Law and Order

Anti-Prostitution Bill Passes House Judiciary Committee

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 27, 2009 |

If I heard the roll properly on Capitol TV, Segal, Ajello and Driver were the only votes against.

Rhode Island as Prostitution Satellite

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2009 |

You may have noticed that “a compromise bill” has emerged on the prostitution issue that may actually have a shot at passage, this week. In response, A largely anonymous Web site (with the exception of Marc Doughty), Citizens Against Criminalization, has gone live (notably named in parallel fashion to Donna Hughes’s Citizens Against Trafficking). Look,…

If Not the Law, the Culture

By Justin Katz | October 16, 2009 |

Two well-placed articles — by virtue of their proximity to each other — in the September 21 National Review point to a necessary conclusion for a modern conservative political philosophy. The first item is an interior quotation by American Medical Association lobbyist William Woodward within a book review by Kyle Smith (emphasis added): The trouble…

Reasons for the Obama Justice Department to Prosecute ACLU/”John Adams” Project Lawyers

By Monique Chartier | October 11, 2009 |

Let’s hope that the Justice Department’s investigation (see Justin’s post) leads in due course to prosecution. If it does not, the United States may well be left blind, without an intelligence/counter-intelligence department because no one will be willing to take or keep such important jobs. And who could blame them? In the absence of prosecution…

If It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief, Does It Take a Lawbreaker to Make a Lawyer?

By Monique Chartier | October 11, 2009 |

From yesterday’s Providence Journal. The Rhode Island Supreme Court has ordered that the Stephen M. Hunter’s license to practice law be suspended for one year. Hunter has been convicted of five crimes. One felony and four misdemeanors. And just one year later, Mr. Hunter will once again be able to practice law with the blessing…

From Husband to Landlord

By Justin Katz | September 23, 2009 |

Readers will no doubt recall the bizarre tale of Paul Kelly, whose ex-girlfriend moved into his house for a brief period while he prepared to depart for a Middle East war zone in July 2007 and refused to leave, claiming in court that they were married under common law. At last, Superior Court Judge Ojetta…

Oh Happy Commerce, or, “I felt like I was forcing myself on a 40+ year old fat sex slave”

By Justin Katz | September 17, 2009 |

“Where the hell else is a middle aged man gonna hook up with a young sexy hot sex slave in real life? Like the old saying goes, we want a ***** [whore] in the bedroom but a lady in the kitchen. Just don’t expect you gf [girlfriend] to be as whory as the real whores.…

The Fallacy of Victimless Prostitution

By Marc Comtois | September 16, 2009 |

My last post on “Pro-Prostitution Progressivism” generated a debate on the conservative/libertarian side. Justin entered the fray and, after some back-and-forth in the comments, expanded his thoughts, touching on political philosophy, ideology and making assumptions about those with whom you disagree. Those were his thoughts. As for me, my opposition to indoor prostitution doesn’t stem…

The Pot Calling the Market Black

By Justin Katz | August 13, 2009 |

Somewhere in the mire of Rhode Island’s approach to legalized medical marijuana is a lesson about the way in which various forces operate in our legislature: Law-enforcement officials are uniformly opposed to the program that allows an illegal drug to be legally grown and distributed to licensed patients. They also are troubled by the lack…

Still Out of a Home

By Justin Katz | August 9, 2009 |

By way of an update to the bizarre story of the veteran against whom an ex-girlfriend and the Rhode Island Superior Court conspired to keep him out of his own house for more than two years, now, I heard from Paul Kelly this week, and he’s still locked out. Apparently, the trial that would remove…