Free Republic

A burglar received a surprise when a Chicago homeowner caught him in the act and then held him at swordpoint until police arrived. Prosecutors said the victim left home in the 5900 block of South Honore to run some errands on Monday. When he opened the garage door upon returning, a stranger was inside. The victim “grabbed a sword and restrained the defendant” until police arrived, Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Sloan said during a bail hearing for the accused man, Eric Smith, on Tuesday. Chicago police officers placed Smith, 55, into custody after allegedly finding the victim’s power tools in...

-Smith charged in connection with alleged misuse of county forfeiture funds MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith has been hit with 10 criminal corruption charges -- including running a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony -- in connection with the alleged misuse of county forfeiture funds. Smith faces considerable jail time if he’s found guilty, but the case reaches far beyond the prosecutor. He’s accused of turning the top law enforcement office in the state’s third-most populated county into a criminal enterprise. After the state raided Smith’s office last April, and then his home a month later, Smith...

Sherry Johnston was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for dealing the prescription painkiller OxyContin. [...] Johnston made a deal with prosecutors to plead to a single felony count in exchange for dropping five other felony drug dealing charges against her. The deal called for the 42-year-old Wasilla woman to be sentenced to three years of prison time plus three years of probation, which is what the judge gave her. Johnston received less time than the normal five to eight years for a second-degree felony drug charge because the amount she was dealing was so small. Johnston is slated...

Minnery says he is not upset with Palin and says the fault lies with the Judicial Council for sending her no candidates that his group could really get behind. he says Palin should have had the option of selecting the best person for the job rather than being limited to the choices the Council sent her.

March 4, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin selected Anchorage Superior Court Judge Morgan Christen to the Alaska Supreme Court. Christen is the 20th justice appointed to the Court. “Alaska’s Supreme Court bears the awesome responsibility of ensuring that our court system administers justice in firm accordance with the principles laid down in our state Constitution,” said Governor Palin. “I have every confidence that Judge Christen has the experience, intellect, wisdom and character to be an outstanding Supreme Court justice.” Christen, 47, was born in Chehalis, Washington. After attending colleges in England, Switzerland, and the People’s Republic of China,...

BLOOMSBURG (PA)— A man mistakenly jailed for three months says his imprisonment was a blessing because it resulted in a $77,500 lawsuit settlement. Eric Delvonne Smith, 36, of Hazleton, was arrested in January 2006 after he called police to witness him picking up two of his sons from their mother’s house. He was in a custody battle with the boys’ mother. An officer arrived and ran Smith’s name and date of birth through a federal database of criminals, then arrested him on a warrant issued in King County, Wash., for Edgar Michael Smith, the Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg reported Sunday....

As presidential adviser Karl Rove has been under fire for his role in the alleged outing of a CIA employee, a liberal blog is now suggesting people leave a special care package on Rove's lawn -- the gift of excrement. "If you just happen to be passing through, do the considerate thing and bring a small gift. We suggest a special bouquet for our esteemed latter-day Wormtongue," says A Liberal Dose. It then shows a photo of a suggested donation, followed by the observation, "Now wouldn't it be so nice to see Herr Rove's lawn carpeted with such lovely lawn...

he night before her son left for Kuwait, Ruth Aitken argued with him on the telephone for nearly three hours. From her living room in State College, Pa., she told him that a war with Iraq made no sense, that it was really a scuffle over oil. Her son, an Army captain based at Fort Stewart, Ga., countered that America needed to be protected from terrorists. "Mother," he finally told her, "it's my job." The argument — a "major confrontation" in Ms. Aitken's memory — was by no means their first debate over the war, but it was their last....

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.