University of Central Florida Assistant Professor Ali Borji, 39, is criminally charged over what police say was a pattern of stalking that included over 800 text messages a day to a female student. He was arrested on campus at this office on June 28th. UCF says that he resigned earlier from the Department of Computer Science. Continue reading “Publish and Perish? Florida Professor Arrested For Allegedly Stalking Student With 800 Messages A Day”
The Illinois trial of Texas lawyer Donnie Rudd was thrown into turmoil this week after prosecutor Maria McCarthy made the obviously improper and prejudicial decision to raise the murders of the infamous Drew Peterson before the jury. The Court agreed that McCarthy’s conduct was highly improper but refused a defense motion for a mistrial. Continue reading “Illinois Prosecutor Throws Murder Trial Into Turmoil After Comparison To Drew Peterson”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the legacy and vision or Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. The departure of Kennedy will leave the Supreme Court more calcified and rigid in its ideological division. Chief Justice John Roberts now assumes the role of the swing vote with a center of gravity that will likely move further to the right. His voice was unique and often profound. He applied a conservative jurisprudence that emphasized the protection of individual rights and identity. Time will show that Kennedy saw a horizon for our society that we are still struggling to attain.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Kennedy Retirement Leaves The Court Without A Center of Gravity and Grace”
For years, Democratic activists and analysts have complained about the negative impact of Nancy Pelosi on their efforts to take back the House of Representatives and forge a new party coalition. Pelosi, 78, has consistently remained one of the two least popular Democrats in Washington. The other was Hillary Clinton. So why would the Democratic Party rig a primary for Clinton and keep Pelosi when fighting to curtail Trump? The answer is found in what these leaders offer establishment figures not what they offer the party, the public, or the country. They deliver in jobs and money for powerful allies who see no personal advantage in supporting other candidates. The dominance of self-interest is evident in yet another poll showing that forty-five percent of registered voters say they are less likely to support a candidate who backs the California Democrat for House speaker should her party win a House majority in November. It is a fascinating (and familiar) pattern as the party establishment maintains a leader who is clearly a drain on efforts to retake Congress. Those who support Trump want Pelosi to remain in her position and are running commercials across the country featuring the prospect of her returning as Speaker. Yet, faced with yet another anti-establishment electorate, Democrats are again offering the same establishment leaders.
We previously discussed the ridiculous and dishonest health care system with hospitals charge absurd amounts in a system designed for padded and dishonest billing. The latest example comes from a family on vacation to San Francisco who took their two-year-old son into the emergency room of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital after he hit his head. After a brief check up, Jeong-whan was cleared by doctors and, after a brief nap, he was released. The family was hit two years later with an $18,000 bill.
There is a highly disturbing videotape released by police in the Bronx of an innocent man being sucker punched in the middle of an intersection after two men approach him. The attacker is Luis Rivera, 22, and he later returned and robbed the victim as he laid helpless in the street — and took a videotape of his victim. Rivera only turned himself in after police released the pictures below. Continue reading “A Bronx Tale: Victim Knocked Unconscious By Thugs In New York and Then Robbed By Passersby”
Patresha Isidore, 24, is facing a rather novel criminal charge after she drove nearly 20 miles with her ex-boyfriend clinging to the hood of her car. It appears that speeding with a person on your hood down the highway will only get you a misdemeanor in Florida. The bizarre videotape is below. Continue reading “Florida Woman Charged After Driving With Ex-Boyfriend On Hood For Nearly 20 Miles”
The announced retirement of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy has rocked Washington. I have columns that will be coming out in both the Washington Post and The Hill addressing different aspects of this news. However, the departure of the last Reagan nominee is obviously the end of an era for the Supreme Court as an institution. As someone with well-known libertarian leanings, I have always had a strong identification with Kennedy’s jurisprudence. While conservative in his approach, Kennedy believed that the most sacred role of the Constitution was to protect individuals in quest for meaning and identification in their lives. I always found Kennedy both personally and judicially to be a man of grace and profound sensitivity. I have long dreaded his leaving the Court, which will be the worst for his departure.
Continue reading “Justice Kennedy Rocks Washington With Retirement”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the travel ban in Trump v. Hawaii. While the case has been buried in the crush of coverage over the resignation of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the opinion is a shot across the bow for lower courts in their treatment of the relevant record for such disputes. It also answers some lingering questions over the conduct of key figures like Sally Yates.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Travel Ban and The Court’s Red Hen Moment”
Both Democrats and Republicans have denounced the decision of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia not to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. Many of us have called for greater civility, but one West Virginia man took a curious approach to instilling civility . . . by tossing chicken feces at the restaurant. Reginald Scott See, 51, is now charged with littering and disorderly conduct. Continue reading “Man Travels From West Virginia To Protest The Incivility Of The Red Hen . . . By Throwing Feces At The Restaurant”
There was a curious shift that occurred in the 24 hours leading up to the decision of the Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii. News organizations repeatedly emphasized that the travel ban under consideration was, in the words of CNN, “very different” from the one first issued by the Trump Administration and the current order was much narrower. It is certainly true that the current travel ban has a slightly different array of countries and a much enhanced record. Moreover, I was a critic of the poorly drafted and poorly executed original ban. However, it is not true that those differences carried the day with the Court. The two threshold issues remained that same and, until the loss yesterday, challengers maintained that the legal issues had not materially changed.
Continue reading “The Supreme Spin: How The Travel Ban Victory Became A Victory For Critics”
The irresponsibility of our leaders has now given the country a fiscal terminal date: 2028. That is the date that the Congressional Budget Office now calculates as the point where our debt will virtually equal the value of our gross domestic policy. As countries like Greece have gone into a free fall with such reckless spending, both parties have put the United States on the same course for economic meltdown as politicians continue to avoid tough questions with higher spending — including yielding to the Trump Administration’s demand to left balanced budget limits.
For decades, law professors have discussed the 1944 decision in Korematsu v. United States as one of the most disgraceful and indefensible opinions ever issued by the United States Supreme Court. Yet, the Court has continued to cite Korematsu and has never expressly disavowed its denial of basic constitutional rights to Japanese Americans. In a virtual aside by the majority in Trump v. Hawaii, Chief Judge John Roberts Jr. puts a well-aimed stake through the heart of the case and finally declares it to be overturned.
Continue reading “The Long Overdue Death of Korematsu v. United States”
I have a column in The Hill today on the decision of the Supreme Court in favor of the Trump Administration on the travel ban. After the first travel ban decision, I predicted that (while lower courts might disagree) the Supreme Court would reverse on the heavy reliance on President Donald Trump’s campaign statements and tweets. For prior columns, click here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here. Nevertheless, critics have cried foul at the 5-4 decision, including Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, has said that this creates a dangerous imbalance in the separation of powers. I believe the opposite is true.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Upholds Travel Ban In Major Victory For The Trump Administration”
There is an interesting account of the recent controversy at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va. from the father of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders that has gone largely unreported. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has claimed that Stephanie Wilkinson “organized” a group to follow Sanders and her family to a nearby restaurant to scream at them. That is strikingly different from Wilkinson’s account and the account being offered in the media that Wilkinson politely asked Sanders to leave and nothing more. The many stories lionizing Wilkinson have cited her “passive” protest as proof of her “leadership.” If true, the account magnifies the rude and uncivil conduct of Wilkinson and it is clearly material to the story. Yet, only a few conservative sites have carried Huckabee’s account. Continue reading “Huckabee: Wilkinson Led Group Out Of Red Hen To Protest Sanders Eating At Another Restaurant”