Legal Commentary

PETA?s ?Unhappy Meal?: Organization Criticized for Targeting Kids with Carnographic Images

Posted on August 11, 2009
Those 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, 2009
Many 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, 2009
Circuit 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, 2009
Bernard 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 [...

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Iran Arrests Chief of Notorious Jail As Accounts of the Torture and Killing of Protesters Mount

Posted on August 10, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
There 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, 2009
If 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, 2009
While 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, 2009
Reports 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, 2009
This 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, 2009
After 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, 2009
There 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, 2009
Next 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, 2009
Bryant 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, 2009
We 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, 2009
First 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, 2009
I 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, 2009
Retired 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, 2009
A 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, 2009
Former 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, 2009
John 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
There 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, 2009
Sonia 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, 2009
This 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Former 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, 2009
We 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, 2009
Broward 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...

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