"After they drove the car into the ditch, made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it back, now they want the keys back. No! You can't drive. We don't want to have to go back into the ditch. We just got the car out." -- President Obama slamming Republicans on the campaign trail, May 2010. The tide is turning and it is turning much faster than many realize. What should happen if someone threatens to kill you on social media? Are they protected by the First Amendment right guaranteeing the right to freedom of speech, or are they breaking the law? We will soon know now the answer after the Supreme Court rules on a case that may have far reaching ramifications well beyond the single case they are hearing. The decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson for his role in the shooting death of Michael Brown shines a spotlight on the flawed criminal justice system that we have set up in this country. An unarmed teenager was shot and killed by a police officer and that officer will never see the inside of a criminal courtroom. I remember when cop cars were all big, white Chevy sedans. And police officers dressed in light blue uniforms. They wore innocent enough black, cabbie looking hats, and I was never afraid to approach them with a question, or a problem. And then I grew up. Now they drive midnight black, stealth vehicles, usually equipped with mean grill guards. Six million disenfranchised citizens; voter identification laws that disproportionally affect minorities and the poor; moving polling stations, reducing early voting days, and canceling Sunday voting altogether. Welcome to the Jim Crow of the 21st Century. It's less sexy than the racist laws of the 20th Century, but it's just as dangerous. When does corporal punishment cross the line into child abuse? This is a question that will garner a different answer from a broad swath of people and one that is not easy to come by. Some people, especially those from an earlier generation, tend to strongly believe in the right to discipline their child in a way they see fit. The recent release of photos purportedly showing Jennifer Lawrence and a number of other celebrities naked is a serious breach of privacy that should upset anyone who believes in the ideal that everyone, even celebrities, have an inalienable right to privacy. This right is not something that is given away whenever an individual achieves stardom and it must be protected.
Dane Eagle, a State Representative in Florida, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol for allegedly running a red light after leaving a local fast food restaurant. The arresting officer pulled Eagle over around 2 am and arrested him after noticing his eyes were bloodshot and his breath smelled of alcohol. The arresting office also said Eagle stumbled and struggled to stand upright on a flat roadway while he was talking with him. Mr. Eagle denied any wrongdoing in a statement and insisted he will fight the charge. Republicans in Wisconsin unanimously voted to remove Bill Kramer as Assembly Majority Leader after he was accused of sexual harassment at a recent fundraiser and another woman accused him of harassment on a recent flight back to Wisconsin. Richer Farmer, former star Kentucky point guard and republican agriculture commissioner of Kentucky, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for spending public funds on himself and his family during his tenure in state government. Farmer will be serving the maximum possible sentence for his offence and was also ordered to pay the $120,500 that he illegally spent. The University of Kentucky has expressed regret about his actions, but has decided not to remove his retired jersey from the rafters in Rupp Arena. Dinesh D'Souza, a prominent conservative commentator, has been charged with "making illegal contributions to a United States Senate campaign in the names of others and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission in connection with those contributions." D'Souza is accused of reimbursing upwards of $20,000 to individuals that donated to an unnamed candidate. Update: D'Souza plead guilty to a single felony charge of 'making illegal campaign contributions to a U.S. Senate campaign.' The felony count carries a maximum of 24 months in prison, but the deal D'Souza struck with authorities asks for a sentence between 10 and 16 months. Tom Emmer, a former GOP State Representative of Minnesota and currently running for Representative Bachmann's open seat, participated in an advertisement for a home remodeling company while at the time standing in front of his campaign poster and announcing that he is running for Congress. While the spot was eerie enough, Mr. Emmer seems to have broken campaign finance law by doing the commercial. Mr. Emmer claims that the ad was never supposed to be aired, but has not given any explanation as to why he did the ad in the first place.
Laws and Crime News & Opinion Articles |  | Fri Mar 15, 2019 | news.yahoo.com
Federal prosecutors have requested copies of communications Michael Cohen had with a New York attorney who broached the possibility of a pardon from President Donald Trump,... |
|  | Wed Mar 13, 2019 | cnn.com
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was ordered Wednesday to serve an additional 43 months on federal conspiracy charges, bringing his total sentence between two... |
|  | Fri Mar 08, 2019 | dailykos.com
When the House voted on a resolution against anti-Semitism and other “hateful expressions of intolerance”—including anti-Muslim bigotry, white supremacy, and discrimination... |
|  | Thu May 18, 2017 | rollingstone.com
Bluntly calling out Attorney General Jeff Sessions' hard-line stance on criminal justice as "wrong," a "mistake" and "aggressive," Senators Rand Paul, a Republican from... |
|  | Mon Sep 12, 2016 | newyorker.com
On August 26th, Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refused to stand for the national anthem, as a protest against police brutality. Since then,... |
|  | Thu Jul 07, 2016 | washingtonpost.com
More than 500 have been killed in 2016, as national outrage mounts with recent killings. |
|  | Wed Apr 20, 2016 | newyorker.com
The new report on race and the Chicago Police Department issued last week by a City Hall-appointed task force is, by the standards of bureaucratic language, a full-throated... |
|  | Wed Mar 30, 2016 | rawstory.com
A police report indicates that an unarmed young father of two begged for his life before being shot dead by a police officer in Mesa, Arizona. His distraught widow is now... |
|  | Tue Mar 08, 2016 | theatlantic.com
Maryland’s top court ruled that Officer William Porter, whose trial in Gray's death ended in a hung jury, must testify against five other defendants. |
|  | Thu Mar 03, 2016 | vox.com
It's been 25 years since four white Los Angeles police officers brutally beat Rodney King, an unarmed black man, as it was caught on video, sparking local riots and putting... |
"I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters, particularly, to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was."
“We need to make the death penalty a real deterrent again by actually carrying it out. Every appeal that can be made should have to be made at one time, not in a serial manner. If murderers (and I would include abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers, as well) are actually executed, it will at least have the deterrent effect upon them. For my money, we should go back to public hangings, which would be more of a deterrent to others, as well.”
"Beck warns that government is using fear tactics and that in the end the dangerous killers show up"
"Glenn Beck says that Progressives are using regulation to seize control"
Fox News has repeatedly attacked Delaware Democratic Senate candidate Chris Coons as "a self-described Marxist." But this false claim is entirely based on what Coons referred to as a "joke" in an article he wrote for his college newspaper in 1985.
Laws & Crime Videos |  | Tue Dec 15, 2015
Jurors deliberating in the trial of Baltimore police officer William Porter have said they're deadlocked.... |
|  | Mon May 04, 2015
President Obama delivers remarks at the launch of the My Brother's Keeper Alliance at Lehman College in... |
|  | Fri May 01, 2015
For more: http://to.pbs.org/1DPhroc Maryland state’s attorney for the city of Baltimore Marilyn J. Mosby... |
|  | Fri May 01, 2015
The announcement by Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby left no doubt about what she thinks... |
|  | Fri May 01, 2015
Baltimore's mayor says she was "sickened and heartbroken" after the city's chief prosecutor announced the... |
|  | Fri May 01, 2015
President Barack Obama says it's "absolutely vital" that the truth about what happened to Freddie Gray... |
|  | Tue Nov 25, 2014
Police used pepper spray to force thousands off the streets in one Hong Kong area. CNN's Anna Coren reports. |
|  | Tue Nov 25, 2014
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch announces that a grand jury decided against... |
|  | Mon Nov 24, 2014
Tonight, the President spoke to the American people following the announcement of the grand jury’s... |
|  | Mon Oct 13, 2014
20 people including Cornel West are arrested carrying out civil disobedience at the Ferguson police... |
|  | Wed Oct 08, 2014
"A few weeks after the national Republican Party moved in to revamp the campaign and begin an ad blitz... |
|  | Tue Oct 07, 2014
Stephen Collins -- who played the pastor/dad on "7th Heaven" -- confessed to his estranged wife he was a... |
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