The Grand Jury in Missouri appears to have rendered its decision in the shooting investigation Michael Brown. It is expected to be announced shortly. Below is my column in USA Today.
USA Today ran my column on the Ferguson shooting and expected Grand Jury ruling last night. The grand jury is reportedly resuming its deliberations today. It has a number of choices if it were to bring down a charge, though (as I note in the column) the currently known facts present a very strong defense case in favor of Officer Darren Wilson.
Continue reading “Ferguson Grand Jury: The Four Basic Options For A Criminal Charge Against Wilson”
The allegations facing lawyer Michael Fine, 57, are truly bizarre. Police say that Fine convinced clients to let him hypnotize them and then had sex with them while telling them to forget everything but their legal discussions from the office visits.
We have been watching with alarm as African nations pass more draconian anti-homosexual laws. Senegal has added its name to his ignoble list. President Yahya Jammeh signed a new law that establishes life imprisonment for some homosexual acts. Jammeh is a vehemently and vocal anti-gay leader who told gays and lesbians in 2008 to leave the country or risk decapitation. Five women have now been arrested as accused lesbians in what human rights groups are calling a national campaign of terror and torture by the police.
Continue reading “Senegal Arrests Five Women Under The Country’s Draconian Anti-Homosexual Law”
We have often discussed obesity rates in the world on this blog and their causes. However, a new report makes an interesting finding. First, not too surprising, it says that Americans are fatter than we previously thought. Second, and more surprising, the reason for the underreporting is that people think or say that they are taller than they are. The study findings were presented by researcher Zachary Ward of the Harvard School of Public Health.
Continue reading “Study: We’re Fat And, By The Way, We’re Short Too”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Icelandic news source IceNews reports that the governments of Japan and Iceland are negotiating a trade agreement that also would include exports to Japan of whaling products. The agreement will certainly attract much attention from the environmental groups, and NGOs world-wide.
Japan does however have both cultural and culinary appetites for whale meat and will go to lengths to obtain these products which are a valuable commodity in Japan. A new trade agreement with Iceland could provide a means for sources that would have otherwise become increasingly restricted by International actions
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
Although I am a few days early, I wanted to wish all RIL readers a Happy Thanksgiving. I would guess that most of us have many things to be thankful for at this time. I am thankful for my wife of 40 years and my four kids and their spouses and significant others, and of course, my 3 beautiful grandchildren. And I am thankful that we all have our health. I am also thankful that my 91-year-old mother is still with me and my 4 siblings.
While our family has had its ups and downs, we always seem to pull together to solve the problems and issues facing us. I am glad that many of us will be together at Thanksgiving to share one of the best family times of the year.
At this time of the year, many of us have many things to be thankful for. I thought it might be a good idea to offer the chance for our readers to tell us what they are thankful for.
Let’s hear what you and your family are thankful for during this holiday season. What can it hurt? Happy Thanksgiving!
” The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
Since the Great Recession officially started in December of 2007, millions of people have lost their homes to foreclosures. It turns out that many of those foreclosures may have been fraudulent or in violation of foreclosure laws. According to the Southern Essex County, Massachusetts Register of Deeds, John O’Brien, a forensic audit of his recording files suggests that at least 75% of the mortgage assignments were invalid.
“My registry is a crime scene as evidenced by this forensic examination. The Audit makes the finding that this was not only a MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) problem, but a scheme also perpetuated by MERS shareholder banks such Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and others. I am stunned and appalled by the fact that America’s biggest banks have played fast and loose with people’s biggest asset – their homes. This is disgusting, and this is criminal.” Nation of Change Continue reading “Foreclosure Fraud?”
I did my dawn hike on the Billy Goat this morning but started out with wildlife coming to me. I try to quietly sneak out before 6 am in the morning, but Luna was barking like crazy. When I opened the front door, I found myself face to face with a large deer from the nearby forest. At 32 degrees, I was tempted to just take a picture and stay home. But I am glad I didn’t because it was an amazing morning on the trail.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A startling criminal case out of Germany could be reminiscent of Britain’s Harold Shipman case.
Prosecutors in the German State of Lower Saxony accuse a former nurse, identified only as Nils “H.” pursuant to German privacy laws, of killing one patient and the attempt of two others. He is also being investigated for possible involvement in over one hundred and fifty suspicious deaths occurring during his practice.
According to prosecutors his motive for committing such crimes was boredom.
Continue reading “German Prosecutors Allege Former Nurse Killed Patients Out Of Boredom”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In another example of the diminishing freedom of the press in Turkey, Yurt newspaper reporter Meriç Şenyüz and Ulusal Kanal reporter Özer Sürmeli received sentences of six and five months respectively for their reporting of a December seventeenth corruption probe involving, among others, then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan.
Turkey has an unfortunate history of repression of media critical of government, though in the last year an estimated forty imprisoned journalists have been released. According to BIA Media Monitoring Reports, the number of jailed journalists in Turkey fell from 104 in 2010 to 59 last year and to 19 by November 2014. However the underlying trend of jailing journalists in Turkey and many other nations of the world continues.
Continue reading “Journalists In Turkey Sentenced To Prison For Reporting Corruption In Government”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Artur Mas i Gavarró, his deputy, and his education minister face prosecution by the Spanish Government for alleged civil disobedience, abuse of power, usurpation of duties, and embezzlement of public funds according to a statement released by the public prosecutor’s office of the Spanish Government.
In what many see as clearly dubious prosecution by Spanish authorities, President Mas remarked: “It is sad to see that when the Catalan people want to express their opinion … the reaction of the state comes from the courts and prosecutors.”
The action comes several weeks after Catalonia held a non-binding vote on independence from Spain, buoyed by what many Catalonians hailed as a close race with the Scottish Independence referendum, a worrisome event to the Spanish government.
The matter brings into the discussion of Parliamentary Immunity and Executive authority held by other nations, and the chilling effect the threat of prosecution can have for representative government of constituents.
Continue reading “Catalonian President Faces Prosecution For Staging Referendum On Independence”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Plaintiffs representing unnamed registered sex offenders and sponsors of the non-profit California Reform Sex Offender Laws won a victory in their quest to declare unconstitutional the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act on free speech grounds.
The act, among other matters, requires registered sex offenders to within twenty four hours submit the “internet identities” and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) they use to engage in conversation and participation in the experience of the Internet, amending California Penal Code § 290.015(a)(4)–(5).
The court upheld a district court judgment granting an injunction against the State of California enforcing the statute which was filed by plaintiffs the day the law was effective.
The Ninth Circuit cited curtailment to free speech rights after the offenders were released from prison who were then afforded the full protection of the first amendment and that such provisions of the law would amount to a chilling effect of the free speech rights of this class of individuals.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In what could prove to be a larger issue nationally, several departments in Washington State are considering removal of wearable cameras on police officers due to what has shown to be a greatly expensive and time consuming requirement to provide public disclosure to citizens requesting recordings.
Poulsbo, Washington Police Department received a blanket request for all videos recorded by the police cameras. The blanket request for six months of data might cause the department to stop future recordings.
Washington has some of the most open public records laws in the United States but there are many exemptions from public disclosure for various reasons. Editing these recordings is required for compliance with both sides of the Public Disclosure laws and there are time requirements. Such costs could prove to be the demise of recordings that have, as this website has often mentioned, revealed both violations of civil rights and topics of praise for police officers in general.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
As we have discussed many times free speech can be a powerful weapon against the injustices and in the case of the Islamic State, genocide. A new exhibition in the semi-autonomous state of Iraqi Kurdistan in Northern Iraq provides through art an interpretation of the struggle faced by ordinary individuals at the hands of extremists. It ties not only differing cultures but transcends the fences of language that are often barriers to understanding and empathy.
The Dohuk Art Gallery featured thirty artists organized by the Center for Graphic Art in Northern Iraq for the purpose of contributing to the fight against the Islamic State. It is not just conventional war implements that further the battle, but it is often the case of ideals, allegiances, and blind faith that aids the Islamic State.
Artists featured in Dohuk Gallery seek to change these beliefs through painting the atrocities prosecuted against the Kurdish People in an artistic representation showing the honor in protecting their society and humanity in general. Niquash reporters interviewed several participants bringing their thoughts and reflections to canvas and clay.