A story in Norway has attracted international attention after Karsten Nordal Hauken, a male leftist politician, stated how he was racked with “guilt and responsibility” that his rapist, a Somali man, was deported after serving time for his rape. In a documentary series entitled “I Against Me,” Hauken describes how he felt relief at the news that the Somali man was to be deported but then also felt guilt that he was the cause of the deportation.
Category: Criminal law
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s WiFi. Dubai’s Islamic Affairs & Charitable Activities Department has issue a fatwa or religious edict that using WiFi from your neighbor without permission is unIslamic. The common practice is a sinful act of stealing according to the Islamic experts, even if the neighbor has not locked out other users.
Continue reading “WiFatwa: Islamic Regulators In Dubai Issue Fatwa Against Using Neighbor’s WiFi”
This afternoon, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its decision in Brown v. Buhman, No. 14-4117, reversing the decision striking down the cohabitation provision of the Utah polygamy law. The opinion of the panel is attached below. The panel ruled entirely on standing grounds and did not address the merits of the constitutional violations committed in the case. As lead counsel in the case, I have been going over the opinion with our team including our local counsel, Adam Alba, as well as the Brown family. We respectfully disagree with the panel on its interpretation of the governing law and we will appeal the decision.
Continue reading “TENTH CIRCUIT REVERSES SISTER WIVES DECISION”
The Indiana State Police has fired a controversial trooper who had been sued twice in the past 18 months for allegedly preaching to citizens after traffic stops. Senior Trooper Brian Hamilton, 40, was a 14-year veteran of the agency.
Continue reading “Indiana Trooper Fired After Continuing To Question Drivers About Their Faith”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Samuel Hoffer did not exactly get the position he was hoping for when he applied to be a Wildlife Enforcement Officer with the Muckleshoot Tribe. He is now facing charges for alleged Vehicular Homicide after a background interview was reportedly highlighted by his admission to a deadly drunk driving incident occurring in 2012.
This is the latest in a series of articles, HERE, and HERE, where applicants make career and freedom limiting moves by applying for law enforcement jobs and are subsequently jailed for providing incriminating evidence.
We now have another case of déjà vu all over again.
Continue reading “Interview Of Applicant For Wildlife Officer Position Leads To Vehicular Homicide Charge”
There continues to be a debate (particularly among libertarians) over the basis for criminalizing prostitution when engaged by consenting adults. The French National Assembly however has reached a curious resolution in dropping any penalties for selling sex while making it a crime to pay for sex. Paying for sex services now carries a fine of 1,500 euros ($1,700). Repeat offenders could be fined up to 3,750 euros ($4,260). In addition to the fines, johns will have to take a course on the plight of sex workers.
Continue reading “French Law Drops Penalties for Prostitutes While Adding Penalties For Johns”
We have been discussing the surge of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh, particularly targeting secular writers. This week we have another tragic victim: law student and secular writer Nazimuddin Samad, 26. For simply espousing secular viewpoints, Samad was hacked to death by three or four men on his way back home from classes. Samad and other victims have appeared on a list of 84 “atheist bloggers” published by Islamic extremists.
Continue reading “Sixth Secular Writer Murdered in Bangladesh”
It is rare to have a judge involved in fist fight but it is even more rare when the other combatant is also a judge. That was the scene this week downtown Washington where Administrative Judge Joan Davenport, 63, went toe-to-toe with Administrative Judge Sharon Goodie. Davenport was charged with misdemeanor simple assault.
Continue reading “Round One: Two Judges in Washington D.C. Get Into Physical Altercation”
Saudi Arabia has produced almost weekly stories of grotesque and medieval sentencing out of its Sharia court system. The Sharia courts apply Islamic law that can be both brutal and primitive in flogging and beheading people for crimes against the faith. The latest is the sentencing of a man to death for renouncing Islam and allegedly posting a video ripping up a Koran and hitting it with his shoe. Saudi Arabia still enforces death sentences for apostasy for those denying their Islamic faith. It is crime that places the Kingdom well outside of the most basic guarantees of human rights and civil liberties.
Continue reading “Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To Death For Renouncing Islam and Ripping Up Koran”
There is an interesting story that has been raging on conservative sites on the Internet but suddenly popped up on national television in a CNN interview. Conservatives are criticizing CNN host Carol Costello for abruptly ending a segment on Tuesday after a guest raised Hillary Clinton’s 1975 legal defense of an accused child rapist. I recently condemned an attack ad against Judge Jane Kelly (a widely respected former public defender) for representing a criminal defendant. The attack on Clinton is equally low grade and unfair.
Continue reading “Clinton Under Attack For Serving As Counsel In Rape Case In 1975”
There is a new report that contains a surprising figure on the level of drug use in the European Union. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), EU citizens spend more than 24 billion euros ($27.3 billion) every year on illegal drugs such as cannabis and heroin. The report warns about the funding for terrorism and organized crime but the report is an insight into the level of drug use in Europe.
Continue reading “EU Citizens Spend $27.3 Billion On Drugs Annually”
Just two weeks ago, Judge Paul Watford of the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit was on the short list for the Supreme Court. Now he is back in the news with a notable decision where the court rejected the appeal of Hector Magallon-Lopez despite his showing that the police lied about the reason for the critical stop in his case. Watford, applying past Supreme Court cases, ruled that it does not matter if the police lied about the stop in the case. That led to an interesting exchange with a concurring colleague on the meaning of the controversial Whren case.
He was known as Prophet Shamiso Kanyama in Zimbabwe and he instructed his followers to bury him alive as part of his ritual to cleanse their house of evil spirits. They did and were surprised when they dug him up to find out that he was dead. Now the family involved in the ritual is accused of murder despite the “Prophet” demanding that he be buried.
There is an interesting development in the Clinton email scandal. The investigation has entered a particularly dangerous stage for Clinton with a key aide receiving immunity and interviews scheduled for key associates. The danger is that statements given prosecutors can differ and contradict each other or, worse yet, contradict Clinton. Moreover, such statements could be unknown to Clinton when she speaks with investigators. For that reason, many are likely to view a recent announcement with considerable suspicion that the top four staff members to Clinton have agreed to be represented by the same attorney, Beth Wilkinson. That would allow a degree of coordination or at least confirmation of differing statements or accounts. Since Wilkinson is not allowed to represent multiple clients with conflicts, it would also create a situation where the statements must not conflict in significant ways between the clients and, if they do, she would likely have to remove herself — a move that would likely be known to the Clinton counsel and highlight a potential problem with a given associate. She will represent former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, Deputy Chief Jake Sullivan, Mills’ deputy Heather Samuelson, and Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines.
This is pretty hilarious. When children and adults spotted two criminal suspects running across a field in Surrey, England, they saw a National Police Air Service helicopter searching for the men. They acted quickly and formed an arrow pointing to where the two men ran. Police attributed the fast arrest to the Easter Egg hunters.