Category: Courts

Judge Samuel Kent Sentenced to 33 Months in Federal Prison

gavel2Federal judge Samuel Kent has been sentenced to 33 months for obstruction of justice for lying to a judicial committee investigating allegations that he sexually harassed an employee. Kent, who was viewed as a harsh sentencer for criminal defendants, avoided a maximum sentence of 20 years. One of the alleged victims referred to him as a “drunken giant.”
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Dying Boy in Sleepy Eye: Parents Withholds Needed Chemotherapy From Boy on Religious Grounds

thumb_praying_handsDaniel Hauser, 13, is dying of cancer and needs chemotherapy. However, his mother, Colleen Hauser of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, is in court this week fighting the treatment on religious grounds. Hauser has Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but the family is against modern treatment on religious grounds and believes in healing cancer with herbs and vitamins . . . and prayer. Continue reading “Dying Boy in Sleepy Eye: Parents Withholds Needed Chemotherapy From Boy on Religious Grounds”

Reid: Torture Might Have Been Illegal But Still “Right” Thing To Do

225px-harry_reid_official_portraitChristiane Brown has released an amazing audio interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid where he admits that waterboarding is torture and we did torture people. However, he suggests that it was “the right” thing to do and should not be punished. The audio tape is worth listening to. It is a brilliant interview by Brown.
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Three Legal Truths: The Case for The Prosecution of War Crimes By the Bush Administration

torture -abu ghraibBelow is today’s column in the U.S. News and World Report on the case for prosecuting torture and responding to the dwindling number of defenders of the Bush torture program:
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George Washington Moot Court Makes The ABA Journal

05-16Our annual Moot Court for elementary kids has made the ABA Journal! We hosted 150 6th grades from Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean, Virginia this year. They sat through a trial of the three little pigs and a class on forensics led by a detective. The trial was a double murder and attempted murder case based on the Three Little Pigs. B.B. Wolf was acquitted.
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Bybee Reportedly Seeking Forum to Explain His Role in the Torture Memos

180px-bybee1While Judge Jay Bybee has declined to speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain his role in the Bush torture program, he is reportedly reaching out to Nevada delegation members to find an alternative forum “to tell his side of the story.” I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
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Republican Politician Calls Justice Souter a Child Molester and Goat Lover

225px-davidsouterMacon City Councilman and Internet blogger Erick Erickson has been listed as one of the 100 most influential conservatives in America (69 to be precise). He is also the editor-in-chief of the site redstate.com. Erickson is unapologetic for his postings on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, where he called the jurist a child molester and bestiality deviate.

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Dubai Court Convicts Woman of Manslaughter and Orders Payment of Blood Money for Death of Her Own Fetus in Traffic Accident

100px-flag_of_dubaisvgThere is a trend in the United States to treat fetuses as persons for the purpose of criminal charges. That trend was taken to an extraordinary degree in Dubai where a pregnant woman was involved in a traffic accident and had a miscarriage. Finding that she was following to closely and applying Sharia law, the court convicted her of manslaughter and also ordered her to pay “blood money” for the loss of the baby.
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Leading Pakistani Cleric Denounces Democracy as UnIslamic and Praises the Former Taliban Regime as the Model System of Governance

180px-election_mg_3455default1Leading Pakistani cleric chief Sufi Muhammad of Tehreek-e- Nifaz-e- Shariat-e- Muhammadi has declared democracy, communism, socialism, and fascism to be un-Islamic. Hmmm, that leaves what? Of yes, Islamic rule. He has also reaffirmed that it is unIslamic to be photographed.

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Texas Court Supports Review of Murder Case Due to Sexual Relationship Between Trial Judge and Prosecutor

The ABA Journal has obtained the findings of Judge Greg Brewer, who is recommending that the case of Charles Dean Hood be reviewed in light of an intimate relationship between former Collin County District Judge Verla Sue Holland and former Collin County District Attorney Thomas S. O’Connell Jr. Notably, O’Connell previously denied such a relationship.

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Chicago Judge Jails Attorney For Document Irregularity Without Explanation

gavel2Lawyers in Chicago are mystified by the actions of Cook County Associate Judge Mark Lopez, who jailed lawyer Nancy Murphy for an unknown offense. Murphy says that she had simply drafted an order and, after giving it to Lopez, was thrown into jail where she was verbally abused by Cook County jail guards and left overnight in a filthy cell.

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Justice David Souter To Retire

225px-davidsouterAssociate Justice David Souter, 69, has announced that he will retire from the Court after 18 years. The announcement comes as a complete surprise because, at 69, Souter is one of the younger members of the Court and was not expected to retire before John Paul Stevens or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is twenty years younger than Stevens, who appears intent on remaining on the Court at least for the rest of this term.
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