Legal Commentary

Losing on the Merits Badge: Scouts and Mormon Church Found Liable in Scout Abuse Case

Posted on April 14, 2010
The Boy Scouts lost a major case in Portland, Oregon with jurors awarding $1.4 million after finding Tuesday that the organization was negligent in allowing a Scout leader who was a sex offender after a three week trial. The jury also found a basis for punitive damages, which will now be determined in a second phase [...

The Maverick Makes Millions: Palin Makes More Than $12 Million Since July

Posted on April 14, 2010
Those small town values can add up. After quitting her job as Alaska Governor before the end of her term, Sarah Palin has raked in an estimated $12 million since July. Between speaking fees and her new reality show, Palin is becoming one of the wealthiest political figures in the country...

U.S. News and World Report Rankings Leaked: George Washington Reportedly Jumps Eight Spots to 20th Position

Posted on April 14, 2010
As with last year, the law school ratings from U.S. News and World Report have been leaked according to Above the Law. It would be good news for George Washington University, which is shown moving back up to the 20th position after last year’s drop due to a change in the method of calculation [...

Maryland Police Officer Pulls Gun During Traffic Stop And Then Colleagues Arrest Motorcyclist For Filming the Incident

Posted on April 14, 2010
We have been following a dangerous trend in both the United States and abroad where citizens are arrested for taking pictures of police. Now, the Maryland State Police are accusing an Air National Guardsman named Anthony Graber of violating state surveillance laws after he captured this video of an officer pulling his weapon during [...

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The Day The Music Died: Islamists Ban Music on Somali Radio Stations ? Replace Music with Sound of Gun Fire

Posted on April 13, 2010
The Islamic extremists controlling much of Somali have banned music and jingles from radio stations as an offense to Islam. The replacement for jingles? Recordings of gunfire. Previously, films, football, and shaved chins were declared as UnIslamic...

When Husbands Attack

Posted on April 13, 2010
Hubby needs a treat. This looped video is going viral of a man describing a pack of dogs. The face of the wife is pretty hilarious. It appears that she has to choose between the rabid dog in the house or the pack of dogs outside. The guy does a pretty good imitation of [...

Meet Aaron Ashley: Your Pet?s Alleged Worst Nightmare

Posted on April 13, 2010
This is the picture Smoking Gun released of Aaron Ashley, 27, who was arrested after police raided his pet store and found animals frozen alive in his cooler as well as other disgusting discoveries in West Virginia. Police alleged that they found “animals being frozen alive and starved to death,” including six kittens, one dog, five [...

The Sleeping Samaritan: Suicidal Man Finds Meaning in Life After Priest Falls Asleep on Suicide Line

Posted on April 13, 2010
A Swedish priest had a novel way of preventing suicide: the man had to wake him first. A 44-year-old man complained that he was forwarded to a Church of Sweden pastor after he revealed his suicidal thoughts. After five minutes of silence, he asked if the priest was taking notes only to [...

Video Shows Maryland Police Beating Student After Maryland-Duke Basketball Game

Posted on April 13, 2010
A new video appears to support brutality claims against three Prince George’s County police officers shown beating of a Maryland student after the Maryland-Duke basketball game. Prosecutors are investigating the matter and this video is likely to be the central feature of any trial...

Humor Impaired: Gov. Christie Demands Firing of Teacher Union Head Over Joke

Posted on April 13, 2010
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is reportedly demanding the firing of Bergen County teachers union head Joe Coppola for a joke. The controversy surrounds a memo that included a closing joke prayer: “Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and [...

Law Grad Sentenced Up To Five Years For Casino Fraud

Posted on April 13, 2010
Shoumin Chai, 55, had a career many law students only dream of. She graduated with a masters of law from the University of Houston and began working for a New York City law firm with a job that would bring $250,000 a year in maritime law. She was preparing to take the New [...

Mother: Yemeni Child Bride Bound and Raped By Husband Before Bleeding To Death

Posted on April 12, 2010
We recently saw another case of abuse of a child bride in the Middle East when Elham Assi, 13, bled to death in Yemen shortly after her arranged marriage. The girl’s mother, Nijma Ahmed, 50, says that when the girl refused her husband, he tied her up and raped her...

Ultimate Baby Sitter

Posted on April 12, 2010
This could replace Mozart and whale music for babies. Of course, replace this with a dingo and you have Made-For-TV hit.

Catholic Bishop: It?s The Jews

Posted on April 12, 2010
A firestorm has erupted over the alleged statement of Giacomo Babini, the emeritus bishop of Grosseto, that the criticism of the Church is due to a “Zionist attack.” While Babini, 81, has been quoted before on the Catholic website Pontifex, he denied making the statements against Jews and homosexuals...

This Too Shall Not Pass: Church Opposes New Law Lifting The Statute of Limitations for Abuse

Posted on April 12, 2010
The Connecticut Catholic bishops have issued a dire warning to the faithful that a proposal to lift the statute of limitations for victims of Church abuse to sue would threaten their very religion, putting “all Church institutions, including your parish, at risk,” ...

Accused Child Molester: Five-Year-Old Girl Was The ?Aggressor?

Posted on April 12, 2010
Michael McLachlan, 34, in Summerfield, Florida has a curious defense to child molestation: the five-year-old girl was the “aggressor.” McLachlan was reportedly discovered by the girl’s mother in her room adjusting his pants. When police arrived, they found him trying to start his truck...

Westboro and The Need For Congressional Action to Preserve Our Open Courts

Posted on April 12, 2010
We previously discussed the Westboro ruling imposing costs on the family of a dead soldier. Here is my column from today on that case and the proposal for legislative reform. Turley: Congress Needs to Preserve Open Courts In the past few weeks, there has been a national outcry over a federal court ordering the family of [...

New Names Emerge On Lengthening ?Short List?

Posted on April 12, 2010
White House officials appears to leaking a couple more names as trial balloons for the Supreme Court, including former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears and federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana. I will be discussing the current crop of possible nominees on MSNBC Hardball, withstanding more pressing news events...

Vanishing Dawn: Nominee for OLC Withdrawals

Posted on April 12, 2010
Dawn Johnsen, the president’s nominated head for the Office of Legal Counsel, has withdrawn after more than a year of delayed action on her confirmation. Johnsen’s withdrawal is another blow for civil libertarians who saw her as an ally in an Administration that has adopted many Bush terrorism policies...

The Feline Gandhi

Posted on April 11, 2010
Perhaps there is hope for Republicans and Democrats after all . . . Now I want to see the same picture with Rush Limbaugh cradled in the arms of Ed Schultz. In other news, today we are picking up our new puppy, a Goldendoodle. Pictures will follow...

Korea Facing Rise in Black Market Abortions

Posted on April 11, 2010
South Korea is experiencing rash of illegal abortions in the wake of crackdown under law criminalizing abortions. In one case featured below, a woman took a second job to afford an abortion, a procedure that has skyrocketed in price as women turn to the black market...

Unnatural Selection: Leading Evangelical Theologian Canned After Acknowledging The Scientific Basis for Evolution

Posted on April 11, 2010
Bruce K. Waltke is considered one of the country’s best known evangelical theologians. His work on the faculty of the Reformed Theological Seminary, however, came to an end when he dared to acknowledge the scientific basis for evolution. Here is the heresy that ended his career: “If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, [...

Pope Implicated in Another Church Abuse Case

Posted on April 11, 2010
Despite the efforts of the Vatican to deflect criticism away from Pope Benedict XVI on his involvement in child abuse scandals, reports continue to tie him to the past decisions. The most recent is the discovery of a 1985 letter with the signature of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisting the defrocking of the Rev...

Video: The Lighter Side of Beheading

Posted on April 11, 2010
Given all of the gruesome videos released by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, here is a beheading video worth watching. This must make it easy to schedule hair cuts . . . you can leave your head and carry on with your shopping.

Study: Magnet Used To Guide Iron-Laden Stem Cells to Heart

Posted on April 10, 2010
This is very cool. Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have succeeded in inserting micro-sized particles of iron into stem cells and then using a magnet to direct the stem cells into a heart in a possible treatment for heart attacks. The study is published today online by Circulation Research, a scientific journal of [...

Sixth Grader Arrested At Request of Parents After Giving Away Mom?s Jewelry

Posted on April 10, 2010
Police in Callaway, Florida arrested a sixth-grade child at the request of his step father after the boy took the mother’s jewelry and gave it away to other kids. The step father insisted on the arrest after the boy took $7,000 worth of his mother?s jewelry and handed out diamond, emerald, and sapphire jewelry at school...

Teachers? Union Under Fire For Joke Prayer

Posted on April 10, 2010
In New Jersey, the Bergen County Education Association is under attacked for a joke that seemed to pray for the death of Governor Chris Christie. The memo that includes a closing prayer: “Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael [...

From Russia With Nyet Love: Russians Express Outrage After Family Returns Adopted Boy By Putting Him On Plane With Note

Posted on April 10, 2010
A Tennessee family is at the center of global controversy after Nancy Hansen of Shelbyville put a 7-year-old adopted boy on a plane back to Russia with a note saying that he had mental and emotional issues. The family says it was given the boy without being told that he had problems...

Report: Navigator Was Listening To IPod During Collision By Nuclear Submarine

Posted on April 10, 2010
A report on the collision of the USS Hartford, a nuclear submarine, has found the the navigator was listening to his IPod and studying for an exam at the time of collision with the USS New Orleans. The report found that sonar operators were missing from their posts and crew had rigged to have music blaring [...

Health Care Casualty? Rep. Bart Stupak To Retire

Posted on April 09, 2010
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) who helped engineer the slim margin of passage for the health care legislation is going to retire. The pro-life member can a lightening rod for opposition after securing an agreement from Obama to ban federal funding for abortions...

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