Legal Commentary

Rand E. Prosecutor: Oregon D.A. Sent To Jail Over Pressuring Women For Sexual Favors

Posted on December 16, 2010
There is a bizarre case in Oregon where a prosecutor has been sentenced to jail for allegedly seeking sex from a woman in a child-support case. Rand E. Overton, Lincoln County deputy district attorney, agreed to a plea deal involving statements made to a women seeking child-support...

Italian Court Increases Sentences For CIA Agents in Kidnapping/Torture Case

Posted on December 16, 2010
An Italian court increased the sentences for 23 CIA agents convicted in absentia for abducting an Egyptian imam as part of the US “extraordinary rendition” program. While President Obama has promised that no one involved in the torture program would be prosecuted and has refused to extradite the CIA employees to Italy, the Italian courts [...

Arrest With Chance of Jail: Television Weather Forecaster Heidi Jones Arrested For False Rape Claim

Posted on December 15, 2010
New York’s WABC/Channel 7 weather forecaster Heidi Jones was arrested for making a false rape claim to police. Jones claimed that she fought off a hispanic male who pulled her into the bushes while she was jogging in Central Park. Jones has appeared on “Good Morning America” and filed the report two months after the [...

New Jersey Justice Goes On Strike Over Appointment of Temporary Justice

Posted on December 15, 2010
New Jersey is dealing with a novel strike. New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto had gone on strike in protest to what he believes is the unlawful appointment of a temporary replacement for Justice John Wallace, who was not re-appointed by Gov...

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

Taking Candy From a Child: Thieves Steal Family?s Christmas Gifts and Their Dog

Posted on December 15, 2010
In the annals of thefts, this may be the coldest crime since the Grinch Stole Christmas. Burglars in Mesquite not only stole wrapped Christmas gifts but the Rusaw family’s dog, Candy, for good or bad measure. The Rusaw family’s apartment was broken into and the thieves took everything including their teacup Yorkshire terrier...

Meet Sotra: Titan?s Ice Volcano

Posted on December 15, 2010
This is very cool. Astronomers have released new information that they believe shows the existence of an “ice volcano” on Saturn’s moon Titan. Sotra is more than 3,000 feet tall and once spewed molten ice from deep beneath the moon’s surface...

Californian Engineer Charged With Blasphemy After Allegedly Turning Off Loud Speaker At Mosque

Posted on December 15, 2010
In our ongoing coverage of blasphemy prosecutions, the case of Gregory Luke, 64, in Indonesia is a standout. The retired Californian engineer is charged with blasphemy for allegedly turning off a speaker system during Ramadan playing prayers throughout the night...

Video: Florida Gunman Shoots At School Board Before Shooting Himself

Posted on December 15, 2010
This video contains very disturbing footage. What is striking is how brave and calm the school board members, particularly Bay City Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt, prove under pressure. The gunman has been identified as Clay A. Duke. At one point, a female school board member [Ginger Littleton] who was allowed to leave returned to try [...

With This I Do Sue: Attorney Sues Man Who Jilted Her Days Before Wedding

Posted on December 14, 2010
Attorney Dominique A. Buttitta, 32, is not someone to leave at the altar. Buttitta is suing Vito V. Salerno, 31, after he back out of a wedding that cost her nearly $100,000 and considerable embarrassment. The two had dated since March 2004 and he popped the question on Dec...

Who Killed Frosty?

Posted on December 14, 2010
It was a horrific video. The victim was standing innocently in the street in Champaign-Urbana when a city bus is shown swerving to hit him. The victim literally seems to explode — piece flying under and over the bus. The bus driver has now resigned, but the snowman will never see Christmas...

2010 To Be Hottest Year On Record

Posted on December 14, 2010
While every snow flurry or cool snap is often cited as evidence of the folly of “global warming” by critics, scientists at the NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies have released data showing that 2010 now ranks as the hottest climate year on record...

Eye for An Eye: Iranian Supreme Court Upholds Sentence To Pour Acid In Eyes of Defendant

Posted on December 14, 2010
We have been following the grotesque sentencings handed down under Sharia law’s medieval principle of “an eye for an eye,” including the recent variation of a spine for a spine. One such case previously discussed involved an Iranian court ordering that acid be dropped in the eyes of an Iranian man after he blinded the [...

Shelton: Clinton Cabinet Member Wanted To Sacrifice American Pilot To Start War With Iraq

Posted on December 14, 2010
This week, I watched the Daily Show interview with former Joint Chiefs of Staff retired General Hugh Shelton about his new memoir. What was most striking was his disclosure that a Clinton cabinet member suggested ordering a U.S. pilot to fly low in a U2 surveillance flight over Iraq in order to be shot down...

Mandatory Health Care Provision Struck Down As Unconstitutional

Posted on December 13, 2010
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Virginia had struck down the centerpiece of the national health care plan: the mandatory requirement that all citizens get health care coverage. The lengthy 42-page opinion details how the law falls outside of interstate commerce jurisdiction — the concern that I previously voiced in a column...

When You?re a Jet, You?re A Jet All The Way . . .: Can Jets Assistant Coach Alosi Be Sued For Battery?

Posted on December 13, 2010
It is well known that I watch football games for the torts and New York Jets assistant coach Sal Alosi supplied a perfect case for battery this weekend. Despite the interesting legal dispute over the “one cheek, two cheek” rule in my Bears game, the jackbooted thugs at the network switched over to the “more [...

UC Berkeley Police Officers Allegedly Arrest Journalist for Taking Their Picture

Posted on December 13, 2010
We have yet another arrest of a citizen for simply photographing police officers. We have been following this trend of abusive arrests (here and here and here and here), which are tolerated by legislators and police officers in clear violation of constitutional rights and good public policy...

Video: Collapse of the Vikings Stadium ? Followed Shortly Thereafter By The Chicago Bears

Posted on December 13, 2010
THis is an amazing video of the collapse of the Viking Stadium this weekend. I felt terribly sorry for the Viking fans until my Bears played yesterday against the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, the Bears play outside. As a kid, we always prayed for snow since Bears were used to playing in the snow...

Pachyderms and Packy Don?ts: Man Caught At Dulles International Airport With Elephant Tails and a Case of Horrors

Posted on December 13, 2010
I have long complained that U.S. customs forms are missing obvious boxes to check for elephant tails, dried hedgehogs, chicken blood, and the like. That appears to be the defense of a man caught traveling from Ghana with a case filled with a horror show of animal parts...

Columbia Professor and Huff Post Blogger Accused of Incest

Posted on December 13, 2010
In academia, we often like to study and report on the crimes and controversies in society as if our world is separate and apart from matters. The arrest of well-known Columbia professor David Epstein, 46, has shattered any such illusions. Epstein, who teaches political science and writes for Huffington Post, is accused of incest –stemming [...

Night At With The Apollo

Posted on December 13, 2010
This clip has been widely shown of Vladimir Putin playing piano and singing “Blueberry Hill.”  Shown on various networks, it has been played with spans of the audience of thrilled actors and celebrities from the West. I must confess that, as a civil libertarian, I had a distinctly different reaction...

The Curious Death of George Wythe: ?I Am Murdered!?

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger Author’s note: This is my third submission about events of historical significance following pieces about George Washington and The Boston Tea Party. It is quite lengthy and for that I apologize, but the story and the people involved are both larger-than-life and fascinating...

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Rules on ?John Doe? DNA Indictments

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger Last Thursday, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that prosecutors have the right to seek ?so-called John Doe indictments? in rape cases. What this means is that prosecutors in the state will be able to indict the DNA profile of an unknown person in order to prevent the [...

Senator Bernie Sanders Takes a Stand on President Obama?s Tax Cut Compromise

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger The ?Berniebuster? begins:   Keith Olbermann on the ?Bernieniebuster? and some of the Senator’s major concerns about the proposed tax cut compromise: Bernie Sanders on greed:  Bernie Sanders concludes:  Senator Sanders Statement on the Tax Cut Deal

The Great (Dog) Escape

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger In a move worthy of the late, great Steve McQueen, our canine friend escapes his captors: http://embed.break.com/NTc0MDU1 Amazing Dog Escapes from Kennel – Watch more Funny Videos

GTCA-Scientist?s Cut

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger H/T: Bio-Rad. (Which has additional videos such as out-takes.)

Electro-magnetic Projectile Accelerator

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Got some extra room under you Christmas tree? Have I got the perfect stocking stuffer for you! It fires a 7 pound projectile at 7,875 feet per second. What’s not to love? It’s an electro-magnetic projectile accelerator...

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Posted on December 12, 2010
Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Continuing on our Phil Spector Christmas theme, today we have The Crystals in glorious STEREO!

Was VT Slow To Respond To Campus Threat That Left 32 Dead?

Posted on December 12, 2010
In a much-anticipated report issued last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) concluded that Virginia Tech acted too slowly to alert students and staff about the ongoing rampage of mass murderer, Seung-Hui Cho. The report found that VT officials violated the Clery Act by failing to alert students of a dorm room shooting that left [...

Ron Paul Speaks about Wikileaks on the Floor of the House

Posted on December 11, 2010
Recently, Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took to the floor of the House to talk about Wikileaks, transparency in government, and the case of Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers, and the New York Times. He spoke about how the Iraq War was based on lies...

Nullification ? Better Than Secession

Posted on December 11, 2010
How’d that secession thing work out for you? Not so well? Want to get all the benefits of secession without any of the drawbacks? The Tea Party has your answer – nullification. Any law a state doesn’t like can be declared unconstitutional and poof, the state can ignore it...

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