Month: June 2011

Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Science, Society

When “Gage Is Not Gage”: Neuroscience And The Law’s Assumption of Free Will

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

The bedrock of modern Western jurisprudence is the supposition that we are free to choose our actions from a range of choices. Some of these choices are socially acceptable and we deem them “legal.” Other choices made in specified contexts are socially unacceptable, and we deem these “illegal.” For those extremely unacceptable actions denominated as “crimes” we reserve progressive punishments to deter their occurrence. Gratuitous violence is one of the most important of these condemned actions, and we have striven for centuries to overcome this endemic feature of our nature. The basic assumption being that we can deter conduct that is the product of free will by imposing undesirable consequences on the actor. How have we done? I suppose the obvious answer is that despite a multitude of approaches ranging from severe punishment to compassionate rehabilitation, we haven’t yet mastered a way to banish senseless violence from our midst. Perhaps it is time to question that basic assumption that violence  is purely volitional conduct.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

Mexican Invasion! United States Objects To Mexican Troops Briefly Entering U.S.

For years, many of us have been noting that the United States continues to violate international law and the sovereignty of foreign nations in some of our military assaults on terror targets. We have often asked how we would respond to countries like Mexico sending military personnel into our territory. Well, it happened this week when three military trucks loaded with Mexican soldiers crossed the border at Bridge Number Two into the U.S.

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Criminal law, Society, Torts

Self-Help Guru James Ray Convicted in Sweat Lodge Deaths

We have been following the case of self-help guru James Ray, who was criminally charged in the deaths of three people in his Arizona sweat lodge. He has now been found guilty of negligent homicide, though he was acquitted on the manslaughter charge. Once again, I believe the verdict shows the wisdom of the jury system. The jurors reached a fair result given these facts.
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Bizarre, Criminal law

Amish Man Arrested For Alleged Sending Lewd Photos To Minor And Showing Up At Her House in Horse and Buggy

Ok, I assumed that this story was a hoax until I found the mugshot. In a criminal charge that seems written by the Saturday Night Live, Willard Yoder, 26, was arrested in Connersville, Indiana for sending lewd messages to a 12-year-old girl and then going to her house. Unfortunately, that is no so remarkable. However, Yoder is Amish and showed up in a horse and buggy in Rush County. No, there was no extremely slow chase, just a “plain” arrest.
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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, International, Military, Politics, Society

Clinton: Support The War Or I’ll Accuse You Of Being Gaddafi’s BFF

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took the debate over Libya to a new low yesterday. (For full disclosure, I am lead counsel representing members challenging the constitutionality of the Libyan War). Clinton is largely responsible for entering the United States in another undeclared war. She is now dismissing all of the constitutional and fiscal concerns of members and publicly asking members “Whose side are you on?”
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Bizarre, Society, Torts

Television Star Ends Jackass Career With A Case of Reality and Entertainment Merging

It turns out that those Jackass guys are not just acting. “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn had an alcohol level (0.196%) twice the legal limit when he took his 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 up to 140 mph before crashing and killing himself and his passenger.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Society

Designer Galliano On Trial For Bad Language

We have been following the case of fashion designer John Galliano who went on trial Wednesday for making anti-Semitic comments in Paris. It is part of the growing trend in the West of the criminalization of speech. It is not clear what came off more pathetic yesterday, the drug-wasted Galliano or the French court.
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International, Military

Basta! Italy Breaks With NATO Over Libya

While the United States presses ahead with our commitment to the latest war (at a projected cost of over $1 billion), Italy has been the latest NATO ally to break with NATO in calling for a suspension of hostilities in Libya. Of course, the Administration still insists that there are no hostilities to suspend. (For full disclosure, I am lead counsel representing the members challenging the Libyan war and its underlying policies).

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