Author: jonathanturley

Criminal law, Justice, Uncategorized

The “Departed” Returns to Boston: A Sordid Tale of Mobster Whitey Bulger & the FBI

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

I’ve lived in the Boston area all my life. I, therefore, have read a lot of news stories about the Bulger brothers—Billy, a once powerful politician, and Whitey, the fugitive mobster who had been “evading” capture by the FBI since 1995. Both my husband and I were astonished when we heard the news that Whitey Bulger had finally been arrested by the FBI in Santa Monica, California, a few days ago. We have doubted for a long time that the FBI seriously wanted to find Whitey. After all, agents at the Bureau had once looked the other way when the mob boss committed serious crimes–including murder–while he was serving as an informant for them.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Supreme Court

Illegal Immigrants and the Bill of Rights

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Do illegal immigrants have a Second Amendment right to own guns? In the case of United States v. Portillo-Munoz, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that illegal immigrants are not part of the “people” protected by the Second Amendment and have no constitutional right to bear arms.

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Justice, Politics

You Made Your Bed …

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

A little over a month ago, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal (left) signed HB 87, an Arizona-like immigration law. The law was designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, and now state officials are shocked feigning shock that it worked.

The resulting labor shortage has meant that millions of dollars of unharvested blueberries, onions, and other crops will be left rotting in the fields. Since many farmers live harvest-to-harvest, the loss of one crop could mean the loss of their farm.

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Free Speech, International, Religion

Amsterdam Court Acquits Geert Wilders of Hate Speech

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

We have previously discussed the case of Geert Wilders, here, who was accused of inciting hatred with his anti-Islamic diatribes. In an unusual move, the prosecution team had asked for an acquittal. Wilders has advocated outlawing the Koran in the Netherlands, like Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. He also referred to Mohammed as “the devil.”

Wilder’s right of free expression has been upheld, the same right of free expression he wants to deny to Muslims.

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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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