The Bush Administration appears intent to go out on a low note. The United States has asked for as many as 15,000 Iraqi prisoners to be held without charge in Iraq even though the authority to hold the prisoners expired at the beginning of the New Year. I discussed the plan as well as the investigation of war crimes on Rachel Maddow in this segment.
Category: Criminal law
Kawaljeet Kaur Tagore has sued the Internal Revenue Service in a free exercise case involving the wearing of the kirpan, the ceremonial knife of Sikhism. Devote Sikhs wear five articles of faith: Kesh (uncut hair), which is kept covered by a distinctive turban, the Kirpan (religious sword), Kara (metal bracelet), Kanga (comb) and Kaccha (under-shorts). The IRS, however, drew the line on the kirpan and fired Tagore, 35, for refusing to take off her knife when coming to work as a revenue agent.
Former Vogue cover model, Liskula Cohen, 36, is about to make some interesting law. Cohen has filed in court to force Google to reveal the anonymous sources who said bad things about her in a “Skanks in NYC” blog. Cohen wants a court order so that Google will reveal the names of her critics so that she can sue them for defamation.
Continue reading ““Skanks in NYC”: Former Vogue Model In Court to Force Google to Uncover Anonymous Sources”
U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon in Alabama took the extraordinary step this week of ordering Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett to be locked up in his own jail after testimony showed that he had deprived inmates of adequate food while profiting from the meager diet. Bartlett personally kept $212,000 in “surplus money” from the meal program.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Jails Alabama Sheriff Who Profited After Inmates Went Hungry”
Around the world, there seems to be an increase in witch burnings, or at least the reporting of such crimes. Recently. a stampede was caused in the Congo due to a rumor of witchcraft in the area. The latest incident occurred in Papua New Guinea where villagers bound, gagged, and then tied a woman to a log — and then burned her alive.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent will be arraigned this morning on the new charges. He was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on new charges of sexually abusing another court employee and lying about it to prominent federal judges who investigated a misconduct complaint against him. His trial on the prior allegations was scheduled for January 26th before U.S. Senior Judge Roger Vinson, of Florida.
Continue reading “Judge Samuel Kent Indicted on New Sexual Abuse Charges”
In a remarkably low sentence, Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny sentenced Christine Beatty , the former aide to former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, to just 120 days in jail for her false testimony about their affair. She also faced the less than impressive punishment of being denied the right to attend or get credit for law school during those days.
Continue reading “Christine Beatty Sentenced To Only 120 Days In Jail for Perjury”
Richard Sharpe was once one of the most accomplishment medical academics, holding a seat on the Harvard Medical School and earning millions from business enterprises as a dermatologist. However, the cross-dressing doctor killed his wife in 2000 in front of witnesses and was sentenced to life in prison. This week, he succeeded in committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell in Norfolk, Massachusetts.
Continue reading “Former Harvard Medical School Professor Hangs Himself in Jail Cell”
Steven J. Lever, a former associate at Kirkland & Ellis has been given a suspension of just three year from practice by the New York appeals court in a 3-2 decision. Lever was nailed in a sting operation where he attempted to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. Many object to the suspension of surprising light under the circumstances.
Continue reading “Leverage: New York Lawyer Given Three Years Suspension for Attempted Sex with Minor”
Alaskan Investigator Kyle Young sent an e-mail to the Public Safety Employees Association claiming that political pressure delayed the arrest of Sherry Johnston — whose son Levi Johnston is engaged to Palin’s daughter, Bristol — until after the November election. Johnston was arrested Dec. 18 on six felony drug counts for selling Oxycontin.
New York police have arrested construction worker, John Brady, 49, in a rather odd crime. Brady is accused of calling people and posing as a doctor. He would then convinced them to give themselves a rectal examination while he was on the telephone. He has been charged with second-degree aggravated harassment.
Judge E. Curtissa Cofield, 60, has been sentenced in Manchester, Connecticut for her bizarre conduct on October 9th. Cofield was drunk when she went swerving through a construction zone before sideswiping a patrol car — injuring the officer, according to his lawyer. She then unleashed a torrent of racist remarks against another officer. It took Judge William Bright Jr. sentences Cofield to taking a simple alcohol education program. Her record will then be cleaned after a year.
There is a strange criminal case on the docket in Arkansas where Kevin Dale Robinson, 34, is charged with illegally recorded a 16-year-old girl in a shower but claims that his girlfriend told police that she took the video to get him into trouble. The prosecutors have refused to drop the case.
Continue reading “Arkansas Prosecutors Continue Prosecution of Man for Illegal Videotaping of Teen in Shower — Even After Girlfriend Admits to Framing Him”
A federal judge in Brooklyn has rejected the free exercise claim of Mamie Manneh that she has a constitutional right to import monkey meat without a permit. The Liberian woman was found guilty of smuggling the meat by Chief District Judge Raymond J. Dearie and faces five years in jail.
Continue reading “Mamie Manneh’s Monkey Meat: Court Rules Against Free Exercise Claim in Smuggling Case”
Bill Richardson has withdraw his nomination to be commerce secretary in the face of a federal grand jury investigation into whether he exchanged government contracts for contributions to three Richardson political committees. At the heart of the controversy is a California firm CDR Financial Products that is accused of pushing through a contract with the state of New Mexico by giving to the Richardson campaign.
Continue reading “Richardson Withdraws Under Cloud of Investigation”