Pakistani media is reporting a disturbing series of comments by Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui who has shown the danger of Sharia law and the erosion of the separation of mosque and state. Justice Siddiqui went on a religious rant recently in denouncing “disrespectful” comments on social media and pledged to treat all such blasphemers as terrorists.
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The Trump Administration has issued a new executive order on immigration. As expected, the second order removes some of the most controversial provisions of the first order and tightens the language. Iraq has been dropped from the list of countries subject to the 90 day ban. However, there will be additional security of Iraqi nationals. That would leave Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya. The permanent ban on entry of Syrians has been removed. There is still a limit on all refugees to 50,000 — a 50 percent cut. Current VISA holders and permanent residents are exempted. Notably, this travel ban will be implemented on March 16 and the order will be dated to run from the date of the original executive order (which was . Finally, the preferential treatment afforded to religious minorities has been removed.
The new order removes the edges from the rather casual drafting of the first order. As I previously noted, good lawyering rarely changes the outcome of litigation but bad lawyering can. The first order reflects remarkably bad lawyering — if indeed it was drafted primarily by lawyers. Of course, this still distinguishes between people based on their nationality — the core of the challenge of the earlier litigation. Thus, it is likely that this will face new challenges — or attempts to amend earlier complaints. The rollout with the Secretary of State, Homeland Security Security, and the Attorney General shows a significant change in the level of professionalism from the more improvisational effort of the original order. It was a surprisingly sharp learning curve but the A-Team appears to have shown up to defend this order. The new order is below.
Continue reading “TRUMP SIGNS NEW IMMIGRATION EXECUTIVE ORDER”
With the chorus of calls for an “independent counsel” or “special prosecutor” to investigate the Russian hacking scandal, there has been one element that remains rather ambiguous: what is the specific crime to be investigated? Clearly there is the hacking but that crime is well-known and was committed by Russians who are unlikely to be subject to any real investigation. A special counsel, as opposed to a bipartisan commission, would require the articulation of a crime and the basis for the investigation. I am all in favor of independent investigations of this and other issues. However, if we are going to move beyond a special commission to special counsel we need to have more evidence and a notion of what we are investigating. That may come but we are not there yet. Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the subject — and the moral outrage over hacking.
Continue reading “Hacking and the Politics of Moral Outrage”
We have previously discussed the shocking rollback of free speech in France in the name of combating hate and intolerant speech. The latest fine was imposed on Jean-Marie Le Pen, the father of French conservative presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. His crime was calling Roma “smelly.” It was an offensive and prejudiced comment but the criminal prosecution of such insults demonstrates the slippery slope that France is now on — a slope that inevitably leaves to greater and greater speech control. This is the ninth time that Le Pen has been prosecuted for the crime of insulting other people or groups.
Continue reading “Father Of Conservative French Leader Ordered To Pay €5,000 For Offensive Speech”
Media is reporting that President Donald Trump will issue a new executive order on immigration this week but, according to a source this morning, not today. The order is expected to correct glaring problems in the first order. I have said previously that the original order was poorly drafted, poorly executed, and poorly defended. The Administration will have to significantly improve the lawyering behind any new executive order. Indeed, the law still favors the Administration and the disastrous rollout of the first order was the result of astonishingly casual and frankly sloppy work. As I have previously stated, good lawyering does not often materially alter the outcome of litigation but bad lawyering does. This is one such case. With case law favoring the Administration, the improvisational character of the first order created a target rich environment for courts.
Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu admitted on the stand in a Miami courtroom that he ate part of a fake passport while flying to the U.S. to cover up his illegal travel as part of a Cuban ballplayer smuggling operation. Now, I am admittedly a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and we have no love loss with our White Sox neighbors, but it is pretty amazing that this admission (given under a guarantee of immunity) has not resulted in Abreu being dropped by MLB or the White Sox team. Indeed, at the time of immigration reforms and crackdown, this is a case of someone who knowingly used and then destroyed a fake passport to gain entry into this country.
Continue reading “Chicago White Sox Admits To Eating Fake Passport While Flying To United States”
Until now, I thought “eco-terrorist” was an industry spin. However, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has gone all green. It appears that when his followers are not throwing acid in the faces of girls seeking to be educated or blowing up mosques and markets, they should be planting trees. It is the Taliban version of Greenpeace without the peace part.
Continue reading “Eco-Terrorists: The Taliban Goes Green With Tree Planting Message”
The line between cruelty and cuisine can at times be a bit hard to discern. We have previously discussed whether swallowing live gold fish (or even selling gold fish) is an act of criminal cruelty. Now a man, Daniel Challis, 24, has been found guilty of causing suffering to a fish after posting a video of his swallowing the fish on a dare.
Continue reading “Englishman Found Criminally Guilty In Swallowing of Gold Fish”
Artist Tracey Emin said that she had an idea after a long bout in bed during a stressful relationship period. After four days, she looked at the bed and discarded vodka bottles and cigarette butts and decided that she had created art. Many would say that her work is not art but an unmade bed. However, the work was put on the shortlist in 1999 for the prestigious Turner Prize and it has now been auctioned off for £2.546 million. That is over three million dollars for Emin’s unmade and stained bed.
Continue reading “Unmade Bed Goes For Over Three Million Dollars At Art Auction”
Iran is again showing the world the face of religious extremism. Previously, we discussed how chess officials were under fire for cooperating in the championship in Iran, which imposes dress codes and religious restrictions on visitors (particularly women). Now Iran has barred Dorsa Derakhshani, 18, from competing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017, because she appeared without an Islamic head scarf. Her brother, Borna Derakhshani, 15, was the banned for playing against an Israeli opponent. This follows a horrific account of a girl beaten by religious police for simply wearing jeans with holes in them. The brother and sister were also barred from the national team for their transgressions.
Word on the street is that the Trump Administration is prepared to issue a new executive order on immigration. While I have maintained that the law favors President Trump on this issue and I have been critical of the decision by the Ninth Circuit, I have also maintained that the original executive order was poorly written, poorly executed, and poorly defended. A second executive order could reset the litigation and cut away a key (and in my view questionable) component of the Ninth Circuit opinion in expressly exempting green card holders. The new order reportedly does precisely what many of us have suggested while keeping the majority of the prior order. By retaining the same countries and imposing the same conditions, the new order would protect the Administration politically from allegations that the President has backtracked. It would also leave the core basis for challenges on the merits of such travel limitations. I will be speaking on Capitol Hill on Tuesday about the President’s executive order authority at the US Capitol Visitors Center at noon.
Continue reading “Executive Redux: Administration Set To Issue New Order On Immigration”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In another example of attempts to legitimize murder for apostasy, an Islamist Cleric of the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) declared in an interview with the BBC that Kurds who leave Islam to convert to Zoroastrianism are to be murdered; or in his words “Killed and Executed.”
The cleric extended his hand of mercy by allowing those converts three days to regret their decision but thereafter are to be executed.
In an almost brutal irony, Mulla Hassib from Sulaimani said that Islamic religious tenets permit such executions, but ISIS’ practice of killing apostates is partially correct but he criticizes the terrorist organization for spreading the religion by means of “violence”.
Continue reading “Cleric: Killing Kurds Who Convert To Zoroastrianism Is “Legitimate””
The controversy over the Trump immigration executive order has already produced sharply conflicting orders from courts in Washington state and Massachusetts. A judge in Seattle has issued a temporary restraining order nationwide over the executive order while a judge in Boston declined to do so. Such divergent results are not uncommon in such controversies. However, as I have previously explained, I believe that the law favors the Administration despite good-faith arguments advanced by the challengers. Moreover, even if courts strike down a portion of the executive order, it is likely that other portions will be upheld on review. While I have been very critical of the order (and how it was rolled out), I still believe that the weight of binding authority on these trial courts favors President Trump. We should get an answer sooner than expected: the Administration has decided to ask for an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit to block the Seattle court. In the meantime, the airlines have been told to start to allow people on planes to the United States and the Justice Department is apparently not filing the emergency motion tonight. That means that people will start to arrive before the Justice Department files. It could look a bit curious that the Administration is claiming a national security danger in these entries but would wait to file the emergency motion.
Continue reading “Judges In Seattle and Boston Reach Opposing Opinions On Trump Executive Order”
Sheena Boll, 35, has been found guilty of a rather bizarre crime in London. The teacher posed as a sexual abused 14-yer-old student to implicate a colleague of pedophilia. In her underaged persona, Boll told police that she was sexually assaulted by the teacher. The police responded with a full investigation that led them back to the faux 14-year-old victim.
Yesterday, I discussed the constitutionality of the executive order halting all refugee entries to the United States. Late on Saturday, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly ruled in favor of a habeas corpus petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The petition was brought on behalf of two Iraqi men detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday. As I discussed on CNN after the ruling, this is decision to stay not to enjoin. The latter will require a showing by the ACLU that it is substantially likely to prevail on the merits, a tough standard to satisfy. Judge Donnelly effective froze developments in the case pending a hearing on the case.Continue reading “Federal Court Stays Executive Order On Refugees”
