There is a major fight brewing between New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Councilman Simcha Felder over an allegation of the unlawful use of discretionary funds. Between 2002 and 2006, the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave $1.1 million to the Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and $400,000 to Ohel Children’s Services. Such use of funds is only allowed at the request of a council member and Bloomberg has said that it was requested by Felder – who has denied any such request.
Continue reading “New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Accused of Illegally Funneling Money to Two Jewish Groups”
Prince William County police are accused of abuse in the tasering of a grandfather and a mother at a baptismal party in Manassas. The party was being held at the home of Edgar A. Rodriguez, 55, when police responded to a call about loud music. The police say that Rodriguez was drunk and failed to turn down the music after repeated demands by the police. The police ended up tasering Rodriguez and then, when his daughter Leticia Elias, 25, ran to him, police tasered her as well. She is the pregnant mother of the baptized baby.
Continue reading “Baptism Under Fire: Virginia Police Taser Grandfather and Mother At Baptism Party”
Sudanese police beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court Tuesday during the trial of Lubna Hussein, a former U.N. worker and journalist, who is facing flogging for wearing pants in violation of Islamic laws. We previously discussed the story, here. The police fired tear gas into a group of 50 or so women and beat them with batons for protesting against the Sharia court proceeding. Hussein’s lawyer was also beaten.
Continue reading “Sudanese Police Beat Women Protesting Pants Ban”
The D.C. Council members have called for an investigation into the allegations of discovery destruction in the World Bank/IMF case. Given the inquiries into the case, I am posting the recent sanctions material to cut down on calls to my office. I am also posting the transcript from the last hearing. Given my role in the case, I am limited in what I can say about the case.
Continue reading “D.C. Council Members Call for Investigation of Protest Case and Resignation of Attorney General Peter Nickles”
Moorestown Patrolman Robert Melia, 38, is every criminal defense attorney’s nightmare. First, Melia was charged with aggravated sexual assault on three underaged girls. Now, he has been arrested for sex with cows.
Continue reading “Following the Herd: Police Officer Charged With Sex With Cows”
Having just gotten off my first bike ride in eight years (22 miles, one faint heart attack, and years of required therapy), this video struck a cord. Dominic Hargreaves has invented this incredible collapsing bike.
Shock jock Kyle Sandilands is under attack in a shocking incident in Australia. His show is under investigation after Sandilands did an on-air probe of a 14-year-old’s sexual history while she was hooked up to a lie detector. During the questioning by her mother and Sandilands, the girl said that she was raped at 12. Sandilands responded by asking: “Is that the only experience you’ve had?”
Continue reading “Shock Jock Exposes Rape on Air — And His Own Apparent Indifference”
Clearwater Florida’s Parks and Recreation Director, Kevin Dunbar, is under fire after he ordered the removal of 13 flagpoles and flags from the city this week. Dunbar concluded that flying old Glory was no longer affordable — a move that parallels the decision of various cities and states to sell parks and historic sites even as the United States continues to spend billions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading “Florida City Park Director Orders Removal of Flags To Save Money”
This may be one of the most unsettling ideas since the party-with-the-dead-guy embalming. The inventive people at Cremation Solutions have come up with the idea of having your loved one staring at you with a head full of his own ashes — as a tender memory.
Continue reading “Urning Your Love: Cremation Company Introduces Sculpted Urns”
Today, I am starting a new category for purely cathartic purposes: Things That Tick Me Off. The category is designed to reduce the chances of my committing battery or defamation out of an unexpressed frustration. By burdening our blogging community with a gripe, I hope to extend my life and my marriage. Today’s submission is airline baggage policy.
Continue reading “Things That Tick Me Off: Airline Baggage Policy”
There is a surprising development in the case of former Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan in Pennsylvania. U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik has rejected the plea bargain given the two former judges who previously pleaded guilty in a scheme to steer juveniles to for-profit detention facilities for $2.6 million in kickbacks. The decision of Kosik shows the dangers of defendants speaking to the media between pleas and sentencings.
Anderson County Attorney Frank Campbell in Kansas was reportedly suspended from practice for six months after he showed pictures of a 17-year-old girl being raped — after declining to prosecute the case. A lawsuit is now being planned, according to news reports.
Continue reading “Kansas Prosecutor Suspended After Showing Pictures of Rape of Teen Girl”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled in favor of a Santeria priest — Jose Merced, 46 — who sacrificed goats in his Texas home in Euless. The court ruled that the prohibition on the ritual violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act (TRFRA).
Continue reading “Federal Appellate Court Rules in Favor of Santeria Priest in Home Sacrifices”
Rodell Vereen, 50, is facing a bizarre charge that he is a recidivist horse rapist after being captured on surveillance video at the Lazy B Stables in Conway, S.C. with the same horse — a 21-year-old mare named Sugar — that he had sex with before an earlier arrest. The crime of “buggery” is tragically not uncommon (here and here and here) but habitual arrests are rare.
Wisconsin National Guardsmen have filed a highly disturbing civil rights lawsuit against the city of Wisconsin Dells, its police chief and three officers. The complaint alleges that police officers Wayne W. Thomas and Collin H. Jacobson forced the two gulf war veterans to lick what was believed to be their own urine off the street in an alley as well as eat a plant believed to be doused with urine. Wisconsin Dells called itself the “waterpark capital of the World.”
Continue reading “Wisconsin Dells is Sued by National Guardsmen Who Claim that They Were Forced to Lick Up Urine in Alley by Officers”