Legal Commentary

Hello Dalai: Obama Meets With Tibetian Leader Over Chinese Objections

Posted on February 19, 2010
While Obama has been criticized for saying that Tibet is part of China (here), he showed a refreshing degree of independence from China by meeting with the Dalai Lama. In the past, China has been able to pressure leaders (including past presidents) to avoid such meetings)...

Daily Mail: Israeli Agents Says Britain Knew of Use of British Passports in Dubai Hit

Posted on February 19, 2010
The Daily Mail has run with an explosive story after public protestations from British officials over the use of false British passports (and reportedly stolen identities) for the hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai (here). The question now is whether Parliament has the courage to order an investigation in whether the British government not [...

Reading, Writing, and Righteousness: Kentucky Set to Pass Bill Allowing Bible To Be Taught Public Schools

Posted on February 19, 2010
The Kentucky Senate is poised to pass a bill allowing the Bible to be taught in public schools. Sen. David Boswell (D-Owensboro) modeled the bill on a Texas measure. While Boswell insists that “the purpose is to allow the Bible to be used for its literature content as well as its art and cultural and [...

Olympic Wipeout: Gold Medalist Asks Reporter If She Is ?Stupid? After Being Asked Who He Is and What He Just Won

Posted on February 19, 2010
Occasionally, the Olympic performances will result not in preservation of a moment of perfection but a wipeout. On this occasion, it was not a downhill skier but an NBC reporter who asked Gold Medalist Sven Kramer who he was, what country he was from, and what he just won...

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Wash, Rinse, Repeat Offender: Buffalo Man Sought in Shampoo Theft

Posted on February 19, 2010
Daniel Wolf, 40, is a Buffalo man who is in need of hair products. He was captured on video allegedly stealing seven bottles of Head and Shoulders shampoo from a Rite Aid store. He is not the first suspect arrested for unlawful shampooing, here. To add insult to injury, this head shot was [...

Interpol Publishes Pictures of Eleven Dubai Suspects While Britain and France Demand Answers From Israel

Posted on February 19, 2010
Interpol has posted wanted pictures of the eleven suspects in the assassination of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in the Dubai hotel on January 19, 2010. In what could be a serious problem for Israel, both Britain and France are demanding answers on the use of fake passports and stolen identities in the plot while [...

Justice Department Declines Punishment for Bush Officials for ?Bad Judgment?

Posted on February 19, 2010
The Obama Administration continued the tradition of the “Friday night dump” by just releasing the Justice Department report on former Justice officials John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury. The report is linked below. The Justice Department confirmed that the investigation originally found professional misconduct by Yoo and Bybee, but an [...

Only One-Third of Americans Polled Want Incumbents Returned to Congress

Posted on February 18, 2010
A new poll shows just how dissatisfied voters are with both parties: only a third of voters want their incumbents returned to Congress. The question is whether voters are ready to change the system — rather than just change the members. I previously ran a column on reforms of the political system that go [...

While Some Ask Why, The Atlanta Police Ask Why Not: Police Arrest Woman For Asking ?Why??

Posted on February 18, 2010
Atlanta police appear to be fans of Alfred Lord Tennyson: “Ours is not to reason why Ours is but to do and die”. When four women planning a funeral were ordered by an Atlanta police officer to move, one asked “why?” Minnie Carey, then 61, was arrested, cuffed, and thrown into jail...

Omertà: Vatican Ordered Secrecy in Abuse Cases

Posted on February 18, 2010
The Observer has published an article detailing a confidential Vatican document from the 1960s that instructed Catholic bishops around the world to cover up cases of sexual abuse or face discipline — including expulsion from the church. The document in Latin bears the seal of Pope John XXIII...

London Police Investigate Saudi Prince in Murder of Servant

Posted on February 18, 2010
London police are investigating an unnamed Saudi prince in the murder of one of his servants. A 32-year-old Saudi national was found dead from strangulation and severe head injuries at the posh five-star Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, Central London. They are questioning the 33-year-old Saudi prince, who has been flying around the world as a [...

Video: Man Arrested For Lighting Cigarette on Olympic Torch

Posted on February 18, 2010
I just saw this video on Reddit of a guy who sees an Olympic torch and sees not a symbol of international cooperation and competition but a lighter for his cigarette. Next time he should do what other people do and use an AK-47, here. His arrest is interesting...

Duke Lacrosse Team Accuser Crystal Gale Mangum Charged With Attempted Murder

Posted on February 18, 2010
Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, has been charged with attempted murder and arson. Mangum was the stripper who falsely accused members of the Duke lacrosse team. Mangum allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, threatened to stab him and set his clothes on fire in the bathroom...

Banning the Buck: South Carolina Representative Introduces Bill To Mandate Gold and Silver Coins As Official Legal Tender

Posted on February 18, 2010
South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts (R.) wants to ban the buck. He has introduced legislation to require the use of gold and silver coins as the legal tender of the state as opposed to federal currency. For those passing through the state, you may want to wait before you exchange your dollars for bags [...

Gibbs Refuses to Answer Torture Question in Public

Posted on February 17, 2010
With Dick Cheney boasting on national television of his support for waterboarding and torture (here), the Obama White House is continuing its policy of ignoring the credible claims of war crimes to avoid the politically difficult decision to prosecute Bush, Cheney and others for the U...

Harrisburg Mayor in Showdown With Controller Over Gag Order

Posted on February 17, 2010
Harrisburg, Pa. Mayor Linda Thompson and Harrisburg City Controller Dan Miller are in a remarkable confrontation that could virtually shutdown the city. Thompson issued an order to city workers that bar them from speaking directly to the city controller?s office, city council members and the media...

Guns-O-Plenty: Virginia Passes 20 Gun Bills

Posted on February 17, 2010
The Virginia legislature passed a flurry of bills stripping away limitations on gun possession in the state. After intense lobbying from the National Rifle Association and over $1 million in NRA campaign contributions, the lawmakers passed 20 gun bills expanding possession and ownership rights in the state...

Kentucky Judge Declares Permits (like Hell) Are Real

Posted on February 17, 2010
Senior Judge Geoffrey P. Morris has ordered the removal of two billboards proclaiming ?hell is real? in Kentucky after finding that they have stood without a permit for five years. In 2008, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet filed an action to dismantle the signs and Morris effectively ruled that Hell may be real but so are state [...

Sink the Bismarck: British Brewer Releases a 41 Percent Beer

Posted on February 17, 2010
A Scottish brewery has achieved the dubious record of the beer with the highest level of alcohol — a response to a German brewery that produced a 40 percent beer. BrewDog returned fire with a 41 percent beer named “Sink the Bismarck.” The German brewery Schorschbrau started the beer battle with its new beer Schorschbock...

TV Personality Ray Gosling Arrested After Confessing To Killing Lover On Television

Posted on February 17, 2010
Television presenter Ray Gosling has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the BBC ran a segment where the 70-year-old confessed to smothering his lover who was suffering from AIDS. He starts the segment by saying that he wanted to reveal his secret: “I killed someone...

Close Enough For Police Work? Denver Police Arrest Mother on Way to Pick Up Daughter At School ? Despite the Fact that She Looks Nothing Like Suspect

Posted on February 16, 2010
Christina FourHorn is suing the Denver police department in a bizarre mistaken identity case that led to her jailing — and an alleged refusal of police to listen to repeated efforts to show that they had the wrong person. It is only the latest in such mistaken identity arrest cases...

Prosecutor Refuses to Charge Police Officer Who Allegedly Commits Hit-and-Run, Lies About Accident, and Then Defends His Actions As ?Impaired By Alcohol?

Posted on February 16, 2010
Redondo Beach City Prosecutor Brenda Wells is receiving considerable heat over her decision not to charge Torrance Police Sgt. Michael Mastick, who was involved in an off-duty hit-and-run collision. He admitted that he fled the scene because “judgment was impaired by alcohol...

Anderson Cooper Sued Over Fall At NYC Home

Posted on February 16, 2010
If falling ratings were not enough, CNN’s Anderson Cooper now has to deal with falling interior designers. He is being sued by an interior designer, Killian O’Brien, who fell at the site of his new home — an old Manhattan firehouse that is being converted...

I Watanabe Drug Tested: Snowboarder Offers Curious Description of Olympic Experience

Posted on February 16, 2010
Somebody drug test this man. U.S. snowboarder Graham Watanabe was asked what it was like to compete in his second Winter Olympics. He responded it was like “Pegasus mating with a unicorn and the creature that they birth I somehow tame it and ride it to the sky and clouds and sunshine and [...

Father Faces 10 Years After Altercation With Pennsylvania Officers at Scene of Son?s Car Crash

Posted on February 16, 2010
We have another case of officers arresting a distraught family members at the scene of an accident. This one involves James Rourke of Doylesburg, Pa., who had rushed to the scene after he learned that his 19-year-old son Freddy was in a serious car accident with a friend and still trapped in the car...

Crossing the Jordan: Father Faces Jail for Baptism of Daughter

Posted on February 16, 2010
Joseph Reyes may be unique in the annals of criminal law: he is facing potential jail time for baptizing his daughter. His ex-wife Rebecca Reyes is Jewish and was awarded custody of the girl. The mother is raising her in the Jewish faith. Hon. Edward R...

Cheney: ?I Was a Big Supporter of Waterboarding?

Posted on February 15, 2010
Former Vice President Dick Cheney came out this weekend in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl to proclaim “I was a big supporter of waterboarding.” It is an astonishing public admission since waterboarding is not just illegal but a war crime...

Utah Legislator Proposes To Deal With Budget Shortfall By Eliminating The 12th Grade

Posted on February 15, 2010
While the Obama Administration and Congress continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, legislators continue to dismantle our public parks and programs due to budget shortfalls. In Utah, state Sen. Chris Buttars proposed one way of dealing with a budget shortfall: just eliminate the 12th grade...

Scientists Find ?Switch? That Releases Cancer Cells Throughout the Body

Posted on February 15, 2010
In a remarkable discovery with transformative implications for humans, researchers have discovered and detailed the process by which a protein serves as the switch for releasing cancer cells throughout a body from an original cancer site. The protein called disabled-2 (Dab2) is critical to many of the most common and deadly forms of [...

A Mesa in Arizona: Judge Finds Basis for Contempt Sanction Against Arpaio

Posted on February 15, 2010
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is fighting with another judge and this one seems ready to hold him in contempt in Mesa, Arizona. While Arpaio routinely disregards and even investigates local judges who oppose his controversial policies or actions, here, he picked the wrong fight with a federal judge this time...

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