TB, another thing to consider (and which is usually never considered) is original intent. What did the drafters and ratifiers of a Constitutional provision or a statutory one mean by the words they drafted and ratified. In its opinions SCOTUS raely anymore refres to original intent. Certainly, the original intent of the drafters ansd ratifiers of the 13th amendment was not to prohibit compelled military srevice through a draft or elements of imprisonment. But your due process reference is also essential to an understanding of legal actions. Due process also receives little attention.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A federal judge Tuesday ordered the government to stop banning openly gay men and women from serving in the military under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips found the policy unconstitutional in September. On Tuesday, she rejected an Obama administration request to delay an injunction and ordered enforcement of the 17-year-old policy permanently stopped.

The Justice Department has 60 days to appeal. Legal experts say the government is under no legal obligation to do so and they could let Phillips' ruling stand.

The federal government is reviewing the ruling and has no immediate comment, said Tracy Schmaler, spokesman for the Justice Department.

Judge's Order to Military

How funny. I live in Riverside County and just returned from jury duty. I saw the headline but wasn't aware where this judge was.

Anyway, I am confused as to why the Obama administration would delay it??? He's for ending it. Legal issues or something????


TIS

Sometimes we get frustrated with the justice system. Much of that frustration may be due (probably is) to our lack of understanding about how the justice system works, due process, and the impact of court opinions on process and procedure. I thought the following statement regarding a civil lawsuit in federal court examplifies what I am refering to above. See if you can interpret it:


"On August 6, 2010, the Court set a briefing schedule after receipt of Settling Plaintiffs’ Submission Complying with the Court’s Order Conditionally Granting Request for Second Notice, and Alternative Notice Proposal. The Court took this submission as a partial motion for reconsideration, and gave the Objecting Plaintiffs the opportunity to fully brief the issue. On August 23, 2010, the Objecting Plaintiffs filed an opposition to Settling Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration. On August 30, 2010, the Settling Plaintiffs filed their reply, and Defendants filed their responses."

ABA some years ago suggested that a committee be formed to simplify legal language to avoid stuff like that. It was rejected because, over the centuries, complex language like that had taken on solid, legal lingua franca meaning, and to change it would be to ironically introduce new levels of ambiguity.

One of my pet peeves is how the Feds can convict practically anyone on a "conspiracy" rap. In a conspiracy case, the government doesn't have to prove that you actually did anything bad--only that you were conspiring to do so with others. And, the judge will allow "uncorroborated testimony from unindicted co-conspirators." What that means is that if the Feds think I was conspiring with you, they can haul me in, accuse me of being a co-conspirator, then withold indicting me pending my "cooperation" at your trial. In other words, they can coerce me into testifying against you.

Morton Sobell, a co-defendant at the Rosenberg trial in 1951, was convicted of "conspiracy" to violate the Espionage Act of 1917 by having five conversations with Julius Rosenberg about spying. Gov't never specified what they conspired to steal, nor did they ever say Sobell actually stole anything--only that he was "conspiring" with Rosenberg. The only witness against Sobell was Max Elitcher, a former pal who was an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the case. Elitcher testified that Rosenberg tried to recruit him several times, and that Sobell tried on behalf of Rosenberg. But, he never said that he saw the two together. He also said Sobell asked him to drive him to Rosenberg's apartment to deliver a 35-mm film can. Never said Sobell told him what was in it, or that he looked inside. His testimony alone got Sobell a 30-year sentence, some of it served at Alcatraz.

This will no doubt have increased significance as the Health Care Reform passed takes effect. The ironic thing about this lawsuit is that the Michigan Attorney General, Mike Cox, is a Republican also involved in lawsuits to find portions of the HCR unconstitutional.

Millions of Michigan consumers have paid higher health insurance premiums over the last three years because Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan forced at least 70 hospitals statewide to charge its competitors more, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by the U.S. Justice Department and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox.

The antitrust lawsuit alleges that Blue Cross -- the state's largest insurer -- used its muscle and size to negotiate deep discounts for itself.

The hospitals include Beaumont Hospitals, St. John Providence Health System and Botsford Hospital. The lawsuit alleges that the practice drove up prices for competitors such as Health Alliance Plan, one of the state's biggest health maintenance organizations, and at-large private insurers such as Aetna and Humana.

In some cases, Blue Cross paid hospitals more than what was proposed to close the deal, the Justice Department alleges. If it prevails, other insurers and their customers might get better deals on hospital prices.

In a statement, Blue Cross spokesman Andrew Hetzel said the insurer's negotiated discounts keep costs reasonable for its members. He said the lawsuit was "without merit."

The Justice Department has won five similar cases since 1994 in Ohio, Rhode Island, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Arizona.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was so eager to crush the competition that it sometimes paid even more than it proposed if a hospital agreed to charge other insurance companies much higher prices, state and federal attorneys charged Monday in a lawsuit filed in Detroit's federal court....

Full Article with graphics

A unique legal situation that arose locally in federal court that involves some of the Fifth Amendment issues discussed above by olivant and Turnbull.

Thae facts: Schuylkill Products began as a company in Pottsville, PA after WWII by Joseph Nagle, who manufactured and installed building materials with prestressed concrete. The business boomed and expanded. He died in 1980 and his son, Nagle II took over until his death in 2004 whereupon his son,Nagle III and son-in-law, Fink, battled over control of the company. They agreed to share control. In 2007 federal indictments were issued against a dozen former and present officers of the company dating back to 1992. It was determined that the co. engaged in massive fraud in securing hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts by fraudulently representing itself as a minority contractor. They conspired with a Connecticut company (mostly Filipino), and used that company name when performing work. They kicked back millions to the sham co. Most of the defendants pled guilty. Fink and Nagle III were charged last, and Fink entered a guilty plea without agreeing to cooperate with authorities and is awaiting sentencing. Nagle III maintained that he had no involvement in the schemes, which largely predated his involvement with the company, and is the only defendant awaiting trial.

The issue: In his defense he alleges that a journal and testimony of Fink would exculpate him. Fink is refusing to testify for him, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Nagle III has taken the extraordinary step of requesting the judge to grant use immunity to Fink to compel his testimony and the introduction of his journal into evidence. Normally the prosecution determines if immunity should be granted. The judge, named Rambo, granted the request over objections of Fink and the prosecution. Rambo noted that the situation presents a conflict between Nagle III's Sixth Amendment Right to a fair trial and Fink's Fifth Amendment rights, and therefore determined that granting Fink immunity is necessary to guarantee a fair trial for Nagle III.

The prosecution has appealed and the novel issue will be determined by the Third Circuit. Stay tuned.

Kly, that's a point that is often missed by people: the balancing of one right against another. It reminds me of free speech balanced against the right to a fair trial when a gag order is issued. If only our Nation's Founders had footnoted the Constitution.

Never grant a Fink immunity...

The Associated Press, October 22, 2010

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Lindsay Lohan sidestepped another jail stint Friday when a California judge sent the 24-year-old troubled starlet back to rehab, telling her she was an addict and faced jail time if she relapsed again.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox ordered Lohan to remain at the Betty Ford Center until Jan. 3 and report back to court in late February.

A former Grand Rapids man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to spy for the People’s Republic of China.

Glenn Duffie Shriver, 28, told a federal judge at a court hearing in Alexandria, Va., that he was befriended by Chinese intelligence officers while studying in Shanghai, agreed to spy for them and was in the process of finalizing a job at the Central Intelligence Agency when U.S. authorities found out what he was up to.

Although the Chinese paid him $70,000 for his services, prosecutors said, it appears no secrets were passed. Prosecutors didn’t explain how he was caught.

He was arrested in June in Detroit while trying to board a plane for South Korea.

“Mr. Shriver threw away his education, his career and his future when he chose to position himself to spy for the PRC,” U.S. Attorney Neil McBride in eastern Virginia, said in a statement announcing the plea. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Shriver faces a possible four years in prison at sentencing Jan. 21, 2011, in Alexandria.

Court papers said Shriver was an undergraduate international relations student at Grand Valley State University who spent a year in 2002-2003 studying at East China Normal University in Shanghai.

After graduating from Grand Valley in 2004, he returned to Shanghai and responded to an advertisement soliciting people to write a political paper.

Prosecutors said he was contacted by a woman named “Amanda,” who paid him $120 for the paper he wrote. Later, she introduced him to two men, identified as Wu and Tang. All three were intelligence officers for the People’s Republic, prosecutors said.

Over the course of several meetings, the three intelligence officers and Shriver hatched a scheme for Shriver to land a job at the U.S. State Department or CIA and pass classified information to the Chinese, prosecutors said.

Would be spy busted

Grand Rapids?? Hey that's my old neck of the woods. Okay, so he's formerly from G.R. I mean Detroit in the news no big deal but G.R.? Anyway, a spy case no less is pretty major. I can only imagine what kind of a sentence this guy will get.

I know Grand Valley University too. I didn't go there but went to a concert or two there once in the 60's


TIS

Does anyone know the story behind the Quaids bazarre behavior? Are they broke or just nuts?

Something tells me they're just batshit crazy. No wonder he always got the role of a crazy person in his movies.

You know, I mostly know Quaid from the National Lampoons vacation series. Maybe he isn't acting as much as I thought. I don't know though?? To claim they fear they'll be murdered? I'm thinking they're crazy too, but who knows.



TIS

That right there is some durn fine shooting, little lady..

Annie get your gun

The fearless and well-groomed cop who faced down an armed robber in a Brooklyn beauty parlor managed to shoot the pistol right out of the crook's hands, cops said Monday.

And in a scene that would be over the top even for the most unbelievable Hollywood cop movie, one of her bullets hit the front door - and locked it.....

I saw this story on the local news. She's been getting a lot of coverage, as you can imagine. Good for her!

Our Brooklyn chicks are tough.

Can you believe this !


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A teenager who attracted national media attention after she couldn't stop hiccuping for five weeks has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly luring a man to a house where he was robbed and fatally shot.

Jennifer Mee, 19, appeared on NBC's TODAY several times in 2007 because of her condition, which caused her to hiccup up to 50 times a minute.

She tried various cures without success, until the hiccups eventually stopped. The teenager said at the time it was not known exactly why, but credited "a mixture of everything and all the medicine they had me on" in an interview on the TODAY show.

Sgt. T.A. Skinner of the St. Petersburg Police Department said in a news release that Mee on Saturday lured the victim, Shannon Griffin, 22, to a home where the others robbed him at gunpoint. Griffin struggled with the suspects and was shot several times, police said.

Nothing that happens in Florida surprises me anymore, Oli. The weirdness bar for crimes committed in the Sunshine State is set higher than anywhere else in the country.

Now I'm the kinda man that wouldn't harm a mouse
But if I catch somebody breaking in my house
I've got a twelve gauge shotgun waiting on the other side

So don't try to push me against my will
I don't want to hurt you but I damn sure will
So if you don't want trouble then you'd better just pass me by

Fed up with crime

Frustrated residents forming watch groups, hiring security guards, arming themselves
George Hunter, Santiago Esparza and Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

Detroit— Pamela Malone and Tigh Croff are symbolic of Detroiters' frustration with crime, although they had vastly different ways of dealing with the problem.

Malone, president of the Historic Boston-Edison Association, hired a private security firm to patrol her neighborhood, which has seen a rash of recent home invasions.

Croff, whose east side home was the frequent target of break-ins, chased down a burglar the night of Dec. 28 and shot him in the chest.

Whether they're organizing neighborhood watch groups, hiring security guards or arming themselves, Malone, Croff and other Detroiters said they are fed up with crime and are taking matters into their own hands.

"We're just trying to preserve our community, rather than just complaining about the crime problem," said Malone, whose association hired Dusing Security & Surveillance to watch the neighborhood two years ago. "We realize the city is strapped, so we're dealing with reality — if there aren't enough police officers, what can we do to protect our property and quality of life?"

Croff's attorney, Gerald Evelyn, said citizens often feel the need to take action because there aren't enough police to respond to emergencies quickly. The average response time for dangerous runs in Detroit is 24 minutes from the time a 911 call is received, according to statistics released in April.

Nationwide statistics are not available, but Atlanta, Ga., police have an 11-minute average response time and in Washington, D.C., police respond in an average of eight minutes, according to statistics released last year by those departments.

"Police are stretched to the limit and can't get to every run in time, so people are frustrated," said Evelyn, whose client was charged with manslaughter. The jury in the trial deliberated for four days in August without reaching a verdict. A retrial is scheduled for Jan. 10.

"People feel they have to fend for themselves," Evelyn said.

Raphael B. Johnson, a community activist who has organized patrols in several Detroit neighborhoods, said, "No one is going to come and save us, so we have to help ourselves."

Johnson, who made a recent unsuccessful attempt for a seat on the Detroit City Council, added: "Any time the community is made unsafe for women, children and the elderly, the men have to stand up and do something."

The frustration with crime isn't just a Detroit phenomenon, said David Benelli, a retired New Orleans police lieutenant and member of the victims rights organization Crimefighters.

"People feel like the perpetrators have more rights than victims," Benelli said. "If you have a person who commits a crime, and both the perp and victim are injured, the perp gets all his medical expenses taken care of, whereas the victims have to fend for themselves."

Overcrowded jails, which force officials to release prisoners early, and declining police budgets add to the problem, Benelli said. "Here in New Orleans, the city is in dire financial straits, and police have to take one unpaid furlough day every two weeks. So there are less officers patrolling."

Brenda Mixon said it's up to citizens to defend themselves. Mixon's husband, Omar Mixon, 36, fatally shot 20-year-old Kenyon Reese Jr. outside a west side gas station Oct. 19 after police say Reese tried to carjack Mixon's Cadillac Escalade with a 5-year-old girl in the back seat.

Mixon said her husband, who has a concealed weapon permit, was going to surrender his Escalade "and the guy shot him anyways."

"You work so hard to get what you want, and somebody just wants to take it from you," she said. "That's why people get CCW permits. It is to protect yourself and your family. You should be able to protect yourself."

Statistics suggest more people in Wayne County are feeling the need to protect themselves: Since 2001, when the county loosened the restrictions for concealed weapon permits, the number of permits issued has more than tripled, from 4,217 to 12,656 last year.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee has repeatedly stressed the need for citizens to help his manpower-strapped department, which numbers about 3,000 officers after years of layoffs — but he said citizens should never take the law into their own hands.

"I believe it is a dangerous and unwise practice for citizens to perform law enforcement responsibilities in making arrests," Godbee said. "The dangers inherent in doing so are too self-evident to require elaboration. The advice I would give today is the same advice that police departments have always given: Do not attempt to apprehend a criminal suspect yourself. Notify the police."

Dennis Sullins, who lives in southwest Detroit, said he doesn't care whether it's police or outraged neighbors who catch the two men who robbed and beat his 88-year-old mother, who is confined to a wheelchair.

"It doesn't matter to me how they get caught — I just want to know who did it, and I want them to pay," said Sullins, 49. His mother, Emma Jean Sullins, was hospitalized in August after being attacked inside her home on Lansing Street.

Dennis Sullins was among hundreds of people who searched his neighborhood for the two men responsible.

"Sometimes, you can get justice in the court system, but sometimes you can't," Sullins said. "To me, vigilante justice is still justice."

Johnson, who organized patrols searching for Emma Jean Sullins' attackers, is one of the founders of Detroit 300. The organization got its name after 300 people showed up in the neighborhood to help look for the men who allegedly raped a 90-year-old woman on the city's northwest side in August. Godbee credited the group's efforts with catching the suspects, Maurice Randall, 17, and Anthony Hardy, 18, who await trial in December.....

4-Year-Old Can Be Sued, Judge Rules in Bike CaseBy ALAN FEUER
Published: October 28, 2010

Citing cases dating back as far as 1928, a judge has ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence.

The ruling by the judge, Justice Paul Wooten of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, did not find that the girl was liable, but merely permitted a lawsuit brought against her, another boy and their parents to move forward.

Powerhouse Heir found guilty of murder
A Wayne County jury today found Peter Dabish guilty of first-degree felony murder and torture in the death of Diana DeMayo.

DeMayo, 23, was killed in a fatal beating in March at the Fort Shelby Apartments in downtown Detroit.
Dabish, 24, whose late father cofounded the Powerhouse Gym franchise, showed no reaction as the verdict was announced.

Surrey Accusation

False rape accusation 'destroyed life' of Surrey man

Kate Woodhead Woodhead made her accusation when Mr Joseph ended their 18-month relationship.

A man who was falsely accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend has said it will take years to rebuild his life.

Paul Joseph said Kate Woodhead, 31, who was jailed for three years on Monday, left him with nothing when she accused him of rape at their home in Surrey.

He lost his job as an IT consultant, his home and his collection of cars.

"For me, it is as if someone's house burned down and everything they owned was in it. That is effectively what happened to me," he said.

Guildford Crown Court heard Woodhead told police Mr Joseph, 39, had drugged her before attacking her at their home near Wisley.

She then stole property worth about £23,500, including an expensive stereo and art prints, and transferred ownership of his sports car and motorcycle to her own name.

Mr Joseph said she had also transferred to her name the £4,000-a-month rented home.

"I walked out of the house wearing my suit when I was arrested and I never saw anything again apart from one briefcase and a work laptop," he said.

The rape investigation was dropped when officers became suspicious that Woodhead had made it up and she was charged, but by this time Mr Joseph had lost his job...

Supreme Court takes up class action lawsuits.

LA Times Column

It hasn't gotten a lot of press, but a case involving AT&T that goes before the U.S. Supreme Court next week has sweeping ramifications for potentially millions of consumers.

If a majority of the nine justices vote the telecom giant's way, any business that issues a contract to customers — such as for credit cards, cellphones or cable TV — would be able to prevent them from joining class-action lawsuits.

This would take away in such cases arguably the most powerful legal tool available to the little guy, particularly in cases involving relatively small amounts of money. Class-action suits allow plaintiffs to band together in seeking compensation or redress, thus giving substantially more heft to their claims.

The ability to ban class actions would potentially also apply to employment agreements such as union contracts.

Consumer advocates say that without the threat of class-action lawsuits, many businesses would be free to engage in unfair or deceptive practices. Few people would litigate on their own to resolve a case involving, say, a hundred bucks.

"The marketplace is fairer for consumers and workers because there's a deterrent out there," said Deepak Gupta, an attorney for the advocacy group Public Citizen who will argue on consumers' behalf before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

"Companies are afraid of class actions," he said. "This helps keep them honest."

The case is AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion. The basic question before the court is whether companies can bar class actions in the fine print of their take-it-or-leave-it contracts with customers and employees.

High courts in California and elsewhere have ruled that class-action bans are unconscionable and contrary to public policy.

At issue at next week's court hearing is whether the Federal Arbitration Act of 1925 preempts state courts from striking down class-action bans. The federal law requires both sides in a dispute to take their grievance to an arbitrator, rather than a court, if both sides have agreed in advance to do so.

Vincent and Liza Concepcion sued AT&T in 2006 after signing up for wireless service that they'd been told included free cellphones. The Concepcions alleged that they and other Californians had been defrauded by the company because the phones actually came with various charges.

AT&T asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California to dismiss the case because its contract forbade class actions. The court declined, ruling that a class-action ban violates state law and is not preempted by the federal law.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower-court ruling last year. AT&T subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case.

William B. Gould IV, a professor emeritus at Stanford Law School and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board under President Clinton, said the high court was clearly interested in extending the reach of the Federal Arbitration Act.

"This is a very important issue," he said. "And this Supreme Court has indicated a measure of hostility toward class actions."

Matthew Kaufman, a Los Angeles attorney who focuses on arbitration law, agreed with that perspective.

"This is a very conservative court that's pro-business, and class actions are not good for business," he said...

This is an older story I ran across looking for something else but I could not resist using this quote...


I can tell you with no ego, this is my finest sword. If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut.

NJ Johns Hopkins student uses samurai sword to kill intruder

Alleged rape victim, 14, taunted, kills self
Doug Guthrie and George Hunter / The Detroit News


Huron Township— High school freshman Samantha Kelly endured taunts and isolation during her last month in school, classmates said, after news surfaced that she had accused a popular senior of raping her.

On Monday, the 14-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging herself inside her mobile home in Huron Estates, off Inkster, south of King. Friends and family gathered at her home Tuesday, trying to find ways to cope with the pain and anger.

One relative who was not at the trailer was Samantha's mother, June Justice. She said it would be too painful to return to the site where her daughter killed herself.

Samantha's classmates at Huron High School said the school became divided over the rape allegations, with many students calling her a liar in the halls and on the school bus.
"They all took sides," said 17-year-old senior Sheila Little. "Her friends left her because they said she was lying. It's obvious this pressure had a real impact on her."

Sheila said Samantha confided in her that she had tried to commit suicide three weeks ago by overdosing on pills. "She said, 'I'm tired of people talking about me, so here you go. I might try it again,'" she said.

When news of Samantha's suicide reached the school, Sheila said, many students were unrelenting.

"People were saying, 'She was only doing it for the attention,'" Sheila said. "What kind of attention is that? She didn't ask for this."

Prosecutors plan to drop sexual assault charges against Joseph Tarnopolski, the 18-year-old who was accused of having sex with Samantha. A preliminary court examination was scheduled for today, and Samantha had been subpoenaed to testify....

Full Article

A very interesting legal issue has popped up in a big murder trial in this town:
A stockbroker was on trial for having murdered his ex-wife with a golf club in order to duck paying alimony. One complication was that the ex-wife had a boarder who was suffering from cancer, and who later killed himself. And, the medical examiner found DNA under the victim's fingernails, but none of the DNA matched the ex-husband's. Then his lawyers turned up an anonymous e-mail (sent to them) saying that a bunch of drug dealers had been on the way to kill the boarder because he welshed on paying them. Instead, when they arrived, they found the ex-wife, and killer her. The defendant's lawyers pressed to have it introduced in evidence, but the prosecutor objected, and the judge upheld the prosecutor.

Well, the prosecutor found out that the defendant's daughter sent the e-mail from an Internet cafe, after visiting her father in jail. So, the prosecutor added fraud and other charges against the defendant, and now wanted to have the e-mail introduced as evidence. This resulted in the trial being suspended for weeks while the lawyers and the judge hassled it out. Then the defense team suddely withdrew from the case, citing "conflict of interest." All of these shenanigans have been held in secret.

The local newspaper filed suit to have the judge open up the closed doors and reveal what's been happening. The prosecutor's ok with it. But the defendant's new lawyer (a public defender because he ran out of money, which is probably why his initial team quit) says it'll violate his client's right to a fair trial. The judge is on the verge of declaring a mistrial, which will deepen the secrecy.

A teen rapist (multiples??) gets probation? What's happening NY?

Tony Simmons case

Is the daughter of the defendant also the daughter of the woman who was killed?