Legal Commentary

A Wee Little Idea to Save the Planet: Brazilian Campaign Calls for People to Pee in the Shower

Posted on August 06, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
There 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...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Baptism Under Fire: Virginia Police Taser Grandfather and Mother At Baptism Party

Posted on August 05, 2009
Prince 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, 2009
Sudanese 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, 2009
Despite 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, 2009
Isabella 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, 2009
Shock 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, 2009
Clearwater 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, 2009
This 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Moorestown 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, 2009
Having 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, 2009
Rodell 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, 2009
Wisconsin 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, 2009
Venezuelan 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, 2009
Today, 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, 2009
There 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, 2009
Anderson 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
In 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, 2009
Scotsman 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, 2009
We 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, 2009
In 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, 2009
Trina 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, 2009
We 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, 2009
Bolivia 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, 2009
DeKalb 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, 2009
Karl 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 [...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.