Free Republic

Clarke D. Forsythe AUL Senior Counsel Introduction The political claim—that women were or will be prosecuted or jailed under abortion laws—has been made so frequently by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and NOW over the past 40 years that it has become an urban legend. It shows the astonishing power of contemporary media to make a complete falsehood into a truism. For 30 years, abortion advocates have claimed—without any evidence and contrary to the well-documented practice of ALL 50 states—that women were jailed before Roe and would be jailed if Roe falls (or if state abortion prohibitions are reinstated). This claim rests...

The current economic turmoil in the US is "divine punishment," Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday. Haniyeh said God's punishment would also extend to America's allies. Earlier Friday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum was quoted as saying that the group would only decide whether to extend the Gaza cease-fire after consulting with all the Palestinian factions. RELATED Rattling the Cage: We're all liberals now 3,600 job losses feared by year's end in Israel A Point of View: Financial crisis brings out the anti-semites Barhoum told the Palestinian al-Ayyam newspaper that Hamas had not yet been asked to lengthen the six-month...

Cincinnati, OH (AHN) - The Ohio Supreme Court and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled against staying the execution of an inmate because he is obese. The two courts upheld an earlier ruling of the U.S. The double murder convict argued that lethal injection might not be properly administered to him and might be painful and slow because his physical condition will make it difficult to find a vein where the lethal drug will be injected.

HICAGO (CBS) ― CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini exposed illegal corporal punishment in public schools, and the report is getting results that will help prevent children in our schools from being beaten. The 2 Investigators uncovered the story about athletes beaten at Chicago's prestigious Simeon Career Academy. Now more big name schools are under fire as more students come forward to report abuse. In an exclusive interview, the head of Chicago Public Schools expressed his outrage. "We are going to fire anyone who we find that does this," CPS CEO Arne Duncan said in reaction to security camera footage the...

Those behind market crisis should be punished: Sarkozy 1 hour, 39 minutes ago Those responsible for the crisis that has swept global financial markets should be punished, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said overnight in his first reaction to the latest bout of economic turmoil. In an acceptance speech at an award ceremony attended by U.S. and French business leaders, Sarkozy called for the "truth" on the crisis to be uncovered. "Today, millions of people across the world fear for their savings, for their apartment, for the funds they have put in banks. It is our duty to give them clear...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – President Bush this week approved the death penalty for an Army private convicted of committing multiple murders and rapes in the late 1980s on Fort Bragg, N.C. Exercising the commander in chief’s final authority to approve capital punishment for a servicemember, Bush issued the order against Pvt. Ronald A. Gray on July 28, the first time such a presidential directive has been invoked in 51 years. Gray faces the death penalty after being convicted of two killings, one count of attempted murder and of raping all three victims, among other crimes he was found guilty...

Mississippi death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop’s final words before being executed included an endorsement of presidential contender Senator Obama. “Senator Obama offers hope for people like me,” Bishop asserted. “I have feelings, dreams, and aspirations. I don’t want to die.” Bishop acknowledged that the election of Obama would come too late to save him, but still urged voters “to consider what kind of a world they want for their children. Do we really want a justice system focused on ‘an-eye-for-an-eye?’ Or do we want to ‘forgive-and-forget?’ Think about that when you cast your ballots next November.” Senator Obama averred...

Seventy-seven percent of people in Japan think that the statute of limitations on murders should be abolished, a Mainichi poll has found.

The original Bill to punish anyone who might decide to set off nuclear weapons in Ireland was not exactly overly harsh on offenders. It provided a humble district court judge the power to impose a €5,000 fine and a 12-month jail term. Critics said the proposed punishment structure would have made Ireland a laughing stock. But the authorities have moved to considerably strengthen the penalties on any person building or worse, detonating, a thermonuclear bomb in this country. Now offenders -- including any would-be Dr Strangegloves -- would see their trial going forward to the Central Criminal Court, where sentences...

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Call it poetic justice: More than two dozen young people who broke into Robert Frost's former home for a beer party and trashed the place are being required to take classes in his poetry as part of their punishment. Using "The Road Not Taken" and another poem as jumping-off points, Frost biographer Jay Parini hopes to show the vandals the error of their ways — and the redemptive power of poetry. "I guess I was thinking that if these teens had a better understanding of who Robert Frost was and his contribution to our society, that they...

INDIANAPOLIS - A legally blind man beat up an intruder and held him at knifepoint until police arrived at the man's eastside home, authorities said. Allan Kieta, 49, told police he was at home Monday morning when his small dog began barking and he encountered the man. "I opened the door and just ran into him. I had him pinned in the laundry room and just kept pummeling," said Kieta, a former wrestler in high school. He said he grabbed the intruder by the belt and dragged him into the kitchen, where he put a knife at the man's throat...

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations. Criminologists and legal scholars in other industrialized nations say they are mystified and appalled...

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations. Criminologists and legal scholars in other industrialized nations say they are mystified and appalled...

Britain barely punishes even the most psychopathic behavior. Hard cases make bad law, no doubt, but bad law also makes hard cases. Certainly the thugs of Great Britain, of whom there are now terrifyingly many, may take comfort from the sentences passed recently on two young men, Dejon Thompson and Patrick Rowe, for the killing of a young Turkish man named Evren Anil. The case shows how little thugs have to fear from the law. Anil, a man of 23 with a bright future, was in his car at a traffic light with his sister when one of the two...

Why would a loving God allow evil? Probably one of the biggest issues regarding people’s objection to God, is the underlying feeling that God, ‘if He were God’, would not allow evil to affect so many people. Indeed, there is a great amount of terrible suffering in this world, and people naturally struggle with this important issue. Some of the accusations leveled toward God that I see quite commonly go along the lines of “God must not be perfect (or omnipotent) if He wasn’t big enough to prevent evil from affecting us”, and usually people will extend this accusation to...

Tibetans Rioters Facing Quick Trials By Sky News SkyNews - 31 minutes ago Tibetans accused of rioting and protesting against Chinese rule will face swift trials and harsh sentences, state media reports have said. Tibet's regional capital Lhasa was hit in March by Buddhist monks' protests against Chinese rule that gave way to deadly clashes on March 14. Security forces were poured in to re-impose control the city and other restive Tibetan areas. China says 19 people died in the Lhasa violence but representatives of the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, say some 140 people were killed in...

Evil is personified when a wealthy man believes he should have his own grandchild murdered if his underage daughter makes a mistake and gets pregnant. A twisted perversion of reality exists when that same wealthy man believes a grandchild would be punishment equal to the contraction of an S.T.D. So in Senator Obama we find an evil man with a twisted perversion of reality asking the American people to make him President. Obama's statement, “Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old, I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if...

"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," Obama said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."

Obama’s ‘baby’ comment draws fire from conservatives By Sam Youngman Posted: 03/31/08 05:35 PM [ET] Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) campaign on Monday sought to clarify remarks the Democratic front-runner made on teen pregnancies that had drawn criticism from conservatives. Speaking about sex education at an event in Pennsylvania Saturday, Obama said, according to the Christian Broadcasting Network, that he will educate his young daughters but “if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at the age of 16.” Conservative talker Sean Hannity mentioned the quotes on his...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Barack Obama is drawing gasps from pro-life advocates today over comments he made during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The leading Democratic presidential candidate appeared to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn't "punish" them with a baby. Obama's remarks are likely to add another reason to the list pro-life advocates are developing as to why he won't get their vote this November.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Barack Obama is drawing gasps from pro-life advocates today over comments he made during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The leading Democratic presidential candidate appeared to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn't "punish" them with a baby. Obama's comments came in the context of off-the-cuff remarks addressing the issue of AIDS. (see them here) "When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that...

Out in western Pennsylvania, the issue of abortion can strike a nerve. Democrats there often describe themselves economic liberals and social conservatives who favor gun rights and oppose abortion rights. So, it was not unusual to see a woman stand near the end of Barack Obama’s town hall meeting in Johnstown, Penn., and offer a hurried, passionate plea for him to “stop these abortions.” …The exchange appeared to be prompted by Obama’s earlier comments that he does not favor abstinence-only education, but rather comprehensive sexual education that includes information on abstinence and birth control. “Look, I got two daughters —...

I remember years ago making a remark to my granddaddy that it seemed that people were more evil than they had ever been. His reply was that they had always been that way, there were just more of them now. Then and now I consider my grandfather to be a wise man whose sage opinions I regarded as insightful and correct. Granddaddy has been gone for many years and I can't help but wonder if he was still alive if his feelings on evil would still be the same. Granted there are many more people but it seems that the...

restaurant is open as usual after the owner shot two armed robbers who broke into the business last night. In an unusual twist, both robbers had guns, but neither was loaded. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports detectives say the 16-year-old suspect was carrying a Colt .22 revolver and had bullets in his pocket, but not in the gun. The 14-year-old was carrying a Ruger .45 revolver that was also empty. It's baffling they would take unloaded guns into a robbery, knowing full well they could encounter someone with a loaded gun and that's exactly what happened. ...

TUSCALOOSA | Luther Quarles looks like a grandfather, a mild-mannered one with a quick smile whom a child would look forward to visiting on a Sunday afternoon. But any hopes Quarles had of for that died with his only daughter nearly 30 years ago. Regina Quarles was killed in 1978, just months after graduating from Tuscaloosa County High School. The 18-year-old was found strangled to death after going to a disco with friends. James Michael Hayes, the man convicted of her murder six months later, was a suspect in another similar murder and had been convicted of trying to rape...

. . . Whether Cesar Rodriguez, who is accused of beatings and abusive behavior that killed his 7-year-old stepdaughter, could not have known he had crossed a line is a matter for a jury to decide. He has admitted that he routinely beat Nixzmary with a belt, hit her with his hands using “all my force,” threw her on the floor. He has admitted duct-taping her emaciated 37-pound frame to a chair and binding her with bungee cords. But at least in a broad legal sense, Mr. Schwartz has a point. The laws in New York State, as in the...

HOUSTON -- A northwest Harris County teen in trouble with the law is in even bigger trouble with his mom after running away to avoid learning a lesson, FOX 26 News reported Tuesday. Denise Utley said her 15-year-old son, Bradley, stole prescription drugs from her and got caught selling them at Klein High School. To teach her son a lesson, Utley wanted her son to stand in front of the school wearing a sign apologizing for what he did. That's when her son ran away. Shortly after Utley put up "wanted" signs in her search for her son, someone saw...

TEHRAN — Iran hanged seven men convicted of murder and drug smuggling in different cities, newspapers reported Thursday, bringing the number of publicly disclosed executions in the first two weeks of this year to 23. The daily Iran reported that two men, identified only by their first names as Mojtaba and Mohammad-Hossein, were hanged for murder Wednesday in the southern city of Jahorm. Three others, convicted of drug trafficking were hanged in eastern city of Birjand on Wedneasday, the daily Jomhouri Islami reported. The daily added that two others convicted of murder were hanged in the northern city of Tonekabon...

http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html Can you believe these messed-up mullahs? Last week Saudi Arabia was under a microscope after a story broke about a woman who was gang-raped receiving 200 lashes as punishment. Punished for being raped! Now Saudi Arabia is trying to defend this kind of punishment. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2057524920071120?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true For a little refresher on how backwards these menaces are, Saudi Arabia's judicial system is based on a strict reading of Islamic law. With the help of CAIR and other radical Islamic organizations, this is the type of law they would like to enact in our country. But back to Saudi Arabia ... the...

Billy Ray Hamilton, who killed three people with a sawed-off shotgun inside Fran's Market in Fresno more than a quarter-century ago, has died in prison. We have to ask the same question asked by the parents of one of his victims: Why did Hamilton spend 27 years on death row? His prison stay lasted more than one and a half times as long as his youngest victim's entire life. His victims were Douglas White, 18, Josephine Rocha, 17, and Bryon Schletewitz, 27. We support the death penalty. At the same time, we believe those sentenced to death must have every...

WATERFORD -- Waterford High School's principal reportedly disciplined two freshmen for fighting by having them get on their hands and knees, look at each other through a chair, apologize to each other and promise their behavior would end. It worked, according to one of the boys who made the pledge after the altercation last week. It also made his mother furious. Penny Watson said she was shocked when her son told her of the punishment. "I can understand having them stand up like men, apologize and shake hands," she said. "I'm past confusion. Now I'm angry."

(IsraelNN.com) President Shimon Peres has signed a letter allowing five Israeli Arabs to apply for a reduced sentence. The five are serving lengthy sentences for the 1983 murder of Haifa teenager Danny Katz. Two of the five were convicted for the 1987 murder of female IDF soldier Daphna Carmon as well. The murderers admitted that they killed Katz because he was a Jew. Peres signed a document reducing the killers’ sentences shortly after a meeting with MK Taleb El-Sana (Ra’am Ta’al), who recommended the move. El-Sana expressed satisfaction with the decision, and urged Peres to pardon Suliman Al-Abid as well....

An alleged drug-dealer has been tarred and feathered during a paramilitary-style attack in a loyalist area of Belfast. The alleged drug dealer was tied to a lamppost, tarred and feathered. The attack comes at a time when the Ulster Defence Association has been warned that Government funding for loyalist-related projects will cease unless the organisation disarms and forsakes violence. Despite the Taughmonagh estate in south Belfast, where the attack took place, having a strong UDA presence, the paramilitary organisation's advisers insisted the group was not involved. Their denial was disputed by nationalist politicians and the cross-community Alliance Party. Frankie Gallagher,...

As a Texan living in Europe, I'm appalled by the state's execution Wednesday of Johnny Ray Conner. Capital punishment is wrong. In the 27 countries of the European Union and in Switzerland, where I live, capital punishment is rightly banned as cruel and inhumane, an offense against human dignity and an ineffective deterrent to violent crime. I applaud the European Union for urging Texas Gov. Rick Perry to spare Conner, who was the 400th person to be executed in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The European Union implored the governor to "exercise all powers vested...

Law professor claims improper punishment CHICAGO, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A law school professor in Chicago is suing for $1 million over what he calls an improper punishment over comments he made comparing black and Jewish students. John Gorby, who is neither Jewish nor African-American, opined to a Jewish student after a class at John Marshall Law School that religious training may help explain why Jews pass the bar exam at higher rates than blacks, who tend to come from religions that "emphasize an emotional and spiritual religious experience rather than discussion and debate about the meaning of scriptural language,"...

PETA Protests Fish Fry Fundraiser Newkirk Steamed over Fried Fish July 27, 2007 (Alaska) PETA President Ingrid Newkirk is steamed about a fundraising slogan for an anti-capital punishment campaign that reads, “Fry Fish, Not People.” There was probably smoke coming out of Newkirk’s ears when she heard the slogan that Alaskans Against the Death Penalty are using to raise money. Her organization sent a letter to the anti-death penalty group asking that it adopt a new motto - “Fry Onions, Not People.” PETA’s letter said, “Serving the corpses of animals at an anti-death penalty event is like serving cigarettes at...

KDKA) PITTSBURGH The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the man shot and killed during a robbery attempt at a convenience store late Saturday night. The man has been identified as 30 year-old Raymond Crawford of the North Side. Crawford was killed late Saturday night when he attempted to hold up a BP station on Saw Mill Run Boulevard. Police say he entered the store with a handgun demanding money and tobacco. The 58 year-old clerk cooperated but then pulled out a .357 handgun and shot Crawford twice in the chest. He died on the floor of the store....

A jury has found a 13-year-old Canadian girl guilty of murdering her parents and her younger brother in revenge for being grounded and having her computer privileges revoked. A jury in Medicine Hat, Alberta, found the teenager guilty on three counts of first-degree murder after only three hours of deliberation. The bodies of her father, 42, mother, 48, and brother, 8, were found in the family home in April 2006. They had been stabbed 41 times. During the trial, the girl told the jury that her boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke, who was 11 years her senior and had claimed to friends...

Man who fed puppy to boa gets 90 days Arizona man could have been sentenced to up to a year on cruelty charge The Associated Press Updated: 3:38 p.m. PT June 14, 2007 PHOENIX - A man who coated a 3-week-old puppy in cooking oil and then fed it to his pet boa constrictor was sentenced Thursday to 90 days in jail and two years probation, prosecutors said. Joseph Beadle, 40, pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge in March. He has served 51 days of his jail sentence while the case was pending. Beadle, of Glendale, faced up to...

WASHINGTON, - Two American parents have started a two-year prison sentence for serving 350 dollars worth of beer and other alcohol at their son's 16th birthday party, authorities said Tuesday. The drinking age in the United States is 21, but Elisa Kelly, 42, and George Robinson, 52, decided to buy alcohol for their son Ryan's party, which was attended by about 30 people 12 and 18 years old, on August 16, 2002. Concerned that the teenagers would drink without supervision, the parents said they had bought alcohol with the understanding that the teens would spend the night at their place...

Hanoi, Beijing Using Executions As “Smack Down” For Cultural History of Corruption By John E. Carey Peace and Freedom May 29, 2007China and Vietnam each sentenced people to be executed today.In China, the villain is the state’s former director of drug review and acceptance. He was found guilty of accepting bribes and approving a drug after almost no testing that ultimately killed ten people. Think of the U.S. Director of the Food and Drug Administration sentenced to death for accepting a bribe to wink at proper testing of a drug.The execution may also be a signal to the west that the...

Vets in prison twice as likely to be sex offenders May 21, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Veterans are more than twice as likely to be in prison for sex crimes than are people without military experience, the government reports. Federal researchers cannot say why. A study released Sunday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics compared the populations of inmates who served in the military and those who did not. Veterans are less likely to be incarcerated but nearly one in four veterans in state prison was a sex offender, compared with one in 10 nonveteran inmates. ''We couldn't come to any...

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that he is ready to resume lethal injections after the prison system announced changes to its death penalty procedures. Department of Corrections Secretary Jim McDonough made the changes - including enlarging the death chamber and increasing training - to avoid a repeat of the botched execution of Angel Diaz five months ago. Executions have been halted since Dec. 13, when it took 34 minutes to kill Diaz, twice as long as normal. Crist, who was in South Florida on Wednesday, told the Miami Herald he's ready to start signing death warrants now that...

New Jersey to consider abolishing death penalty Tue May 8, 2007 2:43PM EDT By Jon Hurdle PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - New Jersey lawmakers will consider abolishing the death penalty this week, starting a process that could see the liberal state become the first to scrap capital punishment since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976. On Thursday, the judiciary committee of the state Senate will consider two bills calling for New Jersey to replace execution with life imprisonment without parole. Capital punishment in the state is already suspended under a moratorium passed by legislators in late 2005. Sen. Ray Lesniak,...

Shoppers entering a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Alabama got a reminder not to try anything funny: Two shoplifters stood outside with signs reading "I am a thief, I stole from Wal-Mart." Attalla City Judge Kenneth Robertson Jr. ordered the two people to wear the signs for four hours each during two successive Saturdays. "The only comments we've heard so far have been positive," said store manager Neil Hawkins. "Most of them thought it was a good thing." One of the shoplifters, Lisa King Fithian, 46, wore the sign from 11am to 3pm to avoid a 60-day jail sentence. Another convicted shoplifter...

Last June, Dontaro Riddley, who had just turned 19, robbed a northeast Minneapolis convenience store at gunpoint. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence approved by the Hennepin County attorney's office -- one year in the workhouse. Under state sentencing guidelines, he could have been sent to prison for four years. Instead, that was left hanging over his head to encourage good behavior after he served six months at the workhouse and was released. A month after his release, police said, he killed two men selected randomly for a robbery when they were walking home from a neighborhood bar in...

Kennesaw, GA

(IsraelNN.com) Israel has offered assistance to hundreds of Palestinian Authority Arabs affected by a flood of raw sewage that swept through a Bedouin village in the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday afternoon. Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed the IDF to prepare for the possibility of evacuating the injured to Israeli hospitals. The village, Umm Nasser, is near Beit Lahiya and less than a kilometer from the Gaza Strip border with Israel. At least 25 houses in the 200-family village were immediately swamped when the local sewage system's cesspool wall collapsed and pipes burst. Between six and nine people are reported dead,...

Prince George's County public schools officials are investigating an incident in which the aunt of a second-grader at a county charter school ordered him to remove his pants and underwear and whipped him in front of his teacher and classmates Friday. Kenneth Jones, principal of Turning Point Academy in Lanham, a charter school founded last year, acknowledged in a letter to the regional superintendent that the incident had taken place. Jones said the aunt would write a letter of apology to the parents of the students in the class. . . Prince George's schools spokesman John L. White said the...