Legal Commentary

Ole Miss Takes The Prize: Mississippians Purchase 82 Gallons of Soft Drinks Per Capita Each Year

Posted on February 11, 2011
Mississippi may be low on educational and employment studies, but it is number one in a recent survey of the most unhealthy states with the surprising record of having each citizen on average buying 82 gallons of soft drinks annually. The findings are in the medical journal Lancet and look at the average of BMI [...

Scientology Officials Accused From Forging Hubbard War Records

Posted on February 10, 2011
The New Yorker article by Lawrence Wright on the Church of Scientology is getting a great deal of attention. The article details the departure of screenwriter and director Paul Haggis from the church after 35 years. However, I found one of the most interesting aspects to be Wright’s confrontation of Church officials over the alleged [...

Man Accused of Nuisance After Erecting Huge Lighted Crosses To Deter Atheists

Posted on February 10, 2011
In Baldwin, Pa., Carl Behr has decided to wage a one-man crusade against unseen atheists in his neighborhood. His solution? Erecting a 25-foot lighted cross on his yard facing his neighbor and another on his roof. I saw this on Reddit and it makes for an interesting nuisance case...

Man Charged After Dog Kills Raccoon

Posted on February 10, 2011
Seth Foster, 23, has been accused of a novel form of animal cruelty after his blue heeler cattle dog, Grizz, found and killed a raccoon in his garage. Foster says that he found his garage in disarray and sent in Grizz, who came out with the raccoon in his mouth...

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Judge Accused of Misconduct Ranging From Pulling Gun To Flushing Evidence

Posted on February 10, 2011
The Atlanta Constitution is reporting on a bizarre case against Catossa County magistrate Anthony Peter who is accused of a rather impressive list of acts of misconduct ranging from smoking pot to flushing a cellphone intentionally down a toilet to pointing a gun at his own head...

Man Admits To Unprovoked Murder And Is Given Less Than Five Years ? Despite 21 Prior Crimes

Posted on February 09, 2011
If you have to commit murder, you may want to consider re-locating to the Northwest Territories (NWT) in Canada. Claude Harry, 37, murdered a man but received less than five years in jail despite a record of 21 prior crimes (19 of which were violent crimes)...

No Baals in Fort Wayne: City Officials Refuse To Name Center After Former Mayor Harry Baals

Posted on February 09, 2011
When city officials called upon the public to name their new government center in Fort Wayne, the public responded overwhelmingly in selecting a former mayor. That would normally seem an ideal choice for officials . . . unless the former mayor’s name is Harry Baals (pronounced “Balls”)...

Obama Promotes CIA Officer Responsible For El-Masri Abuse

Posted on February 09, 2011
In yet another slap at civil libertarians and the rule of law, the Obama Administration has promoted the CIA officer responsible for one of the most embarrassing scandals of the Bush Administration: the kidnapping and abuse of Khaled el-Masri. It remains one of the most embarrassing acts of abuse internationally and the officer was recommended [...

Indonesian Muslims Protest Against Man?s Disrespect for Religion By Burning Three Churches

Posted on February 09, 2011
Muslims in Indonesia are outraged by a five-year sentence given a man accused of blasphemy. They wanted death, so they responded by burning three Christian churches. On Sunday (as shown in the graphic video below), three members of a minority Muslim sect were killed by a mob...

Whose Your Mummy? China Reportedly Pulls Mummy Due To European Features

Posted on February 08, 2011
China is being accused of pulling the “Beauty of Xiaohe” over concerns that the remarkably well-preserved 4,000-year-old mummy because she is too Western looking. People who have seen the mummy have noted that she looks remarkably Caucasian — a problem for Chinese officials who have long denounced theories that that China’s Tarim Basin, in Xinjiang [...

Out of the Frying Pan and Into The Fire: New Jersey Woman Jailed After Whacking Boy With Frying Pan For Dropping Bagel

Posted on February 08, 2011
Donna Ambrosio-Ruglio, 45, really loves that dog. Ambrosio-Ruglio was worried that the dog might die after a 9-year-old boy in her care dropped a bagel with cream cheese and it was eaten by the dog. She prompted called the boy stupid and hit him in the head with a frying pan...

Super Bowl Flyover Cost Over $450,000 . . . Even Larger Flyover Planned For Turkey Bowl

Posted on February 08, 2011
While watching the Super Bowl, I remarked to the kids on the curious concept of a flyover by Navy jets for a closed stadium where the fans watched on jumbo screens. My mirth turned to madness when I just saw on Reddit, however, that it cost the public $450,000...

Obama Ambassador Leaves Office After Brief But Disastrous Tenure

Posted on February 08, 2011
While he has received little or no criticism from the media, President Barack Obama has continued the practice of awarding major donors with plum diplomatic postings. Now, his ambassador to Luxembourg, Cynthia Stroum, has resigned after an investigation showed such poor management and conduct that embassy staff are in need of emotional counseling...

Toronto Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Coercing Prisoners With Taser

Posted on February 08, 2011
Toronto Const. Christopher Hominuk has pleaded guilty to one count of threatening bodily harm for putting a taser to one prisoner’s neck and threatening to taser another prisoner’s genitals to extract information. The entire incident was captured on video on May 24th...

Coming Soon To Stores . . . Palin?: Palin Trademarks Herself

Posted on February 07, 2011
Sarah Palin has made a name for herself as a reality television star and grizzley Mom. Now she is trademarking that name as is her daughter Bristol Palin. Bristol Palin has a one-line resume consisting of coming in second in Dancing with the Stars. However, if you want to use that name, you will have [...

O Say Can You Sing? Christina Aguilera Accused of Butchering National Anthem

Posted on February 07, 2011
Christina Aguilera has become the latest star to apparently blow the national anthem. In her case, she left out the “O’er the ramparts we watched” — a critical and noticeable line. However, the real question is why we have a national anthem that only a castrato with a photographic memory can sing...

Warrant Issued For Arrest of Redskin Albert Haynesworth

Posted on February 07, 2011
With the possible exception of Redskins owner Daniel Synder, defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth is the most hated member of the Redskins team after he made it known that he hated the team and then refused to play positions like nose guard. Now his difficulties in Washington has led to an actual fight with a citizen [...

Chickens Coming Home To Roost and Rumble? Rooster Kills Man Before Cockfight

Posted on February 07, 2011
As with the recent case of the man shot by a fox he was beating to death, it is hard to work up sympathy for the late Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, who died from a cut from one of the chickens he was training for illegal cockfighting. In Lamont, Calif., one of the chicken cut [...

A Tax By Any Other Name

Posted on February 06, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Jack M. Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School, has a different perspective on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Professor Balkin argues that the individual mandate is a tax and the Constitution gives Congress the power to tax and [...

Criminal Charges for a 7-Year-Old Who Brought a Nerf-Style Toy to Class

Posted on February 06, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger The 7-year-old boy was a student at Hammonton Early Childhood Education Center in Hammonton, NJ. The police were called after a report of “suspicious activity.” The “suspicious activity” involved a $5 toy gun, similar to a Nerf toy gun, that the child brought to school...

Five O?Clock World

Posted on February 06, 2011
-Submitted by David Durmm (Nal), Guest Blogger Five O’Clock World For your listening enjoyment, we present The Vogues in glorious STEREO!

Brain Injured Vets vs. Tricare

Posted on February 06, 2011
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger   I have previously written about certain politicians wanting to reduce Disabled Veteran?s disability payments in order to reduce the nation?s debt.  Now it seems that even the Military health care system called Tricare, is balking at providing the necessary, albeit expensive, cognitive rehabilitation therapy for brain injured military [...

Profit From Behind The Supreme Court Bench?

Posted on February 06, 2011
Submitted By Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger I will be honest. I am not a big fan of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and as of late, I have had the same less than positive feelings about his wife, Virginia Thomas.  According to a recent Think Progress article, Justice Thomas? vote on the Citizens United case has [...

Congressman Dennis Kucinich Requests Visit with Bradley Manning

Posted on February 06, 2011
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has made a request to see Bradley Manning, the soldier who is suspected of leaking classified documents to Julian Assange and Wikileaks...

J.P. Morgan And The Reverse Bailout That Saved The U.S.

Posted on February 06, 2011
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger Author’s note: Another in a series of obscure American history viginettes. Bush?s multi-trillion dollar bailout was nothing new in American history; the money just flowed in a different direction. In America, where the banking monarchy has long memories and keeps ledger books going back centuries, it was just repayment [...

Rights Groups Claim Bush Canceled Trip to Switzerland Due to Threat of Torture Prosecution

Posted on February 06, 2011
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger Story from Reuters Rights groups are claiming that former President George W. Bush has canceled a planned trip to Switzerland because he feared legal action might be taken against him for alleged torture crimes that occurred during his administration...

Just in Time For The Super Bowl: The Bacon Mug

Posted on February 06, 2011
Are you like me and constantly complaining about having to reach to separate bowls for my bacon and my cheese dip while trying to watch the Superbowl? Well, problem solved. I saw this on Reddit and had to get the word out to our regulars since I know our weekend bloggers are too high-brow to [...

Popes Must Be Buried En Masse

Posted on February 05, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger While Pope Benedict XVI has long championed organ transplants, he, himself, is not an organ donor. While the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has possessed an organ donor card since the 1970s when he lived in Germany, that card became null and void when he was elected pope...

Juror #5 And The ?Privilege? of Jury Duty

Posted on February 05, 2011
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger Those of us on this side of the jury box routinely think the jurors hang on our every word and feel greatly honored to sit in judgment of their fellows. Well maybe some do, but here’s an actual letter (misspellings and all) from Juror #5 to a trial judge [...

Venus

Posted on February 05, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Venus Today we have Shocking Blue in glorious STEREO!

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