Legal Commentary

Connecticut?s Bubble Boys (and Girls): School Principal Outlaws Physical Contact

Posted on April 01, 2009
Principal Catherine Williams has implemented a perfect bizarre policy. After a boy was kicked in the groin and sent to the hospital, she announced an absolute “no touching” policy where students may not touch another student at the East Shore Middle School...

Justice Department To Void Case Against Former Sen. Ted Stevens

Posted on April 01, 2009
The Justice Department will be dropping all charges against former Senator Ted Steven (R., Alaska) due to the misconduct of its own prosecutors. The actions of the Justice Department in the case has been a continued scandal and the question is now what action will be taken against these prosecutors who scuttled a major [...

Judge Sharon Keller Faces New Ethics Charge

Posted on April 01, 2009
Problems continue to mount for Judge Sharon Keller, Chief Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She is already facing a serious ethics charge over her decision to order the Clerk’s Office not to remain open after hours to allow for a final death row appeal...

Alabama Judge Charged in Prisoner Abuse Case

Posted on April 01, 2009
Former Mobile, Alabama judge Herman Thomas has been arrested in a bizarre criminal case alleging that he used the local jail as a type of personal stable of victims for beatings and sexual abuse. His lawyer — who goes by the moniker Robert “Cowboy Bob” Clark — has charged racism targeting the county first [...

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Will Obama Pardon Boxer Jack Johnson?

Posted on April 01, 2009
The effort to gain a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson took a major step this week with the support of Sen. John McCain R., Az). The conviction of Johnson for a 1913 Mann Act violation was a disgrace and it is time for the wrong to be righted. Johnson was convicted for having a [...

Islamic Owner Gives Up Franchise with Dunkin? Donuts Over Long-Standing Fight Involving Pork Products

Posted on April 01, 2009
Dunkin’ Donuts has prevailed after a four-day trial with a former franchise owner, Walid Elkhatib. Elkhatib has had a long-running fight with the chain over his refusal to sell products containing pork. No one, it seems, messes with the doughnut people...

The Lazarus Clause: Judge and Prosecutors Secure Plea From Deranged Mother With a Resurrection Clause

Posted on March 31, 2009
Prosecutors in Maryland appear to have cut a bizarre deal with a former religious cult member. Ria Ramkissoon, 22, agreed to plead guilty in the murder of her 1-year-old son, Javon Thompson, but, if he is resurrected, the deal is off. Ramkissoon was a member of 1 Mind Ministries...

Federal Court Enjoins Pennsylvania Prosecutor From Charging Teens in Sexting Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
There is a very interesting case out of Pennsylvania where U.S. District Judge James M. Munley granted a temporary injunction to prevent Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick Jr. (left) from charging three teen girls who appeared in seminude photographs traded by classmates...

Home With The Shoemakers: Three Generations Jailed in Dog Incident

Posted on March 31, 2009
Three generation of Shoemakers are in jail tonight in a fight over a dog. Police in Walkersville, Maryland were called to the home after a man said that his father Michael Shoemaker, 42, (left) and his 17 year old brother had broken into his house and stolen his dog...

White House: Britain Is A Declining Power ?Slightly Smaller Than Oregon?

Posted on March 31, 2009
First, there was the embarrassing and insulting treatment of the Brown family by the White House during the recent state visit. Now, the White House has put out a briefing booklet that appears to go out of its way to insult the British from referring to them as a declining world power to elevating [...

?Lawyer of Love? Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Playboy

Posted on March 31, 2009
Chicago divorce attorney, Corri Fetman, 45, is suing Playboy magazine alleging that an executive Thomas Hagopian harassed her and eventually dropped her column from the magazine where she wrote under the nom de guerre “Lawyer of Love.” Fetman previously posed nude for the magazine and has maintained a highly controversial practice in my [...

Supreme Court Dismisses Major Tobacco Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
In Philip Morris USA v. Williams, the Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal as “improvidently granted” in a long struggle with the Oregon Supreme Court. The Court had previously sent the case back twice to tell the Oregon court to review its huge punitive award...

Conservative Group Accuses PETA of Killing Thousands of Adoptable Pets With No Effort to Find Homes For the Animals

Posted on March 30, 2009
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been repeatedly criticized over its pet program that seems long on euthanasia and short on adoption. Now, the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) published documents online showing that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) killed 95 percent of the adoptable pets in [...

Spanish Court Orders Investigation of Bush Aides for War Crimes at Guantanamo Bay

Posted on March 30, 2009
Spanish investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon has passed a 98-page complaint to prosecutors that accuses former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and five others violations of international law, including torture. For months, many of us have been complaining about President Barack Obama’s blocking of any war crimes investigation despite the confirmation of a torture program under [...

Federal Court Throws Judge Off Case After Sharp Exchange With Counsel in Court

Posted on March 30, 2009
An interesting case has emerged from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals which removed Judge Dean Whipple of the Western District in Kansas City, Missouri for bias in a contract case. The judge insists that he was pushed over the edge in an exchange with Fred Starrett of Lathrop & Gage in Overland Park, [...

Seller?s Remorse: Lawyer Reportedly First Tries to Sell Tape of Ashley Biden Allegedly Snorting Cocaine and Then Withdraws

Posted on March 30, 2009
According to an Internet report, Washington, D.C. lawyer Thomas Dunlap of Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver has been peddling a tape for a “friend” of Vice President Joseph Biden’s daughter, Ashley, allegedly snorting cocaine at a party in Delaware...

Nobody Does It Like a Hoover: Man Sentenced for Intimate Moment With Car Wash Vacuum

Posted on March 30, 2009
One of our favorite Valentine stories has come to an end. Jason Leroy Savage, 29, has been sentenced for having sex with a car wash vacuum. He was given 90 days in prison in Saginaw County, Michigan where they never set their vacuums for shag. Th not-so-noble Savage was found in the compromising position [...

Morocco Arrests and Expels Five Europeans Caught ?Red-Handed? in the Act of Teaching Muslims About Christianity

Posted on March 30, 2009
Morocco has joined the list of Islamic nations denying freedom of religion to its citizens. Five women were arrested by authorities and sent to Spain after they were caught allegedly in the act of converting Muslims to Christianity. Presumably, any effort to teach Muslims the benefits or values of Christianity could qualify for [...

Report: Torture of Abu Zubaida Yielded Nothing of Value and He Was Not a High-Ranking Member of Al Qaeda

Posted on March 30, 2009
The Washington Post is reporting that the torture ofhigh-value captive, Abu Zubaida produced nothing but false leads — in direct contradiction of suggestions by former Vice President Dick Cheney and others who endorsed the torture program and use of waterboarding...

Canine Racial Harmony

Posted on March 29, 2009
In light of the racial animus raised in the Covington & Burling dispute, we submit this photo to show how other species have learned to overcome such issues. Other species have shown similar hope when every species can join regardless of the color of their fur or skin...

Bias in the Beth Din: State Court Vacates Judgment of Religious Court Due to Bias

Posted on March 29, 2009
Courts in various countries are increasing being asked to enforce the judgments of religious courts — a trend that bothers many civil libertarians. These cases often involve private agreements to submit cases to such courts in arbitration or mediation...

Video Shows Police Officers Beating Man and Then Charging Him With Assault

Posted on March 29, 2009
Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida are facing scrutiny and criticism after police officers beat a man in an elevator and then charged him with assaulting them. What is most disturbing is that internal affairs investigated Joshua Daniel Ortiz’s, 22, claims and completely cleared the officers — yet never appeared to have reviewed the surveillance [...

Lawyer Allegedly Murdered By Husband in Midst of High-Profile Murder Trial

Posted on March 29, 2009
Louisiana Attorney Chiquita Tate was in the midst of a high-profile murder trial when she became the subject of a new murder case against her husband, Greg Harris, accused of stabbing her 38 times in her office. The couple had been married for just 14 1/2 months and Tate had started her own law [...

Fraud Fetish: Lawyers Accused of Duping Fetish Club Members With Help of Dominatrix

Posted on March 29, 2009
Lawyer and Former Suffolk County legislator George Guldi, 57, is accused in a bizarre fraudulent conspiracy. With the help of a famous dominatrix and two other lawyers, the Long Island attorney is accused of a 450 million mortgage scam. The alleged fraud involved straw buyers and excessive mortgages...

Covington & Burling Slams Former Associate Brought Discrimination Lawsuit Alleging ?Jim Crow? Policies

Posted on March 28, 2009
Covington & Burling has filed a response to the complaint filed by staff attorney Yolanda Young alleging that the firm inflated its minority staff numbers by relegating African-Americans in staff attorney jobs with no chance of promotion in the associate rankings...

Reid Says Chief Justice Roberts Lied to Congress in Confirmation Hearings

Posted on March 28, 2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insisted this week that it was not the fault of the Democrats in confirming John Roberts and not using their power to block the nomination. Rather, they were tricked by Roberts who lied to them in suggesting that he was a moderate and that we are now ?stuck? with him [...

Suing Liberty: Michigan Woman Fined for Named Police Dog as Defendant in Lawsuit

Posted on March 28, 2009
Now, here is a case showing the need to get one’s captioning right on civil complaints in Warren, Michigan. Inez M. Starks, 55, was given a fine for suing the police department over an alleged dog attack. Judge David Viviano (left) fined her $500 for actually naming the dog, Liberty, in the lawsuit...

Indian Woman Seeks To Marry Rapist In Order To End Social Stigma and Isolation

Posted on March 28, 2009
In an example of the terrible treatment given rape victims in some traditional societies, a woman in India has converted to Islam to marry her rapist — in order to end the social stigma of being a rape victim. For years ago, the woman (who name was withheld) was raped and then ostracized for [...

Exposing Oneself To Art: Court Rules that Poll Dancing Is Art Form

Posted on March 28, 2009
New York Judge Catherine Bennett had become the hero of many a strip joint by declaring that pole dancing is a form of art worthy of a tax exemption. In doing so, she ruled in favor of the argument of Nite Moves in near Albany that it qualified for the “dramatic arts” tax exemption [...

Man Breaks 30 Bones in the Body of a 5-Month-Old Baby and Walks Away With Just Seven Years

Posted on March 27, 2009
Ok, even as a criminal defense attorney I do not get this one. Mauricio Lopez, 34, pleaded guilty to child abuse that resulted in his breaking 30 bones in a 5-month-old baby. For that horrific crime, Lopez will get just seven years. Originally, the family insisted that the baby may have been responsible for [...

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