Legal Commentary

Any Color So Long As It Is Green: California Moves to Regulate Car Color

Posted on March 27, 2009
Henry Ford once promised customers any color so long as it is black. Now, California seems close to saying that black cars can stay out of the state. This is not a racist takeover, but an environmental movement to encourage the selection of cars that reflect light to reduce energy demands...

Better Sooner Than Later: Oklahoma Moves Toward Law Allowing Motorcyclists To Run Red Lights

Posted on March 27, 2009
Oklahoma appears poised to join seven other states in allowing motorcycles to run red lights. Many lights in the state are triggered by the metal mass of the vehicle to turn the traffic signal. However, motorcycles lack the weight and mass to register with the ground sensors...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Hundreds of Juvenile Convictions

Posted on March 27, 2009
As ex-Judge Ann Lokuta tries to force her own reinstatement after the jailing to two of her former colleagues on the Pennsylvania courts, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has overturned as many as 1,200 juvenile convictions. The convictions and sentenced were handed down by the former president judge of Luzerne County, Mark Ciavarella Jr...

Former Pennsylvania Judge Wins Rehearing After Claiming She Was Framed By Other Judges Who Recently Pleaded Guilty to Crimes

Posted on March 27, 2009
Former judge Ann Lokuta has an intriguing claim for reinstatement: her accusers turned out to be criminals. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a stay of the Court of Judicial Discipline?s ruling to remove Lokuta and directed the Secretary of the Commonwealth not to place her judicial seat on the May ballot...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

German Police Located Women Sought As Serial Killer in 39 Murders ? Working Right Under Their Watchful Eyes

Posted on March 27, 2009
For two years, German police have been stalking the most prolific serial killer in its history — a rare female serial killer connected to 39 murders with DNA traces Germany, Austria, and France. They offered 300,0000 euros to anyone who would help find her and hundreds of detectives interviewed 800 women convicted of crimes [...

A Knight?s Tale: Professor Suspended for Hanging Bankers Comment

Posted on March 27, 2009
In yet another example of the shrinking values of free speech in England, a University of East London professor of anthropology Chris Knight has been suspended for saying that bankers need to be aware of the fury in the country before they are found “hanging from lampposts...

Take Your Gun To Work Day: Texas Legislature Moves to Bar Businesses from Enforcing No-Gun Policies

Posted on March 26, 2009
For all of those employees who are receiving pink slips in the recession, the Texas legislature has moved toward guaranteeing them that they can bring their guns to their last day at work. The Texas Senate unanimously passed legislation to allow protect the right to pack heat with your ham sandwiches at work...

New York City Detective Charged With Perjury ? The Latest in a Series of Such False Testimony Cases Involving Police Officers

Posted on March 26, 2009
Lawyers have long complained that some police officers will give clearly false testimony to protect themselves, other officers, or just maintain the “thin blue line.” This week, we saw two detectives in Michigan indicted with a judge and prosecutor for false testimony...

Acne Vulgaris: English Councils Install Pink Lighting to Highlight Acne To Chase Away Teen

Posted on March 26, 2009
In New Zealand, they are using Barry Manilow tunes to chase away loitering teenagers who flee at the first note of Copacabana. The English, however, have decided to use teenage acne to their advantage, installing pink lights that highlight teenage dermatological weaknesses and insecurities...

Video: Dallas Officer Prevents Man From Saying Goodbye to Dying Mother-in-Law Despite Pleas From Family, Nurses, and Another Police Officer

Posted on March 26, 2009
A video from Plano, Texas shows a shocking scene as Ryan Moats - a running back for the Houston Texans — arrives with his wife to see his dying mother-in-law. While the mother-in-law is believed to be seconds from death, Officer Robert Powell stops him in the ER parking lot and demands proof of [...

Lawyer Accused of Massive Fraud ? and Hitting Up Priest

Posted on March 26, 2009
Attorney Steven Gustafson of Naperville, Ill. is facing a theft and fraud charges, but it may take longer for him to live down one of the more intriguing allegations in the criminal case: he tried to hit up a priest to help cover up money that he allegedly stole from a trust fund...

Two California Doctors Face Gross Negligence Charges in Cosmetic Surgeries, Including Allegations of Giving a Patient Unwanted Face Lift and Liposuction

Posted on March 25, 2009
We have yet another cosmetic surgery case out of California. In this case, two doctors, Dr. Harrell Edward Robinson of Anaheim Hills and Dr. Shir Miskinyar of Santa Ana, face charges of gross negligence and incompetence for botched cosmetic surgeries, including on where a woman who went in for a tummy tuck received a [...

God is My Co-Pilot: Tunisan Pilot Sentenced for Praying in Midst of Accident Rather Than Taking Emergency Procedures

Posted on March 25, 2009
An Italian court has sentenced a Muslim pilot, Chafik Garbi, who, in the midst of an emergency landing, stopped to pray rather than taking emergency measures. The accident about the ATR prop aircraft resulted in 16 deaths in Sicily. He was convicted of manslaughter...

Judge Keller Defends Herself Against Judicial Ethics Charges

Posted on March 25, 2009
In today’s series of stories of judges acting bravely and badly, here is one for the latter category. Judge Sharon Keller, Chief Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, has filed her response to the charges of judicial misconduct and incompetence for ordering the closing of the clerk’s office after being informed of [...

An Un-Worthy Moment: Judge, Prosecutor, and Two Police Officers Indicted Over False Testimony in Drug Case

Posted on March 25, 2009
While Judge Richards in Florida is rescuing witnesses in Florida, former Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mary Waterstone appeared on the other side of the bench this week as a criminal defendant. Waterstone joined a former prosecutor, Karen Plants, and two police officers Scott Rechtzigel and Robert McArthur as defendants in the case related [...

When Judges Attack: Florida Judge Leaps Off Bench To Tackle Defendant

Posted on March 25, 2009
Broward County Circuit Court Judge Ian Richards does not like people messing around with his witnesses. In the video below, Richards flew off the bench to tackle John Charles Reasee II, 29, who attacked a woman, Nicole Word, testifying against him. Reasee was facing a domestic violence charge when he attacked the woman who [...

Now Playing At The Supremes: Hillary the Movie

Posted on March 24, 2009
Today, the Supreme Court will be taking up Hillary: The Movie — and its ultimate reviews could hold great significance for campaign financing. We have been following the case involving “Hillary: The Movie” since it first came out during the last presidential campaign...

Blowin? in the Wind: Bob Dylan Faces Nuisance Complaint Over Smelly Toilet in Yard

Posted on March 24, 2009
What is Blowin’ in the Wind at Bob Dylan’s Malibu home ain’t justice. Dylan’s neighbors are complaining that a portable toilet Dylan, 67, has in his yard stinks to high heavens and, when the ocean winds blow, has forced them to abandon parts of their homes...

Frankfurter Frenzy: Near Riot Breaks Out At The Shawarma King After Non-Kosher Hot Dog Is Found On Premises

Posted on March 24, 2009
In New York, the popular Shawarma King deli was turned upside down after someone spotted what appeared to be a non-Kosher hot dog being prepared in the kitchen. Chaos ensued as Jewish patrons surrounded the staff. In the video below, a deli worker fends off a group of around 100 irate patrons with [...

Afghan Government Arrests Television Manager For Refusing to Censor Un-Islamic Images of Women

Posted on March 24, 2009
The Afghan government gave the West another example how it is struggling to defeat the Taliban by joining it. The government has arrested the manager of a popular Afghan television network for refusing to censor images of women dancing in short skirts and plunging necklines...

Justice Delayed: Nine Death Row Inmates Lost Appeals Due to Late Filings By Counsel

Posted on March 24, 2009
A recent study of capital cases in Texas shows that nine death row inmates lost their appeals due to the failure of counsel to file by the court deadline. Johnny Ray Johnson was put to death after his lawyers missed a filing deadline by one day. He is one of six such inmates [...

Corpus Delicti: Woman Arrested for ?Hot? Body

Posted on March 24, 2009
If Yvonne Pampellonne, 30, wanted a “hot” body, she got it. She is accused of stealing newly enhanced breasts and lipusuction from the Pacific Center For Plastic Surgery by stealing another person identity to change her own appearance. She was identified by clinic employees in a (fully dressed) line up...

Don?t Feed The Local Citylife: Man Arrested for Feeding Homeless in Orlando

Posted on March 23, 2009
Eric Montanez faces a curious criminal charge in Orlando, Florida: feeding hungry people. The good people of Orlando, Florida have decided to join other cities in making it a crime to feed poor and hungry people caught up in this recession. Even at Yellowstone you are simply asked not to feed the [...

Mother Receives $145 Parking Ticket For Stopping to Resuscitate Her Disabled Son

Posted on March 23, 2009
London police are refusing to rescind a $145 ticket given to Penny Batkin, 40, who had the audacity to pull to the pavement to jump out to resuscitate her severely disabled son, Freddie, 4. Baktkin was driving to a hospice in the emergency. The Richmond Council’s parking office later refused even when told of the [...

Scruffy?s Revenge: New York City Teen Faces 25 Years in Cat Burning

Posted on March 23, 2009
Angelo Monderoy, 18, and Matthew Cooper, 17, are looking at serious time for the horrific act of burning a cat named Scruffy with lighter fluid. The potential twenty-five year sentence is a rarity since most such cases fall under relatively light criminal penalties, but the property counts appear to have magnified the sentence...

Saudi Clerics Call For Women To Be Banned From Television and Newspapers

Posted on March 23, 2009
Like many ministers and politicians in the United States, Saudi Arabian clerics are up in arms over the immorality of television. They’re objections go beyond the usual smut described by Sen. Joe Lieberman and others. They want the new information minister to take all women and music banned from the television...

South Africa Bars Dalai Lama From International Peace Conference

Posted on March 23, 2009
In an incredible act, the South African government has barred the Dalai Lama from an International Peace Conference — knuckling under to pressure from China. The very people that once fought efforts to silence Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are now silencing a Noble Prize winner and international voice of peace because they do [...

California Lawyer Charged With Murder

Posted on March 23, 2009
This goes into the good news, bad news category. San Francisco-based attorney David Replogle (right), 60, is no longer facing a forgery trial in Riverside, California. The bad news is that he is now facing a murder trial in the death of Clifford Lambert (left), a 74-year-old retired art dealer...

Court: United States Offered to Release Detainee If He Would Not Reveal His Own Torture

Posted on March 23, 2009
Two British High Court judges have released a very disturbing decision that finds that ormer detainee Binyam Mohamed was offered his freedom by the United States in exchange for his promise not to reveal his own torture at Guantanamo Bay. Equally disturbing is the statement from the English government that it cannot release proof of [...

Law Dog

Posted on March 22, 2009
There are some species just born for law enforcement. The astonishing thing is that a federal court found that this search was entirely lawful under the Fourth Amendment. When Customs says that it is “securing America’s borders,” it means it...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.