Who needs David Hasselhoff when you have a 500 ton hovercraft? This, it seems, is how the Russians clear a beach for military exercises. Beach goers were enjoying a typical day at the Mechnikovo beach near Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea when the hovercraft appeared and to the surprise of thousands just entered the beach. Sunbathers were then ordered to leave the beach.
Continue reading “Bay Watch — Russian Style”
There is an interesting story out of Southhampton, New York where a toxic tide of brown water has come in — killing fish and turning the ocean into a disgusting mix of dead fish and rust colored water. While people have raised questions about the water, it was the response of the state of New York that caught my eye: “The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said it cannot comment on claims that it is not doing enough to protect Long Island waterways, because of a pending lawsuit.”
We previously saw the case of a professor who had his child taken away from him (and was barred from his own home) because his son mistakenly picked up a hard lemonade drink rather than just lemonade. By that measure, John Coulter is lucky. He was just threatened with arrest and kicked out of an Arizona Cardinals game after he asked his son to hold his beer while he took a picture.
In criminal law and torts, we often discuss acts of passion as a defense. The most difficult cases are often heat-of-passion cases. There are few defendants who could claim the cause for such heat-of-passion acts as Timothy John ‘TJ’ Brewer. Brewer walked in on his wife having sex in his son’s room. To make thing worse, the man was his own father — fire chief Wesley ‘Corky’ Brewer. TJ Brewer, a former sheriff’s deputy hit his wife, pistol-whipped his father, and threaten to kill his father with a handgun. He has now pleaded guilty to assault and assault on a police officer.
Federal Judge Mark Abel in Ohio has imposed a $15 million damage award on former Somali colonel, Abdi Aden Magan, who tortured human rights advocate Abukar Hassan Ahmed. What was most striking about the decision was the statement that such damages are necessary to guarantee that the United States is not a “safe harbor for those who commit human rights abuses.” Of course, this follows a series of court decisions barring the victims of the U.S. torture program from even getting a trial, let alone damages. Those responsible continue to appear on television from George W. Bush to Dick Cheney to John Yoo. Indeed, rather than punish those who facilitated the torture program, we made one — Jay Bybee (shown right) — a federal appellate judge with lifetime tenure. That particular “safe harbor” is found in the courthouse of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
We have previously discussed how some countries require approval of names or ban the use of some names. This includes a recent court order stripping a baby of the name “Messiah.” Now the city of Brussels has told an Israeli couple that they cannot name their child “Jerusalem” because it is not on the official list of permissible baby names.
Continue reading “Brussels Prevents Israeli Couple From Naming Baby “Jerusalem””
This cartoon is at the center of a controversy at the University of Denver. We have previously discussed the trend to eliminate such school symbols as Chief Illini and others. Unlike some of these controversies, “Denver Boone” is not based on a tribe but is a cartoon character designed by a Walt Disney cartoonist. However, the University of Denver has voted to ban its use as offensive.
Continue reading “University of Denver Bans “Denver Boone” As Offensive”
Oklahoma is reeling this week from a senseless killing of an Australian student, Christopher Lane, 22, by three teenagers who allegedly shot him simply because they were bored and wanted to kill someone for the “fun of it.” In Oklahoma for the “fun of it” with first-degree murder.
Continue reading “Thrill Kill: Three Oklahoma Teens Arrested In Murder Of Australian Student”
Below is my column today in the Los Angeles Times. The column follows the recognition of the name for Area 51, which produced a great deal of media coverage.
Continue reading “The Truth Is Out There: The Real Cover-Up At Area 51”
I have previously discussed the pattern of prosecutors in either not charging false rape victims or seeking relatively light sentences despite the incarceration of innocent men. (here, here, here, here, here, and here). While I would never recommend a prison sentence for a rape victim who simply identified the wrong man by mistake, the most disturbing cases are those involving false rape claims. For an example of this problem, you need to go no further than the case of Elizabeth Paige Coast.
Civil libertarians have long ago lost faith in Barack Obama’s and his continuing expression of support for privacy and individual rights. Just in case anyone is still not convinced, consider the petition this month to the Supreme Court by the Obama Administration. Just last week, Obama waxed poetic about his commitment to privacy. Yesterday however, his Administration took another major swipe at privacy and asked the Supreme Court to reverse the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which held that the police could not conduct warrantless searches of your cellphone when you are arrested. The decision in United States v. Wurie is below.
Another gems from Russia found on Reddit.
Communist Party members across China are receiving secret instructions from Beijing to stomp out notions of democracy or rights that are growing among Chinese citizens. It appears that ideas of freedom are creeping into the worker’s paradise and, in a remarkably frank and brutal message, the Party is warning that such ideas (called the “seven perils”) are threatening its hold on China.
In West Virginia, Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury is the only judge in his county. However, federal prosecutors have charged that he had enough time on his hands to frame have an affair with his secretary and frame her husband for a series of crimes, including the planting of drugs. Thornsbury, 57, is charged with two counts of conspiracy against rights to frame what U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin calls “his romantic rival.”
For civil libertarians in the United States and England, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish the practices of our own governments and the countries that we routinely denounce as authoritarian. An example of this confusion can be found in the outrageous arrest of the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian writer who brought the Snowden disclosures to light and a leading voice for civil liberties in the world. David Miranda, who lives with Greenwald, was taken into custody when passing through London’s Heathrow airport on his way home to Rio de Janeiro. He was held for nine hours and had his computer, cell phone and other equipment seized. Such stops can occur at the request of the National Security Agency and other agencies and are carried out under the abusive Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The case could also highlight possible surveillance of journalists in England and the United States.