Not Dead Yet

The Volokh Conspiracy links to this opinion by Judge Boyce Martin of the Sixth Circuit, where she declares:
Because collateral estoppel precludes future litigation of one specific issue, and because that is what the state effectively asks us to find, we construe their argument as one for collateral estoppel rather than res judicata, despite the substitution [...]

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Haditha Update: LtCol Jeffrey Chessani Additional Charges

After having his Article 32 investigation reopened, two additional charges for dereliction of duty have been add against Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani. LtCol Chessani was the battalion commander of the Marines involved in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in Hadita, Iraq.
The Investigating Officer, Col Conlin, in LtCol Chessani’s case had originally recommended three charges [...]

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A Toxic Shroud: "China is choking on its own success” and endangering neighbors and American cities

 
Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley of the New York Times, on August 26th, produced an excellent story on China’s industrial success/toxic pollution nexus. The situation is dire, and China’s difficulties overcoming the Victorian England-like pollution troubles in order to host an Olympics palpable to the rest of the world are well known, and have been [...]

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AltLaw Beta: Free Boolean-searches of SCOTUS/Federal Courts of Appeal Decisions

AltLaw, the newest and one of the more promising internet legal resources to hit the scene, is now up and running and available for free public advanced searches of case law.
It’s a sort of Google for Supreme Court and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal decisions, and clearly holds promise to democratize the availability of relevant [...]

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Greetings from Mirkwood

Don’t leave the path!!!
(Explanation of this photo here).

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Abu Ghraib Court-Martial: LTCOL Jordan Guilty and Not Guilty

On 28AUG07, a court-martial found Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, USA, not guilty of charges that he was responsible for the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail. LTCOL Jordan was found guilty of disobeying an order, UCMJ Article 92, not to talk about the investigation. This order was given by [...]

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Haditha Update: Article 32 Investigation for Sgt Frank Wuterich

The Article 32 investigation for Sgt Frank Wuterich, USMC, is set to begin on 30AUG07 aboard Camp Pendleton. LtCol Ware will be the investigating officer. LtCol Ware was the investigating officer for LCpl Stephen B. Tatum and and LCpl Justin L. Sharratt, in both cases he recommended no charges.
Sgt Wuterich’s lawyer, Neal Puckett, a retired [...]

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Wikipedia Needs Some Major Changes: So Says the Department of Defense

According Ares users computer users from the DoD are very busy editing entries on Wikipedia.
 
 
the Department of Defense, whose .mil account holders have been very busy on Wikipedia. The defense agency with the most edits originating from its .mil address is Army’s Network Information Center, with 43,823 edits. The U.S. Air Forces comes in [...]

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Haditha Update: Investigating Officer Recommends No Charges for LCpl Tatum

LtCol P.J. Ware, USMC, filed the report of his investigation into charges against LCpl Stephen B. Tatum, wherein he recommended no criminal charges. LtCol Ware characterized the shootings as tragedies, but LCpl Tatum did not violate the law.
LtCol Ware previously recommended no charges be brought against LCpl Justin L. Sharratt. LtGen [...]

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U.S. Court of Military Commission Review: U.S. v. Khadr

The first hearing of the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review is scheduled to hold its first hearing on 24AUG07. The hearing will hear argument regarding the dismissal of charges against Omar Ahmed Khadr because of a flaw in the Combatant Status Review Tribunals for Guantanamo Bay prisoners. See [...]

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Marine Drill Instructor Charged: 244 Counts of Abusing Recruits

Sgt Jerrod M. Glass, USMC, a Drill Instructors at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, was charged with 244 counts of abusing recruits. The accusations against Sgt Glass include striking almost every member of his platoon, a total of 60 recruits. The four officers who oversaw Sgt Glass have been relieved of their duties. [...]

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The HD Molehill/Spitwad battle; and, Paramount and DreamWorks choose HD-DVD

Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG–including, inter alia, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, and MTV Films–announced today (Monday Aug 20th 07) that they will release their next-gen DVD titles exclusively on HD-DVD, dropping the Blu-Ray format. Want to watch Transformers, Shrek the Third, and Blades of Glory? Gotta do it in [...]

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Game Review: The Bigs (thumbs up)

I happen to concur with Homer Simpson’s attitude on baseball. When he abstained from alcohol for a week, he showed up to the ballpark (sober) and exclaimed, “I never realized how boring this game is!”
2K Sports answers these critics with The Bigs. The game interjects excitement into America’s pastime with two [...]

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Book Review: Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

Written by a surgeon, this book is a collection of essays about medicine and much more. Dr. Gawande is a staff member of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard.

The essays are seamless and extraordinarily easy to read, even when explaining complex issues. The overarching theme [...]

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Crack v. Cocaine: The Supreme Court to Rule on Decreased Punishment for Powder Cocaine

The Supreme Court added to its docket United States v. Kimbrough, 06-6330, which involves the application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”).
Note – Crack cocaine (hereinafter “crack“) is cocaine hydrochloride that is processed with baking soda to form of cocaine capable of [...]

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