We have previously discussed the troubling use of statutory rape charges in cases where two teenagers have consensual sex. It is even more problematic when only the boy is charged. Yet, that appears to be the case in Kildare, Ireland where two sixteen year olds had consensual sex but the boy was then charged with rape. Judge Desmond Zaidan expressed “serious concerns” over the charges but the prosecutor has persisted in the case.
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Category: Criminal law
What do you do when you have a suspended license and no license plate. If you ask Amanda Schweickert, 28, the answer is found in some markers and a piece of cardboard. Schweickert was stopped while driving around with this fake license plate on the back of her car. The case raises some interesting legal issues.
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There is a controversy in Alabama after prosecutors cut a plea agreement with an Alabama state trooper Samuel H. McHenry II, 36, who was accused of raping a woman and forcing her to perform oral sex after a bogus arrest in December 2015. For the crime, McHenry was allowed to plead to a simple misdemeanor for sexual misconduct and only six months in jail. [Warning: graphic content below]
In an unbelievable development, news reports have revealed that an unnamed police officer found a knife on the estate where O.J. Simpson lived at the time of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Sources say that the knife appeared to have possible blood residue. Here is the truly incredible part: the officer, who was off-duty at the time, kept the knife as a souvenir and later sought to confirm the case number for a proper framing of the knife. There still may be more to this story and we have not heard from the officer. However, unless the officer clearly knew that this knife was not involved in the crime or other crime, the failure to disclose the potential evidence is startling. There is no indication that the officer has been arrested for the removal of the possible evidence. While it could prove to unrelated to the murders, the officer clearly thought that it might be key evidence.
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The videotape below has shocked many people both inside and outside of Baltimore. A Baltimore school police officer is shown slapping and kicking a teenage youth while a second officer watches. The video raises the suitability of either officer to serve in the department as well as the question of potential criminal charges of assault.
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We have recently discussed how Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia have arrested and flogged atheists under medieval Sharia legal systems. However, the most recent case is not out of the Middle East but rather Russia. Viktor Krasnov has been arrested for simply stating his belief that “there is no God” during an argument on social media. For his atheist views, Krasnov has been charged with “offending believers feelings.” He is the latest victim of the political alliance of Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church.
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The Women’s Protection Act, passed by Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab last week, would seem the type of law that no civilized person could contest. It offers legal protection to women from sexual abuse and violence while calling for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line and the establishment of women’s shelters. However, the Council of Islamic Ideology, a powerful Pakistani religious body that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam, has now declared that criminalizing violence against women is “un-Islamic.”
In a move that can only be viewed as ominous by the Clinton legal team, the Justice Department has granted immunity to former State Department staffer, Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Pagliano had refused to cooperate after invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He was an obvious target of potential criminal charges if he knew that the server was meant to circumvent federal laws, including the mishandling of classified information. Update: there is a new report that investigators are zeroing in on the possibility that passwords were exchanged to allow people to access classified sites (and explaining how classified information seem to “jump the gap” between secure and non-secure systems). That is a strictly prohibited practice.
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We have been discussing the use of criminal charges against children for pranks and threats in recent years, including a story this week involving twelve year old girls in Florida. In Fairfax, Virginia (where I live and my kids attend public school) a 12-year-old is being charged with making threats against her school using emoji. The girl sent an Instagram post in December that said, in part: “Killing [gun emoji] meet me in the library Tuesday [gun emoji] [knife emoji] [bomb emoji].” Once again, the case raises the question of whether such matters need to be criminalized rather than address through stern but internal punishment.
There is a disturbing case out of Snaresbrook Crown Court in England where an Islamic studies tutor raped his 14-year-old pupil and left her pregnant. Mohammed Islam, 31, reportedly started molesting the schoolgirl in 2010 when she was just nine while teaching her the Koran. He has been sentenced to 19 years.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his assault on basic freedoms in his country with an assault this month on the decision of the Constitutional Court. The Court had the temerity to disagree with Erdoğan and rule that the imprisonment of two prominent journalists for a report on alleged illegal arms transfers to Syria was a violation of their rights. Erdoğan has announced that he will simply ignore the ruling of the court because he disagrees with it. Erdoğan has become increasingly bold in his crackdown on opponents and civil liberties — relying on his base of Islamic organizations.
Daniel and Samuel Sledden have again shown how the combination of a demonstrably low intellect and access to social media can be a terrible combination. The two drug dealing brothers were pulled back into court in England by Judge Beverley Lunt after they posted abusive remarks — mocking her for giving them only probation. That directly contradicted the expressions of remorse that the brothers had just made as the basis for suspended sentences.
Three black female college students in Albany have been accused of assault after originally claiming they had been the victims of a racist attack from “10-12 white men” on a city bus. The alleged attack happened on January 30th and Ariel Agudio, Alexis Briggs and Asha Burwell (all 20) claimed that they were the victims of a racist attack. However, after the videotape was reviewed the police found that it was the three students who allegedly initiated the attack and then participated in rallies denouncing racism in America. Hillary Clinton tweeted support for the women in their claim as victims of racist.
Saudi Arabia is again reminding the world of the medieval demands of its religious, Sharia legal system. Recently, Saudi Arabia enacted a law making atheism a form of terrorism. It was an act that reaffirmed the Kingdom as one of the most oppressive government’s in terms of free speech and free exercise of religion. The law was particularly ironic since Saudi Arabia and its extreme Wahhabi brand of Islam has been a major contributor to Islamic extremist and terrorism around the world. However, it is atheism that the Kingdom believes is the source of terrorism. Making good on that threat, a Saudi court has sentenced an atheist to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing his views on Twitter posts.
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I have long been critical of the criminalization of American society, particularly at our schools We have seen school pranks charged as crimes in high school (and here). Now three 12-year-old girls at Deltona Middle School in Volusia County in Florida have been charged for the prank of putting pepper in the soft drink of their teacher. The question is why these cases (which used to be handled as a disciplinary matter for the school) had to be handed over to the police and prosecutors. There are heavy penalties that can be meted out like barring the student from graduation.