This afternoon, the Plaintiffs in the World Bank/IMF protest case filed a notice with the Court of the receipt of an affidavit in the case from a police detective, who contradicts the sworn testimony of former D.C. (and current Philadelphia) Police Chief Charles Ramsey. As lead counsel in one of the two cases (with my colleague Daniel Schwartz of Bryan Cave), I am limited in what I can say on the case. However, to reduce calls to my office, I am posting the filing below.
Continue reading “Detective Offers Conflicting Testimony in World Bank Case”
Category: Politics
In the aftermath of the criminal conviction in France (here), the Church of Scientology is facing a call for a criminal investigation in Australia from Senator Nick Xenophon, who presented the case against the church before the legislature.
Continue reading “Xenophon v. Xenu: Leading Australian Senator Calls for Criminal Investigation of Church of Scientology”
Conservative commentators continue their war on the Constitution this week with increasingly shrill rhetoric of how our laws and civil liberties are endangering us. Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly, however, achieved a remarkable low by declaring “I don’t care about the Constitution” on air in a discussion of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try five detainees in New York.
Continue reading “O’Reilly: “I Don’t Care About The Constitution””
In North Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Randy Good has created a novel and disgusting nuisance. He has agreed to remove a pile of hundreds of dead deer from his property which has neighbors gagging from the odor.
Here is today’s column in USA Today on the continuing trend toward shaming or creative punishments.
Continue reading “Shaming Undermines Justice”
Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qaddafi (aka Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi) may have bombed at the United Nations with his rambling speech, but he is still trying to win the hearts and minds of the young. This week, Qaddafi spoke to an audience of young Italian women about the need for them to convert and come and see him in Libya for a vacation.
We recently saw a court rule that a quadriplegic has a right to hunt with a special chair where he literally blows away deer by blowing into a tube attached to the trigger. Now, Senators have adopted a provision to guarantee the right of “mentally incapacitated” veterans to buy firearms. After the shooting at Fort Hood, the provision passed with the support of Republican North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and Democratic Virginia Senator Jim Webb is attracting criticism.
The family of Matthias Mayhorn has filed a complaint against two Chicago police officers alleging that they dangled Mayhorn out of a second floor window, fired their weapons near him, and then dropped him. They also allege that the officers refused to call immediate medical attention. He died later at a hospital from his injuries. The case shows how one event can present radically different accounts.
President Barack Obama and his Administration set a new level of hypocrisy this weekend with calls on the Chinese government and military to end censorship and be more open with the public while barring disclosure of embarrassing photos of detainee abuse.
Continue reading “President Obama Calls On China to Be More Transparent and Open — And Then Bars The Release of Any More Photos of Detainee Abuse to the Media and Public”
We previously followed the investigation into the three deaths in a sweat lodge run by “Spiritual Warrior” James Arthur Ray at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona, Arizona. Now, the Lakota Sioux Tribe is suing, demanding the prosecution of Ray under the 1869 Treaty of Fr. Laramie for appropriating a Native American ritual.
Continue reading “Indian Tribe Sues Self-Help Author Over Use of Sweat Lodge”
Paul Clarke, 27, a veteran, thought that he was doing the right thing when he found a shotgun in his garden. He took the shotgun to the police station and was immediately arrested for possession of a firearm without permit and criminally charged — an offense that brings five years imprisonment. Prosecutor Brian Stalk insisted that this is a strict liability offense and his intent to help police does not matter — he is a menace to society as defined under the criminal code.
There is a disturbing trial being held in Zambia where the news editor of The Post, Chansa Kabwela, sent photos of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park without assistance to highlight the costs of a nursing strike and poor government policies. She was right. The officials, including Zambia’s President, Rupiah Banda, were horrified. They immediately arrested Kabwela for distributing pornography.
Continue reading “Journalist Charged with Pornography for Sending Pictures of Woman in Unassisted Child Birth to Government Officials”
Here is today’s column from the Washington Post on the benefits of a new type of “good-faith” defense. While “religious convictions” are usually a reference to personal faith, it turns out that it has a distinct and disturbing meaning for criminal sentencing.
Continue reading ““Religious Convictions”: When Children Die, Religion Is No Defense”
First there were the Knights Who Say Ni! (below). Now we have the problem of the lawyers who say Meep! After reading the recent publications over the decision of the principal of Danvers High School banning students from saying the word “Meep,” Entertainment lawyer Theodora Michaels decided to act and wrote a letter using the four-letter word to Principal Thomas Murray, who comes across as a high school version of Dean Vernon Wormer from Animal House. She was immediately reported to the police for investigation by the school.
Continue reading “The Lawyers Who Say Meep! High School Calls Police After Attorney Says Meep to Principal”
A federal court of appeals has ruled that Melanie Dawn Williams, 24, can sue after she was tackled by Jacksonville, Florida police in a hospital where she was experiencing a premature birth. Once inside the ER and she screamed, “I’m pregnant. Someone help me. I am bleeding.” It took the intervention of a nurse to get the police to release her to deal with her serious medical condition.