Free Republic

The six year old who brought his Boy Scout pocket knife to school have been given a reprieve. He won't have to go to reform school for 45 days after all. A Delaware first-grader who was facing 45 days in an alternative school as punishment for taking his favorite camping utensil to school can return to class after the school board made a hasty change granting him a reprieve.

Shame can be a powerful punishment. Just ask the guy who had to stand at the corner of Leesburg Pike and International Drive in Tysons Corner, Va., this morning. You know, the guy wearing the sign that said, "I CHEATED. THIS IS MY PUNISHMENT." A man who identified himself as William Taylor of Centreville, Va. told a passerby that he cheated on his wife -- and she found evidence of it on his cell phone. So the wife allegedly doled out a rather creative punishment: He had to stand at the intersection during morning rush, wearing the handmade sign. We...

Shame can be a powerful punishment. Just ask the guy who had to stand at the corner of Leesburg Pike and International Drive in Tysons Corner, Va., on Wednesday morning. You know, the guy wearing the sign that said, "I CHEATED. THIS IS MY PUNISHMENT." William Taylor, of Centreville, Va., told a passerby that he cheated on his wife -- and she found evidence of it on his cell phone. So the wife doled out a rather creative punishment: He had to stand at the intersection during morning rush, wearing the handmade sign. People reported seeing him as early as...

When questioned about how our leadership is not being forced to take the public plan...Democratic Congressman says he'd take a vote on it, BUT, went on to say..... "My fear is that I want to safeguard employer-based insurance and I don't want to PUNISH federal employees, or city of Maytown employees, or state employees, just because...if you work for government you get employer-based insurance...... I don't want to PUNISH you if you work for Shell, or Linedale or anybody else, so I want employer based insurance to be continued as best we can....." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGZIWGG4LjU

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Byrd and Melanie Billings had a growing brood of adopted children with autism, Down syndrome and other disabilities, and took care to make their nine-bedroom house a safe place for them, wiring it with surveillance cameras in every room. It was those cameras that captured images of the masked men who shot the wealthy couple to death in a break-in executed with chilling precision.

Prostitute Dies After Being Held in Scorching Outdoor Prison Cell — A prostitute doing time behind bars, Marcia Powell was temporarily moved one day last month to an outdoor holding pen with nothing but a chain-link-fence roof to shield her from the searing desert sun. She lasted less than four hours. Powell, 48, collapsed in the 108-degree heat and died at a hospital the next day, touching off a criminal investigation and bringing an abrupt end to a little-known practice in Arizona's prison system that inmate-rights activists found repellent. Donna Leone Hamm, director of the local nonprofit Middle Ground Prison...

The other shoe is about to drop, President Obama "great friend of Israel" is having discussion on the best way to screw Israel. Based on their discussions two weeks ago, Barack Obama and his fellow democrats want Jews living in the West Bank and Gaza to stop having babies so they can freeze the size of existing settlements At the same time Obama is making demands on the Palestinian side, like recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, no that's not it, renouncing their call for violent overthrow of the entire state of Israel, wait he didn't do that either, oh...

A man who fatally stabbed a convenience store clerk during a robbery 23 years ago apologized repeatedly to her relatives and to his mother before he was executed Tuesday. "I know I hurt you very bad," Michael Lynn Riley said to his victim's relatives, including her two daughters and husband. "I want you to know I'm sorry." Brandy Oaks said she accepted Riley's apology and was pleased to hear it. She was 4 when her mother, Wynona Harris, was killed. "This is a difficult day and there are no winners on either side," Oaks said. "Her spirit will live on...

U.S. President Barack Obama will mention protests over his speaking at Notre Dame University in Indiana when he appears there, a spokesman said Friday. About 15 anti-abortion activists were arrested Friday at Notre Dame, Fox News reported. They included Alan Keyes, the right-wing pundit who ran against Obama for the Senate in 2004 in Illinois and has become a perennial candidate for president. Obama's pro-choice position on abortion and his reversal of the Bush administration ban on stem cell research has angered some Catholics. Robert Gibbs, Obama's press secretary, told reporters at the daily briefing that the president, who has...

Reparations - The Law of Punishment and Reward Anyone who captures a free person, brings them to another country against their will, forces them to do manual labor without pay, while physically and psychologically abusing them – denying them equal rights to resources are creating a moral and ethical system by which redress is inevitable. Although the era supported this type of behavior and it was acceptable by the legitimate government one could argue that no wrong was committed – except the one who was subjected to the treatment. For them, it was not consensual therefore it's illegal and degrading....

What happens when a real father disciplines his children in public? All hell breaks loose. About halfway through our meal a boy that was 5-6 years old, sitting in the corner booth, projected his voice beyond the loud obnoxious levels of the other children. You could tell it was forced, and the boy was attempting to make a scene to get his parents to cave in on something. You know the yell I'm talking about. That angry, frustrated, spiteful scream that the child strains to get out. In modern times the parent usually follows that scream with "ok take it...

Don't you just love your shiny new iPhone, with all its oh-so-cool applications? One for Facebook, one for Sudoku, one for Texas Hold 'em Poker, one for shaking a baby until you kill it. This is no joke. On the iPhone app store - until yesterday, when it was apparently pulled - you could find Baby Shaker. Buyable for 99 cents, the game shows a picture of a baby and plays crying sounds. Shake your iPhone hard enough and the crying stops and two X's appear over the baby's eyes. Is there an app to recover the humanity you lose...

A TRUE American hero has been freed. Three pirates are dead. A fourth pirate is in custody. Our Navy shone. Now the hard work starts. This weekend's success won't be enough to keep our merchant mariners and cargo ships safe. Somali pirate gangs have already threatened retaliation against third-party captives. (We'll see what they do.) And all Somalis believe that the United States lacks strength of will and staying power. They remember President Bill Clinton's cowardly retreat from Mogadishu. They'll expect a replay from President Obama. Some pirates may avoid US-flagged ships. Others will go out hunting for them --...

CHEYENNE — In one month, a Cheyenne teenager sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same — all while her family's plan did not include texting. That means the family's provider — Verizon — charged them for each incoming and outgoing text message. The girl's parents, Gregg and Jaylene Christoffersen, thought texting had been disabled, so one can imagine their surprise when they got the monthly phone bill and it asked for $4,756.25. "It just hit us like a rock, like you're stepping into a bus," Gregg Christoffersen said. The bill was legit. Dena Christoffersen, 13, had apparently been...

A condemned Texas inmate who removed his only eye and ate it in a bizarre outburst several months ago on death row is “crazy,” yet sane under state law, a judge wrote in an appellate court ruling on Wednesday that rejected his appeals. Here’s the story, from the Associated Press. According to the story, Andre Thomas challenged his conviction and death sentence for the murder of his estranged wife’s 13-month-old daughter five years ago in Grayson County in North Texas. His wife and their 4-year-old son were killed in the same attack. The victims were stabbed and their hearts were...

Phillip Cherney has represented some notorious clients in his time, notably infamous Oakland drug czar Felix Mitchell Jr. in the mid '80s and Joel Radovcich, whom Fresno social climber Dana Ewell hired to murder his sister and wealthy parents in 1992. *** Cherney has the unenviable task of going before the California Supreme Court on Tuesday during oral arguments in San Francisco to plead for the ignominious death row inmate's life. Cherney knows he has his work cut out for him, noting in court papers that Davis, 54, is "one of the most reviled defendants" in recent California history, a...

Even amid the real-estate bust, waterfront property in the San Francisco Bay area is a luxury few can afford. That's why some California lawmakers want to sell San Quentin State Prison -- which houses more than 5,300 inmates on prime land with stunning views of the bay -- to developers who might pay as much as $2 billion. State Sen. Jeff Denham, who has sponsored a bill to sell the complex of historic buildings for private development, thinks the proceeds could help replenish California's recession-depleted coffers. "I believe maximum-security inmates shouldn't have waterfront property," said Mr. Denham, a Republican from...

The man who punched condemned killer Clayton Ellington in a DeKalb County courtroom last year can be spared a criminal conviction under an offer from prosecutors Tuesday. Earl Bradford, 44, of Lithonia, will be required to complete grief counseling, apologize in writing to the court and perform 40 hours of community service, said Artealia Gilliard, spokeswoman for DeKalb Solicitor General Robert James. In exchange, the misdemeanor battery charge against him will be dropped, Gilliard said. Bradford was a cousin of Berna Ellington, who was beaten to death with a hammer, along with her 2-year-old twin sons, at her home on...

One of the nice thing about having a glamorous First Family is that it can provide cheap escapist entertainment amid a bleak economy and partisan political rancor. Rumors of Michelle Obama's pregnancy have surely helped lubricate many a cocktail-party conversation in recent days around Washington, DC, where the social scene is rebooting as a new Congress convenes and as Barack Obama's historic inauguration fades into the past. Now the gossip can likewise fuel small talk the rest of the country. WowOWow.com, passing along a rumor from Perez Hilton, notes it thought Michelle Obama was showing a bump back on election...

There are very few positive things one can say about the North Korean communist regime. For years they have lashed out at their neighbors, openly defied any request made of them, and worst of all they basically imprisoned all of their people with the fear of death. shindonghyuk In North Korea,The Punishment is Always Death picture Shin Dong Hyuk, who grew up in one of North Korea’s worst prison camps, is one of the few have have broken North Korean law and lived to tell of it. The interview Shin Dong Hyuk gave upon successfully escaping the prison camp is...

Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:6) 1. Instituted by God Himself Capital punishment was instituted by God Himself after the worldwide flood. We learn of this in Genesis 9:6--"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." This verse speaks of a murderer, one who knowingly and violently sheds another man's blood, resulting in death. God here gives man the authority and the right and the duty to put to death the murderer:...

Clarke D. Forsythe AUL Senior Counsel Introduction The political claim—that women were or will be prosecuted or jailed under abortion laws—has been made so frequently by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and NOW over the past 40 years that it has become an urban legend. It shows the astonishing power of contemporary media to make a complete falsehood into a truism. For 30 years, abortion advocates have claimed—without any evidence and contrary to the well-documented practice of ALL 50 states—that women were jailed before Roe and would be jailed if Roe falls (or if state abortion prohibitions are reinstated). This claim rests...

The current economic turmoil in the US is "divine punishment," Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday. Haniyeh said God's punishment would also extend to America's allies. Earlier Friday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum was quoted as saying that the group would only decide whether to extend the Gaza cease-fire after consulting with all the Palestinian factions. RELATED Rattling the Cage: We're all liberals now 3,600 job losses feared by year's end in Israel A Point of View: Financial crisis brings out the anti-semites Barhoum told the Palestinian al-Ayyam newspaper that Hamas had not yet been asked to lengthen the six-month...

Cincinnati, OH (AHN) - The Ohio Supreme Court and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled against staying the execution of an inmate because he is obese. The two courts upheld an earlier ruling of the U.S. The double murder convict argued that lethal injection might not be properly administered to him and might be painful and slow because his physical condition will make it difficult to find a vein where the lethal drug will be injected.

HICAGO (CBS) ― CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini exposed illegal corporal punishment in public schools, and the report is getting results that will help prevent children in our schools from being beaten. The 2 Investigators uncovered the story about athletes beaten at Chicago's prestigious Simeon Career Academy. Now more big name schools are under fire as more students come forward to report abuse. In an exclusive interview, the head of Chicago Public Schools expressed his outrage. "We are going to fire anyone who we find that does this," CPS CEO Arne Duncan said in reaction to security camera footage the...

Those behind market crisis should be punished: Sarkozy 1 hour, 39 minutes ago Those responsible for the crisis that has swept global financial markets should be punished, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said overnight in his first reaction to the latest bout of economic turmoil. In an acceptance speech at an award ceremony attended by U.S. and French business leaders, Sarkozy called for the "truth" on the crisis to be uncovered. "Today, millions of people across the world fear for their savings, for their apartment, for the funds they have put in banks. It is our duty to give them clear...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – President Bush this week approved the death penalty for an Army private convicted of committing multiple murders and rapes in the late 1980s on Fort Bragg, N.C. Exercising the commander in chief’s final authority to approve capital punishment for a servicemember, Bush issued the order against Pvt. Ronald A. Gray on July 28, the first time such a presidential directive has been invoked in 51 years. Gray faces the death penalty after being convicted of two killings, one count of attempted murder and of raping all three victims, among other crimes he was found guilty...

Mississippi death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop’s final words before being executed included an endorsement of presidential contender Senator Obama. “Senator Obama offers hope for people like me,” Bishop asserted. “I have feelings, dreams, and aspirations. I don’t want to die.” Bishop acknowledged that the election of Obama would come too late to save him, but still urged voters “to consider what kind of a world they want for their children. Do we really want a justice system focused on ‘an-eye-for-an-eye?’ Or do we want to ‘forgive-and-forget?’ Think about that when you cast your ballots next November.” Senator Obama averred...

Seventy-seven percent of people in Japan think that the statute of limitations on murders should be abolished, a Mainichi poll has found.

The original Bill to punish anyone who might decide to set off nuclear weapons in Ireland was not exactly overly harsh on offenders. It provided a humble district court judge the power to impose a €5,000 fine and a 12-month jail term. Critics said the proposed punishment structure would have made Ireland a laughing stock. But the authorities have moved to considerably strengthen the penalties on any person building or worse, detonating, a thermonuclear bomb in this country. Now offenders -- including any would-be Dr Strangegloves -- would see their trial going forward to the Central Criminal Court, where sentences...

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Call it poetic justice: More than two dozen young people who broke into Robert Frost's former home for a beer party and trashed the place are being required to take classes in his poetry as part of their punishment. Using "The Road Not Taken" and another poem as jumping-off points, Frost biographer Jay Parini hopes to show the vandals the error of their ways — and the redemptive power of poetry. "I guess I was thinking that if these teens had a better understanding of who Robert Frost was and his contribution to our society, that they...

INDIANAPOLIS - A legally blind man beat up an intruder and held him at knifepoint until police arrived at the man's eastside home, authorities said. Allan Kieta, 49, told police he was at home Monday morning when his small dog began barking and he encountered the man. "I opened the door and just ran into him. I had him pinned in the laundry room and just kept pummeling," said Kieta, a former wrestler in high school. He said he grabbed the intruder by the belt and dragged him into the kitchen, where he put a knife at the man's throat...

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations. Criminologists and legal scholars in other industrialized nations say they are mystified and appalled...

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations. Criminologists and legal scholars in other industrialized nations say they are mystified and appalled...

Britain barely punishes even the most psychopathic behavior. Hard cases make bad law, no doubt, but bad law also makes hard cases. Certainly the thugs of Great Britain, of whom there are now terrifyingly many, may take comfort from the sentences passed recently on two young men, Dejon Thompson and Patrick Rowe, for the killing of a young Turkish man named Evren Anil. The case shows how little thugs have to fear from the law. Anil, a man of 23 with a bright future, was in his car at a traffic light with his sister when one of the two...

Why would a loving God allow evil? Probably one of the biggest issues regarding people’s objection to God, is the underlying feeling that God, ‘if He were God’, would not allow evil to affect so many people. Indeed, there is a great amount of terrible suffering in this world, and people naturally struggle with this important issue. Some of the accusations leveled toward God that I see quite commonly go along the lines of “God must not be perfect (or omnipotent) if He wasn’t big enough to prevent evil from affecting us”, and usually people will extend this accusation to...

Tibetans Rioters Facing Quick Trials By Sky News SkyNews - 31 minutes ago Tibetans accused of rioting and protesting against Chinese rule will face swift trials and harsh sentences, state media reports have said. Tibet's regional capital Lhasa was hit in March by Buddhist monks' protests against Chinese rule that gave way to deadly clashes on March 14. Security forces were poured in to re-impose control the city and other restive Tibetan areas. China says 19 people died in the Lhasa violence but representatives of the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, say some 140 people were killed in...

Evil is personified when a wealthy man believes he should have his own grandchild murdered if his underage daughter makes a mistake and gets pregnant. A twisted perversion of reality exists when that same wealthy man believes a grandchild would be punishment equal to the contraction of an S.T.D. So in Senator Obama we find an evil man with a twisted perversion of reality asking the American people to make him President. Obama's statement, “Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old, I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if...

"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," Obama said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."

Obama’s ‘baby’ comment draws fire from conservatives By Sam Youngman Posted: 03/31/08 05:35 PM [ET] Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) campaign on Monday sought to clarify remarks the Democratic front-runner made on teen pregnancies that had drawn criticism from conservatives. Speaking about sex education at an event in Pennsylvania Saturday, Obama said, according to the Christian Broadcasting Network, that he will educate his young daughters but “if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at the age of 16.” Conservative talker Sean Hannity mentioned the quotes on his...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Barack Obama is drawing gasps from pro-life advocates today over comments he made during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The leading Democratic presidential candidate appeared to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn't "punish" them with a baby. Obama's remarks are likely to add another reason to the list pro-life advocates are developing as to why he won't get their vote this November.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Barack Obama is drawing gasps from pro-life advocates today over comments he made during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The leading Democratic presidential candidate appeared to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn't "punish" them with a baby. Obama's comments came in the context of off-the-cuff remarks addressing the issue of AIDS. (see them here) "When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that...

Out in western Pennsylvania, the issue of abortion can strike a nerve. Democrats there often describe themselves economic liberals and social conservatives who favor gun rights and oppose abortion rights. So, it was not unusual to see a woman stand near the end of Barack Obama’s town hall meeting in Johnstown, Penn., and offer a hurried, passionate plea for him to “stop these abortions.” …The exchange appeared to be prompted by Obama’s earlier comments that he does not favor abstinence-only education, but rather comprehensive sexual education that includes information on abstinence and birth control. “Look, I got two daughters —...

I remember years ago making a remark to my granddaddy that it seemed that people were more evil than they had ever been. His reply was that they had always been that way, there were just more of them now. Then and now I consider my grandfather to be a wise man whose sage opinions I regarded as insightful and correct. Granddaddy has been gone for many years and I can't help but wonder if he was still alive if his feelings on evil would still be the same. Granted there are many more people but it seems that the...

restaurant is open as usual after the owner shot two armed robbers who broke into the business last night. In an unusual twist, both robbers had guns, but neither was loaded. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports detectives say the 16-year-old suspect was carrying a Colt .22 revolver and had bullets in his pocket, but not in the gun. The 14-year-old was carrying a Ruger .45 revolver that was also empty. It's baffling they would take unloaded guns into a robbery, knowing full well they could encounter someone with a loaded gun and that's exactly what happened. ...

TUSCALOOSA | Luther Quarles looks like a grandfather, a mild-mannered one with a quick smile whom a child would look forward to visiting on a Sunday afternoon. But any hopes Quarles had of for that died with his only daughter nearly 30 years ago. Regina Quarles was killed in 1978, just months after graduating from Tuscaloosa County High School. The 18-year-old was found strangled to death after going to a disco with friends. James Michael Hayes, the man convicted of her murder six months later, was a suspect in another similar murder and had been convicted of trying to rape...

. . . Whether Cesar Rodriguez, who is accused of beatings and abusive behavior that killed his 7-year-old stepdaughter, could not have known he had crossed a line is a matter for a jury to decide. He has admitted that he routinely beat Nixzmary with a belt, hit her with his hands using “all my force,” threw her on the floor. He has admitted duct-taping her emaciated 37-pound frame to a chair and binding her with bungee cords. But at least in a broad legal sense, Mr. Schwartz has a point. The laws in New York State, as in the...

HOUSTON -- A northwest Harris County teen in trouble with the law is in even bigger trouble with his mom after running away to avoid learning a lesson, FOX 26 News reported Tuesday. Denise Utley said her 15-year-old son, Bradley, stole prescription drugs from her and got caught selling them at Klein High School. To teach her son a lesson, Utley wanted her son to stand in front of the school wearing a sign apologizing for what he did. That's when her son ran away. Shortly after Utley put up "wanted" signs in her search for her son, someone saw...

TEHRAN — Iran hanged seven men convicted of murder and drug smuggling in different cities, newspapers reported Thursday, bringing the number of publicly disclosed executions in the first two weeks of this year to 23. The daily Iran reported that two men, identified only by their first names as Mojtaba and Mohammad-Hossein, were hanged for murder Wednesday in the southern city of Jahorm. Three others, convicted of drug trafficking were hanged in eastern city of Birjand on Wedneasday, the daily Jomhouri Islami reported. The daily added that two others convicted of murder were hanged in the northern city of Tonekabon...