The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) will no longer be defended in court by the Obama administration, according to an announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder. The Defense of Marriage Act, a facially discriminatory statute that barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages (thus preventing gay married couples from receiving the same federal benefits as heterosexual married couples), has been … [Read more...]
Lying Cops and Rubber-Stamp Judges: What Can an Appellate Court Do?
A recent ruling from a Florida appellate court in the case of Ruiz v. State questioned the honest of the cops and the independence of the judge in a dispute over whether a defendant had given consent to a search of his home. The appellate court all but said the law enforcement officers committed perjury, and stressed the importance of trial court judges not becoming "rubber stamps" for whatever … [Read more...]
Do You Do One Space or Two After the Period?
An issue that generates a surprising amount of argument is whether one should hit the space bar once or twice after a period. People pay no attention to some of the most important issues of our time, but disagree with how they think a document should be typed and they will be ready to take off your head. Since this trivial issue is the subject of so much heated debate, I wrote an article about it … [Read more...]
Black robe disease – why the abuse of power is rampant among judges and the American judiciary
Black robe disease (also known as black robe syndrome) is a condition which is not widely known to the general public, but which every trial lawyer in the country could describe in great detail if they were not too afraid to speak out against judges suffering from it. It afflicts those lawyers who have reached the pinnacle of professional status by achieving the position of judge, infecting all … [Read more...]
There are more dangerous things going on in cars than talking or texting on cell phones
Image via Wikipedia One of the latest trends in the criminalization of normal conduct is the enactment of laws banning the use of cell phones and/or texting while driving a car. Despite the plethora of laws already in existence to regulate the minutia of citizen conduct, many lawmakers as well as Oprah Winfrey have decided the scourge of cell phone users must be reigned in as well. As a … [Read more...]
McCain and Lieberman introduce legislation to free the terrorists and make evidence against them inadmissible in court
Image via Wikipedia John McCain and Joe Lieberman have introduced legislation which could force courts to release terrorists who attack the United States by making evidence against those terrorists inadmissible in court. This outcome is not their goal, but in a fervor of pathetic political pandering they have introduced a bill that specifically prohibits arresting authorities from reading … [Read more...]