Criminal law, Environment, International, Politics

Mexican Police Find Missing Containers Of Cobalt-60

220px-Cobalt-60_While politicians continue to push for wars in places like Syria to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, they tend to ignore the much greater amounts of radioactive material available in this and neighboring countries at hospitals and other institutions. This week we saw just how easy it is to acquire such material capable of being used as a weapon. Thieves simply hijacked a truck with medical waste that would have allowed them to create a potent radioactive dirty bomb. It was a mistake and they likely paid for the mistake with their lives.

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Animals, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

Missouri Lawyer Accuses Police Of Threatening To Kill His Family Pets And Kick In Front Door If He Insisted On A Warrant

147px-Mo_-_Kansas_City_PoliceIf a recent story is to be believed, it appears that there are many things that you can demand to see in the “show me state” but a warrant is not one of them. A Kansas City man is accusing the police department of shocking conduct after he declined a demand that he allow police officers to search his house without a warrant. Eric Crinnian, a lawyer, said that an officer threatened that, if he insisted on his getting a warrant, he would come back in force, bust down his door, and shoot any dogs in the house. The response from a local criminal justice professor is also rather interesting.

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Courts, Criminal law

Ohio Judge Poisoned With Antifreeze . . . Wife Of 45 Years Arrested

00000HAGUE_20131204054128_320_240In a case that seems right out of Arsenic and Old Lace, Carla Rae Hague, 71, has been arrested for allegedly attempting to kill Judge Charles Hague, by putting antifreeze into his food or drink. Judge Hague survived but the hospital found high levels of ethylene glycol in his system. Police arrested Carla Rae Hague for felonious assault and is sitting in a jail cell next to the courthouse where her husband is a judge. She is expected to be charged with attempted murder and possible tampering with evidence.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

Prosecutors Oppose DNA Testing For Inmate . . . DNA Tests Then Link Different Man To Murder

g-cvr-131203-jason-ryan-peterson-609p.photoblog600Michigan is the latest state to have DNA clear a man imprisoned for years for a crime that he did not commit. What is most striking about the case of Jamie Peterson (right) is that lawyers had fight to re-test evidence that could prove his innocence.  Prosecutors opposed the simple re-testing of evidence in the case that was not analyzed previously (as have prosecutors in other states).  Finally, prosecutors relented and it was shown that it belonged to a man that police had cleared in first-degree murder in 1998. A second man was arrested this week but police insist that Peterson is not cleared. The case also shows the great cost to the rule of law that was presented by the Supreme Court ruling that there is no right to such testing in a post-conviction case. Chief Justice Roberts decision in the 5-4 case in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne allows prosecutors and police to resist such simple testing to prove innocence in cases like Peterson’s. Indeed, the Court has produced an all-too-common double standard for citizens. It ruled in 2013 that police could routinely take DNA samples from suspects to use against them but the same individuals have no right to access to DNA testing to prove their innocence.

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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

Hearing Or Elephant? Washington Post Portrays Republicans At Presidential Abuse Hearing As Impeachment Obsessed

220px-Republicanlogo.svg220px-Washington_Post_buildingThe Washington Post has a controversial take on yesterday’s hearing in its coverage by Dana Milbank. The hearing raised the serious question of a pattern of allegedly unconstitutional actions by President Obama in either barring enforcement of federal law or directly violating those laws. However, the Washington Post only reported on the fact that impeachment was raised in the hearing in the discussion of the constitutional means left to Congress to address presidential abuse. Republicans object that the Post piece misses 99 percent of the hearing detailing the rise of an imperial presidency under Obama and four hours of discussion of the dangerous shift of power in the tripartite system. Impeachment or presidential abuse. It seems that two hearings occurred simultaneously. Both sides appear to be claiming the other is blinded by bias. The Milbank and Republican accounts appear a modern version of the parable of the elephant and the six blind men.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

You Have The Duty To Remain Silent . . . : Dallas Police Officers Barred From Making Statements For 72 Hours After Shootings To Review Videotapes and Other Evidence

Chief_Brown_-_Dallas_PDThere is an astonishing story out of Texas where the Dallas Police Chief David Brown quietly changed a rule that would require officers involved in a shooting to wait 72 hours before making a statement. There is no cognizable public interest behind such a rule, but it comes after a scandal where a surveillance video showed one of Brown’s officers shooting a mentally ill suspect for no apparent reason. The video contradicted the officer’s testimony and undermined the charge against the victim. Brown’s solution was not greater disciplining and monitoring of officers but to impose a delay to allow officers to craft their statements.

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Bizarre, Congress, Society

Delta Tosses Passengers From Flight To Make Room For The Florida Gators Basketball Team

150px-Florida_Gators_logo.svg220px-Delta_b767-300_n190dn_takes_off_from_heathrow_arpWe have often discussed how airlines have gradually stripped passengers of basic comforts and, more importantly, basic rights. That was evident this week in the Gainesville Regional Airport when an entire plane of passengers was told to get off their flight. Some said that they were told of “mechanical problems” the favorite mantra of airlines canceling flights for any reason, including too many unsold seats. However, passengers were a bit peeved when they looked out the window and saw the University of Florida men’s basketball team get on the plane. It appears that the airline decided to dump the ticketed passengers to fly the Gators to Connecticut for a game against the University of Connecticut.

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International, Religion, Society

Holy Roller: Pope Reveals That He Once Worked As A Bar Bouncer

170px-Francisco_(20-03-2013)I have previously said that I find the work (and lifestyle) of Pope Francis to be inspiring. However, that bond became only stronger yesterday when it was revealed that the Pope once worked as a bar bouncer. It appears that, before laying hands on the faithful, Pope Francis would lay hands on the boozeful. He just gets cooler and cooler by the day.

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Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court, Testimony

House Judiciary Committee To Hear Testimony On President Obama’s Authority To Suspend Or Change Federal Laws

260px-capitol_building_full_viewThis morning I will testify in Congress before the House Judiciary Committee on “The President’s Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws.” The hearing will address areas where President Obama has ordered the delay or nonenforcement of federal laws. While I happen to agree with some of these policies, I have great reservations about this record and its implications for the separation of powers.

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Academia, Society

North Carolina Professor Criminally Charged For Teaching Course Without Classes

NYANG'ORO, JULIUS 1/21/98Julius Nyang’Oro, the former chairman of the Department of African and Afro-American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been charged with a felony count of obtaining property by false pretenses. The charge is exceptionally rare because it involves $12,000 that Nyang’Oro received for a summer course that he taught. While the course originally was meant to have regular classes, Nyang’Oro structured the class as an independent paper course. Notably, the university did not actually lose the $12,000 but recouped it in his final paycheck. Before his resignation in 2012, Nyang’Oro had a roughly $160,000 a year salary.

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Criminal law, International

Police In Iceland Kill Man . . . For The First Time In History

567px-Coat_of_arms_of_Iceland.svgThe BBC has a story this week about a police raid on a man firing a shotgun that led to his death. Unfortunately, in the United States, that is all too common a story. However, there was one fact in the story that stood out: this was the first such killing by police in the recorded history of Iceland. I am not sure how to verify this fact but even if it were only the 100th in history it would astonishing.

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