There is a new disturbing video (below) showing police abuse this week. The video shows a Texas state trooper performing what was claimed to be a cavity search on the roadside on suspicion of possession of marijuana. It appears that while states like Colorado are legalizing marijuana, Texas is allegedly doing cavity searches to find someone in possession of weed. I guess it should be no surprise when you are driving on the George Bush Turnpike. The two women — Angel Dobbs, 38, and her niece, Ashley Dobbs, 24 — subject to the humiliating search are now suing the police.
We have repeatedly discussed the absurdity of U.S. copyright laws and how law firms have become virtual thug patrols threatening average citizens with ruin over small copyright violations. President Obama has been repeatedly criticized for being in the pocket of “copyright hawks” and lobbyists who have used the Administration to increase the penalties and scope of these laws. The Congress has also been a virtual extension of industry groups and lobbyists in the area. For that reason, many people were shocked when Rep. Jim Jordan published a critical report entitled RSC Policy Brief: Three Myths about Copyright Law and Where to Start to Fix it.” It was a strong condemnation of how these laws are not stifling creativity and various industries. It was the first such report anyone could remember that was not written by lobbyists for draconian copyright laws. Then it was gone. Gone. According to various sites, the eight page document was removed from the website. Some sites opined that the various industry groups saw it and quashed it — but not before some sites like the one below copied it.
Continue reading “Congress Posts Critical Copyright Report . . . Then It Vanishes”
We have another horrific gang rape committed overseas by men who claim to be teaching a woman good morals. The physiotherapy student was attacked on a city bus in Delhi after watching a movie with a male friend. Six drunk men got on the bus and reportedly attacked the woman for being out at night with a man and decided to “teach her a lesson” by beating them both and repeatedly raping the woman. The rape and beating was so severe that the woman is on a ventilator and her intestines were so severely ruptured that doctors had to remove them to prevent gangrene.
Continue reading “Brutal Rape Prompts Calls For Indian Government To Address Violence Against Women”
Police in Parker County are looking for this woman for a truly seasonal crime: she was caught on a security camera stealing the wreath and Christmas lights of a private home.
There is an interesting and tragic case out of Northern Illinois University in Dekalb where 22 members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity have been criminally charged in the death of student David Bogenberger, 19, after a frat event with excessive drinking. It is one of the largest such prosecutions, if not the largest, that I have seen for a hazing or frat drinking death. The question is whether this is a matter that should be addressed on the criminal opposed to the civil docket as well as school proceedings for expulsion.
We have previously discussed the curious definition of prostitution in this country. Many libertarians and others believe that consenting adults should be able to consent to such arrangements. Â My long-standing interest is the legal definition (and fairness) of the criminal code in defining prostitution. Â If someone agrees to have sex for money, they are arrested as a prostitute. Â However, if you accept money to have sex with multiple people in a porn movie, you are an actress. Â Now, Cheryl Cohen Greene, a 68-year-old grandmother and cancer survivor, adds another possible exception. Â She is a “sexual surrogate” who works with men who are sick or disabled in ‘sexual therapy.’
Belgium is considering an expansion of its decade-old euthanasia law to allow minors and Alzheimer’s sufferers to seek permission to die. The Socialist Party’s proposal appears likely to be approved to remove the age limit (of 18 years) for electing euthanasia.
Continue reading “Belgium Considers Euthanasia Law For Minors”
We previously discussed the suggestion by a member of Congress that the Connecticut massacre could have been avoided if only teachers were carrying M-4 assault rifles. Now the Governor of Michigan is considering bringing that a little closer to reality with a bill that would allow concealed guns in public schools. Referring to the Connecticut massacre, Senator Tom Casperson, the Republican sponsor of the bill, said “to me it gives [teachers] a chance.” [Update: the Michigan Governor Rick Synder has vetoed the legislation]
Continue reading “Michigan Legislature Passes Law To Allow Concealed Weapons In School [Updated]”
Check out this site and see Mount Everest in two billion pixels. Be sure to use the button to zoom in.
Yesterday, we discussed how various people have used the massacre in Connecticut to call for everything from gun control to new social programs and prayer in school. Now, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a long advocate for censoring music and speech, added his own take: crackdown on violent video games. Lieberman described Adam Lanza of having a “hypnotic involvement” with the games and called on Congress to get involved.
Continue reading “Lieberman Calls For Action On Violent Video Games After Connecticut Murders”
Yesterday, a great man in this country passed: Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye. He was a GW grad, a war hero, and the U.S. Senate’s most senior member. Through the years, I had numerous occasions to sit down with Inouye and I liked him a great deal. He was to put it simply: a good man. He cared about people and was deeply worried about the direction of our political system for both parties. He was 88 and he will be missed. His last word was reportedly “Aloha” — both “hello” and “goodbye” in traditional Hawaiian.
Lawyer Juan Carlos Noriega was apparently a bit surprised by an August 2 article that appeared on Huffington Post. The biggest surprise is that he was listed as the author. The lawyer from Panama is suing Huffington Post, which he claims not only ran the article under his name but then failed to respond to his efforts to have his name removed. He says that the article criticizing the federal government has jeopardized his relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and is suing for $3 million and a full retraction.
Continue reading “Lawyer Sues Huffington Post Over Article Allegedly Falsely Attributed To Him”
It takes a lot to get most of us to give a Tinker’s damn for the homophobic extremists at the Westboro Baptist Church. However, the people may be close of doing just that. Citizens are passing around petitions to have the church declared a hate group and strip it of its tax exempt status. This type of political movement targeting an unpopular vote raises all types of alarms for civil libertarians. Declaring certain groups as “hate groups” by popular demand smacks of majoritarian dominance. It also reaffirms the concerns, which I have written about previously, that hate laws are increasingly being used to stifle free speech. It is equally troubling to find the petition on the White House website.
Continue reading “National Petition Drive Seeks To Strip Westboro Church Of Tax Exempt Status”
![praying_hands[1]](https://i0.wp.com/jonathanturley.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/praying_hands1.jpg?resize=125%2C150)
The murder of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary has spawned an array of commentary from calls for new gun controls to greater funding for mental illness in the United States. However, Fox commentator and former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that the shooting was not surprising after the removal of prayer from public schools. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, did one better, he wished God ensured that Principal says Dawn Hochsprung had an M-4 assault rifle at the school before she was killed.
Continue reading “Send God, Guns, and Money: Sandy Hook Shooting Becomes Rallying Point For Political Advocates”
I have previously written how Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has lead a national effort to jail citizens who film police in public — a major deterrent to the use of the single most important technology in fighting police abuse. She was previously criticized by the Seventh Circuit for her “extreme” arguments to strip citizens of their first amendment rights. Now Alvarez has added to her rather notorious reputation with a bizarre claim as part of a 60 minutes piece on a litany of wrongful convictions by her office. She suggests that the fact that a serial rapist’s DNA was found on the body was not proof of the innocence of five teens because he might have come across the girl’s dead body later and had sex with it.
Continue reading “Cook County Anita Alvarez Under Attack For Bizarre Claim In CBS Interview”