We previously discussed the scandal involving federal prosecutors in New Orleans posting public comments attacking defendants and targets on various websites. That earlier scandal led to the discovery of even more widespread misconduct and yesterday to the overturning of a major prosecution of police officers. Describing the conduct of the Justice Department lawyers as “grotesque,” U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt ordered a new trial for officers accused of deadly shootings at the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent cover-up.
Category: Criminal law
We have previously seen stories of fake eggs, the sale of rat meat and other disturbing accounts from China’s food supply system. Accordingly, this story is not quite as shocking as it probably should be. Chinese officials in Xi’an, Shaanxi province have seized over 20,000 kg of fake beef made from pork and treated with chemicals to be sold for human consumption.
Fights over beer are hardly unknown, particularly in the hard drinking circles of Russia (though vodka would appear the more likely fuel). However, police were called to a fight between two men standing in line over beer where one shot the other after arguing over . . . the writings of philosopher Immanuel Kant. It is clear that Kant and beer do not mix.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Randall Kerrick (right) has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after he shot and killed an unarmed man who was reportedly looking for help after getting into a car accident. Jonathan Ferrell, 24, was a former Florida A & M football player.
Pia Zadora, 61, is back in the news but not exactly as the actress and singer would want after a long career hiatus. Zadora was arrested in Las Vegas last June after her teenaged son called police. The abuse included her spraying her teenage son with a hose and scratching him in an attempt to get him to go to bed. For that she ordered to undergo alcohol and impulse control counseling. She was originally domestic abuse and coercion in dealing with her autistic son, Jordon. The case raises some troubling questions over the treatment of her husband, a Metro police officer. Continue reading “Pia Zadora Sentenced To Alcohol and Anger Treatment For Bizarre Encounter Over Teenage Son”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
I know it may not surprise you that banks may be screwing homeowners in light of their past bad and illegal tactics in foreclosing home loans. However, in light of the fact that five of the largest banks agreed in a settlement in 2012 to end their deceptive and illegal foreclosure actions, their refusal or inability to control the contractors they hire in the foreclosure process may end them back in front of regulators.
Recently, the State of Illinois filed suit against the largest property management company that some of these very same banks use, and alleged that the company, Safeguard Properties, LLC, illegally broke into homes of people who were involved in a foreclosure or about to be foreclosed on and removed possessions and in some cases stole or damaged borrower’s personal property. Continue reading “Bad Banks Continue to Screw Homeowners”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Last week, we commemorated the individuals who were killed by terrorists on September 11, 2001—a terrible day in the history of our country. Today, I’d like to look back at an infamous day in our country’s history when four young Black girls were killed by terrorists—terrorists who were their own countrymen.
Klan Bombing of Birmingham Church 1963
There is an interesting case out of North Carolina where Dorothy Hoogland Verkerk, a professor at the University of North Carolina, has objected to her arrest for drunken driving on rather novel grounds: she was pulled over by a fire truck. In May 2011, Fire Lt. Gordon Shatley spotted Verkerk driving in an unsafe manner and pulled her over. She was found to be intoxicated but Verkerk insisted that the stop was illegal because fire fighters are not empowered with such authority.
Continue reading “North Carolina Professor Challenges DUI Arrest By Durham Fire Fighter”
Exxon has long been viewed by many environmentalists as one of the most hostile companies on environmental protection. Indeed, many environmentalists continue to boycott the company’s gas stations. This is not simply because of the Exxon Valdez disaster but a long record of environmental violations. We can now add the illegal dumping of shale-gas drilling waste water in Pennsylvania. Exxon employees found a plug had been removed on a massive tank that allowed the wastewater to drain out and contaminate a nearby stream with chlorides, barium, strontium and aluminum. The company has warned the public that the charges against Exxon could produce an anti-environmental backlash from other companies.
While it was not long ago that President Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other officials insisted that there was no illegal surveillance in the massive warrantless programs disclosed by Snowdon and others, new documents show that the National Security Agency not only violated the law for years but actively misled judges on the use of such illegal surveillance. The programs covered millions of call records and was only acknowledged by the Administration after a lawsuit by civil libertarians — a lawsuit that it has tried to dismiss (like dozens of others tossed out at the demand of the Obama Administration).
A federal civil rights suit filed Friday raises some troubling questions about the conduct of Harris County deputies. As shown on the video below, David Braxton Scherz Jr., 26, was arrested on Sept. 10, 2011, along with his father, mother, sister and aunt in front of their Houston home. Scherz was stopped for running a stop sign and the scene quickly escalated due, it seems, to the action of the officers. A Harris County deputy constable held Scherz down and kicked him until he, Scherz, had multiple broken ribs. The police never had probable cause for any of the family arrests and all charges were later dropped. As for David Scherz, he was not charged with the traffic violation but for denting the car of the deputies. The videotape also shows a family member being arrested after an officer spots her with a camera.
Continue reading “Houston Family Sues Harris County For Abuse Allegedly Caught On Tape”
The plight of women and children in traditional Muslim areas has long been a focus of our blog. While most shock our conscience, this story reaches a new low for the sanctioned pedophilia that occurs in arranged marriages. An eight-year-old girl named Rawan died in Hardh, Kuwait after an arranged marriage with a 40-year-old man and forced sex with a husband who was five times her age. She died of internal bleeding resulting from what would be considered rape in most nations on Earth.
Continue reading “Eight-Year-Old Girl Reportedly Dies After Forced Sex With 40-Year-Old Husband”
There is an intriguing case out of Montana this week where Jordan Linn Graham, 22, is accused of murdering her new husband Cody Lee Johnson, 25, by pushing him off a cliff at the Glacier National Park. There were no witnesses to the act but Graham left a trail of conflicting accounts and emails discussing how she was having second thoughts about the marriage after only a few days. She was the one who reported finding the body and said that she looked in a place that Johnson said he wanted to see before he died.
Continue reading “Newlywed Accused Of Pushing Husband Off Cliff”
There is a troubling conviction in Alexandria, Virginia where Chad Dixon has been sentenced to eight months in jail for training people how to pass top-secret security polygraphs. The Administration prosecuted Dixon, a former Little League coach, obstruction and wire fraud for teaching between 70 and 100 people how to get past lie detector tests. He was paid $1000 a day and the Justice Department labelled him a “master of deceit.” However, if other people are actually giving false information or gaming the system, the question is whether this should be treated as a protected form of speech. It raises many of the same issues as the prosecution of people who encourage or advice others on how to commit suicide. [The picture is a file image of a test and not associated with Dixon or these underlying charges]
We previously discussed the shocking sentence handed down by Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh to a teacher who raped a 14-year-old student. Stacey Rambold, 54, (left) was given just 30 days in jail after Baugh found that the victim was “older than her chronological age.” It produced an outcry on this blog and other sites. Baugh then magnified the concerns over his judicial judgment by responding to the outcry by trying to re-sentence Rambold. It left the impression of a judge seeking a longer sentence in direct response to public pressure. The Montana Supreme Court stepped in to order Baugh to cancel the resentencing hearing.