The world has stood appalled by the destruction of Muslim extremists in ISIS of ancient Syrian architecture and Christian tombs, including continuing demolitions revealed this week with the destruction of the famed tower tombs. A construction company in Israel however shows that you do not have to be a religious fanatic to show the same ignorance and destruction. In this case it was allegedly a case of blind greed rather than blind hate. The unnamed company was told that it could build in the sensitive area of Ashkelon where antiquities are often found (like this earlier sarcophagus) so long as they proceed carefully and report any findings (and stop work when any findings are made). The company allegedly found the beautiful 1,800 year old sarcophagus but decided to hide it rather than stop work. In the process of yanking it out of the ground with a tractor and hiding it under sheet metal, the invaluable piece was irreparably damaged. (Since the photographer for the Israel Antiquities Authority has copyrighted the photos, a curious claim for a government agency, we cannot post the pictures which can be seen here It is an ironic twist, the IAA is objecting to the damage to a historic piece that belongs to all humanity but then claims copyright to the images to ostensibly require anyone who wants to use the image to get its permission)
Category: Criminal law
The former aide that helped set up the private email server used by Hillary Rodham Clinton will, according to the New York Times, invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination before the congressional committee investigating the matter. Bryan Pagliano worked for Clinton in her failed presidential campaign in 2008. He was then brought into the State Department and helped her create a server separate from the secured State Department system so she could control her own emails. If this news was not bad enough, the Washington Post is reporting that Clinton herself wrote and transmitted classified emails on her unsecured server. If that is not bad enough, Fox News is reporting that Clinton staff members may have changed classified markings on documents to hide their classified status.
There is a controversy in Oakland where an officer was shown spitting at a citizen who was videotaping him while questioning a group of people at a gas station. Spitting is person is considered battery under California law (Penal Code 242).
Continue reading “Videotape Captures Oakland Officer Spitting On Citizen Videotaping Him”
A Virginia teen may have just become a lock for this year’s Darwin award after he was arrested for alleging pretending to be a police officer. He reportedly picked the wrong car . . . with an actual police officer inside.
It is common to get advice like “never look a polar bear in the eye.” The same appears to be true with Dayton police officers. Driver John Felton has posted a video of a pull over by a police officer who told him that he was pulled over because he “made direct eye contact” with him while driving by.
According to various media reports and Amnesty International, an all-male village council in India sentenced two sisters, including a 15 year old girl, to be raped as punishment for their brother running away with a married woman from a higher caste. The accounts state that Meenakshi Kumari, who is 23, and her younger sister, will then be paraded naked with their faces blackened through the streets as part of this disgraceful, primitive sentence.
Former TV judge Joe Brown, 66, has surrendered to Tennessee deputies to begin serving a five-day jail term for contempt of court. Brown was held in contempt by Magistrate Judge Harold Horne for an outburst in Juvenile Court in March 2014. He took the issue all the way up to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which denied Brown’s application to appeal a Court of Appeals upholding the ruling. Brown called the court a “circus” and a “sorry operation.” Of course real judges do not have producers and set designers. When Horne told him to stop, Brown did not. He gave him a day in jail but Brown continued until he had five days in jail.
Continue reading ““Judge” Brown Goes To Jail Over Contemptuous Encounter With Real Judge”
Today the briefs of the Brown family arrived at the Denver courthouse in the Sister Wives case now before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. (The actual electronic filing was made the night before under the federal ECF system). I continue to serve as lead counsel to the Brown family in their successful challenge of the criminalization of polygamy in Utah. Last year, United States District Court Judge Clarke Waddoups issued the final decision striking down the cohabitation crime used against polygamist in Utah. The State has appealed to the federal court of appeals in Denver and below is our defense of that decision by Judge Waddoups. I want to thank my friend and local counsel (and GW Alum) Adam Alba and all of the students who have worked so hard on this case over the years. This brief benefited from the assistance of Patrick Fenior and Emily Hoyle as well as assistance from GW grad (and my local counsel in the Al-Timimi case) Thomas Huff and my assistant Seth Tate.
Continue reading “The Brown Family Files Briefs In Sisters Wives Case In Denver”
Timothy Jason Martinez, was just a week ago working a $160,000 a year job as the former deputy superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools. That is over as he now faces multiple felony charges, including child sexual assault. What is astonishing is that Albuquerque appeared clueless about prior arrests in hiring Martinez as the second in command of the large school system.
Des Moines Officer Vanessa Miller will not face charges after a grand jury looked at her shooting of Ryan Bolinger, 28. Miller shot Bolinger from her car after he approached her car by “walking with a purpose.” Miller had chased Bolinger after he got out of his car earlier and began dancing.
We often discuss the “perils of the press” in humorous stories of the unexpected for journalists. However, we are often reminded of the dangers faced by reporters in their daily jobs. Today offered one such tragic example from Moneta, Virginia. Vester Lee Flanagan, who used the name on-air of Bryce Williams, shot and killed WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27. He then posted the filmed event and tweeted about it. It is a bizarre and chilling example of how social media has become intertwined with such crimes in our society. Flanagan later shot himself in a confrontation with police.
Continue reading “Former Reporter Guns Down News Crew On Live Television”
One of the most interesting aspects of the case against Jared Fogle, Subway pitchman, for pornography was the use of a dog named Bear. While incorrectly called a “porn sniffing bloodhound,” Bear is actually one of five dogs trained to find hidden electronic data devices. Bear found the thumbdrive used to incriminate Fogle.
Continue reading “Meet Bear, The Dog That Helped Nail Jared of Subway”
There is a growing outcry in Tuscaloosa, Ala. after a police officer fatally shot a man wielding a “large metal spoon in a threatening manner.” Jeffory Ray Tevis, 50, was killed after a confrontation with the officer on his balcony. Police say that he may have been “suffering from a mental episode” . . . and then he grabbed a spoon.
Continue reading “Alabama Officer Shoots And Kills Man Wielding A Large Spoon”
We have been following the disgusting acts of the Islamic State in wiping out any culture, art, or education not directly advancing Islam. The Muslim extremists have bulldozed or dynamited ancient church and temples as well as museums under its twisted view of Islam. Now one of the greatest jewels of ancient Syria reportedly has called, at least in part. Reports state that ISIS has blown up the famed Baalshamin Temple at Syria’s ancient ruins of Palmyra. The 2,000-year-old Roman-era city was also the site of the beheading of one of the world’s leading archeologists.
Continue reading “Palmyra Falls: ISIS Reportedly Blows Up Ancient Temple of Baalshamin”