Free Republic

A program allowing public servants to receive student loan forgiveness has rejected more than 99 percent of its applicants because of confusion about the program and a lack of coordination with the company running it, a government audit report showed. The rejection statistic, which had been included in a statement from the Department of Education on Sept. 19, was the subject of a government audit released Thursday. The audit report from the Government Accountability Office noted "the large number of denied borrowers suggests that many are still confused by the program requirements." It also criticized the DOE for not cooperating...

On Jan. 13, 2009, Michael Allison brought a digital recorder to the Crawford County Courthouse in Robinson, Ill., where he was contesting a citation, because he had been told there would be no official transcript of the proceedings. He was immediately confronted by Judge Kimbara Harrell, who accused him of violating her privacy and charged him with eavesdropping, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Because Allison had recorded conversations about his legal situation with police and other local officials, he soon faced four more eavesdropping charges, raising his possible sentence to 75 years. The case against...