Clipmarks | wiccantexan's 'legal' clips

O.J. Simpson senses a conspiracy

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:48:23 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

O.J. Simpson is in "shock" over his conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping - a verdict that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.

"I can't believe I'm in here for this nothing incident," he said.

"He's strong. He's just in shock," said pal Tom Scotto after talking with the Heisman Trophy winner behind bars Sunday.

"He's looking forward to the appellate process. We are going to fast-track it," Galanter said. He can't file the appeal until Simpson's sentencing on Dec. 5.

"This was a nothing incident, and poor C.J. Stewart is in jail too. This poor guy. All he wanted to do that day was help his friends," Scotto said. "O.J. said he hoped C.J. was okay."

"I'll tell you, that jury had its mind made up before the trial started. Five of the jurors said they couldn't understand his [earlier] acquittal," Scotto raged.

"He still thinks he's being punished for something he didn't do [in 1994]," said David Cook, a lawyer for Goldman's dad, Fred Goldman.

Tags: conspiracy, simpson, legal, martyr

O.J. Simpson guilty on all 12 charges

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:08:20 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

A Las Vegas jury found former football star O.J. Simpson guilty Friday on all charges in his armed robbery and kidnapping trial. The 61-year-old Simpson faces a prison sentence of 15 years to life.

The verdict was read aloud at around 10:50 p.m. PT in Clark County District Court.

Co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart was also found guilty on 12 criminal charges in the alleged gunpoint robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a casino hotel room last year.

The jury of nine women and three men deliberated more than 13 hours Friday.

Deliberations began 13 years to the day after Simpson was acquitted of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in Los Angeles.

Tags: celebrity, legal, oj simpson, robbery, crime

Neglect, not religion, cost mother custody

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:52:23 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.nwanews.com

A Chicot County woman doesn’t deserve custody of her 3-year-old boy, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, not because she practices Wicca but because she didn’t properly care for him.

Chicot County Circuit Judge Robert C. Vittitow didn’t decide to give custody of the boy to Joshua A. Cook and take it away from Andrea Hicks on prejudice toward the Wiccan religion, said Judge Robert J. Gladwin, writing for the appeals court.

Instead, evidence that the boy had diaper rash, a fungus on his face, a possible dog bite and other signals of neglect were seen as permissible factors for Vittitow to consider, as were Hicks ’ mental health and that she had stopped taking medication.

Judge Wendell Griffen concurred, writing that Vittitow “made no disparaging or otherwise unfavorable comments about Wicca.” Vittitow was questioning Hicks’ “truthfulness regarding the extent of her interest or involvement with Wicca,” Griffen wrote.

Tags: wicca, religion, children, custody, legal

Atheists Sue Over National Prayer Day

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:07:17 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics is suing President Bush, the governor of Wisconsin and other officials over the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued Friday in U.S. district court, arguing that the president's mandated proclamations calling on Americans to pray violates a constitutional ban on government officials endorsing religion.

The day of prayer, held each year on the first Thursday of May, creates a "hostile environment for nonbelievers, who are made to feel as if they are political outsiders," the lawsuit said.

The national proclamation issued this year asked God's blessings on our country and called for Americans to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities.

The foundation has filed numerous lawsuits in recent years, including one rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court last year that attacked President Bush's faith-based initiative.

Tags: atheism, prayer, government, legal, religion, federal

Pastors Defy Law, Endorse Candidates

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:25:33 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

On Sunday, Pastor Jody Hice of Bethlehem, Ga., a man who takes the Bible literally and has never committed a crime, will stand before God and the 1,300 members of his congregation and willfully break the law.

Hice is one of 35 religious leaders from 22 states who this weekend will intentionally violate a ban on church leaders making political speeches from their pulpits, in hopes of forcing the issue into the federal courts.

"On Sunday, I'll be endorsing John McCain. I believe that endorsement will be a religious statement more than a political statement. But, the IRS says that for me to speak Biblical truth is against the law," Hice told ABCNews.com.

Churches and other nonprofit groups such as charities and state-run universities do not have to pay taxes. That exemption, however, comes with a price. Churches, and by extension the pastors who serve them in an official capacity, are not allowed to endorse or oppose political candidates.

Tags: religion, belief, politics, law, legal, church, federal

Libertarian Bob Barr moves to keep Obama, McCain off Texas Ballot

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:45:30 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.dallasnews.com

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr is forcing a legal showdown in the Texas Supreme Court to keep the names of Barack Obama and John McCain off the November ballot.

The issue is whether both parties missed a state deadline to certify the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates for the ballot. The attorney general is arguing the law was followed and that the secretary of state has discretion on the ballot and its appearance.

Mr. Barr personally filed an emergency request before the court on Thursday, asking that the state be ordered not to mail ballots overseas this weekend until the issue is legally resolved.

The Libertarians are contending that the Democratic and Republican nominees are disqualified from appearing on the ballot because they missed the state’s Aug. 26 deadline to certify candidates.

Tags: libertarian, obama, mccain, texas, election, legal

Five Years for a Joke About the Pope?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:20:02 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

A popular Italian actress has avoided a possible five-year jail term over some off-color comments she made about Pope Benedict XVI.

An Italian prosecutor had vowed to take comedian Sabina Guzzanti to court on charges of religious slander.

At a July demonstration in Rome organized against the government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Guzzanti said, "Within 20 years the Pope will be where he ought to be -- in hell, tormented by great big poofter devils, and very active ones, not passive ones."

Rome prosecutor Giovanni Ferrara initially threatened to prosecute the actress for offending the honor of the sacred and inviolable person of the pope.

Under Italian law, courts can sentence people to up to five years in prison for "offending the honor" of the Pope.

Tags: pope, catholic, church, italy, law, legal, comedy, religion

Transgendered woman wins landmark case

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:17:30 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

A transgendered woman, who lost a job offer because of her sexual status, has won a potentially groundbreaking federal sex discrimination lawsuit.

A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled today that the Library of Congress discriminated against Diane Schroer when it offered her a job and then rescinded it after learning she was transgendered.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Schroer, said Judge James Robertson's ruling is the first to hold that the federal sex discrimination statute, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, applies to transgendered people.

"It is tremendously gratifying to have your faith in this country, and what is fundamentally right and fair, be reaffirmed," Schroer said. "I very much hope that this ruling will help to eliminate the all-too-pervasive discrimination against sexually nonconforming people in all areas."

Tags: sexuality, transgendered, woman, legal, sex, discrimination

Bush seeks to make "war powers" permanent

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:06:49 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: "Tucked deep into a recent proposal from the Bush administration is a provision that has received almost no public attention, yet in many ways captures one of President Bush’s defining legacies: an affirmation that the United States is still at war with Al Qaeda. "

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush’s advisers assert that many Americans may have forgotten that. So they want Congress to say so and “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”

The language, part of a proposal for hearing legal appeals from detainees at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, goes beyond political symbolism. Echoing a measure that Congress passed just days after the Sept. 11 attacks, it carries significant legal and public policy implications for Mr. Bush, and potentially his successor, to claim the imprimatur of Congress to use the tools of war, including detention, interrogation and surveillance, against the enemy, legal and political analysts say.

Tags: bush, bush administration, war, government, legal

Nepal court scraps 'living goddess' tradition

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:34:08 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A centuries-old tradition in Nepal of worshipping a virgin girl-child in a palace as a "living goddess" has been scrapped after it was condemned as outdated by the country's supreme court, which has ruled that the supposed deity must go to school.

Earlier this year, religious authorities started a search for a new Kumari, chosen from a handful of three-year-olds, after it was revealed the current living goddess is going to retire later this year.

However, that process looks as if it will be halted after the country's highest court accepted the argument from a lawyer that keeping a young girl locked up in a medieval palace in Kathmandu was a violation of her fundamental rights.

The court ruled against the rights of the Kumari being "be violated in the name of culture".

The Kumari was probably doomed the moment the Maoist administration took office.

Tags: goddess, india, culture, legal, tradition, child

Gov’t says tornado-area housing can’t have basements

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:46:00 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.kansascity.com

Tell a town of Kansas tornado survivors that they can’t have a basement? Amy Bemis has a word for talk like that.

“Insane,” she says.

Like most residents of Chapman, Kan., Bemis huddled in her basement the night of June 11, when a tornado destroyed scores of homes in this town of 1,250.

But the efforts to rebuild the community now face an obstacle townspeople did not expect: Federal reconstruction rules are forcing many residents to rebuild without the basements that sheltered them through the storm.

Ninety-five percent of Chapman’s damaged homes lie in a floodplain created by a nearby river and creek. The floodplain cuts a large swath through much of the central residential part of town.

For those without basements, it means adding a few feet of soil below the new home’s foundation. But for those residents with basements, it’s either rebuild without them, or move.

Tags: government, tornado, weather, legal, federal

Court: Student needn't stand for Pledge

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:43:18 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.miamiherald.com

A former Palm Beach County high school student's desire not to stand during the pledge of allegiance was supported by a federal appeals court this week -- though the court wouldn't go as far as to say that means every student in Florida is exempt from standing during the school-day ritual.

Frazier was a junior at Boynton Beach High in 2005 when he refused to stand during the pledge and spent the rest of the day in the school office after his teacher berated him for his disrespect, according to the original lawsuit.

Frazier did not have his parents' permission to abstain, but the teenager said he had not stood for the pledge since the sixth grade.

The appeals court upheld another Florida law that requires kids to get permission from their parents before abstaining from the pledge, reversing a lower court's ruling on that matter.

South Florida teachers who learned of the ruling Thursday had mixed reactions.

Tags: school, patriotism, legal

In marriage debate, divorce church from state

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:55:17 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Suddenly this summer, the reality of same-sex couples lining up to get married in California has led some religious leaders to rethink their government role.

In a letter last month, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California directed his clergy to “encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then being blessed in The Episcopal Church.”

The bishop’s missive illustrates what a tangled web we have woven when clergy intone “by the power invested in me by the state.”

Because the Episcopal Church doesn’t sanction same-sex marriage — but gives the option of blessing the union — the bishop appears to be seeking a way to bless all couples while distancing the church from legal arrangements sanctioned by the state.

“There are a lot of benefits in getting out of the legal marriage business,”

Tags: church, state, marriage, religion, legal, government

'Pull Your Pants Up' Movement Draws Critics, Supporters

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:53:50 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.christianpost.com

For a small but increasing number of Americans, the song “Pull Your Pants Up!” by gospel rap artist Dooney “Da Priest” is not just a song.

“It’s a movement,” as the rapper told the Jackson Clarion Ledger of Mississippi last week after his album “Pull Your Pants Up!” released.

And with new laws recently passed or being considered in a handful of U.S. cities, it might be.

City Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who proposed the sagging ban in Jackson after talking with Young, further told the newspaper: "Young people are emulating the dope boys, gang bangers and criminals they see and the community doesn't want them to go down that road."

There are some, however, who oppose the “movement.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, for example, said the new policy in Flint gives police authority to conduct unconstitutional searches and seizures, promotes racial profiling, violates due process and interferes with individuals' freedom to express themselves in their appearance.

Tags: social, fashion, free speech, music, legal

HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:15:23 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

In a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right, the Department of Health and Human Services Monday released a proposal that allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman's access to contraception. In order to do this, the Department is attempting to redefine many forms of contraception, the birth control 40% of Americans use, as abortion. Doing so protects extremists under the Weldon and Church amendments. Those laws prohibit federal grant recipients from requiring employees to help provide or refer for abortion services. In the "Definitions" section of the HHS proposal it states,

Under these new standards there would be no way for a woman to prove she's not pregnant. Thus, any woman could be denied contraception under HHS' new science.

Tags: abortion, birth control, legal, federal, pregnancy, women, science