Category: Society

International, Politics, Society

Obama Aide: “We Don’t Make Decisions . . . Based on Consistency or Precedent”

For those of us who are incredulous at the changing rationales for our intervention in the Libyan civil war, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough has come to the rescue. He told reporters that “we don’t make decisions about questions like intervention based on consistency or precedent. We make them based on how we can best advance our interests in the region.” Thus, inconsistency is the consistent policy that we are trying to advance?

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Pencil Prank Leads to Arrest and Criminal Charging of Middle School Student

It is one of the worst pranks played in schools. A friend starts to sit down and a student holds a pencil pointing up on the chair. Millions of kids have either been the culprit or the victim of this prank. However, in Ohio, one such 12-year-old child has been arrested and charged criminally after he played the prank during choir class — leading to the other 12-year-old boy being sent to the hospital.
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Justice, Society

Who’s Minding the Kids?: Have Profits Distorted the Mission of Rehabilitating Inmates at Mississippi’s Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility?

 Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

A few days ago, I was listening to All Things Considered on NPR while I was driving in my car. Host John Burnett was talking about an investigation into Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi. The prison facility for youthful offenders is being run by a private company called GEO Group. According to NPR, privatized prison services are a $3 billion dollar industry in this country—and GEO Group is our nation’s second largest for-profit prison operator.

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International, Politics, Society

Onward To Syria? Government Reportedly Massacres Citizens

The Syrian government has reportedly opened fired on protesters soon after President Bashar al-Assad promised to put an end to protests. The reported massacre occurred in the city of Sanamin near Daraa. Given President Barack Obama’s rationale for going to war in Libya, doesn’t that mean we will soon be bombing Damascus as we have Tripoli? After all, both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted that they had no choice when it was clear that the government was shooting protesters. Now, Syrian protesters can claim the same right to a U.S. led “time-limited, scope-limited military action.”

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Bizarre, Politics, Religion, Society

Roughly Four Out of Ten Americans Believe Disasters Like Japanese Earthquake Directed By God

Roughly four out of ten Americans still like that old testament version of God — full of wrath and fury. A poll by Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Surveshows that forty percent of our citizens still believe that God directs such disasters like the Japanese earthquake for a purpose. It is not clear what God had against the Japanese, but these citizens believe it was for a divine purpose. They are not alone Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara called the earthquake and tsunami in Japan tembatsu — or “divine judgment”
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Under Siege: Steven Seagal Attacks Home in Arizona with Armored Cars and SWAT Members to Arrest Man Accused of Cockfighting

We have previously followed the feudal system created by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona. Arpaio’s insatiable desire for media attention has led him to turn over areas of his office to Hollywood producers. Last week, Arpaio’s unhinged administration gave the public another bizarre scene as Steven Seagal was seen attacking a home with a tank, armored cars, bomb robot, and dozens of SWAT team members. The crime? Suspected involvement in cockfighting.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

On the Lam: Indiana Prosecutor Resigns After Suggesting That Wisconsin Governor Fake Attack To Frame Unions

Indiana prosecutor Carlos Lam has resigned in a bizarre scandal where he admitted to sending an email to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suggesting that he get a supporter to attack him to frame the unions and discredit their cause. While first denying that he sent the email, Lam eventually fessed up and resigned. Indiana prosecutors seem to be a bit obsessed with the union protests in Wisconsin. If you recall, we previously followed the case of Jeffrey Cox, a deputy attorney general, who was fired after reportedly suggesting the use of live ammunition against protesters.
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Constitutional Law, International, Politics, Society

War “Time-Limited, Scope-Limited Military Action” Is Hell

Many citizens are breathing a sense of relief today. When we saw the Obama Administration bomb the capital of a sovereign nation and openly support rebel forces in the field, many jumped to conclusions and asked how Obama could start a war without congressional approval under Article I. White House Spokesman Jay Carney has finally set the record straight. This may look like war but it is really “a time-limited, scope-limited military action.”
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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Obama Orders Limits on Miranda Rights For Domestic Suspects

President Obama has continued his attack on basic constitutional and legal principles with an astonishing new order that allows investigators to not only hold domestic terror suspects for longer periods but to deny them Miranda rights under a strained interpretation of the public safety exception. Obama had attempted to get this change from Congress but was rebuffed. He has now again adopted a tactic of his predecessor and acted unilaterally to trump recognized constitutional rights.
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Constitutional Law, International, Justice, Politics, Society

Obama Administration Supports Illinois Teacher’s Discrimination Claim After Being Denied Leave For Trip To Mecca

There is an interesting case out of Berkeley, Illinois involving alleged religious discrimination. The Obama Administration is supporting former teacher Safoorah Khan who alleged discrimination at her middle school after she was refused leave of three weeks to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The school insists that she was the only math lab instructor and would have left at the critical end-of-semester period for the school.

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Environment, Politics, Society

Burn Baby Burn: Obama Massively Expands Coal Exploration As Well As Approving New Offshore Drilling

Environmentalists are again calling foul after the announcement of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the Obama Administration has approved the expansion in coal mining and four new permits for deepwater offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The increased coal production could cause U.S. climate pollution to rise by more than 50 percent, Glenn Hurowitz, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, has claimed that the expansion of the coal production could increase pollution by more than 50 percent.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Ninth Circuit (En Banc) Affirms Earlier Ruling Striking Down Stolen Valor Act

The Ninth Circuit has handed down a decision affirming the earlier decision striking down the Stolen Valor Act. Passed in 2005, the Act has been criticized by civil libertarians as an attack on free speech. Here is a prior column on the Act. Now, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has added his own voice to this debate — finding such lies protected under the first amendment. In a concurring opinion, Kozinski notes “Saints may always tell the truth, but for mortals living means lying.”

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Bizarre, International, Media, Military, Society

Report: Libyans Rush To Help Pilots After Crash . . . U.S. Helicopters Shoot Libyans

I was a bit astonished this morning in watching CNN to see a story on the rescue of U.S. pilots after their F-15E Eagle crashed in Libya. The story did not mention what would appear the most newsworthy aspect of the story: the allegation that our helicopter mowed down Libyans who ran out to help the pilots.
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Constitutional Law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Second Circuit Rejects Obama Administration’s Effort to Block Privacy Lawsuit

In a significant victory for civil libertarians and a loss for the Obama Administration, the Second Circuit has reinstated a lawsuit based on the unlawful warrantless surveillance programs launched by former President George W. Bush. The Obama Administration has been aggressively fighting to kill this privacy lawsuit as it has dozens of other lawsuits seeking judicial review of the unlawful program. The case is Amnesty v. Blair.

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