One of the thrills for many people in North Dakota has been to visit the Elkhorn Ranch of former President Teddy Roosevelt in the Badlands along the Little Missouri River. While long listed as one of the “11 most endangered historic places” in the nation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Elkhorn Ranch was the beloved location where Roosevelt hunted, bred cattle and began his writings on conservation. Although the government U.S. Forest Service purchased 4,400 acres, including the ranch, in 2007 as part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, it did not acquire the mineral rights. Now, over the intense objections of Roger Lothspeich, owner of Elkhorn Minerals, intended to mine gravel and destroy much of the area around the historic site. In response to a national outcry from historians and hunters, Lothspeich said “There is a lot of gravel to mine. I will keep on mining year after year, for years to come, and will not stop until I get all the gravel. That’s the type of individual I am. I just don’t give up.”
I recently wrote about the criminal case against Bill Cosby for his alleged sexual assault of one of a number of women accusing him of rape or other criminal conduct. Now there appears an added wrinkle: the defense is claiming that a key deposition of Cosby occurred with an understanding that it would not be used in a criminal prosecution. However, there does not appear to be a formal immunity agreement.
A former Taco Bell executive Benjamin Golden, 32, recently made himself into a national scandal after being caught on videotape slapping Uber driver Edward Caban repeatedly in a drunken haze. Golden later gave a tearful apology saying “It’s not me in the video. It’s not me. It was hard to watch and I’m ashamed.” That shame appears to have now passed since he is suing Caban for $5 million. However, if those statements are admissible, he may learn that “silence is Golden”
There is a truly horrific story out of Pakistan that reveals the sheer insanity that can be instilled in an entire community through religious orthodoxy. News reports indicate that Mohammad Anwar, 15, cut off his own hand after being told that he had committed blasphemy by failing to pray enough. His act was reportedly celebrated by the community as a wonderful testament to his Islamic faith.
For months, critics and candidates have been publicly denouncing what they view as open favoritism of the Democratic National Committee (and particularly DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz) toward Hillary Clinton. Even DNC members have objected to the role of the DNC and the view that it is trying to guarantee that Clinton is the nominee. One of the most commonly cited (and commonly accepted) examples are the small number of debates scheduled by the DNC at hours that guarantee the least exposure for Clinton. That criticism is likely to become deafening this Sunday when the key debate before the Iowa caucus will be scheduled not only on a Sunday night but in direct conflict with the NFL playoffs and the new episode of Downton Abbey. Our house is a typical example of the obvious dilemma. My wife is a Downton Abbey fan and, as you know, I am a football fan. The result? The debate might as well have been held by the DNC on Mars. It is a schedule that only Max Bialystock could truly love. [Update: despite virtual universal derision over the scheduling of the debates, Wasserman Schultz went public today and claimed that the schedule was actually designed to “maximize” exposure. This type of statement only magnifies the view that party leaders and some politicians have such a low opinion of voters that it borders on open contempt. How would scheduling a debate on a Sunday night in conflict with two of the biggest television draws maximize viewership — putting aside the refusal to allow more debates as demanded by two of the three candidates and many voters? Indeed, if she was implausibly trying for the largest audience, she is grossly negligent as the low ratings have proven.]
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
I thought I would take a break from the legal discussions and move to something just as important–actually more so: the healthy diet.
Over the years I have come to appreciate this diet with its numerous aspects that can help not only your own well being, but it actually can contribute toward more sustainable agribusiness model.
I found that it is mostly a waste of money to subscribe to or purchase various diets that are mass marketed. This method I follow eliminates that requirement and the food actually tastes better in many ways.
So, I offer you another choice, and free of any program costs or subscriptions.
On December 2, 2015, the United States House of Representatives filed its motion for summary judgment in its challenge to the Administration’s unilateral actions taken under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). At the time, the Administration filed its own summary judgment motion. This evening, the House filed its opposition to the Administration’s motion.
In another disturbing example of the abuses that occur in the absence of church (or mosque) and state separation, Pakistani lawmakers have yielded to the demand of Islamic clerics and killed a law that would have imposed real penalties for those who arrange forced child marriages, including raising the legal age of marriages. Clerics denounced the law as “blasphemous” and against Islam.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian rule is again evident this week with the rounding up of dozens of professors for simply signing a petition denouncing military operations against Kurds in the south-east of the country. The signatories of the petition included famous linguist Noam Chomsky and the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. Erdoğan responded angrily to the letter, which was denounced as “terror propaganda” and he called on the judiciary to act against their alleged treachery. Supporters of Erdoğan and nationalist students have been intimidating academics by marking their doors and threatening professors who signed the petition calling for peace.
There is an interesting ruling out of Germany where the country’s highest court declared Facebook’s “friend finder” feature to be unlawful as a deceptive marketing practice. The case was filed by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV).
China has conducted another round up of human rights lawyers, including Wang Yu, the country’s most prominent woman human rights lawyer. Adding an Orwellian element to this latest outrage was China’s state media which accused Wang last year of “blabbering about the rule of law and human rights.” Wang and her colleagues have long been symbols of courage in the face of authoritarian rule, including prior detentions designed to scare them into silence.
I have previously written about how some attorneys continue to ignore bar standards encouraging firms to show basic professionalism and decorum in advertising from using sex dolls to raving like madmen. Now, an Indiana bankruptcy lawyer Brent Welke of Indianapolis has been suspended for 30 days in a rare sanction for improper advertising. Welke ran ads that said he has been “screwing banks since 1992.”
We have seen in recent years not only a rollback on free speech, even in the West, but the targeting of comedians who offend different groups or faiths. The latest such case is found in India where police arrested Kiku Sharda, 40, for mimicking controversial spiritual guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (left). Singh, known as the “guru in bling” is widely ridiculed but a single complaint still led to the arrest of Sharda.
Continue reading “Indian Comedian Arrested For Mimicking Controversial Guru”
A nearly unanimous Supreme Court struck down part of Florida’s capital punishment system this week. It found that Florida had given judges part of the role of jurors in determining whether to impose the death penalty. Only Associate Justice Samuel Alito (who has a pronounced record opposing rights for criminal defendants) voted to uphold the law. The case is Hurst v. Florida, No. 14-7505.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Florida’s Death Penalty”
Across the country, public defenders are facing rising case loads and either stagnant or underfunded budgets. While prosecutors tend to receive ample support due to their popular function, public defenders are often given resources begrudgedly in budgets. Now, the Orleans Parish Public Defender’s office has had enough. Faced with serious ethical problems in handling so many cases with so few lawyers, the office announced that starting Tuesday it would begin refusing felony cases with the potential for lengthy sentences. Chief Defender Derwyn Bunton first threatened this action nearly two months ago but has now made good on the threat.