Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has insisted that the Obama Administration will not fight with China over human rights and instead seek a “more practical” approach that emphasizes trade issues, here. Yesterday, China showed the world that it doesn’t feel any pressure to allow free speech or basic rights to its citizens. It sentenced leading human rights advocate Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for calling for the rule of law and democracy in China.
Continue reading “China Sentences Human Rights Leader to 11 Years in Jail For Drafting Pro-Democracy Paper”
Category: Criminal law
There is a horrible case out of India where a former senior police officer has been able to openly flaunt and manipulate the legal system after molesting a 14-year-old girl. SPS Rathore allegedly used his authority to harass the family of Ruchika Girhotra and obstruct the investigation into the assault of the promising tennis player. Now, the outrage has grown after Rathore was given a mere six months sentence and told to pay 1,000 rupees ($20). Ruckika was not in the court room when Rathore reportedly laughed at the sentence. She committed suicide after years of harassment by the police.
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. To paraphrase Tiny Tim, “And God bless us, everyone . . . even Legal Satyricon.” Continue reading “MERRY CHRISTMAS”
I thought that I could get through this day without an actual Christmas tort worth noting. However, an astonishing breach of security occurred Thursday night in the Vatican. Somehow a mentally unstable woman was able to jump the barriers in St. Peter’s Basilica and knock down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican.
Continue reading “Woman Knocks Down the Pope At Christmas Mass”
An Egyptian court has affirmed the four-year jail sentence imposed on blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman for posting writings critical of Islam and the government. The sentencing comes after the Obama Administration caved into pressure from Egypt to support a resolution that recognizes the basis for such blasphemy prosecutions, here.
In Chilliwack, B.C., the Mounties are facing heavy criticism after they decided to use the backyards of citizens for an exercise without either notice or permission. Fendi, a six-year-old pit bull, was not happy when armed men and tracking dogs appeared around his yard. When he attacked one of the police dogs, the Mounties shot him — leaving his owner Brian Hackner with a great deal of questions and one dead dog.
Jonathan Sharkey, 44, was once a proud vampire who ran for president and other public offices while leading the Vampyre Nation. Now, he has been arrested for allegedly threatening to torture and kill Judge David Certo.
Continue reading “Vampire Jailed for Threatening to Torture and Kill Judge and His Family”
While many of us have been following the de-evolution of the Arizona law system in Maricopa County recently (here), lawyers are taking to the street to protest against the assault on the rule of law by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Hundreds of lawyers took to the street to call for an end of the embarrassing reign of Thomas who has made his office an international mockery. Thomas has joined Arpaio in charging the judge who stood up to the sheriff with three felony counts — bribery, obstructing a criminal investigation, and hindering prosecution.
Continue reading “Lawyers Rise Up Against Arpaio and Thomas to Fight For the Rule of Law in Arizona”
Father Tim Jones, 41, (on the right) surprised his congregation this month with a novel holiday sermon in which he advised poor people to go out and shoplift. Jones reportedly stopped his sermon at St. Lawrence Church in York to give the divine endorsement for the five-finger discount. The clergy is not amused.
Aaron F. Biber, 46, a leading attorney and former treasurer of the state bar (and a leading candidate for the presidency) has been arrested after giving an underage boy alcohol and raping him. The boy is reportedly mentally handicapped.
Continue reading “Leading Minnesota Lawyer and Bar Official Arrested for Rape of Minor Boy”
A California appellate court has struck down the state law barring ex-felons from possessing body armor. The law was passed in 1998 and the Congress passed a similar federal law in 2002.
Continue reading “California Court Strikes Down State Law Criminalizing Possession of Body Armor By Ex-Felons”
We have been following jurisdictions which have moved to outlaw baggy and low-riding pants (here). The problem is that, if wearing baggy pants is criminal, only criminals will have baggy pants. A story out of New York indicates that police may not want to see the style outlawed after all – as a criminal fighting tool. Hector Quinones entered a New York apartment on a killing spree, only to fall to his own death when he tripped over his baggy pants.
Continue reading “Pants to Die For: Killer Trips on Baggy Pants and Falls To His Death”
We have been following the latest controversy of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in his support of a deputy who committed an outrageous act in rifling through the papers of a criminal defense attorney and then removing and copying notes about her client (here). Many questioned the actions of County Attorney Andrew Thomas who has supported Arpaio rather than the rule of law in the matter. Now, Thomas has joined Arpaio in charging the judge who stood up to the sheriff with three felony counts — bribery, obstructing a criminal investigation, and hindering prosecution.
Continue reading “Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Country Attorney Thomas Charge Judge Who Sent Deputy to Jail”
In the United States, there is the second gunman on the grassy knoll, the belief that the Moon landing was faked, and the ongoing debate of the true cause of the Twin Towers collapsing. Around the world, there is the debate whether Lenin in Lenin’s Tomb is really a wax dummy and whether Kim Yong-Il is actually a double who replaced the leader after his death. Now, Italians have their own conspiracy theory as captured in this YouTube video that has gone viral with over a half million hits in a very short period of time. The creator suggests that the attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 73, was faked and offers evidence similar to what continues to be debated in the Kennedy assasination.
It has come to this. We are facing a 50 vote deficit with ten days left in the battle for the blogoshere. It is time to pull out the video that most captures the moment (as supplied by Mespo). You are not the first to face an overwhelming army with many assuming certain defeat.
Continue reading “FLOG THE BLOG: Vote Now or the Orcs Will Inhabit the Blog”