The former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson received a sentence of 13 years today — the longest term ever imposed on a congressman convicted of bribery. However, it was significantly below the 27 years sought by the Justice Department, which also failed in its attempt to have Jefferson immediately incarcerated. Instead, Jefferson, 62, will be allowed to remain free pending his appeals.
Continue reading “Ex-Rep. William Jefferson Given 13-Year Sentence”
Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered actual trials for five 9/11 suspects rather than military tribunals. The decision places the United States squarely back on the road of the rule of law in giving due process even to our most hated defendants. The five defendants include 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The other four are Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali. However, this courageous act was diminished by an inexplicable decision of Holder to order five other defendants — including USS Cole suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri — be tried in a military tribunal. I discussed this decision on this segment of MSNBC Countdown.
Continue reading “9-11 Defendants to be Given Real Trials as Holder Stands on Principle — Sort Of”
Maj. Nidal M. Hasan was charged by the Army with 13 counts of premeditated murder. To the chagrin of conservative commentators, he is not charged with terrorism, a controversy I discussed last night on this segment of Rachel Maddow.
Many of us expressed outrage at the actions of the city leaders of New London, Connecticut when they used eminent domain to seize the property of citizens against their will in order to give it to the Pfizer corporation. This anger grew with the inexplicable decision of the Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London to uphold the abusive action. Now, after all of the pain the city caused its own residents and $80 million it spent to buy and bulldoze the property, Pfizer announced this week that it was closing the facility — leaving the city worse off than when it began. For prior testimony on the Kelo decision, click here.
Continue reading “Kelo’s Revenge: Pfizer Abandons New London Site After Town Used Eminent Domain to Destroy Homes of Residents”
ACORN is continuing its approach of “the best defense is a good offense.” The group has not only sued the filmmakers who recently disclosed misconduct by the organization, but it is now suing Congress for its ban on federal funding to the organization, alleging a bill of attainder in singling out the non-profit.
Continue reading “ACORN Challenges Congressional Ban on Federal Funds”
It appears that opponents of same-sex marriage cannot even tolerate the thought of gay couples being buried together. Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri (R) has vetoed a bill that would have added “domestic partners” to the list of people authorized by law to make joint funeral arrangements. He feels that idea of joint burials smacks too much of a marriage.
Continue reading “Keeping Corpses Straight: Rhode Island Governor Bars Same Sex Couples From Joint Funeral Arrangements”
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington appears to have learned a few secular lessons from corporate felons in that state. On the eve of the first trial of dozens of sex-abuse cases with hundreds of millions in potential damages, the diocese filed for bankruptcy to try to make any damages more difficult to collect. The decision by Bishop W. Francis Malooly is being attacked as an effort to reduce potential damages in the various cases moving toward trial.
Educators at the Rosewood Middle School had struggled with raising money. Candy and other traditional items did not generate much money for the Goldsboro, North Carolina school. Then they found a commodity that the public was hankering for: they started to sell grades. Until, that is, a bunch of do gooders stepped in and objected.
Continue reading “Alma Market: North Carolina School Ordered to Stop Selling Grades as Fundraiser”
A New Jersey judge has ruled at a quadriplegic must be allowed to buy a gun for hunting, which will be mounted on his wheelchair and fired by blowing into a tube. James Cap has been paralyzed for 30 years after an injury in a high school football game.
Continue reading “Blowing Away Deer: Judge Rules That Quadriplegic Has Right to Gun To Hunt”
Bill O’Reilly made an extraordinary statement last night in addressing the difficult fact that “we can’t kill all the Muslims.” This follows an equally bizarre statement from his interviewee Fox News contributor Col. Ralph Peters that there are no Christian or Jewish terrorists.
The Vatican appears to have gotten over that whole Galileo business when they were willing to put scientists to death for saying that the Earth moved around the Sun. Now, the Pope’s chief astronomer, Father Jose Gabriel Funes, says that intelligent life may exist on other planets and the Holy See is looking to the skies.
Glenn Beck has lost a bizarre trademark fight with the founder of glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com, Isaac Eiland-Hall. Eiland-Hall created the Internet sensation to mock the style of Beck and Fox News — leading to a challenge over the use of Beck’s name with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
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Many followed the case (here) of Daniel Hauser of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota when his fundamentalist Mom fled with him to avoid chemotherapy for his cancer on religious grounds. Few may be aware of the end of the story. He has completed his last chemotherapy sessions and is now cancer-free — thanks to the judge who overrode his mother’s objections.
There is an intriguing case in London where the British courts will decide who is a Jew and who decides such a question. The British have long maintained publicly supported religious schools — an affront to the separation of church and state. Now, inevitably, the state must decide who can be excluded from one of the Jewish schools run by the government. Not surprisingly, at the heart of the controversy is Lord Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, who recently blamed secularism for the decline and potential fall of Western Civilization, here. He insists that only children with Jewish mothers (recognized in Orthodox synagogues) are truly Jewish.
Continue reading “Separation Anxiety: British Courts To Decide Who Is a Jew”
Jeddah police arrested two female professors from King Abdulaziz University this week for the crime of driving themselves to the mall. Police were shocked by the sight of a woman behind the wheel of a car and immediately pulled them over. We have previously followed the struggle of women to enjoy this freedom of movement in the Kingdom (here)
Continue reading “DWF (Driving While Female): Two Professors Arrested in Saudi Arabia for Driving Themselves to the Mall”