Author: jonathanturley

Bizarre, Lawyering, Politics, Religion, Science, Society

Monkey Trial II: Tenn. House Passes Bill Permitting Teachers To Teach The “Controversy” Over Evolution

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Legendary actor Spencer Tracy Crosses Frederick March in "Inherit the Wind"
I guess it takes a few whacks to get things into the heads of the theocrats in Tennessee.  Eighty-six years after the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” pitted Clarence Darrow, Esq., against William Jennings Bryan, Esq., in a classic cross-examination of opposing counsel that decimated the notion that teaching creationism was anything except the indoctrination of religion by public school officials, Tennessee legislators are at it again with a new version of the Butler Act. 

Continue reading “Monkey Trial II: Tenn. House Passes Bill Permitting Teachers To Teach The “Controversy” Over Evolution” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics, Religion

Sen. Jon Kyl’s False Claim About Planned Parenthood

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Jon Kyl

During the budget debate, Congressional Republicans have targeted Planned Parenthood because it provides abortion services. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) even took to the Senate floor to claim that well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does is provide abortion services. That is a lie and Kyl couldn’t care less. In what must be some kind of spin setting record, Kyl said his remark was “not intended to be a factual statement.” So he lied intentionally.

Planned Parenthood has received federal funding since 1970 and abortion services are funded exclusively by private donations.

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Criminal law, Politics, Religion

The “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011″

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Jan Brewer

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has signed into law House Bill 2443, named the “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011.” I don’t think the name was intended to be humorous. The law makes it a Class 3 felony to:

PERFORM AN ABORTION KNOWING THAT THE ABORTION IS SOUGHT BASED ON THE SEX OR RACE OF THE CHILD OR THE RACE OF A PARENT OF THAT CHILD.

Continue reading “The “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011″” →

Uncategorized

FED UP!: A Post about Ben Bernanke, Senator Bernie Sanders, and the Bailout…with a Song Parody

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

Fed Lifts Veil of Secrecy (December 1, 2010)

 

“Almost two years ago I asked Chairman Bernanke to tell the American people which financial institutions and corporations received trillions of dollars as part of the Wall Street bailout.  He refused.  Today, as a result of an audit-the-Fed provision I put into the financial reform bill, we finally learn the truth – and it is astounding.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), author of Fed disclosure provision

Lifting the Veil of Fed Secrecy

Continue reading “FED UP!: A Post about Ben Bernanke, Senator Bernie Sanders, and the Bailout…with a Song Parody” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics

Rep. Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity (For the Wealthy)”

-Submitted by David Durmm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Business Model

Although Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) had initially received praise for his budget proposal, upon more careful analysis, many, like Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, have found it to be Ludicrous and Cruel. A principal feature of his budget is tax cuts for the wealthy, from 35 percent to 25 percent. But not to worry, remember that tax cuts magically pay for themselves. Phase 1, cut taxes for the wealthy. Phase 2, ? Phase 3, prosperity.

Rep. Ryan’s budget relies on economic forecasts provided by the Heritage Foundation showing an unemployment rate of 2.8% by 2021. This seems like déjà vu all over again.

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Religion, Supreme Court

The Hedge of Separation?

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Statue of Roger Williams

The earliest North American advocate of the separation between church and state was Roger Williams who founded not only the first Baptist Church on the continent, but also the colony of Rhode Island. In his 1644 book, The Bloody Tenent of Persecution, Williams used the phrase “[A] hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world.”

Fortunately, Thomas Jefferson didn’t use “hedge” in his famous letter in reply to the Danbury Baptists. However, “hedge” does fit into Williams’ metaphor that uses garden and wilderness.

Continue reading “The Hedge of Separation?” →

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Justice

Well, What Do You Expect? She’s A Forger.

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Forty-one-year old Michelle Astumian sure has moxie. Facing a sentencing hearing in a San Luis Obispo, CA court for two counts of forging drug prescriptions and one of passing a fraudulent check, she presented Judge Barry LaBarbera with a doctor’s note in an effort to delay the proceeding. The savvy Judge dispatched a deputy DA to verify the note and was quickly told it was a fake. Nonplussed, Astumian collapsed when the Judge ordered the $45,000.00 bond revoked and her into custody. No word on the nature of her mysterious ailment, but her trip to the hospital granted her wish to delay the sentencing. I’d call that winning the battle only to insure losing the war.

Source: KVEC

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Bizarre, International, Military, Politics

We’re NATO and We’re Here To Help You: General Admits It Killed Over Dozen Rebels But Says It Had No Idea They Had Tanks

Rear Adm. Russell Harding, the deputy commander of NATO forces in Libya, admitted today that NATO killed over a dozen rebel soldiers but refused to apologize. What struck me as the most odd was his statement that NATO did not know rebels had tanks when I have seen numerous pictures in the popular press of rebels driving tanks. It is a bit disconcerting that NATO intelligence is worse than mine.
Continue reading “We’re NATO and We’re Here To Help You: General Admits It Killed Over Dozen Rebels But Says It Had No Idea They Had Tanks” →

Bizarre, International, Politics, Society

Russian Ministry Awards Art Prize To Group That Painted 210-Foot Penis on Drawbridge — While Criminal Charges Are Pending

The radical art collective Voina is facing charges for hooliganism after the group painted a 210-foot penis a drawbridge in St. Petersburg. The group, however, will also receive an art prize from the Ministry of Culture and the National Center for Contemporary Art.
Continue reading “Russian Ministry Awards Art Prize To Group That Painted 210-Foot Penis on Drawbridge — While Criminal Charges Are Pending” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Fifth Circuit Rules Against Lawyer and Client in Public Criticism of An Indictment and Its Motivations

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has handed down a ruling against both a client and his lawyer for the violation of a gag order. The ruling against Don Hill, the former Dallas official, and his lawyer, Ray Jackson, could have implications for lawyers defending their clients in public against alleged governmental misconduct. Hill was given 30 days on top of the 18-year prison sentence in 2009 for corruption and Jackson was given a $5,000 fine levied by the trial court as well as a 120-day suspension from any client appointments in the Northern District of Texas

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Mississippi Polling: Roughly Half of Polled Republicans in Mississippi Believe Interracial Marriage Should Be Illegal

A poll released this week shows that 46% percent of Mississippi Republicans believe that interracial marriage should be illegal. That staggering number is accompanied by only 40% who believe that adults should be free to marry who they want. This poll just happens to come out on the anniversary of the argument in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), where the Supreme Court in a 9-0 vote struck down Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute.
Continue reading “Mississippi Polling: Roughly Half of Polled Republicans in Mississippi Believe Interracial Marriage Should Be Illegal” →

Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Idaho Passes Strict Anti-Abortion Measure After Sponsor Invokes “Hand of God”

The Idaho House just passed a sweeping anti-abortion bill that grants no exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormality or the mental or psychological health of the mother. As if to avoid any question of the religious basis for the measure, the sponsor state Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, explained to the House that this was God’s will.

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Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Former Judge and Prosecutor in Newark Confesses To Arranging False Confession By Innocent Man To Clear Career Criminal

Former prosecutor and judge Clifford J. Minor has confessed to taking a bribe, procuring a false confession, lying to investigators, and falsifying documents. Before serving as a prosecutor and a judge, Minor was a police officer. He later ran for mayor of Newark.
Continue reading “Former Judge and Prosecutor in Newark Confesses To Arranging False Confession By Innocent Man To Clear Career Criminal” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering

Michigan Lawyer Found To Have Rendered Ineffective Counsel After Allegedly Expressing Happiness Over Client’s Conviction

There is an extraordinary ruling in Michigan where the Michigan Court of Appeals has found the defense attorney Susan Prentice-Sao rendered ineffective counsel to Jeffrey Gioglio, who was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. To her credit, prosecutor Christine Bourgeois raised concerns over the case after Pretice-Sao allegedly told her that she considered Gioglio guilty, held back on her defense, and expressed happiness with the verdict (stating “He’s toast” to the prosecutor).

Continue reading “Michigan Lawyer Found To Have Rendered Ineffective Counsel After Allegedly Expressing Happiness Over Client’s Conviction” →