Academia, Media, Religion

Rabbi And Emory Law Professor Accused of Deception

b0cb5f707dEmory University law professor and Orthodox rabbi Michael Broyde is being accused of assuming a false identity and joining a rabbinic group under false pretenses. Broyde allegedly assumed the identify of a Rabbi Hershel Goldwasser, who claimed to live in Israel, and gained access for 20 years to the International Rabbinic Fellowship, an association of liberal Orthodox rabbis. Broyde is accused of then lying when confronted about the deception and denying that he was in fact Goldwasser who penned a variety of letters and directed people to Broyde’s own scholarship.

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Criminal law, International, Society

Report: U.S. Government Ran Torture Program After 9-11

220px-AbuGhraibAbuse-standing-on-boxAn independent report by the Constitution Project, a non-partisan Washington think tank, is the latest to confirm what is already known to the world — we ran a torture program approved by the highest levels of our government in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. The report is an indictment not only of President Bush who is responsible for the torture program but President Obama who promised CIA officials that they would not be investigated or prosecuted for torture.

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Academia, Politics, Science, Society

Gov. Bobby Jindal Supports Teaching Creationism As “Science” In Public Schools

BobbyJindal1Not long ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal received praise for a speech after the Republican defeat warning fellow Republicans that, if they want to win again, “We’ve got to stop being the stupid party.” He seems to have forgotten that particular reform in comments this week supporting the teaching of both creationism and intelligent design in public schools as part of teaching “the best science.”

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech

Flying While Arab: Two Passengers Removed From Boston Flight After Speaking Arabic

220px-Gag-overthemouth-lorelei-kibf903In the aftermath of the explosion in Boston, Muslims again appear the target of arbitrary suspicion and detention. On a flight from Boston to Chicago, passengers became alarmed when two different passengers were heard speaking in Arabic. The two passengers were not traveling or seated together but the flight crew returned to the gate to have the two passengers detained.
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Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics

Kuwait Sentences Prominent Opposition Leader To Five Years In Prison

Fida-AlaeddinMusallam el-Barrak,a leading opposition politician and a former member of Parliament, has been sentenced to five years in prison for comments he made during a speech at a political rally in October. The conviction has sent a chilling message to those who oppose the autocratic rule of the ruling family. By Western standards, el-Barrak’s criticism was remarkably subdued. In the speech, el-Barrak repeated a phrase that would become a slogan of the protest movement — “We will not allow you” — and warned the ruler about “practicing autocracy.”

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Religion

A Clipper Proves The Undoing Of A Mullet: Amish Hate Crimes Case Raises Fundamental Concerns Over Federal Power

GetImage.aspxThe recent conviction of Amish bishop Samuel Mullet Sr. in the Amish hair-cutting case raises renewed questions over the ever-expanding claims of federal jurisdiction.  Mullet was given 15 years in prison for federal hate crimes.  In order to do so, however, the Obama Administration had to establish federal jurisdiction.  They did so by building the case around the “Wahl battery-operated hair clippers” used to cut the beards of Amish men and insisted that federal jurisdiction followed the clippers which crossed state borders in their manufacturing and sale. The superseding indictment is linked below.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion

Satanic Tweets: Turkish Court Convicts Composer Of Blasphemy

220px-Fazıl_Say_during_rehearsals_in_2011The trend of blasphemy convictions continues this week with the disturbing case of pianist and composer Fazil Say, who merely retweeted a verse from an 11th century poet on Islamic beliefs on Twitter last year. Under these laws, people are prohibited from speaking their doubts about religious orthodoxy and beliefs. Say was given a suspended 10-month jail term and a criminal record for speaking his mind in Turkey. It is the latest example of how the Islamic government in Turkey is destroying the secular traditions of the country and once gave the country greater freedom than its Muslim neighbors.

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Criminal law, International, Religion

India’s “One Month Wife” Tourism Package

India flagAs women struggle with the continuing epidemic of rape in India, there is a growing abuse of girls who are forced to become “one month wives” of Muslim men from the Middle East and Africa — sham marriages allowing men to use them as legal prostitutes in arrangements with their families. In the article below, the reporter details the harrowing story of Nausheen Tobassum, a 17-year-old girl, who was sold into such a marriage by her family to a Sudanese man.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International, Society

Chinese Vessel Runs Aground In Protected Filipino Coral Reef Loaded With Dead Protected Anteaters

Flag_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China170px-Pangolin_borneoThe cultural appetite of Chinese for exotic and endangered animals has long fueled the global black market for such products and sustained an army of poachers who are forcing various species into extinction. This cultural taste is combined with China’s unrivaled anti-environmental record. Those elements came together this week when a Chinese vessel, the F/N Min Long Yu ran aground in a protected coral reef in the southwestern Philippines. Not only did the vessel damage the protected area, but it turned out to be illegally present in the area and loaded with more than 22,000 pounds of meat from a protected species, the pangolin or scaly anteater. The Chinese crew then allegedly tried to bride the Filipino coast guard to just look the other way — a common practice in China.

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Bizarre, Society, Torts

Some Things Just Do Not Improve With Age: Jury Rejects Claim of New York Actress Over Publication Of Her Age

theater-masksWe have previously followed the case of actress Junie Hoang, 41, who sued IMDb after it obtained her correct age which she said made it more difficult for her to play younger roles. Jurors last week rejected Hoang’s remaining claims, leaving her with fruitless litigation that only served to highlight her age.

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Society

Apple Agrees To $53 Million Settlement Over Water Damaged iPhones

apple logoYou may recall that years ago, I posted an account of an ordeal over a relatively new iPhone that stopped functioning. When I took it into the store, they promptly informed me that I got the phone wet and refused to repair or replace it. When I told that that it was impossible that the phone had been “submerged” or saturated as they claimed, they opened the phone and confirmed that only one of two indicators showed water damage but still said that it voided any obligation of the company. Though I eventually got a new phone, my posting attracted many people around the world who said that they had the same experience. Well, Apple (without admitting guilt) is now agreeing to a settlement in a class action for people who were told they had such water damage. As suspected, it appears that the water damage indicators were defective.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law

Texas Justice of Peace Identified As Suspect In Killing Of Texas District Attorney and His Wife

article-0-19466412000005DC-370_634x500Despite the deluge of stories on how white supremacists and other gangs are killing prosecutors, Texas police have said that they believe that the recent murders of District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia and an assistant DA, were the work not of gangland hitmen but a disgruntled former justice of the peace named Eric Williams, 46. However, Williams is thus far charged with making a “terroristic threat” to residents via email and being held on $3 million bond.

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Lawyering, Society

Park Avenue Polygamy? New York Attorney Accused Of Pressuring Paralegal To Be His “Third Wife”

article-0-19418F6A000005DC-433_634x411article-2308335-1941951D000005DC-480_634x601Park Avenue lawyer James R. Ray, 50, is the subject of a bizarre allegation that he pressured his female paralegal to be his “third wife.” Sarbrina Rafi, 27, make the allegation in a sexual harassment complaint in which she says that Ray boasts of multiple wives and referred to her ethnic background in making her ideal for his third spouse. As lead counsel in the Sister Wives case, I am not sure of how Park Avenue Polygamy works, but this (if true) sounds more like simple sexual harassment than a consensual plural relationship.

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Bizarre, International

“One Less Lonely Girl”: Justin Bieber’s “Atta Girl” To Anne Frank

200px-Anne_Frank200px-Believe_Tour_13,_2012Finally, Anne Frank can find true peace.  Last week, pop singer Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank house while in the area for a concert.  On the guestbook, he wrote “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.’”  Bieber’s “atta girl” strangely did not go over well with most people, except of course “believers” (his name for his screeching clinging prepubescent girl followers). Bieber spared the museum a rendition of his “One Less Lonely Girl.”

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