Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion

Blogger Given Three Years In Jail For Discussing Infidelity in Egypt

200px-Facebook.svgWe have another abusive case out of Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. President al-Sisi has destroyed guarantees of free speech and the free press in country, which once seemed on the road to becoming an exception in the Muslim world as a nation embracing basic civil liberties. In the latest case, an Egyptian court sentenced blogger Taymour el-Sobki to three years in jail with hard labor for “spreading false news.” The “false news”? He simply opined that 45 percent of married Egyptian women have the readiness for “immorality” and to cheat on their husbands. That now gets you three years in Egypt.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Conservative Group Targets Judge Jane Kelly In Attack Ad For Serving As Criminal Defense Counsel In Notorious Case

As discussed earlier in my Washington Post column, various names have been floating around town of possible nominees to replace the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. One of those names is Jane Kelly, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The conservative Judicial Crisis Network has not waited for the nomination and is already running an attack ad targeting Kelly. The ad is deeply troubling because it seeks to bar Kelly’s nomination because she zealously defended a child molester, Casey Frederiksen. The ad seeks to punish an attorney for performing her duty as a criminal defense counsel — suggesting that no attorney should defend those accused of such heinous crimes. While we celebrate the courage of presidents like John Adams (who represented the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre), there is a rising tide of intolerance for those who step forward to fulfill the guarantees of due process and the right to counsel under our Constitution. The attack ad is the judicial version of Willie Horton ad used against Michael Dukakis by President George H. W. Bush.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Lawyering, Society

North Carolina Man Given New Trial After Attorney and Former Legislator Slept Through Trial

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Nikita “Nick” Mackey (left), an attorney and former house representative from North Carolina, has secured a new trial for his client Nicholas Ragin, but not exactly as he had hoped. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has tossed out Ragin’s conviction because Mackey slept through parts of his trial while serving as his defense attorney. However, Ragin spent 10 years on a 30 year conviction for conspiracy and racketeering.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

Clinton Demands To Know Where Sanders Was During The Earlier Health Care Fight . . . Sanders Releases Picture of His Standing Right Next To Her

ecd701_f7648a5091aa41c083ac6b199915d2e3This election just seems to get weirder and weirder. On the heels of her praise and then unpraise for Nancy Reagan on AIDS, Hillary Clinton is again being charged with rewriting history in attacking Bernie Sanders for his absence on the health care fight back in 1993-94. New York Times reporter Amy Chozick quoted Hillary Clinton in a tweet saying, “I don’t know where he was when I was trying to get health care in 93 and 94.” The Sanders campaign quickly responded with a picture showing Sanders standing right next to her and then released another signed picture where she commended him for his work in seeking such national health care coverage at the time. CNN and other media outfits already called out Clinton for the “cheap shot” in falsely suggesting that Sanders did not support the auto bailout. This is not going to help those low trustworthiness numbers plaguing Clinton.

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Environment, Hikes

Mornings on the Billy Goat

IMG_3954One of my favorite regular hikes is Billy Goat Trail at dawn on the weekends in Maryland. For a few weeks, the trail has been closed due to snow melt. However, you are able to still do the Towpath. Yesterday, the trail was open and glorious. I wanted to share a few pictures of the high water from the last couple weeks. I am making plans for a couple of great hikes this year, including a hiking and travel blog to Alaska where I have to give a speech. First, I hope to do my Spring hike on Old Rag Mountain in the coming weeks.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

“Next Time We See Him, We Might Have To Kill Him!”: Trump Supporter Unapologetic After Assault On Protester

rally11n-1-copyWe often discuss how defendants undermine their cases with statements to the press or on social media. The latest example is John McGraw, 78, who assaulted a protester, 26-year-old Rakeem Jones, at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina. Despite already being in hot water over the disgraceful attack, McGraw told Inside Edition “Next time we see him, we might have to kill him!” That should make for an interesting sentencing hearing.

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Academia, Politics, Religion, Society

Study: Sharp Decline In Americans With Faith Or Religion Affiliations

350px-God2-Sistine_ChapelThere is another study showing the decline of religious beliefs in the United States — and a considerable generational gap. The study published in the American Journal of Sociology shows 68% Americans aged 65 and over said they had no doubt God existed but only 45% of young adults, aged 18-30, agreed with that position. Likewise, 41% of people 70 and older said they attend church services at least once a month, compared to 18% of people 60 and below.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Society

Harvard Task Force Discusses Possible Ban On Students Joining All-Male Clubs or Associations

Harvard-seal-3There is a controversy surrounding a suggestion that appeared as part of a sexual assault study conduct by a Harvard task force that would bar students from joining its all-male final clubs. Such exclusive clubs are denounced as perpetuating a “harmful sexual culture.” Notably, these are private all-male organizations with no relationship with the university but the task force suggests that it could dictate such associations for its students. The report focuses on all-male rather than all-female clubs. These clubs are characterized as having “men in positions of power engaging with women on unequal and too often on very sexual terms.” While it is not clear what support this “idea” for possible action has garnered at the school, conservative publications have said that there have already been threats about disciplinary actions for students associating with such clubs. It is important to note that this does not appear to be the thrust of the report (which is linked below), which suggests a wide range of remedial and preventive measures. The main concern is an appendix associated with the task force, available here. One of the ideas is “Either don’t allow simultaneous membership in Final Clubs and College enrollment; or allow Clubs to transition to all-gender inclusion with equal gender membership and leadership.”

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Academia, Bizarre, Society

Conservative Student Leader at University of Southern California Faces Impeachment For Inviting Conservative Speakers To Campus

University_of_Southern_California_USC_174423This week we discussed the effort to impeach two student leaders at Bowdoin. Their offense was wearing sombreros as a fiesta-themed party. Now, there is an effort to impeachment a conservative student leader at the University of Southern California for inviting a conservative speaker to campus. Jacob Ellenhorn appears to have done little more than facilitate conservative voices to be heard on campus.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Military, Politics, Society

Egyptian Journalist Criminally Charged After Criticizing Al-Sisi

sisi-mouseWe have another abusive crackdown in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt has seen a dramatic rollback on civil liberties under al-Sisi. In Egypt, a teenager was jailed for cartoons of Muhammad and a leading businessman was attacked for a cartoon of Micky Mouse with a beard. Then there was the three-year sentence given Amr Nohan, a 22-year-old law graduate for posting a Facebook image of el-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears. A leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, was arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive al-Sisi government. Now Egypt’s Attorney General Nabil Sadeq ordered an investigation into a TV presenter, Azza Al-Henawy, who simply criticized al-Sisi for not delivering on promise.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

“Robin Hood” Nabbed At IHOP

robin_hood31There is a curious case out of Brooklyn where William Powell, 27, fell into a habit of not charging for drinks for customers who could not afford it at his IHOP. The sodas added up to $3,000 to be specific and the owner was not pleased. Powell described himself as “the modern-day Robin Hood.” It would not be surprising if the owner fired Powell, but instead he called the police and now Powell is facing a grand larceny charge.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Clinton Declares That She Will Never Be Indicted And Insists That Her “Predecessors Did The Same Thing” On Emails

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziI watched last night’s debate with great interest. I thought both Sanders and Clinton had some very strong moments. However, I tend to watch these debates for the legal issues and I was most struck by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s discussion of the email scandal. First, she declared that she will never be indicted — a statement that may irritate federal investigations looking into possible crimes. She certainly has defenses and the odds may indeed favor her. However, defense attorneys usually discourage such statements from potential targets which can enrage prosecutors as presumptuous or suggesting some level of immunity. Second, she insisted that her “predecessors did the same thing” that she did on emails — a statement that is demonstrably untrue but again was left unchallenged by the journalists.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Corpus Delicti: Two North Carolinians Arrested In The Act Of Burying Dead Body

The Sopranos make this look so easy. A man and a woman have been arrested in Ellendale, North Carolina after they were caught burying a dead body on an abandoned property. It does not get stronger than that for a criminal case. Suspect Tony Hearne is quoted as saying it was just his “bad luck” that things worked out this way.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Turkish Government Takes Over Critical Newspaper And Then Immediately Issues Pro-Government Edition

220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganZaman_Front_PageThe rapid decline of civil liberties under the authoritarianism of Turkish president. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been a regular point of discussion on this blog. He has been gradually arresting or threatening the dwindling number of independent journalists in Turkey and this prosecution may succeed in forcing the remaining reporters into silence or living in exile. The latest victim of his abusive rule is Turkey’s largest-circulation newspaper which was seized by the government. The newspaper, Zaman, was one of the most read sources of criticism of Erdogan and this government. The government has now silenced that voice and taken over the newspaper. The very next issue under government control was a markedly pro-government publication.

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