Legal Commentary

Scientology Hit with $250 Million RICO Lawsuit

Posted on August 01, 2008
A former scientologist has sued the church for $250 million, alleging that it is a criminal enterprise. Peter Letterese also sued Tom Cruise, who he claims is effectively the right-hand man of Scientology head David Miscavage. The lawsuit seems rather weak and may be designed to simply make it into discovery in the hopes of [...

Federal Court Rules Against Bush Administration on Subpoenas

Posted on July 31, 2008
For months, many experts (including myself) have been arguing that the Bush Administration’s claim of privilege in the congressional investigations (and the refusal to comply with subpoenas) is untenable, if not laughable. Nevertheless, Attorney General Mukasey has refused to allow a grand jury to see the evidence of the criminal contempt by Bush Administration [...

Speaker Pelosi Declares That There is No Evidence of Any Crime by President Bush

Posted on July 31, 2008
After blocking any serious investigation or impeachment hearings on crimes committed by President Bush, Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally addressed the allegations of presidential crimes on that forum of deep intellectual and legal thought: the television show The View...

Afghan Journalist Faces Death if Convicted of Blasphemy ? and Death If He Is Acquitted

Posted on July 31, 2008
In Afghanistan, journalist Ghaws Zalmay faces the death penalty for printing a translation of the Koran (Qur’an) in in Dari, one of Afghanistan’s official languages. Yet, even if he is acquitted religious leaders are promising that he will still be put to death for his blasphemy as required under Sharia law...

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Evangelical Preacher Arrested for Murder of Wife Found in Freezer

Posted on July 31, 2008
In a scene reminiscent of Robert Duvall’s character in The Apostle, Evangelist Anthony Hopkins, 37, was preaching on forgiveness when the police arrived to arrest him for the murder of his wife. The arrest in Mobile, Alabama, came after a relative alerted police to a body in a freezer in his home with eight [...

High Caliber Entertainment: Disney Loses Challenge to Florida Gun Law: Employees May Start to Bring Guns to the Magic Kingdom

Posted on July 31, 2008
A federal judge in Jacksonville, Florida has ruled against Disney in its effort to block employees from bringing guns to work under a new state law. However, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle did uphold the right of the company to bar customers from bringing guns...

Dr. Sami Al-Arian Files With the United States Supreme Court

Posted on July 30, 2008
Today, an appeal was filed on behalf of Dr. Sami Al-Arian before the United States Supreme Court. The petition for a writ of certiorari appeals the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The lower court refused to consider evidence that the prosecutors violated Dr...

Jail Bait High: Texas High School to Force Troublemakers to Wear Prison Jumpsuits

Posted on July 30, 2008
Gonzales High School educators seem to believe that outfitting their students like prisoners is good training for American society in the twenty-first century. They have purchased the jumpsuits for violators of the school dress code. The biggest surprise is that the school was not named after former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales but the [...

Police Officers Honored After Raiding Wrong Home and Shooting Up House Occupied by a Family of Eight

Posted on July 30, 2008
One can certainly understand why the Khang family is a bit confused. This week the Minneapolis police department gave awards to eight police officers who raided the wrong home last year and exchanged gunfire with the father of six who thought that the house was being burglarized...

Famous Texas Prosecutor Henry Wade Becoming Infamous as Cases are Overturned

Posted on July 30, 2008
In his 36 years as Dallas district attorney, Henry Wade became the thing of legend. He was the man who prosecuted Jack Ruby and he was the Wade in Roe v. Wade. Now, seven years after his death, he is again the object of attention. A rising number of his cases are [...

Pool Company President Criminally Charged in Death of Six-Year-Old Boy From Drain Accident

Posted on July 30, 2008
There is an interesting criminal case in Connecticut that falls on the borderline between criminal law and torts. The president of a residential pool company was criminally charged with manslaughter for the death of six-year-old Zachary Cohn, who drowned after having his arm caught in a pool drain...

Shock Video: Police Officer Under Investigation After Video Shows Him Body-Checking Bicyclist

Posted on July 30, 2008
A New York City officer is under investigation after the video below showed him body-checking a bicyclist at a Times Square demonstration called the Critical Mass Ride. What is astonishing is that The biker, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was arrested because he was obstructing traffic in the heart of Times Square, a criminal [...

AYSOS: Father and Three Men Kidnap and Torture Teen Over Mistaken Belief that He Sent Harassing Text Messages to Daughter

Posted on July 30, 2008
In England, James McPhilbin (the first pictured man) was facing a common concern as a father. He was told that a teen boy was sending his daughter harassing text messages. Where most dads would call the parents or even speak to the boy, James’ nephew, Anthony McPhilbin, and two men (Alex Duff and [...

Uncle Sam Wants You, or Else: Media Catches Military Recruiter Lying and Threatening Teenager

Posted on July 29, 2008
Irving Gonzalez signed a non-binding contract with the Army that allowed him to back out of joining the military at any time before appearing for boot camp. However, Army recruiter Sgt. Glenn Marquette was not going to lose a sale to a little act of free will, so he lied to the teenager — [...

Dr. Sami Al-Arian Files Response to Government?s Motion

Posted on July 29, 2008
Shortly before midnight, counsel for Dr. Sami Al-Arian filed his response to the government’s motion in limine. The motion seeks to effectively strip Dr. Al-Arian of any defense and would prevent him from informing the jury that he did in fact answer the questions related to the IIIT investigation...

Senator Ted Stevens Indicted ? At Last

Posted on July 29, 2008
For many years, Ted Stevens has been the virtual symbol of corruption in Washington, making himself a multimillionaire while serving in Congress. Despite detailed accounts of the shady dealings of Stevens and his family, Alaskans continued to return him to Washington where he and colleagues like Don Young tarnished the reputation of both houses...

Federal Court Upholds Sentences of Border Agents Ramos and Compean

Posted on July 29, 2008
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld the controversial sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean for the shooting of an unarmed illegal immigrant and admitted drug smuggler — and then lying about the incident...

Ohio Re-Opens Notorious Murder Case: Charges Morgue Employee for Sexual Assault of Corpse

Posted on July 29, 2008
A truly bizarre case has been docketed in Cincinnati where Ohio citizens (and family members of a victim) are having to revisit one of the state’s most heinous murders. Kenneth Douglas, 55, has been charged with sexual assault of a corpse in 1982 when he worked as a morgue attendant...

Make Love Not War: France Deals With a Outburst of Affection at Vimy Memorial

Posted on July 29, 2008
France is dealing with a uniquely French crime wave: people stripping or having sex at the World War I memorial to the Battle of Vimy Ridge. As with a growing number of cases in the United States of crimes caught on YouTube, the latest couple was caught after they posted their liaison on the [...

Report: Bush Administration Officials Violated Federal Law and Politicized Hiring at the Justice Department

Posted on July 28, 2008
The Justice Department Inspector General Office has completed its review of allegations of violations of federal law by Bush officials in the hiring of prosecutors and immigration judges. The 140-page report found that former Alberto Gonzales aides Monica Goodling or former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson broke federal law and used politics rather than [...

Marital Splat: Man Charged with Driving Around With Wife on Roof

Posted on July 28, 2008
Now this makes for an interesting vehicular assault charge: the victim was not in front of the car or even under the car, but on its roof. Diamond Mircea, 29, of Islip Terrace, N.Y., is charged with assault and drunk driving when he took off with his wife, Monica Mircea, 25, on the [...

Getting Right with God: Church Shooter Allegedly Targeted Knoxville Church Due to its Liberal Views

Posted on July 28, 2008
Knoxville, Tenn. police has released a statement that a letter in the car of church shooter Jim D. Adkisson reveals that he targeted the congregation due to its liberal views on civil liberties and women’s and gay rights. Adkisson killed two people at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in the middle of a [...

U.S. Military Admits to Killing Three Innocent Iraqis By Spraying Their Car with Hundreds of Rounds

Posted on July 28, 2008
It is certainly becoming more and more clear why the Iraqi government wants a date for the withdrawal of our troops from their territory. The U.S. military has admitted that it killed a man and two women on their way to a bank by spraying their car with hundreds of rounds...

Correctional Fluid: Omaha Drunken Driver Tries to Hide Intoxication by Drinking White Out at Station

Posted on July 28, 2008
In Omaha, Nebraska, Juan Briceno had a sudden flash of brilliance. Before the police administered his breathalyzer, he downed a bottle of Wite-Out on the officer’s desk. It turns out that white out does not affect the alcohol in your system. It does, however, turn your tongue and lips white...

Serbia Refuses to Extradite Basketball Star Accused of Brutal Assault on College Student

Posted on July 28, 2008
The United States Senate is getting involved in a growing conflict between the United States and Serbia over the unlawful flight of Miladin Kovacevic, a star basketball player who was on bail for an assault on college student, Bryan Steinhauer. Both were students at Binghamton College...

Al-Arian Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg Profiled

Posted on July 28, 2008
Josh Gerstein has published a profile of lead prosecutor Gordon Kromberg, including reference to our filing alleging selective and malicious prosecution. The government will file a response to that motion, and the other motions, today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia...

Show Stopper: Iran Will Hang 30 People Today

Posted on July 27, 2008
Iran will impress the world today with a demonstration of its technical abilities by hanging 30 people for a variety of crimes from drug possession to simple felonies, including disturbing public safety and security, being a public nuisance while drunk and being involved in illegal relationships...

Shock Video: Toledo Minister Beaten and Tasered After Alleged Joke to Security Guards

Posted on July 27, 2008
Rev. Al Poisson may be looking for some new material. The minister claims that he merely made a passing joke to a security guard when he was dragged out of a hospital, beaten, and tasered. Regardless of the catalyst, the video below has raised some serious questions on the level of force being [...

Outraged by Picture of Israeli Soldiers Shooting of Handcuffed Palestinian, Israeli Commentator Objects to Palestinians Being Given Cameras

Posted on July 27, 2008
Prominent journalist and radio host Uri Orbach has a curious sense of outrage. In a column, Orbach describes the outcry after the release of a recent picture of a handcuffed Palestinian being shot by an Israeli soldier with a rubber bullet at close range...

Bermudan President?s Son and Well-Known Doctor Arrested for Sexual Assault

Posted on July 27, 2008
Dr. Kevin Antario Brown is a well known figure in high society. He is the son of was Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown and runs a medical charity. Now, he is accused of molesting eight patients, including a 15-year-old teenager. The case is particularly serious given the use of an undercover agent — [...

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