The pilots on an Air India flight from Jaipur to Mumbai feel allegedly fell asleep in the cockpit and overshot Mumbai. The pilots were halfway to Goa when they were finally roused by air traffic personnel.
Month: June 2008
With the final victory of the NRA in securing recognition of an individual right of gun ownership, it will now be time to retire that classic American icon: the “You Will Have to Peel My Cold Dead Fingers From My Gun” Bumper Sticker. This allows still unresolved legal questions to claim the right to use the classic formula of cold dead fingers and hot legal issues. Below are my top ten list but I would be interested to hear your own proposals.
Continue reading “Cold Dead Finger Bumper Sticker Contest”
Justice Scalia wrote a powerful opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, No. 07-290, but the first paragraph quotes the D.C. statute as requiring gun to be dissembled. As many have noted, it is disassembled — dissemble means to put on a false appearance.
Continue reading “Supreme Blunder: We Did Not Mean to Dissemble the Disassembled Guns in Heller”
The Second Amendment has always been like the lost continent of the Constitution. Well, today the Supreme Court discovered it — right between the first and third amendments — after 127 years. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment does indeed create an individual right to gun ownership. The opinion can be accessed here.
The Supreme Court also gave a victory to millionaires running for office who can finance their campaigns more freely — or buy guns more easily.
After a stinging opinion by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in February, NBC has thrown in the towel on its defense of “Dateline NBC: To Catch A Predator” in the suicide of a former prosecutor. Louis William Conradt Jr. shot himself after the program accused him of engaging in sexually explicit chats with an adult posing as a child. The program then allegedly pushed for his arrest when he failed to show up at a sting operation.
Continue reading “NBC Settles Dateline Predator Lawsuit Over Prosecutor’s Death”
In light of this week’s settlement in the NBC Dateline case, this past column on talk show liability may be of some interest. From cop shows to talk shows, reality television can suddenly throw average citizens into highly stressful or embarrassing situations. In the recent Dateline case, such actions were alleged as the cause of the suicide of a prosecutor who was accused of sexually explicit communications with an adult posing as a child in a chat room.
Michele DeKonty, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), has been fired after invoking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to answer congressional questions over granting favors to certain organizations in federal grants. It is yet another scandal in the Bush Administration that shows how deep the damage has been at the Justice Department. She is accused of cutting corners for faith-based organizations. This is not good news for Regents University, the religious based law school that has been a favorite hiring ground for the Bush Justice Department. DeKonty is a graduate of Regents University and has been compared to that other infamous Regent grad, Monica Goodling.
In Trenton, New Jersey, Dr. Santusht Perera has been suspended from practice after removing the wrong lung from a patient and then lying to the patient to try to cover it up.
Continue reading “New Jersey Doctor Suspended for Removing Wrong Lung From Patient”
Rep. James Fagan, a Democrat Massachusetts politician and defense attorney, is under attack for his opposition to the Jessica’s Law (imposing still penalties on child sex offenders. In the video below, Fagan declares that, if the law passed, he would “rip apart” child rape victims to the point to destroying them for life.
Robert Burck has become an iconic figure in New York dressed in cowboy boots, white cowboy hat, and white underwear. So much of an icon, it appears, that the maker of M & M used a parody of his image in a commercial. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin has now ruled that he can sue for trademark infringement against Mars Inc. and Chute Gerdeman Inc. The culprit? that money-grubbing, opportunistic Blue M & M. He is seeking up to $100 million in punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees.
An inspector general report has found that the Bush Justice Department barred applicants on the basis of their political views. It is further proof of the open politicalization of the Justice Department by the Bush Administration, including selections for the honors program — long treated as completely apolitical.
Continue reading “Bush Administration Officials Bar Lawyer Applicants on the Basis of Political Beliefs”
Madonna Constantine, a psychology professor at Columbia, will be fired for plagiarism and misconduct. Constantine drew national attention for claiming that a noose had been hung outside her office.
Continue reading “Columbia Professor Madonna Constantine Fired”
In a remarkable admission, former Manhattan prosecutor Daniel Bibb has stated that he intentionally threw a murder case because he did not believe the evidence. The case against David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo has become a major embarrassment for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who is seeking reelection. Lemus was later acquitted and the charges dropped against Hidalgo in the Palladium case.
Continue reading “New York Prosecutor Says He Intentionally Threw Murder Case”
I am not one who subscribes to the theory of a pre-election attack on Iran, but it is getting harder with GOP advisers and pundits openly opining of the likelihood or benefit from either an Iranian attack or even a terrorist attack. Pundit Bill Kristol told Fox viewers that, if the American people do not support McCain, Bush may feel that he has little choice but to attack Iran. In the meantime, a leading adviser to McCain has said that a terrorist attack would be a big benefit for the flagging campaign. Finally, John Bolten is penciling an attack on Iran from Israel for pre-inauguration but after the election.
China officials reportedly taught the good people near Aksu city in Xinjiang a thing or two about team spirit. When the local mosque balked at posting signs praising the Olympics on its walls, the Chinese had the mosque destroyed. That’ll show ’em.