YouTube was posted a bizarre melee that erupted at a fashion show and competition where tables and chairs became weapons between disgruntled onlookers. One woman, showing remarkable strength, actually tosses a huge table across the room. What is fascinating is that not a single criminal charge was filed despite the clear video and evidence of assault and public disturbance.
Continue reading “Fashion Show Destroyed After Contestant Responds Violently To Judge’s Decision”
Many people who are not opposed to the death penalty per se still favor its elimination out of concerns with the accuracy and fairness of our criminal justice system. Those concerns will only be magnified this week with the release of Glenn Ford, who was found to be entirely innocent of the murder of Watchmaker and jeweler Isadore Rozeman in 1983. Prosecutors spent decades fighting appeals but recently threw in the towel and admitted that he was not the man who killed Rozeman. Ford, now 63, had been convicted by an all-white jury despite the lack of a single witness or forensic evidence directly linking him to the murder.
We have previously discussed child pornography prosecutions, particularly in terms of restitution and sentencing issues. The case of Francis Calar, 53, shows however the addictive or compulsive character of these crimes. Calar was arrested after on a Colorado Army base masturbating in his car while watching child pornography on his laptop. He is a military contractor “technical trainer” and married with two boys at home.
Continue reading “Military Contractor Arrested In Bizarre Child Pornography Case”
There is a disturbing story out of Folcroft, Pennsylvania where Senior Magisterial District Judge Horace Z. Davis refused a prosecutor’s repeated request for a continuance in a drug case because of the death of “Umberto,” the K9 partner of Folcroft police Cpl. Christopher Eiserman. Eiserman was mourning the loss of his companion (who had hip dysplasia and arthritis) but Davis ruled that it was no basis for a continuance.
While millions are dying of starvation and North Korea remains an isolated, despised power, it appears that supreme leader Kim Jong Un still has that magic of his old man, Kim Jong Il. Kim was reelected unanimously in his first election after taking over the country after his father’s death and then killing off his rivals, including family members. The North Korean press reported 100% of the country voted, though they found a ballot with a single name on it. In other words, you can have any leader as long as it is Kim Jong Il.
Continue reading “Kim Jong Un Wins Reelection Unanimously With 100% Of North Koreans Voting”
The annual U.S. News and World Report survey is out on law schools and George Washington is ranked 20th. The ranking has become a dominant element in the field with a heavy influence on applications and even alumni giving. In the current downturn in the legal field (with decreases in applications), that influence has only grown.
We have previously discussed the growing number of legal advertisements that degrade the profession with cheap pitches that would make a used car salesperson blush. That latest example (below) is from Pittsburgh attorney Daniel Muessig. The advertisement is clearly tongue-in-cheek but in the end I find it less than comical. Muessig promises to help felons get back to crime and proclaims that he “think like a criminal.” It fulfills the worst stereotypes of criminal defense lawyers as felons are shown committing crimes and saying “Thanks, Dan.” Muessig may have a skill for thinking like a criminal but he clearly has yet to master the talent of thinking like a lawyer.
Try to get a cat to do this.
Below is my column in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. I recently testified on this issue in three separate hearings before Congress (here and here and here). Last week, President Obama proceeded to add yet another suspension order to the health care law. It is part of a broader array of such unilateral actions that raise disturbing constitutional issues under the Separation of Powers. This goes beyond the usual discretion in “filing in the blanks” or ambiguities of laws. These were not delegated or unanswered questions. These were largely core issues — dates and coverage issues — that were the subject of intense congressional debate. Indeed, in a number of cases, President Obama asked for reforms and was denied the changes by Congress — only to order the very same reforms by executive action. That is why this is not an administrative law but a constitutional law issue in my opinion.
There is an interesting controversy in Arkansas where Circuit Judge Mike Maggio was revealed as an anonymous commenter known as “geauxjudge.” After being outed from online sites, Maggio apologized and withdrew from a race for the appellate court. The controversy however raises the question of whether such comments should be a subject for ethical discipline and whether judges should have the right to comment anonymously on such sites.
Austin J. Witek, 25, is facing criminal charges in a horrific case where he allegedly stomped a family’s pet rabbit and fish to death. The question is now what to do with his parental rights in terms of a permanent or temporary suspension.
Continue reading “Indiana Man Arrested For Allegedly Stomping Family Bunny To Death”
Can you say that five times? Well, not if you are online in China you can’t.
There was a delicious irony to the coverage of a speech by Zhang Chunxian, the party chief of Xinjiang, to journalists. In the authoritarian, one-party state, Chinese leaders speak matter-of-factly about censoring reporters and blocking free speech. In this case, Zhang spoke about the vulnerability of the system of censorship maintained by him and other party bosses. His remarks were then censored by his own censors. Just another day in the worker’s paradise.
Continue reading “Censors Censor Censor’s Speech On Censorship”
Who needs a Posturepedic when you have this?
By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
Lucky or just good? That’s what police in Madison, Wisconsin are wondering after crime analyst, Caleb Klebig, successfully predicted the date and time of Scottie T. Patterson’s, 28, latest and last bank heist. Using data from other similar robberies, Klebig estimated that the then unknown Patterson would hit his next bank on a Wednesday or Thursday between 2 and 7 p.m. He narrowed the field of potential targets to five banks in greater Madison. Police staked out the banks and, sure enough, Patterson arrived right on cue at 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday. Confronted by the seemingly omniscient detectives while exiting the bank with the loot, Patterson made a break for it but was captured behind a nearby shopping center. Continue reading “Predicting Crime and Criminals — “Minority Report” Or Good Policing?”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor
As the son of a fallen Air Force pilot whose remains were never found, I am sensitive to the plight of family members of servicemen and women whose remains may be recoverable, but yet are still not identified. There are multiple military and defense department agencies who are responsible for locating and identifying the remains of veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam and Cold War missions.
The purpose of this article is to examine the efforts of just one of those agencies. The Joint Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command, or J-PAC, is an example of an agency that is crucial to both locating and identifying remains, but because of bureaucratic constraints, outdated methods and the possible stubbornness of its scientific head, has produced very little results at a very expensive cost to the taxpayers. Continue reading “Time to Clean House at J-PAC?”