Free Republic

1924: Pep, “The Cat-Murdering Dog” Pep "The Cat-Murdering Dog" was a black Labrador Retriever admitted to Eastern State Penitentiary on August 12, 1924. Prison folklore tells us that Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot used his executive powers to sentence Pep to Life Without Parole for killing his wife’s cherished cat. Prison records support this story: Pep’s inmate number (C-2559) is skipped in prison intake logs and inmate records. The Governor told a different story. He said Pep had been sent to Eastern to act as a mascot for the prisoners. He and the Warden, Herbert “Hard-Boiled” Smith, were friends. Pep was...

Welcome To The World's Nicest Prison BASTOY, Norway (CNN) -- Jan Petter Vala, who is serving a prison sentence for murder, has hands the size of dinner plates and shoulders like those of an ox. In an alcoholic rage, he used his brutish strength to strangle his girlfriend to death a few years ago. On a recent Thursday, however, at this summer-camp-like island prison in southern Norway, where convicts hold keys to their rooms and there are no armed guards or fences, Vala used those same enormous hands to help bring life into the world. The 42-year-old murderer stood watch...

Lindh Moved to Supermax Prison in Colorado Thursday, April 12, 2007 (04-12) 16:19 PDT Florence, Colo. (AP) -- John Walker Lindh, serving a 20-year sentence after fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan, has been transferred to Supermax, the federal government's most secure prison, authorities said Thursday. Lindh was moved to the facility about 90 miles south of Denver in February for security reasons, said Isidro Garcia, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Garcia said he had no other information. Lindh's transfer was first reported on Newsweek.com. He had been held at a medium-security federal penitentiary in Victorville, Calif....

Rayshaun Parson, the woman who authorities said abducted a baby from a Lubbock hospital and then fled to New Mexico, is expected to appear in federal court this morning. The 21-year-old is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate in Lubbock at 9 a.m., where she faces a kidnapping charge. A court document states she has confessed to the crime. She also faces a state kidnapping charge. On Monday, the parents of 5-day-old Mychael Darthard-Dawodu spoke with reporters for the first time since police say Parson stole the infant from Covenant Lakeside Hospital. Parson "We're just happy to have her...

Cannot re-post copyrighted material without WRAL's permission.

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Deseret Morning News, Wednesday, August 11, 2004 Prison time really up to parole board Sentencing guidelines are only a suggestionBy Linda Thomson and Amy Joi BrysonDeseret Morning News TV commentators on the Fox News Network were reeling Monday night, apparently shocked by the "leniency" of Utah's homicide laws. One demanded to know why Mark Hacking hadn't been charged with capital murder in the apparent death of his wife, Lori, and suggested the first-degree homicide charge against Hacking might be referred to as "misdemeanor murder." Deseret Morning News graphic Also debated was the 5-years-to-life sentence a first-degree felony charge carries...

Episcopalian bishop-elect Gene Robinson has some curious affiliations. by Fred Barnes 08/04/2003 2:48:00 PM Fred Barnes, executive editor THE CONTROVERSIAL gay Episcopal bishop-elect of New Hampshire is a founder of a group called Outright that supports gay, lesbian, or "questioning" young people 22-years-old or younger and gets them together with older gay and lesbian role models. On its website, Outright had a link to a pornographic website--until the link became an issue in the fight at the Episcopal Church's national convention in Minneapolis over ratifying the election of the bishop-elect, Gene Robinson, by New Hampshire Episcopalians. The link, indeed all...

Gay Episcopal bishop vote delayed over charges of pornography and bad conduct. Further information forthcoming.

On April 13, 1938, Richard Whitney -- president of the New York Stock Exchange and personification of Wall Street aristocracy -- entered New York's Sing Sing Prison in handcuffs to begin a five- to 10-year sentence for embezzling millions of dollars from his clients. On the same day, his wife was reduced to begging a bankruptcy referee to return a few items of her personal jewelry taken to satisfy creditors. Justice for corporate crooks was swift and severe in those middle years of the New Deal. Whitney went to prison just five weeks after the Exchange announced it had found...