We have previously discussed the lower criminal sentences handed down in England in comparison to the United States. Some such cases truly shock the conscience as in the case of Jordan Sheard (left). Sheard had long bullied Steven Simpson (right) for being gay as well as for his speech impairment and epilepsy. Sheard got Simpson to strip to his underwear and wrote gay slurs over his body which was covered with tanning oil. He then lit him on fire at his birthday party.
Category: Society
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
Much has been written about New York City’s stop and frisk policies, but until now, the evidence of who the police were stopping and why was not a matter of public record. A recent class action suit has opened the door to learning the true numbers involved as well as the accurate demographics of just who is getting stopped by the NYPD. “New York police officers testifying before a federal court this week said that racist quotas imposed by ranking officers are behind the police department’s controversial stop-and-frisk program, confirming years of accusations made by civil rights and community advocates that the department’s tactics disproportionately target minorities. Continue reading “Probable Cause..Black, Latino and Young”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Stung by the historic defeat in last year’s presidential election, the GOP has embarked upon a relaunch of its ideology. RNC chair Reince Priebus has approved a strategy paper (click to read) composed by Republican bigwigs Henry Barbour (Haley’s nephew) and Ari Fleischer that makes a remarkable discovery:
The Republican Party must be the champion of those who seek to climb the economic ladder of life. Low-income Americans are hard-working people who want to become hard-working middle-income Americans. Middle-income Americans want to become upper-middle-income, and so on. We need to help everyone make it in America.
In one of the truly moronic acts from a government official, the Department of Education posted a mangled quote of Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong on its website as the saying of the day for children. It is clear that whoever approved it had no idea who Mao was or the atrocities that he committed, particularly during the Cultural Revolution when intellectuals were massacred. The quote was taken down after various sites pointed out the irony. It was replaced by a quote from Lincoln.
Continue reading “Reeducation: The Department of Education Pulls Mao Quote”
This week’s proof of human intelligence can be found in the new phenomenon called “reverse graffiti” where artists remove dirt from walls to create their masterpieces.
Continue reading “Signs Of Human Intelligence: Reverse Graffiti”
We have been following (here and here and here and here and here) the worsening situation in England concerning free speech. As noted in a recent column, free speech appears to be dying in the West with the increasing criminalization of speech under discrimination, hate, and blasphemy laws. Now, a French Jewish student group is adding its name to the movement to curtail free speech rights. The Union of Jewish Students (UEJF) is demanding 38.5 million euros after Twitter has declined to turn over the identity of people responsible for comments deemed anti-Semitic by the group. The students appear to have no concept or at least concern for the loss of anonymity in free speech. Like others, they are focused only on their insular grievance with no appreciation for the harm caused by such court orders.
In Hollywood, Sahar Thabit, 35, appears vying to replace Joan Crawford as the reigning “Mother Dearest” in Hollywood. Thabit is a devout Muslim who is charged with burning her seventeen-year-old daughter for corresponding with a boy when she was already promised to a cousin for marriage. The honor burning was discovered by the girl’s school.
The New Jersey delegation clearly likes to travel . . . on someone else’s tab. Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) is reportedly under grand jury investigation for those trips to the Dominican Republic. WIth or without prostitutes, as we discussed earlier, the trips are highly problematic. Now, there is an ethics investigation of Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) who once vowed to “drain the swamp” of corruption in the House. It appears that Andrews needed to get out of the swamp for expensive trips that were allegedly paid for by campaign funds.
For years, I have been struck by the trend in schools for recognizing everyone or no one in awards ceremonies. Last year, I watched an award ceremony where everyone not given any award for academic excellence was given an award at our public school. The same logic appears to be motivating Principal David Fabrizio of Ipswich Middle School in Massachusetts. Fabrizio has ended a long standing tradition of “Honors Night” because the failure to be part of it could be “devastating” to the students not receiving honors. He noted that some children do not have parents who are supportive at night and do not make honors due to poor home conditions.
Shawn Moore is a certified firearms instructor for the National Rifle Association and a New Jersey hunter education instructor. He was proud of his son for recently passing his hunter’s permit course and posted this picture of his boy in camouflage holding his .22 rifle. A Facebook “friend” saw the picture and reported him to the New Jersey police and Dept. of Children and Families for child endangerment. Moore says that his home was raided, searched, and he was threatened with the loss of custody in response to the complaint.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has pulled prosecutors out of all traffic court and domestic violence cases after her office laid off 22 prosecutors due to budget cuts. Now, with Detroit cutting its police force to a dangerous level, the chances of getting caught in a crime is much lower in the city and, if that does occur, the case may be dismissed due to a lack of a prosecutor. Defendants are finding themselves cleared without even having to raise a defense. It is not clear whether police will continue to make arrests in these areas if Worthy is not going to prosecute. Detroit has not only been hit with a falling population and the loss of the auto industry but a political system that has retained incompetent and corrupt politicians — many of whom have been under criminal investigation. As for Worthy, we have previously discussed her controversial prosecutorial decisions and her own scandal over a foreclosed home. I presume that among the cases that will not be prosecuted is Worthy’s prior controversial demand to prosecute parents who miss teacher-parent meetings at public schools.
California State Senator Lou Correa appears to view the low DUI thresholds for drivers as insufficient. Correa has introduced what many are calling a “sober driver” law where a citizen can be arrested for having any detectable level of drugs in their system, even if they are functionally sober. This includes cannabinoids which can stay in your system for weeks. The law seems to move beyond prosecuting people who are actually impaired in driving.
Continue reading “California Legislature Considers “Sober Driving” Law”
An Adjunct Law Professor from the University of Oregon has been removed from teaching responsibilities after a confrontation with students that was partially filmed. James Olmsted had a confrontation with students protesting immigration policies on March 14th in which he and students exchange foul language and at one point Olmsted advises them to “start a war, get a gun, shoot me first.”
We have yet another tell-all book from an ex-Scientology member recounting many of the same abuses of forced labor, cruel conditions, and slavish service for scientology celebrities. This book however is written by the niece of church leader David Miscavige. Miscavige has previously been accused of physically beating followers and requiring virtual slavish service to the Church’s celebrities from Tom Cruise to John Travolta to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteran. Continue reading “Niece of Scientology Head Publishes Book Detailing Alleged Abuses By Church”
Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder left no question about the Administration’s support of the abusive treatment of Aaron Swartz by US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and Deputy US Attorney Stephen Heymann. Heymann was previously linked to a suicide in another prosecution. We have discussed the abusive prosecution earlier and Swartz’s suicide after months of unrelenting threats and coercion. Holder heralded the treatment of Swartz as an example of the “good use of prosecutorial discretion.” Swartz’s girlfriend has come forward to denounce Holder and the Obama Administration for its misrepresentations in the case.
Continue reading “Holder Defends Swartz Abuse As Example Of Good Prosecutorial Discretion”