Like many people, I was disappointed by the effort at University of California at Irvine to ban the American flag. Yet, as a university professor, I have seen some senseless efforts by students who can bring more heat than light to some issues. The response has been a bit overblown, including a call for a state constitutional amendment, when the ill-conceived and insulting resolution was vetoed by a later school board. Moreover, the resolution never involved a ban on the American flag from the school but just from one area of the school. However, the report of a letter from some UC faculty has left me baffled in its suggested support in among academics for the premise of the resolution. While we all have different political and philosophical viewpoints, the flag represents first and foremost the protection of such differing viewpoints and the right to express them. We clearly have our problems and historical regrets, but the flag is a unifying symbol of our values, including the free speech rights that allow us to criticize our government and our history.
Yesterday I spent the day hiking in Bryce National Park in Utah — an experience that was physically taxing and spiritually rejuvenating. Utah is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and this is the gem of Utah. What I did not expect was the heaving snow levels — three feet of snow in many places. I was not exactly prepared for a snow hikes but there was no way that I was going to stay off the trails. I tried various trails and completely two. I made a few miles on two other trails before they became impassable with deep snow. I came back to the hotel wet and cold and wiped out but blissfully happy.
If the allegations are true, Diego Chaar is a horrible anti-Semitic person. He is accused to yelling Allahu akbar outside of a synagogue and saying that he would cut the heads off the congregants. Yet, the case presents a potential free speech issue after Chaar is facing charges of stalking and assault.
I am in Utah this week for a speech before the Utah Bar Association at their annual conference in St. George. As many of our readers already know, I love Utah which is a breathtakingly beautiful state. As an avid hiker, this area of Utah has some of my favorite hiking spots and I came a couple days early as an early birthday gift to myself. Today I am in Bryce Canyon where I will be hiking and climbing tomorrow.
Criminal defense attorneys have long objected to “experts” produced at trials by the Justice Department who often seem to closely follow trial theories rather than scientific or forensic data. I have handled cases where experts used by the Justice Department gave almost laughable testimony filled with errors in national security cases but courts continue to admit their testimony. This week, one such expert, FBI Special Agent Steven Kimball, fell apart on the stand when confronted with clearly conclusions over basic and easily ascertainable facts.
Continue reading “FBI Agent’s Testimony Shredded In Boston Bomber Trial”
It is unlikely that despite the company’s slogan, Applebee’s will be seeing Hiram Jimenez tomorrow. An appellate court in New Jersey ruled that Jimenez cannot sue after he was burned by a sizzling plate of fajitas.
The Saudi Arabian courts have a new judicial atrocity this week to their credit. A Saudi court has sentenced a man to death for renouncing his Islamic faith along with other reported acts of blasphemy. The man was subject to multiple crimes even carrying death under the medieval Sharia system followed in the Kingdom. Those capital crimes included renouncing Islam, ripping up a Koran, cursing Mohammad, and hitting a koran with a shoe. One death will apparently suffice in “Chop-Chop” Square (shown above) for the man engaging in what would constitute protected speech in the United States.
The debate of the fairness and efficacy of quota systems heated up this week after German legislators have passed a law requiring the top 100 companies to allot at least 30 percent of the seats on their boards to women within the next two years. The bill also mandated increased in women in upper level positions for some 3,500 companies. The companies could face sanctions if they cannot find enough women to fill the quota.
Continue reading “Germany Imposes Quota of 30 Percent Women On Corporate Boards”
Rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight is facing a murder charge in a hit-and-run death on January 29, 2015. The video below has now been released which shows why police have treated this as a murder case (warning the video is graphic). This is the type of video evidence that makes it very difficult for a defense attorney to penetrate the minds of a jury.
Continue reading “Suge Knight Reportedly Shown In Videotape in Lethal Hit-and-Run”
There is an interesting case out of Florida where a Deputy Austin Douglas, 29, has been fired and arrested after officials say he texted photos of a suicide victim to his ex-girlfriend’s cell phone. The termination is understandable but the criminal charge is relatively rare.
Islamic State militants have continued their scorched earth campaign to wipe out anything considered non-Islamic. After destroying art and artifacts in the Mosul Museum and then the priceless ruins at Nimrud, ISIS is now destroying the ruins of the large fortified city at Hatra, one the capital of the first Arab kingdom. The site has withstood attacks since 116 with the Romans, but ISIS is using modern explosives and bulldozes to eradicate the 2000-year-old site.
Continue reading “ISIS Reportedly Demolishes Second Ancient Site”
We recently discussed the case of a Russian who was arrested for carving his name into the ancient walls of the Colosseum. Now, due to the actions of two California women aged 21 and 25, we must bear the shame of such a despicable act. The women used a coin to carve large letters of J and N into the site. We have also discussed stupid acts, including by Americans, where art has been damaged by accident. However like the graffiti by the Chinese tourist, on the Luxor temple, and the Russian tourist who carved a K on the Colosseum this was an intentional act of thoughtless destruction. He was not a stupid teenager, but a 42-year-old man.
Continue reading “Two California Women Carve Their Initials Into Colosseum and Then Take Selfie”
The brutal character of Sharia criminal law was evident in Iran this week after a man was forcibly blinded in one eye after being convicted for an acid attack that blinded another man. It was the literal application of the concept of “an eye for an eye.” We discussed the Iranian judicial ruling on blinding people for such crimes ten years ago. In this case, the man was blinded in his left eye and will later be blinded in his right eye unless “blood money is paid.”
Continue reading “Iran Blinds Defendant Under Sharia Law’s “Eye For An Eye””
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the massive cuts to education and programs for the poor by the new Governor of Illinois, Bruce Rauner. In that article, I mentioned that Gov. Rauner seemed to be parroting the budget methods of Governor Brownback in Kansas and Gov. Walker in Wisconsin, both of whose state economies have been floundering under their respective austerity programs.
Well, it seems that in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has gone even farther in his attempts to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class by proposing massive cuts to the Department of Natural Resources, while attempting to wrest control of various agencies from the public domain and capturing them in the Executive branch of government. Continue reading “Cutting the Great Outdoors of Wisconsin, Along With Everything Else!”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Prior to marijuana legalization in Washington, enforcement of state marijuana laws were, as with the various other states, primarily enforced by city police, county sheriff’s departments, and the state patrol.
Now the driving force behind state efforts has mostly shifted to the Washington State Liquor Control Board and the Washington Department of Revenue for licensing and revenue collection for state licensed producers, processors, and retailers. The medical marijuana aspect is currently unregulated by the state. There does remain, however, the illicit trade which still provides contraband marijuana and remains the largest supplier of the substance.
Yet when we look at other regulated substances such as alcohol and tobacco, local law enforcement officers rarely intervene in the illegal trade. The primary agency responsible for enforcement of these substances’ statutes is that of the Liquor Control Board.
Should enforcement of the marijuana laws be deferred by traditional law enforcement as well?