Civil libertarians are alarmed by Sunday’s interview with the House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes, suggesting that the House may surrender on the telecom immunity question. For a short period of time, it appeared that for once members of Congress would actually stand on principle and refuse immunity. Now, Reyes is saying that he is open to “compromise” and that a deal may be close. Continue reading “House Intelligence Chairman Indicates that House May Capitulate on Telecom Immunity”
Category: Criminal law
Animal rights advocates (and virtually every other human being) are in shock over this video showing U.S. soldiers showing a puppy off a cliff for fun. Bloggers have allegedly identified the culprit as a David Motari, but this has not been confirmed by the military and there remains the identity of the other soldiers. It is also not the first such video of animal cruelty by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Continue reading “Shocking Video Shows U.S. Soldier Throwing Puppy Off Cliff”
A divided Virginia Supreme Court upheld the conviction Jeremy D. Jaynes under the state’s 2003 Anti-Spam Act. While many of us hate to admit it, he may have a point that the law is constitutionally flawed. This is one that may be heading to the Supreme Court. Continue reading “Spam and the First Amendment: Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Spam Law”
In a remarkable ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Borman has ordered firebrand attorney Geoffrey Fieger to pull TV commercials critical of the Bush Administration. Borman ruled that such ads threatened to influence the jury pool in Fieger’s upcoming trial for making illegal contributions to the John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign. It is an extremely rare ruling that pits judicial administration against the first amendment. Continue reading “Federal Court Orders Geoffrey Fieger to Pull Anti-Bush Administration Ads from TV”
Attorney General Michael Mukasey waited until late Friday to announce that he will block any prosecution of Bush officials for contempt of Congress. Mukasey’s protection of White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers could trigger a major inter-branch fight and advances yet another extreme legal interpretation of executive authority by the Bush Administration. It is not surprising, therefore, that he waited until late on a Friday to try to minimize media scrutiny of this controversial decision. Continue reading “Mukasey Blocks Any Prosecution of Bush Officials for Contempt of Congress”
The United States has now passed a milestone, one of every one hundred adults are in prison or jail. This number grows even more when one considers the number of people on parole or probation. While the dollar is at a record low and our economy is collapsing, we can now at least claim that America now runs the world’s largest prison system. Continue reading “Prison America: 1 in 100 Americans Are Now Behind Bars”
After YouTube blocked a video posted by a human rights activist on Russian prison abuse, the company has yielded to international objections and restored the video. The video shows the chronic abuse that occurs within the Russian prison system. Continue reading “YouTube Restores Russian Prison Abuse Video”
While other departments are trying to teach non-violent methods, Russia appears to favor a more physical approach, as shown in this video. Continue reading “Video: Russian Police Demonstrate Their Beat-First-Question-Later Approach”
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been trying hard — and spending millions in public funds — to bury a scandal related to his affair with a former aide. The most recent defeat for Kilpatrick came yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled that documents from a civil case could be made public — adding more evidence of Kilpatrick’s cover-up of an affair with his chief of staff Christine Beatty. Continue reading “Michigan Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Appeals of Detriot Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick”
Roger Clemens’ decision to testify before Congress without immunity was a considerable risk designed to protect his legacy. He may now lose both his legacy and his liberty. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking for a criminal investigation into whether Clemens gave false information to Congress in the investigation in to the use of performance enhancing drugs. Continue reading “Congress Refers Clemens Matter to the Justice Department for Criminal Investigation”
Michael Ray, a federal inmate, could rightfully claim some confusion. A “jailhouse lawyer,” Ray convinced the United States Supreme Court to accept an important prisoner case this term — an achievement unmatched by the vast majority of practicing lawyers. Now, however, the South Carolina State Attorney General is reportedly investigating Ray for possible charges of practicing without a license. What is particularly curious is that this is the same state that recently admitted well-connected applicants for the bar after they flunked the exam. South Carolina appears to have entered some parallel universe where success in the law is failure while failure in the law is success. Continue reading “South Carolina Moves Against Successful Jail House Lawyer While Allowing Unsuccessful Bar Applicants to Become Lawyers”
Only recently, the Saudi police arrested an American businesswoman who sat down at a Starbucks next to a man who was not a family member. Now, a university professor has been sentenced to eight months in jail and 180 lashes for having coffee with a female student in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested by the religious police for being in a state of khulwa – seclusion – with an unrelated female. Continue reading “Saudi Coffee Police Strike Again: Professor Sentenced to Prison and 180 Lashes for Having Coffee With Student”
A Tortured Defense;
The guessing game is over. We know the U.S. government OK’d and utilized waterboarding. So what — if anything — are we going to do about it? Continue reading “The Tortura De Bush and the Administration’s Taste for Khmer-Style Waterboarding”
Arizona Bus driver Kim Sullivan has been charged with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct after the video below was shown to authorities. On the video, Sullivan is shown in a full hair-pulling wrestling match with a student. Three students were also charged. It seems likely that civil litigation will likely result from the controversy. Continue reading “Video: Criminal Charges Filed After School Bus Video Shows Fight Between Bus Driver and Students”
An interesting story on tasers has come out of Canada. In Ottawa, the police department instituted special “responsibility pay” if they regularly took a course on the proper use of force. The result appears to be a sharp drop in the use of force and tasers. Continue reading “Taser Use Drops After Ottawa Introduces “Responsibility Pay””