The gay community in Manhattan are denouncing a new campaign by the New York Police Department targeting the gay community and adult video stores. Men like Robert Pinter, 53, say that they were enticed by offers of consensual sex in the store (perfectly legal) and were then told on the way to their car that the man wanted to give them some money afterward — followed immediately with an arrest. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has denounced the arrests as abusive.
Continue reading “NYPD Under Fire For Prostitution Arrests in Gay Community”
The Canadian courts are facing an important issue involving a free press — and they seem to be failing the test. The Quebec Court of Appeal this week refused to remove a gag on Daniel Leblanc, a Globe and Mail reporter ,who was barred from disclosing facts about negotiations in a civil lawsuit. It is a prior restraint by Justice Jean-François de Grandpré that would be viewed as an outrage in the United States.
A nurse is facing disciplinary action for simply offering to pray for the recovery of an elderly patient. While the patient did not object, Caroline Petrie, 45, is facing sanctions or even termination. Petrie is a serial prayer. She was suspended previously for breaching the “code of conduct on equality and diversity.” She has now been suspended again.
Saudi Arabia has again shown its institutional intolerance of other religions with the arrest of Hamoud Bin Saleh, 28, who wrote about how he converted to Christianity from Islam. The arrest of the blogger followed the killing of the daughter of an official in the Kingdom’s religious police who also wrote about her Christian faith.
This week, the Iraqi government sent police to order the removal of a statue honoring the Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who threw a shoe at former President George Bush. The statue’s removal in Tikrit appears to be an effort to show respect to the United States by denying the right of free speech to the Iraqi people.
The appointment of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her recent confirmation as Secretary of State raises a very interesting constitutional question. As discussed previously
England is about to make it illegal to take photographs of police officers in a continuing trend limiting the free press and free speech in the West. This ill-conceived law, The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, will take effect on February 16th and “allows for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who takes pictures of officers ‘likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’.” For this crime, you can get up to ten years and a fine.
In a striking departure from the Bush Administration, Ambassador Susan E. Rice, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel in the recent Gaza fighting. While correctly noting such violations by Hamas, Rice noted that there are now credible accounts that need to be investigated. The question is now whether the Administration will apply the same standard to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes that are now clearly identified in the Bush Administration involving an official torture program.
Karl Rove is promising to defy the subpoena issued by John Conyers — citing instructions from Bush lawyers shortly before the end of the Administration. The statement may indicate that President Bush is preparing for a novel fight: asserting executive privilege against the position of the sitting president (who would presumably support Congress in this matter). In the interview, Rove compares himself to the Great White Whale in Moby Dick.
A California appellate court has ruled that the Riverside County-based 
This week, I testified again in opposition to the current legislation to create a new form of non-state voting member in the House of Representative for the District of Columbia. 
John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed Karl Rove to testify about the Bush administration’s firing of United States attorneys. The subpoena could force an interesting constitutional fight since President Obama would now be in a position to waive executive privilege and Attorney General nominee Eric Holder could allow the matter to go to a grand jury. I discussed this issue last night on Countdown in 
As we approach the one-week anniversary of the Obama administration, it is a bit early to judge the level of true change brought by the 44th president. However, it is becoming increasingly clear what is not going to change (at least for the better) in the Obama administration. With all of the euphoria of the inauguration, many supporters fought back a strange and long-lingering sensation: doubt. There was little room for doubt in the collective celebration of our first African-American president and a new course after a ruinous eight years under George W. Bush.
A new video has emerged in the case of Oscar Grant III, who was fatally shot by former transit police officer Johannes Mehserle in a BART station. The new videotape below shows a second officer, reportedly Tony Pirone, striking one of the detained men (possibly Oscar Grant) on January 1st. 
Norman Hutchinson, 48, is a member of the