Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Russia Arrests Atheist For Questioning The Existence of God On Social Media

225px-Vladimir_Putin_official_portraitPatriarch_Kirill_of_MoscowWe have recently discussed how Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia have arrested and flogged atheists under medieval Sharia legal systems. However, the most recent case is not out of the Middle East but rather Russia. Viktor Krasnov has been arrested for simply stating his belief that “there is no God” during an argument on social media. For his atheist views, Krasnov has been charged with “offending believers feelings.” He is the latest victim of the political alliance of Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion

Egypt Expels Lawmaker For Inviting Israeli Ambassador to Dinner

CcEfGVdXIAApEnUEgypt’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to expel Tawfik Okasha from the legislature for the apparently unforgivable sin of inviting the Israeli ambassador in Cairo for dinner. The picture of him meeting with the ambassador took that opposition into a full rage. Now remember that Egypt has full diplomatic relations with Israel, but Okasha’s merely having dinner with the ambassador resulted in a vote of 465 out of 490 legislators supporting this expulsion.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

Leading Pakistani Religious Council Declares Law Protecting Women From Domestic Violence To Be “UnIslamic”

The Women’s Protection Act, passed by Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab last week, would seem the type of law that no civilized person could contest. It offers legal protection to women from sexual abuse and violence while calling for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line and the establishment of women’s shelters. However, the Council of Islamic Ideology, a powerful Pakistani religious body that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam, has now declared that criminalizing violence against women is “un-Islamic.”

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Clinton Staffer Granted Immunity From Prosecution In Exchange For His Cooperation

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziIn a move that can only be viewed as ominous by the Clinton legal team, the Justice Department has granted immunity to former State Department staffer, Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Pagliano had refused to cooperate after invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He was an obvious target of potential criminal charges if he knew that the server was meant to circumvent federal laws, including the mishandling of classified information.  Update: there is a new report that investigators are zeroing in on the possibility that passwords were exchanged to allow people to access classified sites (and explaining how classified information seem to “jump the gap” between secure and non-secure systems).  That is a strictly prohibited practice.

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion

Oberlin Professor Retained Despite Controversial Facebook Postings

1456789323213We have another case of a professor who was put under scrutiny for her postings on social media. Joy Karega, an assistant professor of “rhetoric and composition” at Oberlin College posted bizarre claims on Facebook blaming Jews and Israel for 9/11 as well as ISIS. The college however has decided that such postings are protected and it is correct in doing so. However, once again, there is a concern over how colleges treat such controversies depending on the views and conclusions of the academics or students.

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Bizarre, Media, Society

“Blue Drug Fairy” From Viral YouTube Video Found Dead From Reported Overdose

15-2n026-bluefairy-300x300Sharissa Turk, 25, is dead. If you do not recognize the name, your kids might. Turk was the “blue drug fairy” in a YouTube video that went viral entitled “My World Is Blue.” The video was made by Staten Island’s White Trash Clan and produced by Turk’s one-time fiancé Incite DaRiot.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International

Chinese Businessman Questions Government Crackdown on the Media. . . The Government Immediately Cuts Off His 37 Million Followers

This week offered another insight into how little it takes to be blocked in China. Ren Zhiqiang, a highly influential businessman and commentator, offered a mild criticism of President Xi Jinping’s campaign to tighten control over state-run media. The result was the the government blocked him from Internet sites for spreading “illegal information” and having a “negative impact.” The result of being blocked by sites like Sina Corp.’s Weibo and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s QQ was the loss of access to more than 37 million followers on Weibo alone. Of course, his complaints are meritless since the chief censor of China announced recently that there is no censorship in China . . . and he should, after all, know. He is the chief censor.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

Twelve-Year-Old Girl Criminally Charged In Virginia For Alleged Threat Using Emoji

Emoji_u1f4a3.svgUnknownWe have been discussing the use of criminal charges against children for pranks and threats in recent years, including a story this week involving twelve year old girls in Florida. In Fairfax, Virginia (where I live and my kids attend public school) a 12-year-old is being charged with making threats against her school using emoji. The girl sent an Instagram post in December that said, in part: “Killing [gun emoji] meet me in the library Tuesday [gun emoji] [knife emoji] [bomb emoji].” Once again, the case raises the question of whether such matters need to be criminalized rather than address through stern but internal punishment.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

Islamic Teacher Convicted Of Raping Nine-Year-Old Student After Claiming That She Initiated The Sex

There is a disturbing case out of Snaresbrook Crown Court in England where an Islamic studies tutor raped his 14-year-old pupil and left her pregnant. Mohammed Islam, 31, reportedly started molesting the schoolgirl in 2010 when she was just nine while teaching her the Koran. He has been sentenced to 19 years.

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Academia, Bizarre, Media, Society

Student Steals Teacher’s Phone and Posts Semi-Nude Private Pictures . . . School Demands Resignation of Teacher

DSC_0850_pp-Dr.E1Ok, this would seem a straightforward case. A student at in Union, South Carolina, steals his teacher’s phone and then accesses her private photographs. He finds semi-nude pictures that she took for her husband for Valentine’s Day and shared them with other students. Result? Union County schools superintendent David Eubanks (left) and his colleagues demanded her resignation. I can certainly understand why teacher Leigh Anne Arthur might be a tad confused.
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Bizarre, International, Politics, Society

Ugandan Elections Spur Rash of Child Mutilations and Murders To Guarantee “Good Luck”

125px-Flag_of_Uganda.svgCoat_of_arms_of_the_Republic_of_Uganda.svgJust when you thought you could not get more depressed about the state of humanity. Uganda officials are dealing with a rash of mutilations and murders of children. The reason is chilling. Some Ugandans believe that mutilating and murdering children can bring you good luck. With the recent Ugandan elections, people appear to have tried to rig the outcome through child ritualistic murder. Makes you feel a little better about the current crop of candidates in our elections. Ritualistic child murder is perhaps the only thing that they have not accused each other of.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Religion

Erdoğan Announces That He Will Not Comply With Court Ruling Protecting Two Journalists

220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his assault on basic freedoms in his country with an assault this month on the decision of the Constitutional Court. The Court had the temerity to disagree with Erdoğan and rule that the imprisonment of two prominent journalists for a report on alleged illegal arms transfers to Syria was a violation of their rights. Erdoğan has announced that he will simply ignore the ruling of the court because he disagrees with it. Erdoğan has become increasingly bold in his crackdown on opponents and civil liberties — relying on his base of Islamic organizations.

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Bizarre, International, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Jewish Woman Sues El Al After Being Pressured To Move To Accommodate Ultra Orthodox Man

El_Al_Israel_Airlines_Boeing_737-700_4X-EKE_AMS_2014-02-16Logo_of_El_Al_Israel_Airlines.svgRenee Rabinowitz, a retired lawyer with a Ph.D. in educational psychology who lives in Jerusalem, has finally had enough with having to deal with sexist rules imposed by Orthodox men. The 81-year-old woman has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Israeli airline El Al after she was allegedly forced to move seats after an Ultra-Orthodox man complained about having to sit next to a woman. As have previously discussed such cases where religious men have forced delays and movement of women without penalty from El Al — requiring everyone else to accommodate their extreme religious views. Even Delta airlines did nothing after ultra orthodox men prevented a flight from taking off until women were moved from the seats that they rightfully purchased.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Two Brothers Heaped Insults On Judge After She Gives Them Suspended Sentences . . . Judge Calls Them Back and Sends Them To Jail For Two Years

Daniel and Samuel Sledden have again shown how the combination of a demonstrably low intellect and access to social media can be a terrible combination. The two drug dealing brothers were pulled back into court in England by Judge Beverley Lunt after they posted abusive remarks — mocking her for giving them only probation. That directly contradicted the expressions of remorse that the brothers had just made as the basis for suspended sentences.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Media, Society

Three Albany Students Charged With Falsely Claiming That They Were The Victims Of An Assault By 10-12 “White Men”

imagesThree black female college students in Albany have been accused of assault after originally claiming they had been the victims of a racist attack from “10-12 white men” on a city bus. The alleged attack happened on January 30th and Ariel Agudio, Alexis Briggs and Asha Burwell (all 20) claimed that they were the victims of a racist attack. However, after the videotape was reviewed the police found that it was the three students who allegedly initiated the attack and then participated in rallies denouncing racism in America. Hillary Clinton tweeted support for the women in their claim as victims of racist.

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