President Donald Trump has been widely criticized for his breaking an 80-year-old tradition in making political comments at the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in West Virginia. When asked about the controversy, however, Trump refused to apologize and instead said that there were no “mixed” views at the event. Rather, he said that the head of the Boy Scouts called him and told him it was “the greatest speech that was ever made to them.” That comment left many scratching their heads since the Boy Scouts apologized to parents for the Presidents speech and said yesterday that they are unaware of any such telephone call.
Women’s Studies Professor Kevin Allred at Montclair State University is back in the news. Allred previously attracted national attention (while on the Rutgers faculty) after he was reportedly ordered to go through a psychiatric evaluation after students “felt threatened” by him following Trump’s election. Now, Allred (who teaches a course on Beyonce) posted a comment that he hoped someone would kill Donald Trump. As should come as little surprise to many who know my view of the First Amendment, I view this statement as protected speech and hyperbolic. However, it was reckless, hateful, and worthy of condemnation.
The 
Below is my column in USA Today on the profane and shocking statements by the new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. The staements were later defended as “an Italian thing.” The suggestion was that this was just a form of Italian venting. It was not. First, as someone raised in a Sicilian family, I would not have been able to sit for a month if I ever spoke like that to anyone. Indeed, we just celebrated the 90th birthday of my mother, Angela Piazza Turley, in Chicago. If she read such statements by me in the press, I would have been met with a cane at the door. Second, this was not venting. It was raving and seriously undermined both Scaramucci and the Administration.
I am in Chicago, my hometown, to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. I always love coming home to his city, but which is beautiful in the summer. I took the kids swimming in Lake Michigan with huge waves and a perfect day. However, the city is reeling from an ever-rising murder rate. Just four years ago, the city passed 400 homicides around Thanksgiving. We just passed that mark in July in what could be a record bloody year in the Windy City. 
Below is my column in USA Today on the possibility of a “Doomsday scenario” where President Donald Trump first fired (or forces the resignation) of Jeff Sessions and then moves to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. That scenario was reinforced yesterday with 
Defense counsel often discuss demeanor in court with our clients. One thing that we all agree on is that it is a uniquely bad idea to smirk during victim statements, particularly in a murder case. That is one lesson Danta Wright, 17, did not learn and it almost cost him the plea bargain negotiated with prosecutors.