Some 144 Turkish mosques in the Netherlands are demanding that Twitter bar any tweets from conservative politician Geert Wilders due to what they alleged are hateful and disparaging comments. As many on this blog know, I hold to a robust view of free speech protections. I tend to oppose censorship through both governmental and private means. This is no exception. It has nothing to do with Wilders’ views. I remain committed to the view that the best way of dealing with bad speech is good speech — not the censorship or criminalization of case. Continue reading “Mosques Demand Twitter Bar Any Tweets By Geert Wilders”
Category: Criminal law
The family of Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser is alleging that the jouranalist was tortured to death by the Saudi government just as the government is dealing with an investigation into the murder of Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its Istanbul consulate. Continue reading “Did The Saudis Just Kill Another Journalist?”
Hint: Christopher T. Queen, 48, is the face of our times in this midterm election. Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
While many Americans are calling for greater unity in the country, anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan is in Tehran spewing his usual hateful message including reportedly leading a chant of “Death to America” and calling America the “Great Satan.” Despite the reprehensible comments in support of a nation that spreads terrorism and oppresses its own people, I still believe that it is protected speech despite the existence of the Logan Act, which makes it illegal for citizens to intervene in disputes or controversies between the United States and foreign governments. That Act is widely viewed as unconstitutional and has never been used to convict a single U.S. citizen since it was enacted in 1799. Continue reading ““The Great Satan”: Farrakhan Finds His Happy Place . . . In Tehran”
I have previously written about the mutually assured destruction that could await the two parties if they pursue alleged false statements related to the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. Now, however, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley referred a new possible target for indictment to the Justice Department and this referral could prove a strong case for such an indictment. My objections in the prior column concerned difficulty in proving intentional false statements over the description of habits or incidents occurring decades earlier. However, the letter from Grassley details alleged admissions from Judy Munro-Leighton that she knowingly lied in claiming to be a previously identified “Jane Doe” and to have been raped repeatedly by Kavanaugh in the backseat of a car.
As many of you know, I have a particular interest in early mugshots and I recently came about this mugshot of “Harry Crawford” who turned out to be a woman named Eugenia Falleni. In one of the first well-known transgender cases in history, the New Zealand case was dubbed the “man-woman” murderer in 1913. Continue reading “Meet Eugenia Falleni (AKA Harry Crawford) — Murderer (1913)”
Many of us were critical of President Donald Trump’s statement that he told U.S. soldiers to shoot migrants who throw stones. It took little time for authoritarian figures to latch on to the statement. Nigeria’s army played the video of Trump to justify its shooting of protesters resulting in as many as 49 deaths. In the meantime, National Security adviser John Bolton gave a speech in which he praised Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s new president, as a “like-minded” leader. The incident is reminiscent of Trump’s praise for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who is an international pariah for his orders to police to murder drug suspects and his bragging about his own killings. Bolsonaro is a notorious figure who is a demonstrated racist, sexist, and homophobe who praises military dictatorship as well as torture. He also said that he would prefer his son be dead then gay.
As with so many constitutional and political disputes, the renewed controversy over the 14th Amendment has both sides claiming degrees of clarity and certainty that belied by a long and convoluted historical record. I have written and spoken this week about the arguments on both sides of this issue — a debate that has raged for 150 years. Frankly, I believe a court ruling would be welcomed to bring clarity and closure to the issue. The plain meaning of the 14th Amendment supports unlimited birthright citizenship and that is likely where the courts would come out on the issue. Nevertheless, from the time of ratification, there has been a debate over that interpretation with many Democratic and Republican members arguing for decades that the matter is left to Congress. For decades, many have held to the belief that either the14th Amendment leaves the matter to Congress or limits the right to birthright citizenship. Continue reading “Interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment: The Long and Convoluted Record on Birthright Citizenship”
Here is our annual list of Halloween torts and crimes. Halloween of course remains a holiday seemingly designed for personal injury lawyers around the world and this year’s additions show why. Halloween has everything for a torts-filled holiday: battery, trespass, defamation, nuisance, product liability and more. This year’s addition is a real dozzy.
So, with no further ado, here is this year’s updated list of actual cases related to Halloween. Continue reading “Spooky Torts: The 2018 List Of Halloween Litigation Horrors”
Many people might empathize with Scientific Engineer Sergey Savitsky, 55, who was fed up with a fellow scientist who repeatedly told him the endings of books that he was reading. It made it all the worse when the two men were confined to a research center in Antarctica. However, Savitsky took the spoiler gripe a bit too far in stabbing welder Oleg Beloguzov, 52, with a kitchen knife. It is reportedly the first recorded attempted murder in Antarctica — a rare distinction to be the first such criminal in an entire continent. Continue reading “Artistic License? Scientist in Antarctica Stabs Colleague For Repeatedly Spoiling The Ending Of Books”
There is a novel criminal charge in Kentucky where Jeffrey Wisecup, 27, is accused of watching his mother commit suicide and not acting to prevent it. It is a charge based on a theory of an affirmative duty to act to save someone — a premise long rejected in the United States where the “no duty to rescue” rule has been a long-standing part of torts. Continue reading “Kentucky Man Charged With Murder For Failing To Stop His Mother From Committing Suicide”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the increasing calls on both the Democratic and Republican sides for perjury investigation stemming from the Kavanaugh hearings. If both parties eagerly open the perjury box, they could find Pandora’s box looks tame by comparison. (For purposes of full disclosure, Michael Avenatti is a former student of mine from George Washington University Law School).
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Pandora Moment: Both Democratic and Republican Leaders Call For Investigations Over Perjury Linked To Kavanaugh Confirmation”
San Francisco has triggered a national debate over its decision to register undocumented migrants to vote in school board elections. However, a more pressing controversy may be the amount of money spent on the effort. San Francisco spent $310,000 to register just 49 people in the city. That translates to $6,326 a vote. The measure has created an interesting split among advocates as some have warned the city could be giving ICE a ready-made list for roundups of deportations. Continue reading “San Francisco Spends $6,326 A Vote To Register 49 Undocumented Migrants To Vote”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A ruling by Division Three of the Washington State Court of Appeals might be worth reviewing for those not only in the state but elsewhere as the opinion demonstrates an interpretation of the federal Truth in Lending Act governing credit card liability of consumers. It could also affect at least in Washington whether to charge a defendant with a financial crime or the possession of stolen property due to a Federal Reserve Board opinion that could affect charging elements resulting from the theft of a CardLock access device.
In Connell Oil, Inc. v. McConnell-Johnson, Appellants “The Marital Community of Erik and Jackie McConnell Johnson” appealed a trial court ruling favorable to plaintiff Washington Corporation “Connell Oil, Inc.” after the oil company demanded damages and attorney fees amounting to $34,649.68 resulting from the fraudulent use of the Johnson’s petroleum CardLock access card after the device was stolen from one of Mr. Johnson’s farm vehicles. Defendants claimed that they were not fully liable for the unauthorized charges under the federal Truth in Lending Act which ordinarily protects consumers from fraudulent credit card charges.
The Court “conclude[d] the trial court did not err when it ruled that the stolen cardlock was not a credit card for purposes of TILA and entered judgment in favor of Connell Oil.” Connell Oil received an award of attorney and legal fees as it was the prevailing party.
The FBI lived up to its international reputation in nailing the suspected mail bomber within just a few days of the first appearance of pipe bombs at the offices or homes of leading critics of President Donald Trump. He is Cesar A. Sayoc, 56, a Trump supporter and body builder with a criminal history. He has appeared at Trump rallies and identifies himself as a Native American for Trump. He has been described as a “muscle head stripper” for his former boss.
Continue reading “FBI Arrests Pro-Trump Florida Man As Suspected Mail Bomber”