Sham Marriage Scheme Busted in Vermont

Many sham marriages - fraudulent marriages which often lead to residency and ultimately citizenship benefits for immigrants - go undetected each year by the United States government.   But sometimes sham marriage immigration schemes are uncovered, as in this recent example from Vermont, as reported in the Boston Globe, A Marriage of a Dream and a Scheme, in which case illegal immigrants (mostly,

Crockefeller's Sealed Divorce Records Released to Prosecutor

It seems whenever I miss a story in my own state, at least regarding the fascinating "Clark Rockefeller" (hereinafter "Crockefeller") case, Jeanne Hannah over in Michigan picks up on it. In her blog Updates in Michigan Family Law: Sealed divorce files?, she discusses the news of last week, here in the Boston Globe, that certain of Crockefeller's sealed divorce records were ordered released to

Stimulus Checks Intercepted for Child Support: My Client's Story and a Rant

While I myself have been too busy to post this past week, a few of my clients have found themselves quoted in the news. There's only one I can mention here. Cheryl Hayes, my former client, has authorized me to discuss her case after she thanked me for directing Associated Press reporter Steve LeBlanc to her this past Tuesday, thus resulting in her interview an hour later and a photo session that

Parental Kidnapping and Amber Alerts - Crockefeller Provides Teachable Moment

Since the case of Crockefeller (the man who most recently called himself "Clark Rockefeller" and who apparently has used numerous other names since coming to this country from Germany as Christian Gerhartsreiter) has begun to dominate the news, several people have asked me how a father can be charged with kidnapping his own son. (Whatever this man's identity, there is no question that he is the

Crockefeller, His Lawyer, and the Media

As I previously stated here right after "Clark Rockefeller" was arrested, there's got to be more to the weird story of Crockefeller and Snooks, and we're bound to hear more soon. Well we have now heard quite a bit more, and even some from Crockefeller's own lawyer.The Boston Globe had an article in today's paper, Lone defender savors high-profile case - by Jonathan Saltzman, about Crockefeller

Bush's Chauffeur Sentenced to "Time Served" For His Role in Aiding and Abetting Bush's War Crimes, But Will Be Held Indefinitely As Enemy Combatant

Just kidding. No, that would be Osama Bin Laden's chauffeur, not George Bush's. See today's story about Bin Laden's chauffeur, Salim Hamdan, getting a sentence of 5 1/2 years. He's already served 5 years but don't expect him to get out in half a year with "time served" as he is expected to be held indefinitely as an "enemy combatant" despite the military jury verdict's acknowledgement, even in

"Rockefeller" Arrested In Baltimore After Kidnapping His Daughter "Snooks" in Boston

Crockefeller and Snooks. Hardly your everyday kidnapping.I have followed with interest the recent news about the apparent con-man and divorced father, who calls himself Rockefeller (dubbed "Crockefeller" by the NY Daily News), who recently kidnapped his daughter in Boston after she returned with her mother from England for his first visit with the child after the move. Apparently during the

Getting Tough On Child Rape

Soon after the Massachusetts House passed a bill earlier this month that would be tougher on the crime of child rape, the US Supreme Court set a limit on just how tough any state can be, when on Wednesday it held capital punishment for child rape to be unconstitutional. For further background on the case, see my previous post: Supreme Court to Consider Whether Death Penalty Can Be Imposed for

Father's Day Gift From the MCAD

Just in time for Father's Day, and much to the apparent dismay of employers, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination recently gave a surprise gift to working fathers in this state. It seems the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination is now really getting serious about the issue of discrimination against men, and has abruptly decreed that the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act

Habeas Corpus Survives

A bit of good news for the endangered US Constitution: A majority (five of nine) on the US Supreme Court ruled to uphold the constitutional protection of habeas corpus, even for the unpopular alleged "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo. For this we have to thank Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority decision, joined of course by all four of the justices who actually deserve to sit on the Court (

The Alternative to CORI Reform: Let's Just Order Them to Re-Offend

Thanks to John Monahan and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for an excellent article yesterday about the fact that CORI reform is now unlikely. The CORI reform proposals, introduced and backed by Governor Patrick, and as discussed and strongly supported by me here at this blog,have run aground in the House Judiciary Committee, and the chances of the law covering criminal records being reformed

Texas Appellate Court Rules Against Government's Illegal Raid on FLDS

This just in from the Associated Press: Texas Appellate Court rules Texas wrongly seized FLDS sect children.With no thanks to the national ACLU, and other suddenly silent, supposed defenders of civil liberties, the Third Court of Appeals in Texas just did the right thing in denouncing the outrageous government raid on the FLDS sect, and reversing the boneheaded trial court ruling. The appellate

Lawyers Are Good Doobies

Legal Blog Watch recently took note of the fact that about 350 lawyers, a majority of them family law attorneys, in West Texas have volunteered to represent, without any compensation, the 400 children taken by the state in its raid on the polygamist religious sect. Yes, it's true. Many lawyers are good doobies.

More On The Texas Polygamy Scare and The Civil Liberties Non-Scare

I have recently compared the troubling invasion by the Texas government of the polygamist sect near Eldorado, Texas, to our federal government's invasion of, and war on, the country of Iraq. I have yet another analogy. Yes, at the risk of creating confusion by making yet another comparison, sort of like mixing my metaphors, or similes, or whatever they are, I must say that this other related

From Aluminum Tubes to Broken Bones: Texans, Lies and Statistics

Remember the Aluminum Tubes, Niger, and The Big Nuclear Threat from Iraq? These themes were brought to you by the Texan in the White House. Well, now welcome to some new theatrical themes coming directly from Texas: Broken Bones and Teen Pregnancy Statistics. Texas officials are trying to put the spin on another questionable invasion, this invasion being merely that of an unpopular, religious

Destroying the Polygamist Village to Save It

I, like Robert Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch, have been amazed to see such silence in the legal blogging community after the Texas raid on the polygamist sect in Eldorado, in which hundreds of children were taken away from their parents, in what has been appropriately called the biggest custody case in Texas, if not national, history. Despite claims that this is simply a case of the government's

Incarceration Nation

The New York Times yesterday published a good basic primer on a most embarrassing type of American Exceptionalism, i.e., America as Incarceration Nation: Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’ - New York Times. The first part of the article, written by Adam Liptak, is excerpted below:"The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the

States Reconsidering Life Sentences for Juveniles

The U.S. is the only nation in the world imposing life sentences on children. A majority of U.S. states do incarcerate juveniles for life without parole, and we currently have nearly 2400 such juvenile offenders serving life sentences throughout the country.It may come as a surprise to many that Massachusetts is one of those states in the majority. But the good news is there are people both

Predatory Lenders, George Bush and Eliot Spitzer

"When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the

Bobby Brown and Incarceration Nation

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette News got it spot-on in its editorial today about the sweet, strange deal Bobby Brown received in Brockton District Court. It's almost as if the Telegram read my eerily similar post on this subject from several days ago. Let's just say we are definitely on the same page here. I would now just add that we should ask ourselves how it is that Bobby Brown is actually