There was a news story this week about a Hawaiian Airlines flight that was diverted to Los Angeles because of an unruly passenger. Frankly, the most important aspect of the story was not the diversion but the reason: the airline charges $12 for a passenger to have a simple blanket. We have been discussing how airlines are stripping away basic human comforts and turning flights into cattle calls. On top of that, the airlines are charging fees for every possible comfort, including reducing leg space to virtually zero and then charging for small increments of space in coach. However, a $12 blanket truly represents a new low — particularly on a long flight to Hawaii.
Category: Criminal law
Stephen Gutierrez was in the middle of defending Claudy Charles (left), 48, when an odd thing happened: his pants spontaneously caught on fire. It did not help that his client is accused of intentionally setting his car on fire in South Miami-Dade. Gutierrez was arguing that the car spontaneously combusted when his pants did so.
Continue reading “Pants on Fire: Lawyer Defending Accused Arsonist Suddenly Has Pants Catch Fire”
I have been a long critic of Germany’s criminal speech laws, including its long criminalization of Nazi symbols. Now, Sven Pohl, 37, is facing charges in Germany for “heavy drug trafficking” after he triggered a raid due to his posting of a Nazi-themed breakfast. The police arrived being found with massive quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana.
Continue reading “Mein Meth: German Arrested After Posting Hitler Toast”
The United Arab Emirates have supplied the most recent example of the Sharia legal system in the Muslim world. South African Emlyn Culverwell‚ 29, and his Ukrainian fiancée Iryna Nohai, 27, were arrested after Nohai wemt to the doctor over stomach pains. In the UAE doctors appear to have no notion of confidentiality (or humanity) and informed the police when he discovered that she was pregnant. Since she had not yet married Culverwell, that meant that they had violated the Islamic code against sex outside of marriage — even though the impregnation occurred outside of the UAE. They are criminally charged.
Shane Schindler, 30, is according to police a danger to man and mannequin alike.
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
While most Democratic senators have been somewhat circumspect in characterizing the testimony of Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “inaccurate” or “misleading,” Minnesota Sen. Al Franken yesterday publicly accused Franken of perjury. It is a weighty charge that I have previously said would be highly difficult to actually prosecute.
Continue reading “Sen. Al Franken Accuses Sessions Of Perjury”
Pakistani media is reporting a disturbing series of comments by Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui who has shown the danger of Sharia law and the erosion of the separation of mosque and state. Justice Siddiqui went on a religious rant recently in denouncing “disrespectful” comments on social media and pledged to treat all such blasphemers as terrorists.
Continue reading “Pakistani Justice Pledges To Treat Blasphemers On Social Media As Terrorists”
With the chorus of calls for an “independent counsel” or “special prosecutor” to investigate the Russian hacking scandal, there has been one element that remains rather ambiguous: what is the specific crime to be investigated? Clearly there is the hacking but that crime is well-known and was committed by Russians who are unlikely to be subject to any real investigation. A special counsel, as opposed to a bipartisan commission, would require the articulation of a crime and the basis for the investigation. I am all in favor of independent investigations of this and other issues. However, if we are going to move beyond a special commission to special counsel we need to have more evidence and a notion of what we are investigating. That may come but we are not there yet. Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the subject — and the moral outrage over hacking.
Continue reading “Hacking and the Politics of Moral Outrage”
We have been discussing the rising intolerance and violence on college campuses, particularly against conservative speakers. The latest such example can be found at Middlebury College where Professor Allison Stanger was assaulted by protesters and injured after she merely accompanied a controversial speaker to campus. It was a disgraceful but increasingly common scene on our campuses as students fought to prevent others from hearing opposing views or speakers.
There is a story out of Canada that could make for a fascinating torts case. Georgian Bay Vodka has been told to recall a batch of its vodka because the bottle shows 40 per cent alcohol by volume, but the alcohol content is actually 81 per cent. Obviously that can present an immediate health risk, but what if someone became intoxicated from a couple drinks and caused an accident? Could this be a case of vicarious liability for inebriation?
Daniel Kennedy, 18, and his 16-year-old brother were arrested this week after allegedly overturning a Girl Scout table and attacking the family over a $20 debt. The two Florida teens confronted the family outside of a Palm Coast Wal-Mart over the debt and then demanded payment in cookies. When the family refused, bedlam ensued (and was captured on surveillance cameras).
As often seems the case in Washington, the controversy surrounding the meetings of then Senator Jeff Sessions with the Russian Ambassador has quickly descended into a feeding frenzy. When interviewed shortly after the disclosure, I stated that Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself and clarify his testimony. Late this afternoon, Sessions promised to do precisely that. However, the over-hearted rhetoric has continued with calls for Sessions to resign or even be criminally charged. People are getting ahead of their skis on this issue, particularly in claiming that this is the same type of controversy that led to the criminal charges against former Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst.
Continue reading “Sessions Recuses Himself From Any Russian Investigation”
Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu admitted on the stand in a Miami courtroom that he ate part of a fake passport while flying to the U.S. to cover up his illegal travel as part of a Cuban ballplayer smuggling operation. Now, I am admittedly a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and we have no love loss with our White Sox neighbors, but it is pretty amazing that this admission (given under a guarantee of immunity) has not resulted in Abreu being dropped by MLB or the White Sox team. Indeed, at the time of immigration reforms and crackdown, this is a case of someone who knowingly used and then destroyed a fake passport to gain entry into this country.
Continue reading “Chicago White Sox Admits To Eating Fake Passport While Flying To United States”
Well, it does not appear that Teresa Drum, 38, shot her husband, Dennis Drum, Sr., 42, over a beer . . . not a beer . . .
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
Well the question is what Clinton Todd Sproles, 54, was charged with 22 prior times . . .
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”