Legal Commentary

Police Arrest Three in YouTube Assault on Mentally Disabled Man

Posted on April 19, 2010
We have another couple of alleged felons who posted their crime on YouTube. In this case, the crime was particularly horrific: the alleged beating and raping of her mentally disabled roommate. David Rahman, 20, and Eli Smith, 20, charged in the case...

Arizona Repeals Requirement of a Permit for Carrying a Concealed Weapon

Posted on April 19, 2010
Arizona has become the third state to eliminate the need to have a permit to carry a concealed gun. Now, you can pack a gun without a permit in Arizona, Alaska, and Vermont. Gov. Jan Brewer signed a law which will take effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends — sometime in August...

Iranian Cleric: Women Causing Earthquakes with Their Revealing Clothing Styles

Posted on April 19, 2010
Remember in high school feeling that that cute girl made the Earth tremble at your feet. It turns out that she does, at least according to Senior Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi. The cleric laid the blame for Earthquakes squarely on the all-too-often bare shoulders of women: “Many women who do not dress modestly [...

Mayor Allegedly Urinates on Tree . . . Then Defends Himself With Comparison to Jesus

Posted on April 19, 2010
North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams in New Zealand appears to be an expert in moving things rapidly from bad to worse. When confronted over allegations that he drank heavily at a restaurant and then urinated on a tree, Williams reportedly defended himself by comparing the accusations to the crucifixion of Christ...

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Kansas Man Shows Bird in the Hand Is Worth Five Grand

Posted on April 19, 2010
Police in Olathe, Kansas are going to pay Scott Schaper $4000 after he was ticketed for flipping off an officer following a traffic ticket. The Olathe police officer had given Schaper a ticket for running a stop sign when Schaper expressed himself with the one-finger salute...

Ohio Death Row Inmate Challenges Execution on the Basis That He Is Allergic To Anesthesia

Posted on April 19, 2010
Ohio death row inmate Darryl Durr has filed a novel challenge to his scheduled execution: he claims to be allegic to the anesthesia used in lethal injection. Durr insists that, given his allergy, it is not clear how he will react to the anesthesia. The state has filed papers saying that there is no record [...

MEET MOLLY TURLEY

Posted on April 18, 2010
Well, here is the newest addition to the Turley clan: Molly, our ten-week-old Goldendoodle. As we try to find a gate long enough, we have been awed by Molly’s ability to break down of any barrier. She has learned to move chairs and even pull a door open...

George Washington: War Hero, Father of Our Country . . . Book Scofflaw

Posted on April 18, 2010
It took over two centuries, but the truth has finally caught up with George Washington. For 220 years, Washington’s dark secret laid undiscovered in a ledger of The New York Society Library, but it is now public: George Washington is a book scofflaw with overdue charges piling up for over 220 years on [...

Abercrombie and Filch: One of the Country?s Highest Paid, Worst Performing CEOs Receives Millions for Giving Up Unlimited Use of Corporate Jet

Posted on April 18, 2010
Abercrombie & Fitch has bee criticized as a company that has refused to heed economic indicators and, as a result, plummeted in sales. The blame is placed on its chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries, who in 2008 received $71.8 million in total compensation — making him one of the five Highest Paid Worst Performers [...

Phelps Responds To Westboro Column

Posted on April 18, 2010
Margie Phelps, the lawyer representing Westboro in the current Supreme Court case and daughter of the Church’s founder, has responded to my recent column on that case. Since I do not believe it was published, in fairness I am publishing it in full on the blog: Dear editor, This responds to Jonathan Turley?s special about costs [...

Faithful Discrimination: Are Non-Discrimination Policies Themselves Discriminatory?

Posted on April 18, 2010
Below is my column this morning on conflicts forming around non-discrimination laws and free exercise. Much of the attention this term in the Supreme Court has focused on the campaign finance ruling striking down limits on corporate spending. However, an equally (if not more) important case has been given little attention before its [...

Texas City Brings Back Paddling As Congresswoman Seeks National Ban

Posted on April 17, 2010
The citizens of Temple, Texas have reinstituted corporal punishment for students in the form of paddling for everything from skipping classes to wearing in appropriate clothing. In the meantime, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), has stated her intention to pass legislation banning the practice — a proposal that could raise some serious constitutional issues...

Massa Wrote $40,000 Check to Aide Day Before Resignation

Posted on April 17, 2010
Former New York Rep. Eric Massa wrote a $40,000 check to his chief of staff Joe Racalto — the day before his resignation. Racalto has accused Massa of sexual harassment. Massa gave Racalto the money as a “campaign management fee” for work done on his 2010 campaign and his transition after his 2008 [...

?We Have California Blend Fresh From Beijing on Aisle Nine?: Whole Foods Accused of Selling Questionable Organic Foods

Posted on April 17, 2010
A local ABC station is questioning the organic labeling of food from Whole Foods after learning that a considerable amount of produce comes from China. This includes “California blend”vegetables which come from China. California blend vegetables are simply a marketing term, according to a Whole Foods representative (here)...

Gee, No GE: Global Company With Almost $11 Billion in Profits

Posted on April 17, 2010
Recently, we discussed that almost 50 percent of Americans pay no federal taxes. Now, we can add General Electric to that list. While the company made an estimated $10.0 million globally, it paid zero taxes last year through deductions and adjustments...

Phillies Fan Arrested for Purposively Vomiting on Girl At Stadium

Posted on April 16, 2010
Matthew Clemmens, 21, is accused of a unique crime act that is also uniquely disgusting. He was arrested after allegedly vomiting on purpose on an 11-year-old girl at a Phillies game. Off-duty Easton Police Capt. Michael Vangelo insists that Clemmens stuck his fingers down his throat to accomplish the vile act and then slugged him [...

CBS Deletes Blog After White House Denounces Column Alleging Kagan Is a Lesbian

Posted on April 16, 2010
There is a firestorm of controversy this morning over a piece that ran on the CBS blog by Ben Domenech, a former Bush administration aide and Republican Senate staffer. In his blog, Domenech alleged that Solicitor General (and possible Supreme Court nominee) Elena Kagan is a lesbian...

Nose Leech . . . No Kidding

Posted on April 16, 2010
In case you did not have enough things to worry about this morning, you may want to add nose leeches to your phobias. Dr. Renzo Arauco-Brown, from the School of Medicine at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima extracted this little beauty out of the nose of a little girl who went swimming [...

Federal Judge Declares National Day of Prayer To Be Unconstitutional

Posted on April 16, 2010
Federal trial judge Barbara Crabb handed down a major decision this week that found the National Day of Prayer to be unconstitutional. Judge Crabb found that a National Day of Prayer violates the establishment clause as an endorsement of religion. What is different in her analysis is the grouping of religions generally as opposed to [...

Man Receives Kidney Transplant . . . Only To Develop Cancer From the Kidney

Posted on April 16, 2010
We have another story of a hospital implanting a cancerous organ. (For a prior such story, click here) Bob Warzel, 66, was given a new kidney a year ago only to learn that he now has cancer from the organ transplanted by the UNC Hospitals. The diseased organ was acquired by Duke University Medical Center [...

Germany Prosecutes Bishop for Questioning the Holocaust

Posted on April 16, 2010
We have been following the steady decline of free speech in the West (here and here and here) and we have another interesting case on criminal charges for uttering prohibited thoughts. Germany has long made it a crime to deny the holocaust. Now, controversial British clergyman Richard Williamson has started a trial in [...

Liu Confirmation Hearing Erupts Into Partisan Fight Over Experience and Philosophy

Posted on April 16, 2010
The long-awaited judicial confirmation hearing today of Berkeley Law Professor Goodwin Liu erupted into open warfare today as Republicans attacked Liu on his background and perceived bias. I will be discussed the Liu confirmation tonight on Rachel Maddow...

Goldstone Reporteldy Barred From Grandson?s Bar Mitzvah Due To U.N. Report

Posted on April 15, 2010
Judge Richard Goldstone, the author of a United Nations report accusing Israel of war crimes in the Gaza Strip, has been reportedly barred from his own grandson’s bar mitzvah in South Africa. The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) and the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol in Sandton allegedly reached an agreement with the Goldstone family to bar the [...

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold (and Slimey): Chinese Brothers Unleash 500 Vipers on Foe

Posted on April 15, 2010
Note to self: do not fued with the Guo brothers. Guo Gongwei and Guo Gongtian were arrested in Guangzhou after releasing 500 short-tail pit vipers around the house of a man with whom they were fueding. It appears that you can buy live vipers for food and medicine in China ...

University President Claims Palin Contract Was Stolen

Posted on April 15, 2010
California State University, Stanislaus president Hamid Shirvani has been under attack for reportedly paying Sarah Palin as much as $100,000 for a speech. Shirvani is now charging that someone stole the contract — from the recycling bin — of one of his vice presidents and has demanded a police investigation...

How Not To Dress For Your Mug Shot

Posted on April 15, 2010
Julie Root might want to develop some other clothing options for her mug shot appearances. Root, 27, was arrested after her two boys — aged 2 and 3 — were found playing in the woods for hours, wearing nothing but diapers. The police said the toddlers are very cold and wet when they were picked up...

Iran Hangs 17 People and Amputates Hand and Leg of Robber

Posted on April 15, 2010
Iran continued to put its brutal Sharia-based legal system on display this week. It hanged 17 people and amputated the hand and leg of a robber. It is common to see amputations in Sharia systems in Saudi Arabia and other countries. It is not as common to hear of a leg being amputated as [...

Catholic Priest Arrested In Prostitution Sting

Posted on April 15, 2010
Rev. William Ventura, 31, of St. John the Evangelist Church in Chelmsford was one of eight men arrested this week in a prostitution sting. The eight men were arrested after responding to a Craigslist advertisement by showing up to a local hotel with the intention of paying for sex Ventura wisely agreed to take a [...

Exodus According to Gore: Scientists Publish Report on the Natural Causes of the Ten Plagues of Egypt

Posted on April 14, 2010
It is one of the touchstones of faith in the Old Testament: a wrathful God caused the plagues that devastated the ancient city of Pi-Rameses on the Nile Delta and led to the Israelites leaving Egypt. Scientists believe that, rather than divine punishment, Pharaoh Rameses the Second fell victim to global warming...

Store Sued For Causing Burns and Mental Problems After Clerk Pointed Scanner At Twelve-Year-Old Girl?s Face

Posted on April 14, 2010
There is an interesting trial starting next week in Erie, Pennsylvania where a judge has denied motions to dismiss a claim that a 12-year-old girl, Dominica Juliano, was burned and given psychological problems after a convenience store clerk aimed a hand-held price scanner at her face...

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