Home
Posted on August 18, 2009Vincent Paul Riojas is not your typical accused hit-and-run felon. Where all hit and run felons flee the scene, Riojas stopped and took the body of his victim with him to his home. Police allege that Riojas, 27, hit Kellar on his bike. He then allegedly stopped and pulled Kellar off his trunk, dragged him [...
Head Case: Texas Judge Posted Pictures of Criminals with Obama Shirts
Posted on August 18, 2009Texas Judge Tom Head is under fire this week after he posted the pictures of nine people wearing Obama shirts. Seven of the nine men were black and the pictures were accompanied by material critical of Obama supports and suggesting that Republican voters are rarely arrested...
Rule Burkini, Burkini Rules the Waves: English Pools Require ?Modest? Dress for Both Muslim and Non-Muslim Swimmers
Posted on August 17, 2009While the French are banning the burkini (a swimsuit that covers Muslim women like a burka), various English pools are requiring women to don covering from their necks to ankles –men are required to cover up from their navels to their knees. During these hours, men and women are barred if they are not [...
Texas Officials Arrest Parents and Take Away Their Children for Taking Pictures of Their Children in a Bathtub and Breastfeeding
Posted on August 17, 2009Jacqueline Mercado, a 33-year-old Peruvian immigrant, and her boyfriend Johnny Fernandez simply wanted to keep memories of the childhood of her children when Jacqueline went to Eckerd Drugs to develop photos that she took of her children in a bath. The good people at Exkerd Drugs in Richardson, Texas saw not frolicking kids but [...
Sentencing of New Jersey Man with 12 DWI Convictions and 78 License Suspensions ? Due to Two More DWI Charges in a Different County
Posted on August 17, 2009We have been following the case of Shaun Campbell, 40, who has been allowed to rack up at least a dozen drunk driving convictions and 78 suspended license violations. Campbell’s day of judgment appeared to have come this week, but was suddenly delayed by ...
It?s Hammer Time! Tom DeLay To Dance With the Stars
Posted on August 17, 2009This sounds like something from the Capitol Steps, but former Republican House Majority Leader Tom (The Hammer) DeLay will be on this season of Dancing of the Stars. I kid you not. This will hopefully by the only Dancing with the Stars entry on this blog, but the show has described its newest [...
Boise Man Sues Police After Being Tasered in Buttocks and Threatened With Sodomy
Posted on August 17, 2009A man in Boise, Idaho is suing after the Boise Police Department declared that an officer who tasered him on the buttocks and threatened him with sodomy with a taser did not violate the law. While against policy, the police insist that the officer (who also threatened to shock his genitalia) merely failed to [...
Report: Hundreds of Gays Tortured and Killed in Iraq
Posted on August 17, 2009As we continue to pour billions of dollars and sacrifice lives of our military in Iraq, the country continues its return to radical Islamic rule. We have seen the continued denial of basic rights for women in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Now there is a report of hundreds of gay men and women [...
Burglars Turn in Child Pornographer After Stealing His Computer
Posted on August 17, 2009Never say the English do not have a better class of criminals. When burglars broke into the home of Richard Coverdale, 24, they were delighted to snare a computer with the rest of the property. They soon discovered, however, disturbing pictures of child pornography and turned in the evidence to the cops...
Clementine Cartel Fights for Turf on East Coast
Posted on August 17, 2009I warned about this lemonade cartel but no one listened after the town of Tulare California caved to the citrus criminal element. Now, New York officials are facing a new cartel on the other coast headed by a shadowy figure known as “Clementine...
DENY EVERYTHING
Posted on August 16, 2009I know this looks bad but there is always a defense. Of course, this week’s award for creativity in a criminal defense belongs to Keith Griffin of Jensen Beach, Florida. We are on our last day in Duck after a wonderful time with monster waves, dolphin sightings, and castle building...
Florida High School Principal and Athletic Director Face Six Months Over Prayers
Posted on August 16, 2009It is not that Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and school athletic director Robert Freeman do not have a prayer, they had too many prayers. The two officials defied a settlement barring prayers on constitutional ground and now face six-month sentences — a matter of widespread protest among parents...
Yale Publishes Book Addressing Controversy Over Muhammad Cartoons ? And Deletes All of the Pictures of the Cartoons
Posted on August 16, 2009In an astonishing act, Yale University Press has told an author that her book addressing the controversy over the Muhammad cartoons will be published — without any of the 12 cartoons shown in the book. Muslims consider images of Muhammad to be blasphemous and particularly object to the insulting cartoons, which caused riots and [...
French Ban Burkinis
Posted on August 16, 2009The French has been fighting against the wearing of religious scarves and Burkas by Muslim women for years. Now, French officials have taken on the Burkini — a loose swimsuit that covers Muslim women like a wetsuit with a hood. Burkinis have been banned in pools as more clothing than swimsuit...
Police Taser Man Sitting on His Front Porch
Posted on August 15, 2009This video has raised objections over why police appear to walk up to a man sitting on his porch and taser him without any violent act on his part. There appears to be more to this story, however, given the large number of officers who are present. Does anyone know the back story? [...
Chicago Woman Sues Ex-Boyfriend Over Posting Intimate Pictures on Porn Site
Posted on August 15, 2009In Chicago, Jessica Voth has filed a torts case against her former boyfriend Miles Marsh after he allegedly posted “intimate and personal pictures” of her on a website called exgfpics — or “exgirlfriend pictures.” The site itself appears to cater to such hostile and juvenile acts of ex-boyfriends...
Australian High Court Rules In Favor of Right to Die
Posted on August 15, 2009The Australian high court has issued an important ruling in favor of a quadriplegic man’s right to die. Christian Rossiter will be allowed to refuse food and water and the nursing facility will not be criminally liable for allowing him to kill himself...
Shock Video: New York Officer Tasers Mother in Front of Children After Minor Traffic Stop
Posted on August 15, 2009Audra Harmon, 38, has sued the Onondaga County (N.Y.) Sheriff?s Department in yet another abusive use of a taser without provocation. In this video, the officer yanks Harmon out of the car in order to taser her. What is fascinating is that the officer, Deputy Sean Andrews, could have cuffed her but repeatedly [...
Things That Tick Me Off: Credit Card Travel Policies
Posted on August 15, 2009My latest entry to “Things That Tick Me Off” is the new policy of credit card companies to block purchases on cards when customers simply go from state to state. We now need to call credit card companies and go through the endless series of automatic options to reach an operator to say that [...
Federal Judge Rules Homosexuality Not Per Se Category of Defamation
Posted on August 14, 2009Southern District of New York Judge Denny Chin has handed down an important torts ruling. Lawyer (and former boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith) sued Howard K. Stern, the lawyer and former lover of tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith, sued tabloid journalist Rita Cosby for allegedly defaming him in her book “Blond Ambition: [...
Louisiana Officer in Beating Case Reinstated and Given Back Pay Despite Shocking Videotape
Posted on August 14, 2009It is always controversial when society “allows the criminal to go free because the constable blundered,” but what about allowing the constable to go free because the constable blundered? Shreveport police officer Wiley Willis became a national figure after shocking pictures were released of a woman who was beaten in his custody — after he [...
More Brawner Than Brains: New Mexico Man Arrested After Intimate Moment With Car in Parking Lot
Posted on August 14, 2009Danny Brawner, 46, appears to find a good tranny irresistible. Brawner was arrested in a grocery store parking lot after passing out following an intimate moment with his vehicle. He was found passed out with his pants around his ankles next to the vehicular victim at Smith’s Food and Drug Store in Albuquerque...
Montana Police Release Man Who Shot Co-Worker at Wal-Mart Due to State?s Sweeping ?Castle Doctrine? Law
Posted on August 14, 2009For most prosecutors, it would seem an easy criminal case. Daniel Lira, 32, was working inside Wal-Mart’s loading dock area when he got into an argument with co-worker Craig Schmidt, 49. He ended up hitting Schmidt in the face. Schmidt responded by pulling out a ...
Irish Police Finally Catch Notorious Prawo Jazdy
Posted on August 14, 2009Step aside Keyser Soze. For years, Irish police have hunted notorious Prawo Jazdy, a motorist who had succeeded in evading police for years while racking up speeding and parking tickets across the country. Now, the crime wave of Prawo Jazdy has been brought to an end ...
Driven to Extremes: Maryland Judge Accused of Flattening Tire of Woman in Courthouse Parking Lot
Posted on August 13, 2009Charles Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Nalley has been accused of letting the air out of a car of a part-time cleaning woman who works at the courthouse. Two officers from the county jail insist that they saw the judge let the air out of a 2004 Toyota Corolla that was parked outside of [...
Wright Picks Wrong Bag: Former Clinton Aide Charged With Smuggling Needles and Knife into Arkansas Death Row
Posted on August 13, 2009Betsey Wright, 66, the former Chief-of-Staff to Gov. Bill Clinton, has been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle a knife and 48 needles into the Arkansas death row in a bag of Doritos. Wright, a lifelong opponent to the death penalty, insists that she found the bag in a vending machine and commented “I guess you [...
Iraqi Freedom: U.S. Supported Government Moves to Ban Books
Posted on August 13, 2009With continuing stories of the denial of legal rights, the abuse of women (ad here and here), rise of radical Islam, and war crimes, many Americans are still unsure why we are sacrificing thousands of our citizens and billions in funding in Iraq. Now, the U...
Lawyer Files $13 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Baltimore Sun
Posted on August 13, 2009Criminal defense attorney Ivan J. Bates has filed a $13 million lawsuit against the Baltimore Sun after articles suggested that he engaged in witness tampering and invoked the fifth amendment to avoid incriminating himself in wrongdoing. The Sun is standing by the reporting of journalists Melissa Harris and Julie Bykowicz...
Chuckles the Castrating Clown: Japanese Succeed in Making Clowns Even Scarier
Posted on August 13, 2009Ok, this is just creepy. The Japanese have invented a urinal clown that moves, laughs, and plays music as you . . . well, you can see for yourself. When you combine the common fear of clowns, this becomes particularly disturbing. Therapists must be making a mint...
Rapper ?C-Murder? Miller Convicted Twice of Murder in One Day in Louisiana
Posted on August 12, 2009There is an interesting murder conviction out of Louisiana where Rapper Corey “C-Murder” Miller was found guilty of second-degree murder — but after a series of bizarre problems in the jury room. When the jury first delivered a guilty verdict in the case in the murder of Steve Thomas, 16, it was rejected [...
Minnie Mouse Molested! Pennsylvania Man Found Guilty of Groping Minnie at Magic Kingdom
Posted on August 12, 2009John William Moyer, 60, likes his females short, dark and hairy. Moyer was found guilty of groping a Minnie Mouse character at the Magic Kingdom and sentenced to 180 days of probation, 50 hours, of community service, and a $1,000 fine. Presumably, he also had to get to his car with Mickey, [...
Somalia Stones to Death a Thirteen-Year-Old Girl For Premarital Sex
Posted on August 12, 2009Amnesty International has confirmed that a Sharia court in Somalia executed a 13-year-old girl for having sex outside of marriage in Kismayo. Aisha Ibrahim Kuhulow was reported to be 23 year old, but her father has confirmed widespread reports that she was only 13...
The Corkney Cuban: English Comedian Held By U.S. Officials As Suspected Illegal Alien From Cuba Due to His ?Funny Accent?
Posted on August 12, 2009English comedian Paul O’Grady should have known better. He tried to enter the United States with a “funny accent” and was stopped in Miami by our security officials as a suspected “illegal alien” from Cuba. It was a close call...
Honored in the Breach: Obama Administration Celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions by Gutting Them
Posted on August 12, 2009Today, the Geneva Conventions turned 60. Like many people “of a certain age,” the Geneva Conventions can be forgiven for feeling a bit marginalized and forgotten. The Obama Administration is about to finish the work of the Bush Administration in gutting the enforceability of the Conventions by blocking any investigation or prosecution of [...
Bush White House Memos Show Greater Role of Rove in Firings of U.S. Attorneys
Posted on August 12, 2009Despite his past denials, memos and transcripts released by Congress show that former White House political adviser (and current Fox analyst) Karl Rove was deeply involved in the firing of the U.S. attorney in New Mexico David Iglesias . The material also shows that the White House planned the firings of Iglesias and the [...
Is That an Ice Cream or Are You Just Glad to See Me? Company Introduces ?Vice Cream?
Posted on August 11, 2009If you are tired of the Viagra shakes, get ready for “Vice Cream.” A company is marketing “The Sex Pistol” which is marketed as pumping up your libido with your calorie intake with a mix of sexual-empowering ingredients, including ginkgo, biloba, arginine and guarana — and La Fee Absinthe...
Pampered: Florida Woman Told That There is No Crime in Man Convincing Her To Change HIs Diapers and Feed Him With a Bottle
Posted on August 11, 2009Janet Schulte has been given a surprising education into the line between crime and courtesy in Melbourne, Florida. Schulte was convinced by a man to change his adult diapers due to his mental disability. After three months, she learned that he was not disabled and simply had a diaper fetish...
PETA?s ?Unhappy Meal?: Organization Criticized for Targeting Kids with Carnographic Images
Posted on August 11, 2009Those crazy cats at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are at it again with a new campaign entitled “McCruelty” featuring “Unhappy Meals” with a knife-wielding Ronald McDonald and bloody rubber chickens. Parents are complaining that PETA is targeting kids with the macabre meals...
Over-Stimulated: Alaskan Town of Receives Over $400,000 Per Person for Airport to Nowhere
Posted on August 11, 2009Many of us have been complaining that the Democrats and Republicans have used the economic crisis as an excuse to spend wildly in the stimulus package — pushing our deficit to unprecedented levels. If you are looking for an example, you need to look no further than the “airport to nowhere” in Takotna — population [...
Illinois Judge Sentences Man to Six Months in Jail for Yawning Loudly in Court
Posted on August 11, 2009Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak obviously does not like yawning in the courtroom. He sentenced Clifton Williams to six months in jail after he let out a loud yawn when his cousin was being sentenced on a felony drug charge. The cousin actually received probation...
Massachusetts Man Freed After 21 Years With Discovery of Withheld Exculpatory Evidence
Posted on August 10, 2009Bernard Baran was 19 when he was accused of abusing children at a day care center — one of a spasm of such prosecutions in the 1980s. Baran was convicted on the testimony of the children despite the fact that videotapes showed children denying that he touched them and other referring to “prizes” promised [...
Iran Arrests Chief of Notorious Jail As Accounts of the Torture and Killing of Protesters Mount
Posted on August 10, 2009The Iranian government has arrested the chief of Kahrizak jail as news accounts have documented numerous cases of the torture and killing of protesters arrested in the recent post-presidential protests. These deaths include the alleged killing of seven lawyers...
Flight 2816: Continental Takes Passengers For a Ride
Posted on August 10, 2009The continuing decline of basic comfort and civility in air travel has been a source of continued complaint on this blog and other sites. Many have complained about how they book a flight with a major airline only to be shoved on to some small puddle jumper run by an unknown carrier...
Seven Lawyers Representing Detainees in Iran Reportedly Killed
Posted on August 10, 2009There is an extremely disturbing story out of Iran this morning that seven lawyers in Tabriz and Mashhad have been killed. These brave attorneys were reportedly representing Iranian detained in the post-presidential protests. It is well known that the authorities have threatened and attempted to scare off lawyers from assisting these protesters...
Communism Kills
Posted on August 10, 2009If there was any question that communism kills, just consider the Belusian 21-year-old man crushed to death this week by the collapse of a massive statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin. The drunken man was hanging from Lenin’s arm when the statute broke into pieces and crushed him...
Williams and Connelly Hires Disgraced UBS General Counsel
Posted on August 10, 2009While some may have expected attorney David Aufhauser to be seen in the halls of Williams & Connolly as a client but it appears that he has now been embraced as a partner. It appears that involvement in an insider trading scandal is not a barrier to career advancement...
Holder Plans Whitewash of War Crimes Allegations
Posted on August 10, 2009Reports indicate that Attorney General Eric Holder is close to naming a prosecutor to look into interrogation abuse, but that he is going to structure the investigation to protect high-ranking officials from investigation for war crimes. While Holder admits that waterboarding is torture, he is reportedly going to allow only the investigation into whether [...
THE SECRET LIFE OF CATS
Posted on August 09, 2009This week we saw how Keith Griffin argued that he was framed by his cat, which downloaded over 1000 pornographic images on his computer. Now, with this picture, you people may wake up to the menace of feline computer fraud. We are off to Duck North Carolina for a beach house and I was assured [...
Air Congress: Members Increase the Appropriation for New Planes to Over Half a Billion Dollars
Posted on August 09, 2009After weeks of criticism for its appropriation of almost $200 million to buy new luxury jets for members to fly around the world on thinly disguised vacations, Congress has finally reacted to the objections of this blog and others: it has more than doubled the amount to $550 million to buy eight jets...
Kosher Complaint: Conservative Rabbi Challenges Georgia?s Definition of Kosher
Posted on August 09, 2009There is an interesting entanglement case filed in Atlanta, Georgia where Rabbi Shalom Lewis has challenged Georgia’s Kosher Food Labeling Act (OCGA Sec. 26-2-330 ff.) on the ground that it codifies the definition of kosher by the orthodox rabbis...
My Dog Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student ? Really
Posted on August 09, 2009Next time some parents carries on about how smarter their toddler is, throw the little boy a ball and tell him to roll over. A recent student has shown that dogs are actually as smart or smarter than most 2 1/2 year old toddlers. I was told about the study after my speech [...
Defendant Arrested in Courthouse After Taking Pictures Up Skirt of Legal Assistant In Front of Deputy Sheriff
Posted on August 09, 2009Bryant Gerley Munoz, 19, is far from the ideal criminal defense client. Munoz was in court for a drug charge in Houston, Texas when he decided to take pictures up the skirt of a legal assistant — in front of a deputy sheriff. To make this all the more difficult from a criminal defense perspective, [...
Hopping Mad: Petland Employee Charged After Posting Mocking Pictures of Drowned Rabbits
Posted on August 08, 2009We have another accused Facebook felon. Elizabeth Carlisle, 20, is a Petland employee in Akron, Ohio who decided to drown two injured rabbits at the store and then show the pictures on her Facebook page while smiling. She has been charged with animal cruelty...
Palin Warns of Obama?s ?Death Panel?
Posted on August 08, 2009First there was the Death Star menacing humanity. Now, there is “the Death Panel.” Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called President Barack Obama’s health plan “downright evil” on her Facebook page and warned American of Obama’s “death panel” that will hold the power of life or death over average Americans...
The Cat Did It: Man Framed By Pussy in Porn Sting
Posted on August 08, 2009I have been warning our readers for years about the evil designs and secret lives of cats. Now, Keith Griffin of Jensen Beach, Florida is in jail because of a frame up by his kitty. Griffin was arrested on 10 counts of possession of child pornography after he says his cat downloaded over [...
Jailed Jesters: Retired New York Judge Sentenced for Transporting Prostitutes Across State Lines
Posted on August 08, 2009Retired State Supreme Court Justice Ronald H. Tills, 74, has been sentenced today to 18 months in prison for transporting prostitutes across state lines. Tills reportedly was arrested as part of a probe into the weekends jaunts of the Royal Order of Jesters...
The Bawdy Bard and ?The Noted Weed?: Researchers Find Traces of Cannabis and Cocaine in Pipes at Shakespeare?s Homes
Posted on August 07, 2009A study of pipe stems and bowls from the homes of William Shakespeare by the South African Police Services Forensic Science Laboratory in Pretoria has made an interesting discovery: traced of cannabis and possibly cocaine. The report by the South African Journal of Science suggest that Shakespeare might have tripped the [...
Washington State Assistant Attorney General Pleads Guilty to Telephone Harassment of Neighbor
Posted on August 07, 2009Former Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Milstein, 41, has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to community service for his harassment of a neighbor. He resigned the day before his sentencing. Milstein will have to do 240 hours of community service...
NFW! John Quincy Adams is Tweeting Me
Posted on August 07, 2009John Quincy Adams is tweeting. The Massachusetts Historical Society has begun posting daily tweets from Adams’ diary that he began 200 years ago when he went to Russia as the first U.S. Minister. As a line-a-day diary it is perfect for Twitter...
Video: Well, I Was Driving Along . . .
Posted on August 07, 2009The first thought that comes to mind with this video from Israel is the call of a teen to his parents, “it was a horse, I swear.” Then there is the call to the insurance agent.
Pakistani Eunuchs Fight For Recognition and Rights
Posted on August 07, 2009There is an incredible story out of Pakistan concerning the plight of what are called “eunuchs” in that country. The term is used broadly to refer to transsexuals, transvestites, or hermaphrodites. These marginalized individuals are forced to live in colonies and become prostitutes in a country that shuns and abuses them...
Sotomayor Confirmed 68-31
Posted on August 07, 2009Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by a vote of 68-31. I discussed the confirmation on this segment of Rachel Maddow. Notably, Senator Mel Martinez (R, Fl) was one of nine Republicans to vote in favor despite a campaign against Sotomayor. Today, he announced that he would not run for reelection...
Texas Inmate Succeeds in Hiding Gun in His Own Fat Folds
Posted on August 07, 2009This may be a first. George Vera, 25, found one advantage in being an “oversized” male. Vera was charged with possessing or selling unlabeled recordings. However, at 500 pounds, he successfully hid a 9mm handgun between the folds of his skin despite multiple searches...
Washington Post Raises Need for Judicial Investigation into Destruction of Evidence and Misconduct by District?s Office of the Attorney General
Posted on August 06, 2009The Washington Post weighed in on the expanding controversy over the alleged misconduct of the Office of D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles and his staff in the litigation over the mass arrests during the World Bank/IMF protests of 2002. The Post is calling for the Court, rather than the City Council, to investigate the [...
Former Rep. William Jefferson Convicted on 11 out of 16 Counts
Posted on August 06, 2009Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana was convicted Wednesday on 11 of the 16 corruption charges against him in Alexandria federal court. The conviction follows years of litigation and controversy – including an unconstitutional raid on a congressional office by the Bush Administration...
Shock Video: Man Tasered at Baseball Game in Oakland
Posted on August 06, 2009We have another taser incident at a sporting event. It is unclear why the man was approached. Some reports suggest that he was in the wrong seat and was not obeying the commands of the officers. There is again a question of the need for the taser, which creates a scene that is made [...
Florida Police Officer Arrested for Coercing Sex From Illegal Aliens
Posted on August 06, 2009Broward Deputy Sheriff Jonathan Bleiweiss, 29, has been arrested on charges of using his position to coerce sex from illegal immigrants in Florida. The arrest has shocked the gay community, which saw Bleiweiss as a pioneer as one of the first openly gay officers on the force...
A Wee Little Idea to Save the Planet: Brazilian Campaign Calls for People to Pee in the Shower
Posted on August 06, 2009The latest craze in Brazil is a push to get people to pee in their showers. The effort is designed to conserve water by reducing the use of toilets. Of course, kids have been saving the planet for years. If nothing else, the effort has gotten people to think about the use of water [...
The Importance of Being Earnest: City Shuts Down an Eight-Year-Old Girl?s Lemonade Stand ? Who Is Promptly Given Tickets to Disneyland
Posted on August 06, 2009The government of Tulare California narrowly averted a health emergency this week when it finally trapped down and shutdown Daniela Earnest, aka “the lemonade girl.” Earnest, 8, was running an illegal lemonade stand to raise money “for Disneyland” (probably street slang for heroin)...
Bank of America Misleads Investors Over $5.8 Billion in Bonuses ? SEC Fines Company $33 Million and Executives Keep Jobs and Bonuses
Posted on August 05, 2009The Securities and Exchange Commission has a curious concept of punishment. Bank of America is accused of misleading investors about $5.8 billion in bonuses paid to top executives at Merrill Lynch. The SEC responds with a penalty of a $33 million settlement...
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Accused of Illegally Funneling Money to Two Jewish Groups
Posted on August 05, 2009There is a major fight brewing between New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Councilman Simcha Felder over an allegation of the unlawful use of discretionary funds. Between 2002 and 2006, the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave $1.1 million to the Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and $400,000 to Ohel Children’s Services...
Baptism Under Fire: Virginia Police Taser Grandfather and Mother At Baptism Party
Posted on August 05, 2009Prince William County police are accused of abuse in the tasering of a grandfather and a mother at a baptismal party in Manassas. The party was being held at the home of Edgar A. Rodriguez, 55, when police responded to a call about loud music. The police say that Rodriguez was drunk and failed [...
Sudanese Police Beat Women Protesting Pants Ban
Posted on August 05, 2009Sudanese police beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court Tuesday during the trial of Lubna Hussein, a former U.N. worker and journalist, who is facing flogging for wearing pants in violation of Islamic laws. We previously discussed the story, here...
Welcome to Air Congress: Democrats Push to Expand Fleet of Jets For Foreign Junkets
Posted on August 05, 2009Despite the recent outcry over the massive increase in travel by members, these thinly disguised publicly paid vacations have not only continued but the House of Representatives has now approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy elite Gulfstream jets to add comfort to their travels...
Four-Year-Old Girl Burns Feet in City Park With Improper Matting So City Sues Her Parents
Posted on August 05, 2009Isabella Kern, 4, was playing in the sprinkler in a playground in Queens when she ran barefooted on to the black rubber matting. She almost immediately suffered severe burns that required a week in the hospital. Her family’s lawsuit against the city should be an obvious matter of negligence — it is obviously [...
Shock Jock Exposes Rape on Air ? And His Own Apparent Indifference
Posted on August 04, 2009Shock jock Kyle Sandilands is under attack in a shocking incident in Australia. His show in under investigation after Sandilands did an on-air probe of a 14-year-old’s sexual history while she was hooked up to a lie detector. During the questioning by her mother and Sandilands, the girl said that she was raped [...
Florida City Park Director Orders Removal of Flags To Save Money
Posted on August 04, 2009Clearwater Florida’s Parks and Recreation Director, Kevin Dunbar, is under fire after he ordered the removal of 13 flagpoles and flags from the city this week. Dunbar concluded that flying old Glory was no longer affordable — a move that parallels the decision of various cities and states to sell parks and historic sites [...
Urning Your Love: Cremation Company Introduces Sculpted Urns
Posted on August 04, 2009This may be one of the most unsettling ideas since the party-with-the-dead-guy embalming. The inventive people at Cremation Solutions have come up with the idea of having your loved one staring at you with a head full of his own ashes — as a tender memory...
D.C. Council Members Call for Investigation of Protest Case and Resignation of Attorney General Peter Nickles
Posted on August 04, 2009The D.C. Council members have called for an investigation into the allegations of discovery destruction in the World Bank/IMF case. Given the inquiries into the case, I am posting the recent sanctions material to cut down on calls to my office. I am also posting the transcript from the last hearing...
Following the Herd: Police Officer Charged With Sex With Cows
Posted on August 04, 2009Moorestown Patrolman Robert Melia, 38, is every criminal defense attorney’s nightmare. First, Melia was charged with aggravated sexual assault on three underaged girls. Now, he has been arrested for sex with cows. In April 2008, Melia and his then live-in lover, Heather Lewis, 32, were arrested for the sexual assault on the girls...
The Amazing Collapsing Bike
Posted on August 04, 2009Having just gotten off my first bike ride in eight years (22 miles, one faint heart attack, and years of required therapy), this video struck a cord. Dominic Hargreaves has invented this incredible collapsing bike. As for my bike ride, I expect this is another transparent effort of Leslie to do me in [...
Sugar Addiction: Wisconsin Man Arrested for Second ?Buggery? Offense With Same Horse
Posted on August 03, 2009Rodell Vereen, 50, is facing a bizarre charge that he is a recidivist horse rapist after being captured on surveillance video at the Lazy B Stables in Conway, S.Cwith the same horse — a 21-year-old filling named Sugar — that he had sex with before an earlier arrest...
Wisconsin Dells is Sued by National Guardsmen Who Claim that They Were Forced to Lip Urine in Alley by Officers
Posted on August 03, 2009Wisconsin National Guardsmen have filed a highly disturbing civil rights lawsuit against the cit of Wisconsin Dells, its police chief and three officers. The complaint alleges that police officers Wayne W. Thomas and Collin H. Jacobson forced the two gulf war veterans to lick what was believed to be their own urine off the [...
Chavez Shuts Down 34 ?Bourgeoisie? Radio Stations
Posted on August 03, 2009Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues his authoritarian crackdown in Venezuela with the closure of 34 radio stations for alleged violations of government regulations. Despite the reluctance of some liberals to denounce an obvious dictator in the making, Chavez continues to consolidate power and punish critics — particularly in attacks on the free press...
Things That Tick Me Off: Airline Baggage Policy
Posted on August 03, 2009Today, I am starting a new category for purely cathartic purposes: Things That Tick Me Off. The category is designed to reduce the chances of my committing battery or defamation out of an unexpressed frustration. By burdening our blogging community with a gripe, I hope to extend my life and my marriage...
Federal Judge Throws Out Plea Agreement on Pennsylvania Judges in Juvenile Sentencing Scandal
Posted on August 03, 2009There is a surprising development in the case of former Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan in Pennsylvania. U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik has rejected the plea bargain given the two former judges who previously pleaded guilty in a scheme to steer juveniles to for-profit detention facilities for $2...
Kansas Prosecutor Suspended After Showing Pictures of Rape of Teen Girl
Posted on August 03, 2009Anderson County Attorney Frank Campbell in Kansas was reportedly suspended from practice for six months after he showed pictures of a 17-year-old girl being raped — after declining to prosecute the case. A lawsuit is now being planned, according to news reports...
Federal Appellate Court Rules in Favor of Santeria Priest in Home Sacrifices
Posted on August 03, 2009The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled in favor of a Santeria priest — Jose Merced, 46 — who sacrificed goats in his Texas home in Euless. The court ruled that the prohibition on the ritual violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act (TRFRA)...
Evolution and Devotion
Posted on August 02, 2009In light of today’s story of a creationist killing an evolutionist, this picture throws into question of whether humans have evolved faster than our primate cousins. I apologize for the delay in postings today. I am on by way home from a speech at the ABA Convention in Chicago...
Creationist Kills Evolutionist With Knife But Is Sentenced to Just Five Years After Court Finds Him a ?Person of Good Character? and the Killing ?A Complete Aberration?
Posted on August 02, 2009Scotsman Rudi Boa, 28, and his girlfriend Gillian Brown were on a trip to New South Wales, Australia when they met English backpacker Alexander Christian York, 33. The couple and York had some drinks and soon got into an argument over evolution. York ended up stabbing Boa to death but was given just [...
4500 Year Old Skeleton Found on Italian Beach
Posted on August 02, 2009We have all seen them. People who have had far too much cosmetic surgery and skeletal diets who lay on beaches until they turn the color and texture of aged leather. It appears, however, that the Italians were able to find an actual skeleton among these sun-dwellers on a Roman beach — a [...
New Alleged Victims Come Forward to Accuse Scientology Leader David Miscavige Of Assault
Posted on August 02, 2009In the aftermath of recent stories of alleged abuse, additional former member of the Church of Scientology have come forward with accounts of abuse and claims of cult-like activities — including members who accuse Scientology Leader David Miscavige of assault...
Graduate Sues College After Failing To Get Job
Posted on August 02, 2009Trina Thompson does not feel that she got a sheepskin from Monroe College — just skinned. Thompson, 27, has sued after she failed to get a job and wants her $70,000 back. The basis of the lawsuit seems entirely frivolous and could result in sanctions unless the college made (unlikely) promises of employment...
Mississippi Judge Pleads Guilty To Federal Obstruction
Posted on August 02, 2009We have been following the lawyers and judges implicated in the corruption scandal surrounding lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs. Now the scandal has claimed another individual: Mississippi judge Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter, 55, has pleaded guilty...
Bolivia Bans Circus Animals as Matter of Animal Cruelty
Posted on August 01, 2009Bolivia has enacted the world’s first ban on all animals at a circus — both wild and domestic animals — because such use “constitutes an act of cruelty.” The ban comes just days after the latest video of alleged abuse of elephants released by PETA...
Two Georgia Police Officers Suspended After Allegedly Running Criminal Checks on President Obama From Police Cruiser
Posted on August 01, 2009DeKalb Officers Ryan White and C.M. Route are suspended pending an investigation in why they used a DeKalb County computer to run a check on President Barack Obama. Both are roughly two year veterans of the force. On July 20th, the officers are accused of running a query on a patrol car computer...
Rove Admits Involvement in Firing of Federal Prosecutors and Bush?s Likely Involvment
Posted on July 31, 2009Karl Rove spoke to congressional investigators last week and reportedly admitted that he did play a role in the hiring and firing of federal prosecutors, including at least one of the nine U.S. Attorneys at the heart of the scandal. Rove insisted that his role was minor but also stated that he believes that Bush knew [...
Worker?s Paradise and Paranoia: China Tells Doctors to Stop Treating Patients ? Declaring Sickness Related to New Factory To Be ?Mass Hysteria?
Posted on July 31, 2009After a new factory opened in Jilin, China, citizens flooded local hospitals with complaints about convulsions, breathing difficulties, vomiting and temporary paralysis. They all lived or worked near the new Jilin Connell Chemical Plant. The Chinese government responded in an all too familiar way: declaring the cases to be little more than “mass [...
Culp-able? Lawyer Arrested After Saying ?I Hate the Police? in Front of D.C. Officers
Posted on July 31, 2009Lawyer Pepin Tuma, 33, was speaking with friends on Saturday night about his outrage over the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. when he passed a group of D.C. police officers, including Second District Officer J. Culp. The lawyer started to chant “I hate the police” as he walked by and ended [...
Naggs at a Buck Party: Stripper Arrested for Rape Insists that Use of Sex Toy Was ?Joke?
Posted on July 31, 2009Now, this is a rare rape case. The female defendant is accused of raping a man in front of witnesses with a sex toy and then admits to the penetration but insists that it was a joke. That is the case of stripper Maree Naggs who was arrested after a “buck’s party” (bachelor party) [...
Indian Tantrik Beheads Five-Year-Old Girl in Ritual to Give Man Healthy Male Heirs
Posted on July 31, 2009We have previously followed the work of tantriks in India, here. Now, one of these witchdoctors has been accused of beheading a five-year-old girl in a ritual to help a man produce healthy children. Vandana Kumari, 5, was lured by Mewalal Chauhan to her death...
OMG Jst Drov N Pool BRT: Truck Driver Accused of Crashing While Texting on One Cellphone and Talking on Another
Posted on July 31, 2009Tow Truck driver Nicholas Sparks, 25, is being cited as an example of the dangers of multi-tasking — particularly when you are driving a flatbed truck. Sparks is accused of texting on one cell phone while speaking on another cellphone — before hitting a car, crashing through a fence, sideswiping a house and then [...
Fixodent and Forget It? Company Accused of Injuries Linked to High Zinc Concentrations
Posted on July 31, 2009Fixodent is having trouble convincing some customers that its denture cream allows them to “Enjoy Life Without Worrying About Dentures.” There are a growing number of lawsuits alleging zinc poisoning and neurological injuries linked to Fixodent denture adhesive cream...
Video: Florida Officers Openly Discuss Falsifying Report to Protect Officer From Blame in Accident By Framing a Citizen
Posted on July 30, 2009Broward County prosecutors in Florida have dropped four DUI charges against Alexandra Torrensvilas after this video showed Hollywood police officers making up a false story to pin the blame of an accident on her. The problem is that they did it in front of their dash cameras...
Obama Political Appointees Reportedly Overruled Career Justice Officials In Dropping Charges Against New Black Panther Party for Voter Intimidation
Posted on July 30, 2009Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli overruled career lawyers at the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division to drop a complaint against three members of the New Black Panther Party of intimidating voters in Philadelphia during November’s election — including one member Samir Shabazz who brandished a nightstick...
Officer Admits That He Repeatedly Called Gates a ?Jungle Monkey? But Insists That He Is Not A Racist
Posted on July 30, 2009Boston Police Officer and National Guardsman Justin Barrett has gone public to deny he is a racist and apologize to professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for repeatedly calling Gates a “banana-eating jungle monkey,” insisting that ?I have so many friends of every type of culture and race you can name...
Federal Judge Calls for Investigation of ?The Civil Equivalent of the Ted Stevens Case?
Posted on July 30, 2009The World Bank/IMF protest case had a sanctions hearing yesterday that had found its way into the media. Because I am lead counsel (with Dan Schwartz) in one of the two cases (Chang) against the District of Columbia, Federal government, Fairfax County, and various police officers, I will not comment on the controversy...
Two Police Chiefs Charged in Burglary of the Home of the Surrogate Mother of the Twins of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
Posted on July 30, 2009Two police chiefs — Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter and Bridgeport Chief Chad Dojack — have reportedly been arrested and booked in a case involving actors Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker — and the surrogate mother who recently gave birth to their twin girls...
Splendor in the Graft: Court-Appointed Trustee Sues Ruth Madoff for $45 Million After a ?Life of Splendor?
Posted on July 30, 2009When Ruth Madoff recently agreed to a deal with prosecutors under which she would retain millions, we expressed outrage and opined on the possibility of a civil “clawback” lawsuit. It has now happened. Court-appointed trustee Irving Picard accuses Madoff of a “life of Slendor” funded by illegally gained funds from her imprisoned husband [...
Video: Officer Tasers 72-Year-Old Great-Grandmother After a Dare
Posted on July 29, 2009The Travis County Constable’s Office has released the dashcam video of the tasering of 72-year-old Kathryn Winkfein by Deputy Chris Bieze. We previously discussed this story but the video is highly disturbing in the decision to shoot the 4′11” great grandmother...
Former Journalist and United Nations Worker Faces Flogging in Sudan for Wearing Pants
Posted on July 29, 2009Lubna Hussein, a former journalist and current United Nations worker, is facing 40 lashes for the crime of wearing pants in a public place — an act of unspeakable “indecency” under Sharia law in Sudan. She says that 10 other women arrested at a restaurant in Khartoum, including some non-Muslims, were already flogged...
Dot Con: Wife Refuses to Turn Over Money to Victims to Reduce Husband?s Sentence
Posted on July 29, 2009Former Pennsylvania lawyer Ralph Mirarchi appears to have as bad marital as legal problems these days. Under a plea bargain, Marachi was supposed to have his sentence reduced once his wife sold their New Jersey home to help repay his victims. Instead, Mirachi, 69, was sentenced to up to 8 1/2 years after [...
The One That Got Away: Florida Fish Shop Wins Case Against Clearwater
Posted on July 29, 2009The City of Clearwater, Florida has decided to throw one back. We have been following the story of bait shop owners Herb and Lori Quintero in Clearwater, Florida who challenged a fine for having a fish mural painted on the outside of their business — later covered up by a copy of the first [...
High-Protein Pepsi: Florida Couple Claims to Find Dead Mouse in Soft Drink
Posted on July 29, 2009Amy and Fred Denegri allege that they were a bit surprised at their Florida beach house when Fred complained about a funny taste in his Diet Pepsi and was a wee bit surprised to find a mouse in the can. We can now understand Pepsi’s old slogan: “It’s the Cola”/”Dare for More” The FDA [...
Fire Sale: Arizona Considers Selling House and Senate Buildings for Cash
Posted on July 29, 2009The fire sale of America continues this week with Arizona legislators considering selling their House and Senate buildings and then leasing them back from private companies to raise cash. As we continue to pour billions into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, states are selling off parks and historic sites (here and here)...
British Officer Magazine Soldier Features Openly Gay Soldier on Cover Next to Headline ?Pride?
Posted on July 28, 2009The British army took a remarkable and commendable step this month by featuring Trooper James Wharton, an openly gay soldier. While U.S. military officers continue to fret over gays in the military and discharge decorated heroes for their private relations, the British has shown that tough guys can be gay guys...
Tweety Tort: Chicago Tenant Sued for Defamation After Sending Moldy Tweet
Posted on July 28, 2009Amanda Bonnen thought that she was merely expressly herself when she posted a public tweet on Twitter on May 12th complaining about mold in her Chicago apartment. The Horizon Group Management company has responded by suing her for defamation in a rare tweet tort by a business...
California Supreme Court Orders Bar to Allow Quadriplegic To Take Exam
Posted on July 28, 2009The State Bar of California will allow a remarkable graduate of UC Davis School of Law to sit for the bar exam after the intervention of the California Supreme Court. Sara Granda is a quadriplegic who was barred from sitting on the exam due to a technical glitch on her online application...
Urine a Lot of Trouble, Mr. Thompson: Janitor Filmed Relieving Himself on Court Reporter?s Chair
Posted on July 28, 2009Stephen L. Thompson, 58, a courthouse janitor in Clark County, Indiana had a curious response to a court reporter who rebuffed his expressions of affection. Hell hath no fury like a janitor scorned. A court reporter Adrianne Fuller repeatedly complained that her chair was wet in the morning...
Triple Your Pleasure: Taser To Introduce New Weapon That Allows Officers To Taser Three People Without Reloading
Posted on July 28, 2009Despite continuing controversies associated with the expanding use of tasers, Taser International has concluded that the problem is that officers cannot taser enough people before facing the hassle of reloading. Before an enthusiastic crowd of hundreds of law enforcement officers, the company unveiled its new triple action taser X3-20...
Yoo Must Be Kidding: Professor Argues That Bush Could Negate Both The Fourth Amendment and The Posse Comitatus Act By Simply Declaring Deployment To Be A National Security Matter
Posted on July 28, 2009The debate continues to rage this week over the push by Vice President Dick Cheney and others to have former President George Bush deploy active military units in a suburb of Buffalo to arrest a small group of men who were suspected of supporting terrorism (here)...
Shocking Love: Police Taser and Pepper Spray Deaf, Mentally Disabled Man for Not Complying With Orders
Posted on July 28, 2009When Antonio Love failed to heed orders to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on him — ultimately arresting him for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer...
Denver Police Officer Charged After Allegedly Demanding Fast Service at McDonalds at Gunpoint
Posted on July 27, 2009Denver police officer Derrick Curtis Saunders, 29, allegedly wants his fast food faster. Saunders is “on leave” to deal with criminal charges after reportedly pulling his weapon at a McDonald’s to speed things up behind the counter...
Sixteen-Year-Old Girl in Pakistan is Beaten and Gang Raped for a Year Before Being Turned Over to Police ? Who Beat and Gang Rape Her
Posted on July 27, 2009The is another horrific story out of Pakistan in the abuse of women and girls. In this case, Assiya Rafiq, 16, was kidnapped by a group of men who proceeded to beat and rape her for a year. When police accused them of bank robbery, the men agreed to turn over a [...
Navy Officer Accuses Reporter of Sexual Harassment
Posted on July 27, 2009Miami Herald Reporter Carol Rosenberg has been accused of sexual harassment in a complaint by Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon. In what may be the first complaint of its kind against a reporter, Gordon accuses Rosenburg of “multiple incidents of abusive and degrading comments of an explicitly sexual nature...
Camp Hamas: Cooking, Camping . . . Kidnapping
Posted on July 27, 2009Ah, those long summer nights at Camp Hamas. Who can forget them? A recent media report has shown pictures of kids reenacting the kidnapping of June 2006 abduction of Schalit in front of a beaming Osama Mazini, a senior Hamas political leader leading negotiations with Israel over his release...
Baker Replaced By Cook: Alexandria Police Chief Arrested for Drunk Driving
Posted on July 27, 2009Alexandria (Va.) Police Chief David P. Baker, 58, has been put on administrative leave after crashing his unmarked city car and then blowing 0.19 on a sobriety check — twice the legal limit. Deputy Police Chief Earl Cook has replaced him as acting chief...
Palin: The American Media is an Anti-Military, Anti-Family Group of Liars
Posted on July 27, 2009Former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin left office with a signature attack on the media in which she accused of making up stories against the military and persecuting her family. There was no mention of the various Republicans describing her as an embarrassment or former McCain staffers describing her as a living nightmare...
Chinese Students Allege Officials Sold Their Academic Records ? and Ruined Their Lives
Posted on July 27, 2009There is a bizarre story out of China where dozens of Chinese students have seen their future wiped out by the disappearance of the manila folders containing their records. In China, these paper folders follow a student throughout his or her career with every achievement, score, and prospect for a college education...
HUMANS DID THIS TO ME
Posted on July 26, 2009We have seen the horror of human manipulation of animal styles (here), but this is dog is looking at years of therapy and inter-species confusion It is bad enough when humans dress like this:
Report: Albinos Murdered and Body Parts Sold for Witchcraft
Posted on July 26, 2009Burundi authorities have secured a life sentence for an individual accused of involved in the trafficking of albino body parts for witchcraft. The victims were murdered and then mutilated to sell as parts for witchcraft ceremonies and potions. At least twelve albinos are believed to have been murdered and “harvested” for their body parts...
NEW CORRECTIONS PAGE
Posted on July 26, 2009On a trial basis, I have added a new corrections page at the top of the blog to allow readers to spot and raise any factual or grammatical problems with stories. I often add blog stories early in the morning or during brief windows of free time during the day...
Matchmaker: New York Rabbi Arrested As Head of International Organ Trafficking Ring
Posted on July 26, 2009Rabbi Izhak Levy Rosenbaum of Brooklyn has been arrested for running an international human organ selling ring. Rosenbaum’s role was disclosed to the FBI by an anthropologist, Nancy Scheper-Hughes of the University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying organ markets...
Saudi Arabia Arrests Man For Speaking About His Sex Life in Public
Posted on July 26, 2009Saudi Arabian police have arrested Mazen Abdul Jawad for the crime of speaking about his sex life in public. Shariah law makes it a crime for him to be “publicizing his sinful behavior,” according to prosecutors. Various people filed complaints after Jawad appeared on a Lebanese show called “Red Line...
Palin: Being American is Never To Have To Say You?re Sorry
Posted on July 26, 2009Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin continued to leave her mark on American politics just days before leaving officer early. In a speech before a wildly enthusiastic group, Palin told fans that good Americans should “never apologize for our country.? It was a curious lesson to give children at a picnic — no matter [...
Arizona Father Reportedly Tells Police to Keep Raped Eight-Year-Old Girl
Posted on July 25, 2009The recent gang rape of an eight-year-old girl by four boys — aged 9-14 — was shocking enough. Now, police have stated that the girl’s father — who is from Liberia — blamed the girl for being raped and told that police “Take her, I don’t want her...
North Korea Executes Woman For Distributing Bibles
Posted on July 25, 2009North Korea has added yet another infamy to its record: the execution of Ri Hyon Ok, 33, for distributing Bibles. As is often the case, North Korea tacked on a charge of spying for South Korea and the United States — as if the two countries would enlist a spy who divides her [...
Report: Bush Considered Sending Troops Into Buffalo for Terror Sweep
Posted on July 25, 2009In yet another indication of how extreme Bush officials were in their war on terrorism, the New York Times is reporting that Vice President Dick Cheney and others pushed former President George Bush to send troops into Buffalo New York to arrest a group of men accused of terrorism...
Conyers Calls for Special Prosecutor on Alleged Bush Crimes
Posted on July 25, 2009The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee today called for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to probe potential abuses of power under the Bush administration. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has called upon U...
If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed? New York Lawyer Prevails in Contesting Arrest for Foul Language
Posted on July 25, 2009It took New York Attorney Joseph DePaula four years but he has finally prevailed in his false arrest claim after he was thrown into jail for calling an officer a “prick” in court in 2005. DePaula was confronted in court by the officer when his cellphone rang in court...
San Francisco Attorney Disbarred Over Jury Vote
Posted on July 24, 2009In what may be the first disbarment for a lawyer’s conduct on as a jury member, Francis T. Fahy has been disbarred for misconduct in a story that we previously discussed. As we discussed earlier, his is an amazing case that reads like a scene out of Twelve Angry Men when Juror Number 7 (Jack [...
Pressing the Flesh: Complaint Filed Against Transgender Mayor for Showing ?Too Much Skin?
Posted on July 24, 2009There is an interesting fight brewing in Silverton, Oregon. The people of Silverton received national attention with the election of Stu Rasmussen, the nation?s first openly transgender mayor. Now, however, a complaint has been filed against Rasmussen who showed up in a swim top and miniskirt to meet with local kids...
Police Officer Shoots Unarmed Man Wearing Only a Speedo
Posted on July 24, 2009Tyler Heilman, 24, was shot and killed outside of his home in Kastoa, Minnesota by Deputy Sheriff Todd Waldron. The shooting is particularly controversial because Heilman was unarmed and wearing only a speedo swimsuit. Waldron had followed Heilman from a pool in an unmarked Dodge Durango...
So?s Yo Mama-San: North Korea Denounces Clinton as Looking Like a ?Pensioner Going Shopping? While Clinton Calls the North Koreans ?Unruly Teenagers? With Mommy Issues
Posted on July 24, 2009The North Korean government would be a lasting source of late night jokes if it were not for the fact that it is trying to make a nuclear weapon and has been tied to such efforts by other nations. Now the Foreign Ministry has issued a series of bizarre schoolyard taunts against Secretary of [...
Obama: I Did Not Mean ?Stupid? As a Slight of the Cambridge Officers
Posted on July 24, 2009As expected, President Barack Obama attempted to backtrack from his statements yesterday denouncing the police for the “stupidity” of their arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates. In today’s statement, Obama insisted that when he referred to their stupidity he did not mean to malign them...
Report: Sgt. Crowley Considering Defamation Lawsuit in Gates Controversy
Posted on July 24, 2009Cambridge Police Sergeant James M. Crowley is considering a defamation lawsuit, according to his lawyer. The possibility of a lawsuit adds an intriguing element to this controversy over the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. The Massachusetts Police Commissioner Robert Hass has also come out to criticize the comments of President [...
DePaul Faculty Complain to ABA About Dean?s Firing As Symposium is Canceled Due to Controversy
Posted on July 23, 2009Sixteen tenured professors at DePaul University College of Law have filed a complaint with the American Bar Association over the firing of Dean Glen Weissenberger, which we have been following on this blog. The termination appeared to be retaliation for Weissenberger objecting to the University taking too much of tuition dollars...
Hammered: Romanian Man Comes Up With Home Remedy for Constipation
Posted on July 23, 2009This is a case where there is no one to sue, let alone to blame, beyond yourself. Viorel Firoiu was having constipation problems after eating cherries and decided to try work things out with the use of two hammers that had to be removed by doctors. This may come as something of a [...
Obama Weighs in on Gates Arrest ? Denouncing Police As Acting ?Stupidly?
Posted on July 23, 2009President Barack Obama’s press conference took a surprising turn when the President decided to weigh in on the controversy over the the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. by the Cambridge Police. While admitting that he did not know all of the facts, the President called the police stupid in their response [...
When Legislators Attack: South Korean Legislature (Again) Erupts Into Brawl
Posted on July 23, 2009Who needs the WWF when you have the Korean legislature. When the Grand National Party pushed through a bill relaxing restrictions on the media, opposition members decided to table the matter by throwing actual table and chairs while charging the podium...
Rabbis and Mayors Arrested in New Jersey Public Corruption Probe
Posted on July 23, 2009A group of rabbis were among the 30 or so people arrested in New Jersey with two mayors in a major corruption probe. Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III (left) and Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell (right) were among those arrested in what is described as a “high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy” where the rabbis [...
Florida City Manager Fired After Disclosure of Wife?s Work as Adult Film Star
Posted on July 23, 2009We have yet another case of an employee being fired for activities outside of work. The case of former Fort Myers beach, Florida town manager Scott Janke, however, is a bit different. He is being fired because of his wife Anabela Mota Janke’s work as a porn star...
Rhode Island Judge Bans Sister From Commenting on Facebook About Her Brother?s Custody Case
Posted on July 23, 2009Rhode Island Judge Michael Forte has a curious concept of free speech and a dangerous view of judicial authority. Forte recently issued an order banning the sister of a father in a custody battle from commenting on the case on Facebook. Michelle Bouthillier Langlois, 41, has been defending her brother Michael from domestic-abuse [...
Chinese Newspaper Reveals Government?s How To Manual for Police Abuse
Posted on July 22, 2009A newspaper in China has published an astonishing manual from a Chinese agency on how police can beat suspects without leaving marks. While crude in comparison to our own torture guidelines for waterboarding, the Chinese how-to manual is further evidence of the abusive training and tactics of the feared Chengguan (cheng guan) police, [...
Worst Show On Earth: Ringling Bros. Accused of Elephant Abuse Based on Undercover Video
Posted on July 22, 2009A new videotape (below) has emerged of alleged abuse by a circus of elephants. This video by an undercover PETA activist shows Ringling Bros. employees beating elephants in ‘The Greatest Shows on Earth.” We have previously followed such lawsuits against the circuses, here...
Democrats Denounce Obama for Bush-Like Signing Statement That He Is Not Bound By Federal Legislation
Posted on July 22, 2009Four House Democrats have finally stepped forward to denounce the Bush-like policies of President Obama, particularly his recent signing statement proclaiming that he is not bound by federal legislation. The letter was signed by Reps. David Obey of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial [...
Palin Accused of Violating Ethics Rules in Using Private Donations to Defend Against Ethics Charges
Posted on July 22, 2009Various media outlets have obtained a report of an independent investigator which suggests that Gov. Sarah Palin violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts. Palin was presumably aware of this investigation when she suddenly announced her resignation recently — referring directly to the various ethics charges as one of [...
Report: Iranian Guards Routinely Force Young Girls to Marry and Then Rape Them Before Their Executions ? As Moral Measure
Posted on July 22, 2009The Jerusalem Post is reporting a shocking interview with a member of the Iranian paramilitary Basiji militia — the group accused of some of the worst atrocities in the crackdown on protesters following the recent disputed presidential election...
California Divorce Lawyer Arrested on Suspicion of Planning to Kill His Wife ? And Then Released for Lack of Evidence
Posted on July 22, 2009La Jolla divorce attorney Steven Liss, 53, was arrested this week on suspicion of four counts of solicitation to commit murder, false imprisonment and spousal battery. Police allege that Liss has been seeking help from various people to kill this wife Karen...
Obama Administration Misses Deadline for Report on Detainees
Posted on July 21, 2009In yet another failure to honor its promises to civil libertarians, the Obama Administration has failed to honor its own deadline for the submission of a report on its policy for the detention of terror suspects. The report was expected to give details on Obama’s promise to shutdown the U...
Federal Court Rules CIA Committed Fraud in Federal Case
Posted on July 21, 2009The CIA has been accused of yet another fraud. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth had referred a CIA attorney for disciplinary action and is considering further sanctions against fiv