Legal Commentary

Dallas Commissioner Tells Complaining Citizens ?All You Are White. Go To Hell?

Posted on February 16, 2011
The Dallas County Commissioner?s Court meeting this week became the scene of a racially charged incident after citizens confronted Commissioner John Wiley Price. Price, who is black, responded by telling the citizens ?All of you are white. Go to hell!? The citizens were upset over the recent departure of county Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet, who [...

Throwing a Curveball: The Source Used To Justify Iraq War Admits He Made The Whole Thing Up

Posted on February 16, 2011
Curveball has finally admitted that he made the entire thing up. If you recall, we went to war in Iraq based on the claim that Saddam Hussein had developed biological weapons. That account was based on the statements of Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, who our foreign allies warned was unreliable and clearly lying...

D.C. Commissioner Opposes New Wal-Mart On Grounds That Her Constituents Cannot Resist Shoplifting

Posted on February 15, 2011
Many local activists and politicians oppose the arrive of a Wal-Mart on the ground that it destroys small businesses, threatens historic sites, or introduces only minimum wage jobs. Brenda Speaks, a Ward 4 ANC commissioner in Washington, D.C., has a more novel argument against a store in the Capitol: her constituents (and particularly young people) [...

Coulter Courts: Iran Creates A New Media Court To Jail Journalists

Posted on February 15, 2011
Ann Coulter may have finally found a country with that perfect mix of robust conservative values and restrictions on the free press . Only days after Ann Coulter was met with thunderous applause at CPAC after proclaiming “I think there should be more jailed journalists,” Iranian officials have announced the creation of a new court [...

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Teacher Suspended For Writing Critical Comments on Her Personal Blog

Posted on February 15, 2011
After just posting the story of a tenth-grade student suspended for a posting on Facebook, this story appeared of yet another teacher suspended for their own postings on a blog. Natalie Munroe taught at the Central Bucks East High School near Philadelphia as an English teacher — until students discovered a comment on a February [...

High School Student Suspended For Insulting Teacher on Facebook

Posted on February 15, 2011
We have yet another case of a student being punished for remarks made on Facebook. Tenth-grader Donny Tobolski described one of his teachers as a ?fat ass who should stop eating fast food, and is a douche bag.? He was promptly suspended. The insult was written after Tobolski was given an unusually heavy amount of [...

Iranian Legislators Call For The Execution of Protest Leaders

Posted on February 15, 2011
After previously heralding the Egyptian protests as a triumph for democracy, the Iranian government has made it clear that such demonstrations are best viewed from afar. After cracking down on tens of thousands of protesters yesterday, Iranian legislators are calling for the leaders of the protests to be executed...

Man Reportedly Dies After Being Left 16 Hours in Texas Emergency Room Without Care

Posted on February 14, 2011
We have yet another citizen left to die in a waiting room in the United States. Witnesses say that a man was left for 16 hours to sit in the emergency room in the University Hospital in San Antonio until other patients informed the nurse that he had stopped breathing...

Canadian Woman Found With Undeclared Raspberries and Strip Searches and Barred From Country

Posted on February 14, 2011
Loretta Van Beek insists she is not a Canadian raspberry mule. Indeed, she is suing the United States government after she was questioned for hours and strip searched at the border. Van Beek, 46, had failed to declare a few raspberries discovered by our border police, who became suspicious that she was living illegally in [...

Fouling the Green: Tiger Woods Fined For Spitting

Posted on February 14, 2011
I was struck this morning by a quote from Ewen Murray, a commentator for Britain’s Sky Sports, that he saw Tiger Woods commit “one of the ugliest things you will ever see on a golf course.” While I do not golf, I had to find out what transgression Woods committed with images of those past [...

Family Sues National Forest Service Over Fatal Bear Attack

Posted on February 14, 2011
As a general matter, wild animals are not the basis for tort liability absent possession and control by a third party. However, the family of Sam Ives, 11, are suing the U.S. Forest Service after the boy was killed by a bear in 2007 in a the Timpanooke Recreation Area in Utah...

Taco Belle? San Antonio Beauty Queen Sues Over Effort To Strip Her of Crown

Posted on February 14, 2011
Domonique Ramirez, 17, has filed a novel legal action to keep her crown as Miss San Antonio after pageant officials accused her of excessive consumption of tacos and insubordination. Linda Woods, a spokeswoman for the Brexar County pageant board, revealed the list of offenses against Miss San Antonio, including the fact that “[s]he was doing [...

Sherrod Sues Breitbart Over Misleading Video

Posted on February 14, 2011
Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod has sued blogger Andrew Breitbart over the use of an edited video that made her falsely appear to be a racist. The case could prove quite burdensome for Breitbart, but will present Sherrod with some challenges as well...

The Mighty Quinn

Posted on February 13, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger The Mighty Quinn Today we again present Manfred Mann in glorious STEREO!

Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans Propose License Plate to Honor Civil War General Who Was Once a Member of the Ku Klux Klan

Posted on February 13, 2011
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger The Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has come up with an idea for celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War?known to some as the ?War between the States.? The veterans group has proposed that the state of Mississippi issue a series of specialty license plates [...

JEOPARDY! Challenge

Posted on February 13, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Just a reminder for those who may have forgotten. The JEOPARDY! Challenge is this coming week: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Check your local listings for time and channel. This is a history making event...

None Dare Call It Welfare

Posted on February 13, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Suzanne Mettler, professor at Cornell, has written an article in Perspectives on Politics that highlights the public ignorance regarding the benefits people receive from the state. Different government programs operate indirectly have made the extent of the US welfare state invisible...

DNA Spray ? It?s Hard Out There For a Crook

Posted on February 13, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger And it’s getting more difficult with the introduction of DNA spray. DNA spray is an invisible mist dispensed from devices placed in high crime areas. The mist is harmless and visible under UV light and sticks to clothing and the crevasses of the skin...

The Right?s War on Women

Posted on February 13, 2011
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger   I don?t think Barry Goldwater would recognize Conservatism or his Republican Party if he was alive today. Conservatism used to mean belief in safe and sound economic spending and freedom for all from governments getting too large and too restrictive on personal freedoms...

No Break for Police Caught on Red Light Cameras

Posted on February 12, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger In Baltimore, Montgomery County, Maryland, there’s a growing number of cameras set up to catch speeders and red light runners. They work well. They work regardless of the type of vehicle. The cameras can’t detect if the vehicle has flashing lights and a siren, so police have been [...

Doo Wah Ditty Ditty

Posted on February 12, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Doo Wah Ditty Ditty (Extended Version In Full Stereo) Today we have Manfred Mann in glorious STEREO!

Faith Healers Given Probation

Posted on February 12, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger We have previously discussed the death of Kent Schaible, here and here. Kent Schaible, 2, died of bacterial pneumonia because his parents Herbert and Catherine Schaible, a fundamentalist Christian couple, believed in faith healing and declined to get medical attention for their child in Philadelphia...

The NRA Claims That the Government is to Blame For Tucson Shootings

Posted on February 12, 2011
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw) Guest Blogger   You may recall that after the horrible Tucson shooting massacre, I wrote a piece for this blog suggesting that it might be a good time to consider banning deadly weapons and the high-capacity magazines of the type that the alleged killer used on that fateful day...

You Pays Your Money And You ? What?

Posted on February 12, 2011
Submited by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger NBA star Le Bron James did what lots of professional players would love to do – he confronted a loud mouth fan during a game on Friday night. James, who recently departed his hometown team in Cleveland to a storm of criticism, was playing an away game in Auburn [...

Comedy Duo Entertains CPAC

Posted on February 12, 2011
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger First it was Hope and Crosby, then Rowan and Martin, and now the straight-laced conservative crowd at CPAC (The Conservative Political Action Conference) has its own custom-made comedic duo. Facing a chorus of boos and cheers former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld teamed up once again with straight man (and former VP) Dick Cheney [...

Lincoln, The Great Colonizer: New Book Details Plans By Lincoln To Ship Freed Slaves To English Colonies

Posted on February 11, 2011
Author Phillip W. Magness has long harbored the view that Lincoln biographers had sanitized the history of “The Great Emancipator” to fit his modern popular image. Certainly, civil libertarians have long questioned Lincoln preeminence as a voice of freedom given his denial of habeas corpus and violations of constitutional rights and powers...

Iran Heralds Egyptian Protests . . . And Then Blocks Coverage in Iran

Posted on February 11, 2011
Iran has internationally heralded the protests in Egypt as a popular and justified uprising. However, like China, it has now blocked the BBC coverage of the protests to avoid any Iranian getting any ideas about freedom. Iran previously celebrated democratic freedom by arresting, beating, and in some cases executing protesters...

Three Priests and a Teacher Arrested in Philadelphia for Allegedly Raping Boys

Posted on February 11, 2011
Four men, including three Catholic priests, were arrested in Philadelphia for allegedly raping and assaulting boys. Most notably, a former official in the Philadelphia Archdiocese was also arrested for his role in facilitating the abuse by failing to stop the priests — a charge that could be replicated in other cases involving the Church...

Gingrich Calls For Elimination of The Environmental Protection Agency

Posted on February 11, 2011
In a further example of the rush to the bottom in our political system, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the Conservative Political Action Conference that he intends to scrap the EPA which he claims has waged a “war on American energy.” Gingrich wants to create an Environmental Solutions Agency that rewards innovation...

New Jersey Judge Accused of Allowing Police Officer to Serve As Prosecutor And Denying Counsel to Defendant

Posted on February 11, 2011
Linden Municipal Court Judge Louis DiLeo has been accused of an extraordinary act of misconduct in New Jersey. Wendell Kirkland alleges that DiLeo convicted him of burglary without the use of a prosecutor and even allowed a police officer to question him as if he were the prosecutor...

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