No Shirt, No Shame: Detroit Judge Under Investigation After Sending Near Naked Picture To Female Bailiff

Detroit’s Third Circuit Judge Wade McCree is at the center of a Weiner-like controversy after sending a nearly naked picture of himself to his bailiff. It certainly produced a passionate response . . . from her husband who has filed a judicial complaint. McCree however appears unapologetic and notes that he did not send the photo to any other married woman — a curious claim of mitigation. When confronted over the photo, McGree responded “I’ve got no shame in my game.”
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Wal-Mart Accused Of Covering Up Millions Paid In Bribes To Mexican Officials

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been accused over the years of everything from stripping employees of basic benefits to seeking to destroy critical historical areas. Now, however, the company faces a criminal investigation and a call for a U.S. congressional investigation. The company is accused of giving millions in bribes to Mexican officials to build stores. The company is accused failing to notify the police after it uncovered the bribes in an internal investigation.

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Nothing Succeeds So Much As Failure: Obama Could Use A Loss In The Immigration Case

Below is today’s column in the USA Today on the arguments this week in the immigration case, Arizona v. United States. (Docket No., 11-182). At issue is Arizona’s Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (S.B. 1070) directing state law-enforcement officers to cooperate and communicate with federal officials regarding the enforcement of federal immigration law. Beyond the difficult constitutional and statutory questions in the case, there is another element to the case that could come within months of the 12th anniversary of Bush v. Gore

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South Carolina Man Arrested For Assaulting Reporter On Live Television

Justin Moore, 20, has learned assaults are best committed in some place other than before a live audience on evening news. Ashley Taylor, 23, was doing a live report on rising crime for WMBF in the area. Moore seemed intent on confirming the story by shoving her out of the way, grabbing her microphone and screaming “I am that nigger!” into the camera. He was later arrested by the Myrtle Beach Police Department.

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Burn, Baby, Burn: Detroit Fire Chief Proposes To Let Vacant Properties Burn Down To Save Money

Faced with additional cuts in its budget, Executive Fire Commissioner Donald Austin has proposed an easy way to save money: let buildings burn down. Austin would like to allow such drastic action if the building is over 50 percent ablaze and does not endanger surrounding dwellings. In the meantime, Baltimore is looking into advertisements on the side of fire trucks. They are the latest examples of the insanity that has taken hold of this country as we burn hundreds of billions in Afghanistan and Iraq because our leaders have lacked the courage to withdraw forces from those countries. Instead, we will allow buildings to burn down while building facilities for Iraq with one of the world’s largest oil reserves.

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Illinois Judge Under Fire After Being Tied To Attempts To Access 243 Porn Sites

Associate Judge Joseph Polito is under fire this week after a FOIA request from the media revealed that someone using his computer login and password tried to access 243 hardcore sites as hugeheavybreasts.com, and portofdebauchery.com. Since this was a county computer, the matter has now been referred by Chief Judge Gerald R. Kinney for investigation with the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board.

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Sexist Legos? Feminist Group Denounces Lego For LadyFigs

Feminists have launched a campaign of criticism against the Danish company, Lego, over its new line of figures called LadyFigs. Lego has added subtle curves to its new “LEGO Friends.” Not exactly soft porn, mind you. Just characters without the traditional blocky form. Nevertheless, SPARK executive director, Dana Edell,”They have little breasts and they have fancy hair.”

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Vanderbilt Strips Religious Group of Recognition For Requiring Officers To Have Religious Commitment

I have previously discussed the collision between anti-discrimination laws and free exercise of religion. Now, Vanderbilt University has stripped a Christian student organization of official recognition (and presumably funding) because it requires its members to have a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

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Pooper Scooper: Maryland Man Arrested After 20 Years of Defecating In Neighbor’s Yards

Kelly Erwin, 48, is accused of being a serial dumper. Not trash or industrial waste, mind you. Erwin, the coach of a girl’s Lacrosse team called the “Scoopers,” is accused of defecating in the driveways and yards of neighbors in Maryland. What I found most interesting, however, was the first response of police to Erwin.

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Don’t Mess with Texas’ Executions

Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

As an Illinois resident I was heartened by the fact that a former governor took the politically dangerous action to halt all executions and recently the current Governor of Illinois signed a bill to  end the death penalty in Illinois.   Tribune   With that background, I was saddened to read that since 1976, more than 1/3rd of all executions that took place in our country happened in Texas. Since 1976, Texas has executed 481 people.  Truth Progress  Why does Texas continue to execute people when many experts assert that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime?   Continue reading “Don’t Mess with Texas’ Executions”

Your On-Line Reputation

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Many of you will remember the misinformation campaign uncovered by Lottakatz during the ABA competition two years ago. The campaign gave a 100 vote surge and final victory to The Legal Satyricon, a blog run by Marc Randazza.

We also previously discussed the $2.5 million award against blogger Crystal L. Cox (left). Cox was a cause célèbre, as a crusading blogger, with her claims of journalistic privilege and that she deserved protection under Oregon’s shield law. Cox is represented by Eugene Volokh, and Cox’s motion for a new trial was recently denied. Randazza had consulted with Cox on her case, but she decided not to work with him.

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Woody Guthrie: A Poet of the People

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

Since April is National Poetry Month, I decided to write a post about Woody Guthrie—a songwriter and a poet of the people.

2012 is the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth. Born on July 12, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie lived through the Great Depression and the Great Dust Storm period that afflicted this country. Like many “dustbowl refugees”—desperate farmers and unemployed workers—Woody “hit Route 66” and headed west in search of work in hopes of finding a way to support his family.

“Moneyless and hungry, Woody hitchhiked, rode freight trains, and even walked his way to California, taking whatever small jobs he could. In exchange for bed and board, Woody painted signs and played guitar and sang in saloons along the way, developing a love for traveling the open road—a lifelong habit he would often repeat.” (Woody Guthrie Biography)

Californians were not too happy about the massive migration of “Okie” outsiders to their state. Along with other outsiders, Woody “experienced intense scorn, hatred, and even physical antagonism from resident Californians.” Woody eventually got a job on radio singing traditional songs—as well as some of his own original songs.

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The Cardinal And The Politics Of Fear

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

The current Archbishop of Chicago, Francis George (left), recognizes the “difficulty of public discussion … is that the political is the highest level of public discourse.” In explaining the Catholic Church’s concern with the HHS mandate regarding contraception. His Eminence said the first question to ask is: “Is it true or false?”

The product of reason is truth. British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, defined logic “as the science which treats of the operations of the human understanding in the pursuit of truth.”

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