Jack Schaap is not the only Indiana pastor in legal trouble. Another minister, this one from Lafayette, has been charged with ten felony counts of child exploitation and voyeurism for allegedly installing hidden cameras in the women’s bathroom at his church.
Category Archive: Criminal Justice
Mar 20 2013
Maryland to Eliminate the Death Penalty
Maryland is poised to become the 18th state to outlaw the death penalty after the state legislature voted by a strong margin to do so. The governor says he will sign the bill, which would commute the sentences of those on death row to life in prison without parole.
Mar 19 2013
Baptist Hypocrite Used Jesus to Sleep With Teen Girl
You may recall that Jack Schaap, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, was arrested last year for having sex with a 17-year old girl in his congregation. Prosecutors released a bunch of letters last week that he wrote to the girl, using religion to get the girl to sleep with him:
Mar 15 2013
Why Cops Should Not Be Automatically Believed
Despite an increasingly obvious track record of lying on reports, framing innocent people and many other forms of misconduct and abuse, juries tend to automatically believe police officers when they testify in court. Defense attorney Rick Horowitz explains why this is a bad idea, in response to another person pointing out that not all cops …
Mar 14 2013
DOJ Supports Right to Record Police
In a very encouraging development, the Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in Garcia v. Montgomery County to support a First Amendment right to record the police. The case involves a journalist who was arrested for doing so in Maryland.
Mar 14 2013
McCarthy Lies About Civilian Trials Again
The DOJ has arraigned Osama Bin Laden’s son in law in federal court in New York and, naturally, the right wing media is throwing a hissy fit about it. And Andrew McCarthy is throwing fuel on the paranoid fire and telling ridiculous lies about it as well.
Mar 13 2013
Police Accused of Planting Drugs on Video
An Atlanta TV station reports on a case in Decatur, Georgia where a man who was arrested for marijuana possession has accused the police of planting the drugs on him — and he says a nearby surveillance camera shows it happening. I’d sure like to see the full video, but you can watch a bit …
Mar 11 2013
ACLU to Investigate the Militarization of Law Enforcement
My friend Radley Balko, who has done more than any other person in the country to document and combat the militarization of law enforcement, and the inevitable abuses that come with it, is finally getting some serious institutional help. The ACLU is launching a major project on the subject:
Mar 07 2013
Adelson Bribed Foreign Officials
Sheldon Adelson, one of the richest men in the world and the single largest contributor to Republican politicians in 2012, has admitted to the SEC that he likely violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the bribing of foreign officials.
Mar 05 2013
Judge Sentences Man to Write Essay on Lynching
This is a rather disturbing story. 19 year old Matthew Herrmann was arrested in January for luring a black student into a house, putting a noose around his neck, calling him a nigger and threatening him with a knife, all to get him to stop talking to a white girl. And he was allowed to …
Mar 02 2013
Fed. Prosecutor Being Investigated for Racist Statement
A federal prosecutor in Texas is under investigation by the Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility for asking a racially charged question during a trial, and drawing the ire of Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor as well. During a drug trafficking trial the prosecutor asked the defendant:
Feb 26 2013
DOJ Gives Gift to Blackwater
Remember when Blackwater was charged with 15 counts of illegal weapons possession and trafficking, falsifying documents, lying to the government and bribing foreign officials? The Department of Justice just let them off with less than a slap on the wrist after two executives pleaded guilty to much lesser charges.
Feb 25 2013
Grassley Suddenly Concerned About Racial Makeup of Juries
Sen. Charles Grassley is trying to explain his vote against the Violence Against Women Act and inventing new and fascinating arguments. Like if a white man was accused of assaulting a Native American woman, he might get tried by a jury of Native Americans — and that would be terribly unfair.
Feb 25 2013
Miami Prosecutor Fired for Abusing Badge
A prosecutor in Miami — the same prosecutor that tried and failed to convict Carlos Miller for flagrantly committing journalism while covering an Occupy protest — has been fired for flashing his badge at a strip club to get out of paying too much for his lapdances.
Feb 22 2013
Supreme Court Gets It Wrong on Drug Dogs
The Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Florida v Harris, a case challenging the use of drug dogs to establish probable cause. The early date of the ruling suggested that it was a lopsided decision and that would indicate that it went the wrong way, and that is exactly the case. In a 9-0 …
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