Legal Commentary

Police Officer Responds To Robbery and Fires Eight Times After Victim

Posted on October 04, 2010
A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy responded to a robbery call at a Hollywood liquor store and fired eight times at a man spotted leaving the store. It turned out to be the clerk who reported the robbery who was unarmed. Fortunately, the officer did not hit the clerk with any of the eight rounds...

Women Publicly Flogged In Indonesia For Selling Rice During Ramadan

Posted on October 04, 2010
Murni Amris, 27, and Rukiah Abdullah, 22, are the latest women to be flogged under Sharia law. Their crime in Indonesia? Selling food during Ramadan. The public caning occurred at a mosque before hundreds of onlookers in the city of Jantho. The women were spotted selling rice at noon during Ramadan when the faithful are [...

Gallup: Fifty-Five Point Difference in Support of President Obama Among Blacks and Whites

Posted on October 04, 2010
A new Gallup poll shows just how racially divided the country has become over the President. The poll shows a whopping 91% of Blacks supporting Barack Obama as compared to only 36% of Whites. President Obama’s overall approval rating has stayed below 50% and some polls have him in the 30s...

Dutch Politician Geert Wilders Goes On Trial For Hate Speech

Posted on October 04, 2010
Today, Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders went on trial for alleged hate speech for his anti-Muslim and anti-immigrants comments. While I strongly disagree with those comments, I believe the trial is a threat to free speech and part of a growing crackdown in the West on critics of religion...

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Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell, Don?t Answer: Oregon Teacher Fired For Answering Question From Student on His Sexual Orientation

Posted on October 04, 2010
Student teacher, Seth Stambaugh, appears to be subject to a new policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell . . . and don’t answer” regarding his sexual orientation. Stambaugh truthfully answered the question of a student about his being gay and was promptly re-assigned due to objections from a parent...

Introducing The Feline Futon

Posted on October 03, 2010
This little guy found his perfect “sleep number.” It turns out to be a feline futon. This may be the most laid back cat in recorded history.

Study: Agnostics and Atheists Know More About Religion Than Their Religious Counterparts

Posted on October 03, 2010
A new Pew survey indicates that if you want to know something about religion, ask an agnostic or atheists. The survey by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found atheist and agnostic Americans fare more knowledgeable about religion than their religious neighbors...

Prosecutors Consider Hate Crime Charges in Clementi Case

Posted on October 03, 2010
In the latest twist to the case involving Tyler Clementi, prosecutors have announced that they are considering hate crime charges against Clementi’s roommate, Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, N.J., and another student, and Molly Wei. We previously discussed the case on this blog...

Getting to the Bottom of the Matter: Florida Man Denies Possession of Cocaine Between Buttocks

Posted on October 03, 2010
Raymond Stanley Roberts may go down in history as the ultimate example of the legal advice “deny everything.” When Manatee County deputies removed bags of marijuana and cocaine from his buttocks in a search, Roberts denied the cocaine was his...

Study: One in Ten Americans Suffer From Depression

Posted on October 03, 2010
Each year, I speak to the first-year law students in my class about depression and mental illness — and the need to seek help. Law students often assume that problems like depression are rare when they are quite common among lawyers and are not barriers to professional development...

Oakland Police Criticized After Shooting 11-Year-Old Arthritic Lab

Posted on October 02, 2010
Oakland Police officer are facing criticism after shooting an 11-year-old arthritic yellow Labrador three times in responding to a burglar alarm. Owner Kate Hallock says Gloria was shot three times with a 40-caliber Glock handgun in the family’s backyard...

St. John?s Dean Arrested For Allegedly Using Students As Laborers

Posted on October 02, 2010
The problem continue to mount for earlier this month for former St. John?s University dean, Cecilia Chang, Chang was previously accused of embezzling over $1 million in donations from the college. Now the FBI is also alleging that she essentially used students as slave laborers around her house...

DUI Dress Code Rule No. 1: Leave the ?I Have A Drinking Problem? Tee-Shirt At Home

Posted on October 02, 2010
Here is free advice for anyone allegedly drinking and driving: leave the “I Have A Drinking Problem” tee-shirt at home. Due to such lack of forethought, James Johnson, 50, took a mug shot that is likely to remain on the wall of the local police station coffee room for years...

It?s Over, Over There: World War I Ends With The Payment of Final Reparations By Germany

Posted on October 01, 2010
Germany is finally in the black. On Sunday, Germany paid off the last of the reparations set 92 years ago after the end of World War I. The final £60 million installment of the £22 billion debt was paid off pursuant to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. The bill was originally 226 billion Reichsmarks, but [...

Lake Pirates? Texan Killed on Border Lake By Mexican Pirates

Posted on October 01, 2010
This is a curious crime report. Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, Jr. in Zapata County Texas is dealing with “lake pirates.” Falcon Lake sits on the Texas/Mexican border and a Texas couple was attacked while jetskiing by a boat of “pirates” who shot David Michael Hartley, 30...

New York Lawyer Convicted of Impersonating NYU Professor

Posted on October 01, 2010
Manhattan lawyer Raphael Golb has been convicted of 30 counts of identity theft and impersonating a law professor in a bizarre case that we previously discussed, Golb assumed the identity of the rival of his father, Norman Golb (right), and began sending out false emails under the name of NYU Professor Lawrence Schiffman (left)...

Does This Man Deserve a Tax Break? Blog Triggers Bizarre Debate Over a Law Professor?s Finances Swirls

Posted on September 30, 2010
University of Chicago Professor Todd Henderson has found himself in the curious position of being the focus of a national debate over tax rates — and his family’s finances. The corporate law professor wanted to show that people making more than $250,000 a year are not super rich and indeed can be struggling in this [...

Rutgers Student Commits Suicide After Two Other Students Secretly Film Sexual Encounter

Posted on September 30, 2010
New Jersey officials are dealing with a tragic suicide of a freshman from Rutgers University after Tyler Clementi was allegedly filmed illegally in a sexual encounter by fellow freshman students Dharun Ravi, 18, and Molly Wei, 18. In an example of the merging of tort and criminal law, the two students have been criminally charged [...

Canadian Court Strikes Down Prostitution Law

Posted on September 30, 2010
There is an interesting ruling out of Canada where Justice Susan Himel of Ontario?s Superior Court of Justice has struck down Canada?s prostitution laws as violating the basic rights of prostitutes and their clients. It is a position that many libertarians and some civil liberties advocates have long advocated — objecting to the criminalizing of [...

Elderly Lady Shoots 12-Year-Old After He Threw Brick Through Window ? Only The Child Is Charged

Posted on September 30, 2010
In Chicago, police and prosecutors are dealing with a shooting in an unexpected way. Margaret Matthews, 68, had long complained about a 12-year-old who has been “terrorizing” her. When the boy joined friends in throwing bricks through her windows, she shot him...

Lawyer Sues California Law Firm After Refusing To Attend Retreat With Alleged Male Nudity

Posted on September 29, 2010
A former partner with the California law firm of Bisnar Chase is suing the firm for sexual harassment and breach of contract. Stephen Eggleston claims that he was forced out of the firm after he refused to attend an office retreat where male attorneys were expected to strip naked and engage in an exercise with [...

Supreme Court Accepts Case Involving Anna Nicole Smith?s Probate Claim ? For The Second Time

Posted on September 29, 2010
While there are hundreds of thousands of probate cases each year in the United States, the Supreme Court has decided to take up the case of Anna Nicole Smith for the second time to determine if her estate should get part of the fortune from her late Texas oil baron husband...

Iran Sentences Leading Blogger To Almost 20 Years in Prison

Posted on September 29, 2010
The Iranian courts have produced their weekly outrage. The leading blogger in Iran, Hossein Derakhshan, 35, was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison for his writings. Derakhshan was the founder of one of the first Farsi-language blogs and helped instruct others in how to create their own blogs...

Death Ray: Hotel Design Blamed For Burning Guests in Pool

Posted on September 29, 2010
This could make for an interesting torts lawsuit. A new hotel, The Vdara, is a modern glass structure with a curved design. The striking architectural design has one other novel feature: a “death ray” that cooks people in the pool. Guests have been complaining that the curvature of the building produces a “death ray” that [...

Biden Tells Democratic Voter to ?Stop Whining? and ?Buck Up?

Posted on September 28, 2010
We previously discussed the disconnect between Democratic leaders and liberal voters in the increasing complaints of leaders like Vice President Biden over Democratic “lethargy.” Democrats in Washington once again seemed shocked that voters are not eager to fight for their retention...

Maryland Court Rules Citizens Have Right to Videotape Officers in Public

Posted on September 28, 2010
We have been discussing the abusive trend across the country of police departments arresting citizens for videotaping them in public. Now, in Maryland, Circuit Court Judge Emory A Pitt Jr. has ruled that a Maryland State Trooper was wrong to arrest Anthony Graber for filming him brandishing his weapon at a traffic stop...

Tackle Me Elmo: Costumed Character Sends Alleged Attacker To Hospital

Posted on September 28, 2010
A Florida man was under arrest after assaulting customers in a guitar store and knocking over a display. His alleged rampage ended when he turned on the wrong guy: Elmo. The encounter ended with the man sustaining bruises and broken fingers after a beat down by the costumed character...

Pretty in Pink? English Woman Faces Charges For Dyeing Cat To Match Her Hair

Posted on September 28, 2010
Here is an interesting question: is it animal cruelty to dye your cat’s fur to match your own hair? That is the question to be answered in a proceeding in England where Natasha Gregory, 22, has been hunted down like Jack the Dyer. The manhunt began when people spotted a pink cat walking around Swindon-Wilthire...

Prosecutor in Stevens Case Commits Suicide

Posted on September 28, 2010
Nicholas Marsh, a Justice Department prosecutor who was under investigation for his role in the botched prosecution of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), has committed suicide. It is a sad end to a promising career for Marsh who was removed by the Public Integrity Section after the investigation was commenced at Justice...

Federal Prosecutor Arrested For Lewd Conduct in Pool

Posted on September 28, 2010
A federal prosecutor, Sean Cronin, 35, has been arrested for stripping down to his underwear and then taking a dip in a pool at a local bar. Police report that Cronin fled at the sight of police out a back door and then jumped over “multiple fences” to evade them...

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