Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) - The House Ways and Means Committee voted 23 to 14 today to refer former IRS official Lois Lerner to Attorney General Eric Holder for possible criminal prosecution. In a contentious open-to-the-public hearing that lasted only few minutes, the House Ways and Means Committee voted this morning to immediately go into a closed session to discuss a letter proposed by the committee’s majority to refer former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. When Ranking Member Sander Levin (D.-Mich.), seeking to make a point of order, repeatedly interrupted Chairman Dave Camp’s (R.-Mich.)...

A New Mexico woman repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend after accusing him of cheating during a Monopoly game early yesterday, according to police. Laura Chavez, 60, and her boyfriend were playing the popular board game at her Santa Fe apartment when the dispute occurred. Chavez, pictured in the mug shot at right, allegedly admitted stabbing her beau, Clyde "Butch" Smith, with a kitchen knife. Police reported that both Chavez and the 48-year-old Smith appeared to be intoxicated. The man, who cops found bleeding heavily from wounds on his head and right wrist, was hospitalized yesterday in stable condition. Smith told investigators...

Laura Chavez is shown in this Santa Fe County Jail booking photo. (Santa Fe County Jail) Laura Chavez, 60, of Santa Fe, N.M., is accused of repeatedly stabbing her boyfriend, Clyde “Butch” Smith, 48, when a family game of Monopoly went terribly awry. Chavez began to argue with Smith while playing the board game with her 10-year-old grandson. The boy told police that Chavez accused Smith of cheating at Monopoly, and then sent the boy to bed around 11 p.m. mid-argument. According to a probable cause statement released by police, the couple’s argument escalated until Chavez hit Smith over the...

Boston police arrested 141 people during Occupy Boston demonstrations on Tuesday. The early morning arrests (1:30 am) were for trespassing and unlawful assembly. After almost 15 hours in custody, all of the peaceful demonstrators detained by the Boston Police Department had finally been released as of 6 pm on October 11. Occupy Boston has many eye-witness accounts and videos of police misconduct during the arrests (see above). Perhaps the most disturbing, and characteristic, clip is of a member of Veterans for Peace being thrown to the ground multiple times without provocation. Street medics and clearly marked legal observers who were...

WATCH: Woman in Kentucky attacks judge after being sentenced to 10 days in prisonBy Nina Mandell DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Friday, July 15th 2011, 1:13 PM A Kentucky woman accused of domestic violence had serious objections with a judge's sentence early this week, attacking the jurist after getting jail time. Wayne County Family Court video shows Melissa Harvick arguing with Judge Jennifer Upchurch Edwards before being sentenced to 10 days in prison for contempt of court. As soon as Edwards said, "You go now," Harvick lost it. She leaps over the bench and tries to choke Edwards, who remains, surprisingly,...

"Paulo Melo, 29, has been in a coma at the Royal Darwin Hospital for two weeks, after severing his spinal cord in a car crash." - read more below: doctor requested, family objected, court granted

ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal judge ignored a former Coca-Cola secretary's plea for mercy Wednesday and sentenced her to eight years in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets from the world's largest beverage maker. U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester told Joya Williams, 42, that he was giving her a longer sentence than recommended by federal prosecutors and sentencing guidelines because, "This is the kind of offense that cannot be tolerated in our society." Williams had faced up to 10 years in prison on the single conspiracy charge in a failed scheme to sell Coke's trade secrets to rival...

Multan - A young boy who tried to copy hanging scenes from the execution video of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein died in central Pakistan, said police on Monday. Mubashar Ali, 9, hanged himself, while re-enacting Hussein's hanging with the help of elder sister, 10, after tying a rope to a ceiling fan and his neck in his home in Rahim Yar Khan district on Sunday, said a local police official. The father of the deceased boy said that his children had been watching the video of Saddam Hussein's execution on television and attempted to imitate the hanging as other family...

Quote:"Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that the former Iraqi dictator has been transferred to Iraqi authorities for his execution and that a "credible source" had told him Hussein will be executed "very shortly -- in the next couple of hours." CNN Report Sources: Hussein execution nears POSTED: 3:05 p.m. EST, December 29, 2006 Story Highlights: • NEW: Iraqi lawmaker said he saw judge, cleric, and physician at gallows • NEW: Reports conflict over whether Hussein is in U.S. or Iraqi custody • Hussein's lawyers say U.S. officials have canceled...

GREENEVILLE - When those prison doors clang shut behind this dirty cop, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer wants the good guys to hear something else - praise. The way Greer sees it, the two-year prison term he doled out Tuesday for the former second highest-ranking law enforcer in Cocke County is as much a tribute to the good cop as it is an indictment of the bad. "Very simply put, Mr. (Patrick Allen) Taylor, a message needs to be sent," Greer told the former Cocke County Sheriff's Department chief deputy at his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court. "Honorable_law enforcement...

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation signed two contracts Friday to begin moving California inmates to out-of-state private prisons beginning as soon next month. Deals with the GEO Group and the Correctional Corporation of America will result in the transfer of 2,260 prisoners to institutions in Indiana, Oklahoma, Arizona and Tennessee. The GEO contract will run at $28.7 million a year while the CCA deal is pegged at $22.9 million. The average daily per inmate cost under the agreements will amount to $63 a day, compared to the average cost of approximately $90 a day the state is paying...

It wasn't supposed to end like this. It was just six years ago that San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales was addressing the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, basking in the glow of his 1998 election as the city's first Latino mayor since California's statehood and his regular appearances on magazine lists of the nation's "Most Influential Hispanics.'' But Thursday, the sword that has been hanging over Gonzales' head for months finally dropped. His once-glittering political career effectively ended when he was arrested and booked on charges stemming from secret agreements he made in a multimillion-dollar negotiation over a city...

Been here five years as of today. It's been great fun so far. Thought I'd post a vanity to give everyone an opportunity to mess with me in a centralized location for a change.

I have recently got myself in a fair amount of trouble for a DUI. There is no question that I am guilty of the basic offense. I am willing to pay the fines and do the time. That all seems the way it should be. What I would like to do, however, is to go into court (the next time), and express my sentiments to the judge. These would not be real polite. I cannot repeat them here. Think of the worst things you could say to someone and you will be close. My question is: How much more trouble...

Count Richard Jones Jr. as one of those guys who just can't win for losing. Eighteen months ago, Jones won an appeal of his federal drug conviction. On Thursday, he racked up a 35-year prison term - twice the sentence he received before his appeal. His attorney, James W. Bell, contends the five-time convicted felon is being punished for his appellate good fortunate. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Winck counters that Jones is paying the price he should have paid back in 2000, when the FBI first nabbed him. "The defendant in this case, as the jury's verdict reflects, was involved...

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (AP) - Cleveland Indians outfielder Milton Bradley pleaded innocent Friday to charges of speeding and fleeing when an officer tried to ticket him. Bradley was driving 52 mph in a 25-mph zone early Saturday, according to a police report. A patrolman stopped Bradley and issued him a speeding citation, but Bradley refused it and sped away, according to the report. An officer briefly pursued him.Bradley called the police Sunday to say he wanted to pick up the ticket. He did so and also signed a signature bond.Bradley also was charged with failure to comply with police, a...