Legal Commentary

Atheist in the Foxhole: Soldier Sues Gates for Discrimination

Posted on April 27, 2008
Soldier Jeremy Hall is the atheist in the foxhole that everyone says does not exist. Perhaps for that reason, some people seem quite upset to find him there - debunking the idea that belief in God is a prerequisite for being a good soldier. Hale, 23, is now suing Defense Secretary Roberts Gates [...

Cruise Part of a New Branch of the Human Race? Homo Creepulus

Posted on April 27, 2008
In the ongoing controversy over Jason Beghe’s defection from Scientology (and disclosure of various alleged practices and bizarre beliefs), the one that caught my eye is his claim that Tom Cruise (and John Travolta) believe that they have evolved into a new race, Homo Novis...

Yo Ho Ho: Spain Pays Somali Pirates $1.2 Million to Release Ship and Crew

Posted on April 27, 2008
It is now becoming clear why the Spanish have been able to secure the release of their vessels and citizens faster than other countries: they allegedly cave and pay the demanded ransom. Perhaps, the Euro’s rise is making this a small cost of doing business, but one can now see why Somali pirating [...

Blowing Off the Media: Video Shows the Perils of Covering Dick Cheney

Posted on April 26, 2008
This video shows that even Vice President Dick Cheney’s plane blows off media on occasion. The plane returned a few second later to strafe the tarmac for survivors. For other perils of the media, click here.

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Student Found Dead in Professor?s Condo

Posted on April 26, 2008
Paradise Valley Community College psychology professor Michael Todd, 51, is suspended after a student, Andria Ziegler, 19, was found dead from a drug overdose in his Phoenix condo. Ziegler’s parents said that Todd had been pressuring Ziegler to date him for the past two semesters while she was a student in his classes...

Senate Finds that Domenici?s Call to U.S. Attorney was Only an ?Appearance? of Impropriety

Posted on April 26, 2008
The Senate is congratulating itself on finding taking a stand on ethics. It admonished Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R., N.M.) yesterday for his “appearance of impropriety” in connection with the firing of one of the nine U.S. attorneys fired. Yet, it is hard to see what it takes under congressional rule to commit an [...

Professor John Yoo Refuses to Testify on Torture Memos

Posted on April 26, 2008
Professor John Yoo has formally rejected a request from the House Judiciary Committee for his testimony, prompting a likely subpoena from the committee. In a letter to Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), Yoo?s lawyer john Millian said that he is merely following the directions of the White House on the question: We have been expressly advised by the [...

The Cantor Did It: Leading Cantors in Israel Embroiled in Alleged Sex Trap Conspiracy

Posted on April 25, 2008
In Jerusalem, two of the most famous cantors in Israel are involved in a scandal right out of a Mickey Spallane novel involving seduction, comely female private detectives, hidden cameras and the works. The central players in the drama are Naftali Herstik and his former student, Israel Rand...

Death Becomes Her: Art Follows Death In Germany

Posted on April 25, 2008
The prizewinning artist Gregor Schneider has alway been fascinating by death, as are many artists. His sculpture “Hannelore Reuen” of a dead woman remains an international sensation. Now, he is going for an even more real angle: he is seeking an actual dying person to agree to die in a gallery as a [...

Canadian Cop Shoplifts, Make Threats and Assaults Civilian ? Gets Three Year Suspension with Pay Plus Possible Promotions

Posted on April 25, 2008
This falls into the “bad cop, no doughnut” category. In Ottawa, they have a curious way of dealing with officers who commit crimes. Constable Alec Moraru has been reinstated after receiving three years suspension WITH pay after he (1) shoplifted, (2) threatened a civilian; and (3) assaulted a civilian...

Playing the Law of Averages: Justice Department to Try Sears Tower Defendants a Third Time

Posted on April 24, 2008
The Bush Administration has long had difficulty in terrorism, assembling the worst record of losses of an modern Administration. Now, in the Liberty City case of six defendants accused of plotting to try to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, they are going to try a THIRD time to get a jury to [...

Crime by Write-Out? Don Young?s Extra Ordinary Earmark

Posted on April 24, 2008
Last week, the Senate took an unprecedented step asking the Justice Department to investigate the possible criminal conduct of a House member. The subject of this ignoble moment is Rep. Don Young. For many, it was a well-earned distinction for Young, who is often cited as the face of earmark corruption...

Indian Doctor Refuse to Treat ?Untouchable? Mother; Allow Mother and Baby to Die

Posted on April 24, 2008
Maya Devi, 28, made it in time to a hospital to deliver her baby at the Kanpur Medical College in Northern Uttar Pradesh state. The doctors, however, had other ideas. Devi is an “untouchable” and therefore the upper caste doctors refused to touch her and let both her and her baby die...

Shock Video: Man Steals Wallet of ROTC Cadet Having Seizure

Posted on April 24, 2008
Okay, I was premature yesterday (here), in noting the current leading candidates for worst persons on Earth. That was before I met Frank White today. The video below shows White taking the wallet of Mississippi State University ROTC student Andrew Bow after he falls into a seizure on the street...

Honk, If You Love Jesus: Florida Extends State Advancement of Religion to License Plates

Posted on April 24, 2008
Florida is continuing its struggle against the separation of church and state with a new promotion of religion: special license plates for the faithful. The legislature is considering a plate featuring a Christian cross, a stained-glass church window and the words “I Believe...

This Week?s Selections of the Worst Humans On the Planet

Posted on April 23, 2008
Two individuals are locked away this week in a huge net benefit to our collective gene pool. One, Nicholas David Thompson, beat a kitten’s head on a wall for giggles while the other, Aaron Hunter, urinated on a three-old child because he was mad at his mother...

Ninth Circuit Rules that Borders Agents Can Search Computers Without Either Probable Cause or Reasonable Suspicion

Posted on April 23, 2008
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that border agents can search a person’s laptop without either probable cause or reasonable suspicion. In a sweeping decision that reversed the trial judge, Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain and two other judges found no distinction in a search of luggage and actually reviewing the contents of [...

Oops: ABC Mistakingly Outs Prostitute to Mother

Posted on April 22, 2008
Now, here is an interesting potential torts lawsuit. Diane Sawyer interviewed a Manhattan prostitute for an ABC Special. She was assured that her identity would be concealed, but at least one person recognized her immediately: her mother. The prostitute details the accidental disclosure on her blog under the name “debauchette” As “debauchette,” the [...

I?m Not Late, I?m On Mecca Time: Muslim Scientists and Clerics Call for Replacement of Greenwich Mean Time with Mecca Mean Time

Posted on April 22, 2008
Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the replacement of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with Mecca Mean Time given the more central location of the holy city on Earth. Of course, given yesterday’s report of the Human Rights Watch on Saudi treatment of women, here...

New Hampshire Judge Resigns Under Allegations of Fraudulent Conduct

Posted on April 22, 2008
New Hampshire Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey resigned after she was suspended for three years by the state Supreme Court for dealings considered fraudulent and dishonest by her colleagues. Coffey’s demise is tied to a fraudulent property transfer involving her husband, John Coffey was barred as an attorney over the controversy...

Government Charges Two Former USF Students With Terrorism Counts

Posted on April 22, 2008
In Tampa, Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed — the two former University of South Florida students — have been charged with terrorism counts stemming from a traffic stop in South Carolina. As with many such cases, the government made a great deal over the stop, suggesting a major terrorism coup that found explosive devices [...

Osama and Obama: Church Fuels Obama Muslim Rumors

Posted on April 22, 2008
As Hillary Clinton is being criticized for running a commercial against Barach Obama featuring Osama Bin Laden, a church in South Carolina has put up a sign “Obama, Osama, hmmm, are they brothers?” It is only the latest intervention of a church in the election in violation of federal law and perhaps the most [...

Criminal Charges in Defective Grenade Case

Posted on April 21, 2008
A Georgia military contractor, Pyrotechnic Specialties Inc. or PSI, is accused of a conspiracy to defraud the government and to sell defective stun (or “flashbang”) grenades to the military and both state and federal law enforcement officials...

DNA Testing Begins on Polygamous Sect

Posted on April 21, 2008
State officials have begun giving DNA tests to 400 children. The testing is intended to help determine their parents and relatives — though it could become part of a criminal case raising some interesting issues. Officials in San Angelo have objected that the religious sect reserves the right to assign children to another mother or [...

Forever Children: Human Rights Watch Blasts Saudi Arabia on Treatment of Women

Posted on April 21, 2008
Human Right Watch has issued a detailed report of how Saudi Arabia keeps women in a state of “childhood,” dependent upon males for things ranging from medical care to driving. The report, “Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia,” is based on more than 100 interviews [...

Duncan Hunter Comes Out In Favor of Infamous Feres Doctrine

Posted on April 21, 2008
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), a member of the House Armed Services Committee comes out in an article in the Los Angeles Times in favor of the Feres Doctrine — a controversial rule that has effectively stripped military personnel of their ability to sue for even the most gross negligent acts by military doctors and managers...

American Pastor Sentenced to Three Years in Russia for Smuggling Ammunition

Posted on April 21, 2008
Phillip Miles, of South Carolina, was sentenced by a Moscow court to more than three years in prison for smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia. He had brought a box of 20 rifle shells for a friend who had a Winchester rifle. Stupid to be sure, but three years? Twenty ...

Scientology Accused of Pressuring Removal of YouTube Video and Abusive Searches of the Homes of Critics

Posted on April 20, 2008
Scientology is again under criticism over the alleged pressure to remove the video below of Jason Beghe explaining why he left the church and how actors like Tom Cruise and John Travolta allegedly believe that they are now a new species. At the same time, the Internet has seen an explosion of videos alleging [...

Getting the Schtick Kicked Out of You: German Citizen Allegedly Held for Months by U.S. in Afghanistan After Trying to Buy Electric Shaver in Military Store

Posted on April 20, 2008
According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, German citizen Gholam Ghaus Z., 41, had been held since January in Afghanistan after he tried to buy a shaver in a U.S. military supermarket. The four-months of confinement that followed has not been justified by the U...

Posner on Loss of Consortium

Posted on April 20, 2008
Judge Richard Posner has spent his life establishing the value of law and economics reasoning. In a recent decision, he tackled the usually fuzzy question of the value of loss of consortium - offering his own formula for calculating such damages in the case of Ronald Arpin...

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