Category: Society

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Religion, Society

The Brown Family Files Briefs In Sisters Wives Case In Denver

ad611-sister-wives-season-4Today the briefs of the Brown family arrived at the Denver courthouse in the Sister Wives case now before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. (The actual electronic filing was made the night before under the federal ECF system). I continue to serve as lead counsel to the Brown family in their successful challenge of the criminalization of polygamy in Utah. Last year, United States District Court Judge Clarke Waddoups issued the final decision striking down the cohabitation crime used against polygamist in Utah. The State has appealed to the federal court of appeals in Denver and below is our defense of that decision by Judge Waddoups. I want to thank my friend and local counsel (and GW Alum) Adam Alba and all of the students who have worked so hard on this case over the years. This brief benefited from the assistance of Patrick Fenior and Emily Hoyle as well as assistance from GW grad (and my local counsel in the Al-Timimi case) Thomas Huff and my assistant Seth Tate.

Continue reading “The Brown Family Files Briefs In Sisters Wives Case In Denver” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

Grand Jury Clears Des Moines Police Officer Who Shot And Killed Unarmed Man Who Walked “With A Purpose” Toward Her Car

CautionTapeDes Moines Officer Vanessa Miller will not face charges after a grand jury looked at her shooting of Ryan Bolinger, 28. Miller shot Bolinger from her car after he approached her car by “walking with a purpose.” Miller had chased Bolinger after he got out of his car earlier and began dancing.

Continue reading “Grand Jury Clears Des Moines Police Officer Who Shot And Killed Unarmed Man Who Walked “With A Purpose” Toward Her Car” →

Bizarre, Free Speech, Society

Idaho School Bans Confederate Flag On Student’s Car

Confederate_Rebel_Flag.svgWe have previously discussed the ongoing controversy over the confederate flag as well as past cases of student speech being curtailed. This story combines those themes after Jordan Beattie, a student at Cossa Academy in Wilder, Idaho was banned from flying the confederate flag that his girlfriend had given him. He was told that the flag was interpreted to be a gang symbol.

Continue reading “Idaho School Bans Confederate Flag On Student’s Car” →

Criminal law, International, Society

“Dumbfounded”: French Suspect Allegedly Shocked That Anyone Thinks He Is A Terrorist After Violent Train Incident

Part-PAR-Par8253997-1-1-0Either Ayoub El-Khazzani is a terrorist or one of the unluckiest and most misunderstood men in the world. El-Khazzani is accused of wounding passengers on a French train in a foiled terrorist attack. He was in possession of an AK-47 assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. His former lawyer, however, says that he is “dumbfounded” by the allegations and that he simply found the AK-47 assault rifle “by chance.” If the lawyer’s account is accurate, his defense appears that he was planning to hold up the train and then flee. He is simply a misunderstood wannabe bank robber.

Continue reading ““Dumbfounded”: French Suspect Allegedly Shocked That Anyone Thinks He Is A Terrorist After Violent Train Incident” →

Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Islamic State Bulldozes 1,500 Year Old Monastery

_85115479_85115478The Islamic State continued its campaign against civilization this week with the demolishment of a 1,500 year old monastery. ISIS views no religion but Islam as worthy of worship and kills non-believers as acts of true faith. ISIS has also abducted dozens of Christians and is known to sell girls as sex slaves — again claiming such rapes as acts of Islamic morality in its twisted reading of the Koran.

Continue reading “Islamic State Bulldozes 1,500 Year Old Monastery” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Society

Washington Supreme Court Rules City Of SeaTac’s $15.00 Minimum Wage Applies To Port Of Seattle’s SeaTac Airport

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

City of SeaTac LogoIn January of 2014 we featured an article about the City of SeaTac Washington, where the Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is situated, passed a set of labor codes that included a fifteen dollar per hour minimum wage. Immediately afterward opponents filed suit in Superior Court objecting to, among other issues, that the Port of Seattle was a separate legal entity not subject under state law to Proposition 1, granting these increased wage benefits and city oversight. The trial court partially ruled in favor but struck down parts of the law’s provisions. The judge however certified the case for direct appeal to the state supreme court.

Today, the Washington Supreme Court published its opinion, siding with defendants, the City of SeaTac and Its clerk in her official capacity, in a five to four decision.

Continue reading “Washington Supreme Court Rules City Of SeaTac’s $15.00 Minimum Wage Applies To Port Of Seattle’s SeaTac Airport” →

Courts, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Federal Judge Says Hillary Clinton Violated Government Policy In Using Personal Server While Secretary of State

170px-Msc2011_dett-clinton_0298sullivanHillary Clinton has insisted throughout the ongoing email scandal on two points repeated as a virtual mantra: there was no classified material sent on her unsecured personal email system and she was in total compliance with the law. I have questioned both points and noted that she is really saying that no “marked” classified material was sent (a less than compelling argument) and she is speaking of federal criminal laws as opposed to the clear official policy not to use such personal servers. It appears clear that some of this material was indeed classified and, as I discussed this week on NPR, the policy against doing what she did was clear and strong at the time of her tenure at State. Now, United States District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan has weighed in with comments this week that Clinton clearly did violate State Department policy and that violation caused much of the difficulty in retrieving her communications while in office.

Continue reading “Federal Judge Says Hillary Clinton Violated Government Policy In Using Personal Server While Secretary of State” →

Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International, Society

Fowl Attack: Spanish Woman Captured On Film Beating Animal Rights Activist With Duck

55d69d2ac461884c108b45a2For an animal rights activist, the only thing worse than being beaten by a deranged individual at a protest would be to be beaten by a deranged individual using one of the very animals you are trying to protect. That happened to a man in the Catalonian town of Roses when a woman hit him with one of the ducks that protesters were trying to protect from use in an annual festival. The video is below.

Continue reading “Fowl Attack: Spanish Woman Captured On Film Beating Animal Rights Activist With Duck” →

Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

State Department First Claims There Are Zero Emails Related To Scandal . . . Then Admits To Court That There Are Thousands

StateDepartmentWhile the attention nationally has been on the server of Hillary Clinton and the ongoing investigation, there is a new development in the effort to acquire another set of emails that should cause public outcry. Two years ago, the State Department officially stated that there were no emails responsive to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about a close Hillary Clinton adviser’s contact with the media. Now, after the intervention of a federal judge, the Department has admitted that it has located 17,855 emails that appear to match the criteria. From 0 to 17,855 and no one seems particularly bothered by the false statement of the State Department in its early response to the lawful request under FOIA. No one is under review at the State Department for possible termination or even discipline. No one is being transferred or retrained. The government first says that there were no emails and then is forced to admit that there are potentially thousands. It is being treated as just another day in the life of our government.

Continue reading “State Department First Claims There Are Zero Emails Related To Scandal . . . Then Admits To Court That There Are Thousands” →

Criminal law, Media, Society

Private Company Used By Clinton Reportedly Kept Its Servers In Bathroom Closet Of Loft Apartment

170px-Msc2011_dett-clinton_0298The growing scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton’s use of an unsecured server now involves a little known Denver company that she used for the system. Clinton has repeatedly dismissed concerns about her decision not to use the secure State Department system by saying that she had her own security team and that the server was always protected. Now there is a media report that Clinton actually used a small company with Democratic party ties in Denver which reportedly kept its server in a bathroom closet in a loft apartment. The report raises again questions of the security used for the system while there are also questions being raised about Clinton lawyers lacking clearances to deal with possibly classified material in deleting thousands of messages and holding copies of messages. There has not been a response printed to the story thus far and the position of the Clinton campaign (including challenging the accuracy of the story) is unknown at this time.

Continue reading “Private Company Used By Clinton Reportedly Kept Its Servers In Bathroom Closet Of Loft Apartment” →

Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Russian Orthodox Extremists Destroy Russian Avante Garde Art In The Hermitage

1280px-Spb_06-2012_Palace_Embankment_various_14While the world has followed the appalling destruction of art by ISIS and Muslim extremists, it is easy to forget that such religious extremism is not limited to Islam. We saw such an example recently in Israel. Another such case has emerged in Russia where Russian Orthodox activists destroyed Soviet avant-garde art deemed insulting to their religion. The attack led the head of the Hermitage Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky to denounce the attack as further evidence of a “sick” Russian society and the rise of “marginal forces against cultural rights” in the country.

Continue reading “Russian Orthodox Extremists Destroy Russian Avante Garde Art In The Hermitage” →

Bizarre, Society, Torts

Man Seeks To Prevent Suicide at University of Hawaii . . . Rescuer Dies While Suicidal Man Survives From Fall From 14th Floor

UnknownThere is a bizarre tragedy in Honolulu where a man sought to keep a 19-year-old man from committing suicide at the University of Hawaii. The man on the ledge of the campus housing ended up taking both himself and the older man, aged 24, down with him. As fate would have it, the older man died and the suicidal man survived with serious injuries.

Continue reading “Man Seeks To Prevent Suicide at University of Hawaii . . . Rescuer Dies While Suicidal Man Survives From Fall From 14th Floor” →

Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Society

The State Department Flags More Than 300 Clinton Emails As Possibly Classified

170px-Msc2011_dett-clinton_0298This week, Hillary Clinton doubled down on the email scandal in a speech that appeared to mock the ongoing investigation of her use of an unsecured email system during her time as Secretary of State and dismissing questions over her use the system as pure politics. She even joked “You may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account. I love it. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves.” It is a great line but it is only funny for those who are entirely untroubled by the real danger that Clinton put national security secrets at risk by insisting on retaining control over her own emails and server. One group that is not laughing are former intelligence officials who have accused the government, again, of showing special treatment for powerful figures in the mishandling of classified material or current officials who are continuing to classify hundreds of emails from Clinton’s records. The number of Hillary Clinton emails now flagged for classification has grown to 300. The number is expected to rise even higher as the agencies plow through thousands of emails that remain after the Clinton staff erased thousands of others from the server.

Continue reading “The State Department Flags More Than 300 Clinton Emails As Possibly Classified” →

Bizarre, Society, Torts

Woman Sues “House of Throwed Rolls” After Toss Leaves Her With Torn Cornea

240px-LambertsCafeAlJul07Lambert’s Cafe in Missouri calls itself the “Home of the Throwed Rolls” after its signature practice of lobbing dinner rolls by servers to guests. It is now accused of serving up an unrequested tort after Troy Tucker was hit in the eye and has sued the restaurant for medical bills and legal fees.

Continue reading “Woman Sues “House of Throwed Rolls” After Toss Leaves Her With Torn Cornea” →