Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Trump Reportedly Lashed Out To Whitaker About Controlling The NY Prosecutors After Cohen Plea

Despite a series of self-inflicted wounds by President Donald Trump over the Russian investigation in pressuring former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and directly discussing the investigation with former FBI Director James Comey, Trump has reportedly returned to the same pattern in lashing out with Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker. If true, it is entirely baffling. Republicans and Democrats have uniformly objected to these communications as improper and raising the appearance of influencing the investigation. It also undermines Whitaker’s position.

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Free Speech, Politics, Society

Patreon: A Threat To Free Speech

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

What began as a laudable business model to fund individual content creators such as writers, bloggers, vloggers, and artists–providing many now with generous incomes aggregated from their subscribers–has devolved into heavy-handed practices antithetical to the basic tenets of Free Speech, small business, and the spirit of Self-Employment and  Self-Sufficiency. The platform exercises the worst kind of censorship, cutting off the incomes of individuals and their families for often arbitrary accusations of unacceptable speech off-platform or for association with those Patreon finds objectionable.

This censorship is not just for content hosted by Patreon, as many former subscribers to their service report that they are forced to walk a fine line in their own personal lives for fear that Patreon’s “Trust and Safety” team will take away their patrons and lifestyle for engaging in wrong-think or speech.

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Criminal law, Media

Former Senate Intelligence Committee Staffer Sentenced For Lying To The FBI
Youtube

James Wolfe, the former head of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee, was sentenced on Thursday for lying to the FBI about leaking information to reporters. The sentencing hearing by US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson stood in sharp contrast to the one held by Judge Emmet Sullivan with former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Notably, despite being head of security for a committee with highly sensitive information, Jackson handed down only a two month sentence. In contrast, Sullivan indicated that he was inclined to send Flynn away for serious time and that the hearing took on a bizarre note with references to treason and being an effective foreign mole in the White House. Wolfe asked for a sentence in the same zero to six month range as Flynn, but the prosecutors asked for a “departure” for two years.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Former NASA Engineer Sabotages Thieves With Glitter Bomb After Police Refuse To Help [Updated]

A YouTube video has gone viral, showing a former NASA engineer, Mark Rober, who got tired of constantly have delivered boxes stolen from this front door in California. His glitter bomb device is worth watching below but what really drew me to the story was the reason. Like millions of people, we are having holiday gifts delivered and worry about the rising theft rate of such deliveries. If you are wondering why, this story give ample explanation. When Rober called police, they told him that they could not be bothered with such thefts. It is maddening. It seems that we get less and less for our taxes. Police protection is the most basic public function covered by taxes and yet the police simply treat this rising crime trend as none of their business. [Update: In a weird twist, Rober says that he has learned that a couple reactions from the alleged thieves may have been staged without his knowledge by associates. He has removed those scenes.]

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

The Curious Tale Of The Flynn Sentencing Hearing

Below is a column on the Flynn’s sentencing hearing and the curious turn of events in the case. He is now scheduled for a new sentencing hearing in March 2019. Interestingly, while I have repeatedly stated in print and television that Flynn does not deserve sympathy, I have been widely quoted as saying that I have called for such sympathy. My point is simply that there are serious concerns raised by how this interview was handled, including the intentional effort to have Flynn interviewed without counsel. Moreover, it is possible to denounce such false statements without exaggerating the specific crime itself. It is still unclear why Flynn lied when the conversation of such sanctions was not strange or improper. Indeed, the Administration publicly was saying that it wanted a new start with Russia and would reexamine all aspects of the relationship. The hearing however quickly went off the rails. I have a great deal of respect for Judge Emmet Sullivan and have appeared before him on countless occasions. But this hearing took a radical departure from the record and the specific crime being addressed in sentencing.

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

Five Texans Sue After Being Barred From State Jobs For Refusing To Sign A Required Statements On Israel

I have previously written about the increasing state and federal efforts to impose bans on contractors and employees who refuse to sign agreements not to boycott Israeli products. The agreements raise serious free speech concerns under the First Amendment and contravene a host of constitutional rights from speech to religion to association. Now a speech pathologist in Texas is suing after she was barred from employment with the school district after nine years of work with developmentally disabled, autistic, and speech-impaired elementary school students in Austin, Texas. The lawsuit on her behalf was filed in the Western District of Texas is the latest federal challenge to these laws.

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Bizarre

“Colonizers Aren’t Praised In Wakanda”: Forever 21 Apologizes And Removes Image Of White Model Wearing Black Panther Sweater

We previously discussed the controversy covered by the New York Times over whether white parents should allow their children to dress as the Black Panther for Halloween. Now, people rise up in anger after Forever 21 used a white model in an advertisement for a Black Panther sweater. Most people would simply observe that the company is selling to people of all races who admire the superhero. Instead, Forever 21 apologized.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media

Giuliani Admits That Trump Did Sign The Previously Stated “Unsigned” Moscow Letter But Calls It All “Bulls**t”

I have previously discussed the problematic advocacy of Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including repeated corrections of his statements on national television.  The latest correction was to Giuliani’s insistence that, while Trump did continue to discuss a Moscow deal far later than previously claims, the thrust of the deal came down to an “unsigned letter.”  That latest representation lasted only a few hours when the signed letter was found.  Now, Giuliani is saying the letter was signed but it is just “bulls**t.”  Again, I fail to see how this meets the standard of effective and professional representation.

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Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics, Society

Health Care Jenga: The Future Of The ACA May Rest With Its Past

Below is my column in USA Today on the recent decision effectively striking down the Affordable Care Act.  While Judge O’Connor technically ruled only on the individual mandate, he found that the unconstitutional provision could not be severed from the rest of the Act.  Nevertheless, he will have to address the remaining issue and the question of the injunctive relief.  There is a good chance that the severability ruling will be reversed but that could still leave the ruling on the individual mandate.

Here is the column:

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Animals, Society

Washington State Rangers Confirm That Hunter Killed Beloved “Cinder” Bear

We have another story this week of a beloved animal who was killed by a hunter.  Cinder was a young black bear that was nursed back to health after she was severely burned in a 2014 Washington wildfire. She became a moving story for many as she fought her way back to health and was eventually returned to the wild.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has now confirmed that she was killed. She was the subject of the book “Cinder the Bear: A True Story of Rescue, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Return.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Pushing the Envelope: Man Reportedly Commits Brazen Theft at Airport

It is rare to see a brazen act of theft committed in public but a video shows this man casually taking envelopes of cash containing $9,000 at a security checkpoint in Rome.  The man’s calm demeanor is striking as he takes the money literally from the man behind him going through security.

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Politics

Steele: Dossier Was Funded By Democrats To Challenge Election

In a surprising admission, the author of the controversial dossier used to secure the secret surveillance on Trump officials admitted that it was paid for by Clinton campaign as a type of insurance to challenge the election.  At the same time, the reporter who helped break the story, Michael Isikoff now says that many of the specific allegations remain unproven and are likely false. 

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Bizarre, Society

San Fran Commission Requires Owner To Rebuild Historic Home That He Demolished Without Approval

There is an interesting decision out of the San Francisco Planning Commission after an owner demolished a famous house without approval.  The Commission clearly believes that Ross Johnston decided it was better to ask forgiveness than permission in tearing down the home known at the Largent House after securing only a permit for renovation.  The response of the Commission is poetic justice: Johnston has been ordered to build the exact house that he tore down and put up a plaque giving the history of the house and its demolition. 

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Society

American University’s Yoga Group Disbanded After Cultural Appropriation Charge

I have been critical of the widening charges of cultural appropriation and microaggressions on our campuses as statements and even programs are targeted with little resistance from faculty or administrators.  We previously discussed how yoga classes were denounced in Ottawa as cultural appropriation. Now American University in Washington has become embroiled in the same charge after a single student objected to white individuals performing an Indian epic as part of university’s Bhakti yoga group. American University student Maya Krishnan seems to believe that the school should limit performances on the basis of race and national origin — and that objection appears to have succeeded with the dissolution of the group as well as the resignation of the group’s faculty adviser, student president and vice president.

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Bizarre, Columns, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

“Let’s Just Send A Couple Of Guys Over”: Comey Admits Another Violation Of Department Protocol and Policy

Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the recent admission by James Comey that he intentionally circumvented the White House Counsel and Justice Department protocol to send two agents to interview then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.  It is a subject that will hopefully be raised this week when Comey appears again before Congress on Monday. Comey describes his sudden realization that he could “get away with” sending “a couple guys over” to the White House. Comey’s epiphany could be his epitaph. 

Here is the column:

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