- To strip-search 13-year-old girls or not to strip-search 13-year-old girls. If you’re Roman Polanski, the answer is easy and the answer is yes. Not so much if you’re Safford (Arizona) Middle School officials. Back in 2003, Savana Redding, who in 2003 was an eighth-grade honor student at the school, was strip-searched by school officials looking for ibuprofen pain reliever. The incident occurred after the school’s vice principal had discovered prescription-strength ibuprofen pills in the possession of one of Redding's classmates earlier in the day. That student fingered Redding as her supplier, accusing her of providing the 400-milligram pills. Redding was pulled from class by vice principal Kerry Wilson, escorted to an office and confronted with the accusations. Wilson then searched her backpack and he found nothing. Not satisfied with those results and clearly feeling that a 13-year-old honors student would be looking to get her drug mule on and hide the drugs on her person, Wilson had a school nurse and his assistant, both females, conduct a strip search. According to court records, Redding was ordered to strip to her underwear and her bra was pulled out, but still no drugs were found. Reflecting on her degrading experience in an affidavit, Redding said, "The strip-search was the most humiliating experience I have ever had. I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry." Oddly enough, Redding and her parents felt compelled to sue and with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, they did so. Even odder, a federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, ruled against the school. The court wrote: "Common sense informs us that directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen ... was excessively intrusive." Hmm, think so? See, these gray areas are always tough. Do you treat a 13-year-old girl with a pristine record like a convicted meth dealer or not? Yeah, I understand that the school has a zero-tolerance policy for all prescription and over-the-counter medication, including the ibuprofen, without prior written permission. That doesn’t mean they can do whatever the frak they want when it comes to trying to determine whether a student has any of those items on them based solely on the word of another student. This case has finally made its way to the Supreme Court, where Redding, now nearing the end of her high school career, will possibly get some justice. Now it’s up to the justices of the nation’s highest court to decide whether a school setting gives school administrators more leeway in dealing with students suspected of illegal activity than police are allowed in cases involving adults in public places. Of course, in the American judicial system, justice arrives on its own sweet time, so arguments won't be heard until April. So how does the school district intend to defend its indefensible, intrusive, violating actions? Well, its brief filed in the school’s appeal to the high court, the school district said requiring a legal standard of "probable cause" to conduct student searches would cast a "roadblock to the kind of swift and effective response that is too often needed to protect the very safety of students, particularly from the threats posed by drugs and weapons." What the hell? A threat posed by ibuprofen? What threat, quick relief of pain? That is one of the most ridiculous defenses I’ve ever heard and not at all applicable in this case. You crossed the line and now you need to pay, period……
- I know I’m late on this one because nearly everyone else in the country has spent the bulk of this week raving about the job that US Airways pilot C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger and other crew members did in saving the lives of everyone aboard US Airways Flight 1549, headed from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina. However, the images are just as jarring and mind-blowing today as they were when they happened. The fact that all 155 people on board the plane survived and only a handful were hospitalized with minor injuries may be one of the most astounding feats of flight we’ve ever seen or will ever see. About 25 people were treated at hospitals after the incident, but there were no serious injuries - none. Landing a freaking plane in an emergency situation in New York is impressive in no small part because you don’t exactly have the option of putting it down on the expressway like you might in other areas of the country. You try that in New York, you’re landing on bumper-to-bumper traffic almost no matter where you go. Making the call on where to land less than three minutes after the plane took off at 3:26 p.m. ET Thursday had to be a tough one, especially when pretty much all of the passengers on the Airbus A320 jet noticed almost immediately that something was wrong. And of course, the culprit was those damned birds, clearly no longer content with flying into Fabio’s face and moving on to flying into airplane engines. Sullenberger reported a double bird strike, but as of now it’s not clear whether that meant birds in each of the engines or two birds in one of the jet's two engines. According to the FAA, witnesses reported seeing the plane hit a flock of birds - possibly Canadian geese. Regardless of the offending fowl, Sullenberger had the option of returning to LaGuardia for an emergency landing, but he wisely preferred to land at the Teterboro, New Jersey, airport, which was closer. However, once it was clear that the plane wasn’t even going to make it to Teterboro, Sully told the passengers that the plane was going down and that they should “brace for impact.” He then managed to successfully execute the infamous water landing, the one that the air waitresses remind you of before every flight when they explain that your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device in the event of a water landing. After the landing on the Hudson, it was up to the next set of heroes to step up, and step up the rescue divers did. In less than four minutes, the New York Waterway ferry reached the scene and divers began plucking people out of the frigid waters, waters so cold that people could remain in the water only two to three minutes before the onset of hypothermia. Also, the first ambulance reached the shore in a minute and 12 seconds, completing an all-around stellar day for everyone involved in saving more than 150 lives and avoiding a terrible tragedy…….
- The Los Angeles Dodgers dumped a lot of dead weight Thursday - literally. The uber-fat Andruw Jones, a $36.2 million bust signed the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2007, saw his weight balloon and his production decline proportional to that ginormous weight gain during his time in L.A. The team brought Jones in because of his supposedly prodigious power and Willie Mays-like ability in center field, but his apparent diet of Twinkies, pork rinds, chalupas, ice cream and deep fried…well, everything, managed to submarine those hopes. Jones was injured part of last season when he did play, he was totally ineffective, hitting only .158 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 75 games. "Obviously, this is a disappointing day for both us and Andruw, as we all had high hopes for him when he signed last year given his track record and everything that we had seen from him in the past and heard about him," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in an (under)statement. "I know that Andruw is also very disappointed in the way things turned out and the best thing to do at this point is to turn the page and we wish him well." The 6’1 Jones may have been listed at 210 pounds, but that weight is more of a lie than anything W. told the American public about WMD’s in Iraq. Dude showed up at spring training overweight, was perpetually injured and also booed loudly by fans as he struggled at the plate during the season. Carrying around that excess poundage led to knee surgery in May and when he returned, Jones finished the season on the bench, watching as the Dodgers won the NL West and beat the Chicago Cubs in the NL Division Series before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Championship Series. He then made a laughable request to be traded after the year and after they stopped laughing, the Dodgers obliged and not surprisingly, found no takers. Once that formality was out of the way, it was time to negotiate a settlement of some sort to free both Jones and the team from the burden of dealing with one another. In the end, the deal the two sides reached was a $5 million payout now and Jones agreeing to defer the remainder of the $22.1 million he’s owed, to be paid out over the next six years. For some reason, I don’t think Dodgers management, players, vendors, fans, broadcasters, parking lot attendants or ownership will miss Jones. With young, non-fat studs like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier on the roster and the team still in the mix to re-sign Manny Ramirez, acquired in a trade deadline deal July 31. In fact, the only people in L.A. who are going to miss Jones are the restaurant owners and donut shop owners…….
- Well, this should really help the whole ugly American stereotype around the world. The spectacle of an American woman and her Italian former boyfriend going on trial in Perugia, Italy for the 2007 killing of a British exchange student should really boost the opinion the rest of the world has of us. Amanda Knox is the alleged American murderer involved and she’s going to be alongside Italian Raffaele Sollecito as this trial unfolds over the next few months. They are charged with murder and sexual assault in the November 2007 slaying of Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher. What makes this case particularly juicy is that Kercher is alleged to have died in what is being called a "drug-fueled sex game" with the couple and a third person, Rude Guede. Guede was already convicted of murder in October, so that doesn’t bode well for Knox and Sollecito. Following his conviction, Guede was sentenced to 30 years in prison he is also expected to be one of about 100 witnesses in the case. The facts of the case are this: Kercher was found dead in her bed, half-naked, with a knife wound to her neck. Prosecutors allege that Sollecito held Kercher by her wrists while Knox poked at her with a knife and Guede sexually assaulted her. All around, a completely sick performance by a trio of sick freaks - assuming it’s true. And with physical evidence allegedly placing the defendants at the scene, along with confusing and contradictory statements given by Guede, Knox and Sollecito about their whereabouts the night Kercher died, it seems likely at the very least. Knox may have doen the most damage to her case when she initially claimed that she was at the house she shared with Kercher, then changed her story. Sollecito, wasn’t much better, telling investigators that he was never at the house, but was at his apartment, watching a movie on his computer with Knox. When pressed on the issue, he pulled an Alberto Gonzales and said he couldn’t recall whether Knox was with him the entire night. Unfortunately for those who would love O.J. Simpson murder trial-esque coverage of this trial, the presiding judge in the case, Giancarlo Massei, barred cameras from the courtroom Friday morning after initial proceedings. Judge Massei based his ruling on a request by Kerchner’s family that the trial be held entirely before closed doors, an option Italian law allows in cases dealing with sexual assault. Massei didn’t totally capitulate to that request, but he did say that he could completely close portions of the trial dealing with the most graphic sexual assault allegations. As for the outcome of the trial…..don’t count on an jury f’ups, to draw on O.J. 1995 murder trial as an example once again. This case will be heard by a panel of eight judges, a panel that defense lawyers will attempt to convince that the physical evidence was tainted by sloppy police work. Ah, the “evidence was tainted so even though our clients are guilty we’re going to get the case tossed” defense, a sound legal strategy for many years…….
- It may not be smart, sophisticated, original or extremely well-written, but Kevin James’ new low-brow comedy, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” did well enough to win the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in decisive fashion with $33.8 million. Safe to say that no one expected that kind of strong debut from this movie, and with good reason. It’s not a great movie and not really even a good one, but maybe the fact that it appeals to the lowest common denominator means it’s accessible to all. Oddly enough, it was accessible enough to beat out a pretty decent movie that led last weekend’s box office race, Clint Eastwood's “Gran Torino,” which came in second by raking in another $22.2 million for a mere 25 percent decline from its opening weekend to bump it’s domestic total to $73.2 million. Filling the next two spots of the top five were newcomers “My Bloody Valentine 3D” and “Notorious.” Initial box office estimates put the films at near identical weekend totals, with the horror/slasher flick narrowly edging out the rapper biographic by a count of $21.9 million to $21.5 million. However, “Notorious” did play in about 900 fewer venues; so it’s weekend per-theater average was much better and actually tops of any movie at $13,126. Capping the top five was the abysmally bad family flick “Hotel for Dogs” with a mediocre $17.7 million take. Scanning further down the list, it’s worth nothing that “Defiance” fared well as it moved into wider release, finishing at No. 8 with $9.2 million, much better than Dustin Hoffman’s romantic comedy “Last Chance Harvey” (No. 13 with $4.7 million). In the bigger picture, the cumulative box office earnings were up nearly 28 percent from the same frame a year ago, the fourth straight weekend that’s happened to kick off the new year. Movies are on the war path in 2009, look out……
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