About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.

Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.

The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn't get one but came to the precinct anyway.

"One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, 'I don't want to go do that,'" Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.

They weren't given provisional ballots because it would be impossible to get them to a motor vehicle branch and back in the 10-day time frame allotted by the law, Sister McGuire said. "You have to remember that some of these ladies don't walk well. They're in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts." (emp added - LN)

Labels: Democratic Primary, law, voter ID

The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) will make it a federal offense to transport a minor girl across state lines for the purpose of obtaining an abortion if done to evade a parental notification or parental consent law that is in effect in the girl’s home state. In addition, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act will require, in a state without parental consent laws, that before an abortion provider performs an abortion on a minor girl who is the resident of a different state, that provider must notify a parent. The abortion provider does not have to notify a parent if the minor has already received authorization from a judge in her home state (judicial bypass), or unless she falls into carefully drafted exceptions to cover cases of abuse or medical emergencies.

Labels: abortion, law, notification

Is your laptop worth $54 million?

Raelyn Campbell of Washington, D.C., is suing Richfield-based Best Buy for that amount after it lost her laptop computer while it was in for repairs.

Campbell, who could not be reached Tuesday, filed a negligence lawsuit suit against the company in Washington Superior Court on Nov. 16, seeking fair compensation for replacement of the $1,100 computer and extended warranty, plus expenses related to identity theft protection.
..snip..
Best Buy spokeswoman Nissa French said in an e-mail that Campbell "was offered and collected $1,110.35" as well as "a $500 gift card for her inconvenience."
..snip..
Campbell said that she doesn’t really expect to get $54 million, but chose the amount to attract attention to her case. It’s the same amount a D.C. judge sought against a dry cleaner last year that lost a pair of his pants.

Labels: frivolity, law, lawsuit

Labels: law, privacy, sex

Labels: drinking, law, minors

Labels: Haditha, law, murder

Big Scary Company Trying to Sue Me For Something I Did Not Do

So, the other day I received a copy of a subpoena from a web-company that I do business with. Apparently they received a subpoena for my contact information because of a link to my page on their service from a blog I have never seen before in my life. Apparently, the company that is suing seems to think I write the blog in question (hint: it is not this blog, and this is my only blog).

The claim is that the blog in question contains some information that was obtained and posted illegally. The really scary thing is that the information that was posted seems to be talking about the company that is suing, the CIA, and war crimes. That is some heavy stuff.

The funny thing is that the web service that I do business with includes a link back to my personal site. Yet this company is trying to sue Cafepress for information about who I am. It is kinda tempting to send them a letter saying “hey dip-sh!#$, my name is Jackson Miller. It says it right f*(%!#&& there in your subpoena” (there is a screenshot for the web company I do business with). Of course, I will not really do that since I am a big pussy. Come to think of it, maybe I will.

Good luck to Mr. Miller. When will the people learn?

Labels: blog, law

Senate drives stake through immigration

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush's immigration plan to legalize as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants while fortifying the border collapsed in the Senate on Thursday, crushing both parties' hopes of addressing the volatile issue before the 2008 elections.

The Senate vote that drove a stake through the delicate compromise was a stinging setback for Bush, who had made reshaping immigration laws a central element of his domestic agenda. It could carry heavy political consequences for Republicans and Democrats, many of whom were eager to show they could act on a complex issue that has sparked deep public concern.

The bill's Senate supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.

Voting to allow the bill to proceed by ending debate were 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans and independent Joe Lieberman, Conn. Voting to block the bill by not limiting debate were 37 Republicans, 15 Democrats and independent Bernard Sanders, Vt. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who has been absent from the Senate all year due to an illness, did not vote. (link)

Labels: illegal immigration, law, senate

Ohio mom's body found; boyfriend charged

By M.R. KROPKO, Associated Press Writer

29 minutes ago

CANTON, Ohio - A massive search ended in sadness Saturday when authorities announced they found a body believed to be a pregnant woman who vanished from her home a week earlier. A police officer believed to be the father of the unborn child was arrested on two counts of murder. Jessie Davis, 26, who was due to deliver a baby girl on July 3, was reported missing after her mother found Davis' 2-year-old son home alone, bedroom furniture toppled and bleach spilled on the floor.

The boy gave investigators their first clues. "Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in rug," the boy said.

Thousands of volunteers had searched for Davis over several days, while investigators continued to question Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, who is the father of Davis' son but is married to another woman. (link)

Pray for the family of this poor woman and her child.

Tags: murder, Jessie Davis, Ohio, pregnant, BlogPower, LordNazh

Labels: law, murder

Iraq Study officials question March goal

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The co-chairs of the Iraq Study Group said Monday they were unsure whether the panel's goal of pulling combat troops out of Iraq by March 2008 remains valid.

The blue-ribbon panel's five Republican and five Democratic members concluded six months ago that most combat troops could be out of Iraq by the 2008 date if certain steps were taken. They said a smaller contingent could be left behind to train Iraqi security forces and conduct other narrowly defined missions.

The report received a tepid response by the White House and Congress until recently, as administration officials contemplate their next step in Iraq and congressional Republicans look for a solution to end the politically unpopular war.

Addressing a National Press Club luncheon, James Baker and Lee Hamilton said they believed the group's findings were still meaningful.

But the 2008 date "would, of course, be something different, in my view at least, because we were talking that date when we came with the report in December of 2006. This is now June of 2007," said Baker, secretary of state during the first Bush administration and Republican co-chairman of the group.(link)

"One thing I do know and believe very affirmatively, and that is if Iraq was not the center of the war on terror before we went in there, it certainly is now," Baker said.

Bush immigration bill push tests clout

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 22 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush is putting his influence within his own party to the test Tuesday as he pleads personally with skeptical Senate Republicans to resurrect his immigration bill. Despite his confident tone Monday about the measure's fate, Bush is facing a hostile audience that has shown little appetite for following his lead on the contentious issue.

[snip]

Still, weakened by his sagging poll numbers and a sense within GOP ranks that the president has lost touch with his core supporters on immigration, Bush may well lack the clout he would need to persuade Republicans to back the measure, say lawmakers and strategists.(link)

Labels: illegal immigration, Iraq, ISG, law, TWoT, W

Labels: justice, law

Blogger Sued for Publishing Stories About Muslims linked to Terror

If the Muslims get away with this "test case", it will shut us all down. The intrepid blogger and PI (and valued Atlas source) has been sued for publishing stories about Muslims with ties to Islamic terror. News stories already published in the mainstream media. Warner obviously hit a nerve. This is the next nefarious step in the litigation jihad. Warner must prevail. This wreaks of CAIR. Their tactics are written all over it. How is this different than the CAIR lawsuit against the Jane/John Does on the US Airways flight that reported the belligerent, aggressive behavior of the six imams?) Perhaps we need legislation to protect us (what happened to free speech?)
Bill Warner writes me the following;

Blogger sued and facing an injunction to cease and desist publishing stories about Muslims linked to terrorism

This is a serious threat to First Amendement rights of Freedom of Speach for bloggers and news reporters everywhere, and if I lose the law suit and the injunction is enforced, it will set a precedent for future law suits and injunctions to be imposed on any blogger or news reporter who writes about Muslims linked to terrorism.

Bill Warner

n 5/21/2007 I was served summons of Complaint and an Injunction by the Mcintrye Law Firm of Tampa Fl who represent Abdul Raouf M. Dabus in a Defamation Law Suit against myself and my company for supposedly linking Mr. Dabus and his company VIP Motors in Tampa with shipping vehicles to the Middle East for resale in support of terrorism and that Mr. Dabus had worked at the Islamic Academy of Florida with Sami Al-Arain (The School that Terrorism Built) as an instructor from 1999 to an unknown point and that Mr. Dabus was linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and that such information is posted on my web site www.wbipi.com .

(link) from Atlas Shrugs.

Labels: law, litigation, terrorists

Seatbelt bill hits bump in the road

By GARRY RAYNO
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
1 hour, 27 minutes ago

Concord – The mandatory seatbelt bill hit a bump in the road when the Senate Transportation and Interstate Committee voted to recommend the bill be killed.

The committee voted 3-2 on the recommendation and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill May 31.

On Wednesday, committee chairman Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, voted to recommend killing the bill, joined by Sens. Bob Clegg, R-Hudson, and Betsi DeVries, D-Manchester. Committee vice chairman Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, and Sen. Molly Kelly, D-Keene, opposed the recommendation.

The bill, HB 802, passed the House last month by 13 votes. New Hampshire is the last state in the country without a mandatory seatbelt law, although restraints are required for children and teenagers.(link)

Labels: government, law

Labels: England, law, terrorists

Who knew? An old law shuts psychics

Alerted to a forgotten state ban, Phila. authorities have closed at least 16 storefront fortune-tellers. One alleged discrimination.

By David O'Reilly and Michael Vitez

Inquirer Staff Writers

Philadelphia's fortune-tellers didn't see it coming. Suddenly they're facing a very unhappy future. Alerted to an obscure state law banning fortune-telling "for gain or lucre," the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections is closing storefront psychics,

MICHAEL BRYANT / Inquirer Staff Photographer

astrologers, phrenologists and tarot-card readers who charge money for their services.

Inspectors had closed 16 shops since Tuesday, Deputy L&I Commissioner Dominic E. Verdi said yesterday.

"We were not aware it was a crime," he said, "but the Police Department came to us a few days ago and showed us where the crime code prohibits psychic readings.

"We looked into it, and it's clearly illegal. I was surprised."

Fortune-telling for profit is a third-degree misdemeanor. The law has been on the books for more than 30 years.(link)

You would think the fortune tellers would have seen this coming :)

Labels: humor, law

Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers Association attorney Ronald Coleman shortly after receiving his letter stating that the MBA was representing me in this dispute on Thursday afternoon. Both sides expressed their wish to avoid litigation or further aggravation of the situation. JL Kirk’s main concern at the outset was that we communicate their position - which is different from the information originally told to me by a JL Kirk employee - that JL Kirk is not a continuation of the defunct Bernard Haldane company, either in terms of corporate identity or stock ownership, and that JL Kirk’s principal, Kirk Leipzig, is only a former Bernard Haldane employee but did not buy any assets or stock of Bernard Haldane. I can’t vouch for the truth of that statement because I have no first-hand knowledge of the facts, but evidently anyone who wants more information can obtain it from JL Kirk. (link)

Labels: idiocy, law

Original Text of Demand Letter Pg 1

Original Text of Demand Letter Pg 2

[Original on Letterhead from King & Ballow Law Offices]
CERTIFIED MAIL/RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

Ms. Katherine Coble

ADDRESS BLACKOUT

Hermitage, Tennessee 37076

Re: Your Blog: “Just Another Pretty Farce”

February 27, 2007 posting regarding JL Kirk Associates (R)

Dear Ms. Coble:

This firm represents JL Kirk Associates. In the February 27, 2007, posting to your blog “Just Another Pretty Farce” you made the following false and defamatory statements about JL Kirk Associates: (link)

Labels: idiocy, law

Immigrants March in LA over Bush Plan

By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 34 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Thousands of people marched through downtown on Saturday, demanding a way for the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens and condemning President Bush's latest proposal.

Carrying signs saying "Amnesty Now!" and "Love Thy Neighbor, Don't Deport Him," about 15,000 people danced to Mexican ranchera music, chanted "Si, se puede!" or "It can be done!" and passed large American flags over the crowd.

Many were angry about a White House plan that would grant illegal immigrants work visas but require them to return home to apply for U.S. residency and pay a $10,000 fine. (link)

Labels: illegal immigration, law, W

BRUSSELS, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - The government of Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia, which has a population of about 4 million, has approved a tax on barbequing, local media reported.

Experts said that between 50 and 100 grams of CO2, a so-called greenhouse gas, is emitted during barbequing. Beginning June 2007, residents of Wallonia will have to pay 20 euros for a grilling session.

The local authorities plan to monitor compliance with the new tax legislation from helicopters, whose thermal sensors will detect burning grills.

Scientists believe CO2 emissions are a major cause of global warming. (link)

Labels: global climate change, law

Scared Smithfield workers stay home

By Jennifer Plotnick
Staff writer

TAR HEEL — The 21 Smithfield Packing Co. employees arrested by immigration officials while they worked Wednesday are in the process of being deported.

The 20 men and one woman arrested were moved Thursday from the Mecklenburg County Jail to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., nearly 700 miles from Tar Heel.

Meanwhile, church officials within the region’s Hispanic community and spokespeople with the United Food & Commercial Workers union said the workers’ families didn’t know where they were and other immigrant workers were terrified of more arrests.

Production at the plant was substantially diminished Thursday as workers stayed away.

“There are hundreds of immigrant families who will have to decide, ‘Do I show up to work (Friday) and risk being arrested by immigration?’” said Eduardo Pena, a spokesman for the union, which became an unofficial hub of information for workers Thursday, he said.

The workers are going through “removal proceedings,” said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Washington

“You feel sorry for the individuals, but at the same time, Smithfield would be crazy to employ illegally when the federal government is cracking down,” Huestess said. “They’ll find 500 new people.”

“There are hundreds of immigrant families who will have to decide, ‘Do I show up to work (Friday) and risk being arrested by immigration?’” said Eduardo Pena, a spokesman for the union, which became an unofficial hub of information for workers Thursday, he said.

Labels: illegal immigration, law

Kurdish General Training Troops for Baghdad Mission; Iraq's P.M. Says He Backs Bush Plan

Saturday, January 13, 2007

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KIRKUK, Iraq — An Iraqi army brigade based in the northern Kurdish region is undergoing intensive training in urban combat and will be dispatched to Baghdad as part of a new joint U.S.-Iraqi security drive in the sprawling and violence-ridden city, the commander said Saturday.

The brigade is one of two coming from the Kurdish region and a third brigade will come from southern Iraq. The second Kurdish brigade will come from the northern city of Sulaimaniyah.

"We will head to Baghdad soon. We have 3,000 soldiers who are currently undergoing intensive training especially in urban combat and how the army should act inside a city," said Brig. Gen. Nazir Assem Korran, commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division of the Iraqi army that is based in the city of Irbil.

Click here for more news on Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in his first comments on the new Bush administration plan for restoring security in Baghdad, said the proposal was "identical to our strategy and intentions."

Al-Maliki, however, continued to avoid naming the Mahdi Army Shiite militia of one of his key supporters as a target of the military operations to cleanse the capital of Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia gunmen and death squads.(link)

Labels: basketball, college sports, federal government, Iraq, law, Middle East, TWoT

Labels: law, Middle East, terrorists