Legal Commentary

MySpace Rage: Girlfriend Stabs Child for Deleting Comment on MySpace Page

Posted on June 27, 2008
We have seen fraud, harassment, and even suicide allegations tied to MySpace in the last year. Now, we have an attempter murder allegation against 18-year-old Stephanie Torres for stabbing her boyfriend’s 12-year-old niece, Stephanie Usche. She was reportedly mad at the girl erasing a comment on her MySpace page...

Good Night, Mumbai: Air India Pilots Accused of Sleeping in Cockpit and Overshooting Mumbai

Posted on June 27, 2008
The pilots on an Air India flight from Jaipur to Mumbai feel allegedly fell asleep in the cockpit and overshot Mumbai. The pilots were halfway to Goa when they were finally roused by air traffic personnel. It appears that the pilots dozed off some after leaving Jaipur with 100 passengers...

Dr. Sami Al-Arian Indicted on Two Counts of Criminal Contempt

Posted on June 26, 2008
This evening the Justice Department issued indictments for Dr. Sami Al-Arian. Just yesterday in my testimony before the Judiciary Committee, I discussed Dr. Al-Arian’s case and the pattern of how the Justice Department has abused the grand jury system...

Cold Dead Finger Bumper Sticker Contest

Posted on June 26, 2008
With the final victory of the NRA in securing recognition of an individual right of gun ownership, it will now be time to retire that classic American icon: the “You Will Have to Peel My Cold Dead Fingers From My Gun” Bumper Sticker. This allows still unresolved legal questions to claim the right to [...

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Supreme Blunder: We Did Not Mean to Dissemble the Disassembled Guns in Heller

Posted on June 26, 2008
Justice Scalia wrote a powerful opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, No. 07-290, but the first paragraph quotes the D.C. statute as requiring gun to be dissembled. As many have noted, it is disassembled — dissemble means to put on a false appearance...

The Lost Constitutional Continent Found: Supreme Court Recognizes Individual Right of Gun Ownership

Posted on June 26, 2008
The Second Amendment has always been like the lost continent of the Constitution. Well, today the Supreme Court discovered it — right between the first and third amendments — after 127 years. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment does indeed create an individual right to gun ownership...

NBC Settles Dateline Predator Lawsuit Over Prosecutor?s Death

Posted on June 26, 2008
After a stinging opinion by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in February, NBC has thrown in the towel on its defense of “Dateline NBC: To Catch A Predator” in the suicide of a former prosecutor. Louis William Conradt Jr. shot himself after the program accused him of engaging in sexually explicit chats with an [...

Talk Show Torts

Posted on June 26, 2008
In light of this week’s settlement in the NBC Dateline case, this past column on talk show liability may be of some interest. From cop shows to talk shows, reality television can suddenly throw average citizens into highly stressful or embarrassing situations...

Faith-Based Favors: Justice Department Official Fired After Invoking the Fifth Amendment in Congressional Investigation

Posted on June 26, 2008
Michele DeKonty, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), has been fired after invoking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to answer congressional questions over granting favors to certain organizations in federal grants...

New Jersey Doctor Suspended for Removing Wrong Lung From Patient

Posted on June 26, 2008
In Trenton, New Jersey, Dr. Santusht Perera has been suspended from practice after removing the wrong lung from a patient and then lying to the patient to try to cover it up. Perera, according to the board, realized his mistake after the operation and told the patient falsely that he had discovered a [...

Shock Video: Massachusetts Legislator Under Attack for Declaring That He Would ?Rip Apart? Child Rape Victims

Posted on June 26, 2008
Rep. James Fagan, a Democrat Massachusetts politician and defense attorney, is under attack for his opposition to the Jessica’s Law (imposing still penalties on child sex offenders. In the video below, Fagan declares that, if the law passed, he would “rip apart” child rape victims to the point to destroying them for life...

Suing the Blues: Naked Cowboy Sues M & M

Posted on June 26, 2008
Robert Burck has become an iconic figure in New York dressed in cowboy boots, white cowboy hat, and white underwear. So much of an icon, it appears, that the maker of M & M used a parody of his image in a commercial. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin has now ruled that he [...

Bush Administration Officials Bar Lawyer Applicants on the Basis of Political Beliefs

Posted on June 25, 2008
An inspector general report has found that the Bush Justice Department barred applicants on the basis of their political views. It is further proof of the open politicalization of the Justice Department by the Bush Administration, including selections for the honors program — long treated as completely apolitical...

Columbia Professor Madonna Constantine Fired

Posted on June 25, 2008
Madonna Constantine, a psychology professor at Columbia, will be fired for plagiarism and misconduct. Constantine drew national attention for claiming that a noose had been hung outside her office. The Columbia?s Teachers College spokesperson stated: “I can confirm that Madonna Constantine has been terminated subject to a hearing before a faculty committee...

Body Count Culture: Testimony on the Bush Administration?s Record of Terrorism Prosecution

Posted on June 25, 2008
This morning I will testify in the House Judiciary Committee on the Bush Administration’s record on prosecuting terrorism. The Justice Department continues to inflate the number of terrorism cases by citing such crimes as immigration violations and general fraud as terrorist-related...

New York Prosecutor Says He Intentionally Threw Murder Case

Posted on June 24, 2008
In a remarkable admission, former Manhattan prosecutor Daniel Bibb has stated that he intentionally threw a murder case because he did not believe the evidence. The case against David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo has become a major embarrassment for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who is seeking reelection...

Politics of Terror: GOP Adviser and Pundit Raise Possibility of Pre-Election Attacks

Posted on June 24, 2008
I am not one who subscribes to the theory of a pre-election attack on Iran, but it is getting harder with GOP advisers and pundits openly opining of the likelihood or benefit from either an Iranian attack or even a terrorist attack. Pundit Bill Kristol told Fox viewers that, if the American people do [...

Team Spirit: China Accused of Destroying Mosque for Refusing to Put Up Signs Cheering the Olympics

Posted on June 24, 2008
China officials reportedly taught the good people near Aksu city in Xinjiang a thing or two about team spirit. When the local mosque balked at posting signs praising the Olympics on its walls, the Chinese had the mosque destroyed. That’ll show ‘em...

Iraqi City Councilman Kills Three Soldiers After Friendship Ceremony

Posted on June 24, 2008
Outside Baghdad, an Iraqi official killed at least three soldiers, including at least one American soldier, after he pulled out an AK 47 at the City Council building. The Americans were present to celebrate the opening of of a park in al-Maaden. U.S...

Cretan Sentences Drunk Mother Who Abandoned Children, Wrecked Car, and Tried to Flee Accident to 90 Days

Posted on June 23, 2008
Sara Haderle, 36, is not what one would call a model mother and Superior Court Judge Clifford Cretan is not what one would call a task master judge. Haderle left her 2-year-old and 3-year-old children at home. The pregnant mother then drove drunk, wrecked her car, and then tried to flee the [...

Swift Boat (Vietnam Edition): Vietnam Jailer Accuses John McCain of Lying About Torture in the Hanoi Hilton

Posted on June 23, 2008
Tran Trong Duyet is hardly someone with a great deal of credibility: he is the former head of the notorious Hoa Lo prison — better known as the Hanoi Hilton. While Duyet has come out for McCain, he has accused him of lying about the torture that he endured...

George Carlin Dies at 71

Posted on June 23, 2008
George Carlin has died at 71. Carlin represents one of the few entertainers to have a significant impact on the law with his showdown over profanity in his monologues. His famous stand up routine on “”Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say on Television” is linked below...

Curious Testament: Employee Fired After Breaking Story of Russert?s Death on Wikipedia

Posted on June 23, 2008
Many would find it a bit of a curious testament to the late Tim Russert that a junior employee who broke the story of his death was fired for updating Russert’s Wikipedia site. When Russert died on June 13th, the first public word appeared on Wikipedia and NBC officials were irate — since they were [...

Supreme Court Holds Heller ? Second Amendment Case Last Case to Be Announced from March Sitting

Posted on June 23, 2008
The Supreme Court knows how to build suspense. While many expected the Court to release its long-awaiting decision on the Second Amendment in the Heller and Parker cases, the Court did not release the decision today. The array of opinions today has fueled speculation that Scalia will author the historic decision...

Happy Unto Yee: University of California States Intent to Violate Free Press Law

Posted on June 23, 2008
California took a major step forward in reversing the steady rollback of student speech rights this year by passing a law protecting the rights of student free speech and prohibiting the firing or suspension of employees for exercising their free speech rights on newspapers and organizations...

Details Emerge in Case Against Daniel Watson in Alleged Scuba Murder

Posted on June 22, 2008
The details of the case against Daniel Watson, 31, of Birmingham, Alabama, in Australia are beginning to emerge. Watson is accused of killed his new wife Christina Mae Watson, 26, on their honeymoon while diving on a shipwreck. According to Christina Mae Watson?s father, Tommy Thomas, Daniel Watson asked his wife to increase [...

Fake Doctor Accused of Harming Women in Negligent Abortions

Posted on June 22, 2008
In Chula Vista, California, the owner of a clinic near the Mexican border is accused of posing as a doctor and performing negligent abortions. Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, allegedly caused serious injuries to women, as detailed in a 10 felony count indictment...

Judge Thomas Porteous Moves Closer to Impeachment

Posted on June 22, 2008
In a critical step toward impeachment, the United States Judicial Conference voted unanimously to forward charges against U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous to the House of Representatives for impeachment. He is accused of perjury, accepting gifts from lawyers and violating other criminal and ethical standards...

Stop at Boardwalk; Go Straight to Jail: Atlantic City Council Members Face Blackmail Charges

Posted on June 22, 2008
Former Atlantic City Council president Craig Callaway, his brothers David and Ronald, and a friend, Floyd Tally, and City Councilman John Schultz are all charged in a bizarre blackmail case against another Atlantic City pol, Councilman Eugene Robinson...

Shock Video: Police Officer Shown Beating Transsexual

Posted on June 21, 2008
A Memphis police officer is being accused of brutality after the airing of the video below of his beating a handcuffed transsexual prisoner. The Feb. 12th video shows Duanna Johnson handcuffed at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center after an arrest for prostitution when the attack began...

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