Category: Criminal law

Congress, Criminal law, Politics, Society

CRS: Congress Added 439 New Crimes Between 2008 to 2013

PrisonCellThe Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued a report that informed Congress that it has created 439 new criminal offenses between 2008 and 2013. This staggering figure gives a glimpse into the rapid criminalization of America where there are, by some estimates, around 4,500 federal offenses alone and tens of thousands of more on the state and federal levels. Politicians continue to add crimes, which tend to be popular with voters and do not require immediate budget demands (though they add huge costs not just in enforcement but the costs of citizens themselves in being pulled into the criminal justice system).

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Bank of America Escapes Jail… Again

220px-Bank_highlander

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

It seems that a week doesn’t go by without news of the latest Big Bank agreeing to pay billions in a settlement with the government over their past and continuing abuses concerning mortgages.  This past week was no exception.

“Preliminary reports say that a $16 to $17 billion settlement will soon be announced between the Justice Department and Bank of America. That would break the record for the largest bank settlement in history, set less than a year ago by a $13 billion agreement between Justice and JPMorgan Chase.” Crooks and Liars

Sixteen billion dollars is not chickenfeed!  However, as we have learned in the many past settlements, the dollar amounts can be a little deceiving.  Continue reading “Bank of America Escapes Jail… Again” →

Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

We’re Stealing Your Beer. We? You Got A Mouse In Your Pocket? Yep.

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor

Mouseketeer John Jacobson
Mouseketeer John Jacobson

A Portland, Oregon, man had a clever accomplice along for the ride on his latest alleged beer heist.  20-year-old John Jacobson was cruising the local Plaid Pantry Store when an on-duty manager asked him what he as doing with a  freshly unloaded case of brewskies under  his arm. John threw the beer striking the manager in the face and fled the vicinity. He then headed into the nearby Nike campus where he was sure to blend in with the other heels stacked therein.

Police with K-9 units gave chase and cornered the thirsty bandits in some bushes but not before noticing his diminutive henchman. Harkening those cartoon characters Pinky and The Brain, Jacobson  was sporting his pet mouse in his pocket. Police transported the pair to the Washington County Jail where his dad picked up the pet who apparently made bond.

No word on whether  John’s dad made his son’s bond. Jacobson was charged with  robbery of the beer.

Source:  KTVB.com

~ Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor

Criminal law

In Sweden, Big Muscles Constituted Reasonable Suspicion To Investigate Steroid Use

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

bodybuilderIt seems that in Malmö, Sweden police can stop a man for being too muscular.

Police arrested a man after they approached him, suspecting that his physique constituted reasonable suspicion of steroid use. During a field interview their suspicion grew after the man allegedly was reluctant to answer questions.

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Criminal law

What Seems To Be The Problem, Officer?

1407331554000-pot-watermark1Justin Goodloe (right), 20, and Allen Thomas Barnes (left), 19, are probably not going to be top candidates for the next year’s draft picks for the Sinaloa Cartel. Barnes was driving a car in the early morning of July 24th when it was pulled over the police near a burglary scene — purportedly because of the lack of headlights. As police approached the vehicle, they saw a rather curious sight: a marijuana plant sticking out of the window of the vehicle.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, Society

Park Officials Look For Man Shown Kicking Squirrel Off Grand Canyon As Joke

1407377064000-1407269546001-Squirrel-kicking-2-1-Authorities are looking into a viral Internet video that shows a man kicking a squirrel off what appears to be the edge of the Grand Canyon. The 15-second video posted on YouTube purports to show a man putting food in a line to the edge of the Grand Canyon for a waiting squirrel. Once the squirrel reached the edge, he then kicks it off the edge as what he thinks is a hilarious joke.

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Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering

Ohio Judge Arrested After Allegedly Punching, Choking, and Biting Wife In Moving Car In Front Of Their Children

628x471Ohio Common Pleas Court Judge Lance Mason, 46, has been arrested after he allegedly punched, choked and bit his wife. Mason is now charged with felonious assault. His wife of eight years was hospitalized with facial injuries including a fractured orbital bone after the incident.

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Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law

New York Woman Allegedly Crashes Into Firehouse After Stolen Snake Wraps Around Her Neck

05-sarah-espinosa-mugshot.w215.h215.2x Sarah Espinosa, 22, of Albany, New York allegedly combined three activities that made for a uniquely bad combination: drinking, driving, . . . and snake theft. Espinosa culminated this poor judgment by succeeding in crashing into a firehouse after the snake reportedly wrapped itself around her neck in Long Island.

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Criminal law, Society

Arizona Was Compelled To Give Prisoner 15 Times The Standard Dosage of Drugs In Botched Wood Execution

sub-execute-master180New details are emerging on the botched execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood in Arizona that we discussed earlier. If you recall the horrific scene, Wood took roughly two hours to die. Now it appears that the dosage for the new drugs were way off — requiring the prison to increase the dosage to 25 times what was thought to be necessary.

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Criminal law, Society

Dustin Johnson Suspended From The PGA

Dustin_Johnson_2008_US_Open_croppedI am not a golfer and it is one of the sports that I least enjoy watching. However, it does occasionally supply an interesting legal controversy. Pro golfer Dustin Johnson this week is taking a leave of absence from the PGA tour (the Washington Post is calling it a suspension). The reason is intriguing. He failed three drug tests and allegedly has been sleeping with the wives of other players. The drug tests however were reportedly for marijuana and cocaine. Since those are not performance enhancing drugs, I do not understand why the PGA even tests for them or why Johnson being a cad is an issue for the PGA.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech

UCSB Professor Miller-Young Pleads No Contest To Battery and Other Charges As Supporters Denounce Her Victims As “Terrorists”

milleryoungWe recently discussed the controversy surrounding a confrontation between Thrin Short, 16, and her sister Joan, 21, and Feminist Studies Associate Professor Mireille Miller-Young. Miller-Young was then charged with criminal conduct including Theft of Person; Battery; and Vandalism. While initially pleading not guilty, Miller-Young has now entered a no contest plea to charges to the three misdemeanors. Despite the videotape of the incident and violation of both criminal law and presumably university regulations, Miller-Young remains employed at the university.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Lawyering, Politics, Society

“We Tortured Some Folks”: Obama Admits United States Committed Acts Violating Federal and International Law

President_Barack_Obamatorture -abu ghraibFollowing the admission that the CIA hacked Senate computers and lied to Congress, President Obama today affirmed that it did indeed torture people. This admission (while belated) is an important recognition by the United States of what is obvious from a legal standpoint. However, that also means that CIA officials violated both federal and international law. The question is why Obama began his first term by promising CIA employees that they would not be tried for what he now describes as “tortur[ing] some folks.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Final Flight Leg: British Woman Arrested After Beating People on Flight With Prosthetic Limb

DRUNKWOMAN_2993122cA 48-year-old woman caused a Thomson Airlines flight to diverted to Gatwick airport after she began to yell profanities, throw food, and beat people with her prosthetic leg. The airline response below is quintessential British.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

“Just for the Hell of It”: Illinois Man Arrested For Inserting Needles In Meats

220px-Needles_(for_sewing)Ronald Avers, 68, does not exactly cut the image of a major felon in his motorized scooter with the portable oxygen tank at the Shop ‘n Save store in Belleville, Illinois. However, when sewing needles (not the ones shown) were found in packaged meat, security noticed that Avers was on camera handling meats that he did not buy. At least two people were injured when eating the meat and Avers later said that he did it “just for the hell of it.” He was appropriated arrested by Special Agent Cook.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Deaf Family Hits Woman Trying To Escape Zombie Attack of the Car in San Diego

Screen Shot 2014-08-01 at 7.52.07 AMThere is a case out of San Diego that raises some of the same issues as the infamous biker attack on a family in a van in New York city last year. In this case it was zombies. Various people dressed up outside Comic Con for a “Zombie Walk” where they walked like brain-dead undead down the street. To prove the first criteria, various members attacked a car of a family with children. The entire family was deaf. Despite their pleas, these people pounded on the car and one jumped on the hood and broke the windshield. The family then tried to pull away and struck a 64-year-old woman in the crowd.

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