Ontario police have made an arrest in the grave robbing case in Ohio discussed earlier. The police had succeeded in capturing the image of a woman stealing a toy off the grave of a dead infant. A number of such toys had been stolen off the grave of Hayden “Tank” Cole Sheridan. As expected, various people came forward and identified Frieda Kay Shade, 54, of Mansfield. She turned herself into police.
Clearly, when Otto von Bismarck said “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made” he apparently not never watched a surgery in progress. There is a fascinating case out of Virginia where a colonoscopy patient is suing over allegedly abusive comments made about him by his doctors . . . while he was under anesthesia. While this may sound like a torts version of the tree falling in a forest question, there was someone to hear these comments beyond the medical staff: “DB” had failed to turn off his cellphone which continued to record comments of the doctors ridiculing him, his body, and his character. [UPDATE: A Virginia jury awarded the patient $500,000]
We have recently discussed attacks on lawyers for simply doing their jobs in representing accused individuals. It is truly vile and McCarthyist trend that seeks to punish professional working within our criminal justice system. It is particularly offensive therefore when a large, presumably respectable organization unleashed such an attack. However, that is precisely what the Republican Governors Association has done in the attack ad below against State Senator Vincent Sheheen (left) who is being opposed because he represented people accused of crimes. To its credit, the South Carolina Bar Association has stepped forward to denounce the ad as containing “uncivil, misleading political rhetoric.” It is a shameful and shocking ad that attacks the very notion of due process guaranteed by our Constitution. The ad is designed to help Gov. Nikki Haley in her reelection campaign.
The police in Ontario, Ohio have succeeded in capturing the image of a criminal who may stand unrivaled among the felon class. This picture was released with others of a woman who has been stealing toys off the grave of a dead infant. That’s right. Not just a grave robber but an infant grave robber. The police decided to set up a hidden camera and nailed these images. They are now seeking any leads on the culprit and, given the quality of the photographs, it would seem likely that the woman (shown here stealing a stuffed duck from the grave of Hayden “Tank” Cole Sheridan) will be identified.
Below is yesterday’s column on CNN.com on the ruling in the Michigan affirmative action case, which we discussed earlier this week. I was asked to write a response to the decision and jumped at the opportunity to feature a couple of the GW “justices” from my Constitution and the Supreme Court seminar. The class meets in the Spring Term and reviews one case a week from the docket of the Supreme Court for that term. We read and discuss a selection of briefs filed in each case and the lower court opinion. The “justices” then rule on the merits, explaining their own take on the underlying legal issues and the role of the Court in the controversy. We then take a separate vote to predict what that “other” Supreme Court will do. Over the years, I have found that the students are remarkably accurate in their predictions, far more accurate than most commentators. Indeed, I have often found the opinions of the GW Court to be superior to its more famous counterpart on Capitol Hill. At the end of the term, each student writes a majority opinion and either a dissenting opinion or concurring opinion. They can choose any case from the current term. Of course, public commentary following the release of a decision might raise some questions of judicial ethics, we can at least claim to have been more circumspect than some of the members of that “other” Court. So here is the column from CNN and thank you Justices Yvette Butler and Vincent Cirilli.
Continue reading “The Michigan Affirmative Action Case: Two [GW] Justices Face Off On CNN”
This afternoon, our faculty was in the midst of selecting a new dean when word came from the Dean’s office that Tom Dienes, Lyle T. Alverson Professor Emeritus of Law, had passed away. It was very difficult for some of us to continue after learning the news. While we learned of Tom’s serious condition a short while ago, there was still not enough time to process the shock of losing such a towering figure in our community and, for me, such a good friend. He was 74 when he lost his battle with cancer. He left in his passing a legacy that few could equal in terms of the scholarship and lives shaped by his work.
Two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been charged with planting guns at a medical marijuana dispensary when they were on the force in 2011. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, were charged with one felony count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice and altering evidence as a peace officer. The charges could result in seven year stints. The two officers allegedly turned off the electricity and a security camera system inside the dispensary as they planted guns later cited as the basis for the arrests.
Continue reading “Two Former LA Sheriff Deputies Charged With Planting Guns At Marijuana Dispensary”
As part of our series of the perils of the press, I had to post this golden example of how sometimes it is just better to walk off camera than to try an escape.
Continue reading “Perils of the Press: Tech Tries To Evade The Camera . . . Unsuccessfully”
Pennsylvania lawyer Andrew H. Gaber, 52, has committed suicide shortly before he was due to be tried in an insurance fraud case that now involves dozens of alleged runners and false “slip-and-fall” claimants. Gaber reportedly shot himself on April 15th.
Two American doctors — a father and a son — were killed by an Afghan security guard at a Kabul hospital this week as well as a third doctor. The guard also wounded two others, including an American nurse. The Taliban and extreme Muslim clerics have called for attacks on foreigners, including those who are in the country to feed and heal Afghan citizens. What is most striking about this story is that, after gunning down innocent doctors and nurses, the life of the guard was then saved in surgery at the very same hospital by doctors that he did not shoot.
Alexander Gorsky from the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, or ITEP, is one of the world’s leading physicists and a critic of the reorganization of the academy by the Putin Administration. He has now been fired for going to the United States for an academic conference for “truancy.” Four physicists have announced their resignations from the academic council in protest. The Institute has been taken over by a Putin ally, Mikhail Kovalchuk (right).
The Last Judgment by Michelangelo pales in comparison.
We previously discussed the case of Doyle Randall Paroline, who pleaded guilty in Texas in 2009 to possessing child pornography. He downloaded hundreds of images and two were found to be child pornography dedicating the abuse of Amy. After pleading guilty, Paroline was hit by $3.4 million in restitution damages for Amy even though he had no role in her victimization nine years earlier or any role in the production or distribution of the two photos. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the federal restitution law does not require “proximate causation” — a critical limitation in torts and criminal law that ensures that liability is confined to those parties immediately responsible for injuries. I have criticized the expansion of restitution in this area for years and I spoke with NPR’s On The Media on the case. The Court has now ruled and reversed the Fifth Circuit in a 5-4 decision. As discussed with regard to yesterday’s decision in the Michigan affirmative action case, my Supreme Court class votes on the merits and predicted outcome of the major cases of the term before the Supreme Court. On this occasion, the vote was 8 to affirm and 6 to reverse. The latter “reversal” is closest to the outcome in the case. On prediction, the vote was 11 to 2 in favor of affirming so we were way off on the prediction on this one.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Vacates Jane Doe Child Pornography Restitution Case”
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan offered what the government described as unprecedented “condolences” for the killing of Armenians in the First World War. The “apology” however is likely to be viewed as manifestly inadequate for those who have long demanded that Turkey acknowledge the killings as “genocide.” There remains a sharp historical debate over the killings though countries like France tried to end that debate by criminalizing arguments that this was not a genocide. The overwhelming world opinion however is that this was genocide and that Turkey continues to offer a revisionist history to its students and citizens. This statement comes as the country approaches the 100th anniversary of the killings next year. Turkey continues to deny that 1.5 million people were killed in 1915.
Continue reading ““Shared Pain” or “Genocide”? Turkey Apologizes For Deaths Of Armenians”
The Easter Egg hunt of the Dye family of New Jersey was interrupted by a rather unexpected event: the fatal fall of a skydiver. Arkady Shenker, 49, had jumped around 13,500 feet wearing a “wing suit” that might have malfunctioned. The result was tragic for everyone and could lead to some interesting tort liability questions.
Continue reading “Easter Egg Hunt Interrupted By Fatal Fall of Skydiver”