Free Republic

A federal law crafted to fight the mob is giving marijuana opponents a new strategy in their battle to stop the expanding industry: racketeering lawsuits. A Colorado pot shop recently closed after a Washington-based group opposed to legal marijuana sued not just the pot shop but a laundry list of firms doing business with it—from its landlord and accountant to the Iowa bonding company guaranteeing its tax payments. One by one, many of the plaintiffs agreed to stop doing business with Medical Marijuana of the Rockies, until the mountain shop closed its doors and had to sell off its pot...

Interpol issued wanted-person notices Wednesday for six people accused by the Department of Justice of being involved in a vast corruption network surrounding soccer's FIFA governing body. The so-called "red notices" — which do not have the power of an international arrest warrant — were issued at the request of U.S. authorities, Interpol said in a statement. Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner and former FIFA executive committee member Nicolás Leoz were the top names on Interpol's list, followed by Alejandro Burzaco, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, all heads of marketing businesses based in Argentina, and José Margulies, who runs...

Judge orders Clinton Foundation racketeering case to trial BY SARAH WESTWOOD | MAY 29, 2015 | 7:39 PM A Florida judge has set a trial date in the racketeering case against the Clinton Foundation and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Judge Donald Middlebrooks of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered the racketeering, influenced and corrupt organizations, or RICO, case to head to trial January 20, 2016. The order, entered Friday and obtained by the Washington Examiner, came days after Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch filed a lengthy civil complaint against the Clintons and their foundation in...

Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation have been hit with a racketeering lawsuit in Florida court. The lawsuit, filed by Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, includes a legal request to have the Florida judge seize the private server on which Hillary Clinton and her aides hosted their emails while she served as secretary of state. Klayman has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Clintons and other prominent politicians. The racketeering, influenced and corrupt organizations, or RICO, case alleges the former first couple and their family philanthropy traded political favors for donations or generous speaking fees for Bill Clinton...

Well, that didn't take long. The tolerance brigades are calling for the death of the proprietors of a small pizza restaurant in a sleepy Indiana town. All of the hubbub that has spawned over the last three days has spun well out of control for those that wanted to make the pizzeria an example to be shunned. However, some have taken it way too far already: they´ve raised funds for the stupid gayhaters of #MemoriesPizza let´s raise funds to kill them all !!! take you gun and kill them now — Al Gringo (@Al_Gringo) April 3, 2015 #MemoriesPizza If conservatives...

Her -- I think her -- twitter page says that her interests include "helping the world." Helping the world includes reporting as fraudulent a crowdfunding effort for a Christian family put out of business by leftwing hate.

Update, April 3: The Indiana man who claims to have been hacked now admits that he wasn't, but says he was "joking" about robbing Memories Pizza, and is threatening to sue those who exposed his (ahem) public comments. Those of us following the Memories Pizza story won't have trouble remembering it as the years go by, thanks only partially to the Walkerton, Indiana store's fairly unusual name for a pizzeria. What will also easy to recall are the "memories" of the unhinged and threatening leftist behavior that accompanied its owner's simple statement that, if the request ever arose, they would...

Jess Dooley, a Concord High School golf, softball and basketball coach, was suspended hours after responding to Religious Freedom Restoration Act news story with Tweet about arson. A Concord High School coach has been suspended after she tweeted about arson in relation to a Walkerton pizzeria whose owners told the media they agree with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Jess Dooley, who is the head coach of the girls golf program and also an assistant coach with the softball and girls basketball programs, took to Twitter Wednesday, April 1, to voice her opinion about the RFRA. She was adding to...

ATLANTA (AP) — A group of former Atlanta educators convicted in a test cheating scandal were locked up in jail Thursday as they await sentences that could send them to prison for years. In one of the nation's largest cheating scandals of its kind, the 11 defendants were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their roles in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams. They include teachers, a principal and other administrators, who were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta public school system. A 12th defendant, a teacher, was...

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Suspended California state Sen. Leland Yee could face a jury as early as June for charges of political corruption and conspiracy to import guns. At a scheduling conference on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Yee will be tried along with his political consultant Keith Jackson, who also faces drug and murder-for-hire charges. Breyer said those charges will be tried separately, but lawyers for the defendants, including Yee's lawyer James Lassart, were not satisfied. "The firearms charges are going to be extremely prejudicial. The government has acquired 50 to 70 different firearms that, undoubtedly to...

glaringly missing from the summary was mention of $15 million in fees paid by Burkle's Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund since 2002

A prominent animal-rights charity is not a friend of the furry kingdom. Americans love animals, even cats. Eight million stray dogs and cats find their way into animal shelters every year, and the lucky ones are adopted into a warm home with a loving family. Shelters are operated by small charities usually called “humane societies,” whose good deeds are funded by private generosity. The Humane Society of the United States trades on the good of others to finance a radical agenda. In May, the Humane Society and a handful of other radical animal-rights groups had to write a $15.8 million...

A man prosecutors accuse of heading a crime syndicate based in San Francisco’s Chinatown pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new charge of racketeering. Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow entered the plea to a newly filed indictment that includes all the same money laundering and related charges as the previous one. The new filing says he served as gang leader of a Chinatown community organization that bribed a state senator and laundered money among other crimes. The new racketeering count alleges that Chow orchestrated a wide range of alleged criminal activity, including the bribing of state Sen. Leland Yee. …

A federal grand jury on Friday charged a California state senator with more felonies in addition to the eight counts he already faced in a sweeping organized crime and public corruption case centered in San Francisco’s Chinatown. […] Yee pleaded not guilty to the original eight charges. He will have to enter a plea Wednesday to the charges in the new indictment. The new accusations allege that San Francisco Democrat offered to help pass legislation making it harder for professional football players to obtain workers compensation in California, in exchange for campaign contributions from an unidentified NFL owner. The new...

I’ve been a writer for Live Action News for almost two years. Before I wrote for Live Action News I was familiar with Lila Rose and the work of her organization. I watched the eye opening video Live Action made exposing racism in Planned Parenthood. I remember how I felt hearing an actor ask a Planned Parenthood worker if he could donate funds specifically towards the abortion of a black baby. The actor said ‘the less black kids the better’ and mentioned that he was against affirmative action and didn’t want his child to grow up with more competition then...

Contrary to the White Houses explanation that a few rogue agents in Cincinnati lead the targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS, newly released emails obtained by Judicial Watch detail Democratic Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) pressuring the IRS to target conservative groups. On March 30, 2012 Levin wrote to then IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman about his concern with the political activity by conservative nonprofits. “Some entities claiming tax-exempt status as social welfare organizations under 26 U.S.C.&501(c)(4) appear to be engaged in political activities more appropriate for political organizations claiming tax-exempt status under 26 U.S.C.&527. Because of the urgency of...

Breitbart Texas recently reported on the release of 36,000 convicted criminal illegal immigrants, including almost 200 murderers, who were released back into the U.S. by immigration officials in 2013. The figures were outlined in a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Breitbart Texas subsequently reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices around the country, in an attempt to learn more about release policies. Each ICE representative that Breitbart Texas came in contact with was familiar with the CIS report, but would not comment on it. They additionally refused to answer general questions regarding detention and release...

LAKEWOOD — A teenager was arrested and charged Tuesday night with bias crimes after he was reported luring or harassing females on the street, police said. Police say the teenager intended to touch and knock down a woman from the Orthodox Jewish community as part of an MS-13 gang initiation. Rafael Laurano-Flores, 18, was charged with obstruction, resisting arrest, three counts of bias intimidation and three counts of bias harassment, said Sgt. Greg Staffordsmith. Police were called initially at 7:30 p.m. to the area of 5th Street and Princeton Avenue about an attempted abduction of a 16-year-old girl, Staffordsmith said....

Pink Brick Award Posted on April 7, 2014 by Pastor Scott Tonight I was informed by a writer at the Bay Area Reporter that I have been “awarded” the Pink Brick Award by the San Francisco LGBT Pride organization.From their website: “The Pink Brick is a symbol of the first brick hurled at the Stonewall Riots in 1969. This faux award is an opportunity to highlight an individual or organization that has done significant harm to the LGBT community. It is also an opportunity to educate the community and the Pink Brick recipient about relevant issues.” http://www.sfpride.org/pink-brick/Here is his...

The war that has been brewing between the Sexual Activists of America, and every day people of faith, morals, and conscience has moved into the major campaign of the conflict. This week has been bloody. For the better part of the past two years I have repeatedly stated on my radio show that we have entered a day where the Constitutional guarantee of absolute legal protection for one's freedom of religious faith and expression is running headlong into a culturally driven force that is a non-Constitutional right to sexual freedom. The United States Constitution doesn't address sex, sexuality, sexual...