Illinois police have been accused of violating religious sensitivities by forcing Nour Hadid, a 26-year-old woman accused of beating her 2-year-old niece Bhia Hadid to death over four days. She demanded to be photographed wearing her veil covering her face and her husband Alaeddin Hadid has announced an intention to sue the police for the “insult against our religion.”
Category: Courts
A respected literature journal, Ibdaa (or Creativity) has been banned by an Egyptian court for publishing blasphemous poem by poet Helmi Salem that compared God to a villager who feeds ducks and milks cows. It is only the latest crackdown on poets who have used the Koran or references to God in artistic ways.
Continue reading “Egyptian Court Bans Literature Journal For Publishing Blasphemous Poem”
There is an interesting case in Detroit on the liability of hospitals for the actions of third parties — a case with striking similarities to the famous 1976 ruling in Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California.
The Detroit case involves a woman murdered by her husband, Christopher Howard, 10 days after he was released by a Michigan hospital. The Sixth Circuit has ruled that the family of Marie Moses Irons can sue Providence Hospital under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor law requiring emergency treatment of patients by hospitals. The ruling by Judge Eric Clay (left) could have sweeping implications for hospitals across the country.
Continue reading “Tarasoff Revisited: Federal Court Rules That Hospitals May Be Liable for a Murder Committed By a Former Mental Patient”
In Texas, Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman has issued what may be a fairly unique order. He has agreed to a motion from Marissa Evans to have sperm collected from the corpse of her son, Nikolas Colton Evans, to allow her to have a grandchild through a surrogate mother.
In a remarkable order, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the Justice Department lawyers who mishandled the prosecution of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska). The order reflects a degree of dissatisfaction and distrust over the Justice Department’s own internal investigation.
Vermont’s legislature voted Tuesday to override the veto of Governor Jim Douglas (R) and become the fourth state to recognize gay marriage. This follows Iowa only last week, which achieved the same result through a vote of its Supreme Court. On the same day, the District of Columbia voted to recognize such marriages in other states.
Continue reading “Vermont Becomes Fourth State To Recognize Gay Marriage”
NASA has captured a picture of what appears to be the hand of God reaching across space. Notably, the picture was taken as former Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) is about to appear in federal court to declare victory after the Justice Department drops its case against him.
The Justice Department is once again being threatened with contempt of court after United States District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan found that they withheld evidence from the defense that a witness in a “significant” number of cases was mentally disturbed. Judge Sullivan found that the testimony of the detainee was unreliable, could be challenged in other cases, and could be the basis for a possible contempt order against the government.
Judges in Texas recently have found themselves defendants in a slew of criminal, tort, and disciplinary cases, here, here, here, here, here and here. You can now add El Paso Judge Manuel J. Barraza, 53, who is accused of taking money and asking for sex from defendants.
Continue reading “Another Texas Judge Accused of Wrongdoing”
With billions of federal stimulus and bailout money engorging lobbyists in Washington, I finally found a photo of one of these fat cats in the aftermath of visiting the public troth.
Continue reading “FAT CAT”
The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct had imposed remarkably light punishment in the admonishment of Justice of the Peace Gustavo “Gus” Garza. While the act was in the mid range of the possible discipline, it is disturbing that this Commission would consider Garza to be competent to continue on the bench after he ordered physical punishment to be carried out in his courtroom.
Continue reading “Slap on the Wrist for “Spanking Judge”: Texas Commission Fails To Remove Judge Who Ordered Spankings In Courtroom”
Now this take a bit of hubris. Disgraced former Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella has moved to discuss federal lawsuits from juveniles who sent to jail after accepting bribes. tax evasion and depriving the public of their honest services for accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for rulings that benefited the Pa Child Care and Western Pa Child Care centers. In a motion written by himself, Ciavarella demanded dismissal on . . . you guessed it . . . judicial immunity.
Continue reading “Judge Claims Judicial Immunity After Being Sued for Judicial Corruption”
It is well-known that, as a Torts professor, I have made my share of anti-contracts statements — part of a long-standing feud between common law Torts and Contracts faculty. However, to make up for decades of badmouthing contracts, I give you a really interesting contracts case worthy of . . . well . . . a torts class. In Stuttgart, Germany, Demetrius Soupolos, 29, is suing his neighbor Frank Maus, 34, for breach of contract. It seems that Soupolos hired Maus for $2500 to impregnate his wife, a former beauty queen named Traute, but to his surprise Maus desperately tried 72 times without success.
In a major ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court has struck down a state law that confines marriage to heterosexual couples. The decision moves the current national debate from the East and West coasts to the heartland.
Continue reading “Iowa Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban On Same-Sex Marriage”
Ward Churchill, the controversial former professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has won an important verdict in court. A jury found that he had been wrongly terminated by the university after his public repudiation for referring to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks as “little Eichmanns.”
Continue reading “Ward Churchill Wins Major Verdict of Wrongful Termination”