Category: Criminal law

Bizarre, Criminal law

Interview Of Applicant For Wildlife Officer Position Leads To Vehicular Homicide Charge

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

muckleshoot-tribe-logo-bwSamuel Hoffer did not exactly get the position he was hoping for when he applied to be a Wildlife Enforcement Officer with the Muckleshoot Tribe. He is now facing charges for alleged Vehicular Homicide after a background interview was reportedly highlighted by his admission to a deadly drunk driving incident occurring in 2012.

This is the latest in a series of articles, HERE, and HERE, where applicants make career and freedom limiting moves by applying for law enforcement jobs and are subsequently jailed for providing incriminating evidence.

We now have another case of déjà vu all over again.
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Criminal law, International, Society

French Law Drops Penalties for Prostitutes While Adding Penalties For Johns

225px-The_ProcuressThere continues to be a debate (particularly among libertarians) over the basis for criminalizing prostitution when engaged by consenting adults. The French National Assembly however has reached a curious resolution in dropping any penalties for selling sex while making it a crime to pay for sex. Paying for sex services now carries a fine of 1,500 euros ($1,700). Repeat offenders could be fined up to 3,750 euros ($4,260). In addition to the fines, johns will have to take a course on the plight of sex workers.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Religion

Sixth Secular Writer Murdered in Bangladesh

8373_1016738261734454_7993140973619507866_nWe have been discussing the surge of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh, particularly targeting secular writers. This week we have another tragic victim: law student and secular writer Nazimuddin Samad, 26. For simply espousing secular viewpoints, Samad was hacked to death by three or four men on his way back home from classes. Samad and other victims have appeared on a list of 84 “atheist bloggers” published by Islamic extremists.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Uncategorized

Round One: Two Judges in Washington D.C. Get Into Physical Altercation

oah-logo-new_0It is rare to have a judge involved in fist fight but it is even more rare when the other combatant is also a judge. That was the scene this week downtown Washington where Administrative Judge Joan Davenport, 63, went toe-to-toe with Administrative Judge Sharon Goodie. Davenport was charged with misdemeanor simple assault.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To Death For Renouncing Islam and Ripping Up Koran

190px-WLM_-_roel1943_-_Koran125px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgSaudi Arabia has produced almost weekly stories of grotesque and medieval sentencing out of its Sharia court system. The Sharia courts apply Islamic law that can be both brutal and primitive in flogging and beheading people for crimes against the faith. The latest is the sentencing of a man to death for renouncing Islam and allegedly posting a video ripping up a Koran and hitting it with his shoe. Saudi Arabia still enforces death sentences for apostasy for those denying their Islamic faith. It is crime that places the Kingdom well outside of the most basic guarantees of human rights and civil liberties.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media

Clinton Under Attack For Serving As Counsel In Rape Case In 1975

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziThere is an interesting story that has been raging on conservative sites on the Internet but suddenly popped up on national television in a CNN interview. Conservatives are criticizing CNN host Carol Costello for abruptly ending a segment on Tuesday after a guest raised Hillary Clinton’s 1975 legal defense of an accused child rapist. I recently condemned an attack ad against Judge Jane Kelly (a widely respected former public defender) for representing a criminal defendant. The attack on Clinton is equally low grade and unfair.

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Criminal law, International, Society

EU Citizens Spend $27.3 Billion On Drugs Annually

220px-Crack_CrackThere is a new report that contains a surprising figure on the level of drug use in the European Union. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), EU citizens spend more than 24 billion euros ($27.3 billion) every year on illegal drugs such as cannabis and heroin. The report warns about the funding for terrorism and organized crime but the report is an insight into the level of drug use in Europe.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law

Ninth Circuit: Police Can Lie About Critical Traffic Stop Without Losing The Resulting Evidence

Judge_Paul_J._Watford546f4fb64f427.imageJust two weeks ago, Judge Paul Watford of the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit was on the short list for the Supreme Court. Now he is back in the news with a notable decision where the court rejected the appeal of Hector Magallon-Lopez despite his showing that the police lied about the reason for the critical stop in his case. Watford, applying past Supreme Court cases, ruled that it does not matter if the police lied about the stop in the case. That led to an interesting exchange with a concurring colleague on the meaning of the controversial Whren case.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion

Prophet Orders Followers To Bury Him Alive To Bring Him Closer To His Spirits . . . Followers Later Dig Up Dead Prophet

surrealism-painting-grandfather-clock-grave-digger-irony-humor-art_zps780e9a81He was known as Prophet Shamiso Kanyama in Zimbabwe and he instructed his followers to bury him alive as part of his ritual to cleanse their house of evil spirits. They did and were surprised when they dug him up to find out that he was dead. Now the family involved in the ritual is accused of murder despite the “Prophet” demanding that he be buried.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

Clinton Aides Agree To Be Represented By The Same Lawyer In Answering Questions On Email Scandal

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziThere is an interesting development in the Clinton email scandal. The investigation has entered a particularly dangerous stage for Clinton with a key aide receiving immunity and interviews scheduled for key associates. The danger is that statements given prosecutors can differ and contradict each other or, worse yet, contradict Clinton. Moreover, such statements could be unknown to Clinton when she speaks with investigators. For that reason, many are likely to view a recent announcement with considerable suspicion that the top four staff members to Clinton have agreed to be represented by the same attorney, Beth Wilkinson. That would allow a degree of coordination or at least confirmation of differing statements or accounts. Since Wilkinson is not allowed to represent multiple clients with conflicts, it would also create a situation where the statements must not conflict in significant ways between the clients and, if they do, she would likely have to remove herself — a move that would likely be known to the Clinton counsel and highlight a potential problem with a given associate. She will represent former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, Deputy Chief Jake Sullivan, Mills’ deputy Heather Samuelson, and Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines.

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Society

“Because It’s My Culture”: White San Francisco University Student Assaulted For Wearing Dreadlocks As “Cultural Appropriation”

app1_3602743bWe have been following how universities across the country have seen an increase in claims of “micro aggressions” and impermissible “cultural appropriation” (here and here). Now that tension has become physical at San Francisco State University after student Bonita Tindle reportedly attacked a white student named Cory Goldstein for wearing dreadlocks. The claim seems to capture the race to bottom on campuses where an ever widening array of words or symbols are declared racially or culturally insensitive. However, this was so bizarre, I checked to confirm that it was not an early April Fool’s joke. Yet, various news organizations are reporting it and a YouTube video shows the attack.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

Mexican Smuggler Jailed . . . After 24 Prior Arrests For Smuggling and Illegal Entry

220px-Pedestrian_border_crossing_sign_Tijuana_MexicoThere is a story out this week that shows just how porous our borders have become and how relatively little is done against repeated offenders who smuggle people over the border. Efrain Delgado-Rosales, 35, was sentenced to five years in jail by a federal judge in San Diego for bringing an illegal alien into the U.S. for financial gain. However, the case reveals that Delgado-Rosales, an abusive and dangerous smuggler who is believed to have conspired to rob undocumented immigrants, had been arrested 24 times dating back to 1999. That’s right, 24 times.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

The Big Lewandowski: Trump Campaign Manager Charged After Video Confirms That He Grabbed Reporter

Screen Shot 2016-03-29 at 1.27.40 PMJust when you thought that this campaign season could not get more weird, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been charged with misdemeanor battery over allegations he grabbed the arm of then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. A video does in fact show Lewandowski grabbing the arm of Fields though it seemed to pass fairly quickly (though Fields showed a bruise left in the aftermath). Most people would not view the encounter as battery and the delay in reporting the alleged crime may be raised at trial. That might not matter for the misdemeanor charge given the definition, as discussed below. The video is also below.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Politics

Turkish President Threatens British Consul For Selfie With Accused Journalist In Notorious Case

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is back in the news again this week to dispel any doubt that he is hellbent on assuming authoritarian powers. The latest subject of his wrath none other than Britain’s consul general Leigh Turner over a “selfie” taken at the espionage trial of two journalists. We previously discussed the outrageous prosecution of Can Dündar, editor of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, and his colleague Erdem Gül – a direct attack free speech, free press, and political dissent. Turner with other diplomats showed up to support civil liberties in Turkey at the start of the trial. That led to another tyrannical outburst from Erdoğan who has added diplomats to the list of undesirables in his new Islamic dominated government.

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