For some environmentalists, there are few people as vile as Scottsdale-based developer George H. Johnson and his associates. Johnson was accused of bulldozing, filling and diverting a 5-mile stretch of the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries. As Joe Biden would say, “let me repeat that” 5 MILES. While the government reached a settlement with a $1.25 million penalty, Johnson and his contractor will not have to admit guilt and will not face any possible criminal charge.
Category: Justice
In a clear effort to simply delay an investigation until after the November election, Alaskan GOP politicians have appealed the recent ruling upholding the investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski dismissed their lawsuit Thursday shortly before the debate. I discussed the ruling on the Rachael Maddow Show. This is precisely the same tactic used by Dick Cheney and the Bush Justice Department in filing motions and appeals to advance meritless claims for the sole purpose of delay. In political cases, justice delayed is justice.
Continue reading “Delay and Conquer: GOP Politicians Appeal Troopergate Ruling”
Given the Second Circuit’s overturning of the New York terrorism convictions, the testimony below before Congress may offer a broader understanding of the poor performance of the Bush Administration in this area.
Continue reading “The Body Count Culture: The Bush Administration’s Record on Prosecuting Terrorism Cases”
In another loss of the Bush Administration, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the convictions of Sheik Mohammed Ali Al-Moayad and Mohammed Mohsen Zayed. Ironically, when the decision came down, I was speaking at Cleveland State College of Law on the dismal record of the Bush Administration in prosecuting terrorism cases. This case is another example of how the Justice Department has undermined its own cases with poor quality and sensational tactics.
Continue reading “Second Circuit Overturns Major Terrorism Convictions”
After many months of refusing demands for a special prosecutor, Attorney General Michael Mukasey has finally yielded after the Justice Department’s own Inspector General called for such an appointment. He appointed Nora Dannehy, an experienced career federal prosecutor in Connecticut.
Continue reading “Special Prosecutor Appointed to Investigate the U.S. Attorneys Firings”
For many months, some of us have been calling for a special prosecutor to handle allegations of criminality in the Bush Administration, particularly with regard to unlawful surveillance, torture, and political firings. Now the Inspector General has called for such an appointment to further investigate the removal of nine U.S. Attorneys — adding pressure to Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Continue reading “Inspector General’s Report Calls for Appointment of Special Prosecutor”
The Library of Congress has lost a major discrimination case brought by a former special forces commander. Diane Schroer (formerly David Schroer) was hired as a senior terrorism analyst, but then denied the position when he informed the Library of Congress that he intended to have a sex change operation. The opinion below is an important victory for transgender rights and a baffling decision by the Justice Department to defend such a clearly discriminatory act.
Continue reading “Bush Administration Loses Major Case of Transgender Discrimination at Library of Congress”
Natalie Walters is looking at a two-day trial and potentially six months in jail. Her crime? She poured a soda on the counter of a cafeteria at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.
U.S. Attorney Tom Moss is pursuing her conviction with remarkable vigor.
Continue reading “In the Can: Bush Administration Prosecutes Woman for Spilling Diet Coke”
Recently, a study from one of my former colleagues at Tulane Law School attracted national attention, including on this blog. The study by Tulane Law Professor Vernon Palmer and Loyola assistant professor of economics John Levendis found a disturbing correlation between contributions and voting on the Court. The Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero Jr., has now released a letter from Tulane Law School Dean Lawrence Ponoroff apologizing to the Court for errors in the study.
Continue reading “Tulane Law School Issues Apology for Errors in Study of Louisiana Supreme Court”
British courts will now enforce rulings from Sharia courts in cases ranging from divorce to domestic violence. The five Sharia courts will now be recognized as binding systems of adjudication.
Continue reading “England Officially Recognizes Sharia Rulings”
Just when you thought you had heard everything to worry about as a parent, Neil Havens Rodreick II comes along (pictured on the left). The 30-year-old sex offender was able to pose as a 12-year-old boy in Arizona schools for two years. He has been criminally charged. However, he is not unique. In England, James Chester, 22, posed as a teen schoolboy to have sex and eventually flee with a 13-year-old girl.
Prosecutors were heralded recently for their prosecution of James Ford Seale for the kidnapping of two black teenagers in Mississippi in 1964 that led to the deaths of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee. The former klansman was tried over 40 years after the crime, but a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the prosecution violated the five-year statute of limitations for such crimes.
Continue reading “Court Overturns James Ford Seale’s Conviction for 1964 Murders”
Saira Nusrat Bibi has become the latest victim in the barbaric cycle of arranged marriages and honor killings in Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries. Forced into a marriage at age nine to a 45-year-old man, she had taken the extraordinary step to fighting for an annulment. She was winning in that effort, but (now 17) was denounced by many in the country as an heretic against Islam. Her parents have now killed her in the latest honor killing.
Continue reading “Honor Killing: Parents Kill Girl Who Sought Annulment After She was Forced to Marry 45-Year-Old Man — at Age 9”
There is a showdown brewing in Box Butte County, Nebraska. On one side are prosecutors has a standing case against a defendant and on the other is Val McCabe who just wants to stand. Val, and his brilliantly named wife Muffy Buckles, are suing the county for his leg back despite the prosecutors insistence that it is evidence being held by the Alliance Police Department.
Continue reading “No Leg to Stand On: Prosecutors Refuse to Give Back Prosthetic Leg of Shooting Victim”
This is an extraordinary and deeply disturbing story. In Polk County, a sexual predator of young men named Sgt. Scott Lawson was allowed to carry out a personal fantasy as an officer with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in pursuing and abusing young men during his 11-year career. In 2002, Lawson chased two young men in his unmarked police car (without activating his lights) and allegedly forced them into an accident — killing Miles White and seriously injuring Adam Jacoby. There is evidence that Lawson rammed their car — forcing it into a tree — but the police investigators allowed Lawson’s car to be removed from the scene and did not interview Lawson. He was heralded by police as a hero until he was later found to be a sexual predator of young boys.