Category: Society

Academia, Religion, Society

McGill University Asks To Create Women-Only Hours At School Gym

274px-McGill_University_CoA.svgWe previously discussed the decision of Harvard to create a women-only hours at the college gym. It appears now that McGill University, an equally world-class academic institution in Montreal, is being asked to offer the same accommodation to female students who do not want to work out around males. student Soumia Allalou, 23, insists that women should not be forced to at a gym with male students. However, others raise the question of gender discrimination in barring male students solely due to their sex rather than their conduct. Allalou is a Muslim and wears a hair covering.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

India Ministry Moves To Block Airing Of Documentary On Rape

tfi_a374ada7f4d26fb1c8aba2084f645c7aWhile China is moving to block the airing of a documentary on pollution, India is moving to block the airing of a documentary on the scourge of its country: rape. India has long been accused of having a rape culture where women are blamed for their own victimization and the caste system (and poor legal system) continues to frustrate efforts to hold rapists accountable. That dire situation for women led to the much acclaimed documentary by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, “India’s Daughter.” The Indian government is so opposed to letting its citizens hear about such abuses that it is now threatening the BBC for airing the banned documentary.
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Society

Blog Hits 25,000,000

220px-Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F079012-0030,_Berlin,_Michael_Jackson-Konzert,_WartendeJust last December, we passed the 24,000,000 mark and today we hit 25,000,000. We have used these moments to give thanks for our many regular readers around the world and give you an idea of the current profile of readers on the blog. We continue to rank in the top legal blogs in the world and we are continuing to see a growing international readership. As always, I want to offer special thanks for our weekend contributors: Mike Appleton, Larry Rafferty, Charlton Stanley, Darren Smith, and Kimberly Dienes. I particularly want to thank Darren who has continued to help manage the blog and help out folks who encounter posting problems. The increasing traffic on the site is gratifying and reaffirms that there are many people looking for mature and civil debate. While we have some who cannot resist personal attacks, we try to discourage such posters and this site remains remarkably civil for its size. Due to litigation demands, I appreciate all of the effort by the vast majority of posters to keep discussions civil and non-personal. Even among the top ten sites, I believe that we offer a unique forum of different views and backgrounds in the discussion of law and politics (and a few quirky items).

So here is our current profile:

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

Justice Department Rejects Civil Rights Charges Against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson

1408390089660_Image_galleryImage_Officer_DARREN_WILSON_picdepartment-of-justice-logo1As expected, the Justice Department announced Wednesday that it will not prosecute former Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. The case followed the same pattern that we saw him the Zimmerman investigation: a premature entry into the case, Attorney General Eric Holder making public comments assuring a federal response, a long investigation, and a leak from the Justice Department preparing people for the rejection of any charges. In both cases, some of us questioned the timing of the entry of the federal investigators and the weak basis for a civil rights investigation. (For a prior column, click here) In the end, the Justice Department found much of the same inconsistencies detailed by the grand jury and the police in the Ferguson case.

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Environment, Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

Clearing the Air: China Moves To Block Airing Of Documentary On Dangers Of Smog

Screen Shot 2015-03-05 at 7.56.54 AMChina has a different approach to clearing the air. We have discussed the record pollution measured in Beijing and the past efforts of the Chinese government to prevent people from talking about the shroud of pollution choking its population. Now the government censor have blocked the airing of a documentary on China’s smog — the 104-minute film Under the Dome by well-known former news anchor Chai Jing. While it has been viewed by more than 200 million times online, the censors are cracking down to prevent others from learning about the dangers of the smog levels in China.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Homeless Man Killed By LAPD Identified As Illegal Immigrant With Violent and Criminal History

HT_charley_saturmin_robinet_sk_150303_16x9_992We previously discussed the controversy over the shooting of a homeless man called “Africa” by the Los Angeles Police Department. It turns out that the man’s real name (well, the name he was using) was Charley Saturmin Robinet and he had a rather strange and violent past.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Hears ACA Challenge Amid Dire Warnings From The Administration

Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court has decided to wade back into the controversy over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or “Obamacare” today with the granting of review of King v. Burwell, No. 14-114. I have previously written about the King case as well as the parallel case in the D.C. Circuit in Halbig. Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in King and there appears a rather transparent effort by the Administration to give justices sticker shock in considering the challenge, particularly Chief Justice John Roberts. [For full disclosure, I am lead counsel in the challenge filed by the United States House of Representatives to different ACA changes ordered unilaterally by President Obama in House of Representatives v. Burwell.

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Bizarre, Media, Society

I’m Just Here For The Trademark: Lynch Files Claim Over Media Line

Marshawn_Lynch_Pro_Bowl_2013One of my colleagues sent me the latest example of people claiming common phrases or symbols as their own trademarked property. The latest trademark grab is by the normally taciturn Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. We previously discussed how Lynch refused to speak at press conference until he was fine and then went and kept repeating “I’m just here so I won’t get fine.” You guessed it. He has claimed a trademark to the phrase.

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Academia, Bizarre, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Saudi Arabian King Gives Controversial Islamic Cleric Top Award

220px-Dr_Zakir_NaikSaudi Arabia has long been criticized for its extreme religious beliefs as part of its devotion to Wahhabism. Now the Kingdom has generated more controversy by giving one of Saudi Arabia’s most prestigious prizes to Zakir Naik, an Islamic school who said that the Koran (Quran) “allows Muslims to have sex with female slaves” and seemed to support Osama Bin Laden, at least to the extent to which he was “fighting the enemies of Islam.” Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman gave Naik the King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) 2015 personally.

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Politics, Society

Study: Tobacco Kills Two Out Of Three Smokers

cigaretteThere is an interesting and chilling new study out on smoking. It is well understood that smoking is a leading cause of death. However, the leading study on the morality rate is derived from a 1956 study called the “British Doctors Study” that found a roughly fifty percent mortality rate. A new study however by BMC Medicine has found that the rate is more like 66 percent or two out of three smokers will die as a result of smoking related illness.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Society

American Posts Criticism Of His Company In United Arab Emirates On Facebook . . . Company Brings Criminal Charges And Has Him Arrested Upon His Return To The UAE

AR-150309877We have previously discussed the common criminalization of speech found in Muslim countries (and the increasing criminalization seen in the West). The most recent victim is Ryan Pate, a civilian helicopter mechanic who was arrested for a derogatory comments made on Facebook in the United States toward his employer in the United Arab Emirates, Global Aerospace Logistics. After he returned to the United Arab Emirates, he was promptly arrested at the request of the company. This again is one of our closest allies that denies the basic protections of free speech not only to its citizens but even to Americans speaking in the United States.

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Criminal law, Society

Video: LAPD Officers Shoot and Kill Homeless Man

Screen Shot 2015-03-02 at 9.41.52 AM

Below is a videotape that is likely to be at the center of a growing controversy over the shooting of a homeless man by officers with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The officers say that they first tried to use a taser, which proved ineffective, and that the man then struggled with an officer over his service weapon. Various officers reportedly fired at the man who was declared dead at the scene. The man has only been identified by his street name, “Africa.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Environment, Society

Vandals Rescued From Cliff After Allegedly Trying To Flee From Historic Site In San Francisco

20150227_100243_cliff1_200Louis Murrillo and Zane Johnides were able to distinguish themselves this week in both their lack of values and intellect. The two men were busy vandalizing a historical military structure at Battery Yates, a historic military building along the water at Fort Baker, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge when they were spotted by park officers. The two attempted to escape by climbing over the cliff where they promptly got stuck — triggering a massive rescue effort including the lifting of one of the men of the cliff face with a helicopter.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

American Blogger in Bangladesh Hacked To Death By Islamic Extremists

Avijit_RoyAnother blogger has fallen victim to Islamic extremists. Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, was hacked to death during a walk with his wife in Dhaka as both were returning from a book fair at Dhaka University. How did he insult Islam? No, it wasn’t a cartoon or a satirical poem. He wrote about religious intolerance so they hacked him to death.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Disbarred or Rebarred? Defendant Arrested After Posing As Attorney While Waiting For His Own Plea Agreement

ArnoldKyle Arnold, 42, knows a thing or two about multitasking. Arnold was waiting to finalize his plea bargain for misdemeanor simple assault and reckless endangerment. He allegedly spotted the girlfriend of another defendant and decided to pose as an attorney and bilk her out of $1,300.

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