Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court reaffirmed yesterday that it rejects the most fundamental notions of due process, free speech, freedom of religion, and the free press. It was able to do all of that in one case — perfectly capturing the inherently abusive elements of Sharia law and religiously based legal systems.
Category: Criminal law
A McKinney, Texas police officer has been suspended pending review after the posting of a videotape where he draws his gun and manhandles a group of teenagers outside of a pool party. The officer has been identified as Cpl. Eric Casebolt and he is shown being verbally and physically abusive toward young people who are not clearly doing anything unlawful.
The Islamic State is offered the world another horrific view of its enforcement of Islamic or Sharia justice. The Islamic extremists tosses gay men from a building in front of a large crowd. The men were held by their ankles and then dropped from the roof. WARNING: the photos at this site are highly disturbing.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We read with sadness of an aspiring young man who lost his life while he and his critically wounded field training officer attempted to spike strip a vehicle fleeing during a pursuit.
Army Veteran Taylor Thyfault died Memorial Day Weekend. He was twenty one years of age. His FTO Trooper Clinton Rushing received critical injuries.
Continue reading “21 Year Old Trooper Cadet Murdered During Vehicle Pursuit”
With the exception of the controversies involving involving Christine O’Donnell and Sarah Palin, witchcraft has not been a persistent problem in this country’s elections. The same cannot be said for Tanzania. Indeed, the problem is so great that the government has released a warning to candidates in the October elections not to engage in witchcraft in an attempt to improve their odds. The warning is primarily meant to protect the country’s 30,000 albinos who are often murdered so that people can use their body parts in witchcraft.
Continue reading “Tanzanian Election Warning: No Witchcraft”
The English court system is considering a controversial new report by Dame Elish Angiolini that would establish a rule that women cannot be viewed as consenting to sex if they are found to be intoxicated. The report is pushing an amendment of the Sexual Offences Act to establish the rule.
A New York City police officer Ymmacula Pierre, 30, has been charged with possession of stolen property, identity theft and official misconduct after allegedly stealing the credit card information of a man found dead in an apartment in Union Square. She allegedly used the information to go to Zales and buy a diamond ring.
Continue reading “N.Y. Police Officer Allegedly Steals Dead Man’s Credit Card and Buys Diamond Ring”
The problem with ISIS and many Islamic extremists is that it is increasingly hard to tell what is a real story and what is an absurd Onion story. However, this appears a real story. When ISIS is not sledgehammering priceless artifacts and bulldozing ancient cities, it is arresting pigeon breeders and unIslamic. Why? Most articles report that the reason is that the breeding takes away time from worshipping Allah while some have reported that ISIS fanatics have also complaint that the sight of the birds’ genitals as they fly overhead is offensive to Islam. The latter rationale would seem to require exceptionally good eyesight or exceptionally well-endowed pigeons.
Continue reading “ISIS Reportedly Executes Three Teenagers and Arrests Others For Raising Pigeons”
Facing an expanding scandal (including new information tracing an $10 million to one of his closest aides) FIFA President Sepp Blatter said Tuesday he will resign from FIFA. It is a long overdue action by Blatter that only took decades of corruption and scandal as well as international arrests. Many critics are still hopeful that Blatter (who has recently repeated his contempt for reformers and the investigation of corruption) will be the next to be indicted. Blatter however insists that he will remain in his position pending a new election that might not occur until December. Continue reading “Un-Made Man: Blatter to Resign From FIFA”
Iran has continued its assault on free speech this week with the jailing of an artist for simply drawing a cartoon disparaging members of parliament. Atena Farghadani, 28, who is a peaceful activist and artist who sought to mock the decision to restrict birth control for women. Rather than respond to such criticism, the ruling Mullahs sent her to jail.
Continue reading “Iran Jails Cartoonist For Mocking Members of Parliament”
Below is my column today in USA Today on the decision of the Supreme Court to reject the Obama Administation’s argument for a low standard in criminalizing speech on the Internet and other forums. The Court did not have to directly deal with the free speech implications of the case since it ruled on the standard for criminalization. The Court rejected the lowest standard of a reasonable person in establishing a criminal threat. However, with the remand, the issue may come back to the Court under another effort to adopt an alternative standard of recklessness.
Continue reading “ELONIS AND THE NEAR MISS FOR INTERNET FREE SPEECH”
The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in Elonis v. United States, a case that had sweeping implications for free speech on the Internet. The Obama Administration sought to establish a low standard for criminalizing speech based on a reasonable person standard that would have gutted the requirement of scienter or intent in establishing a criminal threat. The Court adopted the narrowest basis to remand the case but it clearly rejected the lower standard sought by the Administration. In doing so, free speech dodged a bullet today and the Obama Administration came perilously close to rolling back on protections for free speech on both the Internet and social media.
Continue reading “SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST ADMINISTRATION ON CRIMINALIZING INTERNET SPEECH”
Welcome to Painesville. In this aptly named Ohio town, Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti ordered Diamond Gaston, an assault suspect who pepper-sprayed someone in the face at a fast-food restaurant, that she could choose between 30 days in jail or be pepper-sprayed by her victim. Cicconetti then had the pepper-spray replaced with harmless saline spray without telling Gaston.
As we discussed earlier, FIFA has responded to the arrests of soccer officials in its latest corruption scandal with open contempt for the public and prosecutors. Sepp Blatter, 79, was reelected as FIFA’s president for a fifth term by the world governing body’s 209 member associations. FIFA officials were still be processed as arrestees in the corruption investigation in the United States, but Blatter was reelected by a group that seems little more than made men in an international criminal organization. Now, Blatter has gone public with a mocking public rebuke of everyone who has tried to reform his organization and fight corruption.