Daniel Rodriguez (photo, left), 40, of Fontana, California, is the rioter who tased Officer Michael Fanone in the neck during the Jan. 6 riot. A federal judge sentenced him to 12½ years in prison on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, CNN reported here. Prosecutors characterized Rodri[...]
Archive for the ‘Law and Courts’ Category
Bosses are jerks dep’t
Miles Walker owns a car repair shop in Peachtree, Georgia. An employee, Andreas Flaten, quit after an argument. Walker refused to pay Flaten his final wages of $915, so Flaten complained to the U.S. Labor Department, which contacted Walker, who then dumped 91,500 oil pennies in Flaten’s drivew[...]
John Eastman’s disbarment hearing begins
He’s the Trump lawyer behind the fake electors scheme and author of the so-called “coup memo” (details here). That got him fired from a teaching job at a Colorado law school; and now the state bar of California, where he’s licensed and has a practice, is seeking to disbar him[...]
Federal judge strikes down transgender care ban
“A federal judge struck down an Arkansas law Tuesday that would have banned transition-related medical care for transgender minors,” NBC News reported on June 20, 2023 (read story here). The judge issued a permanent injunction against the law, after ruling it’s unconstitutional. Al[...]
DeSantis promises more Thomases and Alitos
Ron DeSantis called Thomas and Alito “the gold standard” on a talk show this week, and promised to appoint more justices like them if he’s elected president. Thomas, a highly controversial appointee, is embroiled in the Supreme Court’s biggest scandal in decades for taking [...]
The strange case of Mr. Pho
Nghia Pho (photo, left), a software developer, went to work for the NSA in 2005. Mr. Pho held security clearances, and received training in the handling of classified materials. In a press release here, the Department of Justice said, “The privilege of working for the U.S. Intelligence Community r[...]
Michigan election deniers fined $58,000 for frivolous lawsuit
Democrats swept the 2022 Michigan state elections, capturing every statewide office and the legislature (see details here). That was partly because the GOP fielded lousy candidates, as a result of crazy Trumpers prevailing in the GOP primaries, although backlash on abortion rights probably also work[...]
What’s at stake in Trump’s trial
Now that he’s been indicted, Trump is entitled to a presumption of innocence, and a fair trial. Those are bedrock principles of the U.S. legal system. Trump “has a lot at stake” in the case, a New York Times writer says. “He could, in theory, go to prison for years.” Bu[...]
Near-fatal attraction
She’s not unattractive (see photo at left), but if you break up with her, she could be lethal. Melody Sasser, 47, of Knoxville, Tennessee, met a guy online. They had a shared interest in hiking. Things went south when he married someone else. Sasser allegedly told him, “I hope you fall o[...]
Republicans are outraged Trump is indicted for breaking the law
Trump’s MAGA movement caught many Americans by surprise. They’ve never seen anything like it before. This is the first time anyone has tried to overthrow our democracy. To outsiders, Trump looks like a pied piper leading a crowd of zombies into a never-never land of lies, fantasies, and [...]