Category: Constitutional Law

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Media, Military, Politics, Society

Afghanistan Government Calls on Media Not To Report Violence on Election Day

180px-US_Army_Humvee_attackedThe Afghan government has decided that the next best thing to having a violence free election day is to have a day without any reported violence. The government has told the media not to carry reports of violence on election day — fearing that citizens may be reluctant to vote if they are informed that people are being killed in their areas. Some reporters have already refused the abusive order, here.

Continue reading “Afghanistan Government Calls on Media Not To Report Violence on Election Day” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

New Jersey City Finds Solution to Solving Street Crime: Get Rid of the People

coatofarmsThe officials in Paterson, New Jersey appear to be closing in on the problem of crime in their city: the citizens. The city is considering the first citywide curfew on adults to curb crime. No people, no crime — that sounds simple enough.

Continue reading “New Jersey City Finds Solution to Solving Street Crime: Get Rid of the People” →

Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society, Supreme Court

State Court Strikes Down Oklahoma Abortion Law Requiring Ultrasound

image1804180px-Baby_in_ultrasoundOklahoma County District Judge Vicki L. Robertson has struck down that state’s 2008 law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and offer women detailed information about the tests before performing abortions. The law was challenged as an effort to harass and deter women from obtaining abortions.
Continue reading “State Court Strikes Down Oklahoma Abortion Law Requiring Ultrasound” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Supreme Court Stays Execution and Says Evidence of Innocence Should Be Given Evidentiary Hearing

imagesimage361In a major ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered an evidentiary hearing on innocence claims of Troy Davis, who is on death row in Georgia for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail. Not only did the Supreme Court stop the execution, but it created new law on the right of the defendant to present such evidence — a holding that drew the outrage of the conservative wing of the Court. While only a paragraph long, the unsigned opinion represents the first such order in decades for a new hearing to “receive testimony and make findings of fact”. Justice Scalia called it a “fool’s errand.”
Continue reading “Supreme Court Stays Execution and Says Evidence of Innocence Should Be Given Evidentiary Hearing” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Society

Boise Man Sues Police After Being Tasered in Buttocks and Threatened With Sodomy

taser gun bart officer-218-85A man in Boise, Idaho is suing after the Boise Police Department declared that an officer who tasered him on the buttocks and threatened him with sodomy with a taser did not violate the law. While against policy, the police insist that the officer (who also threatened to shock his genitalia) merely failed to follow guidelines — the name of the officer has not been released despite the release of the audio tape below. The officer actually states on the tape that he had already sodomized the man with the taser when he threatened to deliver a second shock first to his anus and then to his genitalia.

Continue reading “Boise Man Sues Police After Being Tasered in Buttocks and Threatened With Sodomy” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Military, Politics, Religion, Society

Report: Hundreds of Gays Tortured and Killed in Iraq

158px-flag_of_iraqsvgflag-rainbow1As we continue to pour billions of dollars and sacrifice lives of our military in Iraq, the country continues its return to radical Islamic rule. We have seen the continued denial of basic rights for women in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Now there is a report of hundreds of gay men and women tortured and killed in Iraq.

Continue reading “Report: Hundreds of Gays Tortured and Killed in Iraq” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, International, Religion, Society

Rule Burkini, Burkini Rules the Waves: English Pools Require “Modest” Dress for Both Muslim and Non-Muslim Swimmers

165px-BathingMachineDontBeAfraidWhile the French are banning the burkini (a swimsuit that covers Muslim women like a burka), various English pools are requiring women to don covering from their necks to ankles –men are required to cover up from their navels to their knees. During these hours, men and women are barred if they are not wearing “modest” coverings in line with the Muslim traditions.
Continue reading “Rule Burkini, Burkini Rules the Waves: English Pools Require “Modest” Dress for Both Muslim and Non-Muslim Swimmers” →

Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Florida High School Principal and Athletic Director Face Six Months Over Prayers

thumb_praying_handsIt is not that Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and school athletic director Robert Freeman do not have a prayer, they had too many prayers. The two officials defied a settlement barring prayers on constitutional ground and now face six-month sentences — a matter of widespread protest among parents.
Continue reading “Florida High School Principal and Athletic Director Face Six Months Over Prayers” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Yale Publishes Book Addressing Controversy Over Muhammad Cartoons — And Deletes All of the Pictures of the Cartoons

413hBzCMe0L._SL500_AA240_In an astonishing act, Yale University Press has told an author that her book addressing the controversy over the Muhammad cartoons will be published — without any of the 12 cartoons shown in the book. Muslims consider images of Muhammad to be blasphemous and particularly object to the insulting cartoons, which caused riots and deaths worldwide. Jytte Klausen, author of “The Cartoons That Shook the World” wanted the cartoons to be shown in the book.
Continue reading “Yale Publishes Book Addressing Controversy Over Muhammad Cartoons — And Deletes All of the Pictures of the Cartoons” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Society, Torts

Shock Video: New York Officer Tasers Mother in Front of Children After Minor Traffic Stop

Audra Harmon, 38, has sued the Onondaga County (N.Y.) Sheriff’s Department in yet another abusive use of a taser without provocation. In this video, the officer yanks Harmon out of the car in order to taser her. What is fascinating is that the officer, Deputy Sean Andrews, could have cuffed her but repeatedly positions her to be tasered.

Continue reading “Shock Video: New York Officer Tasers Mother in Front of Children After Minor Traffic Stop” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Iraqi Freedom: U.S. Supported Government Moves to Ban Books

270px-Santo_Domingo_y_los_albigenses-detalleWith continuing stories of the denial of legal rights, the abuse of women (ad here and here), rise of radical Islam, and war crimes, many Americans are still unsure why we are sacrificing thousands of our citizens and billions in funding in Iraq. Now, the U.S. supported government is moving to ban books that it considers unduly “sectarian.”

Continue reading “Iraqi Freedom: U.S. Supported Government Moves to Ban Books” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Society

Williams and Connolly Hires Disgraced UBS General Counsel

aufhauser_david 225px-alberto_gonzales_-_official_doj_photographWhile some may have expected attorney David Aufhauser to be seen in the halls of Williams & Connolly as a client but it appears that he has now been embraced as a partner. It appears that involvement in an insider trading scandal is not a barrier to career advancement. The former general counsel and managing director for UBS has joined the firm after agreeing not to practice law for two years due to the alleged insider trading. In the meantime, the shunning of Alberto Gonzales by both law firms and former colleagues continues.

Continue reading “Williams and Connolly Hires Disgraced UBS General Counsel” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Military, Politics, Society

Holder Plans Whitewash of War Crimes Allegations

holdererictorture -abu ghraibReports indicate that Attorney General Eric Holder is close to naming a prosecutor to look into interrogation abuse, but that he is going to structure the investigation to protect high-ranking officials from investigation for war crimes. While Holder admits that waterboarding is torture, he is reportedly going to allow only the investigation into whether some interrogations went beyond the torture guidelines set by the Justice Department — which allowed for waterboarding.
Continue reading “Holder Plans Whitewash of War Crimes Allegations” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Society

Massachusetts Man Freed After 21 Years With Discovery of Withheld Exculpatory Evidence

180px-prison_cellBernard Baran was 19 when he was accused of abusing children at a day care center — one of a spasm of such prosecutions in the 1980s. Baran was convicted on the testimony of the children despite the fact that videotapes showed children denying that he touched them and other referring to “prizes” promised for their confirming abuse.
Continue reading “Massachusetts Man Freed After 21 Years With Discovery of Withheld Exculpatory Evidence” →