Judge Richard A. Posner is a legal icon who has had more impact on the development of the law. As the father of the Law and Economics movement, Posner’s writings are featured heavily in my classes as well as other classes around the country. While I disagree with him, I have tremendous respect for his scholarship and jurisprudence. However, a recent oral argument revealed a less flattering side of the former University of Chicago professor. Faced with an attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union in a case involving the right of citizens to film police in public, Posner cut him off after 14 words and spoke derisively of the right of citizens and groups to engage in such protected conduct.
Continue reading “Posner Ridicules Right of Citizens To Film Police in Seventh Circuit Oral Argument”
Category: Criminal law
Stealing kid’s lunch money has long been a scourge in schools, but usually the thieves come from the ranks of adolescent bullies. Prosecutors allege that Joanna Fan and her husband, Ziming Shen, never got out of the habit and stole at least $2.5 million in federal funds meant for nutritious meals for preschoolers.
Continue reading “Stealing Kid’s Lunch Money: New York Couple Charged With Theft From School Programs — And Then Go Bonkers Outside Court”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty(Rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
I admit that I get a headache when I read any news about former Bush administration officials, but it seems that former Vice President Dick Cheney is in the news again and I am left scrambling for my migraine medicine. He has written a book detailing all the wonderful things he accomplished as Vice President under George W. Bush. Unfortunately for Mr. Cheney, in his efforts to explain his work as Vice President under George W. Bush, he may have provided an admission of some of the alleged lies that critics claim were being spread by Cheney and the Bush administration in the lead up to war in Iraq. Continue reading “Recent American History According to Cheney”
You will have to forgive the graphic picture but this extraordinary x-ray is a 20-year-old Irish national caught in Brazil after swallowing 72 bags of cocaine.
Continue reading “Excessive Carry On: Irish National Arrested in Brazil After Ingesting 72 Bags”
Monroe Beachy, 77, is being call the Amish Bernie Madoff after being accused of running a Ponzi scheme that lost millions from his Amish community.
Continue reading “The Plain Ponzi Scheme: Feds Charge “The Amish Bernie Madoff””
CBS News correspondent Priya David and her husband Alex Clemens got a look at a news story in progress from a unique angle this week — the FBI mistakenly raided their home with eight heavily armed and armored officers. They had the wrong family and appeared to dial down a bit when they were told that the woman upstairs nursing a baby was a CBS correspondent.
Continue reading “FBI Raids Home Of CBS Correspondent By Mistake”
There is a fascinating case out of Florida this week that raises questions over the required proof needed for a criminal conviction — in this case, animal cruelty. Carla Ann Thomas was convicted of animal neglect after her a 5-year-old Akita named Sache was found dead after being left over the weekend at Healthy Paws, Thomas’ health food store for dogs and cats in St. Petersburg. She was convicted despite the fact that there was no necropsy and no one knows why the dog died. The prosecutor says that that is immaterial.
Continue reading “Florida Woman Found Guilty of Criminal Neglect In Leaving Dog At Store For A Day Despite Absence of Necropsy”
In Michigan, parents are outraged by the decision of a high school to allow senior Mitchell Landis to continue to play football after he was arrested and charged with rape. They insist that such arrests could constitute a violation of “good behavior” standards.
Brad Williams has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago police department after he said he was beaten by police in response to his filming an officer holding and dragging a man outside of his squad car.
Continue reading “Chicago Police Allegedly Beat Up Man Who Videotaped Them Dragging Man Outside of Squad Car”
Police in Edinburg are being sued after 40 officers raided a “gentlemen’s club” called Jaguars Gold Club in search of drugs. They found none, but handcuffed the owners and employees and allegedly left with $1,500 in cash and another $8,000 worth of club “tokens.”
In many states, a pattern of two or three incidents can be the basis for a stalking charge. A 42-year-old woman in the Hague proved to be something of an overachieving stalker when she called her ex-boyfriend over 65,000 times in one year.
Continue reading “Dutch Court Orders Woman To Stop Calling Ex-Boyfriend . . . After Over 65,000 Calls in One Year”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Gust Blogger
Dionette L. Price may need some basic crime lessons. Seeking to carjack a vehicle driven by Rayna Garrett, Mr. Price opted to stand in the middle of busy U.S. Highway 71. When Ms. Garrett attempted to drive around the would-be felon, Price leaped onto the hood of her car, brandished a .357 semi-automatic handgun, and told her, through the glass, to “..drive or I’ll blow your head off.” Ms. Garrett obliged the 26 year-old and took him directly to the Kansas City police station garage. Finding no one in the garage, she rammed the door and alerted the attendant. A foot chase ensued between the Kansas City police and our ersatz “Mr. Toad,” resulting in felonious restraint and weapons charges.
Source: Yahoo News
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Below is today’s brief essay in the Los Angeles Times that is part of a series called Reflections on 9/11. I was asked that day after the attacks to write a column for the newspaper, which ran on September 13, 2001. As I wrote the piece, I could still see smoke rising from the Pentagon. The plane in Washington hit just behind my car a minute or so after I passed the Pentagon on my way to work from Alexandria. On that day, my greatest concerns were two-fold: a change in the definition of war and the expanded use of assassination. Unfortunately, my worst predictions were exceeded by the Bush Administration and later the Obama Administration. It is shocking to think that this was ten years ago. The images and feelings remain so vivid. My car was forced into a curb by a careening car that morning and I had to replace my tire as the smoke bellowed from the Pentagon. The thought of all the innocent people lost in Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania remains an open wound for so many of us. The sheer savagery and inhumanity of the attacks shocked the conscience — a feeling only magnified later when Bin Laden was shown gloating over how he personally advised the terrorists on the best place to hit the buildings. The cautionary piece on September 13th was not meant to take away from the legitimate and collective anger that we felt — and still feel. However, it was already clear within two days of the attacks that Bush officials were going to seek the radical expansion of presidential powers and were already referencing our civil liberties as an impediment to our safety. My heartfelt sympathy to all who lost friends and family on that day.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
As someone who voted for and rejoiced in Barack Obama’s election in 2008, I had certain expectations for his Presidency. My expectations heightened with the Democratic party’s majorities in Congress. Foremost I wanted to see a swift end to both wars, which I believe are unjust and draining the resources of this country. Since Obama was presumably a constitutional law scholar, I expected that he would return this country to the Rule of Law. I expected the new President to eliminate the Bush constitutional usurpation of our government and people, occurring with Democratic Party compliance. The Administration would end the widespread use of torture, rendition, and the excesses of The Patriot Act. His Department Of Justice would prosecute those who were responsible. As far as the economic crisis engendered by Wall Street excesses, I had faith that he would deal with it through FDR like projects, by re-regulation/prosecution of the financial industry and ending the unjustified Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy.
That none of this has happened, or was even attempted has filled me with disappointment and anger towards this Administration’s performance. In my mind as I tried to make sense of it of this betrayal, there was a nagging suspicion. What if the “powers that be” in our Country including the Military-Industrial complex had sent the word to the newly elected President: “Play ball”, or find yourself and your family grievously threatened? I was a young adult through the 60’s as I watched the assassinations of my heroes, one of whom was a President. I’m not comfortable with the official explanation of these deaths, since there was much that didn’t make sense. In the 70’s The Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and later the Church Committee Report on the CIA gave credence to the possible actions of a secret government. In addition, we learned from General Smedley-Butler, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler that a group of businessmen had contacted him in 1934 about leading a coup against FDR. One of those conspirators was Prescott Bush, father of Bush I and grandfather of Bush II. Later, Prescott Bush was involved in a Bank that had financed the NAZI’s rise to power. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar.
On September 7th, Rob Kall’s OpEdNews published “Obama Team Feared Coup If He Prosecuted War Crimes”. Andrew Kreig, executive director of the Justice Integrity Project, wrote this article. There are some very persuasive points in it and I believe it is worth your perusal and comment:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Obama-Team-Feared-Coup-If-by-Andrew-Kreig-110907-156.html
If this speculation were true, it would go a long way towards explaining what we’ve been seeing from the Obama Administration. It would also be a disaster for any notion of the Rule of Law. Continue reading “The President Has Been Afraid of What?”
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez took office in part based on her hard stance against illegal aliens. After being given 1930 Census records by reporters, however, she has now acknowledged that her grandparents illegally came to the USA from Mexico. In the meantime, another family member of President Obama has been arrested as an illegal alien.