Category: Courts

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law

The Butler Did It!

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Screen shot 2013-03-23 at 8.09.33 PMPatricia Hill thought she made quite the find after purchasing a turn of the century Georgian mansion to convert to a bed and breakfast. The previous owner, coal tycoon J.P. Brennan, had stashed 108 bottles of vintage 1912 Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey in his walls and stairwell as a hedge against the nanny state of his time, Prohibition. “My guess is that Mr. Brennan ordered 10 cases, pre-Prohibition,” said Hill. “I was told by his family that family members used to greet him at the door each day with a shot of whiskey.” Now, that’s a greeting.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech

The Laughing Bully?

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Robert Schiavelli - Is this the smile of a bully?
Robert Schiavelli – Is this the smile of a bully?

Can laughing too loud in your own home make you a bully? Some neighbors in Long Island’s Rockville Centre think so and have called police to the home of 42-year-old Robert Schiavelli about 30  times. Robert, who suffers from a host of neurological problems and seizures, lives at home with his mother and has a distinctive laugh — with a timbre somewhere between the laughs of Woody Woodpecker’s and Curly Howard’s  from the Three Stooges. Schiavelli claims the laugh is a defense mechanism against neighbors who routinely taunt him with screams of “retard,” and other epithets tied to his condition. Neighbors respond that Robert makes the annoying laugh at his bathroom window and that the noise can be heard across the street. They also claim it’s a form of bullying.

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Courts, Justice

Modify This: How To Pay Off Your Mortgage In Two Years

By Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger

As it did for many people, the current recession produced serious financial difficulties for William and Mary Hoagland.  So they did what thousands of other families do each year and filed a petition for relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code.  Chapter 13 does for individuals what Chapter 11 does for corporations; it enables a family to keep its property and pay all or most of its debts over a period to time under court protection.

Chapter 13 even provides a method for reducing or eliminating secured debt in some cases.  For example, if you have a second mortgage on your home, and your home’s value does not exceed the value of the first mortgage, the lien of the second mortgage can be “stripped” in a process known as “cramdown,” converting the holder of the second mortgage into an unsecured creditor.  The problem is that cramdown is not available for a residential first mortgage, regardless of how far a homeowner is underwater.  Chapter 13 can provide breathing space to catch up with arrearages on a first mortgage, but if you want to keep your home, the first mortgage will have to be honored according to its terms, unless the lender will agree to a modification.  In the case of Mr. and Mrs. Hoagland, a modification agreement with Bank of America may have enabled them to satisfy a $227,000.00 first mortgage in slightly less than two years.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Uncategorized

The Rise of “Debtors’ Prisons” in the US

PrisonCellSubmitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

In October of 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union published a report titled In for a Penny: The Rise of America’s New Debtors’ Prisons. The ACLU had found that debtors’ prisons were “flourishing” in this country, “more than two decades after the Supreme Court prohibited imprisoning those who are too poor to pay their legal debts.” In 2011, Huffington Post reported that debtors’ prisons were legal in more than one-third of the states in this country. Continue reading “The Rise of “Debtors’ Prisons” in the US” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Testimony

None Dare Call it Treason

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

220px-Richard_NixonIn 1964, during Barry Goldwater’s race for the White House, a book became a runaway best seller and it was titled “None Dare Call It Treason”. Its’ premise, typical of the thinking of many of that time, was that the United States was being sold out to Communism by its “liberal elites” who were pro-communist and thus wanted the USSR to win the “Cold War”. As the title clearly illustrates the book’s author, John A. Stormer, believed that the “elite” were traitors, liberal of course, who were so powerful that their “treasonous actions” couldn’t be challenged. I remember the popularity of the book at that time and how many who supported Barry Goldwater were believers in the books veracity. Goldwater himself seemed to be echoing Stormer’s theme of rooting out pro Communists in his Convention speech which produced the memorable phrase: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” It is thus a meme that in many different ways has been played and re-played through our Country’s history by those of a more Conservative persuasion. That meme is that the true American patriots are those who are of Right Wing political persuasion. Continue reading “None Dare Call it Treason” →

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

Fox Reporter Faces Potential Jail In Protection Of Her Sources

jana-winterPrisonCellA classic confrontation is occurring in Arizona over the freedom of the press. FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter is standing by fundamental principles of journalism in refusing to disclose who gave her a notebook that a judge had put under a protective order in the case of Colorado shooter James Holmes. Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour is pursuing other avenues for the time being in trying to find out who leaked the notebook, but Winter could still be put on the bench and held in contempt for a failure to disclose her source.

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Bizarre, Courts, Lawyering, Society

Detroit Judge Faces New Ethics Charges After Repeatedly Having Sex With Witness In Chambers And Texting About “Skank Hoes” In His Courtroom

mccree-and-mottYou may recall Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree found our earlier discussion of his sending court personnel revealing pictures of himself. He was sanctioned for that little episode. McCree is back before a judicial ethics panel for allegedly making a false report of a felony, misrepresentations to the commission and engaging in improper bench conduct and demeanor. The latter charges involve having sex with a witness in his chambers, a relationship that he insisted did not affect his judgment in any way in the child-support case. He also allegedly impregnating Geniene La’Shay Mott (left with McCree). Despite his continual bizarre and improper conduct, McCree has remained on the bench in an indictment of the entire political and judicial system in Wayne County in Michigan.

Continue reading “Detroit Judge Faces New Ethics Charges After Repeatedly Having Sex With Witness In Chambers And Texting About “Skank Hoes” In His Courtroom” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Justice, Uncategorized

Could the Banksters Grab Your Bank Deposits?

200px-FDIC_2500_sign_by_Matthew_BisanzRespectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty- Guest Blogger

The recent news about Cyprus banks confiscating depositor’s funds sent chills throughout the financial world here and abroad.  I couldn’t believe that the plan in Cyprus hinged on the idea that the bank could just steal customer’s funds to balance the bank’s books.  I muttered to myself when I read the story that something as crazy as that couldn’t possible happen here in the United States.  Unfortunately, I learned that the plan to pull a Cyprus type grab here was already in the works.  Continue reading “Could the Banksters Grab Your Bank Deposits?” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Supreme Court

The Myth of Black Freedom in the U.S.

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

417px-Frederick_Douglass_portraitTo some of us the transition from slave to citizenship by those Africans brought in chains to these shores for economic exploitation and horrific abuse ended with the “Emancipation Proclamation”. To others its’ end might have been marked by “Brown v. Board of Education”, or by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Those of somewhat more insightful bent may have said that the true emancipation occurred when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008. In my view, as much of an impact as all those milestones (and more such as Jackie Robinson i.e.) made to American consciousness, Black people in the United States clearly still lack the benefits and rewards of citizenship. I would go further and say that in the United States, at this time; most Black people still suffer the degradation and challenges brought about by both institutional and emotional racism. This is not to say that in our country other groups, such as Latino’s and Native Americans are free of oppressive prejudice, but to assert that given their history in this country Black people are slotted into the bottom of the economic and social ladder and are still struggling to obtain even those most minimal of rights that most Americans see as their birthright. Continue reading “The Myth of Black Freedom in the U.S.” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Takes Up The Defense Of Marriage Act
The U.S. Supreme Court
gay-pride-flagThe U.S. Supreme Court

Today, the Supreme Court will take up the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law signed by Bill Clinton that denied benefits and equal treatment to same-sex couples. This follows yesterday’s interesting, and at times heated, debate over Proposition 8 in the Hollingsworth case. I will be on MSNBC today discussing the case with NPR’s Here and Now at 12 and then Martin Bashir at 4 p.m.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law

Supreme Court Narrowly Rejects Use Of Dog Sniff On Home Without Warrant

AntoninScaliaDog_noseWhile much of the attention this week is on the two same-sex marriage cases, an important ruling was handed down on Tuesday that constituted an increasingly rare victory for the Fourth Amendment under search and seizure law. In Florida v. Jardines, the Court ruled 5-4 that police need a warrant to use a drug-sniffing dog on the exterior of a home. It was a surprise ruling for some of us — a surprise magnified by the author, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Religion

The Corporate Veil Meets the First Communion Veil

By Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger

Lawyers who do commercial litigation are familiar with the concept known as “piercing the corporate veil.”  A principal purpose for doing business in corporate form is to avoid personal liability for business debts.  But the veil of protection afforded by the corporate entity can be lost under certain circumstances, exposing a controlling shareholder to personal liability.  Although the application of the concept varies a bit from state to state, the general rule is that “courts will look through the screen of a corporate entity to the individuals who compose it in cases in which the corporation was a mere device or sham to accomplish some ulterior purpose, or is a mere instrumentality or agent of another corporation or individual owning all or most of its stock, or where the purpose is to evade some statute or to accomplish some fraud or illegal purpose.” Biscayne Realty & Insurance Co. v. Ostend Realty Co., 109 Fla. 1, 148 So. 460, 564 (1933).

In short, no majority shareholder would concede that his company is his alter ego.  Right?  Well, maybe not.  Recently some shareholders have been arguing, and successfully, that  their companies are indeed mere instrumentalities.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Society, Uncategorized

Probable Cause..Black, Latino and Young

170px-FEMA_-_14834_-_Photograph_by_Liz_Roll_taken_on_09-05-2005_in_Louisiana

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

Much has been written about New York City’s stop and frisk policies, but until now, the evidence of who the police were stopping and why was not a matter of public record.  A recent class action suit has opened the door to learning the true numbers involved as well as the accurate demographics of just who is getting stopped by the NYPD.  “New York police officers testifying before a federal court this week said that racist quotas imposed by ranking officers are behind the police department’s controversial stop-and-frisk program, confirming years of accusations made by civil rights and community advocates that the department’s tactics disproportionately target minorities.  Continue reading “Probable Cause..Black, Latino and Young” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

French Jewish Students Demand Millions In Damages Against Twitter Over Anti-Semitic Tweets

150px-Twitter_2012_logoWe have been following (here and here and here and here and here) the worsening situation in England concerning free speech. As noted in a recent column, free speech appears to be dying in the West with the increasing criminalization of speech under discrimination, hate, and blasphemy laws. Now, a French Jewish student group is adding its name to the movement to curtail free speech rights. The Union of Jewish Students (UEJF) is demanding 38.5 million euros after Twitter has declined to turn over the identity of people responsible for comments deemed anti-Semitic by the group. The students appear to have no concept or at least concern for the loss of anonymity in free speech. Like others, they are focused only on their insular grievance with no appreciation for the harm caused by such court orders.

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Bizarre, Courts, Lawyering

Lindsay Lohan Plays Henry VI: First Thing I’ll Do Is Kill My Lawyer

Lindsey Lohan appears to be practicing method acting for the role of the Butcher in Henry VI who proclaimed “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Lohan was captured by TMZ muttering to her lawyer to shut up and badgering him while he tried to defend the serial celebrity defendant. She punctuated her court commentary with “Oh my god, I’m going to kill you.”

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