U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman has struck down the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act as unconstitutional. The decision is based on the Doctrine of Separation of Church and State and constitutes a departure from other rulings around the nation upholding such laws. It is a particularly important ruling for non-believers.
Continue reading “Silent No More: Federal Judge Strikes Down Moment of Silence in Illinois”
In what must be one of the most embarrassing moments for a Chief Justice, Chief Justice Roberts gave President Barack Obama the oath for a second time on Wednesday in the White House map room. After a day of researching the question, the President’s White House counsel appeared to agree that he had not technically satisfied the oath due to an error by the Chief Justice. As I discussed recently on NPR, Obama is now the third president to taken the oath twice — joining Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge.
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It was Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s version of a wardrobe malfunction. He flubbed the 35-word oath and learned why his predecessor Chief Justice William Rehnquist always read the oath for accuracy. Now, there is a debate as to whether the oath is constitutionally valid and the possibility that Obama should take the oath again out of an abundance of caution. Today I did this segment on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. I will also be discussing this tonight on MSNBC Countdown.
Continue reading “Chief Roberts’ Grammatical Malfunction: Does the Oath Count?”
In a very rare win for a city against a gun manufacturer, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit by the City of Gary can proceed to trial. These lawsuits have been uniformly rejected on various grounds, including standing. Yet, Gary with one of the nation’s highest homicide rates will be allowed to sue companies like Smith and Wesson, Beretta and Colt as well as gun dealers for the harm caused by their products. They are proceeding on a nuisance theory.
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Controversial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger has lost a critical appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which reversed a lower court decision in his favor. At issue is a state code requiring “civility for lawyers in their dealings with judges. In a 2-1 decision, the appellate panel ruled that the requirement is not is not unconstitutionally vague.
Continue reading “Fieger Loses in Appeal Over His Lack of Civility”
Washington is electric this morning. It is morning in America as literally billions around the world celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President.
Continue reading “OUR 44TH PRESIDENT”
Israel is caught up in an interesting controversy involving a Rabbincal Court. Rabbi Yissachar Dov Hagar, a judge on Jerusalem’s Rabbinical Court, ruled that Yossi Fackenheim, son of the famous Canadian academic and Reform Rabbi, Emil Fackenheim, is not really Jewish. The ruling came as part of a divorce decision and has caused a firestorm of controversy.
Continue reading “Hagar The Horrible: Son of Leading Reform Rabbi Declared Non-Jew”
The Wise and The Commission on Judicial Performance in California is worried about the work ethic of Riverside Superior Court Judge Christopher Sheldon. Years ago, Sheldon was admonished for spending too much time jogging on the courthouse stairs and too little time judging in the courthouse. Now, he is again the subject of an investigation into his habit of blowing off the court around noon everyday.
In what appears the first time that an Arkansas Supreme Court justice has been reprimanded, the Court sanctioned Justice Jim Gunter for hitting and shoving his sister of hitting and shoving at his father’s home in September 2007 in Hope, Arkansas.
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At a time of rising alarm over the marriage of girls as young as eight years old, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh has declared that such marriages are proper and moral under Sharia law. Indeed, he views such criticism as unfair to these girls despite the fact that such arrangements are viewed as per se child abuse and statutory rape in most other countries.
Continue reading “Saudi Grand Mufti Supports Marriage of Girls As Young As Ten”
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the abuse of civil contempt in this country including the story of H. Beatty Chadwick, a former Philadelphia-area lawyer, who has been behind bars for nearly 14 years without being charged. I have handled civil contempt defenses and it is one of the most abused areas by prosecutors and courts. This article shows how this power can be used to punish rather than its purpose to coerce cooperation.
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A couple weeks ago, we followed the story of how a store refused to make a birthday cake for a three-year-old boy named Adolf Hitler Campbell due to his name. Now, the boy and his two sisters — JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell — have been taken from their parents in Holland Township, N.J., by the state’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). The father, Heath Campbell is expected to appear in court on Thursday in the case.
Continue reading “Mein Kake: Adolf Hitler Seized in New Jersey”
Grant County in Washington has settled an exceptionally disturbing case involving false allegations of child abuse, allegedly ineffective representation by a public defender (later disbarred), and the holding of an innocent man for seven months after allegations were disproved. The $250,000 with Felipe Vargas seems quite modest given the abuse that he encountered in Grant County, which seems to maintain a criminal justice system on a model from the Thirteenth Century.
Iran has continued its medieval legal practice with two additional stonings. It was supposed to be three stonings, but one of the men named Mahmoud accused of adultery was able to dig himself out of the hole and run free. The stonings occurred in the city of Mashhad in late December.
Continue reading “Two Men Stoned to Death and One Escapes After Iranian Sentence of Adultery”
Tim Kay is close to becoming a legal system unto himself. In the town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, Tim Kay defended Robert John “R.J.” Manders, a businessman, on his third drunken-driving conviction. One week later, he was prosecuting Manders for trespass. That’s right, Kay is both a defense counsel and prosecutor in the town.