lsat//lawschool//bar//esq

thedailywhat:

Breaking News of the Day: Zimmerman Granted Bail: George Zimmerman has been granted bond — set at $150,000 — in the February 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester set several conditions for Zimmerman’s release, including a curfew, but said further details need to be worked out between Zimmerman’s attorney and law enforcement. Zimmerman will not be released today.

Zimmerman’s family asked the judge this morning to grant bail while he awaits trial. Family members — testifying by phone because they say they have been threatened — argued that Zimmerman is neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community.

“He is absolutely not a violent person,” said his wife, Shellie Zimmerman.

Defense attorney Mark O’Mara would prefer that Zimmerman be allowed to leave the area because of concerns about his safety. “Normally, the conditions are that you stay local. I think that is going to be difficult,” he said. “I think nobody would deny the fact that if George Zimmerman were walking down the street today, he would be at risk. That is a reality.”

George Zimmerman took the stand to make a statement.

“I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was, I thought he was a little bit younger than I am and I did not know if he was armed or not.”

[lat / globeandmail]

thedailywhat:

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: Salecia Johnson might have thrown the mother of all temper tantrums at a Georgia elementary school last Friday: The 6-year-old allegedly pushed fellow students, threw items off a teacher’s desk, tore material from the walls, tried to bite a doorknob, and tossed a small shelving unit (which struck the school’s principal in the leg). But when a police officer tried to calm Salecia down, she “pulled away and actively began resisting and fighting with me,” reported the cop — so, naturally, he handcuffed her and tossed her in the back of his squad car.

Salecia has since been released to her family — who, naturally, are pissed. The girl’s aunt, Candace Ruff, picked her up at the police station, where Ruff said Salecia was in a holding cell and complained about the steel handcuffs. “She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists,” Ruff said. “Call the police, is that the first step?”

Police defended the cuff-and-stuff, saying Salecia was “placed in handcuffs for her safety. When a person is put in handcuffs, it’s for their safety, it’s not a punishment.”

[newser]

(via verblife)

(via verblife)

thedailywhat:

Criminally Dumb Criminal of the Day: Mohammad Ashan, a mid-level Taliban commander, is suspected of plotting at least two attacks on Afghan security forces, so officials plastered hundreds of posters emblazoned with the insurgent’s name and likeness around the district of Sar Howza. When Ashan took notice of the $100 finder’s fee, he snatched a poster and marched into a police checkpoint, looking to collect. Instead, he was arrested on the spot.

“This guy is the Taliban equivalent of the ‘Home Alone” burglars,” one U.S. official said.

[shortformblog]

thedailywhat:

Follow-Up of the Day:  Facebook Defends Its Support of CISPA: Prompted by widespread Internet outcry against Facebook’s support of CISPA, Joel Kaplan, the site’s VP of U.S. Public Policy, has taken to the Facebook blog to defend his company’s position, exlaining the difference between SOPA and CISPA and why the latter would help protect Facebook.

“One challenge we and other companies have had is in our ability to share information with each other about cyber attacks. When one company detects an attack, sharing information about that attack promptly with other companies can help protect those other companies and their users from being victimized by the same attack,” Kaplan writes. “Similarly, if the government learns of an intrusion or other attack, the more it can share about that attack with private companies (and the faster it can share the information), the better the protection for users and our systems.”

Kaplan made sure to address Facebook users’ worries about privacy: “The concern is that companies will share sensitive personal information with the government in the name of protecting cybersecurity. Facebook has no intention of doing this.”

CISPA will likely go to a full vote on the House floor later this month.

[mashable]

thedailywhat:

Self-Defense Claim of the Day: “I acknowledge the acts, but not criminal guilt.”

So Anders Behring Breivik told a Norwegian court this morning, asserting that he had acted in self-defense in killing 77 in July 2011 and that his actions were “cruel but necessary.” He added: “I do not recognize the Norwegian courts. You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism.” Breivik has said he acted against those he considered to be “state traitors” for opening Norway up to multiculturalism and allowing a “Muslim invasion” of Europe.

The key issue to be resolved — clearly — during his 10-week trial for terrorism is that of Breivik’s mental health, which will determine whether he is sent to prison or into psychiatric care.

[aljazeera]