In New York, Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza has issued a controversial ruling that police can taser a suspect who refuses to voluntarily submit a DNA sample. In this case, Ryan S. Smith sought to suppress DNA evidence that linked him to two crimes because of the use of the force against him. When told of a court order to obtain a second sample for DNA testing, Smith reportedly stated “You are gonna have to Taser me if you want my DNA.” That apparently sounded like a pretty good idea to the officers in the room.
Continue reading “Defense Shocked: Court Rules Police Can Use Taser to Collect DNA Sample”
It comes to all of us with age. As hairlines recede and waistlines expand, cosmetic surgery becomes more attractive. While this blog is just around 2 years old, in human-to-blog years that is almost middle aged. In the last few weeks, various regulars have suggested that the site needs work to handle the large number of visitors and entries. This is an attempt to see what you would like to do with the site. I view this site as belonging to all of the regulars and I would like to solicit your thoughts on changes that you would like to see from different cosmetic touches to different structure. This entry will also allow discussion of those things (not people) that you least like.
Continue reading “DOES TURLEY BLOG NEED A NIP AND TUCK?”
A few words on a day of courage and sacrifice by Americans on foreign soil on this day 65 years ago.
Continue reading “Thanks to the “Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force””
The Justice Department has again conceded to acts of prosecutorial misconduct that will result in the release of two politicians from jail in Alaska. In a case with obvious similarities to the botched case of former Sen. Ted. Stevens of Alaska, former Representatives Pete Kott and Vic Kohring will likely be released soon after the Justice Department admitted that it withheld evidence that should have been turned over to the defense. What is most striking is that the same prosecutors were involved in both the cases of Stevens and these state legislators.
Continue reading “Justice Department Found to Have (Again) Withheld Evidence and Invalidating Convictions Through Prosecutorial Misconduct”
It was a great enough shock for the family of George Morales, 58, when his decomposed body was found in his van under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway underpass. What was even more surprising were the four tickets left by police who repeatedly cited the vehicle without noticing the body.
Continue reading “Expired Meter: New York City Police Repeatedly Ticket Vehicle for Weeks With Deceased Driver’s Body Inside”
Among the material release this week by the White House is the disclosure that Judge Sonia Sotomayor belong to a private women’s-only group. The membership raises an interesting question given the controversies in the past over nominees who belong to men-only club. Should the standard be different for women or should exclusive club membership no longer be an issue in nominations?
Continue reading “Sotomayor Belongs to All-Female Club”
This blog site addresses some truly terrifying stories from plagues to economic meltdown to genocide. However, nothing quite prepared me for this: the invention of a robot teacher. This brown-haried, cog-filled Cyborg vixen is a threat to all that American holds dear — and threatening the beloved host of this blog with the prospect of having to earn a living through hard labor.
Continue reading “Rise of the Robots: Professors Flee As Dean Overlords Enlist Terminator Teachers”
There is a slew of reports this week that paint a pretty bleak picture. The Labor Department has placed the unemployment rate at 9.4 percent (the highest since 1983), If you add “temp workers” the rate is higher. In the meantime, another report indicates that over 16% of personal income of the United States is now coming from the government.
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is suing Twitter over an unauthorized page that used his name and gave the false impression that he was sending embarrassing messages. The litigation in Superior Court of California in San Francisco is only the latest of such lawsuits against such companies for failing to confirm and monitor such sites.
Continue reading “Twit Lit: Tony LaRussa Sues Over False Twitter Page”
Baptist Minister (and former second vice president of the Souther Baptist Convention) Wiley Drake reportedly said that he is offering an “imprecatory prayer” for the death of President Obama.
Continue reading “Baptist Minister Prays For Death of President Obama”
A police officer assigned to a Penn Hills, Pennsylvania high school tasered a student who allegeldy refused to end his conversation on a cell phone and then pushed away the officer’s arm.
Continue reading “Can You Hear Me Now? Police Officer Tasers High School Student In Dispute Over Use of Cellphone”
And then there were six. The New Hampshire legislature has voted to recognize same-sex marriage joining five other states with such recognition in a continuing and encouraging trend among the states. Gov. John Lynch signed the bill soon after it was passed by the legislature. The question now is whether religious conservatives will try to stop states from determining their own matrimonial laws by passing a federal constitutional amendment.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously observed that “the life of the law has not been logic, but experience.” One adherent to this principle appears to be Paul Baldwin, 48, who was arrested for the 153rd time and told a New Hampshire judge “I don’t need a lawyer – I’ve been in this court more than you have.”
Continue reading “A Life in the Law: New Hampshire Man Arrested for 153rd Time Asserts His Self-Taught Legal Training”
Former New Jersey municipal judge Richard Sasso has been permanently banned from the bench by the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Among the violations found by the committee was Sasso’s abuse of both lawyers and litigants; his presiding over cases while under the influence of alcohol and Vicodin, and improper public conduct including an unpleasant scene at a strip club called Torpedo’s Go-Go Club.
Continue reading “Torpedoed: Former New Jersey Judge Richard Sasso Banned For Life”
Constable Richard McCain insists that a grandmother deserved to be tasered in a recent roadside incident to protect himself from a violent attack. The suspect was Kathryn Winkfein, a 72-year-old grandmother, who had refused to sign a traffic ticket. Deputy Chris Bieze tasered Winkfein after she allegedly became belligerent.
Continue reading “Texas Police Officer Tasers 72-Year-Old Grandmother Who Refused to Sign a Speeding Ticket”