Legal Commentary

Mother Waves Knife At Men Peering Through Window at Her Home . . . And Receives Warning From Police

Posted on January 11, 2010
The TV presenter and former model Myleene Klass is justified to be a bit confused. When she was confronted by teenagers steering at her and banging on her window, she grabbed a knife and waived it at the intruders. Rather than complimenting Klass on thinking fast, the police issued her a formal warning [...

Footnote Filibuster? Obama Re-Nominates Johnsen for OLC

Posted on January 11, 2010
President Obama has renominated Indiana Law Professor Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department?s Office of Legal Counsel. She is opposed by Republicans over her views on subjects like abortion. Much of the criticism over Johnson focuses on a single footnote in a brief — a further example of how the confirmation process [...

Former Deputy White House Counsel Charged With Attempted Murder

Posted on January 11, 2010
In a startling development, former Bush White House Counsel John Michael Farren, 57, has been charged with the attempted murder of his wife, Mary Farren, who is also a lawyer. The crime allegedly occurred at their Connecticut home in a rage-filled argument...

BBC: Human Sacrifice Is On The Rise in Uganda

Posted on January 11, 2010
We have been following the killing of people in Africa – from children accused of witchcraft to albinos for magical potions — due to traditional African medicines and beliefs. Now, the BBC has documented how human sacrifice is on the rise in Uganda...

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This is Either a Really Tall or Really Stupid Driver . . .

Posted on January 11, 2010
Richard Anthony Flores Jr., 25, appears to want a convertible but could only afford a sun roof. Police say that Flores tried to obscure his plates before this stunt was captured on traffic cameras. It didn’t work. ?Flores has been charged with two counts of reckless driving and one count of criminal speeding...

OOPS: BBC Reporters Breaks Unbreakable Phone on Television

Posted on January 11, 2010
This is an example of the perils of televised challenges. This BBC reporter at the CES convention responds to a challenge from a CEO to break the unbreakable phone and proceeds to do so. The CEO promised that it could be dropped from ten stories or used to hammer a nail...

Blago: I?m Blacker Than Barack Obama

Posted on January 11, 2010
First Harry Reid says that President Obama is a “light-skinned negro” (here) and now former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has announced that he?s ?blacker than Barack Obama.? Here is the case Blago made for his entry in the NAACP Hall of Fame: ?What the f***? Everything he’s saying’s on the teleprompter...

Same-Sex- Marriage Trial Begins in San Francisco

Posted on January 11, 2010
The ultimate odd couple David Boies and Theodore B. Olson have opened up their case against Proposition 8 in California to fight for the right of same-sex couples to marry. The opening arguments occurred this morning in the United States District Court in San Francisco...

Turley Blog Wins . . . Second Place in ABA Competition

Posted on January 11, 2010
We won the highly coveted second place in the ABA blog competition, according to the results sent this afternoon. Many have long argued that they would prefer the second place slot. Just ask Avis executives or the Biden staff. Congratulations to all of the winners The Legal Satyricon (IMHO), Volokh Conspiracy (Legal [...

One in Every Crowd

Posted on January 10, 2010
If this does not show a cross species link with non-humans, I do not know what proof is needed. I constantly have this problem in setting up a picture only to have some ham seal stick his snout into the frame. Kudos to Bill Shefland for the pic!

Lost Address: President Obama Delays State of the Union Speech To Defer to ?Lost? Episode

Posted on January 10, 2010
For much of the week, the White House has been dealing with an unspeakable looming crisis. Now, it is not terrorism or global warming. The State of the Union speech was scheduled for Feb. 2nd . . . the same night ABC was kicking off the final season of “Lost...

Lethal Lips: Police Arrest Man Who Shut Down Newark With a Kiss

Posted on January 10, 2010
Haisong Jiang, 28, may not want to talk about his particular criminal charge while in the cellblocks waiting arraignment. It turns out that Jiang was the man who went under a security rope at Newark airport to give his girlfriend one last kiss goodbye ...

English Woman Raped in Dubai Hotel By Waiter Only To Be Arrested With Her Fiancé for Illegal Drinking and Sex Before Marriage

Posted on January 10, 2010
We have another outrage under Sharia law. In Dubai, a 23-year-old woman from London was assaulted by a waiter in a hotel toilet. She was celebrating her engagement with their boyfriend. The Muslim woman of Pakistani descent and her boyfriend went to the police and were themselves promptly arrested for “illegal drinking” [...

New Book: Reid Refers to Obama as ?Light-Skinned Negro? While Bill Clinton Says He Would Have Been Serving Him Coffee a Few Years Ago

Posted on January 10, 2010
While many people are chatting up a storm about Majority Leader Harry Reid reference in Game Change to President Obama as a “light skinned” black man “with no Negro dialect,” Ben Stein has pulled out two other notable sections, including Bill Clinton objecting to Ted Kennedy that “A few years ago, this guy would have [...

Scientific Breakthrough: Engineers Develop Automatic Ball Toss For Dog Owners

Posted on January 09, 2010
Ever wonder why no one has solved the problem of having to raise your arm repeatedly on the couch in order to throw a ball to your dog? Well, finally scientists have tackled the problem. Now if only we can match the robotic dog with the automatic ball thrower for the ultimate pet for couch [...

City Settles False Arrest Case of Married Grandmother

Posted on January 09, 2010
New York has settled a case were a Brooklyn grandmother who was walking to a hospital after an asthma attack was arrested for prostitution. Monica Gonzalez, 41, will receive $35,000. What is most striking about this story is that the arresting officer, Sean Spencer, has been accused of abuses in at least four lawsuits and [...

Felonious Fillings: Alleged Burglar Caught With Bag of Teeth in Seattle

Posted on January 09, 2010
Shane Carlson, 26, has a long record of burglaries and office break-ins, but police say that he has recently turned to a more specialized form of theft: teeth. Perhaps responding to Glenn Beck’s continual hawking of gold as an investment, Carlson has been allegedly stealing teeth and filings for the gold from dental [...

God is My Co-Agent: TSA Employee Announces That He Is God at LAX

Posted on January 09, 2010
If you are tired of dealing with TSA employees who act like God Almighty, you may want to stay out of LAX where one agent announced that he is in fact God and his orders divine. An unnamed TSA agent was arrested this week in Terminal One (the other terminals are for lesser divinities in the [...

Plaintiffs Fight Effort to Limit Reforms in World Bank Protest Trial

Posted on January 09, 2010
Last night, the Plaintiffs in the World Bank/IMF protest case filed our opposition to the summary judgment motion filed by the District in the World Bank/IMF protest case. The District is trying to use a proposed settlement in another case to bar us from seeking more comprehensive reforms (or equitable relief) at the trial [...

Lawyer Accuses Federal Judge of Catholic Bias and Misconduct; Judge Hits Lawyer With $110,000 Sanctions

Posted on January 08, 2010
There is an interesting sanction imposed by U.S. District Judge William Zloch against Florida lawyer Loring Spolter for filings accusing him of having religious bias and engaging in potentially criminal conduct. Spolter was hit with $110,000 in sanctions for his filings over the course of 42 months to try to get Zloch to [...

Red Dawn: Governor?s Adviser Fired For Calling First Ladies ?Window Dressing?

Posted on January 08, 2010
A former adviser to Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons has been fired for insulting first ladies everywhere in an off-the-cuff statement about how Governor Gibbons’ divorce is not a major issue because first ladies like Dawn Gibbons are merely “window dressing...

Scientists Find Footprints from 395 Millions Years Ago . . . Creationists See Another Muddy Mistake

Posted on January 08, 2010
Scientists have dated “hand” and “foot” prints in Poland that may be the oldest ever found of a four-legged creature. The prints were left in the early Middle Devonian period roughly 400 millions years ago. Of course, for creationists, who insist that the Bible shows that the Earth is only 10,000 years old, [...

Got Melamine? Chinese Officials Accused of Covering Up Tainted Milk

Posted on January 08, 2010
The Chinese government is again being accused of not acting swiftly enough to shutdown another company producing tainted food. The most recent scandal follows the 2008 case where the government allowed melamine-tainted infant formula to sicken 300,000 babies (and causing death for six babies)...

A Water Drop

Posted on January 08, 2010
I just saw this on Reddit and thought it was too cool not to share. If you stare at this long enough, you achieve a higher level of consciousness.

Nine Lies: Man Arrested After Killing and Skinning Cat for Memorial

Posted on January 08, 2010
In Florida, Jason Alkire, 26, is accused of killing his cat and then skinning it in an effort to create a memorial. Police insist that the cat did not have nine lives, but Alkire allegedly had almost as many lies to explain why he was caught with a pocket knife skinning a house cat...

Preservation Through De-Militarization: Endangered Species Found in Korean DMZ

Posted on January 08, 2010
I wonder what graduate student is going to get this field assignment. Dozens of endangered species have been found in the demilitarized zone between Koreas. The Dear Leader is unlikely to prove a budding naturalist. It appears that the cold war in Korea has proven a godsend in the DMZ for at least [...

The Ultimate Cold Case: Authorities Subpoena Man in 1982 Tylenol Case

Posted on January 08, 2010
Federal authorities have subpoenaed James W. Lewis in an investigation of the 27-year-old case of the poisoning of Tylenol capsules that led to the deaths of four women, two men and a 12-year-old girl, died in 1982 in the Chicago area. Lewis is now 63 and authorities are seeking fingerprint and DNA samples from him and [...

Officer Rolls Jeep and is Allegedly Found With Open Liquor Bottle While Smelling of Alcohol . . . But Is Not Charged After She Refuses Sobriety Test and Other Officers Deny Smelling Alcohol

Posted on January 07, 2010
Questions are being raised about the handling of a Bartlett, Tennessee police officer who was found off-duty in an accident where she rolled over her jeep, which contained an open liquor bottle. EMTs reportedly smelled alcohol and Officer Teresa Brignole refused a sobriety test...

Minnesota GOP Senate Candidate Calls President Obama a ?Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man?

Posted on January 07, 2010
Mike Parry, a GOP candidate for the state senate, has apologized for tweets calling President Obama a “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man” and asking “whats with the Dems and Pedophiles?” The tweets succeeded in making Parry look like a power hungry ignorant white man...

Family Sues Funeral Home After Grandmother?s Brains Are Returned With Personal Items

Posted on January 07, 2010
An unnamed family in New Mexico has filed a lawsuit after a horrific discovery among the bag of personal belongings returned to them by the DeVargas Funeral Home and Crematory in Espanola Valley: the brains of their deceased grandmother. The family noticed an odor coming from a bag helpfully marked” “Brain...

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