Constitutional Law, Courts, Supreme Court

The Right to Record

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Since the infamous videoing of the Rodney King beating, the power of the video to publicize police brutality, and the subsequent risk of legal and financial repercussions, has led states to criminalize the recording of police. With the proliferation of cell phones cameras and the ability to upload to YouTube, the risk for police is even greater today. If the police have nothing to hide, then there should be no objection to recording them performing their public duties.

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Criminal law, Torts

San Antonio Officer Fatally Shoots Unarmed Teen Who Scared Him — Previously Suspended Four Times From Force

San Antonio is dealing with not just the controversial fatal shooting of an unarmed teen but new disclosures that the officer was previously named four times for termination from the police force. Reports indicate that Officer Daniel Alvarado of San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District has been named on four occasions for termination due to misconduct but was never actually fired. He is now on suspension after he chased 14-year-old Derek Lopez, who punched another teen at a bus stop and ended up shooting him to death in a shed.
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Bizarre, Society, Torts

Joy Ride for Justice? FBI Agent Wrecks Stolen Ferrari After Taking Friend Out For A Spin . . . DOJ Refuses To Pay For Damage

For FBI agent Fred Kingston, it was a sweet assignment. The FBI had seized a stolen 1995 Ferrari F50 — one of only 50 such cars in the United States. Kingston was instructed to move the car from the FBI garage and so Kingston reportedly called Assistant US Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson to come along for the ride. The agent ended up crashing the car — causing $750,000 but now the Justice Department insists that it is not liable for the damage.
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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics

Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Immigration Law

In a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld an Arizona law imposing sanctions on businesses that hire illegal aliens. The decision (below) in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, 09-115 was long anticipated because of its implications for a possible ruling in the more controversial Arizona provision regarding the state enforcement of immigration laws — a case making its way toward the Court. I will be discussing the case Friday morning on CNN.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Rain or Shine: Postal Worker Caught Defecating on Home . . . Retained By Postal Service And Given New Route

The Postal Service is under fire in Portland, Oregon after it decided to retain a postman who was captured on film peeing and defecating on a home on his route and simply reassigning the postman to another route.
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Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Torts

Kentucky Supreme Court Recognizes Paternity Claim From Adulterous Affair and Puts An End To The “Bastardy Cases”

The Kentucky Supreme Court has handed down an important ruling (below) that Christopher Egan can make a paternity claim even if the child is the result of an adulterous affair. It is the rejection of a long-standing bar on such claims under a type of “dirty hands” rule for adulterous affairs. The court turned its back on a long line of morality based cases once called “bastardy cases.” Justice Bill Cunningham (right) in dissent accused the court of throwing the institution of marriage on the “funeral pyre of modern convenience and unanchored values.” Justice Daniel Venters (left) excellent majority decision is available below.
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Criminal law, International, Politics

Justice Catches Up To Ratko Mladic: Accused War Criminal (Finally) Arrested in Serbia

In a long overdue action, the Serbian government has finally arrested accused war criminal Ratko Mladic, the highest-ranking war crimes suspect still at large from the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Mladic, 69, is accused of genocide, extermination and murder, including the deaths of over 8000 men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995.

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Bizarre, International, Politics

Gold Farming in The Worker’s Paradise: Chinese Prisons Forcing Prisoners To Play Online Games To Sell Credits

Liu Dali is a Chinese citizen who bravely sought to petition the government over rampant corruption. The Chinese government responded by throwing him into a corrupt prison system where he did manual labor for 12 hours of day and then was forced to play online games to build up credits that were sold by prison officials for cash. If he failed to make his quota of game credits, he was beaten. This may seem like a Monty Python skit but it is deadly serious.
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Bizarre, Criminal law

NASCAR Driver Kyle Busch Cited For Going 128 MPH on 45 MPH Street

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch may have come in second-place finish in Saturday night’s All-Star race but he sure dusted the competition this week in Statesville, North Carolina. The problem is that the track was a residential street with a 45 mph limit and he was going 128 mph. He probably wishes that he waited to drag race in Washington, D.C., where police are under fire for fixing tickets for celebrities.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Taking the Bite Out of Crime: Florida Dentist Arrested After Fighting 85-Year-Old Patient Over Dentures

Florida dentist Michael Hammonds, 57, has been arrested for assault and battery after getting into a wrestling match with a patient over a pair of dentures. When police arrived, they found bruise marks on Virginia Graham, 85, who tried to get her dentures back from Hammonds and was allegedly held given her will at the office.
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Bizarre, Lawyering

Keeping Abreast of Trial: Chicago Lawyer Moves To Exclude Opponent’s “Large Breasted” Assistant

Thomas W. Gooch III of Gauthier & Gooch in Chicago has achieved a degree of national notoriety in a motion to force his opponent Dmitry Feofanov to get rid of a “large breasted woman” who has appeared with him at counsel’s table. Gooch suggests that Feofanov is trying to use something erotic to defeat his client, Exotic Motors. He insists that the woman has no known legal function and is meant to distract the jurors, but Feofanov insists that she is a trained paralegal. The dispute is over the car dealership’s warranty on a used Cadillac.

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Bizarre, International, Politics

Poll-ar Opposites: Majority of Israelis Support Obama While Majority of Congress Supports Netanyahu

There is a fascinating disconnect in this week after Israeli Prime Minister received 29 standing ovations in Congress in defying Obama’s recent Middle East initiative but, according to a poll this week, 57 percent of Israeli voters supported Obama’s initiative.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Obama Administration Threatens To Turn Texas Into No-Fly Zone

The attempt by Texans to resist the controversial TSA security measures, including groping adults and children, has resulted in an astonishing threat by U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy who is threatening to turn the entire Lone Star state into a no-fly zone if a bill passes the legislature. HB 1937 allows for “prosecution and punishment for the offense of official oppression by the intrusive touching of persons seeking access to public buildings and transportation; providing penalties.” With the return of stagecoaches to Texas, you may want to book now — seats are scarce and there are a lot of blackout dates.

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