Legal Commentary

New York Street Street Sweeper Kills Boston Terrier

Posted on June 16, 2008
New York may be looking at another tort case that explores the inherent value of a pet versus the value of the pain of its loss. Robert Machin was walking his Boston terrier Ginger in the Bronx when a street sweeper swerved to avoid a speed bump and sucked in the small dog...

One-Legged Veteran Saves Mother and Baby From Thugs ? And Is Promptly Arrested by Police

Posted on June 15, 2008
Stephen Beerling, a one-legged Navy veteran, could have been excused for not intervening when he heard a mother with a baby being harassed by thugs in England. Instead, he grabbed a rusty retractable truncheon that had long been in one of his drawers...

North Carolina Parents Arrested in Death of Son Who They Tied to Tree

Posted on June 15, 2008
In a reminder that Father’s Day is not always a happy occasion for some children, police have arrested Brice Brian McMillan, 41, and his wife Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, in the death of their 13-year-old son, Tyler Gene McMillan, who they tied to a tree as punishment...

Chicago Nurse Wins $7.7 Million After She Rescued an Officer Only to Be Arrested by His Colleagues

Posted on June 15, 2008
Rachelle Jackson, a Chicago nurse, was probably expecting a thankful reception from the colleagues of Officer Kelly Brogan, a police officer that she dragged from a burning police cruiser. Instead, she was arrested and stayed in jail for 10 months on charges that she robbed, battered and disarmed a peace officer...

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It?s a Wrap: Television General Manager Resigns After Guilty Plea

Posted on June 15, 2008
Randi Goldklank, 40, the general manager of WHDH-TV (NBC), has resigned her position in Boston after pleading disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The arrest at Logan International Airport was the obvious result of drinking and the plea means that Goldklank will not face assault and battery charges...

Unlicensed Chiropractor Snaps Patient?s Neck

Posted on June 14, 2008
Police have arrested a Sacramento, California man who used his own home for illegal chiropractic services. Antonio Arellano, 76, has been arrested after he snapped the neck of a patient — leaving him brain dead. The 66-year-old victim went to Arellano’s home to be “adjusted”...

Cheney Admits that His Warning of Chinese Oil Drilling Was Wrong

Posted on June 14, 2008
Before 9-11, the rationale for expanded oil drilling was sustainable energy for an expanding economy. Then, after 9-11, it became an anti-terrorism measure. Most recently, Cheney rose the alarm that we had to start drilling because the Chinese are coming...

Chief Judge Kozinski Accused of Ethics Violations and 2001 Crime Related to Court Computers

Posted on June 14, 2008
Things continued to get worst for Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. This week, the ABA Journal has revealed that the inclusion of copyrighted music mp3 videos and copyrighted material on his site could raise ethics issues. Much more alarming is a lengthy letter from Ralph Mecham, who retired as director of the [...

Judicial Notice: New York Judge Orders Himself a Raise

Posted on June 13, 2008
Justice Edward H. Lehner has taken the ultimate form of judicial notice. His salary is too small so he has ordered the legislature to give him and the rest of the state’s 1,250 judges a raise within 90 days. The New York judges are upset that they have not been given a raise in 10 [...

Maclean?s Magazine Faces Speech Police In Canada

Posted on June 13, 2008
Maclean Magazine is the latest publication to be called to the dock to answer to the new speech police in Canada. The magazine is accused of hate speech and has had to answer for the publication of an article written by Mark Steyn entitled Why the Future Belongs to Islam...

Tim Russert Dies at 58

Posted on June 13, 2008
Veteran newsman and my friend Tim Russert has died at 58. I was floored to learn the news because we just saw each other on Sunday at NBC. As a former employee of NBC and repeated guest on Meet the Press, I came to view Tim as a friend and an inspiration...

Driving Kids to Distraction at El Camino High: School Officials Use Terror and Grief as Part of Lesson Plan

Posted on June 13, 2008
Officials at El Camino High School in Oceanside, California are under attack for an outrageous program where they falsely told children that several of their classmates had been killed in car accidents over the weekend. After widespread hysteria, the school officials admitted that it was hoax and was simply their effort to educate them [...

?Desperate Housewives? Trial Planned for Two Mothers in Pennsylvania

Posted on June 13, 2008
Angela Honeycutt, 38, and Lynne Long-Higham, 45, have been deemed the “desperate housewife” defendants in Bucks County, Pa. after being charged with abuse or endangerment of teenage boys. Honeycutt is accused of actual sexual contact while Long-Higham is accused of endangering the welfare of children...

Chief Judge Kozinski Calls for an Investigation of Himself

Posted on June 13, 2008
In a wise move, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has asked for an investigation into his controversial site containing sexual and allegedly obscene material. The request was made to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Judicial Council. Kozinski was the target of a bitter Beverly Hills attorney named Cyrus Sanai who has been [...

Kozinski Snitch Revealed: Lawyer Cyrus Sanai

Posted on June 12, 2008
Various sites are now reporting that lawyer Cyrus Sanai is taking credit for the recent controversy involving Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. Sanai has a long-standing dispute with both the Ninth Circuit and Kozinski over a rather arcane doctrine called the Rooker-Feldman doctrine — holding that district courts may not entertain lawsuits challenging the validity [...

Welcome to the Rock: South Carolina Schools Officials Have People Arrested for Applauding Too Loud at Graduation Ceremonies

Posted on June 12, 2008
School officials in Rock Hill, South Carolina apparently mean it when the tell family members to hold their applause to the end. Officials have had seven people arrested for the curious crime of cheering too loudly at their graduation ceremony. Six of the new felons were arrested at Fort Mill High School’s graduation [...

Woman Recorded Begging for Help With Dispatcher; Only To Be Shot In Police Parking Lot

Posted on June 12, 2008
The City of Plantation, Florida is dealing with a national fervor over the failure of police to respond quickly enough to a desperate call from Olidia Kerr Day, 45, who ended up dying in their parking lot. Day was bring pursued by her homicidal and suicidal ex-boy friend, Carlos Cevallos, 48...

Black and Blue: Blue Man Group Loses Labor Case

Posted on June 12, 2008
The Blue Man Group proved less than captivating for the D.C. Circuit in a case this week. The Group was sued by a Las Vegas union over their refusal to bargain over a new contract when the Group moved from the Luxor to the Venetian Hotel. The judges agreed with the union and [...

David Motari Expelled From Marine Corp Over Puppy Tossing Video

Posted on June 12, 2008
The Marine Corps has announced that David Motari — the marine Lance Corporal made infamous by his video tossing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq — will be expelled from the Corps. Another Marine involved in the incident — Marine, Sgt. Crismarvin Banez Encarnacion — will received nonjudicial punishment...

Court Rules Mother Must Take More Time with Kids: So It Sentences Her to Jail

Posted on June 12, 2008
A Springfield, Missouri woman was convicted under state truancy laws for her son’s truancy and sentenced to two days in jail and two years probation. Notably, Kathleen Casteel was home schooling her son — one of five. This is only the latest such criminalization of poor parental skills...

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of the Detainees in Massive Blow to Bush Administration

Posted on June 12, 2008
In a massive blow to the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favor of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the opinion below, Justice Kennedy delivers the opinion of a lifetime: holding faithfully to the Constitution in a time of prolonged crisis...

Father Charged in Sun Burn Case

Posted on June 11, 2008
In Berea, Kentucky, Bobby Jones, 27, faces first degree child criminal abuse charges for leaving his son out in the sun for 90 minutes — enough for the boy to received serious sun burns due to the lack of sunscreen. It is only the latest in such sunburn cases and raises a question about [...

New Obscenity Case Goes to Trial in Los Angeles

Posted on June 11, 2008
The Bush Administration has been cracking down on obscenity across the country and a very interesting (and very disgusting) case is being heard by a jury in Los Angeles. At issue is the work of Ira Isaacs who produces and sells videos of so called “poo porn” involving bestiality and sexual fetish films involving feces [...

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski Accused of Posting Sexually Explicit Material on Website

Posted on June 11, 2008
Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is in a controversy over his publicly accessible website, which featured sexually explicit photos and videos. He insists that some of these photos were posted privately as a joke...

Three Husbands Too Many: Florida Woman Charged With Bigamy

Posted on June 11, 2008
Eurice Rodriguez, a 46-year-old Cuban national living in Hialeah, Florida, has been arrested for marrying four men and divorcing none of them. It may stand as a modern record. She faces three counts of bigamy. One has to wonder whether you run out of places of bridal registries with this number of weddings in such [...

Censorship 101: High School Shuts Down Student Newspaper Over Flag-Burning Photograph

Posted on June 11, 2008
The steady decline of student rights and free speech continues with another high school cracking down on free speech. In Redding, California, Shasta High School’s student newspaper Shasta High Volcano will be shutdown because administrators did not like a photograph of a flag-burning student...

Triple Lutz and Double Lie? Olympic Skater Oksana ?Pasha? Grishuk Accused of Lying to Police; Charges Dropped in Alleged Drugging

Posted on June 10, 2008
While she was once known for a near perfect triple lutz in winning two gold medals for Russia, Olympic skater Oksana Grishuk is now being accused of a double lie with a backstab. Grishuk, 36, implicated James R. Halstead of drugging her drink during a lunch at the St...

Perils of the Press: Reporter Has Adverse Reaction to ?Bugging?

Posted on June 10, 2008
When a bug flew into the mouth of this reporter covering a death at Augusta High School for Channel 4, the reaction on the video below was rather adverse. The problem was that he seemed to blame his locality for his on camera infestation. For the video, click here...

Welcome to the Democratic Convention: But Bring a Change of Clothes

Posted on June 10, 2008
Political activists may have to contend with an interesting little crowd control device known as the “crap cannon” or the “brown note.” The infrasound device makes people defecate on themselves. It is not actually the type of movement that MoveOn...

I Can Give 6 TO 9, But 1 To 5 Is Taken: Trial Court Grants Sudoku Objection

Posted on June 10, 2008
As an addicted Sudoku player, this one caught my eye. An Australia judge has dismissed a drug conspiracy trial after finding jurors playing Sudoku. A judge halted a drug conspiracy trial Tuesday after some jurors were found to have been playing the puzzle game Sudoku while evidence was being given...

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