President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to greatly expand President Bush’s faith-based initiative program. He may would to consider a recent lawsuit where the Catholic church is accused of receiving a federal funding to assist sex trafficking victims but allowed to decline to provide contraceptive material or abortion services.
Continue reading “Catholic Church Sued for Faith-Based Program”
A New Jersey man is in custody on a bizarre case of practicing medicine without a license. Daniel C. Tyce, 26, was arrested for allegedly claiming to be Danielle Smith – a real licensed veterinarian. Tyce, an ex-convict, is accused of committing the fraud to pay for estrogen treatments and a sex change operation.
Continue reading “Faux Veterinarian Arrested in Bizarre Cross-Dressing Case of Fraud”
Politicians are heralding the actions of the pilots of the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River — an effort described as “miraculous” by Chelsey B. “Sully” Sullenberger, a former Air Force fighter pilot, has been with US Airways since 1980. As the lawyer for older pilots fighting to retain their benefits and rights, I will simply note that many of these same politicians have worked to have pilots over 60 years old fired and stripped of their benefit and seniority.
Continue reading “Sully Sullenberger: An Example of the Experience of Older Pilots”
U.S. News and World Report has long been the dominant ranking of law schools. However, there is competition from groups that disagree with the factors weighed by the magazine. One such competing ranking is done each year at Cooley Law School, which released the annual results this week below.
Continue reading “New Law School Rankings Released By Cooley”
Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. began on a high note this afternoon by acknowledging that waterboarding is torture — an admission that Mukasey refused to make. However, he did not commit to the obvious implication of that statement: he will enforce federal law and international law that makes torture both a crime and a war crime. I discussed the testimony on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show. Continue reading “Holder Calls Waterboarding Torture — But Falls Short of Committing to Enforce the Law”
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the abuse of civil contempt in this country including the story of H. Beatty Chadwick, a former Philadelphia-area lawyer, who has been behind bars for nearly 14 years without being charged. I have handled civil contempt defenses and it is one of the most abused areas by prosecutors and courts. This article shows how this power can be used to punish rather than its purpose to coerce cooperation.
Continue reading “Former Lawyer Held 14 Years Without Charge on Civil Contempt”
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is going to court to block protections for the diminishing population of Cook Inlet beluga whales off of her state. In an announcement from her office, Palin has again taken the lead in attacks on environmental protection policies.
While the war crimes controversy continues and questions linger over Barack Obama’s willingness to allow such crimes to be investigated, he is planning a major change that should please civil libertarians: he will reportedly rescind the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy put into place by Bill Clinton. The policy has always been viewed as classic Clintonesque: not fighting on the principle and adopting a murky standard that satisfied no one. The result has been ridiculous cases where military investigators respond to spite claims of homosexuality, often discharging decorated soldiers and sailors. Incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs appears to have jumped the gun and is now trying to rollback on the story.
Continue reading “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Speak: Obama To Get Rid Of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Christians are often confronted over their desire to have crosses and nativity scenes on public property, so David Engle of Overland Park, Kansas has filed a complaint over two Buddha statues in an Asian-themed area of the Kansas City Zoo. While peevish, it could make for an interesting constitutional case over entanglement questions.
Continue reading “Christian Files Complaint Over Buddha Statutes at Kansas City Zoo”
Former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, has been arrested and charged with murder in the such publicized shooting of Oscar Grant III at an Oakland, California transit stop. It is another case where YouTube appears to have driven the official response as outrage grew with the playing of videos of the shooting like the clip below. Mehserle who resigned from the force is now facing murder charges.
Continue reading “Mehserle Arrested and Charged With Murder in BART Transit Shooting”
A couple weeks ago, we followed the story of how a store refused to make a birthday cake for a three-year-old boy named Adolf Hitler Campbell due to his name. Now, the boy and his two sisters — JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell — have been taken from their parents in Holland Township, N.J., by the state’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). The father, Heath Campbell is expected to appear in court on Thursday in the case.
Continue reading “Mein Kake: Adolf Hitler Seized in New Jersey”
With congressional Democrats and the Obama campaign struggling to avoid the investigation and prosecution of torture, a Bush official just made it a bit more difficult. Susan J. Crawford has publicly admitted that they did engage in clear torture at Guantanamo Bay. With the hearings for Eric Holder on Thursday, the admission by Crawford could make the torture question hard to avoid. I will be discussing the Holder hearing on Countdown tonight.
Continue reading “Bush Official Admits That Administration Tortured Detainees”
Prosecutors have discovered another hotbed of child pornographers: Greensburg Salem High School. Prosecutors have charged teenagers with child pornography for sharing nude and seminude pictures of themselves over cell phones. The girls are 14 or 15 and the boys are 16 or 17. Pornographers all.
Continue reading “Pornotots: Teens Charged With Pornography For Sharing Photos Of Themselves”
The Riverside District Attorney’s Office has announced that it will not criminally charge Costa Mesa Police Department officer Scott Dibble after the officer shot and killed Shaun Vilan upset with his grabbing his friend.
A federal investigation has found that Bradley Schlozman, the former acting head of the civil rights division, made false statements to Congress and violated federal law in overseeing the agency’s civil rights division. However, he will not face charges in a continuation of the Bush Administration’s record of barring prosecution of its own officials.
Continue reading “Report: Bush Official Violated Federal Law in Overseeing Civil Rights Division and Lied To Congress — But Will Not Be Charged”