President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., was viewed as a shoe-in for confirmation. Now, however, the GOP is closing in on Holder’s alleged role in three controversial nominations and have asked to delay the hearings. In the meantime, a grand jury is now looking into a donor of Bill Richardson, who has been nominated for Commerce Secretary.
Continue reading “A Hold on Holder: AG Nominee Hits a Snag in Senate”
The Sklar litigation relating to the Church of Scientology was delivered another blow by the Ninth Circuit. Marla and Michael Sklar have been waging a rather lonely battle for 15 years to claim tax deductions for a portion of the tuition they pay to Jewish schools attended by their children. They are relying on the fact that the Internal Revenue Service granted Scientologists deductions for 80% of fees they pay for auditing and training. The IRS decision was viewed as the government knuckling under after litigation from Scientology and has raised legitimate concerns over equal treatment.
Continue reading “Sklars Lose Case Involving Scientology Tax Exemptions”
Fair winds and following seas carried the Turley armada to victory yesterday in the Cub Scout Regata.
Continue reading “The Turley Armada Rules The Waves”
Ex-federal prosecutor Richard Convertino was hammered by a federal judge for his allegedly unethical conduct in the Detroit terrorism case and investigated by the Justice Department for his misconduct. However, Convertino is now moving against Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter who has refused to disclose the sources underlying his true story that Convertino was under investigation. Convertino argues “that publication of truthful information about him was a criminal act.” Ashenfelter may soon go to jail on contempt if Convertino continues to press for sanctions.
Continue reading “Disgraced Federal Prosecutor Seeks to Punish Detroit Press Reporter”
Roman Polanski is back on the criminal docket. Thirty years after his conviction for a sex offense involving a minor, Polanski’s lawyers are asking a California court to dismiss the case against him, claiming prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. The filing is based on “extraordinary new evidence” of “repeated, unlawful, and unethical misconduct” by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the judge in Polanski’s case — evidence uncovered in the making of an HBO documentary, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.’
Continue reading “Roman Polanski Files to Set Aside Criminal Warrant”
Congratulations to everyone who regularly posts at this blog. Our blog has made the top 100 legal blogs in the annual survey by the ABA Journal. [OK, there is no trophy but I figured we needed something] The Journal is now taking votes on various categories from professor/legal theory blog (including this blog) and various other categories like crime and technology. This blog is in the top ten for professor/legal theory blogs and you can vote on the ranking by click vote now here.
Continue reading “Turley Blog Makes Top 100: Vote Now For Your Favorite Blogs”
The symbolism is perfectly exquisite. President George Bush, who has given out fewer pardons than any modern president, felt that he could not leave office without releasing Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo., who pleaded guilty in 1995 to unlawfully killing three bald eagles in southeast Missouri. Bush is generally viewed as the most hostile president to environmental protections in modern times. His pardons seemed to reflect that profile with another pardon going to a hazardous waste violator who was given a mere probation sentence. I will be discussing the Bush pardons with Rachel Maddow tonight.
Continue reading “Bush Pardons Man Who Killed Three Bald Eagles”
Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed last night at a Federalist Society dinner. As shown in the video below, he was caught by two nearby men who noticed him slumping at the podium.
Continue reading “Mukasey Collapses at Federalist Society Function”
On the heels of a major political defeat in California with the passage of Proposition 8, Connecticut Judge Johnathan Silbert has handed the movement a victory in kind: declaring same-sex or “gay marriage” legal in the state. Couples are reportedly rushing to the courthouse to take advantage of the ruling. This makes Connecticut the only other state (with Massachusetts) to recognize same-sex marriage.
Continue reading “Connecticut Court Declares Same Sex Marriage Legal”
Ok, I am a bit confused. Klara Mauerova, 31, is a member of a cannibal cult in teh Czech Republic who ortured her son in a locked cellar while relatives skinned him and forced him to eat his own flesh. The sentence: nine years. That is less than a tax evasion sentence.
If the difference between a Hockey Mom and a pit bull is lipstick, Gov. Sarah Palin may also want to throw in “and $150,000 in expenses.” It turns out that the lipstick is paid for by the Republican National Committee. This week Palin has been hammered by disclosures that she spent $150,000 of campaign money on clothes and make-up. In the meantime, another report has disclosed that she used state funds in Alaska to pay for the travel of her children — including changing records to indicate that they were on official travel despite the fact that the event organizers did not invite family members.
Details have emerged of the expanding scandal that may have compelled Chief Judge Edward Nottingham to resign. A prostitute from the Bada Bing Club in Denver has reportedly given evidence that Nottingham was not only a regular customer but asked her to lie to cover up their relationship. Continue reading “Bad Times at the Bada Bing: Chief Judge Nottingham Accused of Trying to Get a Prostitute From the Bada Bing to Lie”
Previously classified memos from the White House confirm that torture was directly approved at the highest level of the government. The Administration has previously suggested that it rescinded the infamous torture memo signed by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and treated that memorandum as an aberrant mistake. However, it is now confirmed that the White House approved a known form of torture to be used on detainees.
Continue reading “White House Directly Approved Torture in Newly Disclosed Memos”
A study of recent graduates of the Atlanta Police Department’s academy shows that one out of three have criminal records. The study also found that 36 percent admitted that they had been rejected by other police departments.
When the military tribunals were being created at Guantanamo Bay, some of us publicly stated that we would not take cases because the rules written by the Administration were fundamentally unfair and did not recognize core principles of due process. Since then, there have been a steady stream of prosecutors and defense lawyers in the military who have resigned in protest. The latest is Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld, who decided that he could no longer live with himself as a person or an attorney to participate in such a sham legal system.