The video below shows a Spanish passenger train hurtled off the tracks right in front of a camera. The entire train derailed killing 80 people and injuring another 140. The energy and force released in such a crash is immense and, in what is likely to be played repeated in lawsuits, the driver said that they were doing 120 miles per hour coming into the turn. That would be twice the limit for the urban section. He was heard exclaiming “we’re only human, we’re only human” after the crash.
There is an interesting potential lawsuit brewing in Ohio over a Holocaust memorial that will feature a prominent Star of David on the Ohio Statehouse lawn. The memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, has been criticized as violation by the separation of church and state by civil libertarians. The case could present a perfect vehicle to explore the meaning of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Salazar v. Buono in 2010 where a sharply divided court allowed a cross to remain on public lands as a memorial for the dead of World War I.
We have previously discussed how police are increasingly doing drug stops on pretextual grounds and seizing any money that a driver cannot explain to their satisfaction. It is called “policing for profit” and departments are able to keep much of seized money in these stops. The federal government is being forced to return over $1 million to Tara Mishra, 33, of California, who was taking her life savings as a stripper to buy her own business. That was before it was seized by Nebraska state troopers who declared that it must be drug proceeds. Even though no drugs were found and there was no basis for concluding the cash was from drug proceeds, the matter became a federal case and the Obama Administration fought her to deny her even a hearing for demanding the money back. Now U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon has ordered them to give back the money. However, this is not considered theft because police officers took the money at a traffic stop. The case is United States of America v. $1,074,900.00 in United States Currency, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11544 (D. Neb. 2013).
We have previously discussed difficult cases (here and here and here) where physical appearance is a job criteria — leading to claims of gender discrimination. Now, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson has ruled that cocktail servers known as the “Borgata Babes” at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa can be required to keep their weight within proscribed limits as part of their job. Johnson ruled against 22 cocktail servers in a decision that found that these positions are part entertainment and part waitress — allowing the company to specify appearance requirements for women described as “eye candy.” The company required women not to gain more than seven percent body weight after their hiring. They wear cleavage-bearing bustiers and high heels at work.
We previously discussed the curious case of Anthony Garcia, 25, who was arrested after police noticed a tattoo on his chest that depicted an unsolved murder. The corpus delicti or body of evidence in this case is the defendant himself who was convicted yesterday for his role in the 2004 shooting at a Pico Rivera liquor store.
Continue reading “Corpus Delicti: Tattoo Leads To Conviction of California Gang Member”
For many years, there has been controversy over the funding of military chaplains and the preferences given certain faiths. The problem is that as much 23 percent of our military list no religious association or preference. While many simply have no religious association with a particular faith, some are agnostics, some are atheists, and some are generally humanists. It would seem logical to have some chaplains who can relate to those groups. However, members of Congress are irate and insist that chaplains must believe in a deity to be funded. They warm that humanist or secularist chaplains would be traumatizing dying soldiers about being “worm food” and dying without hope.
Continue reading “Congress Moves To Block Atheist Chaplains”
New York Democrats must have the weakest bench of leaders in the country. Otherwise, it is hard to see how two disgraced politicians in sex scandals could be leading in the polls to resume power. On one hand you have Elliot Spitzer who, while Governor, used call girls with regularity. He now appears to be praying himself into the comptroller’s office at churches and synagogues. Then you have Anthony Weiner who sent out disgusting pictures of his genitals to women, lied to the press and public, and engaged in conduct that would be at best considered sexual harassment and at worst stalking. Yet, he is leading in the polls for a race for mayor of New York. Now, Weiner is again before the public asking for forgiveness — this time for new pictures and messages sent after his resignation and the birth of his child by his ever forgiving wife. Some as recently as last summer. By the way, Weiner now appears to go under the nom de guerre of Carlos Danger. It is not clear if he will use that name as mayor or just use it when he sends women pictures of himself in various obscene poses.
Continue reading “Meet Carlos Danger: Man of Mystery and Messaging”
It is something of a doggie whodunit. Citizens in Olathe, Kansas are debating the killing of a six pound Yorkie named Precious. Carl Henrichson is accused of killing Precious by standing on her while he claims that he was protecting his larger Labrador dog from a neighborhood menace.
Continue reading “Precious: Victim or Villain? Kansas Town Debates Death Of Yorkie”
These are certain things that you will not easily find in U.S. media like Jimmy Carter declaring that we no longer have a functioning democracy in this country. Another is reading about Snowden as a whistleblower. The White House has been highly successful in telling media not to refer to Snowden as a whistleblower and enlisting various media allies to attack him as a clown and a traitor or mocking his fear of returning home. This week you had to read Moscow Times or other foreign sites (or a link on Reddit) to learn that Snowden has won this year’s Whistleblower Award established by German human rights organizations.
Continue reading “Snowden Is A Whistleblower . . . Just Not In The United States”
We have been discussing how police are using pretext stops to search for drugs in many jurisdictions. Pamela Held, 27, of Deer Park, Long Island, has an added gripe against a NYPD officer from Queens. She says that she was pulled for a missing sticker and police used that excuse to search her car for drugs. They did not find anything, but they seized her cellphone, searched it, and she claims that NYPD Officer Sean Christian found revealing images of herself and sent them to himself. She is now preparing to sue the city.
Scientists in Russia and the United States have produced research that challenges one of the most common myths: all dogs are color blind. Dogs (like my puppy Luna left) can see color and use them to distinguish between items. They simply have a narrower color spectrum.
Police in Australia pulled over a driver who appeared to be driving erratically and driving on two blown-out tires. It turned out that that was the least of his problems . . he was steering his car with a pair of vice grips. The vice cops have an impressed list of crimes for the driver.
The American Civil Liberties Union seems a bit less unified in the aftermath of the Zimmerman acquittal. I remain a huge admirer of the ACLU and its inspiring legacy in fighting for civil liberties in America. I also have great respect for ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. However, the divisions evident on this civil liberties blog appears equally represented in that civil liberties institution. To the surprise of many, including myself, Romero sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that seemed to clearly invite a civil rights or hate crime prosecution of George Zimmerman. The ACLU however has long taken the view that such prosecutions violate the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution. When the federal government does not like the outcome of a high-profile case, it can use the very same facts to bring another prosecution under a different crime. After sending the letter, however, the ACLU staff appear to have objected and sent out a conflicting position that such successive prosecutions are violative of constitutional principles.
Continue reading “ACLU.2.0: ACLU Shifts Position On Civil Rights Action Against Zimmerman”
After a global outcry, Dubai has pardoned Norwegian Marte Deborah Dalelv, 24, who was sentenced to 16 months in prison after she reported her alleged rape by a colleague. The police allegedly asked her if she was just complaining because she did not like it and she was eventually convicted of having unlawful sex, making a false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol. The case highlights the abusive Sharia laws applied to women and the continuing barriers to countries like Dubai as they try to attract greater tourism and investment.
Continue reading “Dubai Pardons Alleged Rape Victim Sentenced For Having Sex Out of Wedlock”
We have been discussing the increased powers claimed by police in searching homes without warrants under claims of exigent circumstances or hot pursuit, including the right to search an entire area of a city. Sarasota Florida resident Louise Goldsberry came face to face with these powers recently after eating dinner. The nurse was at her kitchen sink when she looked out the window facing a man in a hunting vest pointing a gun in her face. She dropped to the floor and started screaming and then thing got really bad. (The picture on the right is of a different “knock and announce” raid by the Marshals and local police).