Free Republic

KNOXVILLE — A Tennessee judge was so addicted to prescription drugs during his final two years on the bench, he was having sex and buying pills during courtroom breaks, at times purchasing from convicts he had previously sentenced, an investigation found. His behavior has called into question many of the cases he presided over, including one of Knoxville's most notorious murders. Many people didn't realize Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner had a problem until he stepped down from the bench and pleaded guilty in March 2011 to a single count of official misconduct. It would be another eight months before...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A government program that put Hurricane Katrina evacuees in hotels while they sought other housing must be extended a month beyond the deadline set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a federal judge ruled Monday. Judge Stanwood Duval extended the program until Feb. 7. The temporary restraining order came from a class action lawsuit filed in November by advocates for hurricane victims. Attorneys pressing the lawsuit said FEMA has failed to provide aid to many who qualify and that information on the aid has been slow.......

Famed detective Mark Fuhrman is calling for a grand jury probe of the Terri Schiavo case, saying there's no other way to get to the bottom of the unexplained 1990 collapse of the then-26-year-old woman. "I want a grand jury investigation," he told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity on Tuesday, adding that Schiavo's parents also favor the move. Fuhrman, whose book "Silent Witness" hit bookstores this week, said that if Florida prosecutors decline to convene a grand jury probe, the Justice Department should step in. He asked, "Were Terri's civil rights violated? When I looked at this case, she never...