I have long been critical of the criminalization of American society, particularly at our schools We have seen school pranks charged as crimes in high school (and here). Now three 12-year-old girls at Deltona Middle School in Volusia County in Florida have been charged for the prank of putting pepper in the soft drink of their teacher. The question is why these cases (which used to be handled as a disciplinary matter for the school) had to be handed over to the police and prosecutors. There are heavy penalties that can be meted out like barring the student from graduation.
Category: Society
We deal with so many truly horrible crimes on this blog that it is often difficult to be truly shocked by the actions of some felons. However, if the allegations are proven, Kimberly Bradford, 41, may be a true stand out. Bradford is accused of stealing money from Christmas cards sent to Sa’fyre Terry, the badly burned 8-year-old survivor of a 2013 arson. Volunteers were used to sort through the outpouring of cards and gifts for Sa’fyre sent to “Safyre’s Angels.” As one of those “angels”, Bradford was one of a number of volunteers suspected of pocketing money and gift cards.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of addressing the American Association of Clinical Urologists on recent developments in law and medicine as well as the controversy over the Supreme Court vacancy left by the passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. I walked past the White House to the speech at the Willard Hotel and was stopped in my tracks by a state funeral in the making. The gun carriage and white horses seemed eerily familiar. It turned out to be the shooting of a scene for a movie called “Jackie,” which I gather is a reference to the former first lady. The procession was meant to reenact the JFK processional.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In the aftermath of one of the worst shootings of police officers in Washington in decades–where four Lakewood officers were gunned down as they dined at local coffee shop–citizens expressed their grief and horror for such a tragic and senseless act. The Lakewood Police Independent Guild formed a memorial fund for the benefit of widows, husbands, children, and other family members. Donations poured in from within the state and elsewhere. It was a remarkable showing of solidarity and compassion towards a grieving family of law enforcement officers and their friends.
Yet to the disgust of everyone, Skeeter Manos, one of Lakewood’s own officers, took advantage of their generosity and bilked these families out of $112,000.00. He also stole $47,000.00 from the guild’s funds in his capacity as treasurer.
To take money after the slaying of his brother and sister officers is just about as low as you can get. As a further act of his depravity, he burned through these families’ money by purchasing luxuries such as expensive vacations and other frivolous toys.
Manos later pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court and was consequently sentenced to two years of a potential twenty year maximum. Several months ago, he was unfortunately released.
In a testament to the old parable “There is no honor among thieves” he again is in trouble with the law. This time, he is alleged to have stolen from a new employer who wanted “to give him a second chance.”
Continue reading “Former Officer Convicted Of Embezzling Money From Slain Officers’ Fund Arrested Again For Theft”
I have long been critical of the indictment of former Texas Governor Rick Perry. Two years ago, Perry was indicted by a grand jury in Austin on charges of abuse of power. The charges stem from Perry carrying out a threat to veto funding the budget for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit, which handles political corruption investigations. The charges have now been dismissed but I remain concerned that such charges were brought in the first place.
Continue reading “Court Tosses Out Indictment of Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry”
The Malaysian High Court has issued a ruling that confirms the virtual eradication of free speech rights in that country, one of our closest allies in Asia. The Court upheld an absurd edict from Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi banning T-shirts with the word “clean” in Malay as a national security threat. That’s right. A t-shirt calling for clean government has been declared a threat to national security and High Court Judge Muhammad Yazid Mustafa has declared that there is nothing preventing the government from barring such speech. The t-shirts were a response to reports that nearly $700 million had been deposited in the personal bank account of Prime Minister Najib Razak (left).
Demetrius Johnson, 24, died this week and you should know about who he was and how he died. Johnson rescued his his fiance Tempest Thomas and his 8-year-old daughter when a raging fire broke out in their two-family home in Buffalo. He then went back into the fire to rescue his 3 year old son. The boy was found near his father’s body after they both perished in the fire.
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) contains a staggering new statistical finding: roughly half of the gay black men in the country will be infected with HIV in their lifetime. As if the high rate of incarceration and poverty found in the black communities is not enough, this epidemic appears to be racing through the ranks of gay black men. The CDC also found that a quarter of gay Latino men in the United States will be infected with HIV in their lifetime.
Continue reading “CDC: Half of Black Gay Men Will Be Infected By HIV In Their Lifetime”
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan sent shockwaves through Washington yesterday by ruling that State Department officials and top aides to Hillary Clinton will be subject to discovery on whether they intentionally violated federal open records laws by using or allowing the use of a private email server throughout Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. The case opens up another front for Clinton who is facing rising criticism over her decision to exclusively use her own private server for communications as Secretary of State — a decision that gave her control over her email system but exposed classified information to interception. The State Department supplied a secure system for her use but Clinton opted not to use that system. Over 1,700 emails on Clinton’s private email system have been classified (22 at the highest level of “top secret”). While Clinton insists that the information was not marked classified at the time, that is not the test under federal law. Yet, this case concerns the use of the private server to circumvent open record laws. The court also indicated that it may order subpoenas for Clinton officials in light to the failure to fully disclose information. Sullivan, who I have appeared before regularly over the last two decades, is a widely respected judge and a Clinton appointee.
Federal and state courts have handed down a virtually uniform line of rulings protecting the right of citizens to film police in public. That is until the February 19th decision of U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney. Kearney was only put on the federal courts in 2014 by President Obama but has written his first major ruling in curtailing the rights of citizens under the First Amendment. Kearney used that there is no First Amendment right to film police unless they can show that they are challenging or criticizing the police conduct.
After excerpts from Ahmed Naji’s novel Istikhdam al-Hayat, or Using Life, were published in a literary newspaper, a reader brought charges against the author and said that reading sexually explicit passages caused him distress and heart palpitations. An Egyptian court has now sentenced the author to two years in jail for public indecency. Notably, Naji was first acquitted by a court in Egypt on the basis of free speech, however the prosecution appealed. He was retried and convicted.
We recently discussed the difficulty faced by the lawyers for Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent). While claiming bankruptcy, 50 Cent posted an image of himself with piles of money spelling out the word “broke.” Just to make sure that the court did not miss the disconnect, 50 Cent also posted himself on a bed covered with piles of money. Judge Ann Nevin responded by ordering 50 Cent to appear in court to explain. Despite the court order, 50 Cent published a new picture that shows him in front of a tower of money while referencing his song “Too Rich for the B—h.”
Yesterday we discussed the Argentinians who thoughtlessly passed around two rare dolphins for selfies, killing at least one of the dolphins. Now a Florida man has outdone the callous disregard of those beachgoers but gleefully being filmed as he pulled a shark out of the water and then pinned it in the sand for photographs. The man shows absolutely no concern for the pain that he is causing the animal or the possible lethal exposure outside of the water.
Continue reading “Florida Man Pulls Shark Out of Water and Then Poses On Top Of It For Photographs”
A sex offender was sentenced this month in one of the more frightening criminal plans. Patrick James Fredericksen, 31, pleaded no contest to charges that he stole a school bus in Emery County, Utah and tried to pick up children.
Continue reading “Convicted Sex Offender In Utah Steals Bus And Tries To Pick Up School Children”
It is bad enough to represent a guy in a bankruptcy case named “50 Cent.” It is even more difficult when your client says that he is broke and then posts an image of himself with piles of money spelling out the word “broke.” Just to make sure that the court did not miss the disconnect, Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent) also posted himself on a bed covered with piles of money. It worked. Judge Ann Nevin and his creditors took notice and now 50 Cent has been called to court. Jackson seems to be competing with the bankrupt Kanye West for the world’s greatest certifiable numbskull. The pictures however raise a question of the significance of such pictures used to maintain the “bad boy” image of such personalities.