Dershowitz: Being Black Doesn't Give You a License to Call People Racist

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) called Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's comments "absolutely racist" this week.

Dershowitz was being interviewed by Fox News and was giving analysis on which regions would be most favorable to the Trump side in a possible future trial (in terms of juries) when he noted that between a couple of options, "[Washington] has an ethnic and racial composition that would be somewhat less favorable to Donald Trump."

But Waters characterized Dershowitz comments as saying:

"What he's simply saying [is that] all of those black people are there and they don't like Trump, so he's not going to get a fair trial. And so they should take it out of that jurisdiction. It shouldn't be there to begin with. I don't like that. And I'm surprised that Alan Dershowitz is talking like that. And we will not stand for it. We will push back against that. Because that is absolutely racist."

Dershowitz replied later to Fox that Waters "should know better and does know better ... If I had said that race didn't matter, she would have called me a racist. She throws the term around so loosely and so inappropriately, and it weakens her credibility, because by calling everybody a racist, by calling me a racist, when she calls real racists racist nobody is going to believe her. Would she have called Johnny Cochran racist? ... Being black doesn't give you a licence to call people racist any more than being Jewish gives you a licence to call people anti-Semitic."

Chinese Tourists Arrested for Making Hitler Salute in Germany

According to police, a fine or a prison sentence up to 3 years is possible for a pair of Chinese tourists who made a particular gesture outside the Parliament building this week.

Germany has strict laws on "hate speech" and symbols linked to Hitler and the Nazis. The Nazi organization is "banned" in Germany.

The law is more commonly used to prosecute Germans who have far right political ideas.

The two men were released on a bail of around $600 each and are allowed to leave the country, and when the sentence is finally decided (in their absence), the bail money will probably be enough to cover it.

Throwing Acid Can Now Result in a Life Sentence, Even If They Miss

Recently in the UK, there has been a sharp rise in thugs throwing acid. There have been public protests due to widespread concern about this type of crime.

Now, prosecutors will seek "possession of an offensive weapon" charges for people who just carry the substances (usually bleach, ammonia and acid), and if someone throws it at someone, even if they miss and no harm is inflicted, they will likely bring a tougher charge that can mean a life sentence.

In the UK this year there have been already 400 acid or corrosive substance attacks officially recorded. They often are revenge or hate attacks or accompany other crimes like muggings.

Putin Tightening Internet Restrictions with Law

Two new laws were signed by Putin this week: one ordered internet providers to block websites that offer VPNs; the other orders instant messaging services to establish user IDs by using phone numbers, and also allows the government to order operators to restrict internet users if the government decides the users are disseminating illegal content.

The Russian government wants less anonymity on the internet. It says the steps are taken in order to prevent extremist materials and ideas.

However, there are questions about how these laws are used: Already, a Russian blogger was given 3 1/2 years (later reduced to 1 year) suspended sentence for posting videos deemed by the Russian courts to incite hatred and insult religious believers' feelings. He was seen playing Pokemon Go in a church in one of his videos. He was also added to the "terrorists and extremists" list.

Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif Out

In a democratic transfer of power, Sharif will select an interim successor to replace him. He was unanimously found guilty of earning an inappropriate amount of money after the Panama Leaks (by WikiLeaks) revealed his family held real estate in London no one knew about.

Sharif has been found guilty of a fair amount of other offenses during his career.

It is expected he will remain a powerful force in Pakistan, but now more from behind the scenes.

Woman Convicted of Making Up Fake Rape Claims Against 15 Men

"Jemma Beale was a determined liar who repeatedly went to great lengths to fabricate evidence in an attempt to see innocent men convicted, including telling deliberate lies under oath,” London Crown Prosecution Service Lawyer Samuel Main said. Beale was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

One of the men she charged with rape was convicted and served jail time. Another fled the country.

The woman made her first rape charge in 2010. In another charge in 2012 against 4 men she said had attacked her in an alley with a piece of barbed wire. She laid another charge in 2013. In all, she charged 6 men with rape and 9 with assault, in 4 different instances. All of the men were strangers.

After the 4th time she brought a rape charge in 2013, police went back and looked at her earlier cases, and "discovered a clear and sustained pattern of willful falsification,” according to the prosecution. Police discovered the 25-year-old woman actually had a steady boyfriend, and there was also evidence that she had made up the claims in her medical records, CCTV footage, and witness testimonies.

She was convicted this week.

Pa. Supreme Court Rules Police Dashcam Videos Are Public

Exceptions must be decided on case-by-case basis. It was a 5-2 decision.

The Supreme Court's ruling upheld decisions by the Commonwealth Court and the state Office of Open Records that granted a Centre County woman's request for state police dashboard video camera recordings of a car crash in which her friend was involved.

19 Year Old Woman Charged with Rape of Baby Daddy

A woman in Hollywood, Alabama met a fellow at a McDonald's after being introduced by a mutual friend, and a relationship followed in which she would pick the guy up and they would drive out to a secluded area and hook up.

The woman said they had sex around 20 times since December when they started up. They also exchanged racy photos of each other. She became pregnant.

However, she was 19 and he was 14, and when she went to apply for Medicaid for the unborn baby, the health officials responded to her listing the baby daddy's name. She was charged with with rape, sex abuse, enticing a child for immoral purposes, traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act, possession of child pornography, and dissemination of child pornography.

College Girl Made Up Rape Allegation, Offered Plea Deal

Last year, an 18-year-old woman charged 2 Sacred Heart University athletes with raping her (she said they pulled her into a bathroom at a party and took turns raping her).

The two students said they had consensual sex. They were suspended from school, however, and one (a football player) chose to withdraw from the university and give up his college scholarship.

An investigation began which took 2 months, and the woman said she lied about the assault. She admitted she had consensual sex with the 2 men in the bathroom. Police said she had probably lied because she didn't want another man she liked to lose interest in her after finding out about the encounter at a party, and that "it would make him angry and sympathetic to her." Rape had been, police said, the first thing that came to her mind when she was confronted with explaining her tryst.

The two men were then cleared of wrongdoing.

The woman was charged with falsely reporting and tampering or fabricating evidence, and has been offered a plea deal. There is talk of a possible sentence of 2 years.

Supreme Court Strikes Law Barring Sex Offenders from Social Media

8-0. It was unanimous.

The U.S. Constitution First Amendment protects the freedom of speech. And now, according to the Supreme Court, an earlier law that barred sex offenders from using social media was struck because it impermissibly restricts that right.

North Carolina had made it a felony for sex offenders from using social media whenever the websites allow members to be children.

A man in that state who was a registered sex offender was charged after making a normal Facebook post. He challenged the charge. It went back and forth a little with the judges in the state and appellate courts, but the Supreme Court decided the state hadn't shown the sweeping law was necessary or legitimate.

One of the justices wrote, "These websites can provide perhaps the most powerful mechanisms available to a private citizen to make his or her voice heard. They allow a person with an Internet connection to ‘become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox.’"

After False Report of Hate Crime, 3 Women Get Probation

On a city bus last year, three black women started a fight with some white men. According to police who later reviewed video and audio footage and talked to witnesses, the women were the aggressors, none of the white men ever struck the women, the women started attacking the white men, and continued attacking despite efforts of several passengers to stop them. The only racial slur uttered was by one of the black women.

The women called 911 and reported the men for a hate crime. On the recording of the call, a woman can be heard uttering (while waiting to be connected): “I think it’s so funny … I just think it’s so funny how, like … I beat up a boy!”

After the women reported the "hate crime" of race-based assault by a large group of white men, hundreds of people turned out for a rally in support of them, and Hillary Clinton tweeted about the incident, sharing a link to a news story about the protest against the "attack on three black women."

One of the three women made a plea deal for community service. Two others were sentenced to 3 years probation, 200 hours of community service, and a $1,000 fine. They were also suspended from university. They were not charged with assault.

Girlfriend Charged with Manslaughter for Text Messages

The woman, 17 years old at the time of the events, sent text messages to her then 18-year-old boyfriend telling him to kill himself.

The boy killed himself with carbon monoxide in a truck. At one point, he exited the truck, and she urged him to get back into it, and he did.

The judge decided that for her text messages, and because he believed she had a duty to call for help when she knew the condition of the man and the danger he faced, he found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, despite being nowhere near the boy at the time of his death.

The reason for the guilt can be summed this way: the girl took actions with the goal of causing the man to die, and he did die. However, the action she took was speech, which is usually treated differently. Usually, speech is protected. Many people are confused and doubtful about the finding of guilt in this case.

Canada Bans Cellphone Unlocking Fees, Orders All New Devices Be Unlocked

The new rules start December 1.

From then on, all new phones must be unlocked. And for phones people already own, they can ask their provider to unlock it, and unlocking it has to be free, according to the CRTC.

Currently, telecoms stock stores with phones that they make sure are locked (so users can only use their service). To unlock it, they charge around $50.

5 Officials Charged with Manslaughter Over Flint Water Crisis

For failing to act during Flint, Michigan's water crisis, 5 government officials are being charged with involuntary manslaughter by the Michigan AG.

The officials are from the Department of Health and Human Services,Water Department, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The District Supervisor and Emergency Manager, too.

Student Charged After False Rape Report

A 19-year-old U of North Georgia woman had called 911 and reported that she'd been raped by a man on a popular lake trail.

She did not identify the alleged rapist. She vaguely described a white man in his 20s to 40s with short brown hair and a black t-shirt.

Officers found no corroborating evidence, and then when they reviewed CCTV in the area and the woman's cell phone records, they decided that she had not even been on the trail when the alleged crime was reported to have taken place.

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Woman in Divorce Wins More Than Half Assets in Landmark Ruling

Usually in the UK, assets are split in a divorce, but this week after a 4-year marriage, a woman challenged an original even-split ruling and got more than half.

Her argument was that "because this was a short marriage he should not get half of the matrimonial pot."

It wasn't a huge change to the asset split. Instead of 2.7m pounds, the husband got 2m.

The divorce came about after the wife accused the husband of "a clandestine affair" which was later admitted in divorce court.

The panel decided that, because the marriage was a short, dual career marriage in which the couple had kept their finances separate, the unusual division of assets was "justified" where it might not be if the husband had "contributed" to the source of the wife's [income] by doing more in the home life or welfare of the family domains. "This case is, therefore, a 'non-business partnership, non-family asset case' where the bulk, indeed effectively all, of the property has been generated by the wife," they said.

Lawyers are talking about how this ruling may set a precedent for future divorces. The issue of "fairness" of an asset split will be something new to argue.

Walgreens Pharmacist Refused to Fill Prescription for Birth Control (Again)

A Walgreens in New Mexico is being criticized after one of its pharmacists refused to fill a prescription for birth control (Misoprostol), according to the frustrated mother.

The ACLU is now in on the action. They're filing a complaint against Walgreens: "A mother and her daughter who were discriminated against when they attempted to pick up a prescription related to the daughter’s birth control at a Walgreens pharmacy here in Albuquerque," said Erin Armstrong, an ACLU Reproductive Rights Attorney.

It's not the only case of this happening, either. Other complaints have been lodged.

Walgreens' responded by saying they allow their pharmacists to step away from the counter rather than doing something against their moral beliefs, and that another pharmacist or employee will step in to fill the perscription.

Walgreens' statement on the matter:

"Our policy is to allow pharmacists and other employees to step away from completing a transaction to which they may have a moral objection, and requires the pharmacist or other employee to refer the transaction to another employee or manager on duty to complete the customer’s request.

"The policy’s objective is to ensure that in these rare instances, patients – both male and female – are offered reasonable alternatives to access legally prescribed medications.

"We have expressed our desire to work closely with the ACLU of New Mexico to address its concerns, and also as we review our policies and evaluate other services to help meet the needs of patients and customers.

"Additionally, we have taken the opportunity to retrain all of our pharmacists and store leadership in New Mexico on policies and procedures relating to conscientious objection, to ensure that we’re providing the highest level of patient care and service.

PFOA Chemicals in Water

A study has now shown that residents of the Mid-Ohio River Valley had higher than normal levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), based on blood samples collected over a 22-year span (1991-2013).

The exposure source was likely drinking water contaminated by industrial discharges upriver.

The researchers identified three known industrial sources who discharge PFOA into the Ohio River: DuPont's Fort Washington Works and on-site landfill, Dry Run Landfill in Washington, WV, and Letart Landfill in Letart, WV.

The issue is increasingly common. It has been reported that every person now has around 4 or 5 parts per billion in their blood, which is around 10x the EPA provisional limit.

And, while PFOA is being phased out, it's only one chemical in a large class of fluorine-derived substances called fluoropolymers (PFAs), so all the industry has to do is simply switch to different ones that aren't registered by the EPA, and have not been studied to the same extent.

The recourse taken by those affected tends to be lawsuits. A lawyer recently made headlines for suing DuPont for PFOA after a farmer called him to complain his cattle were getting sick and dying left and right and a soapy froth of chemical buildup in his creek.

Study

Russian Gov Wants Control of Big Data

Big Data is the "new oil" of the digital economy, according to speakers at Russia's 2017 SPIEF economic forum.

In order to prevent uncontrolled sales of this valuable and important info, the government should streamline and oversee it, according to the participants.

The chips haven't yet settled in the global understanding of how we should treat Big Data. Is it private information or public domain? is one of the most pressing questions around which laws and regulations will be made.

"Right now we are undergoing a major revolutionary upheaval in the society," noted residential aide Igor Shchegolev, "not only a technological revolution, but a revolution of moral standards as well." He said that sometimes ordinary citizens don't understand what they're doing, and inadvertently give away too easily things like personal information.

"Maybe some of the users will do what Native Americans did, when they traded their land for glass beads, unaware of its true value," he added.

"Today, a vast amount of Internet companies offer software for free, but collect Big Data on users in return," commented Alexander Zharov, the head of Russia’s communications watchdog Roskomnadzor. "Currently, the Russian legislation and international laws do not mention the notion of Big Data. We need to codify approaches toward the processing of Big Data, terms of its storage, transfer and secondary use."

"My forecast is that a law on the issue will inevitably appear," maybe in 2018 or 2019, he told reporters on the sidelines of the forum.

Lexmark Sued a Company That Let Buyers Refill Their Ink Cartridges ... and Lost

The Supreme court in a 7-1 decision found that consumers can do what they want with the printers they buy, despite Lexmark forcing buyers to "sign" a "post-sale restriction" contract that the buyer won't tamper with their patented product after they buy it.

The case is "Impression v Lexmark."

Lexmark makes two similar types of printers: the cheaper one comes with ink cartridges that have a chip on them that prevents users from refilling them and putting them back in the printer, so the user has to go buy a new one from a store. Impression removes the chip so users can refill their cartridges.

Lexmark sued, saying that infringes on their property rights (which they said they maintained post-sale) that prevented third parties from modifying or repairing their products.

The court reasoned that if companies could maintain property rights preventing modification and repair after a product was sold, pretty much every repair shop in the country could be sued, the "smooth flow of commerce" would be impaired, and all parties involved would end up harmed.