A substance-abuse counselor, Sherri Lynn Wilkins, 53, has been sentenced to 55 years to life in prison for second-degree murder after hitting and killing 31-year-old Phillip Moreno in November 2012 — and then driving away with him dying on her windshield.
We have been discussing the case of Sarah Jones, former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader who sued a gossip site, TheDirty.com, after comments appeared from third parties that said that she had sex with half of the football team’s players and had contracted sexually transmitted diseases. (Strangely, the site did not argue that the statement was facially implausible and thus not defamatory since it did not appear in 2010 that anyone could catch anything from the Bengals). Jones, a high school teacher, won a rare $338,000 libel verdict against the site for third party postings. However, the United States for the Third Circuit has reversed the verdict and found that the site is protected under under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996.
Continue reading “Give me a C – D – A: Sixth Circuit Tosses Cheerleader’s Defamation Lawsuit”
The Supreme Court has handed down a unanimous decision in Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus. This is an important case for the free speech community. It involved poorly written Ohio laws that SBA prohibit the use of false statements in campaign advertisements. It allows politicians to harass public interest groups and force them into costly administrative litigation. The case was brought by the pro-life organization, the Susan B. Anthony List (“SBA List”). Associate Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for the Court in finding that SBA had sufficient injury to bring the challenge, another victory this term for standing this term after years of disastrous rollbacks by the Court that have barred groups from the courts. The SBA case was one of those considered by my Supreme Court class and once again the class got the prediction right and also mirrored the Court on the merits. We voted 8-2 to reverse the Sixth Circuit. We then voted 9-1 in predicting a reversal.
When I first met Mark Shurtleff, he was Utah Attorney General leading the case against my clients, the Brown family in the Sister Wives case. After years of abusive investigations and public statements, we challenged the state criminalization of polygamy and Shurtleff fought to defend the law. Shurtleff is now on the opposite side of the line and has decried the treatment of his own family in the investigation of his own alleged wrongdoing. Shurtleff angrily denounced the Utah law enforcement as basically thugs engaging “Dirty Harry” tactics in a raid on his home.
Continue reading “Former Utah Attorney General Denounces Police For “Dirty Harry” Tactics”
We have been discussing the disconnect between the parties and the voters this year. The voters have made clear that they (1) detest the ruling elite and (2) want real change. The two parties controlling our duopoly have thus far responded with the Democrats virtually pre-nominating Hillary Clinton (with Joe Biden as a contender and the Republican leaders pushing for Jeb Bush. The process of reinvention has begun. Clinton has been a fascinating case study. Recently, she came out and said that her Iraq War vote was a “mistake” but that she has learned the truth over the years (despite refusing to listen to many who opposed the war at the time). Now, she is claiming the same gradual realization that gays and lesbians deserve equal rights in marriage. Usually in Washington media, politicians are allowed to make a spin, refuse to answer a question, that the media simply meekly fades away. As shown in the video below, however, this time Clinton was facing NPR icon Terry Gross who persisted in trying to unravel what she viewed as spin. While unfailingly polite, Gross kept returning to question of why Clinton for so many years did not support same-sex marriage. Eventually, Hillary expressed discomfort if not anger at the continued questioning. Putting aside the merits, most of us were shocked for another reason. There was a reporter who actually refused to let a politician duck and spin in an interview. It was like seeing a Phoenix rise in Washington journalism.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
I fell in love with the poetry of Li-Young Lee when I read his debut collection Rose. Published in 1986, the book won the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Poetry Award. In the foreword that he wrote for Rose, Gerald Stern said that when he first came across Li-Young Lee’s poetry, he “was amazed by the large vision, the deep seriousness and the almost heroic ideal “reminiscent more of John Keats, Rainer Maria Rilke and perhaps Theodore Roethke than William Carlos Williams on the one hand or T.S. Eliot on the other.” Stern added that what characterizes Lee’s poetry “Is a certain humility, a kind of cunning, a love of plain speech, a search for wisdom and understanding…”
Stern also wrote in his foreword that the “father” in contemporary poetry “tends to be a pathetic soul or bungler or a sweet loser, overwhelmed by the demands of family and culture and workplace.” He said that the father in Lee’s poems isn’t anything like that. He said the “father” in Lee’s poetry is “more godlike”–and that the poet’s job “becomes not to benignly or tenderly forgive him, but to withstand him and comprehend him, and variously fear and love him.”
Happy Father’s Day to all on the Turley Blog. I am spending a quiet day with the family (my Sunday morning dawn hike on Billy Goat trail was cut short by a barrier put up by the Park Service due to flooding).
Continue reading “HAPPY FATHER’S DAY”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend contributor
This is a personal story that I need to share with you. For many years before I became a Dad, Fathers Day always gave me mixed emotions. Growing up without knowing my Father always made me uncomfortable on this special day. While I always considered that my Mother did a masterful job handling being both a Mother and a Father to me and my siblings, there was still something missing. My Dad would have turned 93 this past week and his birthday went by with only a few Facebook posts and comments from my siblings and relatives. I am sure that my Mother was thinking about him on that day, but when I was young, Fathers Day was not a holiday in our house.
My Dad was born in 1921 and was one of 11 children born to Alex and Min Rafferty. He grew up in Northern Lake County, Illinois and his father and my Grandfather, ran a moving and storage business that kept the entire family busy. My Dad was named Lawrence, but was called Sonny by his Mother and Father and his siblings because he was born after a few girls in a row so my Grandfather was happy to have another Son. I was never able to personally wish him a Happy Fathers Day because he was killed in the Service in March of 1951, just a few short weeks before I was born. However, in the last several years I have thought about him often and written about him and his life, but I still have never wished him a Happy Fathers Day. Continue reading “Happy Fathers Day Sonny”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Your author recently purchased some decorative garden lights at a garage sale and found that they could have endangered his family. Being a typical man, he took the lights out of the box and assembled them without reading important safety warnings in the owner’s manual. Fortunately providence offered protection despite such negligence.
As a public service, we have provided the opportunity for others to avoid such hazards. Please read below the fold for some important safety information.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We reported last week of the City of Wenatchee prohibiting state licensed marijuana retailers and as a result a future retailer filed a civil suit against the city in Superior Court. It appears now the city council is trying to reverse its earlier position.
On Thursday of this week, the council held a public meeting after an executive council possibly discussing legal issues the city might face. During the public portion a majority of council members voted to direct the city attorney to draft an amendment to the ordinance that would omit a clause in the business licensing ordinance requiring businesses be compliant with federal law to be permitted to operate in the city.
One can probably surmise what instigated the city to have a change of heart, but the American Civil Liberties Union stated recently they would join the plaintiff’s case and were prepared to take the matter to the U.S. Supreme court.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
This blog has discussed several examples of the criminalization of activities in the United States that would be considered by many to be either civil in nature or based upon manners or simple transgressions. Selling certain types of hot dogs could actually, according to state law, be considered not only violations of the Consumer Protection Act, but also Gross Misdemeanors.
Washington enacted the Sale of Kosher Food Products Act of 1985 which prohibits the use of the words “Kosher” or “Kosher Style” in selling foods that are not kosher according to state definition. A possible example of this could allegedly involve a national restaurant chain, Five Guys, which has franchises in several locations in Washington State. In Washington something as ordinary as serving a Kosher Style hot dog could be considered a crime.
Below is my column yesterday in the Chicago Tribune. It remains unclear whether Bowe Bergdahl will be charged. However, the allegations are mounting over his disappearance from his base. This column explores some interesting possible defenses and their historical context. Bergdahl returned this week to the United States, a move that will likely magnify these questions for the Administration.
Continue reading “Where To Go With Bowe? A Bergdahl Trial Could Raise Some Familiar Defenses”
The United States is mulling further intervention in Iraq as government forces flee Al Qaeda-linked insurgents and the country appears teetering on chaos. While the Administration is not ready to commit boots on the grounds, we may be moving toward a further influx of hundreds of millions or billions in military aid and even air strikes. As ISIS insurgents are seizing U.S. weaponry, the U.S. has already started to flood the country a new massive shipment of new free weapons.
Continue reading “Once Again Into The Breach: U.S. Shipping More Weapons and Preparing More Military Aid To Iraq”
Today, will be the only “Friday the 13th” of the year — a day that many believe is fraught with bad luck and bad omens. But where does the fear of Friday the 13th come from? LiveScience has various possibilities though it does not mention my favorites involving the Templar Knights.
Continue reading “Friday The 13th: The Creepiest Day of the Year Has An Uncertain Origin”