Legal Commentary

Video: Baltimore Cop Abuses Teenager Verbally and Physically for Not Showing Enough Respect

Posted on February 12, 2008
This video shows a disturbing moment where a Baltimore police officer goes ballistic after confronting teenagers on the skateboards. He gets increasingly angry and then physical over a lack of respect. Officers can have bad days and this is not a matter that should lead to termination...

South Dakota Legislators Propose Lowering the Age of Hunters to 10

Posted on February 12, 2008
While you may not be tall enough to ride all of the roller coasters at Disneyland, you may soon be able to take a high-powered rifle into the forest and bang away at animals in South Dakota. The legislature is concerned about a drop in hunting, so it is considering dropping the age for [...

A Tribunal in Search of a Purpose: Bush Seeks to Execute Six in Cuba in His Final Eleven Months

Posted on February 11, 2008
President Bush is trying to use his final eleven months in office to guarantee that someone — anyone — will be convicted in his controversial military commission tribunal system. After millions of dollars, international scorn, and years of litigation, the Administration wants to try six detainees in the system...

Bush Administration Seeks to Execute the Latest ?20th Hijacker?

Posted on February 11, 2008
With the Bush Administration seeking to execute six detainees at Cuba including one identified as the “20th hijacker,” this prior column on the line of previously identified “20th hijackers” might be helpful. WILL the real 20th hijacker please stand up? Wednesday, Federal Bureau of Investigation sources disclosed that their agency had uncovered the identity of the [...

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Vatican Approves Exorcism Center to Deal with Rising Demand From the Demonically Challenged

Posted on February 11, 2008
Exorcism is hot. At least, that is the view of Church officials in Poland who are planning to build an exorcism center in a potato field in Poland to deal with rising demand. The announcement came after the fourth International Congress of Exorcists...

Hugo Chavez Threatens to Cut Off Oil to U.S. ? If He Loses in Court

Posted on February 11, 2008
Leave it to Hugo Chavez to make people actually feel sympathetic for Exxon Mobil. Cementing his reputation as an enemy to the rule of law, Chavez is threatening the United States with an oil cutoff if the company wins in a court of law over Chavez’s effort to seize billions of dollars in assets...

Court Blocks Bush Policy that Could Cause Neurological Injuries in 60,000 Newborns Each Year

Posted on February 11, 2008
A federal appellate panel found last week that the Bush Administration’s policy on relaxing controls on power companies would cause neurological injuries in 60,000 newborns a year. The unanimous panel (including Republican appointees) took the relatively rare step to strke down the EPA plan on mercury pollution as inimical to public health...

Disciplined Law Student Appears Before Disciplined Judge in Case Against Regent University

Posted on February 11, 2008
Law Student Adam Key, 23, is learning the practical elements of a first amendment case from his school, Regent University — though not under the usual clinical conditions. He is suing the University after he claims it violated his right to free speech last November in suspending for posting an unflattering picture of Pat [...

Wife Pays Hitman to Drill Dentist Husband

Posted on February 10, 2008
Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova in Queens has been arrested for paying a hitman $20,000 to kill her orthodontist husband, Dr. Daniel Malakov. What is most striking about the attempted hit is how sloppy it was with a trail of money and evidence leading back to the wife...

British Athletes Forced to Sign Agreement Not to Discuss China?s Abuses at Olympics

Posted on February 10, 2008
The British Olympic Association wants to make sure that its athletes do not confuse pollute the games with discussions of basic freedoms while in Beijing for the Olympic Games. Athletes must sign a contract promising not to criticize China for the denial of human rights...

Strong-Arming the Prosecution: Attorney Charged with Assault for Aggressive Handshake

Posted on February 10, 2008
Many attorneys perfect the firm handshake and winning smile as a signature of success. For attorney Kathy Brewer Rentas, 49, it may prove to be also the basis for assault on a prosecutor. Rentas is accused to shaking the hand of Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Keene so hard that it caused injury...

College Student Arrested without Cause, Sent to Hospital, and Then Charged for the Trip

Posted on February 10, 2008
Anne Publicover, a Dalhousie University student, appears to have been arrested for possession of a rodent with intent to pet. Publicover was merely standing before a ban in Halifax when an officer approached her to ask why she was wearing a hoddie and scarf — and carrying a rabbit and a rat...

Administration Reverses Its Earlier Denial of Amy Whitehouse?s Visa

Posted on February 09, 2008
The Bush Administration has reversed its decision to deny a visa to Amy Winehouse due to allegations of drug abuse. However, the visa’s issuance will not result in her attending the Grammy Awards. The entire incident demonstrates the disturbing degree of discretion in the visa system, discretion that can lead to the arbitrary and [...

The End of Electrocution in the United States?: Nebraska Supreme Court Bans Use of Electric Chair as a Method of Execution

Posted on February 09, 2008
The last state has finally accepted what has been obvious to 49 other states: electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. The Nebraska Supreme Court barred the use of the electric chair in the last state that still used it as its sole means of execution...

Sklar - Scientology Case Enters Critical Stage Before Ninth Circuit

Posted on February 08, 2008
Michael and Marla Sklar, a Jewish couple, have led a long and lonely battle against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over what they allege is special treatment given to the Church of Scientology. The IRS has long stonewalled inquiries over the deal with Scientology...

Bush Reportedly Puts 84 Nominees at Risk for the Single Confirmation of Bradbury

Posted on February 08, 2008
Majority Leader Harry Reid has alleged that the Bush White House has offered to effectively trade off 84 nominees to the executive and judicial branches if the Senate confirms Steven Bradbury for head of the Office of Legal Counsel. It is another example of a made man in the Bush White House, who must [...

Supreme Court to Consider Review of ?Hillary: The Movie?

Posted on February 08, 2008
If the Supreme Court “know[s] pornography when [it] sees it.” how about politics? That may be the question with a case seeking review of an appellate decision to treat a documentary entitled “Hillary: The Movie” as akin to a campaign commercial...

A Latte and Hold the Lashes, Please: American Businesswomen Arrested, Strip Searched, and Forced to Sign False Confession for Sitting with Male Colleague at a Starbucks

Posted on February 07, 2008
The most dangerous thing at Saudi Starbucks is not the caffeine — if you are a woman at least. An American businesswoman named Yara (she is withholding her last name) was arrested, strip searched and forced to sign a false confession after she was captured in the act of sitting with a male at a [...

Mukasey Refuses to Allow Criminal Investigation on Torture ? Democrats and Republican Leader Silently Cheer

Posted on February 07, 2008
Attorney General Michael Mukasey has performed the central task for which he was chosen by the President and leading congressional leaders — he is refusing to allow a criminal investigation into water-boarding. It was a decision that seemed inevitable after Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein saved his confirmation...

Court Reduces Punitive Damages Against Radical Anti-Homosexual Church

Posted on February 06, 2008
U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett has reduced by over half the damages awarded against a fundamentalist Kansas Church, which protests funerals of fallen soldiers from Iraq in a bizarre anti-homosexual crusade. The Westboro Baptist Church will now have to pay Albert Snyder, the fatehr of a dead Marine, $5 million rather than $10...

Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Police Officer Over Private Porn Site

Posted on February 06, 2008
The Ninth Circuit has handed down a very interesting decision in a case of a police officer fired because he and his wife ran a private porn site in his free time. In January of 2002, the Chandler Police Department discovered that Officer Ronald Dible was running the site, featuring his wife , Megan Dible, [...

Roger Clemens Testifies Without Immunity in Congress

Posted on February 05, 2008
Baseball legend Roger Clemens is now giving sworn testimony to congressional staff members on the scandal of performance-enhancing drugs. It is a considerable risk for Clemens who appears intent on protecting his legacy — even at the risk of his liberty...

Let the Games Begin: China Prepares for Olympics by Convicting Journalist for Writing About Government Corruption

Posted on February 05, 2008
Many opposed the selection of China as the host for the next Olympics due to its rampant pollution and repression of freedom. China has proven far worse on both fronts. As part of a crackdown on anyone voicing dissent, China has now convicted and sentenced journalist Lu Gengsong “inciting subversion of state power...

Winston Who?: One in Four British Citizens Believe Churchill Never Existed

Posted on February 05, 2008
In an indictment of the once-unassailable British educational system, a quarter of British citizens believe that Winston Churchill was a purely fictional character. However, half believe that Eleanor Rigby, the Beattles’ creation, was a real person.

Dr. Sami Al-Arian Passes Polygraph on Prison Abuse Allegations

Posted on February 04, 2008
As an update to those following the case of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, he agreed last week to participate in a polygraph examination regarding his allegations of verbal and physical abuse in the federal bureau of prisons. He has been incarcerated for refusing to testify before a grand jury...

Supreme Court May Consider Case Against Ashcroft on Detainees

Posted on February 04, 2008
After losing an important appeal before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department appears ready to appeal to the Supreme Court to seek the dismissal of a lawsuit against former attorney general, John Ashcroft, over the abuses of Muslims after September 11th...

Say It Ain?t So Ho: The Late Don Ho is Accused of Breaching a Deathbed Promise to Wife

Posted on February 04, 2008
The singer Don Ho is not making any more songs after his death, but he appears to be making some interesting new law. Ho’s daughter, Dondi Ho-Costa has filed a lawsuit alleging that he violated a deathbed promise made to her mother in 1999 over Lanikai beachfront property...

Calling All Exorcists: Church Seeks Applicants While Cases of Alleged Botched Exorcisms Are Prosecuted

Posted on February 04, 2008
APPLICANTS SOUGHT: FULL-TIME JOB, GOOD MEDICAL, LONG-TERM EMPLOYER, SEE WORLD, CHANCE FOR ULTIMATE ADVANCEMENT. With the economy spinning out of control and the recession deepening, there appears to be some good jobs available in Rome. The Catholic Church is looking for exorcists...

England Approves Benefits for Polygamists

Posted on February 04, 2008
In a surprising development with significance to the on-going debate over polygamy in the United States, the British government has decided that polygamist citizens are entitled public welfare despite the fact the polygamy is illegal in Britain.

Iranian Justice: Two Sisters Sentenced to Be Stoned to Death for Adultery

Posted on February 04, 2008
Another vision of Iranian justice became apparent today with the announcement of a stoning sentence for two sisters accused by their respective husband and brother of adultery. In what passes for a Supreme Court in Iran, the justices upheld the sentences which are based on that country’s Islamic code...

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