Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has weighed into a religious controversy, demanding a retraction and an apology from Islamic cleric Samir Abu Hamza for telling followers that they can beat their wives and force them to have sex under the Koran — in violation of Australian law.
Continue reading “Australian Cleric Defends Right of Husbands to Beat Their Wives and Force Them to Have Sex”
Category: Criminal law
There is growing concern over the use of the Patriot Act against passengers on air flights. In one case, Tamera Jo Freeman was declared a threat to national security and lost custody of her children after she spanked her children on a Frontier Airlines flight.
Continue reading “Mother Declared Terrorist Threat After Spanking Children on Airplane”
Washington is electric this morning. It is morning in America as literally billions around the world celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President.
Continue reading “OUR 44TH PRESIDENT”
In Amsterdam, New York, police have charged Walter U. Tessier with a unique case of petit larceny after he bought a lobster, eat it, glued the pieces together, and returned the lobster. He may have gotten the wrong idea from the name of the star: Price Chopper.
Stanislav Markelov, a leading human rights lawyer, and reporter Anastasia Baburova have been assassinated in Moscow — the latest fatalities of critics of the government. This assassination was done with a silencer on a public street just a half of a mile from the Kremlin — as if meant to send a message to other lawyers, reporters, and civil libertarians.
Continue reading “Human Rights Lawyer and Russian Reporter Assassinated in Moscow”
Amnesty International has entered the controversy over Israel’s alleged use of white phosphorus in civilian areas of the Gaza Strip. The use of white phosphorus in a civilian area — let alone a compacted urban area like Gaza — would violate international law. Amnesty’s own investigation found what it claims to be clear evidence of such violations.
On his last full day in office, President George Bush issued commutations for former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. These were notably commutations and not full pardons. He has not yet issued any pardons on the torture program. I will be discussing the possible investigation of war crimes under the Obama Administration tonight on Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Bush Pardons Former Border Patrol Officers Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean; Nothing on Torture Pardons”
You have to love this false imprisonment case. Tracey Fox, 42, snapped when a repair man told her that he could not fix her washing machine, which had broken down twice this year. Fox then took matters into her own hands and locked the man in the house and would not let him leave until the machine was working.
A Swiss lawyer has cited threats to the life of Muntadhar al-Zeidi and beatings in custody as the basis for a request for political asylum in Switzerland. The Iraqi journalist is still in prison after throwing his shoes at George W. Bush.
In yet another outrage by the Thai government’s use of the country’s Lèse majesté (prohibiting offenses against the crown), Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting the crown in his 2005 book Verisimilitude. The sentence was originally six years but cut in half because of his guilty plea. In the meantime, British reporter Jonathan Head was charged under the laws for remarks that he made on a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
In what appears the first time that an Arkansas Supreme Court justice has been reprimanded, the Court sanctioned Justice Jim Gunter for hitting and shoving his sister of hitting and shoving at his father’s home in September 2007 in Hope, Arkansas.
Continue reading “Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Jim Gunter Sanctioned For Attack on Sister”
Utah police have a novel case on their hands after a man shot a toilet at the Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Centerville, Utah. The man was in the men’s room and was pulling up his pants when his concealed handgun discharged — shooting the toilet, wounding himself, and sending a woman in a nearby Ladies Room to the hospital.
Continue reading “Man v. Toilet: Utah Man Shoots Toilet and Injures Both Himself and Nearby Woman at Carl’s Jr. Restaurant”
Another representative of the faith-based political movement has been arrested on morals charges. Police have been looking for a man for years who solicited prostitutes on the Internet under the name “Sullivant Guy,” “Broad Street Guy,” “Toby” and “God O Thunder.” It turns out that “God O Thunder” is allegedly Robert Eric McFadden, who was the director of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Continue reading “God O Thunder: Former Head of Faith-Based Programs in Ohio Arrested on Prostitution Charges”
Sen. John Huppenthal (R., Chandler, Arizona) has been arrested and charged with stealing a campaign sign. Notably, Huppenthal has invoked legislative privileges to get the trial delayed.
Continue reading “Arizona Legislator Charged Criminally With Stealing Campaign Signs”
Former Toledo attorney Karyn McConnell Hancock, 38, is heading to prison for four year. Hancock became infamous when she faked her own kidnapping. Now, she has been sentenced for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients. She is a former Democratic Toledo city councilman and the daughter of sitting Toledo Municipal Court Judge C. Allen McConnell.
Continue reading “Former Lawyer Karyn McConnell Hancock Sentenced to Four Years”