Category: Criminal law

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Science, Society

Government Wants ISPs to Spy On You

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

While everyone was distracted with the hullabaloo surround the artificial “debt ceiling crisis”, Congress did manage to get some work done.  Unfortunately that work was in furtherance of eroding your right to privacy.  Thursday, July 28, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee submitted a bill (H.R. 1981) under the politically motivated and misleading name Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011, which was quietly lobbied for by conservative Republicans and the Department of Justice, voted in committee to advance regulations requiring Internet service providers to retain your account information.  This information preserved would include not just your IP address, but customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers and bank account numbers as well.  The Judiciary Committee approved this bill in a 19-0 vote, rejecting a last minute amendment that would have required the retention of IP addresses only by 7-16.

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Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Religion, Society

The Eternal Cluelessness of the Avenging Mind

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

Perhaps the real original sin of humanity is the concept of sin itself. There is of course evil in the world and there is good. To me there is little equivocation about some evils and I am hardly a moral relativist. Although these terms become subjective when viewed from the perspective of an individual, there is a wide general acceptance among diverse cultures as to general definitions. We consider murder in all cultures evil, as is robbery, assault, rape, and a host of familiar others. For at least five thousand years, cultures established legal systems to deal with bad behavior and with those systems came the need for punishment. The history of punishment has always been rather draconian and bloody throughout history. While today punishment is perhaps more humane in many places, it still caries with it significant cruelty in its application throughout humanity.

“A woman and her three children had just gotten off the bus at a stop across from their apartment building (in Marietta, Georgia) in October 2010 when her 4-year-old son, A.J., broke away from her and ran into the street. A car struck the boy, causing fatal injuries. Nelson (the woman) and one of her two daughters also suffered minor injuries. Nelson was charged with three misdemeanors: second-degree vehicular homicide, failing to cross at a cross walk and reckless conduct, according to court records. A jury convicted her this month. Although prosecutors did not recommend jail time, each count carried a potential sentence of one year in jail”. What is behind this prosecution? Who among us who has raised young children wouldn’t be chilled with the vision of this happening to them? Why do we see such prosecutorial zeal in our society to find someone to punish when accidents occur? Continue reading “The Eternal Cluelessness of the Avenging Mind” →

Criminal law, Politics, Science, Society

Dead Men Do Tell Tales (Of Rigged Elections)

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

If you’ve never heard of King Lincoln v. Blackwell, don’t be too surprised.  Project Censored calls the outsourcing of the 2004 Presidential elections in Ohio “one of the most censored stories in the world.”  Originally filed on August 31, 2006 in Ohio, King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell is an ongoing civil case to decide if the the Ohio Secretary of State at the time, Kenneth Blackwell, violated the Civil Rights Act (42 USC §§ 1983 and 1984) and the 1st, 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution by conspiring to “deprive and continue to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote and have, in fact, deprived and continue to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote by, in a selective and discriminatory manner, unfairly allocate election resources (such as voting machines), institute a system of provisional ballots, purge voter registrations, and broke the bi-partisan chain of custody ballots”.  The vote at the heart of the issue is the 2004 Presidential election where, in defiance of exit poll data, there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush.

New filings include a revealing deposition of the late Michael Connell.   Connell died shortly after giving his deposition in a small plane crash that is described as “suspicious”*.  In life, Connell served as the IT guru for the Bush family and their personal minister of propaganda, Karl Rove. Connell ran a private IT firm called GovTech that created the controversial electronic voting system that Ohio used during the election.  GovTech’s system transferred Ohio’s vote count late on election night to a partisan Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by a company called SmarTech. That is when the alleged vote shift happened that led to Bush’s unexpected victory.

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Congress, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Tiger By The Tail: Dem Leadership Struggle In Wake Of Latest Sex Scandal

Rep. David Wu has long been identified as a major liability for the Democrats. The first Chinese-American elected to Congress, Wu has displayed mental instability for years. He is now accused of an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage daughter of a longtime friend.

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Criminal law, International, Justice, Politics

You Got To Know When To Hold(er) ‘Em

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

More potential bad news for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. as Thursday’s Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing subpoenas relating to alleged foreign bribery and alleged hacking of voicemail of Sept. 11 victims.  This is in addition to a separate FBI probe into the  alleged hacking of voicemail of Sept. 11 victims and a possible FCPA-related (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act)  investigation by the SEC related to allegations of bribing police in Great Britain.  There are also a substantial number of civil suits springing up related to the activities of News Corp.’s now shuttered News of the World operation.  While Murdoch and News Corp. have attempted to contain the damage done by the News of the World U.K. phone hacking scandal, it seems like their efforts are failing as the investigation into their operations expands across the Atlantic.  The real question lies with A.G. Eric Holder’s Department of Justice willingness to act.

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Criminal law, Society

Mother Eats Poppy Seed Seasoning – Has Newborn Taken

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

In Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, Eileen Ann Bower tested positive for opiates after giving birth to her  son. Based on the results of the routine blood test, performed by Jameson Hospital, the Lawrence County Children and Youth Services kidnapped seized the baby three days after its birth. Bower claims her last meal, before giving birth, was a pasta salad with Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning, which contains poppy seeds (the fourth listed ingredient).

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion, Society, Supreme Court

Privacy Without Politics: Why The Sister Wives Lawsuit Is About Privacy Not Polygamy

Here is my column this morning in the New York Times. As is the case (even on my own paper, USA Today), the writer does not select the titles. In this case, “One Big, Happy Polygamous Family” seems a bit mocking. Thus, I have added my own title.
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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Society

Method Of Modern Love: Twitter-Style

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

The Happy Couple: Farthing For Your Thoughts Mrs. Puddick?

London plumber, Ian Puddick, was aghast after reading a text message on his wife’s cell phone. It seems  Leena, was having an affair with Tim Haynes, an insurance broker at one of London’s hoary financial houses and a City Director. The affair began at a company Christmas Party (don’t they all) and continued for ten years.   Rather than an immediate face-to-face confrontation with all the messiness that involves, Puddick set up several websites and then began to Twitter the racy cyber-dialog between the illicit lovers. One read, “Where do you want to have sex next? The office, al fresco, the flat or all three you greedy girl?”  He supplemented the shorthand with videos and a blog– all dedicated to the affair.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society

How Should A Civilized Society Deal With Criminals?

Contributed by: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger

All society’s see themselves as “civilized” which connotes that they are humane in their treatment of all within their purview. One society will compare their society towards another, disparagingly in most cases, seeing the “other” as less “civilized” and more barbaric. We all know the clichés about the cruelties of Mexican, or Turkish prisons for instance and our American tendency is to look down our noses upon the barbarity of those countries in dealing with all prisoners, not just felons. How smug we are in our self-satisfaction that America is a modern culture with no hint of the backwardness and barbarism of less modern cultures. In my view this has been merely the legerdemain of mass delusion. I say delusion because the sad truth we all know is that many of our prisons and many of our Jails are “hellholes”, perhaps only degrees better than certain other more “barbarous” Nations are. Our literature and media have for years dealt with the harshness of our prison system. Indeed our gallows humor puts forth the hardly clichéd image of prison rape as a fit punishment for some. A current story conveys our dilemma in seeing the truth of our own lack of civilization, dealing with those who commit crimes both of heinous and victimless nature. Continue reading “How Should A Civilized Society Deal With Criminals?” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Report: Assassin of Hamid Karzai’s Brother Was Trusted CIA Operative

News reports indicate that the bodyguard who assassinated President Hamid Karzai’s brother was a trusted CIA operative and worked closely with US Special Forces. He also appears to have been an undercover operative for the Taliban. Sardar Mohammad shot Ahmed Wali Karzai at his home in Kandahar City on Tuesday. He has two brothers-in-law serving in a CIA-run paramilitary unit, the Kandahar Strike Force.
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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics

Pennsylvania Judge Under Fire For Dismissing Her Own Parking Tickets

When Kelly Ballentine was given several parking tickets, she lucked out by getting a lenient judge: herself. The Lancaster Magisterial District Judge dismissed a no-parking ticket and an expired registration ticket in December and a no-parking ticket in January.
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Criminal law, Justice, Society

Florida Sheriff: No Underwear (And No Dignity) For You!

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Jail Reformer Grady Judd

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has a budget problem. Claiming concern about having to make job cuts in a tough economy or to provide luxury items to inmates, this prison reformer took the path of least resistance. Problem is, to Sheriff Judd, “luxury items” include jail-provided underwear. Seems the prison uniform includes the proviso of “going commando” for the male inmates. Female guests face no such concern and are provided free undergarments and the reason for the different treatment is a tad unclear. Maybe Sheriff Judd is teaching the value of smooth panty lines. In any event, the foundation-free policy is saving his budget $45,000.00 or as Judd puts it “$45,000.00 is one person’s job we’re saving. If inmates want to wear underwear in jail, they can buy it, just like hard working Polk County citizens do.” Lest you think Judd a throwback to the days of Les Miserables, you should know that entrepreneurship is alive and well at the Polk County jail. Briefs can be purchased for $2.54 and boxers for a mere $4.48. And to avoid the tedious chore of having to inspect the skivvies for weapons, male inmates may not bring in their own underwear. No word yet on two for one sales, or if other “luxuries” like tooth brushes and toilet paper will become items offered for purchase at the jail.

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