Congress, Constitutional Law, International, Military, Politics, Society

Obama: I Do Not Need Congressional Approval To Go To War With ISIS

President_Barack_Obama220px-B-2_spirit_bombingPresident Obama is again asserting his right to act unilaterally and without congressional approval in going to war. In what has become a mantra for this Administration, Obama reportedly told members of Congress that he does not need congressional approval to unleash a comprehensive military campaign against the Islamic State. The President informed a few members at a dinner — a striking image of how low congressional authority has become in our tripartite system of government.

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Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society

Air Force Bars Atheist From Reenlisting Unless He Signs And Orally Repeats an Oath To God

1280px-Oath_of_enlistment_·_DF-ST-91-07705150px-Seal_of_the_US_Air_Force.svgThere is an interesting case of religious freedom that has arisen at Creech Air Force base in Nevada where an unnamed airman has been told that he will not be allowed to re-enlist because he does not want to take an oath including the words “so help me God.” He is an atheist and, for obvious reasons, finds the words objectionable. Curiously, despite that fact that he clearly does not believe in God, the Air Force wants him to swear to God as a condition for his serving his country. It is not only a violation of this constitutional rights under the First Amendment but an offense to the many atheists who have served and continue to serve our country.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion, Uncategorized

British Woman Jailed in Tehran For Trying To Enter A Soccer Stadium To Watch Iran Play Italy

10409336_818529138177765_9034331348658361928_nGhoncheh Ghavami, 25, is the latest victim of Sharia law and the denial of basic rights to women in some Muslim countries. Ghavami has been in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for over 40 days after committing the unpardonable sin of try to enter a stadium to watch the Iranian national men’s team was playing Italy. She was part of a large group of women who simply wanted to be able to watch a soccer game but under Sharia law in Iran it is a crime for women to even be at a sporting match with men. The world community has gone to Facebook and other social media sites to demand her release but she continues to languish in a prison known for its torture and raping of inmates.

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Academia, Society

Study: Teenagers Who Smoke Marijuana Daily Are 60 Percent Less Likely To Complete High School; 60 Percent Less Likely To Graduate College, and 700 Times More Likely To Commit Suicide

marijuana_leafThere is a startling study out that shows that teenagers who smoke marijuana daily are over 60 percent less likely to complete high school and 60 percent less likely to graduate college. Even more startling is that these students are seven times more likely to attempt suicide. The study is published in the respected medical journal, The Lancet Psychiatry.

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Environment, International, Society

Sweden Moves Toward Zero Waste Goal While Germany Moves To Drop Greenhouse Emissions By Over 25 Percent

earth-screensaver_largeThe United States continues to lag behind leading countries in pushing aggressive environmental programs to reduce pollutants and garbage. Two stories this week highlight the sharp and disappointing contrast. In Sweden, the government has made an incredible leap in reducing household garbage and appears close to attaining the impossible: a zero waste national objective for landfills. Currently, less than one percent of Sweden household garbage ends up in landfills. In the meantime, Germany (which continues to outstrip the U.S. on green policies while continuing strong economic growth) has announced that it will add one million electric cars on the road by 2030 and expects to drop greenhouse emissions from transportation by 26 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels.

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Uncategorized

Race or Rage? Attacks in Memphis and Springfield Again Prompt Objections Over The Enforcement of Hate Crimes

Screen Shot 2014-09-09 at 8.30.09 AMThere are renewed questions about how the line is drawn between hate crimes and conventional criminal cases this week after a group of black teens beat a white Kroger employee into unconsciousness as part of a “fan mob.” We recently discussed similar objections in the Utash case where a group of black men also beat a white driver to death. Critics are comparing these and other cases to the rapid deployment of federal lawyers and investigators in the Fergusan case and the recent opening of a civil rights investigation as a possible hate crime. However, the distinction in this case is that police have noted that there was an African American victim even though you can hear references to the race of the first victim. The controversy is only the latest over the use of hate crime charges and how the line is drawn in launching investigations into racial elements of certain crimes. The distinction between race or rage as a motivating element can be difficult to discern in criminal cases.

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Uncategorized

Second Daughter Reportedly Makes Allegations Of Child Molestation Against Sons of Guns Star Will Hayden

Will-Hayden-Sons-of-Guns-Mug-Shot-490x679Sons-of-Guns-Cast-490x367Things appear to be getting worse by the day after the arrest of “Sons of Guns” star Will Hayden, 49, for alleged forcible rape of a juvenile. First, the show itself was recently cancelled after Hayden’s arrest. Now another woman has reportedly come forward with additional charges against Hayden from when she was a 12-year-old girl staying with his family. Hayden has the distinction of being arrested twice with two different celebrity mug shots on charges of rape, including reported allegations from his daughter that she was raped at age 11. Two daughters are now making allegations of rape.

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Uncategorized

The “R” Word: GW Professor Files To Block Radio License Over Use of “Redskins” Team Name

Banzhaf_John350px-Washington_Redskins_logo.svgMy colleague, George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, has entered the fray over the Redskins name with the filing of a complaint to oppose the renewal of a radio station’s license due to its use of the team name. The filing comes at a time when recent polls show that almost three out of four people polled still believe that the Redskins should keep its name and do not view the name as racist. Another poll shows that almost 60 percent of NFL players believe that the team should keep its name. The radio station, WWXX-FM, is an ESPN affiliate owned by team owner Dan Snyder.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

The Peril Of Wearing Boxers? California Man Accused Of Bank Robbery Leaves Trail Of Money Falling Out Of Pants While Walking Across Police Station

102-1j9ZbM.AuSt.111Shawn Lee Canfield, 25, experienced a serious problem in maintaining a claim of innocence last week after he was arrested for suspected bank robbery. As he walked through the police station, money started falling out of his pants in what can only be described as an incriminating trail.

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Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Ohio Judge Who Held DUI Trials At High School Is Arrested For DUI After Helicopter Tracks Him Down

judge_dean_wilsonPerry County Judge Dean L. Wilson is well known in the Columbus area for holding drunk driving trials to New Lexington High School each year as a warning to students not to drink and drive. Wilson is now facing public criticism as he was arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and, worse yet, leaving the scene of an accident. Both are first-degree misdemeanors punishable subject to a maximum of six months in jail for each.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Religion, Uncategorized

Egypt Arrested Seven Men After Being Shown In Gay Marriage Video On YouTube

201497145831608734_20Egypt has continued its crackdown on social and religious minorities under Sharia law with the arrested of seven men for debauchery, “incitement to debauchery” and “publishing indecent images” after they were shown taking part in a “gay marriage” video on social media networks. The prosecutor declared that the video was “humiliating, regrettable and would anger God.”

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Religion, Supreme Court

Religious Pluralism and the Niggling Test

By Mike Appleton, Weekend Contributor

“The First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.”

-Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, 104 (1968)

“This commission chooses to stand by the tradition of opening its meetings in a manner acknowledging the beliefs of a large segment of its constituents.”

-Brevard County (Florida) Commission Chair Mary Bolin Lewis (August 15, 2014)

On August 19th the County Commission in Brevard County, Florida voted unanimously to reject a request by the Central Florida Freethought Community, an organization of atheists, agnostics, humanists and free-thinkers, to be added to a rotating list of groups invited to give the opening invocation at commission meetings. Instead, the commission approved a letter drafted by the county attorney offering the group three minutes to speak during the public comment portion of its meetings. According to the letter, the rejection was appropriate because, “The prayer is delivered during the ceremonial portion of the county’s meeting, and typically invokes guidance for the County Commission from the highest spiritual authority, a higher authority which a substantial body of Brevard constituents believe to exist.”

The Brevard County decision comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. ______ , 134 S.Ct. 1811 (2014), a case that more than anything else illustrates that the current state of Establishment Clause jurisprudence is, to put it bluntly, a mess. Continue reading “Religious Pluralism and the Niggling Test” →

Science, Uncategorized

FAA makes medical certification rule mandating sleep apnea testing.

By Charlton Stanley, Weekend Writer

FAA logoLast year, in a virtually unprecedented move, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Aerospace Medicine ordered that all pilots who applied for a medical certificate would have their Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated. If the BMI was 40 or greater, a sleep study became mandatory in order for the medical certificate to be granted. In other words, the pilot has to prove he or she does not have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

This announcement of new rules bypassed completely a request for comments from the public, which is mandated by law. One day the rule did not exist, the next day there was a new rule requiring horrendously expensive and intrusive testing by a board certified specialist in sleep studies.

It got worse. The policy, published in the Federal Air Surgeon’s Medical Bulletin, Vol. 51, No. 4, goes on to say, “Airman applicants with a BMI of 40 or more will have to be evaluated by a physician who is a board certified sleep specialist, and anyone who is diagnosed with OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) will have to be treated before they can be medically certificated.” The kicker? The order makes it clear the standard will eventually be expanded to include pilots with an even lower BMI, whether they have any history of daytime sleepiness or sleep disorder. The order is based on BMI alone.

The FAA does not provide any accident or statistical data to justify this extraordinary rulemaking at all. Why? Because there isn’t any.

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