Legal Commentary

Night Shift: Prisoners Given Guards? Guns and Cars To Work As Hitmen During Nights

Posted on July 27, 2010
There is an amazing story out of Northern Mexico where jailers not only allow prisoners out at night to work as hitmen, but allegedly gave them their own service weapons and vehicles to do the night work. The prisoners are accused of at least three massacres this year in the city of Torreón — leaving [...

American Taliban: Church Announces ?International Burn a Koran Day?

Posted on July 27, 2010
The Dove World Outreach Center, based in Gainesville, Fla. is observing the anniversary of the September 11th attacks this year in the most offensive and irreligious way possible — Terry Jones and his flock will burn a Qur’an (Koran). Jones is the author of “Islam is of the Devil...

Priest Accused of Drowning Baby During Baptism

Posted on July 27, 2010
This criminal case in Moldova may be unique. Father Valentin is accused of accidental homicide after he allegedly drowned a baby during a baptism. The video is below ( pictured on left shows standard Orthodox baptism). The six-week-old baby died on the way to hospital and an autopsy found the cause of death was drowning...

Blagojevich?s Lawyer Vows to Go To Jail Over Closing Argument

Posted on July 27, 2010
Sam Adam Jr. is under a threat of jail from Judge James B. Zagel in the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Zagel has ruled that Adam cannot refer to witnesses whom the government conspicuously did not call to trial — even though prosecutors referred to non-appearing witnesses...

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Kepler Mission Reveals As Many As 140 Possible Earth-Like Planets

Posted on July 26, 2010
The recently activated Kepler Mission is already paying off great dividends. The deep space observatory has reportedly found up to 140 planets that may be habitable, Earth-like bodies. This is just after six weeks on the job. These are but a part of over 700 new planets identified by the mission...

England Back Down From Extending Anonymity To Rape Defendants

Posted on July 26, 2010
In a reversal under pressure, the English Justice Ministry has decided that it will not treat both the accused and the accusing parties in rape cases equally. The Ministry had indicated that it would grant anonymity to those accused of rape just as the alleged victims are given anonymity...

Swiss Court Rules Naked Hiking Is Lawful

Posted on July 26, 2010
Sometimes it is better for justice to be blind. A Swiss court has lifted a fine against a hiker who insisted on encountering nature Au Naturale. The ruling of the court in Appenzell in Northern Switzerland is being hailed as a victory for human rights — and fueled calls for nudist trails (on the model [...

Police Arrest Alleged ?A.L.F. Lone Wolf?

Posted on July 26, 2010
Walter Edmund Bond, 34, is so committed to being a vegan that he tattooed the word across his neck. It was a useful identifying feature when officers arrested him for allegedly burning down a sheepskin factory in Colorado. However, it gets even more bizarre...

The Ultimate Car Security System

Posted on July 25, 2010
Tired of having those guys with dirty rags and squeegees clean your windshield at stop lights and then demand money. This may be the answer. Just tell them that “Fluffy” has a dollar for them. Next car might warrant a sun roof.

Chinese Officials Apologize For Mistaking Senior Leader?s Wife for an Average Citizens ? And Beating Her

Posted on July 25, 2010
Chinese officials are very upset at a terrible mistake made by police officers. The officers beat a woman outside of a government office. Nothing strange there. Officers routinely beat Chinese citizens who try to present petitions for relief to the government as a deterrent...

Report: Alarms Were Disabled Before BP Explosion to Allow Workers To Sleep

Posted on July 25, 2010
A new report suggests that warning systems on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig were turned off at the time before the explosion because alarms were keeping workers awake. A chief technician for Transocean said that false alarms became bothersome so they disabled the system — before the rig exploded killing 11 people...

Belt-Tightening: German Legislator Calls For Taxing the Obese

Posted on July 25, 2010
A conservative German legislator, Marco Wanderwitz, has called for a formal tax on citizens determine to be obese. Wanderwitz insists that obese people are imposing public costs that are unreasonable — akin to polluting industries. Wanderwitz appears to view most obesity as a deliberative lifestyle choice, stating “I think that it would be sensible if [...

Meet Robert Rizzo, the 13 Million Dollar Man

Posted on July 25, 2010
Meet Robert Rizzo, California’s $13 million man. Yesterday, we discussed how, while Rizzo and two of this colleagues have resigned from their positions with the small town of Bell (where Rizzo was pulling in a salary of roughly $800,000 a year), they will still be able to collect millions in pension...

For Whom The Bell Tolls: City Manager Could Receive $13 Million in Pension Funds

Posted on July 24, 2010
Three administrators in Bell, California have resigned after the national outcry over their inflated salaries. Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo was found to be making $787,637 a year — roughly twice the salary of President Obama — to oversee a city of less than 40,000 people...

Two Inmates Escape Prison as Dummy Guards Look On

Posted on July 24, 2010
Two prisoners in Argentina, Walter Pozo and Cesar Andres, made a less than impressive escape from a prison after they discovered that the towers were guarded by dummies with footballs for heads. Budget cut backs led the prison to replace guards in 13 out of 15 towers with the dummies, who they named “Wilson” after [...

IFelon: Thief Tracked Down and Arrested After Snatching IPhone During GPS Demonstration

Posted on July 24, 2010
Horatio Toure, 31, picked the wrong time and place to engaged in some felonious conduct. Toure saw a woman using an IPhone and snatched it out of her hand while peddling away on his bike. The problem is that the woman was demonstrating the new GPS feature on the phone and promptly helped the police [...

Possessed By a Genie: Saudi Man Chained to Bed For Six Years

Posted on July 24, 2010
A Saudi father has chained his 29-year-old son to his bed for more than six years because he is possessed by a female genie. Many of us went through the same period of possession after exposure to “I Dream of Jeannie” during our critical adolescent years...

Vatican Rocked By New Scandal Involving Partying Priests

Posted on July 23, 2010
There is a new scandal involving Catholic priests this week after the Italian magazine showed priests partying at gay bars and having casual sex. The three priests were photographed by Panorama Magazine after reporters crashed the parties. Two of the priests are Italian and one is French...

Qantas Screaming Child Lawsuit Reportedly Settles

Posted on July 23, 2010
There is an interesting torts lawsuit involving Qantas Airline. American tourist Jean Barnard has sued after she was seated next to a screaming three-year-old boy who proceeded to scream so loud that she said blood ran from her ear and she became deaf...

Please Go In New York: Newark Stops Ordering Toilet Paper

Posted on July 23, 2010
We previously saw how New Jersey was shutting down bathrooms on its non-toll roads. Now, if you were holding it for Newark, think again. Mayor Cory Booker has ordered city officials to stop buying toilet paper as well as other cuts. That message is “go in New York...

Rangel To Stand Trial On Ethics Violations

Posted on July 23, 2010
Former Ways and Means Chairman, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D., NY) will be tried on serious charges of ethics violations after he rejected the findings of the Ethics Committee, including the alleged failure to declare up to $831,000 in assets and use of his office to raise money for a center named after himself...

?I Wanna Be Your Man?: Beatles Impersonators Sue Beatles Impersonators For Their Impersonation of Beatles

Posted on July 23, 2010
This may be the most quintessential Vegas lawsuit. The Fab Four out of Nevada has been impersonating the Beatles in musical tributes. They are now effectively suing the Fab 4 of Colorado for impersonating them impersonating the Beatles. The Nevada Fab Four insist that the Colorado Fab 4 look too much and sound too much [...

Federal Court Dismisses Prosecution Under Stolen Valor Act

Posted on July 22, 2010
I have previously written about my view that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional. Now a federal judge (a bit more important) has reached the same conclusion in the case of Rick Glen Strandlof. U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn has dismissed the case against Strandlof who claimed he was an ex-Marine who was wounded in [...

Officer Resigns After Visit To ?Bridget the Midget?

Posted on July 22, 2010
Stoughton (Mass.) police officer Richard P. Bennett, 28, got into big trouble after he decided he had to see “The World’s Smallest Porn Star” while on duty. Bennett stopped by Alex’s Gentleman’s Club to watch “Bridget the Midget” Powers, a 3-feet nine-inch tall stripper/porn star...

Transient Man Arrested After Re-Opening Bar and Selling Drinks

Posted on July 22, 2010
A California man has been arrested for a fairly unique crime; breaking into a closed bar, re-opening it, and serving drinks for days. Travis Kevie, 29, is a transient in Auburn, California who spotted the shuttered Valancia Club and decided to go into the bar business...

Air France Flight Attendant Confesses To Robbing Passengers

Posted on July 22, 2010
A Flight attendant appears to have taken a unique approach to “Making the sky the best place on Earth” (“Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre”). The 47-year-old flight attendant identified only as Lucie R. is accused of waiting for people to go to sleep in business class between France and the [...

When Amish Kids Go Bad

Posted on July 22, 2010
In Leon, New York, Levi Detweiler, 17, allegedly took police on a chase leading to a crash and arrest. Just another joy-riding crazy teen? Not exactly, the vehicle was a horse and buggy and Detweiler is an Amish boy who was fleeing the cops for an unknown reason in a very slow getaway...

Israeli Arab Man Convicted of Rape For Assuring Lover He is Jewish

Posted on July 21, 2010
There is a disturbing case out of Israel where an Israeli man of Arab origin has been convicted of rape after having consensual sex with a woman after he allegedly told her he was Jewish and looking for a lasting relationship. Sabbar Kashur, 30, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a Jerusalem court...

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Outrage After Small Town Discovers Mayor Makes Almost $800,000 a Year

Posted on July 21, 2010
There is an amazing story out of Bell, California where citizens in the small city of 38,000 are outraged at new that Chief Administrative Office Robert Rizzo makes almost $800,000 a year and its police chief Randy Adams makes $457,000. As a point of comparison, Los Angeles (with a population of 3...

German Court Rejects Defamation Case After Finding Teacher To Be Rabbit-Phobic

Posted on July 21, 2010
A German court has issued a notable ruling in the case of the Rabbit-phobic teacher. The court rejected a defamation case by a teacher against a 16-year-old student who spread rumors that the teacher was terrified of rabbits. The court concluded that teacher was in fact rabbit-phobic...

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