It has been a bloody week for elephants in the news. Yesterday, we discussed how NBC has aired a program showing a NRA lobbyist shooting an elephant in the face for ratings while in Cameroon serial elephant poachers are facing just three years for killing more than 100 elephants. Over in Zimbabwe, three poachers have been sentenced to roughly 15 years in prison for killing another 81 elephants by poisoning their water holes. This sentence is more substantial and welcomed, though it is hard to imagine what you would have to do against the environment to merit a life sentence.
Category: Criminal law
There is an increasing danger posed by new technology to privacy and civil liberties. New technology is being brought online at what seems an increasing rate with little consideration of their implications — or even their efficacy. This includes a license plate recognition (LPR) system being adopted by cities around the world which tracks and identifies the movements of vehicles — and by extension their owners. Now, a study by the National Institute of Justice has found no evidence that LPR actually reduces crime. It does however clearly reduce privacy.
Continue reading “Study Shows No Reduction In Crime Due To License Plate Recognition Technology”
The reason why elephants are going extinct may have something to do with a trial in Cameroon against twin brothers accused of killing more than 100 elephants in Central Africa. What is most striking about this story is that these brothers — Symphorien Sangha and Rene Sangha — have been arrested before and never served a day in jail. Now, with over 100 dead elephants to their credit, they are only looking at a maximum of three years in jail. Indeed, Symphorien Sangha was found guilty of killing elephants and wounding a forest ranger. He will receive 10 years for wounding the ranger but no more than three years for killing a huge number of elephants and a long record of poaching. With a deterrent level of that kind, it is astonishing that any elephants remain alive.
In torts, I often discuss the collateral consequences for same-sex couples not having recognized marriages from intentional infliction of emotional distress claims (which are limited to close family members in seeking third-party claims) to spousal immunity claims. Kentucky last week demonstrated the problem for such couples with the opinion below. Bobbie Jo Clary (left) and her domestic partner, Geneva Case, claimed spousal immunity on the basis for a civil union in Vermont in 2004. However, Judge Susan Schultz Gibson ruled that they could not claim spousal immunity in a criminal case because they do not have a marriage recognized under Kentucky law. It is an example of the type of “full faith and credit” cases that could lead to a showdown before the Supreme Court. Normally, states are required to give full faith and credit to the contracts from other states, including out-of-town marriages.
Continue reading “Same-Sex Couple Denied Protection Of Spousal Immunity In Kentucky Murder Trial”
There is a case in Michigan that captures what many parents complain is a child protective system that strips away basic due process rights and at times defies both logic and controlling authority. There may be no better example than the treatment of Gordon “Steve” and Maria Green after their 6-month-old baby girl, Bree, was taken away from them. The reason is the determination that the parents have marijuana in the house. It was not hard for the case worker to find: the Greens have a right to medical marijuana protected under state law. That did not matter to the Department of Human Services however and their baby was taken away from their Lancing home.
Continue reading “Michigan DHS Takes Baby From Home Due To Parents Use Of Legal Medical Marijuana”
University of Florida Professor Don Samuelson, 65, has been arrested for a rather bizarre obsession. Using a camera pen, Samuelson was accused of filming under the clothing of female students in his class. What is even more bizarre is his defense: he insists that he was doing research to determine whether any students were not “wearing undergarments.” What Samuelson insisted was harmless research is considered by the police to be voyeurism.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s office clearly has a lot of crime to address when its officers are arresting people for “walking on the wrong side of the road.” That is what Bobby Wingate says happened to him. He says that the officer punched him and threatened to taser him for the heinous offense.
Continue reading “Jacksonville Man Sues After Arrest For “Walking On Wrong Side Of The Street””
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
In the Public Interest (ITPI), which describes itself as “a comprehensive resource center on privatization and responsible contracting,” released a report this month titled CRIMINAL: How Lockup Quotas and “Low-Crime Taxes” Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations. The report provides information about “the prevalence of prison occupancy guarantee provisions in prison privatization contracts.” ITPI said that it had “identified 77 county and state-level private facilities nationwide and collected and analyzed 62 contracts from these facilities.” Of the contracts that ITPI reviewed, 65% contained occupancy requirements that ranged between 80% and 100%–with 90% being the most frequent quota guarantee.
ITPI found that the states of Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Virginia were locked into contracts with the highest occupancy guarantee requirements. All four states had quotas requiring an occupancy rate between 95% and 100%.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
I saw this story during this past week and I have to admit, that it made my stomach turn. Despite the increased interest some in Congress and in the Pentagon have shown in how accusations of rape by female members of the military are treated, women can still jeopardize their careers and their mental well-being if they bring charges against their alleged attackers.
‘”For roughly 30 hours over several days, defense lawyers for three former United States Naval Academy football players grilled a female midshipman about her sexual habits. In a public hearing, they asked the woman, who has accused the three athletes of raping her, whether she wore a bra, how wide she opened her mouth during oral sex and whether she had apologized to another midshipman with whom she had intercourse “for being a ho.”’ New York Times Continue reading “The Military’s War on Women Continues”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
I’ve seen some tough music reviews but 54-year-old Witchy Woman Vernett Bader takes the cake. Incensed by her housemate’s incessant playing of top Eagles tunes like Hotel California, Lyin’ Eyes, and Life in the Fast Lane, Bader grabbed a 14-inch “steely knife” and cut her 64-year-old victim several times on the arm and hand. This One of These Nights left Bader charged as a Desperado and facing a sentence for aggravated criminal domestic violence and her victim with a Hole in His World. The night’s Peaceful Easy Feeling was Already Gone when both parties became so intoxicated that they could not agree on the music. Proclaiming “I Don’t Want To Hear Anymore,” Bader downed her last Tequila Sunrise and went for the blade after her victim told her to “shut up” and thus starting her on her not so Long Road Out Of Eden.
Continue reading “Taking It To The Limit: Woman Cuts 64-Year Old Housemate For Playing Eagles Music”
Hampton, Va., Sheriff B.J. Roberts appears not to have much time for actually fighting crime. Instead, after his reeleection, Roberts sought out employees who favored his opponent. It was not too difficult, he found jailer Daniel Carter who hit “like” on his opponents website. Roberts fired him and others allegedly viewed as disloyal. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled this week that such a designation is protected speech under the First Amendment. The opinion in Bland v. Roberts is below.
We have yet another bizarre case out of the Land O’ Lakes jail in Pasco County. David Edward Benes is under arrest for reportedly restraining and abusing his 80-year-old girlfriend in an effort to “exorcise her and the get the devil out of her.” What is interesting is that, given the age of his girlfriend, Benes is looking at the enhanced charge of domestic battery on a person older than 65 as well as tampering with a witness and false imprisonment.
Continue reading “Florida Man, 54, Arrested For Alleged Abusive Exorcism Of 80-Year-Old Girlfriend”
There is a disturbing report out of Chicago where police were called when 95-year-old world War II veteran John Wrana refused to go to a hospital for a urinary tract infection. Called by paramedics to assist in getting Wrana into an ambulance, the Park Forest police showed up in riot gear and proceeded to shoot Wrana first with a stun gun and then with a bead bag fired from a shotgun. He no longer needed treatment for the urinary tract problem. He died from internal bleeding and blunt force trauma. He was about to celebrate his 96th birthday.
We often cover abusive arrests and conduct by police officers. The fact is that the good work of officers goes without notice because it is neither news or the subject of a case. Yet, most officers conduct themselves in a professional and civil manner despite the dangers and stresses of their jobs. So we can finally take note of a story where an officer set a record of complaints in a good way. L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy Elton Simmons has written over 20,000 tickets as a traffic cop over 20 years and he has never been the subject of a complaint. Not one.
Continue reading “L.A. Traffic Cop Sets Record For Complaints”
A court in Sweden has handed done a rather novel ruling. The Södertörn District Court has declared that it is legal to masturbate in public so long as you are not “targeting” anyone in particular. Moreover, public prosecutor Olof Vrethammer says that he entirely supports the ruling.
Continue reading “Swedish Court Rules That Public Masturbation Is Legal”