An American journalist Roxana Saberi, 31, has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison after a closed door trial.
Continue reading “American Journalist Roxana Saberi Given Eight Year Sentence in Iran”
Category: Justice
The newly released torture memos reveal the comprehensive and premeditated character of America’s torture program. It also highlights the shameful role of now Judge Jay Bybee, who distorts the current law in the area to justify a clear war crime. In the meantime, former administration officials have called the release a danger to national security. I discussed the memos onthis segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “New Torture Memos Reveal Details of America’s Torture Program”
The President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo is facing an interesting paternity lawsuit. It is bad enough when your country’s president is charged with fathering a child with a then 16 year old girl. It is even worse if you were the Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo at the time.
Continue reading “Father of His Church and Country: Paraguay President Sued in Paternity Action”
Saudi Arabia has been hit with a torrent of criticism over the practice of arranged marriages involving children often ten or even younger. In a spasm of reform, Justice Minister Muhammad Issa has now announced a major reform: the government will “regulate” such marriages to avoid abuse. Of course, this is like saying that you will regulate pedophilia to guarantee that it is not abusive.
A new report establishes that the National Security Agency’s violations of federal law are much broader in scope than previously known, including the interception without warrants of the emails and telephone calls of American citizens. Once again, the question is where the congressional intelligence committee were during these continued violations and why citizens should place any trust in members who are tasked with the oversight of these programs.
After his recent trip to the Middle East to reach out to Muslims appears to have born fruit. A Pakistan leader has adopted the position of the Obama Administration on war crimes. Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi chief Sufi Mohammad has announced that Taliban murderers who have been accused of such crimes as burning schools, throwing acid in the faces of school girls, and killings should not be prosecuted because “[w]e intend to bury the past. These things will be left behind and we will go for a new life in peace.” It is the very logic that our President has been trying to advance as an excuse for not allowing an investigation into the torture program. Obama has insisted that “no one is above the law” while immediately guaranteeing that Bush officials are above the law by stating “My orientation’s going to be to move forward . . . getting things right in the future as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past.”
A federal appellate court has tossed out the lawsuit by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Rep. John Murtha for defamation after the congressman said that his Marine unit killed Iraqi women and children “in cold blood” in Haditha.
Continue reading “Appellate Court Throws Out Murtha Defamation Lawsuit On Immunity Grounds”
There are reports that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may be backing off of her nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross for state attorney general Palin’s nominee has long been a controversial and far-right figure. Various groups have come forward with extremist and bizarre statements attributed to Ross, who like to drive around in his Hummer with W.A.R. on this license plates (his initials)
Continue reading “W.A.R. (What is He Good For?): Sarah Palin’s Attorney General Triggers Firestorm”
Spanish prosecutors reportedly will seek criminal charges against Alberto Gonzales, Federal Appeals Court Judge and former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, University of California law professor and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, former Defense Department general counsel and current Chevron lawyer William J. Haynes II, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff David Addington, and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith. In a particularly embarrassing moment for the United States, the Audencia Nacional court in Madrid asked if or when the United States was going to investigate and said that it would not order the investigation if such an investigation is begun — yielding to the United States. This is precisely what was discussed in previously on Countdown.
After seeking adopting Bush positions on unlawful surveillance last week, President Obama has adopted another controversial Bush policy: opposing basic legal rights for detainees held in U.S. military prison in Afghanistan. Some of the most egregious allegations of torture and abuse have focused on such prisons as the one at Bagram Air base. President Obama is now claiming that access to courts and review in such cases would threaten national security.
Happy Easter to Everyone on the Turley Blog. The Easter Bunny came as expected this morning, bringing sugarly foodstuffs . . . and even edible grass this year!
While many of us think little of the level of effort needed for a single bunny to bring candy to all of the Goyim boys and girls each year, this picture shows that the holiday takes its tool on Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha.
Here my column in Sunday’s Washington Post on the increasing prosecutions in the West for insulting religion. The rise of international blasphemy prosecutions (and the proposal of the international criminalization of blasphemy) has sacrificed free speech in the name of free exercise.
Continue reading “International Blasphemy: The Free World Bars Free Speech”
Faith organizations and individuals have increasingly been sued over their exclusion or discrimination against homosexuals based on their religious beliefs. As the federal and state governments enforce anti-discrimination policies, they are turning against religious organizations which exclude members based on what they view as immoral practices.
Continue reading “Faith Groups Facing Liability Over Discriminatory Faith-Based Policies”
Former Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) and his allies are continuing their implausible campaign to rehabilitate the disgraced Senator and portray the Justice Department’s gross negligence as a vindication of the ethically challenged Stevens. Alaskan legislators in the House passed a resolution demanding not only an apology from the federal government but a lawsuit to recoup his fees and costs in defending himself.
Continue reading “Alaska Legislators Demand Apology to Stevens And Federal Lawsuit”