Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law, Religion, Society, Torts

Leading Chicago Imam Arrested In Abuse Scandal

mohammad-abdullah-saleemWe have been following the expanding scandal over criminal charges brought against leading national Orthodox rabbi , Barry Freundel, who is now accused of filming over 150 women engaged in the ritual bath known as a Mikva. As if not to be outdone, leading Islamic scholar and Imam Mohammed Abdullah Saleem, 75, has been charged outside of Chicago with sexually abusing a 23-year-old employee last year in Elgin’s Institute of Islamic Education. He is also accused of abusing three other women. The four women have filed civil actions against him and the Islamic school in what could be a messy tort action that proceeds in tandem with the criminal charges. We have discussed the same criminal/civil tracks in the case of Rabbi Freudel.

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Bizarre, International, Religion, Society

Detroit Man Asks Strangers If They Are Muslim And Then Stabs Them When They Answer That They Are Not

635597831540837830-Thomas-Terrence-Lavaron-39-YOA-Date-of-Photo-February-14-2015-e1424208036672-300x211Terrence Lavaron Thomas, 39, is a curious representative of the Muslim faith. First, he already stabbed to people at random because they were not Muslims. Second, when arrested, the alleged faithful felon had drugs in his possession. Violent and a drug user. I wonder what Sharia law would do with Mr. Thomas in a place like Saudi Arabia.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society

Federal Judge Halts Obama’s Executive Action On Illegal Immigration

President_Barack_ObamaU.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen delivered a major blow to President Barack Obama’s unilateral executive action on immigration with a preliminary injunction in Brownsville, Texas. The case involves a challenge by 26 states and, to succeed, the states had to meet a high standard that they were likely to prevail on the merits in the case. Hanen found that, absent an order, the states will “suffer irreparable harm in this case.” The ruling sets up an appeal that could move the case more rapidly through the system in yet another challenge to the President’s unilateral actions. [For the purposes of full disclosure, I have previously testified against the President’s unilateral actions and I am currently serving as lead counsel to the House of Representatives in its challenge to such actions taken with regard to the Affordable Care Act.]

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Bizarre

The Ultimate Ultrasound: Baby Gives The “Thumps Up” On Medical Check

25B437E100000578-2955165-Paul_Schofield_31_and_Cheryl_Stevenson_32_from_Tameside_Greater_-a-71_1424063634216 An ultrasound can be a challenge to read so the baby of Paul Schofield, 31, and Cheryl Stevenson, 32, from Tameside, Greater Manchester, appears to have helped out with a surprising “thumps up.” If this kid does not become an astronaut or test pilot, I will be very very disappointed.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Journalist Films Anti-Semitic Reactions To His Walking Through Paris Wearing Yarmulke

25BE5ACF00000578-2956040-The_clip_shows_the_reporter_for_Jewish_news_outlet_NRG_as_he_is_-m-24_1424122602146Below is a very disturbing video of the responses that Zvika Klein, a reporter for Jewish news outlet NRG, received when he walked through streets of Paris wearing a yarmulke and a tzitzit (knotted ritual tassels). The video shows the level of anti-Semitism even in our capital cities around the world.

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Media, Torts

Driver Involved In Fatal Crash With Bob Simon Was Driving With Only One Workable Arm, A Conditional License, Nine Prior Suspensions, And A Long Record Of Complaints

259E713100000578-2952471-image-m-53_1423848886260There could be a substantial torts lawsuit that comes out of the tragic death of veteran journalist Bob Simon in a car crash in New York. The driver, Abdul Reshad Fedahi, who had only one working arm after a suicide attempt, had been suspended nine times and was the source of complaints from other drivers about his erratic driving. Simon, 73, was driving in a Lincoln Town car that Fedahi, 44, crashed after grazing a Mercedes-Benz C30 in the center lane and crashing into metal poles last Wednesday.

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

Turkish Tweets: Leading Journalist Arrested For Tweet On Erdogan Corruption Scandal

582574_215472875248080_1866740398_n220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganSedef Kabas, a leading Turkish journalist, has been arrested in another example of the rollback on civil liberties under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As part of his attack on secularism and his introduction of Islamic laws into Turkey’s government, Erdogan has been cracking down critics and journalists over the outcry of the international community. In the case of Kabas, a single tweet on Twitter was enough. The journalist had just sent her five-year-old to school when police came knocking to ask if she authored a tweet about how the government quashed a corruption investigation into his family and close associates of Erdogan. Erdogan previously promised to “eradicate” Twitter in Turkey and he appears to be now doing it one journalist and poster at a time.

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Academia, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Did Harvard’s New Saudi Scholar Try To Have Women Flogged For Revealing Her Affair?

Drhayatsindi220px-Harvard_Wreath_Logo_1.svgDr. Hayat Sindi is a Saudi Arabian medical scientist and a woman who has earned respect for extraordinary accomplishments in a country that denies women basic liberties. She is not only an award-winning scientist but one of the first female members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia. Ranked by Arabian Business as the 19th most influential Arab in the world and the ninth most influential Arab woman, it is not surprising that Harvard University has brought her to the country as a visiting scholar. However, a nasty lawsuit in King County has raised deeply disturbing allegations about Sindi’s efforts against women who she accuses of hacking her emails. According to counsel for one of those women, Sindi worked to have another woman flogged for writing on Facebook that she had had an affair with her husband. On the other side is Samia El-Moslimany, a women’s activist and photographer who lives in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, who is fighting to keep Sindi from forcing the disclosure of the women, who would face medieval Sharia justice in Saudi Arabia.

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Academia, Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion

Erdogan Pushes Forward His Plan For A “Pious Generation”: Turkey Forces Students (Even Christians) To Take Islamic Classes

220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganWe have been following the gradual erosion of Turkey as a symbol of secularism in the Islamic world under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan was elected by Muslim parties and has steadily broken down secular traditions and introduced more and more Islamic influences in government. That effort has now reached the schools, where Erdogan and his party faithful are seeking to turn schools into training grounds for Islamic orthodoxy. The story below discusses the impact of new rules on Christian Pastor Ahmet Guvener who has learned that, even after securing an exemption for his daughter from mandatory religious classes at her school, she is still required to make Islamic classes in the new Turkey being shaped by Erdogan. If she does not learn Islamic courses on the life of Mohammad or the Quran, she will fail. Erdogan calls it all part of his stated goal of raising “pious generations.”

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Will HSBC Be Too Big To Jail…Again?

220px-HK_HSBC_Main_Building_2008

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty, (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

British banking giant, HSBC reached an agreement in 2012 with the Department of Justice that kept it from being hauled in to court on criminal charges due to its systemic assistance in laundering money for drug cartels and allegedly terrorists.  HSBC, with its Hong Kong headquarters shown above, is now in trouble again for alleged problems prior to the settlement agreement in 2012.

“The US Department of Justice is considering bringing criminal charges against HSBC and its executives as part of its investigation into whether the bank’s Swiss subsidiary helped US clients evade taxes.

Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren called on prosecutors to “come down hard” on HSBC if the bank is found to have colluded with tax evaders on Tuesday.

Her intervention came as US government officials with knowledge of the DoJ’s investigation provided the Guardian with new details about the inquiry.

Renewed focus has been placed on the long-running investigation into HSBC Switzerland by the department, after a huge leak of secret bank data – passed to the DOJ’s tax division almost five years ago – was obtained by the Guardian and other media.

It shows that HSBC Switzerland helped some clients conceal millions of undeclared assets, and has immediately raised questions on Capitol Hill about the response from prosecutors and tax authorities.  US government officials said the investigation is not merely looking at HSBC’s US clients, and could also result in criminal indictments against the bank itself. “That has not been ruled out,” one official said, when asked if HSBC or its executives could be criminally indicted. “It is certainly something that is under consideration.” ‘ Reader Supported News  Continue reading “Will HSBC Be Too Big To Jail…Again?” →

Uncategorized

Fisher v. The University of Texas 2.0

By Cara L. Gallagher, weekend contributor

Abigail Fisher and her eponymous affirmative action case headed to the SCOTUS last week, again. The question we’re all wondering with this news is: If the Court takes this case, are affirmative action policies in college admissions dead? Despite graduating from Louisiana State University almost three years ago, Fisher said it is her hope that the Justices take this case again and end what she and the Project on Fair Representation believe is the unlawful use of race in college admissions at the University of Texas, the school she sued after she was denied acceptance. The question they’re asking the justices to answer this time is “whether the Fifth Circuit’s re-endorsement of UT’s use of racial preferences in undergraduate admissions can be sustained under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.”

The Court punted in the 2013 decision, remanding the case back to the lower court Continue reading “Fisher v. The University of Texas 2.0” →

Animals, Bizarre, Courts, Torts

$500,000 Default Judgment Issued Against Defendant Over Barking Dog

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

howling-wolfIn what certainly will be a good civics lesson taught to high school teenagers to prepare them for the world ahead, Seattle resident Denise Horton’s neighbor was awarded a half million dollars in a default judgment in a dispute over her dog’s barking. Denise failed to report to trial, claiming it was a “bunk.”

The bunk caught up to her after the sheriff’s office arrived to serve her with a writ of execution for her house.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Society

$130K Raised To Support Indian Man Injured By Police

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

sureshbhai-patel-in-hospitalWe previously wrote HERE of the plight of Sureshbhai Patel who was left partially paralyzed after being thrown to the ground by Madison, Alabama police during an investigative detention. The officer accused in this matter has been charged with Third Degree Assault.

Thanks to a crowd sourced donation campaign seeking to help alleviate the financial costs of his injuries, in just over three days $130,000 dollars so far has been raised. The amounts continue to grow.

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Media, Society

Police Set Up GoFundMe Project For Man Accused Of Colliding With Patrol Car

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

burien-police-patchA ninety year old man left a note on an unmarked patrol car he accidentally struck while parking next to it had a big surprise after he received a telephone call from a police sergeant who called to settle the damages: a crowd sourced funding campaign to pay for it.

 

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Bizarre, Courts, Lawyering

Florida 80-Year-Old Woman Charms Judge and Courtroom Impromptu “Stand Up Routine”

Screen Shot 2015-02-14 at 7.26.08 AMThere are some people who really do not need counsel. Eighty-year-old Dolores Sheinis entirely charms Judge John Hurley in the course of setting a home monitoring condition and protective order.

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