Legal Commentary

Pope: The Real Threat is the Scourge of Secularism

Posted on March 21, 2010
In the midst of apologizing for abuses of children by Catholic priests, Pope Benedict XVI used his public comments to blame liberal secularism for threatening the Church and society. The Pope appears to be joining former Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders (here and here) campaigning against the scourge of seclurism — even [...

Blind But Not Hooded Justice: Court Dismisses Imperil Wizard From Jury Duty

Posted on March 20, 2010
A recent decision by Indiana Judge Roland Chamblee Jr. may have citizens lining up in white robes to get out of jury duty. Chamblee excused Railton Loy from jury duty after he told the court that he is the Imperial Wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and could only [...

General Sheehan: Srebrenica Massacre Due in Part To Gays In Dutch Military

Posted on March 20, 2010
Dutch officials have expressed outrage at the statements by retired U.S. General John J. Sheehan blaming the Srebrenica massacre on the presence of gay soldiers in their Army. The former NATO Commander testified that he was told that the presence of the gay soldiers was a significant contributor to the troops being captured [...

Stripped Inheritance: Ninth Circuit Rules Against Family of Anna Nicole Smith

Posted on March 20, 2010
The long saga over the estate of Texas oilman J. Howard Marshall II has ended with the family of the late Anna Nicole Smith (aka Vickie Lynn Marshall) receiving nothing. As previously discussed, Smith’s case ultimately led to an important ruling of the Supreme Court...

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Combat Cuisine: India Develops Chili Grenade

Posted on March 20, 2010
The Indian Army is turning to native cuisine for combat. The army has decided to use its infamous bhut jolokia pepper — the hottest in the world — as the basis for a new grenade. The Chili grenade explodes in a cloud of pepper — leaving people blind and gasping for hours...

Murder, He Wrote: Virginia Man Executed in Case Involving Mocking Letter to Prosecutors

Posted on March 19, 2010
Paul Warner Powell could be the first man put to death in part for sheer cockiness. Powell was convicted in a second trial of the murder and attempted rape of Stacie Reed, 16. The evidence against him included a letter that he wrote to prosecutors mocking them with admissions of his crime after [...

Marriage of Convenience? Baltimore Judge Reassigned After Stopping Trial to Marry Alleged Abuser to His Victim

Posted on March 19, 2010
Baltimore County District Court Judge Darrell Russell Jr. is under intense criticism this week after he stopped a non-jury trial to perform a wedding ceremony in his chambers for defendant Frederick Wood and his girlfriend. They then promptly invoked spousal immunity in the domestic violence case to prevent the state from calling the [...

New York Police Targets Elderly Couple?s Home 50 Times Since 2002

Posted on March 19, 2010
The New York Police Department has apologized to an elderly couple for targeting their home at least 50 times since 2002. Police say that it was due to computer glitch when the address of Walter and Rose Martin’s Brooklyn home was used in a test of the department’s computer system...

?The Perversion Files?: Trial Reveals Secret Files on Alleged Child Abuse in the Scouts

Posted on March 19, 2010
The Boy Scouts of America are accused of engaging in a cover-up of abuse that is reminiscent of the Catholic Church. In a Portland, Oregon court, long undisclosed files have been discovered (over the objections of the Scouts) that reveal numerous such cases of abuse...

A Pest for a Doctor: Scientists Engineer Mosquitos To Give Vaccinations

Posted on March 19, 2010
Be careful about swatting that mosquito — it may be trying to save your life. Japanese scientists believe that they have created a “prototype mosquito” that will give “flying vaccinations” for things like malaria. The scientists have been salivary gland of the Anopheles mosquito...

Deem, Pass, and Sue: Lawsuits Prepared To Challenge Deem and Pass

Posted on March 19, 2010
Various conservative scholars and legislators are lining up to file suit if the health bill passes on a “self-executing” rule. As I stated earlier, I believe the tactic violates the principles of good government but not the Constitution...

Single Room Occupancy: Dead Body Found In Bed Frame At Motel

Posted on March 18, 2010
The Budget Lodge motel could face some interesting lawsuits after the body of Sony Millbrook, 28, was found in the bed frame in a room taht the hotel rented out to other guests. Millbrook, the mother of five, has been missing since January. After Millbrook failed to pay her bills, the motel rented out the [...

Detention Dentition: Sheriff?s Office Pays $100,000 to Inmate After Deputy Ripped Cemented Grill Out of His Mouth

Posted on March 18, 2010
In Tennessee, Deputy Tanya Mayhew of the Davidson County Sheriff’s office can scratch dentistry off her list of possible moonlighting jobs. Anthony McCoy, 31, will receive $100,000 after Mayhew ripped his gold grill out of his mouth during booking...

Coercion to Commit Sin: Dubai Arrests Couple for Sending Explicit Text Messages

Posted on March 18, 2010
We learned recently that you had to be careful how you say goodbye in Dubai (here) after a couple was arrested for kissing on the streets. It appears that you cannot even opt for texting your desires without ending up in the Dubai hoosegow. Two Emirates airlines cabin crew have been [...

Oprah To Stand Trial For Defamation in Philadelphia

Posted on March 18, 2010
Oprah Winfrey appears set for another defamation trial — this time in Philadelphia where she has been sued by Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane, former headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Mzamane claims that Oprah defamed her in speaking about a sex-abuse scandal at the school that she created...

Wal-Mart Expresses Sympathy For Terminally Ill Worker . . . And Then Fires Him

Posted on March 18, 2010
Walmart worker Joseph Casias, 29, can take heart from the fact that the company is highly “sympathetic” to his struggle with an inoperable brain tumor. The sympathy, however, did not prevent the company from firing him because he used legal medical marijuana to deal with the pain of the tumor...

Non-Stimulus Package: North Korea Claims to Have Executed Top Finance Adviser

Posted on March 18, 2010
North Korea appears to have a slightly different approach to financial scandals. Rather than handing out billions of dollars of public funds for bonuses and loans, North Korea just shot its top financial official. There appears less of an emphasis on recovery in this plan...

Jogger Killed on Beach By Pilot Making Emergency Landing

Posted on March 17, 2010
A bizarre mishap led to a death in South Carolina when a small plane making an emergency landing killed a jogger on the beach. Robert Gary Jones, 38, was jogging and listening on his iPod when he was hit from behind. Edward I. Smith says that he had lost the propeller of his [...

Obama Threatens to Veto Intelligence Oversight Reforms ? House Passes Watered Down Version With Few Reforms

Posted on March 17, 2010
The Obama Administration has succeeded in watering down any reform of the intelligence oversight system — fighting to retain the same powers based on the same rationales as the Bush Administration. The Obama Administration is threatening to veto any serious reform of the intelligence oversight system that led to the torture program and other abuses...

HAPPY ST. PATRICK?S DAY!!!

Posted on March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of the leprechauns of the blog. I am waiting for the four kids to wake. We left out corned beef and cabbage and Guinness beer for the leprechauns last night. They finished off the beer and appear to have helped themselves to a second beer during the night...

Video: The English at Play

Posted on March 17, 2010
Since there is so much attention being given the Irish today, this video shows the English at play. There is nothing more invigorating than chasing Double Gloucester cheese. How on Earth did my ancestors lose to these people? Of course, they never thought of tossing a cheese down a hill during the Easter Rising [...

Fall From Grace: ?Prophet of God? Charged After ?Marrying? Ten Year Old Niece

Posted on March 17, 2010
In Minnesota, James Wallace Fall, 58, is accused of marrying his ten-year-old niece. Fall insists that he is a “prophet of God.” He insists that the marriage is sanctioned by the Bible, which is full of accounts of figures with multiple and often adolescent wives...

Clipping Patients: Dentists Accused of Using Paper Clips for Root Canal Patients

Posted on March 17, 2010
Massachusetts dentist Michael Clair is accused of using actual paper clips instead of stainless steel posts inside the teeth of root canal patients. He then allegedly billed Medicaid for the more expensive parts. Prosecutors say Clair was suspended by Medicaid in 2002 and was accused of illegally proscribing drugs to staffers as well as billing [...

Foiled By a Fob: Alleged Car Thief Trapped in Car By Owner Using Remote Locking Button

Posted on March 16, 2010
In Florida, Travis Neeley, 19, and Peter Scandizzo, 25, were reportedly foiled by a fob in their effort to steal a car. When the owner saw Neeley in his car, he continually hit the lock button to keep him trapped as police raced to the scene. Police then noticed Peter Scandizzo driving by suspiciously at [...

Pennsylvania School Bus Driver Allegedly Runs 11 Stop Signs and Kills Man While Speaking on His Cell Phone and Listening to His IPod.

Posted on March 16, 2010
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania has revealed that they believe Frederick Poust III, 38, was listening to his iPod and talking on his cell phone when he ran 11 stop signs and crashed his school bus — killing a man. Poust has been charged with vehicular homicide in the February 17 crash...

A Dish Best Served Cold: Restaurant Apologizes For Sale of Whale Meat

Posted on March 16, 2010
The parent company for Hump Restaurant effectively pleaded guilty today in public with an apology for selling whale meat at the Los Angeles establishment. Not only is the apology itself less than redeeming for environmentalists, but it also effectively throws chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, under the bus...

Deem and Pass: Pelosi Indicates That She May Pass Health Bill Under a Controversial Self-Executing Rule

Posted on March 16, 2010
It appears that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is contemplating the use of a “deem and pass” tactic to secure passage of the health-care bill. The procedural tactic is designed to allow members to avoid accountability for their votes and would reflect a conclusion that, in an up or down vote, the bill for fail...

That?s Why They Call Him ?The Leader of the Pew?

Posted on March 16, 2010
I just saw this video from 2008 of the perils of incorporating a motorcyle into your sermon. He seems to have confused the Disciples out of Chicago with those other Disciples out of the New Testament. This does explain the line “My folks were always putting him down (down, down)” ...

New California Assembly Speaker Gives Aide $65,000 Raise for $190,008 Salary

Posted on March 16, 2010
New Assembly Speaker John A. Perez is under attack this week after he gave his chief of staff, Sara Ramirez, an annual pay increase of nearly $65,000 for an annual salary of $190,008. That is $80,424 higher than that of Perez or Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg...

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Two IRS Agents Visit Sacramento Car Wash to Demanding 4 Cents in Overdue Taxes

Posted on March 16, 2010
Aaron Zeff, the owner of Harv’s Metro Car Wash recently complained that two IRS agents came to his business and demanded payment of his over-due taxes in a rude and condescending manner. What was even more remarkable is the amount of unpaid taxes that led the IRS to send two agents in a car [...

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