Legal Commentary

Bad Prediction: Psychic Charged With Fraud in Financial Investments

Posted on March 06, 2010
Sean David Morton apparently did not see this one coming. The self-proclaimed psychic who called himself “America’s Prophet” claims to be able to predict future changes in the stock market. There are of course always skeptics. In this case, the sober people at the Securities and Exchange Commission...

Gentleman?s Club: Pope?s Aide Arrested After Allegedly Caught Procuring Male Prostitutes

Posted on March 05, 2010
Angelo Balducci, “Gentleman of His Holiness” Pope Benedict, has been fired after reportedly being caught by Italian police arranging for male prostitutes to be brought to him. The young men reportedly include one who is studying for the priesthood...

Sit, Spin, Rinse: Japan Introduces Dog Washing Machine

Posted on March 05, 2010
This is the newest technological advance out of Japan: the Dog Washing Machine. It seems more popular with owners than dogs. The full cycle lasts 33 minutes and includes a shampoo, a rinse and a dry. The only problem when the chihuahuas get stuck in the drains...

How Not to Cut a Tree Down

Posted on March 05, 2010
I just saw this video. This is how you remove an unwanted tree and a wanted porch at one time. I can just hear his wife saying, “I told you to hire a company, but nooooo . . . “ This guy can insist that he is not the only timber-challenged husband ...

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Shredded: California Man Sentenced to Eight Years For Stealing $4 Bag of Shredded Cheese

Posted on March 05, 2010
Robert Ferguson, a repeat offender, was sentenced to eight years for stealing a $3.99 bag of shredded cheese under the state’s three strikes law. Ferguson is no Jean Valjean — he has a criminal record going back 30 years. He was found to be bipolar by state psychologists...

Hamas Bans Male Hairdressers From Women?s Hair Salons

Posted on March 05, 2010
Gaza’s Islamic Hamas government has banned men from working in women’s hair salons as part of its move to impose strict Islamic law and traditions on Gaza’s 1.5 million people. Critics have said that it is only time before Hamas bans male doctors from treating female patients...

Eleven-Year-Old Boy Buys Nine Mansions in Dubai for $44 Million

Posted on March 05, 2010
Some of our kids pester us for a new Wii game. For the eleven-year-old son of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, a shopping spree includes $44 million worth of mansions in Dubai. That is the equivalent of what an average citizen in Azerbaijan would make in 10,000 years...

North Korea Executes Man For Passing Along the Price of Rice to Friend in South Korea

Posted on March 05, 2010
We have another story out of the worker’s paradise in North Korea. A North Korean factory worker named Chong was executed by firing squad for passing along information on rice and living conditions to a friend who defected to South Korea. Chong used an illegal mobile phone to speak to his friend about the dire [...

California Senator (and Fierce Opponent to Gay Rights) Reportedly Arrested for DUI After Leaving Gay Bar

Posted on March 04, 2010
State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.) is known as a fierce opponent of gay rights. It was, therefore, more than a bit curious when he was arrested for drunk driving after reportedly leaving a gay bar with an unidentified man in the passenger seat. While there may certainly be more to this story, gay advocates are [...

Three White Teachers Suspended For Giving Children Pictures to O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman, and RuPaul to Use in Black History Parade

Posted on March 04, 2010
Three Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade. Kids in the other classes were given pictures of such notables as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Obama...

Dubai Woman Who Went to Court to File Harassment Claim Without Male Guardian Is Sentenced to 300 Lashes and 18 Months in Jail

Posted on March 04, 2010
Sawsan Salim went to court to file harassment complaints against her local government in 2007. Her papers were in order but she was missing one detail. She had ventured out without a male family escort. For that crime she has been sentenced to 300 lashes and 18 months in jail...

Federal Court Rules Woman Must Pay As Much As $40,000 for 37 Songs She Downloaded At Age 14

Posted on March 04, 2010
We have continued to follow the outrageous expansion of copyright and trademark litigation (here and here and here), particularly the recording industry which is seeking crippling penalties for downloading song. Now, the industry has succeeded in nailing Whitney Harper who was between 14-16 years old when she downloaded 37 songs...

Venus de Malum: Police Order New Jersey Family Cover Up Nude Snowwoman

Posted on March 04, 2010
A family in Rahway, New Jersey was ordered by police to cover up their nude snow woman after a neighbor complained. Maria Conneran added a bikini top and skirt to satisfy scandalized neighbors. The snow woman seems perfectly innocent to me unless there were rumors of snow lap dances or suggestive flaking...

Passing The Plate for Pedophiles: Bishop Criticized For Asking Parishoners to Help Pay For Abuse Damages

Posted on March 04, 2010
Bishop Denis Brennan (Bishop of Ferns in Ireland) is being criticized for asking parishioners to help to pay for compensation claims linked to sexual abuse damages. The diocese has already paid 8 million euros to settle 48 civil actions arising from decades of sexual abuse by priests...

Couple Arrested After Allegedly Blind-Folding and Videotaping Falling 11-Month Old Baby

Posted on March 04, 2010
Delmer Doss, 19, and his girlfriend Amber Burgess, 19, have their own alleged version of family videos of their 11-month old baby. Police say that the couple blindfolded their 11-month-old son and then recorded the child bumping into walls with a video camera...

John Edwards Is Reportedly Close to An Indictment While Elizabeth Edwards Reportedly Threatens a Lawsuit Against Former Aide for Alienation of Affection

Posted on March 04, 2010
The National Enquirer is reporting that a federal grand jury is close to indicting two-time presidential candidate John Edwards for the misuse of campaign funds. ABC News reported earlier that Edwards’ mistress (with whom he recently admitted having a child after months of denial) had spoken to the grand jury, here...

New York Air Controller At Kennedy Airport Suspended After Letting His Two Children Direct Aircraft

Posted on March 04, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a bizarre incident where a child was allowed to direct air traffic at John F. Kennedy airport,. An air controller brought the child to work on February 17th and apparently fed the child lines to give orders to pilots...

Obama To Cave On Tort Reform ? Adding Provisions to Health Bill That Could Kill 4,800 a Year

Posted on March 03, 2010
In yet another morphing of George Bush and Barack Obama, the Administration has indicated that it will include “tort reform” in the new and smaller health care bill — provisions that the CBO has said could cost 4,800 lives a year. While an estimated roughly 100,000 people die each year from malpractice, the Administration [...

Calls for Knutering: PETA Demands German Polar Bear Be Castrated

Posted on March 03, 2010
First, animal rights activists wanted to euthanize Knut as a polar bear cub at the Berlin Zoo, here. Now, they want to castrate him. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants Knut (now grown) to be castrated to avoid his mating with another bear who is his cousin...

Flash In The Pants: Suspect Swallows Flash Drive In Bid To Destroy Evidence

Posted on March 03, 2010
Florin Necula downloaded a flash drive in January to the surprise of Secret Service agents who had arrested him on suspicion of credit card theft. the Kingston flash drive was in his pocket and he swallowed it while in custody. The problem is that “this too will [not] pass...

The Perils of Going Green in Orange: California Couple Charged for Planting Environmentally Friendly Yard Without Grass

Posted on March 03, 2010
While Christopher Sheehan is being prosecuted in Florida in a case involving his iron garden, here, Quan and Angelina Ha are being prosecuted in California for their wood chip garden. The Has sought to conserve water in the drought-plagued City of Orange by replacing their lawn with eco-friendly plants and chips...

My Iron Garden: Florida Man Arrested After Demanding Driver?s License for His ?Beautiful Face? Or Else

Posted on March 03, 2010
Christopher Sheehan, 51, has been arrested after sending a letter to the Department of Motor Vehicles demanding a driver’s license or he would seek “day of reckoning when I pull all of you lying pigs into an iron garden from which you will not escape...

Yes, You Did Get Less Sleep Last Night ? Earth?s Day Shortened By Chilean Earthquake

Posted on March 03, 2010
Today, the Turley Blog is posting early due to the shortening of the day after the Chilean earthquake. The reason that many of our regulars are likely to feel a bit groggy this morning is that the earthquake has shortened the day by one-millionth of a second...

Gunning for Slaughterhouse? Supreme Court Hears Arguments in McDonald Gun Case

Posted on March 02, 2010
Today, the Supreme Court will take up the potentially historic case of McDonald v. Chicago on gun rights. There is more at stake than just the application of the Second Amendment to the states, as I discussed in today’s column in Roll Call below: Across the country, city and state officials are watching nervously as [...

Bullets for Ballots: Maliki Accused of Handing Out Guns for Votes

Posted on March 02, 2010
Political opponents have charged that Iraqi Prime minister, Nour al-Maliki, was come up with a unique version of a “chicken in every pot”: a gun in every home. Critics have released pictures of al-Maliki handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders to win votes...

Perils of the Press: Florida Men Arrested for Chasing and Shooting At Newspaper Carriers

Posted on March 02, 2010
Jerry Stefani, 49, and Douglas Wienberg, 39, may want to just go with Internet news in the future. The two were arrested after chasing newspaper carriers and then firing shots at them in the mistaken belief that they were prowlers. Stefani and Wienberg are neighbors on Turkey Road in Pensacola, Florida...

Pregnant Bartender at Topless Bar Sues After Being Fired

Posted on March 02, 2010
Jennifer Paviglianiti, 29, of Centereach, N.Y., has filed an interesting discrimination lawsuit against her former boss, John Doxey and the Cafe Royale Gentleman’s Club (a topless bar). When she became pregnant, she was allegedly fired because her new image was not what the club members expected...

To Serve and Protect: Ohio Officer Pushes Man Out of Way of Careening Car Before Being Hit Himself on Highway

Posted on March 02, 2010
When Lt. john Lambert took his oath to serve and protect, he meant it. In the video below, Lambert pushes a driver out of the way only to be struck himself by a careening car on Interstate 176. The result was broken bones, including his pelvis as well as damage to his left [...

The Toyota Defense: Man Demands Review of Vehicular Homicide Sentence in Light of Recall

Posted on March 02, 2010
Koua Fong Lee may be the first man to bring a “Toyota Defense” — claiming that the recent recall supports his earlier defense claim that he was not responsible for vehicular homicide in 2006. Lee is serving eight years due to the fatal crash involving his Toyota Camry...

Zero Tolerance, Zero Intelligence: Indiana School Suspends Girl Who Touched a Pill

Posted on March 01, 2010
School officials in Jeffersonville, Indiana have suspended a middle school student for touching a pill in an act that stretches the zero tolerance policies to a new extreme. Rachael Greer was suspended because she was given a pill by another student and refused it...

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