Brandon and Scott Got Some ‘Splainin’ to Do!

I’m somewhat relieved that California is not the only screwed up place…. Come on Memphis — straighten up!

Stolen from the AP (who can go “F” themselves):

Two guns used in high-profile shootings this year at the Pentagon and a Las Vegas courthouse both came from the same unlikely place: the police and court system [...]

Saturday Open Thread

Al-Qaeda Seven Ain't John Adams

John Adams, American Founder and talented lawyer, represented the British soldiers prosecuted for the “Boston Massacre”. There has been a move — successfully — to get the Obama DOJ to release the names of seven political appointees in the Attorney General’s office who voluntarily represented Gitmo detainees — aka captured member of al-Qaeda. [...]

Want Some Candy?

So we’re talking about sentencing and punishment today in my Courts/Criminal Procedure class and one of students makes a comment that we should have a return of gladiator battles for punishment. “For whom?” I ask. “Child molesters” he says. So then I ask if he expected them to have slap fights in [...]

Line 'em up

Take your pick for a fave, folks, from Billboard’s list of musician mugshots. I’m still stunned Ol’ Blue Eyes was brought in on a charge of adultery and going with Ozzy in a St. Louis Blues jersey, George Clinton running a close second.

It’s been a busy week for our less law-abiding celebrities. Not only did [...]

Get A Load Of My Weapons!

No really.

The Other Shoe: Eric Massa

Last week I posted on Democratic Congressman Eric Massa in Dutch for “sexually harassing” a “junior” male staffer. Well, as with most things related to the House of Representatives in the Age of Obama it seems there’s more — a LOT more to the story. Outlaw had linked to a bit from [...]

Riddle Me This....

First term Massachusetts Congressman Eric Massa — a DEMOCRAT — is not seeking reelection this fall. He says the reason is his health… others say it is that he made unwanted advances to a male staffer. Massa is married with kids.

From Politico.com:

First-term Rep. Eric Massa announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, [...]

Zombie Nazis: They're Everywhere

As long as we’re talking about Nazis, how about considering the electronic variety? When they first started hitting the streets, red-light cameras seemed like a good idea. We’ve all seen people screaming through red lights and we’ve all had to jam on our brakes because some idiot decided that he was going to make a [...]

Thursday Open Thread

149 years ago today — Lincoln’s First Inauguration:

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that [...]

Parking Nazis

It seems they are the scourge of Western Civilization. Theodore Dalrymple, one of my favorite writers, recently got a parking ticket over in the UK and he blogged about it at his blog (group blog) The Social Affairs Unit:

The alacrity, efficiency and speed with which monies are collected from certain members of the public [...]

We Meant What We Wrote

Let me preface this post regarding the Chicago gun ban case by saying this: I think the Chicago ordinance is foolish, evil, stupid, and an abomination. The plaintiff, Mr. McDonald is correct when he says the city government favors thugs over him. It does. I also believe Heller v. DC was correctly [...]

Taking Aim At Anti-Gun Nuts, Act 2

Today is a big day for the Second Amendment as the Supreme Court begins to hear arguments about the city of Chicago’s handgun ban. One of the plaintiffs is an elderly self-described liberal Democrat who lives in Morgan Park, a rough neighborhood on the south side, Otis McDonald. The tough old codger wants to be [...]

Crikey!

We need some more of this and while I agree that POTUS and the office deserve respect — there’s a way to be direct and confrontational without ad hominem.

h/t Jonah Goldberg

Uncle Cholly

Delta Thigh

A flight to Atlanta was canceled because two female flight attendants got in a “disagreement”.

Delta Airlines found other travel arrangements for the passengers and the flight attendants were removed from duty pending investigation. Judging from the security video of the altercation below I hope they go easy on them. And the [...]

Apparently It's Not A Waste

This will boost our traffic to be sure. A woman was apparently saved from a gunshot to the wound to the chest by her D-Cup silicon breast implants. Well OK, a plastic surgeon is making the claim, but he’s got the evidence — or so he says:

Lydia Carranza was working at the Simi [...]

Friday Open Thread

Thursday Thriller

Everyone knows Jane Leigh’s murder in Psycho — naked, shower, blood down the drain, etc. My brother and I were talking earlier today though about to us this scene was more shocking. In 1960 it was shocking I’m sure, but come one… Janet Leigh, beautiful, alone, hardly innocent — of course Hitch would [...]

Duke accuser charged with attempted murder, arson

So says Durham-in-Wonderland. Crystal Mangum, who accused Duke lacrosse players of raping her, and as a party with a corrupt Duke police department and prosecutor, nearly imprisoned several innocent college students. WRAL TV in Durham is saying she tried to burn down a house with three children inside.

I wonder if Jesse Jackson will finally ask [...]

UPDATE: Cheese Felon

The Yolo County DA has decided to drop the life sentence — Three-Strikes charge. From the Sacramento Bee:

Yolo County prosecutors are dropping their bid for a life sentence for a man who put cheese down his pants at a Woodland market.

A recent psychological evaluation convinced prosecutors that Robert Preston Ferguson’s most recent convictions [...]

I Hope It Was Good Cheese

Robert Ferguson was convicted last month of  stealing a woman’s wallet and a package of cheese from a convenience store, and now faces the prospect of life in prison under California’s “three-strikes” law.

From the Sacramento Bee (via Scripps):

Because of a lengthy criminal history that dates back 35 years, including six first-degree burglary convictions, Yolo County [...]

Who Dat Who Owns “Who Dat”?

Who Dat?

Apparently there is a bit of a ruckus over who owns the rights to print the words “Who Dat?” on a t-shirt.

LA Senator David Vitter claims that the city of New Orleans owns that phrase

The NFL is trying to stop a local T-Shirt vendor from making shirts with the phrase saying the Aints [...]

Friday Open Thread

Last One: This IS Retarded

Insert lawyer joke here. The US DOJ is looking for retarded lawyers. The job description for the opening of Trial Lawyer dealing in Voting Rights of the Civil Rights Division reads (bolding mine):

The Civil Rights Division encourages qualified applicants with targeted disabilities to apply. Targeted disabilities are deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or [...]

Crime and Punishment

Rich has an article up at Big Journalism on the James O’Keefe incident at Senator Landrieu’s office.  The piece is fine, but I don’t like the picture that accompanies it:

Come on, Rich!  Be yourself…

There we go.

Anyway, O’Keefe shouldn’t have infiltrated the senator’s office, and he should be punished for his actions.  Something about an order [...]

Joe Walsh: Look what he did (No, the other Joe Walsh)

Though it’s almost a 100% chance a lefty musician’s going to get their hemp panties in a bunch, as an amateur song parodist, it’s always frustrating to see someone’s mimicry-creativity squashed (and Lord knows Neil Young, Dan Baird, Queen, Jeff Lynne and Mick & Keef would do likewise if my takes on their respective tunes [...]

In Class Today

A lot of criminals are idiotic, self-justifying morons. In class today we’re watching an interview (of which this includes parts) with Richard Kuklinski aka The Iceman and forensic psychologist Parke Dietz. This guy was the real deal…. Very few people are really scary… a guy who is a sociopath, is fearless and [...]

Miranda Ain’t Just a Moon of Uranus

You can read about the events immediately after the arrest of Umar Abdulmutallab (aka “The Pantybomber”) in the Washington Post:

Captured after a bomb hidden in his underwear ignited but did not explode, Abdulmutallab initially spoke freely and provided valuable intelligence, officials said. Federal agents repeatedly interviewed him or heard him speak to others. When they [...]

Original Intent

We didn’t say much this year about the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade last Friday. Reader Kenn Christenson linked in the comments to this fantastic and sobering article from The Weekly Standard about how experience and ultrasound force many abortionists into a crisis of conscience and ultimately, of course, a choice.

I’m always reminded [...]

Forensic Toxicology

Here is a fascinating article from The Wall Street Journal and the golden age of poisoners and the scientists who battled and still battle them.

In 1906, Belle Gunness started running personal ads in Midwestern papers. She described herself as an attractive widow with a lush Indiana farm property, interested in an equally affluent new husband. [...]

Coach Reeves: Race Traitor?

Aren’t we all tired of high-flying dunks and super-tall basketball players. Well if you yearn for the days of peach baskets, set shots, chest passes and lay-ups then your day is almost here. From the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle:

A new professional basketball league boasting rosters made up exclusively of white Americans has its eyes [...]

Good Advice from Chris Rock

I’m a teaching a course this semester on mass media and portrayals of the criminal justice system, crime, and criminality. Today is Rodney King day… I’ll have to show this Chris Rock classic. Language is NSFW or kids Tracy!

Lawyers: Funny People!

Duck Ducky!

From TMZ:

Jon Cryer — who stars with Charlie Sheen in “Two and a Half Men” — told authorities his life was in danger — possibly by a hitman — and TMZ has learned the FBI is investigating.

Cryer sounded the alarm last Friday. Sources tell us Cryer told law enforcement he believed his ex-wife hired a [...]

Floyd, Please Explain

Is his dissent on the decision that overturned McCain-Feingold, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote:

Although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it.

Well then, whose society are they members of I wonder?

The podium is yours professor. Like Don Mossi, I’m all ears.

Crisis and Command: John Yoo on Uncommon Knowledge

Peter Robinson interviews John Yoo, the Justice Department lawyer who determined that the use of enhanced interrogation methods on terrorist prisoners was constitutional.

The first part of the five-part interview can be found here, or you can download the entire interview here.  (Second link will launch iTunes.)

The forty-minute discussion covers the inherent executive powers granted to [...]

Tiller’s Killer’s Defense

This seems like a bad idea:

A Kansas judge has again refused to block a confessed abortion clinic killer from arguing in court that he should be spared a murder conviction because he believed he was saving unborn children.

Wouldn’t this open the door for eco-terrorists to use this defense?  “Saving the planet” would also include saving [...]

Onan the Barbarian

Remember this guy? Scott Ritter, former weapons inspector in Iraq and Bush-basher extraordinaire…. Well… it seems he’s still inspecting weapons — until it hurts.

From The Smoking Gun:

Scott Ritter, the controversial former chief U.N. weapons inspector and fierce Bush administration critic, is facing sexual exploitation of children charges after he was caught in an [...]

Europe Adopts ‘Andy Taylor’ Fine-Setting System

A while back, Lars Walker described Sheriff Andy Taylor’s first appearance on the tube:

I saw the episode and remember it. It was the Danny Thomas Show. Danny blew into Mayberry and got a ticket for speeding, or illegal parking, or something. Andy arrested him, and then arraigned him (being both local cop and justice of [...]

Who’s Anti Trust?

Is the NFL a single entity or a collection of 32 individual entities that can act separately? That basic question comes up before the U.S. Supreme Court this week. The case, NFL v. American Needle, comes up for argument this week and New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees weighs in at The Washington [...]

Insanity? Please

Tomorrow afternoon I’m giving a guest lecture on the insanity defense to a graduate psychology course entitled “The Psychopathic Mind”. The usual suspects appear of course:

And Bundy and Gacy, etc. All cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs — yet none insane (except for Andrea Yates). I found a particularly chilling 911 call [...]

Sorry, you just plain suck

Idiotic lawsuits, ya gotta love ‘em. God knows what the lawsuit would be if the gal also had a “raspberry” on her ass. Personally, I think if you haven’t been taught how to slide by the time you’re 15, you have other softball/baseball-related problems, and if you must sue, go after your 8-year-old coach.

Alina Cerda, [...]

Nothing to See Here.

Nice job “privacy advocates”. Because we want to respect the privacy of a few Muslims we all get to undergo this. On the upside? Someone at TSA is gonna get to look at your wimmins Abdullah. Chew on that. Thank Gaia that wasn’t a picture of John Napolitano. I [...]

Janus Reus?

Slate’s column The Explainer has named its 2009 Question of the Year: “If a Siamese Twin Commits Murder, Does His Brother Get Punished, Too?”

There isn’t much case law to work with on this question, since in the United States, at least, conjoined twins represent something like 0.0005 percent of all live births—with an even [...]