In an act of self-condemnation, the Arab League has denounced the genocide charges and defended Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir. Many of these 22 countries engage in rampant abuses and torture. While they expressed fears of danger to national sovereignty, there is no doubt a fair measure of concern over their own acts of abuses.
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Category: Justice
Congressional hearings have revealed that John Yoo was the favored candidate to lead the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department based on a single resume item: his tolerance and support of torture. Alberto Gonzales and Cheney aide David S. Addington fought former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who submitted five names for the position that conspicuously omitted Yoo’s name.
With the Democratic leadership continuing to block any impeachment effort or any serious effort to hold officials liable for the U.S. torture program, Congress was free to hold another bizarre hearing today to calmly discussed our use of torture. Even though current Attorney General continues to evade the question, former Attorney General acknowledged and defended water boarding.
Another abuse story is emerging from the Middle East on the treatment of young girls. Nujood Ali, 10, was married to a man in his 30s, who then allegedly raped her. While she is now divorced, she has been criticized for confronting her husband and not accepting her fate. Not only was she denounced by some for not obeying her husband, but under Islamic Sharia law in Yemen, her family had to compensate the accused rapist.
Continue reading “Ten-Year-Old Girl in Yemen Married and Then Raped — Then Divorced”
A very disturbing case has emerged from Florida where police entrapped Frank Milio, a 94-year-old man suffering from dementia. What is remarkable is that prosecutors did not drop these charges. It took a judge to throw them out — allowing Milio to move into an assisted care facility. He is not the only geriatric scooped up by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which seems to developing a reputation for entrapping the elderly. Frank Underhill, 93 (pictured here), was arrested in the same operation.
On one level, Sarah E. Muller was successful. Muller, 23, did not want to serve on a jury at the Marion County Courthouse Monday. When County Judge R. James McCune Jr. refused to dismiss her, she called him a seven-letter word for an anus. She is now off the jury list and facing a potential six months in jail for contempt.
Continue reading “How Not to Avoid Jury Duty: Florida Women Curses Judge and Goes to Jail”
In Martha’s Vineyard, they sure know how to punish a prince. Saudi prince, Bader Al Saud, 26, killed Orlando Ramos, 37, in a crosswalk while driving drunk without a valid license. His punishment was a year in a converted home and then he simply disappeared while on probation. He will not, however, be allowed to attend next year’s masked ball or “silly dress” event.
In a long-delayed action, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has filed genocide charges against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur. It is a great moment for the rule of law and justice.
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When Ahmad Batebi appeared on the cover of the Economist nine year ago, the world was struck by the image of his holding up a shirt covered in the blood of another protester. The religious fanatics in Iran responded by arresting Batebi and torturing him. He was sentenced to death and then given a commuted sentence of 15 years. He recently escaped Iran to Iraq and is now in the United States.
An explosive new book will disclose a Red Cross report that found that the Bush Administration committed clear acts of torture and that Bush Administration officials could be charged with war crimes. The book The book, “The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals,” by New Yorker writer Jane Mayer, gives details of the confidential report. I will be discussing its implications on MSNBC’s Countdown tonight. For the video, click here.
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Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips has declared that Islamic legal principles can be applied by courts to resolve certain family, marital, or contractual cases. In a speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips said that Sharia can be applied so long as it does not conflict with English law.
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The Second Amendment has always been like the lost continent of the Constitution. Well, today the Supreme Court discovered it — right between the first and third amendments — after 127 years. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment does indeed create an individual right to gun ownership. The opinion can be accessed here.
The Supreme Court also gave a victory to millionaires running for office who can finance their campaigns more freely — or buy guns more easily.
In a remarkable admission, former Manhattan prosecutor Daniel Bibb has stated that he intentionally threw a murder case because he did not believe the evidence. The case against David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo has become a major embarrassment for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who is seeking reelection. Lemus was later acquitted and the charges dropped against Hidalgo in the Palladium case.
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The Supreme Court knows how to build suspense. While many expected the Court to release its long-awaiting decision on the Second Amendment in the Heller and Parker cases, the Court did not release the decision today. The array of opinions today has fueled speculation that Scalia will author the historic decision.
In a massive blow to the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favor of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the opinion below, Justice Kennedy delivers the opinion of a lifetime: holding faithfully to the Constitution in a time of prolonged crisis.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Rules in Favor of the Detainees in Massive Blow to Bush Administration”