Academia, Animals, Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Society

B.B. Wolf Walks After Hung Jury In Double Murder And Attempted Murder Trial

2015_BBWolf_6147“B.B. Wolf” has done it again. Faced with a double murder and attempted murder of the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf gave a howl of joy with two hung juries after trials before the fourth grade classes of Churchill Elementary from McLean, Virginia. We held our annual field trip for elementary students to learn about the legal system and it was a smashing success. Adding to the fun this year was the flyover of vintage World War II planes and the hatching of ducklings in the George Washington quad as we took the kids outside. Just try to get that level of service at Georgetown.

Our amazing cast this year included Shirin Ahlhauser, Garrett Henderson, Sarah Keller, Justin Matarrese, and Ariel Oxman. The organizer was our own Claire Duggan who handled every possible detail from the treats to the buses. Our partner in crime was Churchill teacher Claire M. McHale and her colleagues. My assistant Seth Tate also served as Johnny on the spot for everything from missing kids to wayward buses. Against all odds, we held two trials and lost nary of kid . . . and even finished ahead by eight ducklings!

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Academia, Politics, Religion, Society

Poll: Secular Americans On The Rise With Sharp Increase In Those Without Religion Affiliation

170px-rembrandt_harmensz-_van_rijn_079-1There is an interesting new Pew poll that shows that the number of Americans without affiliation to any religion is continuing to rise — as is the number of Americans who now classify themselves as atheists or agnostics. The numbers of “nones” has grown to 56 million in recent years, making it the second largest number behind evangelicals. From 2007 to 2014, Americans describing themselves as as atheist, agnostic or of no particular faith grew from 16 percent to nearly 23 percent. This is roughly one out of four Americans. Pew found a rising tide of secularism in the United States. It is an interesting poll since religious groups tend to have far greater political power in the country as shown by various “faith-based” policies.

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Academia, Society

Pennsylvania Nursing Student Sues School For Failing To Accommodate Her Anxiety and Stress Under ADA After Twice Failing Required Course

b8nursing_tomkins_christinaThere is an interesting case out of Pennsylvania where a nursing student is suing Misericordia University for failing to adequately accommodate her anxiety and depression after failing a required course twice. While her professor Christina Tomkins (right) gave Jennifer Burbella (left) extra time for her final exam and “a distraction-free” environment, his failure to take her calls with questions during the exam was cited as a violation of the federal disability law.

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

Third Secular Writer Hacked To Death By Islamic Extremists In Bangladesh

Ananta-Bijoy-Das_3300494iWe have been covering the attacks on secular writers and bloggers by Islamic extremists in Bangladesh. Now a third blogger and secular writer has been murdered by Islamic extremists . The latest victim is Ananta Bijoy Das, a blogger who advocated secularism, was attacked by four masked assailants wielding machetes. The rise of Islamic extremism has alarmed the free speech community in Bangladesh, which sees increasing Islamic orthodoxy in society and intolerance for non-Islamic views.

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Bizarre, Society

Yee of Little Faith: Brady Agent Attacks NFL and Alleges Collusion With Colts After Suspension Over Deflated Balls

As expected, the NFL has suspended New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and imposed team sanctions for “deflategate.” As we discussed this week, the NFL investigation found rejected the claims of innocence in all of the balls being deflated after inspection in the New England’s AFC title game against Indianapolis in January. The NFL report stated “We found these claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence.” The report found that Brady “was at least generally aware” of all the plans to prepare the balls to his liking and that it was “more probable than not” that two Patriots employees – officials’ locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski – carried out the plan. McNally is accused of demanding expensive shoes and signed footballs, jerseys and cash. Now, Don Yee, the agent for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, has lashed out at the NFL and suggested a bizarre pre-game collusion between the NFL and the Colts.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech

Boston University Expresses “Deep Sadness” Over “Racism and Bigotry” In Aftermath of Grundy Comments

GrundyPic-150x150Boston_University_seal.svgBoston University has been widely criticized for its response to racially-charged comments of its newest professor, Saida Grundy, an incoming assistant professor of sociology and African-American studies. Various news outlets are reporting that BU alums have threatened to withdraw support from the school over hiring a professor who has denounced “white men as a “problem population” and called “white masculinity . . . THE problem for america’s (sic) colleges.” Grundy has made her Twitter account private and refused to make any comments to the media about her past comments that have been denounced as both racist and sexist.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics

NSA Now Claims DNI Director Clapper Merely Forgot About Massive Surveillance System Targeting Millions of Citizens

Robert-Litt220px-James_R._Clapper_official_portraitThe National Security Agency is still struggling to explain what many denounced as the uncharged act of perjury by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in denying the existence of the secret NSA surveillance program targeting the communications of all Americans. If you recall, the first explanation by Clapper was that his denial was an intentional act to pick the “the least untruthful” statement to answer the question. Then, National Intelligence general counsel Robert Litt (left) insisted that Clapper “misunderstood” the question. Now, Litt is changing spins and saying that Clapper merely forgot about the massive surveillance system. It was not only massive but recently declared illegal, as some of us have long maintained. It is the latest chapter in America’s Animal Farm as average citizens are criminally charged with small discrepancies in statements to investigators while people like Clapper and David Petraeus and Sandy Berger are protected from serious repercussions for alleged criminal acts.

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Society

Boston University Professor Sparks Controversy Over Tweets Denounced As Racist and Sexist

GrundyPic-150x150Boston_University_seal.svgWhile Professor Saida Grundy has not actually started teaching at Boston University, she is already facing calls for her removal from the faculty. After being hired by BU, Grundy let loose with a series of tweets that are denounced as racist and sexist. Grundy tweeted, for example, “White masculinity isn’t a problem for america’s colleges, white masculinity is THE problem for america’s colleges.” The tweets have triggered a debate over whether there is a double standard for such comments and whether such comments should be treated as protected speech.

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Criminal law, International, Society

Spanish Authorities Find Eight Year Old Boy In Luggage At Border

smuggledboySpanish police were a bit surprised when they checked out the luggage of an Ivory Coast woman trying to come into the country from North Africa at a border crossing between Morocco and Spain. They were suspicious because the 19-year-old woman appeared nervous and decided to x-ray her bag. The 8-year-old boy, Abou, was described as in a “terrible state” when he was let out of the bag. It brings a chilling meaning to the old Samonsite slogan: “If you traveled the way your luggage does, would you look as good as Samsonite?”

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Religion

Four Teenagers and a Teacher Arrested For “insulting Islam” After Making Videotape Mocking ISIS

video_clip_253x338Egypt continues to descend toward a Sharia-based system with a new prosecution of four teenagers accused of “insulting Islam.”  The insult came in a video that the boys shot while on a trip with their teacher Gad Younan, 42 – a film that mocked ISIS.  While the boys were accused of insulting Islam, the brief video only showed them mocking ISIS beheadings.  One of the boys apparently mumbled an Islam prayer as part of the execution and that was enough to cause riots and demands for their executions.  The four teens and teacher are from the ancient Coptic community, a community targeted by Muslim extremists for harassment and killings.

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Uncategorized

Three Favorites from Two+ Hours of Same-Sex Marriage Oral Arguments
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The crowd outside the Court during the first same-sex marriage cases in 2013.

By Cara L. Gallagher, weekend contributor

Who has two thumbs, a lame but accommodating social life, and listened to 150 minutes of oral arguments about same-sex marriage this weekend? This girl.

By now, you’ve likely read or seen a lot of coverage recapping this term’s same-sex marriage cases bundled into Obergefell v. Hodges. Certainly if you have the time and inclination to listen to the oral arguments, do it. The link to both recordings – two separate recordings uploaded to the Court’s website because the traditional time of 60 minutes for oral arguments was extended since five cases were consolidated into one – is here. But if you’re a functioning human being with a life and no time to listen to oral arguments, here’s what I learned after listening to the oral arguments, a couple podcasts, and a few articles. Continue reading “Three Favorites from Two+ Hours of Same-Sex Marriage Oral Arguments” →

Science, Society

Happy Mother’s Day Mitochondrial Eve

mitochondrial-eveBy Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

This mother’s day, we can all express our gratitude and love for Mitochondrial Eve—the mother from whom we all descend. While we all cannot remember her from long ago we carry with us her lessons passed from her to each mother, who then did so to their children through all mothers of yesterday to all mothers today. Her words live in our Mitochondrial DNA; a part of our genetics that we all share.

Let us all toast this day the mothers of all our families and our common mom!

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Bizarre, Society

Child Walks Home From School—Panic Ensues

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

milk-carton-missingA Seattle news medium saw it fitting to send a news team out to investigate a report of a child leaving school early and walking home. No, it was not The Onion but KOMO News. It does show a sense of the zeitgeist and the culture of fear that is sadly inherent in many today.

A five year old boy wanted to walk home after having first been driving to school by his father. He then left school early and walked home to see his mother. He reportedly walked a mile to reach home.
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Criminal law, Environment, Society

Destiny’s Child: Police Search For Teenager Who Defaced Park Cliff To Snag A Date To The Prom

spraypaintI recently posted a blog column about the increasing appearance of graffiti in national and state parks — and the need to ramp up punishments to deter this defacing of our natural wonders and wilderness. The last story concerned Andre Saraiva, an internationally known graffiti artist, who “tagged” and bragged about his own defacing of nature. He spray painted a boulder at the Joshua Tree National Park. Now authorities are looking for a teen who spray painted a rock face in Idaho to impress a girl and get her to go with him to the school prom. It should not be too different to investigate this particular crime, but the question remains the punishment that should be meted out.

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Criminal law, Society

Delaware Police Officer Indicted In Assault On Suspect Captured on Videotape

Screen Shot 2015-05-07 at 7.15.30 PM There is an interesting case developing in the Dover Police Department where a video has been released that has resulted in the indictment of Officer Tom Webster for his actions during an arrest on August 24, 2013. The suspect appears to be obeying his commands. What is interesting is that a prior grand jury declined to indict Webster, but prosecutors then tried again with another grand jury and secured an indictment.

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