Archives for April 2013

The available evidence leads me to believe that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was one of the people who bombed the Boston Marathon last Monday. I certainly can’t prove it — and I would want to see first-hand evidence if I were on a jury trying him — but I’m comfortable assuming he’s guilty for now.

If he’s guilty as I assume he is, he’s a cold-blooded killer. A monster. A selfish murderer with no regard for other people.

Despite that, I’m very concerned that police don’t intend to read Tsarnaev his Miranda rights. He’s injured and can’t speak right now, but when he’s finally questioned, he’s not going to be told that he has the right to remain silent. He won’t be told that he has the right to an attorney to represent him. It will just be up to this 19-year-old to happen to remember for himself what his rights as an American citizen are. (And you can bet that police and the FBI are going to work hard to convince him he has no rights.)

If you want to know about the history of the so-called “public safety exception” to reading a suspect his rights, take a look at this article in Slate. I’m not going to rehash the legal history of the matter, but you’ll understand the issues better if you read it.

I only want to emphasize one thing about this. If we’re supposed to have rights that are guaranteed to be honored by government — but those rights can be set aside at the sole discretion of that same government — those aren’t really recognized rights. Those are just privileges that we’re allowed to have when it’s convenient for government to allow them.

Keep Reading

When eighth grader Jared Marcum got to school Thursday morning, one of his teachers objected to the shirt he was wearing. The Logan, W.V., school doesn’t have anything in its dress code forbidding pictures of weapons on clothing, but he was suspended from school and then arrested by local police. He faces two counts, for “obstruction and disturbing the education process.”

“I never thought it would go this far because honestly I don’t see a problem with this, there shouldn’t be a problem with this,” Jared told WOWK television.

Jared’s father, Allen Lardieri, is completely supportive of his son’s position and says he can’t understand why anyone would object to the shirt. He’s angry that he had to rush away from work to pick his son up at jail.

Didn’t we settle this sort of free speech argument long ago? In 1965, five Iowa students were expelled from their high school because they wore black armbands to show their opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. The students and their families sued the school and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Keep Reading

A New Jersey woman was offended at something a CVS Pharmacy employee did on her recent visit to the store, but she’s agreed to quit being offended if CVS will hand over a million dollars.

Hyun Lee placed an order with the pharmacy by phone. When she came to pick it up, the receipt was in the name of “Ching Chong Lee.” (The term “Ching Chong” has long been used as an insult for Asians, although mostly for ethnic Chinese.) Lee complained to CVS management, who told her that the employee responsible would be “counseled and trained.”

But that’s not good enough for Lee, who is of Korean descent. She wants a million dollars to go away.

Let’s be clear. The employee’s action was racist and completely unacceptable. If I were store management, I’d fire whoever did it. Period. No questions asked. It’d make it clear that it’s not the way I want my employees to treat customers. There’s no excuse for what the employee did.

But with that said, why should it be illegal? Why should Lee be entitled to financial damages? Why should lousy customer service be against the law? When did we get the legal right not to be offended?

Keep Reading