The Ninth Circuit has handed down a very interesting decision in a case of a police officer fired because he and his wife ran a private porn site in his free time. In January of 2002, the Chandler Police Department
discovered that Officer Ronald Dible was running the site, featuring his wife , Megan Dible, who performed various sex acts with various partners and objects. It was too much for the town and he was fired. It is a case that raises some difficult constitutional questions and the decision could cut deeply into first amendment rights. Continue reading “Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Police Officer Over Private Porn Site”
Category: Bizarre
In an indictment of the once-unassailable British educational system, a quarter of British citizens believe that Winston Churchill was a purely fictional character. However, half believe that Eleanor Rigby, the Beattles’ creation, was a real person.
Continue reading “Winston Who?: One in Four British Citizens Believe Churchill Never Existed”
Another vision of Iranian justice became apparent today with the announcement of a stoning sentence for two sisters accused by their respective husband and brother of adultery. In what passes for a Supreme Court in Iran, the justices upheld the sentences which are based on that country’s Islamic code. The sisters, Zohreh and Azar were originally sentenced to lashing but have been convicted a second time and sentenced to die by stoning. Continue reading “Iranian Justice: Two Sisters Sentenced to Be Stoned to Death for Adultery”
The singer Don Ho is not making any more songs after his death, but he appears to be making some interesting new law. Ho’s daughter, Dondi Ho-Costa has filed a lawsuit alleging that he violated a deathbed promise made to her mother in 1999 over Lanikai beachfront property. Continue reading “Say It Ain’t So Ho: The Late Don Ho is Accused of Breaching a Deathbed Promise to Wife”
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With the economy spinning out of control and the recession deepening, there appears to be some good jobs available in Rome. The Catholic Church is looking for exorcists. In the meantime, bizarre cases of alleged botched exorcisms are being prosecuted in the United States and abroad. Continue reading “Calling All Exorcists: Church Seeks Applicants While Cases of Alleged Botched Exorcisms Are Prosecuted”
In a surprising development with significance to the on-going debate over polygamy in the United States, the British government has decided that polygamist citizens are entitled public welfare despite the fact the polygamy is illegal in Britain. Continue reading “England Approves Benefits for Polygamists”
Texas Mayor Grace Saenz-Lopez has resigned soon after her indictment over the on-going sage of a a Shih Tzu named Puddles. Saenz-Lopez and her twin sister were indicted in the conspiracy to steal Puddles — who appears to hold a strange hypnotic effect over humans. Continue reading “The Shih Tzu Hits the Fan: Indicted Mayor Resigns Amid Allegations of Stealing Puddles”
Woolworths in London is pulling a line of beds called “Lolita” beds for six-year-old girls after parents pointed out that the name refers to a 1955 novel by Nabokov about a sexually active 12-year-old girl. Continue reading “Capturing the Pedaphile Market?: Woolworths Forced to Pull “Lolita” Beds from Stores”
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal has been in the thick of controversy of late. First, he refused to prosecute Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife after a grand jury indicted them for arson. (Click here). Then he was forced to turn over e-mails in case that included embarrassing material, such as the married man’s romantic notes to his secretary as well as racist and pornographic material. Now, Rosenthal has admitted that he destroyed more than 2,500 e-mails after they were subpoenaed — an act that could result in a charge of contempt and potential incarceration. Continue reading “Texas District Attorney Admits to Destroying Emails in Violation of Court Order — Faces Potential Contempt Charge”
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has called for Congress to strip the City of Berkeley, Calif., of federal funds because he does not agree with a slight to the Marine Corp. The Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to move its recruiting station outside the city’s downtown. What is astonishing is that DeMint has long defended federalism (as I do). There is no greater nightmare for states rights than the federal government taking in more taxes than it needs — only to give the money back to the states with strings attached. Thus, under this approach, states and cities will be denied money unless they conform their political judgments to the will of the Senate. It is a good thing that George Mason is safely six-feet under ground. Continue reading “So Much For Federalism: Republican Senator Asks Congress to Strip Berkeley of Federal Funds in Retaliation for Slight to Marines”
New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto is being sued by a former high school football player who alleged that the jurist used his power and prestige to harass him after he gave Rivera-Soto’s son a bloody lip in a practice. Rivera-Soto has already been reprimanded by his Court and he is even accused of making fun of a Ben Franklin re-enactor! He is just the latest state judge to face criminal and civil charges this year. Continue reading “New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Sued for Harassing Son’s High School Football Rival”
In the civilian system, a case of misdiagnosis is a simple material of medical malpractice for which the victim or his victim can recover. In the military, it is even simpler: it is malpractice for which there is no legal recourse. That is the sad lesson being learned by the family of Carmelo Rodriguez, a Marine and combat veteran who died of untreated cancer that could have been treated by relatively modest medical interventions. It is the result of the infamous Feres Doctrine, which continues to do untold harm to thousands of sailors and soldiers. Continue reading “The Legacy of Feres: Marine Dies in Latest Act of Military Malpractice”
When it comes to the art of the public apology, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick may have set a new gold standard in his public apology for his alleged affair with chief of staff Christine Beatty. The view link is below. He used an actual church as a backdrop and his wife as something of a prop for the occasion. The problem is that, while such scenes may resonate with voters who tend to love a repentant sinner, it still does not create a defense to what appears a very compelling criminal case for perjury. Continue reading “The Stagecraft of Scandal: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Gives Public Apology with Wife in a Church”
In what could make for a fascinating torts case, an airplane full of passengers witnesses a co-pilot losing his mind in the cockpit and then having to be forcibly restrained by the other crew members as he demanded to speak to God. The Air Canada co-pilot was handcuffed to a seat for the rest of the flight. Ironically, air carriers have refused to show Snakes on a Plane as too scary for passengers. Continue reading “This is Your Pilot: I Need to Speak to God”
A former priest, Daniel Corogeanu, had been convicted of murder in the death of a nun during an exorcism gone bad. The court in Romania gave the monk seven years, though the case raises serious questions over the use of these extreme religious rites. Continue reading “Priest Convicted in Nun’s Death During Botched Exorcism”