Mein Copyright: Controversy Erupts Over The Reprinting Of Hitler’s Infamous Work

Mein_Kampf_dust_jacket.jpegThere is an interesting controversy brewing between academics and Jewish groups in Germany as the deadline approaches for the end of the copyright over Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”, the book that laid the foundation for the Nazi takeover and ultimately the genocidal crimes of World War II. For seven decades, the copyright has rested with with Bravarian officials who have prevented the publication of the work. Now, academics are arguing that the book should be reprinted due to its obvious historical significance. However, Jewish and other groups are demanding a continuation of the ban on reprints.

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Widow Of Murder Victim Commits Suicide In Texas

patti2In an unbelievably tragic story, the widow of a slain runner in Texas has committed suicide. Patti Stevens, 54, a physical therapist, was found dead of suspected suicide at her home in Sunnyvale after her husband, Dave, was slain by Thomas Linze Johnson, 21, a mentally ill former Texas A&M football player. The case is likely to raise serious mental capacity questions for Johnson who is reportedly schizophrenic as well as questions of whether the impact on Stevens (and her suicide) should be considered in any sentencing.

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Minnesota Woman Arrested After Sending Family Note Saying That She Wanted To Taste Their Children

Carrie PernulaCarrie Pernula, 38, has a curious way of responding to what she considers pesky children and she is now the subject of an equally curious criminal case. The Minnesota woman reportedly confessed to send menacing notes to a family saying that she wanted to “taste” their children. She is now charged with stalking and disorderly conduct.

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MSNBC Host Objects To Description Of Paul Ryan As “Hard Worker”

hqdefaultMSNBC weekend host Melissa Harris-Perry has drawn fire after objecting to a seemingly innocuous reference by a guest to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) as a “hard worker.” Harris-Perry suggested that the use of this term for someone like Ryan is insulting to people who once picked cotton or mothers without health care.

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South Carolina Officer Placed On Administrative Leave After Violent Arrest At School Is Posted On YouTube

Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 7.13.14 AMThe video below has caused a public outcry after a South Carolina school resource officer identified as Richland County Sheriff’s Department Senior Deputy Ben Fields is shown tossing a female high school student to the floor and dragging her from a classroom after she refused to get up and leave with him. Fields has been placed on paid administrative leave.

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English Students Seek To Bar Appearance of Leading Feminist Due To Her Views On Transgender Individuals

CardiffUniversityCrestGermaine_Greer,_2006There is a new example of how free speech values are declining in England, particularly on college campuses this week. Students at Cardiff University launched an online petition trying to bar Germaine Greer, the Australian feminist author, from speaking at the school next month because of her views on transgender women. Rather than recognize that Greer has an opinion to share as part of the pluralistic academic forum, these students sought to bar her from sharing her views and engaging in a debate in the area. To its credit, the university has thus far stayed committed to free speech and refuses to bar Greer.

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THANK YOU NEW ORLEANS

IMG_3550I am finally back in Washington after a wonderful trip to my old stomping grounds in New Orleans. I fell in love with New Orleans during my clerkship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and lived in the city as a faculty member at Tulane Law School. The city has bounced back after Katrina. Indeed, there are major improvements with a plethora of new shops and an ever-expanding World War II museum and other attractions. Hotels appear near capacity and the city is bustling.

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Lawyering in the Big Easy

IMG_3571Leslie and I are leaving New Orleans today (I will post a few pictures tomorrow) after a wonderful trip to the Crescent City. Much has changed since I lived here but thankfully the essence has remained the same. We were here to participate in the reunion of the clerks who served with Judge W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Davis is approaching his 40th year as a judge and has an intensely loyal clerkship alumni. Indeed, virtually every one of his roughly 100 clerks showed up from around the country to celebrate his service and thank him for mentoring us all as young lawyers. Given the reason for the trip, I wanted to share a couple of lawyer signs that I spotted walking around New Orleans. They left me wistful in thinking about my life had I stayed on the faculty at Tulane Law School or . . . even opened up a firm like this one next to a tattoo shop on Magazine Street (perhaps offering “Torts and Tats” as a package deal).

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Saudi Arabia Sentences Leading Human Rights Advocate To 10 Years In Jail For Crimes Including “The Founding Of A Human Rights Organization”

200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgWe recently discussed the sentencing of a political dissident in Saudi Arabia to being crucified and beheaded under the Kingdom’s medieval Sharia-based legal system. Now, as if to reaffirm the Kingdom’s opposition to basic human rights and freedoms, the Kingdom has reportedly sentenced a professor and activist to to 10 years in prison and barred him from traveling abroad for another decade. Abdel-Karim al-Khadar, a professor of Islamic studies from conservative Qassim Province, has been under arrest for over two years (since April 2013) for criticizing religious extremism and fighting for women’s rights. That is enough to jail you in the Kingdom, a country that remains one of our closest allies.

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Real Communists Don’t Golf: Chinese Party Bars Members From Joining Golf Clubs

38156551_maoswim_ap150Real Communists don’t golf. That appears the message this month from those brilliant Chinese Communist Party functionaries. The latest edict from the Party has banned all 88 million of its members from joining golf clubs or gyms. The move appears part of the latest anti-corruption campaign in China, which is targeting these clubs as common places for bribes and special dealing. Of course, it is little problem to achieve that same corruption deals at a restaurant or a Mah Jong parlor. However, the way that central planners think is that you can fight corruption by attacking a common place for corrupt discussions. It is akin to fighting insider trading by barring limousines.

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TORTS WINS 2015 CHARITY PAINTBALL COMPETITION OVER CONTRACTS

unnamed The annual Torts versus Contracts paintball teams have met on the field of battle for the 2015 charity competition and I am thrilled to report that Torts emerged victorious — tying the competition now 2-2 over the last four years. It was a sweet victory given the two-year slump for Torts. As in prior years, it was extremely close and came down to the last game but legal descendants of Learned Hand overwhelmed those of Karl Llewelyn in the final minutes.

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FCC Votes To End Predatory Pricing Of Inmate Telephone Calls

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

PrisonCellWe previously featured an article on how the practice of private organizations charging predatory tolls on inmate telephone calls. Now, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), a regulatory agency of the U.S. Government, voted to enact guidelines limiting these tolls to be more in-line with reasonable costs that the agency believes will balance inmate needs with legitimate rates of return required by carriers to remain viable in their business venture.

The ruling by the FCC should come not only as welcome news to inmates, their friends and families, but it will also provide a means of comfort for most inmates and might to a limited degree also lead to lower problems affecting staff caused by inmate misbehavior.

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Embattled Prosecutor Reportedly Says He Will Get $100,000 In Free Publicity For The Murder of Four Police Officers

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Mark Lindquist
Mark Lindquist

An outrageous statement, if proven to be true, was made by embattled Pierce County Washington Prosecutor Mark Lindquist following the assassination of four Lakewood Police Officers in 2009.

These four officers were murdered while at a local coffee shop in Parkland. Their deaths were marked by great mourning in the law enforcement community and among Washington State’s citizens.

Showing almost sociopathic indifference, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist was quoted by his former Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Mary Robnett (who is now an Assistant Attorney General) as saying he,

“was going to have to run for re-election and would get $100K of free publicity from the murders.”

Of course, publically he was right there to show his great “remorse” for the officers and their families. His statement was confirmed by other witnesses.

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Police Arrest Woman For Alleged DUI After She Used Streaming Video While Driving

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Whitney Beall
Whitney Beall

Sometimes drunk drivers by their actions seem to almost want to be arrested, and a woman in Lakeland, Florida allegedly made this all the more apparent.

Whitney Beall, police say, drove intoxicated while video streaming her actions via Periscope. Viewers of the video then telephoned 911 reporting a drunk girl was driving through town.

Police later discovered her and placed her under arrest.  Video follows this article.

Certainly this is going to be a most difficult violation to defend.

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China Awards Mugabe Human Rights Prize

200px-mugabecloseup2008130px-Mao_Zedong_portraitThis is truly something that belongs in The Onion. Indeed, I had to double check to be sure that it was serious. China, one of the most oppressive nations on Earth, has given a human rights award to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, one of the most oppressive and corrupt leaders in the world. China continues its almost comical issuance of the Confucius Peace Prize, its answer to the Nobel Peace Prize. China was tired of the Nobel people giving a human rights price to human rights advocates, particularly Chinese dissents or the Dali Lama. So it created its own prize to give those hard-working dictators an opportunity to shine. So this year, China is honoring a man who has destroyed the economy of Zimbabwe, starved his people, oppressed dissidents, and maintained one of the most disgusting levels of corruption and personal excess of any dictator in the world. Vladimir Putin previously won the award. Last year the recipient was that great humanitarian Fidel Castro.

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