It appears that the Iranian government is not just concerned with Satanic Verses but Satanic vests and other “unIslamic” outfits. The Iranian police have arrested 49 people this week in a northern Iranian city of Qaemshahr in a crackdown on “satanic” clothes.
Continue reading “Fashion Police: Iran Arrests 49 People for “Satanic” Clothing”
There is another outrage emerging from the Iraqi legal system this week, targeting a journalist Adel Hussein. Hussien has been sentenced to six months for writing a story on homosexuality and the physical effects of homosexual sex. He was convicted of violating public decency in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.
Continue reading “Journalist Jailed in Iraq for Writing Story on Homosexuality”
Police in Springfield, Ohio are dealing with a bit of challenging case to charge. Timothy Havens, 38, claims that he accidentally shot his estranged wife, Carolyn Havens, 42, while having sex. As the audio tape below indicates, he insists that he was reaching for something on the night stand when the gun went off. This is not the only bizarre crime involving couples this week, which serve as chilling reminders that these people are allowed to vote and driving vehicles freely in our society.
Continue reading “Home With the Havens: Man Shoots Wife During Sex in Alleged Accident”
The tough economic times are producing some highly questionable revenue measures by cities and states. One of the most problematic is the growing trend for towns, cities, and counties to charge citizens to use of police or fire services in emergencies. At least 24 states have such laws on the books and private contractors are pushing for every state to allow them to collect from crime and fire victims.
Continue reading “Fire Sale: Fire and Police Departments Charging Victims for Services”
As Wal-Mart faces lawsuits over its failure to stop a lethal holiday stampede, it is also facing a bizarre case in its Greensburg, Pennsylvania store. A 29-year-old man has been questioned over his videotaping of other men going to the toilet.
A terrible case has emerged from Albert Lea, Minnesota where two of the former Good Samaritan Society employees — 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson — have been criminally charged with the abuse of elderly patients in a nursing home. A total of eight juveniles were allegedly involved and four have been charged with failing to report the abuse. The case may trigger civil litigation against both the nursing home and potentially the Good Samaritan Society itself.
Continue reading “Teen Good Samaritans Charged With Elder Abuse at Nursing Home”
Roman Polanski is back on the criminal docket. Thirty years after his conviction for a sex offense involving a minor, Polanski’s lawyers are asking a California court to dismiss the case against him, claiming prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. The filing is based on “extraordinary new evidence” of “repeated, unlawful, and unethical misconduct” by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the judge in Polanski’s case — evidence uncovered in the making of an HBO documentary, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.’
Continue reading “Roman Polanski Files to Set Aside Criminal Warrant”
An interesting case has emerged out of Loveland, Colorado. J.P. Weichel, 40, has been criminally charged for libel for statements that he made on CraigsList under a nineteenth century law. Weichel allegedly made the comments in Craigslist’s “Rants and Raves Section.” Weichel says that he “was just venting.” It is a rare case of such defamation that is made even more rare by the use of a criminal versus civil charge.
Continue reading “Rants and Raves: Man Criminally Charged for Alleged Libel on Craigslist”
New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress is looking at a very serious prosecution after shooting himself in the leg with his own gun while at a club in New York. In the meantime, a hospital worker New York Presbyterian Hospital who appears to have helped Burress by not reporting the gunshot has been fired.
Continue reading “Giant Killer: Plaxico Burress Facing Jail Time Over Gun Wound”
Congratulations to everyone who regularly posts at this blog. Our blog has made the top 100 legal blogs in the annual survey by the ABA Journal. [OK, there is no trophy but I figured we needed something] The Journal is now taking votes on various categories from professor/legal theory blog (including this blog) and various other categories like crime and technology. This blog is in the top ten for professor/legal theory blogs and you can vote on the ranking by click vote now here.
Continue reading “Turley Blog Makes Top 100: Vote Now For Your Favorite Blogs”
One of the strangest cases in years is now over in Connecticut, but the resolution is hardly satisfying. Connecticut substitute teacher, Julie Amero, 41, pleaded guilty plea to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and agreed to pay a $100 fine as well as surrender her credentials to teach in the state of Connecticut. The case seems a troubling example of prosecutorial over-zealousness and computer illiteracy.
Continue reading “Pop-Up Justice in Norwich: Connecticut Teacher Stripped of Credentials and Forced to Plead Guilty to Crime Due to a Likely Computer Glitch”
A leader of a local Christian University is facing sex charges. Robert Williams is the Chief Financial Officer of Cincinnati Christian University has been arrested for sexual imposition — grabbing an undercover cop in a sexual manner.
Continue reading “Christian University Official Arrested for Sex Crime”
The small town of Lee’s Summit, Missouri has an amazing case unfolding in front of its city council. Ted White recently won a federal case showing that detective Richard McKinley violated his civil rights after spending five years behind jail on a sexual abuse charge. White found out later that McKinley was allegedly having an affair with his wife at the time. He is now laying out the case before the city council and demanding that McKinley be fired.
Continue reading “Missouri Man Alleges that Detective Framed Him of a Crime While Having an Affair With His Wife”
I predict palm readers will soon appear in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Alright, I had a little help from a federal court in New Orleans. A court has ruled that the parish prohibition on soothsaying, fortune telling, palm reading, clairvoyance, crystal ball gazing, mind reading, card reading “and the like” is unconstitutional. Now, the parish government has voted to rescind the law and allow the tarot cards to fall. Other cities are following suit in addressing these prohibitions.
Well-known defense attorney Walter L. Blair, who practiced with the Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and has litigated some high-profile cases, is facing very serious criminal allegations and making some controversial claims in his own defense. Blair, 57, is representing himself after being indicted for money laundering and witness tampering. He is hardly telling his client to take a low profile and avoid public controversy. Blair has filed a lawsuit alleging racism and anti-Jamaican bias is behind the indictment.
Continue reading “Well-Known Lawyer Accuses Prosecutors of Racism and Being Anti-Jamaican After Being Indicted for Money Laundering and Other Crimes”