It may have been the booze, the Christmas blues, or cabin fever, but two men manning the U.S. Amundsen-Scott Pole station in Antartica were airlifted out of the remote location after a brawl that left one with a broken jaw. Continue reading “Remote U.S. Antarctic Base Evacuated After “Drunken Christmas Punch-Up””
Larry Green’s nightmare in 2005 only began when he was struck by a car while crossing a highway. After he was mistakingly declared dead, he was put into a body bag and sent to the morgue — only to be discovered as alive hours later. His family is now suing the state. Remarkably, this is not a unique case. Continue reading ““Resurrected” Man Sues North Carolina Medical Officials for Sending Him to Morgue in Mistaken Death Case”
The legal status of the San Francisco Zoo appears to be worsening. The zoo’s director admitted on Thursday that a wall that separated the public from the zoo’s tigers is nearly 6 feet lower than initially reported — and nearly 4 feet lower than industry standards. In the meantime, the father of the teen killed by the tiger has accused of the zoo of negligence. Continue reading “San Francisco Zoo Facing Growing Allegations of Negligence in Tiger Killing and Maulings”
It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. For Martin Tankleff, 36, justice was 17 years in coming when an appellate court overturned his conviction of the murder of his parents and ordered a retrial. Regardless of whether Tankleff is guilty or innocent, he clearly was deprived of a fair trial by police and prosecutors. Continue reading “Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct Leads to Release of Martin Tankleff — 17 Years After the Murder of Parents”
As Congress deals with rising complaints over junk mail clogging mailboxes, it might want to start by reducing its own contributions to the scourge. Last year, U.S. House members spent $20.3 million to spend unsolicited mail to constituents on subjects ranging from car care to advice on job interviews. It is one of the reasons why incumbents are so difficult to unseat — members have created a constructive public subsidy for campaigns, but only for incumbents. Continue reading “House Members Spent Over $20 Million Dollars on Junk Mail”
In the competition for worst Christmas ever, it is a tie this year between Robert Schoff who got stuck in his sepic tank or Roger Goswell who put his dead wife under his Christmas tree or Shawn Johnson who paid for opening his present early by being stabbed by his wife. Continue reading “Worst Christmas Ever: It’s a Tie!”
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had the floor to himself this week as he brought the Senate into session for just nine seconds to prevent President Bush from giving a recess appointment to Steven Bradbury, a controversial official involved in the use of torture by the Bush Administration. It was a worthy effort by the Senate Democrats, but it also raises questions over whether they will also block Judge Mark Filip, who is nominated to be Deputy Attorney General. Filip has refused to recognize decades of precedent that says that waterboarding is torture. Continue reading “Senate Meets for 9 Seconds to Prevent Bush From Appointing Pro-Torture Nominees for Justice Position”
This week, the South Koreans decided to expand their Supreme Court to 14 members. The news should get Americans to consider whether it is time for our own undersized Court to expand from 9 to 19. Continue reading “Korean Supreme Court to Expand to 14 — Is it Time for the U.S. Supreme Court to Expand to 19?”
The deadly tiger attack in San Francisco has become more sinister as experts reject a claim by a Zoo officials that the Siberian Tiger leap out of his enclosure. Human involvement would complicate the case against the Zoo, though a human release could cut both for and against greater liability for the Zoo. Continue reading “Deadly Tiger Attack Now Crime Case as Police Investigate Possible Human Involvement in Release”
Damon Lucky is hardly the poster boy that the N.R.A. is looking for as the critical constitutional case for the Second Amendment goes to the Supreme Court. As gun owners seek to show that the Second Amendment is an individual right, Lucky wants a federal court to declare that the individual right extends to ex-felons — striking down the common rule that ex-felons lose their right to gun ownership or possession. Continue reading “Inmate Fights for His Second Amendment Right to Own a Gun”
The Florida prosecutors made a difficult but correct decision this week in agreeing not to charge Ernie Daley, Jr., 19, for the deaths of two officers who were killed by a pursuing fellow officer. Continue reading “Florida Prosecutors Decide Not to Charge Charge Thief in Deaths of Two Officers Killed by A Fellow Pursuing Officer”
A Siberian Tiger escapes from its cage in the San Francisco zoo and killed one zoo visiter and mauled two others. It is a case that will likely lead to litigation, but the plaintiffs could face some special rules for zoo liability. However, this is not the first time for either the zoo or this particular tiger, which attacked someone in 2006. Continue reading “Zoo Tiger Escapes Kill One and Mauls Two in San Francisco — Roughly One Year After Prior Attack”
The federal government has long used a controversial “catch and release” system of snitches where it arrests citizens, threatens huge sentences for drugs, and then coerces them into trapping other citizens to reduce the sentence. It is a system designed to inflate arrest figures for local U.S. Attorneys, but it can also lead to get abuses. This was the case recently with one snitch, Tina Rivard, 40, who pleaded guilty to framing an innocent man to avoid jail. Continue reading “Federal Snitch Frames Innocent Man to Avoid Prosecution”
In a remarkable development, a white juror in a racially controversial murder case has gone public with a claim that he felt pressured by the judge and fellow jurors to convict John White, a black man found guily of killing a white teen, Daniel Cicciaro. It is a claim that is likely to produce more of a political and social response than a legal response. If the juror, Francois Larche, yielded to such pressure he failed to uphold his oath and will have little recourse in trying to take back his vote. Continue reading “Juror in John White Case Claims Coercion From Judge and Jurors was Responsible for Changing His Vote to Guilty”
Much in the Jewish faith was passed down by an oral tradition. However, this rabbinical tradition hit legal technicalities in a defamation suit filed by Rabbi Pinchas Lipner and the Hebrew Academy of San Francisco against San Francisco philanthropist Richard Goldman, the Jewish Community Federation and the University of California Regents. The California Supreme Court says that it is one defamation claim that will have to be heard by the court of public opinion rather than a court of law. Lipner missed a one-year statute of limitation and the Supreme Court refused to extend that period. Continue reading “Rabbi and Orthodox School Lose Libel Lawsuit in California”