After months of refusing demands to turn over her personal email server, Hillary Clinton has agreed to do so. The server will be turned over to the Justice Department as part of the investigation into her use of a private email account as Secretary of State. It was also disclosed that at least two emails on the unsecured server were classified “Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information” — one of the government’s highest classifications. Some of the information is reportedly linked to NSA/satellite intelligence and the Inspector General says that there was material that was classified at the time it was sent over the unsecured server.
Category: Criminal law
After a well-publicized international debate, the delegates from Amnesty International voted on Tuesday to support a policy that calls for decriminalization of the sex trade, including prostitution, payment for sex and brothel ownership. Amnesty International has been the focused of a determined and passionate lobby campaign by celebrities opposing the move. However, the majority still found that criminalization contributes to the abuse of women and girls around the world.
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While the word “alien” is still used by the federal government and a wide variety of legal material to describe someone who is neither born nor naturalized in a country, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 432 this week to ban the use of the term. The bill was introduced by State Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) not only remove the term from all government documents but also removed the state’s preference for hiring U.S. citizens on public works projects during periods of unemployment.
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Zimbabwe has its ban on lion, leopard and elephant hunting that it imposed after the illegal killing of the beloved “Cecil the Lion” by Minnesota Dentist Walter Palmer. Hunting companies were told that they could start to line up wealthy trophy hunters again for bag the big game. In the meantime, conservationists have come forward to defend trophy hunting as a needed source of revenue for these parks.
Continue reading “Zimbabwe Quietly Re-Opens Lion Hunts After Outcry Over The Killing of “Cecil the Lion””
In a truly bizarre case, a jury in New York found that former judge Roger Barto lied about being attacked outside his court in 2013. The police maintained that Barto faked the attack and then collected tens of thousands of dollars in medical costs. Judge Barto was also accused in a separate case of stealing from a cemetery.
Continue reading “New York Judge Convicted Of Lying About Assault With A Toilet Lid”
Everyone has had a bad job interview experience. However, few have had the Cedric Lovejoy’s experience. Lovejoy interviewed for a state police job with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and ended up sentenced to 20 years in jail.
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We have been following the plight of women in India from an epidemic of rape to discrimination in marriage and advancement. The medieval mentality found in some parts of India was on display in the Gujarat High Court, which asked a rape victim to balance a 40kg rock on her head in order to ‘prove her purity’ and reside with her husband again. It is part of the bizarre ritual called “Agnipariksha,” or “test of fire.”
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By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
On July 17th of this year a Seattle Police Officer used deadly force resulting in the death of man sought in an earlier felonious assault against another officer. It is the opinion of your author that this shooting will be held to be a justified use of force based on the circumstances made available to the public at this stage. It shows both an example of what constitutes a “Justifiable Homicide” by state law and how little time officers often have to make such decisions on its use.
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There is an interesting case in Tennessee where a federal jury found that a lesbian couple faked a hate crime to describe their torching of their own home. Carol Ann and Laura Stutte however were never charged with arson or filing a false police report.
We have previously discussed the criminal investigation of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane for alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Kane, once a rising Democratic star in the state, has now been charged with leaking grand jury information and lying about it to a grand jury. She is not alone however. In Texas, her counterpart was also charged this week with criminal acts of securities violations. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is now a criminal defendant facing two counts of his own.
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The stories coming out of ISIS strongholds continue to disgust people around the world. Indeed, the extremist view of Islam applied by these terrorists often seems hard to believe but, when a United Nation’s envoy releases such stories, there are credible sources for some of these incredible accounts. UN’s special envoy for sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Bangura has released a report that ISIS published ‘price list’ of captured Yazidi, Christian sex slaves for its fighters and customers. In addition, the group has reportedly executed 19 women for refusing to have sex with its fighters.
Continue reading “UN Envoy: Women and Girls Sold By Age By ISIS “Like Barrels of Petrol””
There is an interesting case out of Santa Ana this month where police officers were allegedly caught on camera wolfing down pot products in a raid on a medical marijuana dispensary. The officer reportedly disabled all but one of the security cameras. They are now arguing that there rights were violated by being videotaped without their consent.
There is another gruesome case of practicing medicine without a license in Florida where Mark D. Schreiber, 60, is accused of mutilating a patient’s penis while attempting to remove an implant from it. Schreiber crossed over from a penile implant to a penal implant after holding himself out as a doctor when he was reportedly stripped of his license years ago.
There is an interesting case out of Florida where a dispatcher for the Palm Bay Police Department is accused of having a sexual relationship with an 11-year-old boy. Amanda Chandler, 40, is married and a mother of two young children ages 10 and 8. What caught my eye was the account of her husband.
This afternoon, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit remanded the appeal of Ali Al-Timimi, the accused head of the so-called “Virginia Jihad” or “Virginia Paintball” case. The remand was based on evidence that was discovered by the defense after the appeal was filed. I am lead defense counsel for Dr. Al-Timimi and serve with co-counsel Thomas Huff and Allison Wood. We have long argued that the government has withheld evidence in the case.
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