We recently discussed the controversy at Evergreen State College where Biology Professor, Bret Weinstein, was essentially forced off the faculty after objecting to a planned “Day of Absence” in which white people were asked to stay off campus. Despite Weinstein being subject to abuse by students on campus for merely stating his view of the implications of the proposal, the faculty sided with the students and shunned the academic. He and his wife, fellow biology professor Heather Heying, were eventually given a $500,000 settlement. The school preferred not to litigate the issue and pay the settlement rather than defend a point of obvious academic freedom and free speech on campus. Now the student newspaper is under fire for creating an opinion section where white students are excluded. The Cooper Point Journal is funded by all students but its editors have not responded to calls about the segregation of its pages by race.
Category: Society
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Doctors at the Jackson Memorial Hospital faced a novel issue when a 70-year-old man was brought into the emergency room after being found intoxicated and unconscious on the street. (The man lived at a nursing home and had a history of pulmonary disease). The doctors were working to assist the man when someone noticed a large chest tattoo reading “DO NOT RESUSCITATE.” It even had a tattoo signature. After consulting an “ethics expert,” the hospital treated the tattoo as a viable DNR form and allowed the man to die. In my view, the expert was wrong on the law if his decision was based solely on the tattoo.
Continue reading “Miami Doctors Allow Man To Die Because Of “Do Not Resuscitate” Tattoo On Chest”
Alberta Conservative MLA Ron Orr appears to be planning the remake of Reefer Madness. In the case of Orr, the use of marijuana however does not yield to jazz-fused madness but lock-step communism. Orr is warning that legalizing marijuana could send Canada into the arms of the red army and fellow travelers.
Continue reading “Proletarian Pot? Canadian Politician Warns The Marijuana Will Led To Communism”
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the case this week before the Supreme Court on cellphones and privacy. As discussed below, the government’s argument in Carpenter v. United States represents one of the greatest threats to privacy in a generation. One promising sign is that Justice Neil Gorsuch seemed to be siding with privacy in his questions during oral argument.
Here is the column:
Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama has faced a large and broad spectrum of accusers over his alleged pursuit of girls aged 14-16 while a prosecutor in his 30s. The allegations have come from multiple women, including one who says that she was sexually assaulted at age 14. There are also an array of neighbors, former colleagues, and security officers who have come forward to detail Moore’s reputation as a menace for young girls. The women accusing Moore are Republican and Trump supporters. They describe a similar and chilling pattern of a man who was reportedly on a watch list at the local mall as well as cheerleading events. While denying the sexual assault, Moore avoided any substantive national interview. Now, however, Moore appears to entered a delusional and deranged realm in blaming the allegations on a conspiracy of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons, and socialists.
We recently discussed how the leading Irish university has barred the use of “freshman” in favor of the gender neutral term “fresh.” The French government came to the opposite conclusion this month after French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe rejected the demand to make French more “female-friendly” by dropping masculine words. French, like English, often use the masculine forms as neutral terms. It will continue to do so.
Continue reading “France Rejects Gender Neutral Words As A “Mortal Danger” To The French Language”
Since the appointment of the Special Counsel in the Russian investigation, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has been the most obvious target for not simply a criminal charge but a possible prosecutorial deal. The news that Flynn is no longer sharing information under the prior joint defense agreement with Trump figures could prove significant . . . or not. Such a change would occur even with a non-cooperation plea agreement. Nevertheless, it could be an effort of Flynn to strike a deal on a deal for himself and his son in exchange for cooperation.
While it did not attract the same attention, another notable development was the cooperation agreement reached with Reza Zarrab, a Turkish businessman accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. His cooperation could have magnified the pressure on Flynn, whose greatest exposure appears to be his Turkish as opposed to his Russian dealings.
Here it the column:
Continue reading “Flipping Flynn: The Real and Imagined Damage For A Mueller Deal”
Assistant Summit County prosecutor Kassim Ahmed has resigned after a truly bizarre controversy over what appears a slight bump in the hallway that led Ahmed to file an assault charge against court employee Holly Trivett. The videotape below does not support the claim and Ahmed complained that he has “taken unfair criticism as a result of these negative articles.”
Continue reading “Prosecutor Resigns After Filing Assault Charge Over Hallway Bump”
A speech by Anthony Scaramucci at his alma mater, Tufts University, has been delayed after the former Trump White House spokesman threatened the student newspaper with a defamation lawsuit. I previously wrote a column on Scaramucci and his controversial outbursts. This threat against the students at Tufts is legally meritless and undermines whatever credibility Scaramucci retained following his disastrously sort stint at the White House.
Continue reading “Anthony Scaramucci Threatens Tufts With Defamation Lawsuit”
Indiana University Health employee Taiyesha Baker is reportedly out of a job after a tweet from an account named “Night Nurse” was traced to her. In the tweet, Baker reportedly called for white male children to “be sacrificed to the wolves.” We 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 here and here and here). I often come down on the side of free speech, but some cases directly impact the employer and the underlying business or services. This may be one such case, but it, again, raises the question of what political and social views are protected for employees to express in social media or on their personal time.
Continue reading “Indiana University Reportedly Removes Nurse After Disturbing Tweet”
We previously discussed the violation of federal rules by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway in the endorsement of a commercial product. Now an even more serious allegation has been raised in a complaint filed by Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics. Shaub charges that Conway violated the ban on federal employees using their positions for political purposes and the allegation is not without merit. Conway has possible defenses but the statements on Fox against the election of Alabama Democratic Senate candidate Dough Jones used poor judgment. When reviewed in the context of past cases, the complaint raises credible claims. For full disclosure, Conway is one of my former students at George Washington University Law School (she graduated in 1995).
Continue reading “Kellyanne Conway Hit With Hatch Act Complaint Over Moore Comments”
We just discussed the tragedy in New York where a man hunting deer after sunset with a high-powered handgun shot and killed a woman walking her dogs. If you wonder how a hunter could fire at a woman walking her dogs, you might want to consider the arrest of Marvin C. Miller, 26. The Ohio hunter is charged with bagging a brown pick up truck that he mistook for a deer. Just for a point of reference, these are representations of the two different targets for any future hunters.
Continue reading “Ohio Hunter Mistakes Brown Pickup For Deer and Disables Vehicle”
Teen Vogue columnist Emily Lindin is under fire this week after writing how she is “not at all concerned about innocent men losing their jobs” over false allegations of sexual assault or harassment. Lindin dismissed the dangers of false claims as low in joining other feminist writers in arguing that women must be believed in such cases. Indeed, Lindin wrote that even raising false claims could be a sign of hostility to women. I wrote recently how this standard was not used during the Clinton presidency where leading feminists not only supported Bill Clinton but continue to flock to events featuring the alleged sexual harasser and assaulter.
David Williams, 56, finally resolved who will not be invited to Thanksgiving. He is clearly off the list. The Queens man became angry about who would be invited, specifically whether his girlfriend would be included. When his sister Dianna Gadson, 66, objected, he grabbed a knife. The rest is Norman Rockwell meets Jerry Springer.