Legal Commentary

Goin? Campin?

Posted on May 02, 2008
Dear Beloved Readers: I am taking the little livestock camping today, so there may be an interruption in Saturday’s blog entries. Should I return alive from this experience, I hope to be blogging again by Sunday. If you do not hear from me by Sunday, send the dogs...

Hosing the Hoosiers: Was the Clip Showing Clinton Adviser Calling Indiania Voters ?Sh?? Doctored?

Posted on May 02, 2008
Mickey Kantor was a close advisor to Bill Clinton, served as his Secretary of Commerce, and is currently a top advisor to Hillary Clinton. He is now being pursued after the video clip below surfaced — reportedly showing him calling Indiana voters “sh–” and “white n—-ers...

Teaching the Three Rs: Wrestling, Rough-Housing, and Refereeing in Philadelphia

Posted on May 02, 2008
In a bizarre case out of Philadelphia, a teacher is shown in the video below apparently referring a fight between students in her special education class. However, two teachers claims that when they reported Tonia Brown, they were fired. They have filed a whistleblower action over the terminations...

Do You Want Validation with that Arraignment? 500-Pound Man Arraigned in New York Parking Lot

Posted on May 02, 2008
In Riverhead, N.Y., State Supreme Court Justice Robert Doyle held an unusual arraignment hearing: in the court’s parking lot. The defendant, Bernard Musumeci, 44, is a Long Island music shop owner accused of selling knockoff Gibson Les Paul guitars...

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California?s Thomas More Pledge: Cal State Fires College Instructor for Refusing to Sign Loyalty Oath

Posted on May 02, 2008
Wendy Gonaver is a Quaker from Pennsylvania and a lifelong pacifist as well as an instructor in American studies. She was ready to start teaching at Cal State when officials presented her a loyalty pledge to to “defend” the U.S. and California constitutions “against all enemies, foreign and domestic...

Iraqis Are Outraged at Suggestion that They Pay Part of War Costs Through Fuel

Posted on May 02, 2008
It was bad enough when polls of Iraqis were polled as overwhelmingly supporting attacks on U.S. personnel. Now, Iraqi officials have expressed absolute outrage at the suggestion that they should bear a small fraction of the costs of the war through cheap fuel for the U...

Family of Dead Soldier Sues Tee-Shirt Seller in Class Action

Posted on May 02, 2008
A Tennessee couple, Robin and Michael Read, who lost their son in Iraq has sued an Arizona tee-shirt maker, Dan Frazier for selling anti-war tee-shirts with the names of dead soldiers (including their son). They are seeking $40 billion in damages in a class action lawsuit...

Mr. Wright Wrong For NU: Northwestern Disinvites Rev. Jeremiah Wright to Graduation

Posted on May 01, 2008
Northwestern University has rescinded an invitation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. to receive an honorary Doctorate of Sacred Theology in June due to the controversy of recent weeks. It is a shame that the University focused on the fact of a “controversy” as opposed to the merits...

?D.C. Madam? Kills Herself in Florida

Posted on May 01, 2008
In Tarpon Springs, Florida, police has identified the body of a suicide victim as “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52. This is the second suicide associated with the case. She reportedly killed herself in a trailer owned by her mother...

Shock Video: Muslim Faithful Toss Babies from Indian Tower in 500-Year-Old Ritual

Posted on May 01, 2008
Muslims in the Indian state of Maharastra in the video below are shown tossing babies off a tower in a 500 year old tradition. While we would call the ritual child abuse, it apparently is called tradition in India — and an honor for the parents and terrified baby...

Afghan Woman Beaten, Raped, Forced to Watch Son Killed ? Then Jailed by Afghan Government

Posted on May 01, 2008
For a young woman named Rukhma, it may be a bit unclear what the United States is fighting for in Afghanistan, or certainly achieving at such a great cost in lives and treasure. Our Afghan ally continues to impose strict Islamic laws against woman in shocking abuses...

Florida?s Mandatory Ultrasound Law Fails in Tie Vote

Posted on May 01, 2008
se defeat of the state’s mandatory ultrasound law for abortions — much like the recent bill in Oklahoma’s legislature. The bill would have required that a woman be shown the ultrasound unless she signs a waiver. The bill, sponsored by Sen...

Man in India Throws Lower Caste 6-Year-Old Girl into Fire

Posted on May 01, 2008
In yet another outrage tied to India’s caste system, Madan Singh, 22, was arrested in Northern India for throwing a six-year-old girl into burning embers when he caught her trespassing. Singh comes from a higher caste while the girl is dalit — the lowest caste...

Too Big a Tent: Indiana Republicans Struggle with Nazi Sympathizer Running for Congress

Posted on May 01, 2008
For those who advocate a “big tent Republican party” of different views, the tent may be slightly too big in Indiana where a candidate for the 2nd congressional district values not just low taxes and a strong defense but Adolph Hitler. Tony Zirkle has a resume that makes him the perfect candidate from being [...

What will the Isle of Man Say? Lesbians Sue Over Name

Posted on May 01, 2008
Lesbians in Greece have gone to court to establish that they are not lesbians. Natives of the island of Lesbos are asking a court in Athens to establish that homosexual women are not lesbians — unless presumably they live on the island of Lesbos...

Dartmouth Professor Announces Intention to Sue Students for Being Mean to Her

Posted on April 30, 2008
A Dartmouth lecturer Priya Venkatesan appears to have some unresolved teaching issues with her Winter ‘08 Writing 5 class. Most professors deal with a rude class with stern lectures, implied grading threats, and more homework. Venkatesan reportedly took a different tack: she informed the class that she is going to sue them [...

Public Affection (No), Public Beating (Yes): Memphis Prinicipal Outs Two Gay Students

Posted on April 30, 2008
In Memphis, Tenn., people are shaking their heads over the decision of Daphne Beasley, the principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in South Memphis, who published the names of gay students who were “couples” on a list with heterosexual couples...

Oklahoma Passes Mandatory Ultrasound Law for Abortion Patients

Posted on April 30, 2008
Oklahoma has again tinkered with the decision process leading to an abortion. Under a new law, a woman would be required to go through an ultrasound procedure and given the chance to see the fetus that she is aborting. The Senate Bill 1878 extends prior laws under which a woman must be told [...

Not-So-Blind Justice: Muslim Woman Appeals Ruling Over Wearing of the Veil in Court

Posted on April 30, 2008
Ginnah Muhammad is a Muslim woman in Michigan who was forced to decide whether to violate her religious principles (in removing a veil before testifying) or to lose her small-claims lawsuit. Muhammad wears a full hijab as well as a niqab, a veil that covers all but a 2-inch space for her eyes...

New E-Mails Strengthens Criminal Case Against Detriot Mayor and Aide

Posted on April 30, 2008
Just when it seemed that things could not be worse for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former aide Crhistine Beatty, it did. Now emails released this week further establish a very compelling case that both lied under oath and spent millions in public funds to try to hide their role in the firing [...

Albert Hofman ? Father of LSD ? Takes The Ultimate Trip

Posted on April 30, 2008
Albert Hofmann, the father of the mind-altering drug LSD, died in Basel, Switzerland at the age of 102. He discovered the effect of lysergic acid diethylamide-25 by accident and used himself as the first test case. LSD was the result of a laboratory experiment on April 16, 1943...

Michigan Professor Temporarily Loses Custody of Son Over Oversight at Baseball Game

Posted on April 29, 2008
Once again, one has to wonder where we find some of the bureaucrats who run agencies like child protective services. University of Michigan Christopher Ratte, 47, made an innocent and understandable mistake at a Detroit Tiger’s game at Comerica Park...

Clinton Seeks $2.3 Billion in Earmarks

Posted on April 29, 2008
While many of us have continued to call for a ban on earmarks as a core area of corruption and abuse, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) appears unrepentent — even after years of criticism directed against her for earmarks. In 2009, Clinton has demanded nearly $2...

Spitzer Prostitute Sues Girls Gone Wild

Posted on April 29, 2008
Ashley Alexandra Dupre is outraged. Outraged. After working as a high-priced prostitute and been advertised on the Internet for shopping Johns, Dupre was shocked to learn that an earlier video that she made with Girls Gone Wild is being marketed by the company...

Supreme Court Takes Prosecutorial Abuse Case

Posted on April 29, 2008
The Supreme Court has taken the case of a breakthrough case where the Ninth Circuit had held that a wrongly convicted man could sue the prosecutor who was allegedly responsible for injustice. The expectation is that the Court will carve out an exception for prosecutors — further insulating abusive prosecutors from responsibility for their [...

Canada Puts Leash on Use of Drug-Sniffing Dogs

Posted on April 28, 2008
It appears that, while U.S. courts are jettisoning privacy rights and expanding the powers of the police in various areas, the Supreme Court of Canada is moving in the opposite direction: actually fighting to preserve privacy. In an important ruling, the Court held that police cannot use dogs to randomly sniff briefcases, book [...

Bush Administration Re-Asserts Right to Torture

Posted on April 28, 2008
The Bush Administration is continuing to claim that it can torture prisoners in violation of international law despite the so-called “torture bill” and pledge of the President to comply with international rules. Congress, which has protected the president from any criminal investigation, is again professing shock and outrage in the longest institutional imitation of [...

The Royal Treatment: Company Abandons Family of Five on Island

Posted on April 28, 2008
This should make for an interesting lawsuit. A Florida family of five bought and boarded a cruise on the Royal Caribbean. However, when their 7-month-old child became sick the ship gave the Cortes minutes to gather their stuff (in their pajamas) and abandoned them on the island of Nassau...

Austrian Father Confesses to Imprisoning and Raping Daughter for 24 Years

Posted on April 28, 2008
It may be the longest false imprisonment case in history. A 73-year-old man known only for now as Mr. F., has confessed in Amstetten, Austria to keeping his daughter (known as Elisabeth F) in a prison in his cellar for 24 years while he raped her and had children with her...

Bunker Mentality: YouTube Bars Account of Leading Scientology Critic

Posted on April 27, 2008
YouTube has pulled the account of popular anti-scientology channel “Xenutv1″ run by Mark Bunker — just before it aired a long-anticipated three-hour interview with Jason Beghe - a film and television actor who recently came out against his former Scientology church...

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