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It’s a birthday I forgot about.  It was on July 1, 1731 that Ben Franklin established the very first circulating library which later morphed into an American tradition - the free public library.  Franklin came up with the idea as a method to stop the bickering and back-biting among the Philadelphia intellectuals of his day.  Each of the 50 charter members bought an initial share of the venture for which they paid 40 shillings.  This money was used to buy the books which stocked the shelves.  They also paid a smaller fee of 10 shillings to went into buying additional books and maintaining the physical library.  In exchange for the investment, each shareholder was permitted to check out as many books as they liked.  It was called the Library Company of Philadelphia and it boasted this country’s first full-time, paid librarian, Louis Timothee.  The books were first stored at Timothee’s house, then later transferred to the Pennsylvania State House.  It’s now known as Independence Hall and so now you know.  The French may have beat us to the punch by inventing democracy, existentialism and menage a trois but we gave the world a free public library (and I forgot, the Thighmaster*).

*Credit to Sacha Baron Cohen, a/k/a Borat, Bruno, Da Ali G

Last week, the University of Cincinnati hosted the North American Paleontology Convention where eminent scientists from all over the globe gathered to exchange ideas and debate new theories about our ancient past.  To break the tedium that sometimes can set in at these kind of gatherings, some enlightened soul came up with an interesting suggestion.  Why not load up on a bus for a field trip to the Creation Museum, just right on the other side of the Ohio River which separates Kentucky from the Buckeye State?  Seventy paleontologists signed up for the day trip and off they went. 

Hack has written about the vaunted Creation Museum before (see “Resigning Evolution to the Dustbin of History, May 27, 2007) and even provided a link to its Web site.  It has drawn approximately 750,000 visitors through its portals since it opened two years ago.  And what does it preach to the faithful?  Here’s a smattering:

Earth and the universe are a mere 6,000 years old, contrary to the overwhelming avalanche of evidence that our world is about 3.5 billion years old.

And make no mistake, earth was indeed created in 6 days, each of 24 hours duration.

The layers of sediment and rock existing in the strata of bedrock were laid down in one event - the vast flood used by God to destroy the world except for all the creatures of Noah’s ark, including lots and lots of bugs.  I’ll never carp about a Southwest Airlines flight again.

The date of this flood was 2348 B.C. and that was when all dinasaurs died as well.  Incidentally, Noah’s ark contained 50 kinds of dinasaurs on board.  The musuem’s curators do not explain how they came to this number nor do they identify the evidence in support of this claim.

The biblical flood must have set off a huge turmoil inside the Earth which broke apart the continents and pushed them to their current locations, in direct contrast to the accepted theory of plate tectonics which explains how continents have moved over the past few billion years.  Again, the Creation Musueum does not provide any explanation for this “huge turmoil” nor cite to any scientific research in support of the proposal, as contrasted with the theory of plate tectonics, backed up with loads of evidence.

I could go on with even more ridiculous examples of what passes for “scientific” information promoted by the folks who make money off the Creation Museum.  Let me use this short example to illustrate the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the entire enterprise.  In order to explain how just a few species aboard the ark could have diversified to include the vast array of animals alive today over just 2500 years, the museum simply says that “God provided organisms with special tools to change rapidly.”  So, the fundamentalists, at last, concede the reality of evolution and then invoke a sorcerer’s wand and magic to describe how it works. 

Of course, the visiting palentologists were appalled with the suggestion promoted by the museum that its “science” should be taught in schools or even that children were exposed to the drivel which is passed off as rigorous scientific research.  But Jason Rosenhouse, a mathematician at James Madison University and a blogger on evolution put it best: “I hate that it exists but given it exists, you can have a good time here.  They put on a very good show if you can handle the suspension of disbelief.” 

However, Dr. Tamaki Sato from Tokyo University was a bit confused if not let down.  She wondered why the different dinasaurs, all who originated from different geological periods, died at exactly the same time, even if fifty were crammed on the ark.  No one at the Creation Museum could (or would) answer her inquiry.  Finally, at the conclusion of her tour, Dr. Sato likened the museum to an amusement park.  “I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed Disneyland,” she said.  Did she enjoy Disneyland?  “Not very much,” she replied. 

Well, it’s good to hear that Al Franken will take the oath within days as this nation’s newest Senator.  I wish him all the luck in the world.  I think back on his days with his former comedy partner Tom Davis and then with SNL.  I know anything is possible in the world of politics but this is a little something special.  The Senate finally has a member with a real, acerbic, keen sense of humor.  Let’s face it, he’s good enough and smart enough and doggone it, at least 59 other Democrats will like him.  And as for the remaining back 40, a few will come over.  What a nice pairing it would be to see Franken and Orrin Hatch teaming up on important legislation.  Twenty years ago, you would have had to put a gun to my head to think up that possible vision.   

By now, you’ve heard all about Sanford’s torrid love affair with his hot little Latin lover down Argentina way.  He keeps going before the cameras and feeding the public and press with an eyedropper - one salacious drop at a time.  The latest chapter in this sordid story includes yet one more interview Sanford gave to the Associated Press today.  He provided details which contradict his earlier statements made last week when he appeared before the media at the Statehouse, sans Mrs. Sanford.  How refreshing it was to see the wretched politician baring all before the cameras and microphones without his humiliated wife standing off to the side.

In the A.P. interview, Sanford now admits that he “crossed lines” with other women that he met on trips made with the boys to “blow off steam.”  He says that he “let his guard down” with physical contact but he “didn’t cross the sex line.”  He saved all that lust for Maria Belen Chapur.  He wouldn’t go into detail about exactly how he blew off steam or how he let his guard down or exactly what kind of behavior was involved with crossing certain lines with other women.  He also admitted to having seen Chapur more often than he let on in last week’s interview and explained that his affair with Chapur was no summer thing but the real deal, even referring to his lover as his “soul mate.”   

How much longer will the press keep giving this head case a pass?  How about this one.  Sanford says that he arranged a “farewell meeting” in New York with Chapur and that he was chaparoned by a “spiritual advisor” right after Mrs. Sanford found out about his fling.  Spiritual advisor.  Say it again and repeat after me: spiritual advisor.  I gag on its pronunciation and sound. 

The longer his marriage lasts, the more it says about his wife, not him.  The verdict is in - he’s a total loon who lacks the guts to do the right thing, which in his case means being honest with his soon-to-be ex-wife and four sons.  Go ahead and just tell them the truth.  Unlike Mark Sanford, they can handle it.  If you really want to see what kind of specimen Sanford really is, all you have to do is read the nauseating e-mails he sent to Chapur, replete with scriptural references, which so clearly reveal the man’s narcissism.  And this man truly believed he was presidential material and managed to con a lot more into thinking the same thing. 

Below Hack reproduces the entirety of  an e-mail sent to an Amarillo Globe reporter:

5:14 p.m. CDT - This just in, for what it’s worth.  Pop singer Michael Jackson has been declared dead by doctors at UCLA Medical Center.  He was rushed to the hospital around 12:30 p.m. local time after having been administered CPR.  The Los Angeles Times has no other details at this time.

6/26/09 - Update - It’s morbidly fascinating to watch the media’s coverage of this death.  I’ll tell you this and I’d be willing to wager a substantial sum on the following.  For every person who puts on his or her hair shirt in grieving over the “King of Pop,” there’s another who believes that Jackson should have died in a jail cell for having molested scores of children over the years.  Without the millions upon millions he paid out to secure the silence and cooperation of his past victims and had he lived anywhere but California, prison is exactly where it all would have ended. 

Pushing the limits of free speech . . .

I guess this might be a decent sample question for prospective bar applicants.  Take a right-wing radio talk show host known for his white supremacist sympathies and anti-Semitic rants, mix in his previous incitment to violence against New Jersey legislators on issues involving the Catholic Church and then consider his latest comments posted on his blog denouncing a recent opinion handed down by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago (upholding local bans on handguns):

“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed.  Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty.  A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions.  They [Justices William J. Bauer, Frank H. Easterbrook and Richard A. Posner] should be made an example of in order to send a message to the rest of the federal judiciary: Obey the Constitution or die.”

There is no evidence that anyone has even remotely taken action on this exhortation even though the blog included the language quoted above, the judges’ photographs, phone numbers, work addresses and courtroom numbers.  Expressions of fair opinion regarding admittedly public figures, especially Judge Posner who is a highly-regarded jurist and eminently readable author of several books and magazine articles, or something that goes beyond the pale of protected speech? 

Well, the FBI believes the latter because it issued an arrest warrant for Hal Turner, stating in an affidavit that his comments constitute a “threat to assault or murder a United States judge.”  He was arrested at his home in Bergen, New Jersey yesterday and is scheduled for arraignment in U.S. District Court today.  He’ll have his hands full now since he faces these federal charges, which carry draconian guidelines, along with state charges in Connecticut involving those allegations of incitement of violence against Jersey lawmakers. 

Well, I guess this is the kind of “hate speech” case which needs resolution.  The issue comes down to whether or not the language used on the website comes down to a “true threat.”  A case involving civil enforcement of similar political speech arose out of California when a federal appeals court there upheld a $109 million jury verdict against organizers of an anti-abortion Web site which distributed “wanted” posters for abortion providers, replete with photographs of dead doctors crossed out with “Xs.”  Give Turner time and the opportunity, I suppose he’ll go after the California Ninth Circuit justices who signed off on that opinion.  Think this will have any salutory effect on the biggest windbag bully of them all, O’Reilly?  We’ll see.

. . . and the detective failed to check out the suspect’s MP3 player

When NYC detective Christopher Perino was assigned to investigate a shooting in the elevator of a building in the Bronx, he came across a 17-year old suspect by the name of Erik Crespo.  Eventually, Crespo was arrested and brought into the station house.  At the time of his arrest, the youth had been listening to music on his MP3 player.  And he used the device to record the interview that Detective Perino conducted with him for over 1 1/2  hours without his parents or a lawyer present.  Obviously, Perino didn’t know that all of this was being picked up by the MP3 player. 

During Crespo’s trial, Perino was grilled on the specifics of the interrogation.  Incredibly, when confronted with the existence of the lengthy interview, Perino denied having asked a single question of the defendant.  His exact answer when asked if he had asked Perino any questions: “That’s right.  He wasn’t questioned.” 

Crespo’s lawyer must have salted away the recording for a rainless day because once the detective’s perjury was revealed, a deal was cut.  Crespo was sentenced to seven years in prison for a weapons violation but the attempted murder charge was dropped.  And as for Perino?  Confronted with the lies, he opted to try his case before the trial court.  Yesterday, he was convicted of three counts of perjury after the judge heard the conversation between the Perino and Crespo as captured by the MP3 player.  He faces up to seven years on each count.  Sentencing is set for August.  He was canned by the New York City Police Department the moment that the convictions were handed down.  Not a good day for Perino even though he was permitted to remain free on his personal recognizance bond. 

Perino’s lawyer had a classic response to his client’s mendacity: “I believe the police officer was just doing a good job to get a guy with a gun off the street.”  You get the feeling that Perino’s counsel is like so many in this media-obsessed culture of ours and that is, he just can’t resist the temptation to make an ass out of himself if there’s a microphone or camera jammed in front of his pie hole.

Joe Ellis Patterson had no idea the trouble he walked into, literally, as he trapsed down Fourth Avenue here in Amarillo last July 29.  You see, he was walking on that side of the street where his back was to oncoming traffic.  Astute APD Officer Mike Sanchez believed that this was in violation of an obscure city ordinance, chapter 16-3, art. VII, sec. 16-3-313(b) which provides that “where sidewalks are not provided any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall when possible walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing approaching traffic.”  So, he stopped Patterson, conducted a pat-down and discovered that old green, leafy substance, in a drug-free zone no less.  Patterson argued in the trial court that the arresting officer lacked probable cause to initiate the stop because Fourth Avenue did not meet the definition of “highway” as defined for purposes of the ordinance.  Since the definition of “highway” in the context of the ordinance required the roadway be divided “by a clearly indicated dividing section between the two roadways” and there was no dispute that Southwest Fourth Avenue had no such dividing section, the trial court determined that the traffic law relied upon by the officer was inapplicable and thus, he had no legitimate probable cause to carry out the detention, pat-down and resulting discovery of marijuana. 

On appeal, the State argued that even if the local ordinance didn’t or couldn’t be made to apply, a peculiar state statute in the Transportation Code did.  Sections 552.006(a)-(b) make it illegal to walk atop a highway surface with one’s back to traffic when no sidewalk is available.  And not only that, ”highway” is defined differently, there being no requirement that there be an “intervening space, barrier or clearly indicated divider.  So, even if Patterson didn’t violate the city statute, he ran afoul of state regs.  The Amarillo Court of Appeals agreed and yesterday, reversed the trial court’s ruling suppressing the marijuana.

So, the lesson?  Even if the officer’s reasons for the stop are wrong or legally incorrect, the totality of the circumstances can nonetheless lead a police officer to reasonably suspect that some criminal activity is afoot and thus, justify the detention and discovery of contraband.  In other words, an objective valid stop can be upheld even though made for the wrong reason.  This kind of conclusion is made possible because the trial court need not limit its review to the sole violations relied upon by the arresting officer.  So, let this serve as fair warning: walking on the wrong side of the “highway” (city streets included) provides the Man with an objective basis for a stop and possible search and seizure of evidence.  State v. Patterson, No. 07-08-0485-CR, June 23, 2009. 

Clarence Darrow knew immediately, when he was indicted by a L.A. County Grand Jury for jury tampering and bribery, that he needed a good lawyer.  He got one in Earl Rogers who some say was every bit the lawyer that Darrow was, except for the former’s heavy drinking.  So be it for an East Texas lawyer who now finds himself a defendant as the result of his arrest on suspicion of drunk driving this past Tuesday morning.  Bryan Simmons of Atlanta was taken into custody after he lost control of his car on his way to a New Boston courthouse while defending a murder case. 

Yesterday, Simmons talked about his situation to the Associated Press, explaining that he experienced a sneezing fit brought on by allergies and get this - black pepper sprinkled on his catfish which he had just eaten while driving to court Tuesday morning.  His car left the roadway and careened into a ditch with a flat tire.  He emphatically denied being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  He stated that he was simply exhausted from all those late hours he had endured, chained to the desk while preparing for the murder trial.  “I might have been too tired to be driving, but hindsight is 20-20.”  He also stated that he demanded a roadside Breathalyzer test but the officer chose not to administer one.  He also submitted to a blood test, the results which won’t be available until next week. 

The judge trying the murder case declared a mistrial halfway through jury selection on Tuesday and ordered Simmons to reimburse Bowie County for the jury costs.  Well, good luck to the judge on that one, especially if Simmons is absolved on the blood test.  And I really do hope that he is exonerated.  But doesn’t he have enough sense to keep his piehole shut for the time being until he knows for sure that he’s looking at a prosecution?  And shouldn’t he have enough sense to let his lawyer be the first to hear his unique defense of too little sleep and too much Cayenne pepper?  We’ll dub it the “cajun” defense, in honor of the Dan White’s ”Twinkie” defense.  And if you don’t know anything about that, I don’t have the time to go into it.  Better to Google it. 

A murder trial recently concluded in France which can only be described as one having inexplicable facts, followed up with an inexplicable sentence imposed on the defendant.  Veronique Courjault, 41, was ordered to serve eight years in prison for the murder of three of her children shortly after their births between the years 1999 to 2006.  The crimes came to light in July 2006 when Ms. Courjault’s husband discovered the remains of two infants in a freezer.  At the time, his wife was out of the country with their two sons on vacation.  DNA tests revealed that the infants were indeed the offspring of the Courjaults.  Incredibly, absolutely incredibly, Mr. Courjault denied any knowledge at any time that his wife had been pregnant ever during the relevant time frame.  Mr. Courtjault was never charged in the crimes.

So, if the husband is to believed and if it is accepted that the defendant successfully hid these pregnancies from her family, how to explain the sleight of hand?  An answer was provided by a team of psychiatrists - a mental illness which they called pregnancy denial.  The defendant, who confessed to the killings in October of last year, testified in court that she was conscious of the pregnancy but then “all of a sudden I wasn’t anymore.  It was lost . . . If there was a dissimulation, it was first inside of me.”  The psychiatric explanation provided the French population with a handy rationalization which explained the overnight transformation of Ms. Courjault from being a monster to that of a sympathetic victim of her own self.  But more importantly, the defendant came from an upper middle-class background with a stable family setting, two “normal” children and an educated husband.  

The idea of infantcide is associated in France, much like in the U.S., with uneducated parents from poor backgrounds or teen mothers.  A psychiatric explanation provided the public with the rationalization necessary to give Ms. Courjault a pass on an otherwise inexplicable crime, something that would have never occurred had the defendant been anything other than privileged and bourgeois.  You want to believe that this kind of thing could only happen in a rarified, gentried criminal justice system common to the European inquisitorial scheme.  But then again, considering the willingness of the public to buy into the diagnosis provided by paid psychiatrists and the “attractiveness” of the accused, helping people visualize the “there but for the grace of God go I” BS, I can see it being peddled here with success.  Especially out in California where, I swear, even if they did convict Phil Spector, anything is possible.