We have yet another case of someone losing their job after posting an obnoxious message on social media. Brenham, Texas, veterinarian Dr. Kristen Lindsey is out of a job after posting a Facebook photo in April of herself holding her “first bow kill” – a dead cat with an arrow through its head. However, she will not be charged with animal cruelty because the Austin County Sheriff Office said it was unable to verify when the picture was taken after Lindsey, 31, deleted the post. WARNING: the picture below is graphic and disturbing.
Category: Criminal law
We have previously discussed efforts of politicians to add costs or otherwise harass owners and customers of strip joints for moral, social, or political reasons. Both feminists and religious right advocates have targeted the businesses. The latest such effort is being spearheaded by Pennsylvania state Rep. Matthew Baker, R-Tioga, who admits that he has introduced a new draconian measure to respond to faith-based groups. His bill would force strippers to register with the state, ban alcohol in strip joints and create a buffer zone between dancers and patrons (effectively barring “lap dances.”).
Anthony Gerald Dunton has allegedly confessed to a bizarre crime: he was reportedly filmed putting Roundup weed killer in the water bottle of a co-worker. When he confessed to the crime, Dunton insisted that he was only trying to “mess with him.”
Conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe has reported that he was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents Monday when attempting to reenter the country. The reason appears his widely published video showing him crossing the border repeatedly from United States and Mexico while dressed as Osama bin Laden. The video succeeded in capturing what critics have complained about for years: that the border remain wide open and that the Administration is misleading the public on the ease with which potential terrorists could cross into the United States illegally. Whatever the merits of that video, it does seem to me to be either a form of journalism or political speech. It was also very embarrassing for Customs and the Administration. That makes the action troubling if O’Keefe was told, as he states, that he will be detained from now on whenever he tries to reenter the United States.
Continue reading “Controversial Filmmaker O’Keefe Detained At Border By Customs”
As ISIS prepares to destroy another priceless ancient city, it is adding to its atrocities in the rape and enslavement of Yazidi and Christian girls and women in Iraq. Various news sites are reporting that the Islamic militants are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan by holding a contest to memorize the Koran. The top three prizes are girl slaves or “sibyl.”
Continue reading “ISIS Reportedly Holds Koran Competition With Slave Girls As Top Three Prizes”
The Islamic State terror group (ISIS) appears to be preparing to destroy one of humanity’s greatest treasures: the ancient city of Palmyra. The Islamic extremists want to destroy any Western or non-Islamic forms of architecture or art or culture in their total devotion to the Koran. We have written about the past destruction of cities like Nimrod and Hatra that have left the civilized world in shock. Now, the group appears to have it sights on Palmyra, one of the most extensive and beautiful of the ancient cities left in Syria.
Continue reading “ISIS Plants Land Mines and Explosives Around Ancient City of Palmyra”
A male student identified as “John Doe” has sued Amherst College for allegedly denying him due process and ignoring evidence that he says proved another students Sandra Jones, lied about an alleged rape at the college. This is the second such lawsuit accusing the school of stripping students of due process in the handling of sexual harassment or assault claims. I have previously written about my concerns over the heavy-handed measures that the Obama Administration has forced on universities over the objections of faculty and students alike in such cases.
We have previously discussed “policing for dollars” or “churning” where they seize cash, particularly on highways, as suspected drug money even without actually arresting or charging the drivers. It raises a huge amount of money for police departments and has been widely criticized as abusive. The latest victim of churning appears to be Charles Clarke, 24, who was on his way to take classes at the University of Central Florida. He was stopped at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky. with his life savings that he was taking with him for safe keeping and to support his education. Since he could not “prove” the source of the money, agents seized the $11,000 and, despite dropping all charges against him, has thus far refused to return the money despite Clarke’s efforts.
We previously discussed the bizarre case of Rachel Dolezal, 37, the head of an NAACP chapter accused of lying by her own mother. Worse yet, some have suggested that Rachel Dolezal, who is the head of the NAACP’s chapter in Spokane, planted hate mail at her office. Now it appears that Dolezal once sued Howard University over discriminating against her for being white — before she claimed she was black. If true, it makes a truly bizarre story all the more bizarre.
Continue reading “Discredited NAACP Official Once Sued Howard University Over Reverse Discrimination”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The historical sin of Vanity once again proved a disadvantage to a suspect wanted in the alleged shooting of a Seattle victim.
Seattle Police spotted a vehicle having the fugitive’s last name on a custom vanity plate. The rest came certainly a blow to his pride.
Continue reading “Fugitive Found Driving Car With His Name On License Plate”
The police in Overton Texas have scored another victory over neighborhood lemonade stands. We have periodically seen these cases where police swoop down on stands run by kids in one of the oldest traditions of American life. I do not blame the police as much as the City of Overton for failing to have a code that can accommodate such kid lemonade stands or a modicum of discretion afforded to police in the enforcement of city permit regulations. In the meantime, Andria and Zoey Green’s business is closed by order of the city.
Continue reading “Texas Police Shutdown Girls’ Lemonade Stand As Unlawful “Peddlers””
Laquanda Newby, 25, hardly put the best case forward at her surrender for child abuse. She was charged after leaving her children inside a hot car outside of a Sam’s Club. However, when she appeared at the courthouse to turn herself in, she was later accused of leaving her children in a locked car with the windows rolled up. She is now charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency or abuse of a child after for the abandonment outside of the Henrico County Courthouse on Monday, June 8, 2015.
In a case that is likely to be repeated with greater regularity in the coming years, a man is accused of criminal damage to property in swatting a drone out of the air in California. Many people view the increasing use of drones with cameras to be a nuisance and have taken actions against the drones or their operators, as we previously discussed. In this case, however, the neighbor of Michael Luzansky, owner of Lucky7Drones, has his neighbor on videotape walking across the street to swat the drone out of the air with his teeshirt. It seems like a rather straight-forward case of criminal damage but it raises the issue of what reasonable limitation should be put on drone operators who are irritating people on beaches and parks with this new technology.
There is another controversy over the level of force used in an arrest. The latest such controversy comes from Salinas California where police are investigating a new videotape and witness complaints about a beating given to a mentally ill who was being arrested after shoving his mother into a busy street. While 28-year-old Jose Velasco is shown trying to rise at one point, police below are shown beating him with batons and shooting him with Tasers while he is on the ground.
Colorado police in Greenwood Village seem to follow the same approach to home invasion as the major at the battle of for the South Vietnamese town of Ben Tre: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” The logic however escaped Anna Mumzhiyan and her fiance John Lech. Police chased a shoplifter who was believed to be armed to their home. The Walmart shoplifter, Robert Seacat, (left) was met by a SWAT team including the most all-too-common armored cars. Not willing to wait him out, the police proceeded to punch holes through the walls of the home and plant explosives — destroying walls and leaving the home uninhabitable. They got their man and the homeowners got a collapsing wreck of a home. Police are still debating whether they are liable for the damage.