Free Republic

GREENSBORO — Muslims can now swear on the Quran when called as witnesses in North Carolina courtrooms, a Wake County judge ruled Thursday. The decision represents a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, which sued the state after two Guilford County judges rejected an offer from an Islamic center to provide county courthouses with free copies. "The highest aim of every legal contest is the search for truth," Wake Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway wrote in an 18-page opinion. "To require pious and faithful practitioners of religions other than Christianity to swear oaths in a form...

DEDHAM, Mass. -- The man who stabbed his own lawyer at his rape trial earlier this week returned to court Thursday under heavy security, where he aggressively asked the attorney: "You still breathing?" Lawyer John Courtney has withdrawn from the trial of Che Sosa, who allegedly stabbed him with a sharp, makeshift weapon made out of plexi-glass Tuesday. Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau also excused himself from the case because he witnessed the attack.

QUETTA, Pakistan - A judge and 12 others were killed Saturday when a powerful bomb exploded inside a courtroom in a southwestern Pakistani province that has seen intense civil conflict for years, police said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack at the District Courts complex in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. "I confirm that that the civil judge Abdul Wahid has died in the bomb explosion," said Afaq Zahid, an area police chief. Rauf Khan, the city police chief, said the blast killed 13 people, including Wahid, five lawyers and relatives of some of the...

TRUMBULL COUNTY, Ohio -- What would you do if you came face to face with a man charged with murdering a family member? It was a thought put into action Wednesday in a Trumbull County courtroom as family members attacked a man charged with murdering several of their loved ones, NewsChannel5 reported.

Six years after TV video of her infamous outburst on the bench thrust her into controversy, former Superior Court Judge Maria Lopez is back in a black robe - and in front of the TV cameras. But now, controversy is welcome. She’s a TV judge. The syndicated show “Judge Maria Lopez” debuts Monday on 210 television stations nationwide, including Boston’s TV38. Lopez, 52, resigned from her Superior Court judgeship in 2003. She made headlines in 2000 when TV cameras captured her shouting at prosecutor David Deakin to “sit down now” after she handed a light sentence of house detention to...

Review of A Distant Thunder Film takes a provocative look at the moral implications of partial-birth abortion December 14, 2005 RenewAmerica staff Disney producer Jonathan Flora's new film, A Distant Thunder, is a must-see for anyone interested in the subject of partial-birth abortion. Reminiscent of supernatural thrillers by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village) and reflecting the best in cinematic courtroom and horror dramas, A Distant Thunder takes viewers through a maze of disturbing hints, twists, symbols, and flashbacks until at the end they are stunned and surprised at what they've been watching. With first-rate acting by...

After months of accusations, investigations, reports, legal bills and news conferences, the scandal surrounding San Diego's debt-ridden retirement system moves to a courtroom today for the beginning of what may be a revealing hearing. For the first time, prosecutors with the District Attorney's Office will begin to publicly lay out their case against six former board members of the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System. The six are charged with violating state conflict-of-interest laws when they voted in 2002 for a deal that let the city pay less into the retirement system than was required. At the same time, the...

SHOULD THE QU'RAN BE IN THE COURTROOM? WEEK OF AUGUST 4-10, 2005 by CASH MICHAELS The Wilmington Journal Originally posted 8/6/2005 “The basic purpose of using sworn testimony is to assure that the information being provided is truthful and as correct as is possible.”--Special Agent Dick Searle, Iowa Division Of Criminal Investigation “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Those who have testified in a court of law anywhere in North Carolina or across the country recognize these words to be the oath administered to witnesses prior to...

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 To aid court security, Maine mulls a tax on guns By GREGORY D. KESICH, Portland Press Herald Writer Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. E-mail this story to a friend The sponsor of a bill that would tax gun sales to finance improved court security said the state is "living on borrowed time" because of its repeated failure to deal with the issue. The bill, which is headed for a public hearing before a legislative committee next week, is among several plans that will be considered by lawmakers this session. Coincidentally, they follow violent incidents...

Judge, Two Others Killed in Atlanta Courthouse Shooting, Manhunt Continues Friday, March 11, 2005 ATLANTA, Ga. — A man facing rape charges grabbed a deputy's gun and shot four people at the Fulton County Courthouse (search) in downtown Atlanta, killing a well-respected judge, a court reporter and a sheriff's deputy and leading authorities on a citywide manhunt. The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Brian Nichols and described as a balding black male, carjacked a series of vehicles following the 9 a.m. EST shooting. Nichols, 34, is described as a balding black male, 6'1" and weighing 200 pounds, of medium complexion. He...

MIDI - CRYING I'm from the South...with nice hair...Kerry's needing me there I've a great plan in mind...I'm gonna kick behind If we win, you'll surely see We will fight this war...unlike those before 'Cause I'll be su-u-u-u-ing enemies...su-u-u-u-ing enemies I'll get a T.R.O....they will feel a fatal blow When I start suing...suing...suing...su-u-u-ing I'm warning Kim Jong-il...of him I've had my fill It's time for suing If things heat up with Pakistan You will call me the man Their assets I will freeze...they'll be on their knees The judge will eat from my ha-a-a-and We will fight this war...unlike...

Snake Found in Conn. Divorce Courtroom DANBURY, Conn. - A snake was found in the divorce courtroom in Danbury, Conn., and no, it wasn't someone's spouse. Officials say a small, harmless reptile was discovered in the divorce courtroom at Superior Court. The snake wasn't venomous. It was about a foot long and about as big around as a small finger. Staffers aren't sure where the reptile came from, but they suspect it may have come in the mail. A state judicial marshal took the snake home and set it free on some farmland.

HERE’S HOW IT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED There is a simple way we can still use our numbers to move THE TEN COMMANDMENTS back to the lobby of the Courthouse in Montgomery. Volunteers should be organized to appear in pairs in the lobby of the Court House in Montgomery day in and day out on a never ending basis. Volunteers will be armed with nothing more than a set of type written notes containing the words of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. It will be the job of volunteers to stand and recite the words ‘aloud’ from memory in shifts from the time...

This will be posted on the Bush Country.org website tomorrow. Please forward to Conservative/Christian supporters in Montgomery Alabama. How To Keep The 10 Commandments In Judge Moore's Montgomery Courtroom HERE’S HOW IT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED In the event the ‘ROCK’ is removed and it looks like it can not stay long, there is a simple way we can still use our numbers to keep THE TEN COMMANDMENTS from ever leaving the lobby of the Courthouse in Montgomery without raising a single hand to stop the physical removal of “Roy’s Rock”. Volunteers should be organized to appear in pairs in the...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - As the clock ticks toward a recall election, a lawsuit is challenging a requirement that voters cast a yea or nay vote for Gov. Gray Davis before becoming eligible to choose among what is expected to be a lengthy list of potential successors.</p>

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Guantanamo officials are ready to provide a courtroom, a prison and an execution chamber if the order comes to try terror suspects at the base in Cuba, the mission commander said. Although no new directive has been given and no plans have been approved, a handful of experts are looking at what it will take to try, imprison and, if need be, execute detainees accused of links to Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s fallen Taliban regime or to the al-Qaida terror network. "We have a number of plans that we work for short-term and long-term...

TARRYTOWN — An Arab-American woman who fainted in village court said she suffered an anxiety attack after the judge asked if she were a terrorist. Anissa Khoder has filed a complaint against Tarrytown Village Justice William Crosbie with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. Khoder went to court on Thursday to contest a pair of parking tickets. As she approached the judge's table, she said, Crosbie considered her name out loud and asked if she were a terrorist. She said she was stunned by the implication, but responded with a weak, reflexive smile. "I felt offended, and I kept it...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- A criminal lawyer who was attacked by a client just after a jury found the man guilty of kidnapping and assault said he expects to be back at work Monday even though he feels like he "was in a heavyweight championship fight."</p>

A Tri-State college student who spent two days in jail last week after she dozed off in a courtroom spoke out about her ordeal Thursday. Danielle Davidson, 22, of Hamilton, Ohio, was jailed in Richmond, Ind. Davidson, a Miami University student, had driven a friend to the court so he could appear for a preliminary hearing on a drunken driving charge, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Brian Hamrick reported. After she fell asleep, Judge William Hoelscher ordered her to the front row of the courtroom, where she sat for 45 minutes until Hoelscher finished his docket. "They handcuffed me and took...

When Michael Skakel walks into court Tuesday on the first day of his murder trial, scores of television and still cameras will be trained on him every step of the way. The last image they capture will be his back as he passes through the exterior doors. There will be no cameras in the courtroom for the high-profile trial. There hasn't been a camera allowed in a criminal courtroom in Connecticut since the notorious O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles in 1995. The rules haven't changed. The climate has. "I don't think you have to be a genius to figure...