Legal Commentary

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett Issues Subpoenas To Strip Anonymity From Critics

Posted on May 20, 2010
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett has subpoenas to learn the identity of two critics on Twitter who chastised Corbett for his ?Bonusgate? investigation of legislative corruption. The tweets objected to Corbett’s handling of the trials of 25 former and current state lawmakers charged with using taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes...

Mazda Dealership Sells Mentally Disabled Woman a Car at a 60 Percent Mark Up After She Comes In For New Tires

Posted on May 19, 2010
We have another entry in the rotten people file today (in addition to the TSA worker who allegedly robbed a disabled person, here). Mazda of Canada has stripped Mazda of Orangeville of the right to sell its cars after it sold a mentally-disabled woman, Madeline Leonard, a 2010 Mazda 6 at a huge overcharge of [...

Connecticut Supreme Court Removes Secretary of State From Ballot for Attorney General For Lack of Legal Experience

Posted on May 19, 2010
There is an interesting ruling out of Connecticut where the Supreme Court has issued a rare ruling barring a candidate from running for Attorney General of the state. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz will be taken off the ballot because she lacks the minimum ten years of legal experience under state law...

TSA Agent Arrested After Allegedly Stealing Money From Disabled Person at Checkpoint

Posted on May 19, 2010
Leroy Ray, a Transportation Security Administration agent at Newark Airport, has been arrested in a particularly nasty alleged crime: stealing money from a handicapped person at a security checkpoint. The woman passed through the security checkpoint and then checked her purse — only to find $400 missing on February 3, 2010...

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Yachting In Space: Japanese Deploy Solar Sail to Propel Spacecraft Toward the Sun

Posted on May 19, 2010
Japanese scientists are deploying a fascinating new experiment this week: a solar sail. First raised by science fiction writers like Jules Verne in 1865, the Japanese have launched a ?space yacht? that will be propelled by a solar sail. Unlike prior space sails, Ikaros will be the first to propel a spacecraft by sunlight...

When Wreaths Attack

Posted on May 19, 2010
Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich knows the horror of war. While Richard Blumenthal may know the pain and panic of service in Toys for Tots, Yanukovich has seen the ugly face of a wreath on attack. Florists have long known how unpredictable and violent most wreaths can be, particularly around the holidays...

Daughter of Scientology Head in Australia Goes Public With Allegations of Abuse

Posted on May 19, 2010
The increasing wave of former Scientologists going public appears to be growing. The video below details the allegations of Scarlett Hanna, daughter of Vicki Dunstan, president of the Church of Scientology in Australia, and Mark Hanna, a former Asian/Pacific director of public affairs for the church...

Beer Appreciation Week: A Call for Craft Beers Or Beers-For-Babies?

Posted on May 19, 2010
Rep. Betsy Markey has introduced House Resolution 1297 to support “the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week.” Or does it? Given the current state of political discourse, I am distressed that no one has found a way to oppose this resolution and attack its sponsor...

Interrupted Service: Woman Sues Telephone Company After Billing Records Exposed Her Affair

Posted on May 18, 2010
Now this is an interesting torts case. Gabriella Nagy in Toronto is suing Rogers Wireless Inc. over its billing practices. This is not some dispute over over-charges or late penalties. Nagy is accusing the company of exposing her affair to her husband by allowing him to see her call records to her lover...

New York Closing Parks and Historic Sites Due to Budget Shortfalls

Posted on May 18, 2010
Gov. Paterson and parks Commissioner Carol Ash are planning to close dozens of parks and historic sites to help close the state’s $9.2 billion. These sites include historic locations from the Revolutionary War as well as the cancellation of Fourth of July fireworks on Long Island...

Obama?s Aunt Wins Asylum After Being Turned Down in 2004

Posted on May 18, 2010
President Barack Obama’s Kenyan aunt Zeituni Onyango will be allowed to stay in the United States after a six-year struggle to win asylum. What is curious is that she was denied asylum in 2004 and has reportedly remained in the country illegally...

Pizza to Die For: Italian Prosecutors Allege Pizzerias in Naples Have Been Using Coffin Wood

Posted on May 18, 2010
If you thought that Neapolitan pizza on your last vacation to Italy was to die for, you were more right. Italian prosecutors allege that pizzeria owners in Naples have been using coffin wood to make their pizzas and save on the cost of combustible material...

We Band of (Harvard) Brothers: Connecticut Attorney General (and Senatorial Candidate) Richard Blumenthal Accused of Lying About Service in Vietnam

Posted on May 18, 2010
Connecticut Senatorial candidate and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is now the focus of a potentially disastrous scandal after journalists alleged that he has lied about his service in Vietnam. It appears that Blumenthal never served in Vietnam despite repeated references to such service and his difficulties in “coming home” from the war...

Prom Meltdown Leads To Arrest

Posted on May 18, 2010
Jessica Halter, 18, had a prom to remember in Ohio. She is accused of assaulting an officer, a paramedic, and spitting blood at another officer. Halter was at the orth Ridgeville High School prom when school officials reportedly received complaints about her conduct and being intoxicated...

Noam Chomsky Denied Entry By Israel

Posted on May 17, 2010
Israeli authorities barred leading American intellectual Noam Chomsky entry into Israeli-controlled territory. Chomsky is a critic of Israeli policies and recently Israel has been denying entry to such critics, including United Nations officials, here...

Texas Lawyer Fires Gun At Census Worker Five Times

Posted on May 17, 2010
Texas lawyer Carolyn Barnes, 53, allegedly did not want to answer the ten questions on the census form in a big way. She is accused to firing a gun at Kathleen Gittel, a census worker, five times when she came to her door. Barnes has had a rather lengthy history of run ins with the [...

New Zealand Court Gives Probation to Man With Violent History Who Broke Into Home of Mother and Chased Her Down the Street

Posted on May 17, 2010
This is something out of Clockwork Orange. Burt Te Manu Tangiata Rikihana, 27, was arrested in December after he forced his way into a home of a woman with a three-year-old child. He chased the mother down the street as she screamed. Despite a previous attempted murder conviction, the court gave him probation and community [...

Ryanair Fined 3 Million Euros for Abandoning Passengers

Posted on May 17, 2010
Ryanair has long been condemned as leading the industry toward cattle car conditions in air travel. The budget airline headed by CEO Michael O’Leary has now been fined 3 million euro ($3.17 million) for abandoning its passengers. Ryanair recently confirmed (here) that it is working with Boeing to reduce the bathrooms on its planes to [...

Supreme Court Rules Government Can Hold Citizens Indefinitely If They Are Deemed Sexually Dangerous

Posted on May 17, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court has given the federal government sweeping new authority to hold people indefinitely — even after the completion of their sentences — if they find the individuals to be “sexually dangerous.” Notably, it is a reversal of the nation’s most conservative court of appeals — the Fourth Circuit — which ruled that [...

Crowning of Arab-American As Miss USA Unleashes Torrent of Attacks From the Right

Posted on May 17, 2010
Miss Michigan Rima Fakih, 24, made history this week as the first Arab-American to win the Miss USA competition, here. The extreme right has gone ballistic –painting Fakih as a mole for Hamas and part of some Islamic threat despite her appearing in a bikini and contradicting most of the mores of conservative Islamic mores...

The Pious Prairie Dog

Posted on May 16, 2010
While the Calvary Episcopal Church may be bringing pets into the flock of the faithful, it is important to note that many wild animals have shown faith without the need of special programs or chewy treats. Like his biblical predecessors, this prairie dog remained in the desert to find God...

All Dogs Go To Heaven: Church Begins Pet Ministry

Posted on May 16, 2010
Calvary Episcopal Church has started what is billed as the first service for animals: the “Perfect Paws Pet Ministry” to gain Heaven for pets that heed and heal upon hearing the word of God. The Danvers church will hold the pet masses on the third Sunday of every month (it appears pets need one-fourth of [...

Obama to Ask For $205 Million To Give To Israel for a Rocket Defense System as Part of a $3.15 Billion Aid Package

Posted on May 16, 2010
President Barack Obama is moving to increase military aid to Israel to $3.15 billion, including $205 million for a short-range missile defense system. With cities and states in the United States selling off parks and closing programs (and the federal deficit reaching disastrous levels), it is astonishing that the Administration is still gushing out such [...

Heather Has Two Mommies . . . And No School: Catholic Schools Bars Entry to Girl Because Her Parents Are Lesbians

Posted on May 16, 2010
Liberal Catholics are condemning the decision of a Catholic school to bar a girl from enrollment because her parents are lesbians. The eight-year-old was originally admitted but her acceptance was rescinded by the St. Paul Elementary School in Hingham, Massachusetts...

Dancing Dog

Posted on May 16, 2010
I give you a dancing dog. In a point of inter-species connection, it is notable that this male white dog does not move his feet. This is exactly how I look at weddings.

Pet of the Week: Meet Lili

Posted on May 15, 2010
Lili (the pet of Blogenfreude) is this week’s winner and our first feline as Pet of the Week. Adopted in 1997 by one of my former torts students, Lili personifies the dignity and a sense of justified superiority that fits our blog so well. I have some great nominations pending so please send in your [...

Jury Convicted Ohio Officer in Videotaped Shooting of Unarmed Motorcyclist (Video)

Posted on May 15, 2010
A jury in Ottawa Hills, Ohio has convicted Officer Thomas White of felonious assault in a trial where jurors watched a video of his shooting of Michael McCloskey, Jr. — an unarmed motorcyclist. The video is below. White, 27, was charged with felonious assault with a firearms specification and was convicted after a jury deliberated [...

Meet Ola Mae Agee ? Alleged Crack Dealer

Posted on May 15, 2010
Pensacola, Florida (The Weekly Vice) – Ola Mae Agee, 87, in Pensacola, Florida made for a rather curious mug shot this week after being arrested for allegedly selling crack to an undercover officer. Agee allegedly sold the drugs from her home and is charged with selling $20 worth of crack cocaine...

King: A Mosque Near Groundzero Is ?Very Offensive?

Posted on May 15, 2010
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has publicly condemned the proposal to build a mosque two blocks from ground zero in New York. King declared that such a project “is very offensive.” Fox News host Gretchen Carlson added her own condemnation on air, declaring it a ?slap in the face...

Video Shows Ohio Officer Shooting Unarmed Motor Cyclist

Posted on May 14, 2010
The trial of Ottawa Hills, Ohio Officer Thomas White has begun with a startling videotape of his shooting biker Michael McCloskey. White had followed Mcloskey and his friends as they raced on their Harley Davidsons. White appears to shoot McCloskey wo has stopped and does not make any threatening move...

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