New details have emerged in the shooting last December of two men in Miami Dade County. Police were looking for Adrian Montesano, 27, who had shot a police officer after robbing a Walgreens at gunpoint. They spotted him in a car with another man and gave chase. The Blue Volvo crashed and was wedged between a light pole and a tree. Police surrounded the vehicle and then opened fire — hitting the car with some 50 bullets. There was then another period of quiet and the men were told to surrender. Some witnesses say that the wounded men were raising their hands. Police say that they saw movement and unleashed a barrage of bullets. In all, some 377 rounds were fired — hitting other cars, businesses, and a home with children inside. Some are calling this a case of a police “frenzy” where the officers lost control in two rounds of massive shooting.
You may recall that we discussed the disturbing case involving the shooting of Andrew Lee Scott, 26, an entirely innocent man who was killed by Florida police after they went to the wrong home to arrest an attempted murder suspect, did not announce they were officers, pounded on a door at 1:30 am and then shot and killed Scott when he pointed a gun at the strangers at his door. They were looking for Jonathan Brown who is suspected of attempted murder and insisted that they had little choice in the shooting. Now, to compound the tragedy, it turns out that Brown was also completely innocent. Brown was exonerated after being charged with attempted murder when witnesses established that there was no crime to begin with. In fact, the witnesses suggested that Brown was something of a hero. The family is now in court and, while the charges were dropped some time ago, I wanted to run an update on the case.
This week, I had the honor to speaking at the dinner of the Atlanta IP Inn of Court. I was particularly fortunate to spend time with Michael Bishop (shown here in the blue shirt and beard), one of George Washington Law School’s graduates and the incoming president of the Inn. In the course of our conversations, Michael told me about a lawsuit where he is actually a party as opposed to counsel. He and his partner, Shane, are suing for the basic right to marry — a right that is not only forbidden in Georgia but the state constitution goes further to ban the recognition of marriages from other states. The lawsuit is enormously important and well pleaded, as the complaint below attests. It could prove to be an excellent vehicle to again seek Supreme Court review, though that will take a while since it was just filed.
Continue reading “GW Grad Challenges Georgia’s Ban On Same-Sex Marriage”
It is either take him out for a drag or let him get back to watching the cat.
Continue reading “How A Corgi Tells You That He Doesn’t Want To Go On A Walk”
New Hampshire Representative Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) is outraged over what he describes as “a blatant violation of the Second Amendment.” The violation? People on public assistance cannot use EBT cards to buy guns. He is objecting to legislation barring the use of EBT cards for this purpose and denying people on welfare to hunt and defend themselves with guns.
We previously discussed the lawsuit against Case Western and former dean (and former George Washington law professor) Lawrence Mitchell. Mitchell has been accused of retaliating against his former associate dean Raymond Ku, including suggestions of three-some trysts with students and administrators. Ku’s allegations have been affirmed by a former administrator who came with Mitchell to Case Western from GWU, Daniel Dubé. There are also unnamed faculty and students referenced in the complaint. [For Dubé’s affidavit, click here] Mitchell later resigned but pledged to remain as a faculty member at Case Western. At the time, I discussed Mitchell’s options as limited but suggested that “he would be marketable at corporate law firms where these allegations may be viewed as less of a problem, particularly if he goes to New York.” Well, he has now announced that he is indeed in leaving in a blog posting entitled “Leaving Egypt” . . . for New York.
Below is my column in USA Today on the use of set aside categories based on race, gender, or other criteria for government contracts. While the set aside issue arose in the recent controversy over Braulio Castillo, there are legitimate questions that should be discussed over the efficiencies and equities of the system. There is also the question of self-identification on these issues. Veteran’s status is easier to confirm, though in the Castillo case we saw the definition can be wildly out of whack. However, we have seen controversies involving people who self-identify as having minority status based on questionable basis such as the controversy over Senator Elizabeth Warren who listed herself as a minority due to Native American blood. There is presumably some criteria for such claims when made in government contracts but I am not sure who where that line is drawn. The real question is whether it would not be better for Congress to directly fund programs to help minority groups rather than require special treatment in government contracting. Hopefully, we can have such a debate without rancor and personal recriminations. There are good-faith reasons to debate whether government contracting should be based solely on the best price and product determination in my view. It is not questioning the purpose of this policy but the means used to achieve it.
There is a new and disturbing industry that has sprung up: publishing mugshots of people and then charging to have those pictures taken down. One individual in the article below, Jaclyn Lardie, paid hundreds of dollars to remove the mugshot from a college drinking arrest only to have the picture appear on other sites. States have moved in to try to legislate protections. While invented in its standard form in 1888 by Alphonse Bertillon (shown here), it took the Internet to make a rather shady business out of the millions of mugshots generated in criminal arrests great and small.
Continue reading “New Laws and Lawsuits Target Mugshot Sites”
Police have arrested Andre Robinson, 21, who appears on a deeply disturbing YouTube video where he lured a street cat to approach him by pretending to feed him and then kicks him into the air. What is equally disturbing is the cries of joy and laughter from his friends.
Continue reading “Brooklyn Man Arrested After Posting Of Cat Kicking Incident”
Yesterday was my birthday and I took my traditional long hike. I love hiking and Virginia is one of the greatest locations for hikes in the United States. I decided to re-hike the Little Devil’s stairs, a demanding hike in the Shenandoah that starts with two miles of climbing up the side of beautiful waterfalls. The end of the hike however proved to be one of the more memorable conclusions to a hike in over 30 years of hiking. These are some of the pictures that I took, but it does not include the one picture that would have settled a debate over the long rumored mountain lion in the Shenandoah.
Continue reading “The Mystery Of The Little Devil Giant Cat”
Tonight I have learned news that I pass along with the deepest sense of regret and loss: Hot Doug’s — my favorite Chicago hot dog stand — is closing. I have previously discussed Hot Doug’s and my view (and many others) that it is the premier Chicago hot dog restaurant, a distinction difficult to obtain in a famous for its hot dogs.
The level of pure will in this picture is daunting.
In a blow to secularists and civil libertarians, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in Greece v. Galloway to allow Christian prayers at a local council. The Court again left little clarity on the standard for future cases in what proved a highly fractured decision. Justice Anthony Kennedy tipped the balance in favor of the Town of Greece with Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Clarence Thomas. However, his opinion was left in pieces by a series of concurring opinions. Scalia and Thomas specifically bolted over Part II-B of Kennedy’s opinion (except as to Part II–B, concluding that the town’s prayer practice does not violate the Establishment Clause.) Alito wrote a concurring opinion, joined by Justice Scalia. Justice Thomas also wrote a concurring opinion joined by Justice Scalia in part. Even the dissenting justices divided with a Breyer opinion for himself and a dissent by Kagan that was joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor. In other words, an unholy mess.
The California state assembly has passed a new law that will be prohibit the selling or displaying items with an image of the Confederate flag. We have previously discussed the disciplining of students and others over the display of this flag as protected speech. In the same way, this bill raises serious constitutional questions and could trigger a court fight.
Continue reading “California Assembly Moves To Ban Sale Or Display Of Confederate Flag”
We have discussed the almost weekly race to the bottom by Islamic extremists who use their faith to justify the most despicable and inhumane acts. However, few can match the atrocities of Boko Haram (“Western education is sinful”) — more properly known as The Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad. This Islamic movement in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger was founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002 and has made murder and church bombings its special signature of faith. However, even the piles of thousands of corpses killed in the name of Allah did not prepare the world for the latest atrocity: the kidnapping of 200 Nigerian girls and an announcement from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.” Reports indicate that many of the girls have been “married” to Boko Haram soldiers. Nigerians are complaining that the government (which receives enormous U.S. and foreign aid) is not working particularly hard to free the girls. President Goodluck Jonathan described the detention as “unfortunate” and “insensitive”. His wife proved more direct. Mrs. Jonathan has reportedly ordered the arrest of Naomi Mutah, a representative of the Chibok community where the girls were seized from their school. So 200 girls are abducted to be sold into slavery by a fanatical Islamic movement and the wife of the president has the woman leading protests arrested.