Category Archives: Justice System

February 27, 2011 · 1:23 pm

Cops Bust Naked Joyriders

And I thought nothing interesting happened outside of the East and West Coasts…

Then again, there isn’t much else to do in Nebraska…

I’m only surprised it didn’t happen in my old home town in Virginia.

Yet….

Here’s one style of driving that will really get your motor running.

A routine traffic stop in Lincoln, Neb., turned interesting when a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a pickup truck loaded with naked people.

After getting a tip about a suspicious vehicle, a Lancaster County deputy spotted a truck that matched the vehicle’s description on Feb. 18 at around 2:25 a.m., according to JournalStar.com.

Some suspects are caught with their pants down. Others are caught with no pants at all. Police say this drunken driving suspect was driving naked in a pickup truck with three nude passengers. Nickolus Borgman is accused of driving under the influence and other violations after a sheriff’s deputy pulled him over and spotted two nude men and two nude women crammed in the front seat of the truck.

Inside the pickup, the officer encountered two nude men and two nude women, all sitting in the front seat.

When the deputy asked what the four naked people were doing in the truck, one reportedly responded, “Well, I think we’re getting in trouble.”

via Cops Bust Naked Joyriders.

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February 27, 2011 · 1:13 pm

FOX NEWS BOSS ROGER AILES TO BE INDICTED???

If only this is true!!!

From Henry Blodget

Last week it was revealed that legendary FOX News boss Roger Ailes allegedly told underling Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators to protect Rudy Giuliani.

Regan reportedly has a tape of the telephone call in which Ailes urged her to do this.

If this story is true, and the telephone call is clear, Ailes would obviously be exposed to obstruction-of-justice charges.

And now the scuttlebutt is that Ailes will in fact be indicted.

Here’s financial commentator Barry Ritholtz:

Someone I spoke with claimed that Ailes was scheduled to speak at their event in March, but canceled. It appears that Roger’s people, ostensibly using a clause in his contract, said he “cannot appear for legal reasons.”

I asked “What, precisely, does that mean?”

The response: “Roger Ailes will be indicted — probably this week, maybe even Monday.”

If the scuttlebutt is true, THIS will be the trial of the century.

via FOX NEWS BOSS ROGER AILES TO BE INDICTED???.

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February 18, 2011 · 9:28 pm

ThinkProgress » Rep. Chris Murphy Announces Bill To End Supreme Court Immunity To Judicial Ethics Law

This would be one small, but solid step toward rebuilding integrity in Government and force accountability…

The Code of Conduct for United States Judges provides that in almost all circumstances, “a judge should not personally participate in fund-raising activities.” Yet, because the Justices of the Supreme Court have exempted themselves from this Code, conservative Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito have all participated in high-dollar fundraisers for right-wing political causes. In response to this unethical — but technically legal — conduct by these three justices, Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is pushing a bill that would end the Supreme Court’s immunity to federal ethics law:

After learning about outrageous actions by Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) is working on legislation to end conflicts of interest at the nation’s highest court.  In the midst of the Citizens United case, Thomas and Scalia were hosted by the infamous Koch brothers, who funded many of the attacks ads this fall, at lavish retreats intended to discuss their radical agenda and plot political strategy on issues like the Citizens United case. . . .

Murphy’s bill will:

apply the Judicial Conference’s Code of Conduct, which applies to all other federal judges, to Supreme Court justices.  This would allow the public to access more timely and detailed information when an outside group wants to have a justice participate in a conference, such as the funders of the conference;

require the justices to simply publicly disclose their reasoning behind a recusal when they withdraw from a case;

require the Court to develop a process for parties to a case before the Court to request a decision from the Court, or a panel of the Court, regarding the potential conflict of interest of a particular Justice.

Murphy’s bill would make Scalia, Thomas and Alito’s fundraising activities unambiguously illegal. Yet, while ending the justices’ ethics immunity would be an important step towards restoring the wall between the Supreme Court and partisan politics, there is some reason to fear that the three conservatives would simply flout the law.

via ThinkProgress » Rep. Chris Murphy Announces Bill To End Supreme Court Immunity To Judicial Ethics Law.

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February 17, 2011 · 8:34 pm

This Lent — Looking Inward, Looking Outward – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog

Another great, thoughtful article from Jim Wallis at “Sojourners”…

Emphasis, below, is mine…

While the White House has done much better than Congress in protecting critical international aid, President Obama’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2012, which he just released this week, shows deep cuts to domestic anti-poverty programs. Grants that state and local governments use to fund the most effective anti-poverty programs in their area would be cut by $300 million, including assistance for low-income people with heat and energy bills, which would be cut up to $2.5 billion. Obama’s proposed budget left me asking, should poor families have to survive harsh winters without heating oil because politicians are not willing to take on much bigger and far less effective areas of exorbitant spending?

Both the fight around the rest of the fiscal year 2011 budget and Obama’s proposal for the fiscal year 2012 show the bad priorities of Washington. If the Republicans go through with these cuts to international aid, they should stop talking about family values and being pro-life. And if the Democrats don’t fulfill their historic role of defending low-income people, we must ask, what good are they as a party? When I read the gospels, the narrative is clear: Defend the poor and pray for the rich. But our political leaders have taken to defending the rich, and if the poor are lucky, they might get a prayer.

via This Lent — Looking Inward, Looking Outward – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog.

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February 6, 2011 · 12:26 pm

The Siege of Planned Parenthood – NYTimes.com

Great article by Gail Collins in the NY Times…

Here is a brief excerpt.  I encourage you to click the link to the full post:

As if we didn’t have enough wars, the House of Representatives has declared one against Planned Parenthood.

Maybe it’s all part of a grand theme. Last month, they voted to repeal the health care law. This month, they’re going after an organization that provides millions of women with both family-planning services and basic health medical care, like pap smears and screening for diabetes, breast cancer, cervical cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

AND:

Planned Parenthood doesn’t use government money to provide abortions; Congress already prohibits that, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. (Another anti-abortion bill that’s coming up for hearing originally proposed changing the wording to “forcible rape,” presumably under the theory that there was a problem with volunteer rape victims. On that matter at least, cooler heads prevailed.)

Planned Parenthood does pay for its own abortion services, though, and that’s what makes them a target. Pence has 154 co-sponsors for his bill. He was helped this week by an anti-abortion group called Live Action, which conducted a sting operation at 12 Planned Parenthood clinics in six states, in an effort to connect the clinic staff to child prostitution.

“Planned Parenthood aids and abets the sexual abuse and prostitution of minors,” announced Lila Rose, the beautiful anti-abortion activist who led the project. The right wing is currently chock-full of stunning women who want to end their gender’s right to control their own bodies. Homely middle-aged men are just going to have to find another sex to push around.

via The Siege of Planned Parenthood – NYTimes.com.

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February 6, 2011 · 10:36 am

Bush’s Swiss visit off after complaints on torture | Reuters

This man is a war criminal. I would love to see someone hold him accountable-for the first time in his privileged life.

It sure won’t happen here…

(Reuters) – Former President George W. Bush has canceled a visit to Switzerland, where he was to address a Jewish charity gala, due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture, rights groups said on Saturday.

Bush was to be the keynote speaker at Keren Hayesod’s annual dinner on February 12 in Geneva. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open a criminal investigation if he enters the Alpine country.

Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say.

Human rights groups said they had intended to submit a 2,500-page case against Bush in the Swiss city on Monday for alleged mistreatment of suspected militants at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base in Cuba where captives from Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in the so-called War on Terror were interned.

Leftist groups had also called for a protest on the day of his visit next Saturday, leading Keren Hayesod’s organizers to announce that they were cancelling Bush’s participation on security grounds — not because of the criminal complaints.

But groups including the New York-based Human Rights Watch and International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) said the cancellation was linked to growing moves to hold Bush accountable for torture, including waterboarding. He has admitted in his memoirs and television interviews to ordering use of the interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

“He’s avoiding the handcuffs,” Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.

via Bush’s Swiss visit off after complaints on torture | Reuters.

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