Academia, Environment, Politics, Religion, Science, Society

Gallup: Forty-Two Percent Of Americans Reject The Concept Of Evolution In Humans

sisteen chapel ceilingGallup has released a new poll that shows that Americans still reject the concept of evolution of humans in high numbers. Indeed, twice the number of Americans believe that humans were created by God in their current image than there are those who believe in natural evolution. Indeed, those 42 percent believe that man was created by God in the last 10,000 years. That is a considerable difference even if you focus only on anatomically modern humans which appeared in the Middle Paleolithic period about 200,000 years ago. For those who believe in the science behind evolution, the news is not all bad. Nineteen percent believe in evolution without divine involvement while another 31 percent believe that there was evolution from “less advanced forms of life” but that God directed that process. That is fifty percent. Of course, that does appear to leave eight percent that is still . . . well . . . evolving.

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Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Federal Judge Stops Expulsion Of Duke Student Over Lack of Basic Due Process In Alleged Sexual Assault Case

Unknown-2I have previously written about my concerns over the elimination of basic rights of due process at universities for students accused of sexual assault or harassment under pressure from the Obama Administration. That pressure continues to build this year with the Obama Administration investigating dozens of universities and threatening to take away federal funds if they do not remove certain protections under their rules of adjudication. Now a North Carolina judge has issued a rare order enjoining Duke University from expelling a male student, Lewis McLeod, who was accused of raping a female freshman. The concern over the lack of due process afforded the accused is of course a continuation of the criticism of Duke over its handling of the infamous Duke lacrosse team case. I have previously written about my view that Duke abandoned not just those students but any sense of due process or fairness in joining the mob accusing them of raping a stripper.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Torts

Georgia Prosecutor May Charge Suspect With Injuries Caused By SWAT Team After Throwing Stun Grenade Into Crib

raid31n-1-webM84_stun_grenadeWe previously discussed the horrific injuries to a baby after a Georgia SWAT team threw a stun grenade into a house in a no-knock raid that landed in the baby’s crib. The family had no connection to the alleged crime, the suspect was not in the house, there were no drugs found at the house, and no weapon was found at the house. Just a baby near death after having an grenade explode in his crib. Now the police chief has come out to cast blame on the suspect, Wanis Thometheva, 30, and the prosecutor has suggested that he may be charged with the injury caused by the SWAT team despite the fact that he was not even in the house.

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Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Florida Judge Allegedly Threatens Public Defender, Challenges Him To A Fight, And Then Attacks Him Outside Courtroom

Unknown-1gavel2If the judges over in Broward County are having trouble staying sober, it appears that anger management may be the challenge for judges in Brevard County, Florida. Judge John Murphy has been accused of saying that he wanted to throw a rock at a public defender and then saying that he wanted to meet him behind the courtroom to “beat your ass.” According to public defender Andrew Weinstock, he proceeded to try to do precisely that. However, no criminal charges have been brought against Murphy and there is no reported judicial discipline proceeding.

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Academia, Environment, Society

Taking The Her Out of Hurricanes: New Study Shows Feminine Named Hurricanes Are More Dangerous Because People Don’t Take Them As Seriously

250px-Cyclone_MonicamalefemaleDespite the carnage like by hurricanes like Katrina, many people still think feminine hurricanes blow like a girl. Researchers at the University of Illinois and Arizona State University have studied hurricanes over the last 60 years and have come to a surprising discovery: feminine named hurricanes are more dangerous because people do not consider them as dangerous and do not take the same precautions as masculine named hurricanes. As a result, they found that female-named hurricanes (like Monica shown left) produced almost double the number of fatalities. The simple difference between naming a hurricane Sam rather than Samantha could be measured in lives.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Environment, International, Military

Court Rules Against Obama Administration In Use Of Chemical Weapons Convention In Criminal Prosecution

Supreme Courtcarol-ann_bond-450x350The Supreme Court has issued its ruling in one of the cases that I have been following closely. The Court ruled unanimously in Bond v. United States that Bond had standing to challenge the statute carrying out the Chemical Weapons Convention as violating the inherent powers of in this instance intruded on areas of police power reserved to the states. While it is not the type of case that pulls media coverage, it is very important and clearly the right result. We debated Bond in our Supreme Court class and came to the same result. On the merits, nine of us voted to reverse the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and four voted to affirm the lower court. On the prediction of what the “other” court would do, eight of us predicted a reversal and five predicted an affirmance. It proved not to be a close question in rejecting the arguments of the Obama Administration seeking to bar citizens from being able to challenge such statutes. It is a victory for standing and more importantly for individual rights.

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Academia, Congress, Politics, Society

A Piece of The Pi: New York Artist Claims Trademark To Symbol π

140px-pi-symbolsvgWe have long discussed the insane evolution of trademark and copyright laws. Now a New York artist Paul Ingrisano, aka “Pi Productions Corp” of New York is claiming that he holds the trademark to symbol π.—pi followed by a period—a design. It is the perfect irrational trademark claim for the ultimate irrational number.

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Academia, Politics, Society

Michigan Teacher Suspended For Showing Video On Segregation And The Use of Black Face

JimCrowThere is a troubling case in Michigan where Alan Barron, a public school teacher at Monroe Middle School, has been suspended for teaching an eighth grade class on racial segregation and discrimination that included a video discussing how white entertainers would once use black face paint. The lesson by Barron, 59, also included discussions of Jim Crow. While the notion of academic freedom is different in elementary and middle schools than on the graduate level, it is still troubling to see such a suspension reportedly based on the simple depiction and discussion of such forms of discrimination. There is no indication that Barron was doing anything more than showing the practices, which are still commonly referenced in books and even contemporary politics. Indeed, we continue to see cases involving black face arise and this lesson gave students background understandings of such controversies. (He has now been reinstated).

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

President Obama Trades Al Qaeda-Linked Taliban Leaders For Release of American Soldier

President_Barack_Obamaarticle-2644788-1E5CCBF900000578-994_634x541The release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held captive in Afghanistan, has been a source of celebration but also concern in Washington. While the country has long insisted that it would not negotiate with terrorists, it seems like it has been doing precisely that for years in working out a trade that ultimately led to the release of five Taliban leaders. More importantly, federal law requires notice to Congress some 30 days before a release of a detainee from Guantanamo Bay — another federal provision that the White House appears to have simply ignored in a unilateral act. I am scheduled to discuss the case on CNN on Monday morning.

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Society

My Misogyny

By Mike Appleton, Weekend Contributor

“Until you give men like Rodger a way to have sex, either by encouraging them to learn game, seek out a Thai wife, or engage in legalized prostitution-three things that the American media and cultural elite venomously attack, it’s inevitable for another massacre to occur. Even game itself, as useful as it is on an individual level, is a band-aid fix upon a culture which has stopped rewarding nice guys while encouraging female whoring to benefit only the top 10% of alpha males, all in the name of societal progress.”

-Roosh, “No One Would Have Died If PUAHate Killer Elliot Rodger Learned Game,” http://www.returnofkings.com (June 1, 2014).

When I was in high school in the early ’60s, the Loretto Academy prom was a significant annual event. Loretto was a Catholic school for girls, and I attended Jesuit High School, an all boys school. Much of our social interaction was with the girls of Loretto. Our drama societies jointly produced plays. Loretto provided our homecoming sweethearts. Loretto Academy was our sister school, if you will.

So as a high school junior I was excited about the upcoming Loretto prom, and was hoping that one of several girls I particularly liked would invite me. Then one evening, a good two months before the event, I received a call from Helen (not her real name). I had known Helen since grammar school. She was tall and thin and plain-looking. She was also very smart and very sweet, attributes too frequently unappreciated by 16 year-old boys. She had called, she said, to invite me to the prom. Continue reading “My Misogyny” →

Criminal law

Bong Hits For Parolees: Washington Department Of Corrections To Allow Parolees To Smoke Weed

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Washington State Department of Corrections LogoParolees in Washington might actually look forward to going back to the joint. The Department of Corrections announced that most of those released on parole, about 14,000 individuals, may now use marijuana without being subject to random testing. Recreational marijuana use is legal in Washington after voters passed Initiative 502.

Annmarie Alyward, DOC’s assistant secretary said, “We’re putting some changes into effect so that we won’t routinely test offenders in the community for THC.” Delta-9 THC is the psychoactive compound in marijuana. “We don’t want them held to that level when, as a citizen, you wouldn’t be held to that level either. There’s no way the department of corrections is endorsing the use of marijuana. We are simply aligning with state law.”

This certainly represents a great departure from conventional community correction practices of the past.

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Bizarre, Justice

The Golf Club is Mightier Than The Sword: 89-Year-Old Golf Club Wielding Woman Defeats Sword Bearing Robber

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Miyo Koba
Miyo Koba

Proving a new twist to the old adage, it seems the sword is quickly losing its reputation for might. Eighty nine year old Miyo Koba, a Moses Lake, Washington store owner, fought-off an alleged robber who brandished a three foot sword she described as being “little.”

sword-moses-lake-evidenceFor sixty years Miyo and her husband have owned Frank’s Market. She said she noticed a man wearing a ski mask and dark glasses standing behind her cash register on a Sunday attempting to open the till. It would soon prove to be a career limiting move for his apprenticeship in the armed robbery trade.

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

Sudan Foreign Ministry States Christian Woman Sentenced To Death For Apostasy Will Be Freed

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

meriam-yehya-ibrahim-apostasy-sharia-law-sudanAfter an international outrage and widespread condemnation following the death sentence of a pregnant, Christian Sudanese woman accused apostasy and adultery for her marriage to a Christian man, the Sudanese Government has publicly stated it would instead release Meriam Yehya Ibrahim from custody.

BBC News reports that Abdullahi Alzareg, an under-secretary at the foreign ministry, said Sudan guaranteed religious freedom and was committed to protecting the woman who was to be release in a few days.

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Congress, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society

House of Representatives Votes To Stop Federal Prosecutions Against Medical Marijuana

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

the-thin-line-of-medical-marijuanaThe United States House of Representatives passed a bill preventing federal prosecutions against patients who use prescribed marijuana and cultivation where it is legal in the various states. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President it would mark a profound reversal in federal marijuana policy.

 

The House voted 219-189 in favor to an amendment of an appropriations bill. The amendment strips the Department of Justice of all funds for enforcing marijuana laws in states where medical marijuana is legal. This would not only include the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) but all other agencies as well as DOJ prosecutions, theoretically if signed into law prosecutions already in process must halt as well. With the recent signature by Minnesota’s governor, twenty two states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana statutes.

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