Category: Society

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Court Sentences Man To 13 Years For Removing Turkish Flag

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Flag of TurkeyIn an injustice to both the liberty of a Kurdish man and free speech in general a court in Turkey handed down thirteen year sentence to a defendant accused of removing a Turkish flag at a military base near Diyarbakir, Turkey. The disproportionate sentence followed an outraged Recep Erdogan who declared after the act, “[w]e don’t care if he is a child. Even if a child dares to take down our sacred flag both him and those who send him there will pay a price.”

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Bizarre, Society, Torts

Suspension of ESPN Reporter Raises Issue Of Punishment For Employees For Conduct Outside Of Work

Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 10.12.34 AMWe have previously discussed the issue of when it is appropriate to punishment people for conduct outside of the work place. We have followed cases where people have been fired after boorish or insulting conduct once their names and employers are made known. (here and YouTube videos and drunken scenes). Recently I spoke at Utah Valley University about the private regulation of speech, particularly in businesses curtailing not just workplace speech but speech outside of the workplace. The latest such scandal involves ESPN reporter Britt McHenry who was given a suspension after a video was posted on YouTube showing her raving at a towing company employee about her wait and lack of skills. People are now demanding that she be fired.

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Criminal law, Society

Illinois Judge Rejects Prison Time For Defendant In Alleged Knock Out Attacks

7224086_GWhile the rest of the country has been trying to find a way to deter the savage game known as “knock out” (where men randomly punch pedestrians to see if they can knock them out), Judge William Mays in Quincy Illinois appears less than steadfast in his approach of the “game.” Mays had Lamar Coulter, 21, in his courtroom and a compelling record of what appeared two knock out crimes. Nevertheless, Mays let Coulter go without prison time — giving him probation instead.

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Bizarre, International, Society, Torts

Co-Pilot Accused Of Intentionally Locking Out Pilot And Crashing Germanwings Flight 9525

BN-HP395_0326lu_H_20150326103252A French prosecutor has issued a statement that the co-pilot of Germanwings 9525, Andreas Lubitz, 28, locked out the pilot of the plane and then intentionally crashed the plane in the French Alps. The conclusion adds a new horrific detail to an already horrific crash. It was not an accident according to a review of the record from the black box found at the crash site.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

LAPD Under Fire After Arranging Mexican Mafia Leader To Wealthy Dinner For The Entertainment Of Business Executives

LAPDS$$There is a bizarre story out of Los Angeles where the Los Angeles Police Department spent $22,000 (and had 38 LAPD employees work 320 hours) to bring Rene “Boxer” Enriquez, the infamous ex-Mexican Mafia leader, to an exclusive dinner for private executives. He was featured as a secret, surprise speaker for the well-heeled group called the Young Presidents’ Organization, which describes itself as “the world’s premier peer network of chief executives and business leaders.” Making things worse was the use of an invalid prior order to justify the excursion of “Boxer” Enriquez to entertain the wealthy patrons.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia: Ban All Christian Sites

200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgSheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, who serves as the grand mufti of Sifaudi Arabia, is calling for Kuwait to follow the lead of Saudi Arabia and ban the construction of any Christian religious site. While Islamic leaders like the Grand Mufti are outraged with any slight or restriction of their religion, they deny the most fundamental rights of free exercise to other religions in the name of Islam. This is nothing new for the Saudi cleric and his colleagues. He previously called for all churches to be destroyed in 2012. It is not clear if this is a repeat of his announcement a few years ago or a recycling of the earlier story. However, it is a shocking position from one of the highest Islamic clerics in the world and adds an insight into the recent religious violence in places like Syria and Iraq.

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Academia, Science, Society

George Mason Students Invent Device To Douse Fires With Sound Waves

Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 7.59.39 PMThis is one of the most impressive new inventions that I have seen recently and it is the work of two George Mason students. Engineering seniors Viet Tran and Seth Robertson have created a fire extinguisher using low-frequency sound waves to douse a blaze. Question: does this mean that there are never any kitchen fires in the home of Barry White?

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Bizarre, Free Speech, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Texas Attorney Under Fire For Sticker Campaign Declaring Businesses Are “Exclusively For White People”

Austin-attorney-Adam-Reposa-claims-responsibility-for-White-People-Only-stickers-YouTube-800x430Today we have been discussing the call for disbarment against a California attorney for seeking an anti-Gay measure for the state ballot. In Texas, you have another attorney who has attracted controversy over stickers on local businesses reading “exclusively for white people.” The shirtless Adam Reposa is seen in a video defending the campaign. [Warning this story contains foul language]

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Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

“I Wasn’t Interested In Justice”: Prosecutor Writes Apology To Innocent Man That He Sent To Prison 30 Years Ago

Glenn Ford_0We have often discussed how prosecutors rarely are held accountable for botched trials due to misconduct or sending innocent people to jail. There remains a body count mentality with many prosecutors that tends to fuel such violations. One former prosecutor has proven the exception, however. Attorney A.M. Stroud III has written a letter, later published in the Shreveport Times, that took responsibility for sending away Glenn Ford (left) for the 1983 murder of Isodore Rozeman, a Shreveport jeweler — a murder he did not commit. Stroud’s letter expressed shame with his own conduct as a prosecutor and further called for an end to the death penalty in Louisiana.

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Religion, Society

Seven Jewish Children Burned Alive In New York Due To Leaving Hot Plate On To Adhere To Ultra-Orthodox Sabbath Rules

Hasidic_boys_in_Poland220px-Light_Label_Electric_tabletop_burner_KCK-L103Seven children are being flown to Israel after dying in a fire in Brooklyn. The fire was started by a common practice among Ultra-Orthodox jews. Since they believe God does not want them to use fire or engage in any work (including the turning on of appliances) on the Sabbath, they turn on hot plates before the Sabbath and leave them on. In this case, the hot plate caused the fire that trapped the children and badly injured their mother and another sibling. The father, Gabriel Sasson was at a religious . Lost are Eliane, 16; Rivkah, 11; and Sara, 6; and boys David, 12; Yeshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakob, 5.

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Society

Why America Remains The World’s Greatest Hope

Screen Shot 2015-03-23 at 7.56.27 AMI only learned today that there is a whole series of YouTube videos on how to open a beer with a chainsaw. In watching this video, tears came to my eyes as I thought: “This is why America will remain the inspiration of the world.” I cannot imagine why everyone, in seeing a chainsaw, does not think “this would be great as a beer opener.”

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Criminal law, Religion, Society

Muslim Cleric Defends Mob That Murdered Woman And Warns Police Not To Punish Anyone For The Crime
Farkhunda
Farkhunda

One of the clerics at the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque in Afghanistan warned police not to punish anyone for the brutal murder of a woman by a mob after she was accused of burning a Koran (Quran). Despite the fact that the rumor that the woman burned the Koran appears false, even the local police chief appeared to defend the mob as just being good Muslims irate at an act of blasphemy. Police are accused of doing nothing during the attack.

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International, Justice, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Woman Beaten To Death And Set Alight In Afghanistan Was Wrongly Accused

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Farkhunda
Farkhunda

If it was possible to add another injustice levied against Farkhunda, a woman who suffered a brutal murder at the hands of a mob in Afghanistan that insisted she burned a Koran, authorities publicly announced she was in fact innocent of these claims.

In response to this outrage, a day of national morning occurred during her funeral and burial. Various leaders including Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned her murder as a heinous attack. Reports of police standing nearby and indifferent to the incident lead the president to call for fundamental reforms in the nation’s police forces.

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