Legal Commentary

Pray or Pay: Georgia Woman Runs Over Boyfriend for Not Going to Church

Posted on February 25, 2009
In the same week that a father stabbed his son in church for failing to take off his hat, a Georgia woman reportedly ran over her boyfriend because she thought that he wanted to skip church to visit with another woman. Annie Knox of Athens-Clark has been charged with aggravated assault...

Peasant Uprising: Widow Sues Late Husband?s Employer Over ?Dead Peasant? Insurance Policy

Posted on February 25, 2009
Irma Johnson, a Texas widow, is suing after she was mistakingly informed that the employer of her late husband Daniel Johnson was to receive $1.6 million after his death under a practice known in the industry as a “dead peasant” insurance policy...

Recession Hits Cave Dwellers: Sleepers Awakened by Foreclosure of Cave

Posted on February 25, 2009
The Sleeper family of St. Louis are being told that they have to move out of their cave for failure to pay their loan. Curt Sleeper and his wife bought the former sand mine after a downpayment of half of the purchase price and a loan from the seller...

Baltimore Father Stabs Son After Teen Refuses To Remove Hat in Church

Posted on February 25, 2009
Baltimore police are in the process of arresting a 58-year-old man who argued with his son in church about the 19-year-olds refusal to take his hat off. The father then proceeded to stab his son in the left buttock. The father then fled. This strikes me as a somewhat curious lesson about proper etiquette [...

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Supreme Court Rules Against Religious Display in Public Park

Posted on February 25, 2009
The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that a small religious group cannot force a city in Utah to place a granite marker in a local park. The park in Pleasant Grove Utah already contains a Ten Commandments display. Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion...

Revolving Door: Judge Who Awarded Millions to Milberg Law Firm Is Made Partner At Firm

Posted on February 25, 2009
The new job landed by former New York Supreme Court Judge Herman Cahn has raised from eyebrows. Less than a year ago, Cahn awarded millions in fees to founding partner Melvin Weiss despite his guilty plea in a massive fraud case. The firm, once called Milberg Weiss, wanted to let Weiss keep the [...

Twit: Holder Spoofed in Fake Twitter Entry

Posted on February 25, 2009
A week after Fox News’ John Gibson was spoofed with a fake racist remark regarding Attorney General Eric Holder, Holder has been spoofed by a fake Twitter entry on Guantanamo Bay. Holder comes off as quite hip in such messages as ?Some scary dudes in this gitmo place...

C is for Contingency: Wisconsin Parents Sue Over Time-Out Given Middle School Student

Posted on February 24, 2009
Brookfield, Wisconsin attorney William Rettko has filed a $50,000 calim against the Greenfield Middle School for false imprisonment and battery after giving a girl a “time out.” The lawsuit claims that the teacher allowed other students to commit battery on the girl during the time-out...

Supreme Court Takes ?Smell of Death? Case

Posted on February 24, 2009
The Supreme Court has decided to take up the criminal case of Frank Spisak for a second time. Spisak is a neo-Nazi who was convicted of murdering three men in Ohio and sentenced to death twenty-five years ago. However, the Sixth Circuit threw out the conviction after two sentencing hearings, one demanded by [...

New York State Supreme Court Justice and Law Professor Lose Jobs in Scandal

Posted on February 24, 2009
A bizarre case in New York has snared the careers of New York State Supreme Court Joseph G. Makowski, 55, and former prosecutor and Buffalo Law School professor Anne E. Adams. Adams pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors: drunken driving, offering a false instrument for filing and attempted tampering with physical evidence...

Active Soldier Joins Lawsuit Challenging Obama?s Right to Serve as President

Posted on February 24, 2009
Lt. Scott Easterling has entered a novel fight while serving in Iraq: he is suing President Barack Obama. Easterling is calling the President an “impostor” and challenging his right to issue commands while his birth status is in question...

Monkey Business: Baltimore NBC Reporter Admits to Inserting Racist Remark Into Clip of Fox News? John Gibson

Posted on February 24, 2009
John Sanders, the technology reporter for WBAL-TV (NBC) in Baltimore is no longer employed by the affiliate after admitting that he inserting a racist remark into a video clip of Fox News’ John Gibson. The clip became an Internet hit and was viewed by many people as a spoof...

Court Orders Former Pfizer Executive to Pay $200,000 to Woman Photographed as a Child While Being Sexually Abused

Posted on February 24, 2009
Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton (left) has imposed an unprecedented criminal fine against from former Pfizer Vice President Alan Hesketh, 61. Hesketh previously was sentenced to 78 months for possession of roughly 2000 pictures of child pornography...

Chicago Lawyer Who Allegedly Killed Girlfriend and Baby Had Four Battery Convictions

Posted on February 24, 2009
Authorities have made new surprising disclosures today about Fredrick Goings, 36, the lawyer who is accused of killing New York Knicks player Eddy Curry’s ex-girlfriend and her infant daughter. It turns out that Goings had four past battery convictions on his record but was allowed to continue to practice in Illinois...

San Diego Priest Triggers Controversy Over Criticism of Obama and Church Control of Publications

Posted on February 23, 2009
San Diego Catholics are protesting a decision by San Diego Bishop Robert Brom to ask Pastor Richard Perozich to tone it down after he ran a rabid article entitled ?100 Days or End of Days?? in the parish bulletin of St. Mary?s Catholic Church in Escondido...

Dubai Moves To Criminalize Publishing Anything That Would ?Harm the Economy?

Posted on February 23, 2009
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considering legislation that would criminalize publication of anything that would “harm the economy.” Such an offense would be punishable by fines of up to 1 million dirhams (roughly $272,000). This will, of course, put journalists in a bit of a problem reporting on the economic crisis...

Amnesty International Accuses Israel of War Crimes and Calls on Obama To Suspend Military Shipments

Posted on February 23, 2009
The Nobel Prize winning organization Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes during its attack on the Gaza Strip. The allegations largely center on the use of white phosphorous that was dropped by IDF aircraft. The group is now calling on President Obama to suspend military shipments and sales to Israel...

Dr. Bunning?s Court Call: Senator Predicts Justice Ginsburg Will Be Dead Within the Year

Posted on February 23, 2009
Sen. Jim Bunning (R., Ky) used the annual Hardin County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner to announce his diagnosis that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 75, will be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months. While Bunning only holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Xavier University and had a baseball career with the Detroit [...

Chicago Lawyer Arrested for Murder of Former Girlfriend and Baby of New York Knicks Player Eddy Curry

Posted on February 23, 2009
Chicago Lawyer, Frederick Goings, 36, has been arrested for murder of 24-year-old Nova Henry and her 9-month-old daughter, Ava. Henry is the former girlfriend New York Knicks player Eddy Curry and mother of his 3-year-old son and daughter, Ava. The mother and daughter were found dead in her apartment...

Separate But Equal: Massachusetts Moves Toward Segregated Math Classes

Posted on February 23, 2009
Massachusetts has joined the movement toward re-segregating our public schools by race or gender or sexual orientation. Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. in Chicopee is reportedly in favor of a new proposal to segregate students by gender for math classes...

Wisconsin Inmate Accused for Impersonating Police Officer While Serving Time for Impersonating a Police Officer

Posted on February 23, 2009
If Joshua D. Kay wanted to be in law enforcement, he certainly has gotten his wish. Kay, 30, has been charged in Wisconsin for a second time for impersonating an officer. What makes this charge somewhat unique is that Kay was serving time on the first offense when he was charged for the [...

Judge Kent Pleads Guilty to Obstruction; Faces Maximum of 20 Years in Prison

Posted on February 23, 2009
U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice today and retired from the bench. In exchange, the prosecution will drop sexual assault charges. He will also avoid impeachment with the plea, though the status of his pension remains unclear...

Canine Christian Movement: Religion Makes Inroads Into Animal Faithful

Posted on February 22, 2009
As this picture indicates, religious activists have made great strides into breaking into inter-species faith-based initiatives. The success of evangelical animal activists, however, has magnified the widely held belief that cats are largely atheists...

Vatican Filed Complaint Over Blasphemous Program and Israel Moves to Censor Show

Posted on February 22, 2009
The Vatican has filed a formal complaint with the Israeli government about a private Israeli TV show that it claims blasphemed Jesus and Mary. On the program, the host challenges the idea that Mary was a virgin and Jesus walked on water as a “lesson” for Christians who deny the Holocaust...

Illinois Man Successfully Sues Homeowner After He Secretly Drank Beer at House and Then Had Car Accident

Posted on February 22, 2009
A very interesting torts case has settled in Lake Forest, Illinois where George Baldwin, 22, has been given a $2.5 million settlement after he went to a party at the house of Lauralee Pfeifer, who had two high school friends of Baldwin. Baldwin and a friend than drank beer in their girl’s [...

Obama Administration Sides With Bush Administration on Key Cases Involving Missing Emails, Right to DNA Evidence, and Executive Privilege

Posted on February 22, 2009
In the last week, the Obama Administration has supported the Bush Administration in a variety of cases to the great disappointment of many civil libertarians, historians, and academics. This includes an effort to kill litigation that has sought millions of missing emails in the Bush Administration...

Will Work For Food or Favors: Roughly 70% of Bush Appointees Remain Unemployed

Posted on February 22, 2009
It has often been remarked that being a member of the Bush Administration would hardly be a resume advantage, particularly in scandalized agencies like the Justice Department. It turns out that many ex-Bush people are finding themselves radioactive in the job market, which is itself smaller than usual in the economic crisis that they [...

Prisoner Castrates Himself In Washington State Prison

Posted on February 22, 2009
John Forrester, a prisoner at Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington state succeeded in castrating himself with a shaving razor this week. It was the second attempt by the man and only the latest case of self-mutilation by prisoners. Penile amputations and mutilations are a constant problem within the prison system, often by prisoners who are [...

Eleven-Year-Old Boy Allegely Uses ?Kiddie Shotgun? To Shoot Father?s Pregnant Girlfriend ? and Then Goes to School

Posted on February 22, 2009
Marie Houk, a pregnant mother, was found dead by her four-year-old daughter. The killer appears to be the son of her boyfriend who will reportedly face adult murder charges — despite the fact that he is 11 years old. He reportedly went to school after killing Houk in a farmhouse in western [...

Police Move to Arrest Suspect in Chandra Levy Murder

Posted on February 21, 2009
The police are reportedly close to making an arrest in the unsolved murder case of Chandra Levy after eight years. Police are reportedly seeking an arrest warrant for Ingmar Guandique, who is in jail for assaulting two women in Rock Park. That is the same park where Levy’s remains were found...

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