Legal Commentary

The Whale Speaks: Rove Says That He Will Defy Congress and That Bush Lawyers Told Him Not to Cooperate in the Final Days of the Administration

Posted on January 30, 2009
Karl Rove is promising to defy the subpoena issued by John Conyers — citing instructions from Bush lawyers shortly before the end of the Administration. The statement may indicate that President Bush is preparing for a novel fight: asserting executive privilege against the position of the sitting president (who would presumably support Congress [...

Lawyer and Narc: Ohio Attorney Goes Undercover to Help Police Trap His Client

Posted on January 30, 2009
If Chevaliee ”Chevy” Robinson, 30, was unhappy about pleading guilty to drug conspiracy and money laundering in Akron a few months ago, he was probably even less happy when he learned the identity of the snitch that helped set him up with the police: his lawyer Frank Pignatelli...

England Set to Make Photographing Police a Crime

Posted on January 30, 2009
England is about to make it illegal to take photographs of police officers in a continuing trend limiting the free press and free speech in the West. This ill-conceived law, The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, will take effect on February 16th and ?allows for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who takes pictures [...

Obama Administration Calls for War Crimes Investigation in Gaza War ? But Remains Undecided on Any Prosecution of U.S. War Crimes Under the Bush Administration

Posted on January 30, 2009
In a striking departure from the Bush Administration, Ambassador Susan E. Rice, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel in the recent Gaza fighting. While correctly noting such violations by Hamas, Rice noted that there are now credible accounts that need to be [...

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Robber Charged with Murder After Elderly Lady Has Heart Attack

Posted on January 30, 2009
North Carolina prosecutors are pursuing an interesting felony-murder charge against Larry Whitfield, who is accused of breaking into the home of an elderly lade after an attempted bank robbery and car chase. Whitfield never touched Mary Parnell, 79, but the stress is believed to have caused her heart attack and death...

Don?t Have a Cowpyright, Man: Bart Simpson Shills for Scientology

Posted on January 30, 2009
Nancy Cartwright, the voice for Bart Simpson, may be in hot water with Twentieth Century Fox. Cartwright, a committed Scientologist, used the Simpson voice (which is copyrighted) to leave a widely played voice message for Scientologists. The robocall tape is below...

Police Officer Drives After Drinking, Crashes Into Fountain, Flees the Scene of an Accident, Abandons Car with Gun Inside, and Then Lies to Police . . . And Is Charged With Criminal Damage

Posted on January 29, 2009
Brent Frasier, an eight-year veteran of the Mesa, Arizona police department, is facing remarkably light charges after he crashed his car into a public fountain, fled the scene of the accident and left his car with his badge, Glock handgun, and a clip for an AR15 rifle...

Obama Starts To Fulfill Faith-Based Promise With $100 Million in Stimulus Package

Posted on January 29, 2009
One of the items in the stimulus bill that has been overlooked is $100 million in grants for faith-based organizations. As I discussed this week in my column, Obama has pledged to not only continue but massively expand President Bush’s faith-based initiatives...

California Court Rules That Lutheran School May Expel Students as Suspected Lesbians

Posted on January 29, 2009
A California appellate court has ruled that the Riverside County-based California Lutheran High School was permitted to expelled two 16-year-old girls for having “a bond of intimacy” that was “characteristic of a lesbian relationship...

Former CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rape of Two Women

Posted on January 29, 2009
The former CIA station chief in Algeria is under investigation by the State and Justice departments for the drugging and raping of two women in his home. Reports indicate that videotapes were recovered showing the officer having sex with what appeared to be drugged women...

Wink and a Nod? Sen. Kit Bond States That Holder Secured His Vote By Privately Promising Not to Prosecute Any War Crimes

Posted on January 29, 2009
Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond (R., Mo.), the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has told The Washington Times that Eric Holder privately assured him that there would be no prosecution of Bush officials for torture or unlawful acts...

Homeless Man Steals a $100 Bill From Bank, Turns Himself in the Next Day and Apologizes ? and Is Given 15 Years By Louisiana Judge

Posted on January 28, 2009
Roy Brown, 54, is a homeless man who said that he was hungry and needed a place to live when he walked the Capitol One bank in Shreveport, Louisiana in December 2007 and stole a single $100 bill. The next day, he turned himself into police, apologized, and said that he was not raised [...

Report: Peanut Corp. of America Knowingly Shipped Contaminated Peanut Butter At Least Twelve Times in the Last Two Years

Posted on January 28, 2009
Internal documents from the Peanut Corporation of America reportedly show that the company knew that peanut butter was contaminated with salmonella 12 times in the last two years, but shipped out the contaminated peanut butter to customers. The revelation will most certainly increase the liability facing the company from both the government and civil [...

Snapped: Rep. Peter King Introduces Bill To Require That Mobile Phones Make a Sound When Taking Pictures

Posted on January 28, 2009
The United States is facing a worsening recession, an expanding war in Afghanistan, and global warming. Yet, New York Republican Rep. Peter King believes that one of the more pressing matters for Congress should be to require that all cell phones make a click or sound when taking a picture...

Debt Service: California Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Work as Call Girl

Posted on January 28, 2009
With lawyers and law students getting pink slips in the recession, Cristina Warthen, a Stanford law graduate, had a novel idea to support herself: she ran a high-priced call girl service. Warthen has now pleaded guilty and avoided jail time, agreeing to pay $313,000 in unpaid taxes as a prostitute who went by [...

In Fecal Delicto : Californian Man Assaults Lawyer and Jury With Feces in Court

Posted on January 28, 2009
These are the types of dangers that law school simply does not prepare you for. Weusi McGowan, 37, wanted San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser to replace his public defender Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jeffrey Martin. Fraser refused, so after a break McGowan returned to court and promptly produced a plastic baggie [...

Give Me An Ache, Give Me a Bruise . . . : Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Cheerleading is Contact Sport

Posted on January 28, 2009
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that cheerleading is a contact sport like footballs and therefore participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries. Brittany Noffke, a former varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in Wisconsin, sued her spotter after she was allowed to fall backwards off the shoulders of a team member, [...

House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Karl Rove in Critical Constitutional Showdown

Posted on January 27, 2009
John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed Karl Rove to testify about the Bush administration?s firing of United States attorneys. The subpoena could force an interesting constitutional fight since President Obama would now be in a position to waive executive privilege and Attorney General nominee Eric Holder could allow the matter [...

Fatal ?Gasser? at Pleasure Ridge High: Football Coach Charged With Reckless Homicide

Posted on January 27, 2009
Jason Stinson, the football coach of Pleasure Ridge High School in Kentucky, has been charged with reckless homicide in the death of a teenage player, Max Gilpin, 15. Gilpin collapsed from heat exhaustion on August 20, 2008 during a practice and died three days later...

Fun With Fugu: Seven Hospitalized For Eating Bad Blowfish Testicles

Posted on January 27, 2009
Now, this is a tort that can only be found in Japan. Yes (if you are wondering) there appears to be “good” and “bad’ blowfish testicles. Seven people have been hospitalized after eating the testicles prepared in the Japanese city of Tsuruoka by an unlicensed Fugu chef...

Replicating Palin: ?SarahPac? Seeks to Elect Allies of Palin in Offices Around the Nation

Posted on January 27, 2009
For those who cannot tire of Sarah Palin, relief is at hand. SarahPac is a new political action committee that will be seeking to elect officials around the country who are mavericky enough to be allies of the Alaskan governor. This Palinites will be funded around the country, according th the new website...

Congress Re-Considers D.C. Vote Legislation

Posted on January 27, 2009
This morning, I will be testifying again in opposition to the current legislation to create a new form of non-state voting member in the House of Representative for the District of Columbia. My testimony is linked below. As I state in my testimony, I have many friends on the other side of this debate, including [...

Faith-Based Part II: Obama?s Expansion of the Bush Policies of Faith-Based Initiatives

Posted on January 26, 2009
As we approach the one-week anniversary of the Obama administration, it is a bit early to judge the level of true change brought by the 44th president. However, it is becoming increasingly clear what is not going to change (at least for the better) in the Obama administration...

Christians Can?t Jump: Coach Grimes Fired for Beating Girl?s Basketball Team 100 To 0

Posted on January 26, 2009
Now, this could make for an wrongful termination lawsuit. Micah Grimes, the coach of Covenant School of Dallas, was reportedly fired after refusing to apologize for a 100 - 0 victory of his girls’ basketball team over Dallas Academy. He insists that it is ridiculous to apologize “for a wide-margin victory when [...

New Video Shows A Second Officer Punching Suspect Before Oscar Grant Shot by Johannes Mehserle

Posted on January 26, 2009
A new video has emerged in the case of Oscar Grant III, who was fatally shot by former transit police officer Johannes Mehserle in a BART station. The new videotape below shows a second officer, reportedly Tony Pirone, striking one of the detained men (possibly Oscar Grant) on January 1st...

Documents Shows Church Officials in Indianapolis Knew of Repeated Sexual Abuse by Priest But Transferred Him to Other Churches

Posted on January 26, 2009
In shocking documents reviewed by the Indianapolis Star, disclosed evidence shows that the Archdiocese of Indianapolis was fully aware that Father Harry Monroe was molesting numerous boys from 1974 to 1984 and allowed him to continue by transferring him from church to church rather than calling the police or terminating his employment or both...

Death at the Motor Sports Monster Truck and Thrill Show

Posted on January 26, 2009
There has been a second death in a monster truck show this month. In Madison, George Eisenhart Jr., 41, of Chardon, Ohio died after he walked in front of a passing monster truck at the Dane County Coliseum. This is nine days after a boy was killed in Tacoma, Washington by flying debris [...

My Totally Radiculous Ride: Fourteen-Year-Old Boy in Chicago Tricks Police Into Giving Him a Squad Car and Assignment for Four Hours

Posted on January 26, 2009
The Chicago Police Department is struggling to explain this morning how a 14-year-old boy walked into Grand Crossing District station impersonating a police officer and was given an assignment in a squad car for five hours before anyone realized that he was too young to drive, let one patrol the streets of the city...

Mexico Man in Paris Sues State of Maine in Oxford Court Over Religious Use of Pot

Posted on January 25, 2009
Norman Hutchinson, 48, is a member of the Religion of Jesus Church who lives in Mexico, Maine. He has filed a lawsuit in the Oxford Courthouse in Paris Maine against the state, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Mexico Police Department to protect his right to use marijuana for religious reasons...

Federal Court Rules Against Hasidic Jews Who Challenged Public Housing Rule

Posted on January 25, 2009
A federal court in Ungar v. New York City Housing Authority, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3578 (SD NY, Jan. 14, 2009) has ruled against the claims of a Hasidic group that the New York City Housing Authority should be required to give them preference in allocating units in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn...

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