Bizarre, Society

Government Imposes Over $208 Million In Fines For Robocalls . . . And Collects $6,790.

Like most Americans, my family continues to be deluged with robo calls despite being on the “no call list” for years. The most reason annoying repeat offender has been an “Affordable Healthcare” number that calls repeatedly each day. I have previously written that I fail to see how the federal government cannot stop such companies. The fact is that they can and a recent report explains why they are not. According to the Wall Street Journal, it turns out that under Telephone Consumer Protection Act the Federal Communications Commission has imposed $208.4 million in fines. How much has the government collected? $6,790. You read that right. $6,790. That is just 0.003 percent of the fines.

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Criminal law

Illinois Prosecutors Blast Handling Of The Smollett Case


I recently wrote about the absurd decision by the Cook County State’s Attorney to drop 16 criminal counts against actor Jussie Smollett for his hoax hate crime in Chicago. The decision was an utter travesty of justice and, as I discussed, the reasons cited by the prosecutors make little sense from a prosecutorial standpoint. Now the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association (representing 1000 line prosecutors in the state) has taken the rare step of publicly denouncing the handling of the case. The letter below describes the handling of the case as “abnormal and unfamiliar.” That is putting it lightly. There is a federal investigation but it is not clear what if anything can be done to hold Smollett — or these prosecutors — accountable for their actions in this scandal. However, there is also Smollett’s alleged hoax involving mail that could trigger federal charges. It is a disgrace that the only hope for accountability in Chicago will have to come from the federal government and not the Cook County State’s Attorney.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Putting The Hot Back Into Hot Air Balloons: Sheriff Nabs High-Flying Felons

This beautiful picture of a hot air balloon was posted recently by the Marion County Sheriff’s office on Facebook in an effort to solve a crime. The huge balloon was stolen from Indiana and the sheriff asked people to keep an eye out for it at the The Villages Hot Air Balloon Festival being held at the Florida Horse Park. It worked. Raising into the air, the hot hot-air balloon was spotted and eventually recovered.

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Bizarre, Columns, Criminal law

Smollett and the Scourge of Celebrity Justice

Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the dropping of charges against Jussie Smollett. The decision to give Smollett community service and an insulting $10,000 fine has outraged people around the world. Indeed, the City estimates that it spent $130,000 in pursuing the hoax. The costs belie the claim of the Chicago District Attorney that it was merely trying to save badly needed resources. Those resources were already spent in finding the hoax and securing 16 charges from a grand jury. The result is a travesty of justice that shocks the conscience.

Here is the column:

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment

Father And Son Shown Killing Hibernating Mother Bear and Her Two Cubs
Video footage of an Alaskan father and son poaching and killing a hibernating mother bear and her two cubs last April has been released to the public for the first time.

The video below shows a disgusting crime by an Alaskan father and son who killed a hibernating mother bear and her two cubs in their den on Esther Island on Prince William Sound. Last April, Andrew and Owen Renner were captured on tape as they killed the sleeping bears. Andrew, 41, and Owen, 18, are heard shooting the mother first in their den at the base of a tree as the cubs are heard crying out before they then killed by the two poachers.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, International, Politics, Religion

Brunei Adopts Islamic Sharia Law To Stone Homosexuals and Adulterers To Death
Emblem of Brunei

The nation of Brunei has taken the final plunge into extreme Islamic laws with the adoption of the medieval Sharia law. As a result, the kingdom will stone to death homosexuals and adulterers. The expansion of Sharia law into Asia is a troubling development for human rights and civil liberties.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Mueller and The Stages Of Grieving

The release of the summary of findings by the Special Counsel has left much of the country in stunned silence.  For two years, millions of voters have kept hope alive that the term of Donald Trump would be cut short by a type of avenging angel in Robert Mueller.  They are now left with a reality that is still difficult to process: Donald Trump is likely to finish his term as President of the United States. There I said it.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Politics

Chinese Censors Leave Audiences Confused After Cutting All Gay References From Bohemian Rhapsody

The Chinese government maintains one of the most extensive censorship operations in history — an effort to hold the world at its physical and virtual borders. It is not only an effort to prevent citizens from reading of civil liberties or government abuses. It is also a ban on such subjects as homosexuality. That effort has taken a ridiculous term with the censoring of gay language and plots from the hit movie “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The cuts have left audiences reportedly confused by the disjointed dialogue and story.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

Fast and Curious: Holder Demands Full Disclosure of Mueller Report Despite His Own Record Of Contempt

Former Attorney General Eric Holder has declared that the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is not the end of the obstruction inquiry but only the “beginning of obstruction.” Holder has demanded that Attorney General William Barr release the report despite the contrary precedent of Holder himself in refusing to disclose critical information in the “Fast and Furious” scandal. Holder previously declared that Mueller was certain to find criminal obstruction by Trump.

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Academia, Free Speech

Wake Forest Grapples With Free Speech Controversy Over Instagram Posting

There is a controversy brewing over free speech at Wake Forest University where an Instagram post has triggered an investigation. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the “racist” posting  encouraged students to vote for a candidate for student body president. It read: “He wants to build a wall between Wake and Winston-Salem State and he’ll make them pay for it.” While the university’s president Nathan Hatch described it as a possible “parody”, an investigation was still launched. That has raised objections from students who complain of a chilling effect on speech under such rules.

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Criminal law, Media, Politics

Trump: Accusers Have Done “Evil” and “Treasonous Things”

It would seem that being cleared of collusion and obstruction allegations might be an opportune moment for Donald Trump to take the high road and declare an intent to move the country past the divisive politics of the last two years. Instead, Trump declared that those people who accused him were responsible for “treasonous things” and said they “will certainly be looked at.” Since I was one of those people who denounced others for alleging treason against Trump, it is disconcerting to now hear Trump himself using the same irresponsible rhetoric. Those peddling unsupported theories of criminality over the last two years were also irresponsible and reckless, but their voicing such views was not treasonous. Trump added that his critics were “evil”

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Bizarre, Criminal law

New York Moves To Ban Subway Sex Offenders . . . After A Second Offense

I am in New York today so this story just seemed to jump out at me. The city, it appears, is taking a stand against people who expose themselves or masturbate on the subway. You will now be banned . . . after your second offense. That is a rather curious approach to this form of sexual offense but it appears that New York is adopting a variation of the “one-free-bite rule” of common law torts when it comes to sexual offenders.

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