A major crackdown in Bangladesh has led to the arrest of over 8,000 people over the weekend, in an attempt to stop the wave of violence that has killed hundreds of liberals and members of minority groups over the past few years.

The mass arrests started on Friday and are scheduled to last for a week. Officials say that all the arrests are made on the basis of specific charges. Over 100 of those arrested are alleged militant Islamists.

Bangladesh is a largely Muslim nation and has suffered from some extraordinarily violent killings lately, many carried out with machetes in broad daylight. Since the beginning of last year over 30 people from minority groups have been killed, including Christians, Hindus, atheist bloggers, gay activists, liberal academics, and even foreign aid workers.

The latest of the horrific killings happened last week, leaving an elderly Hindu priest, a Hindu monastery worker and a Christian shopkeeper hacked to death. The Muslim wife of an anti-terrorism policeman was also stabbed and shot.

The Islamic state has claimed responsibility for 21 of the recent killings and al Qaeda for many others, but the Bangladeshi government says that neither of the groups is involved. According to junior foreign minister Shahriar Alam, ISIS and al-Qaeda want to claim responsibility for attacks they didn’t carry out, while native Bangladeshi radical groups are actually behind them.

The government’s inability to stop these radical murders has spurred international criticism and pressure on the state to do something. PEN America said in April:

The persistent failure of the Bangladeshi Government and the international community to better protect threatened thinkers has created a climate of fear and direct threat to free thought in the country.

The government’s recent crackdown is huge, and the number of total arrests was up to 8,192 on Monday morning. But the opposition has criticized the government, claiming the arrests are just for show or for suppressing political dissent, arguing that a large number of the arrested are ordinary criminals with existing warrants against them, for narcotics, firearms, or other offenses.

However, local police said that they have caught some members from banned radical group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is a group accused in some of the most recent killings, and also a senior official from banned Islamist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

We’ll see by the end of the week where the total number of arrests ends up, but hopefully many of the real perpetrators will be among those detained.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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It’s Friday here at Law Street Media, which means it’s time for another slideshow of the weird arrests of the week. Click through the slideshow to check them out below:

Could You Repeat That?

Image courtesy of Beanbag Amerika via Flickr

A man named “Beezow Doo-doo Zopittybop-bop-bop” was arrested in Washington state this week after allegedly assaulting a university police officer and sheriff’s deputy. You might recognize his rather distinctive name, because in 2013, he was arrested in Iowa on drug charges.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Those of us in the Mid-Atlantic are probably snowed in, which means that it’s time to check out the weirdest arrests of the week. They’re all in the slideshow below:

Do You Want Fries with that Fire?

Image courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr

Timothy Alejandro Ortiz was arrested after he didn’t return his uniform to a Burger King located in Florida after he was fired. Instead, on his way out, he flame-broiled the uniform. He’s being charged with damage to property, resisting an officer without violence, and disorderly conduct.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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It’s a new year, but people are still doing stupid things and getting themselves arrested. Check out the weirdest arrests of the week in the slideshow below.

Someone Needs Their Coffee

Image courtesy of Steven Depolo via Flickr

It’s actually unclear if this story ended in an arrest, but it certainly made the police in Toronto mad. They were called to an apartment complex after one roommate allegedly attacked another because the latter took a shower too early in the morning. One of the officers summed it up best when he said: “Is it the most effective use of police resources? No”

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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It’s Friday, which means it’s time for a new installation of weird arrests of the week. Go ahead and check them out in the slideshow below.

A Very Long Distance Call

Image courtesy of Vienze Ziction via Flickr

A man in Lincoln County, KY, was arrested after he was caught digging up his father’s grave. Michael May, whose father died decades ago, was trying to have an argument with his old man. He was charged with violating a grave, possession of marijuana, and public intoxication.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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It’s the end of the week, which means its time to relax and reflect on all the stupid things people have done this week. Specifically, some fantastically odd arrests. Check out the slideshow below:

An Unexpected Getaway Car

Image courtesy of Eric Eggertson via Flickr

A still-unidentified woman was arrested after shoplifting at a Rochester, New York mall. But it was her transportation to and from the mall that makes the arrest newsworthy. She took a limo to the mall, allegedly stole about $300 in merchandise, then called the limo to come pick her up again. Police picked her up too.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Mental illness is something that the American justice system has been dealing with for decades; particularly how to handle suspects suffering from it, how to determine who is mentally ill, and what are the best practices for apprehending, sentencing, and holding those people.

Mental illnesses are defined medically as “disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviors.” There’s no easy way to define a mental illness, and certain diseases don’t affect everyone in the same ways. That ambiguity is where many problems stem from–how should police deal with those who have mental illnesses?

Accusations of Police Brutality Against the Mentally Ill

The United Nations

The United States had to stand before the United Nations in Geneva last week to defend its human rights record. While this is a routine endeavor, it is still something that reflects badly upon the country and its leaders. There were a lot of topics to cover, but the most prevalent was police brutality. A staggering 120 countries were there to offer recommendations, making it one of the best-attended hearings in the history of the UN, and each country was given 65 seconds to speak. Countries from every corner of the globe stressed that police brutality and discrimination has to end. One of the main things that the discussions centered upon was the way that police officers treat mentally ill suspects.

Human Rights Watch Report

That wasn’t the end of the criticism over the way that the United States treats people with mental illnesses in the justice system. Also last week, Human Rights Watch produced a report that chronicled the daily lives of mentally ill inmates in America’s prisons, showing that the issues in the justice system extend far beyond police brutality. The report, coming in at a staggering 127 pages, is packed with stories of neglect, abuse, improper medical care, corporal punishment, and unnecessary solitary confinement.

Some of the stories reported were particularly troubling. There is one incident about a man with schizophrenia who lunged for a police officer. As punishment, they strapped him to a chair, put a mask over his face, and sprayed pepper spray directly into his face under the mask. There are stories of many inmates who were found dead or unconscious laying in pools of their own urine, vomit, blood, and feces.

One of the most harrowing stories is what happened to 50-year-old Darren Rainey, who, according to the report, had a “diagnosis of schizophrenia, [and] was housed in the inpatient mental health unit at Florida’s Dade Correctional Institution while serving two years on a cocaine charge.” His mental health caused him, at times, to smear feces on himself. The correctional officers would then have to transport him to the showers and help him clean up. The report alleges that the officers took Rainey to a broken shower that could be turned to scalding. He could not control the water nor leave the shower as the police closed the door. He stayed in the scalding shower for nearly two hours. When the police finally opened the door, they found him unresponsive and without a pulse. When they moved him, it was discovered that “he had burns over 90 percent of his body, and his skin was hot/warm to the touch and slipped off when touched.” There has not yet been a medical report on his death and the police investigation is ongoing.

The Treatment Advocacy Center estimates that there are about 360,000 prisoners in 5,100 American jails and prisons with serious mental illnesses–particularly schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression. That statistic has caused many people to wonder what exactly are the “rules” that the police have to follow when dealing with the mentally ill?

Should the mentally ill even be incarcerated?

There have been many discussions about exactly what rights a person with a mental illness has when he is arrested. Of course, there should be differences depending on the type and severity of the mental illness. But as a general rule, most protocols haven’t been broken up that way–instead, there are blanket policies for everyone, and they often deal more with procedures that need to be followed after the arrest. There are many allegations that the police act too harshly when dealing with suspects who have mental illnesses.

Some states have taken their own unique approaches. California, for example, has thoroughly questioned whether or not the Americans with Disabilities Act protects mentally ill suspects from being arrested and brought into the traditional justice system. That notion stems from a situation where a mentally ill woman, Theresa Sheehan, was shot five times after she waved a knife at police officers–police officers who knew she was mentally ill, as she had a history of mental breaks and was in a halfway house. The case was recently investigated by the United States Supreme Court.

In light of that case, Ron Honberg, Director of Policy and Legal Affairs at the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), said that law enforcement officers “have become first responders to people in psychiatric crisis,” but that “oftentimes, their traditional academy training doesn’t really teach police how to respond to such crisis.”

The Supreme Court found that the police were “immune” in the Sheehan case, stating:

A federal district court sided with the police, ruling that it would be unreasonable to ask officers trying to detain a violent, mentally disabled person to comply with the ADA before protecting themselves and others. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a jury should decide whether it was reasonable for the officers to use less confrontational tactics.

Testing and Treatment

So what are the policies once someone who may have a mental illness is actually arrested? If the police arrest someone whom they suspect is mentally ill, they are supposed to have them checked out by a mental health professional, which will typically result in a 24-to-72-hour stay in a mental health facility.

Family members of the mentally ill person can also ask for a police transport to the hospital if that was not an option during the arrest. This is sometimes called a “5150 hold.”

Certain states have stipulations against arrests of the mentally ill. A New York State guide for lawyers explains:

Under Criminal Procedure Law section 730, a judge who has reason to believe that a criminal defendant may be ‘incapacitated’ must order that the defendant undergo a psychiatric examination. ‘Incapacitated’ in this context means that because of mental disease or defect, the defendant is unable to understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense. A ‘730 exam,’ as such exams are referred to, can be requested by a defense attorney or an assistant district attorney, or may be ordered upon the judge’s own initiative.

Other states have similar stipulations. Denver has seen 11 deaths in 2015 after police have been called to the site of a mental breakdown–including one where a veteran was wielding scissors. The state is looking at its training and laws, but also considering on-site questions and tests.

The Supreme Court of Michigan recently ruled in a case against police that they used force against a mentally ill inmate:

That the evidence provided by plaintiff, indicating that the police were inadequately trained in dealing with the mentally ill and using impact projectiles, is sufficient to survive summary judgment. Plaintiff’s expert, retired Captain Van Blaircom, who is former chief of police for the City of Bellevue, Washington, testified that the Defendant officers should have known that the manner in which they approached the decedent would escalate the confrontation. According to Van Blaircom, the officer’s treatment of the situation, combined with their statements that a mentally ill person should be treated as any other person, regardless of the situation, indicates that the police department’s training dealing with the mentally ill falls well below the reasonable standard of contemporary care.

Conclusion

Overall, there seems to be some movement toward reform for police brutality against the mentally ill, but there is still a lot of ground to be covered, and covered quickly before anyone else dies. Procedures need to be enacted to ensure that officers deal fairly and effectively with suspects who are dealing with a mental illness. It is only through developing those policies that we can ensure all Americans are treated humanely.

Resources

ABC News: High Court: Police Immune Over Arrest of Mentally Ill Woman

Human Rights Watch: Callous and Cruel

Guardian: Police Shooting of Mentally Ill Woman Reaches US Supreme Court

Mayo Clinic: Mental Illness

Public Agency Training Council: Dealing With the Mentally Ill and Emotionally Disturbed in the Use of Force Context

Urban Institute: The Processing and Treatment of Mentally Ill Persons in the Criminal Justice System

Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project: How to Help

Aljazeera America: US Cited for Police Violence, Racism in Scathing UN Review on Human Rights

Coloradoan: Supreme Court to Rule on Arrests of Mentally Ill

Mother Jones: There Are Ten Times More Mentally Ill People Behind Bars Than in State Hospitals

National Alliance on Mental Illness: A Guide to Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System

National Institute of Corrections: Mental Illness in Corrections

Schizophrenia: How to Help a Mentally Ill Family Member Who Has Been Arrested

Treatment Advocacy Center: More Mentally Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons Than Hospitals: A Survey of the States

LA Times: L.A. Police Accused of Excessive Force in Arrest of Mentally Ill Man

Mental Illness Policy Org: Criminalization of Individuals with Severe Psychiatric Disorders

Noel Diem

Law Street contributor Noel Diem is an editor and aspiring author based in Reading, Pennsylvania. She is an alum of Albright College where she studied English and Secondary Education. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, theater, fashion, and literature. Contact Noel at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Sometimes, you read about some event and you think, “What?! No way! That’s such a freak occurrence, it could only happen once!” You think this, and then you see Facebook’s related stories and realize that not only did said thing happen once, it happened several times. And then, if you are me, you write about it. That leads us to this week’s topic …

I like to eat as much as the next guy (well, maybe not as much as the next guy if the next guy is any one of the people I’m about to talk about) and when I am really hungry, I get grumpy. I might pout and be snappish and generally act like a five year old, but that is the extent of my ire. I would never attack anyone over food; however, as my Facebook-related stories has pointed out to me, this is a much more common thing than one might think. So here are seven (yes, I have found seven, and I am sure I did not find them all) food fights that you need to know about.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Don’t Mess With Her Pork Chops

A mom in Ohio was arrested earlier this year when she threw knives at her 15-year-old son, hitting his thumb with one badly enough that he had to be taken to the hospital for stiches. What did he do that caused her to get so mad that she threw multiple knives at his head? According to her, he pushed her–which even she admitted did not justify the act. However, if you ask him, he claims there was even a stranger, less justifiable reason: they had an argument about pork chops. Specifically, he had eaten the leftover pork chops and when his hungry mom asked about them, he lied. I guess the lesson here is this: never lie to this woman about eating her food–and also, maybe just don’t eat her food at all.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Fried Chicken Mayhem

Let me start out this one by saying that there is never a good reason to beat up your wife (or girlfriend or husband or boyfriend or pretty much anybody with few exceptions); however, the following has to be one of the worst reasons I have ever heard. A man in Florida was recently arrested for beating up and choking his wife who escaped and called 911. While there were a couple of reasons for his alleged attack, the one that stands out is the fried chicken. The couple got into an argument when the husband accused the wife of not having enough fried chicken leftovers. What exactly do you think is the appropriate amount of fried chicken leftovers one should have?

Beer, Please!

This one is the most bizarre by far: a woman in South Carolina stabbed her common-law husband when he came home on Christmas Eve without beer. Okay. So far this one does not seem any more bizarre than the others. But that’s only because I have not yet told you what she used in the alleged stabbing: a ceramic squirrel. This woman, who does not like to spend Christmas sober, took a ceramic squirrel, hit her husband in the head with it, and then stabbed him in the shoulder and chest. The man had not bought the beer because the store was closed. Maybe this would have been the only good reason to rob a store: to avoid domestic violence by squirrel.

O.J. Syndrome

I feel like all I really need to give you here is the headline about this Louisiana man: Dad Shoots Son in Butt During Fight Over Orange Juice. I mean, wow! (Oh yeah, one last thing I want to add: the 18-year-old son did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, which makes it okay, in my opinion, to laugh at such a weird tale.)

Fiery Italian

I had a horrible roommate in college–well, one of them was horrible, not all of them–and so I know the absolute rage that a bad roommate can cause in a person. That being said, I never once set my horrible roommate on fire. A woman in Florida cannot say the same. And this woman is 33, so we cannot even add on a, ‘stupid immature college kid’ to this horrible story. When this woman found out that her roommate had thrown out her leftover meal of spaghetti and meatballs, which she was saving for later, she doused her roommate in nail polish remover, and then set him on fire.

Sassy Salsa

Courtesy of Giphy.

So here is another stabbing story: a woman in Ohio (Ohio and Florida just keep popping up as places you never want to live if you like to eat) was arrested for stabbing her boyfriend, allegedly over the fact that he ate all of her salsa. For this heinous crime, the woman stabbed him repeatedly with a pen. His injuries were not life-threatening. I hope that salsa was really, really good.

I Want Bacon, I’m Not Faking

This is the story that you are most likely to have already heard about. A woman in Michigan was arrested and convicted of shooting at a McDonald’s that twice forgot to put bacon on her bacon cheeseburger. Apparently the bacon is the most important part of a bacon cheeseburger. The woman was charged with shooting at an occupied building (she shot at the Micky-D’s, not at a person in the restaurant) and carrying a concealed weapon.

So there you have it. Seven good reasons why you should not mess with anybody’s food!

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Weird arrests continued to pile up this week, including a misbehaving teacher, an attempted plane theft, and some great social media outreach. Check out the slideshow below of the top weird arrests of the week.

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

The Supreme Court saw an unusual and unexpected moment of chaos yesterday when protesters interrupted Chief Justice John G. Roberts’ announcement of opinions. There were only seven of them but they made quite a ruckus. Right as Roberts began speaking, one yelled, “We are the 99 percent.” Others yelled demands such as “one person, one vote.” Eventually, they were escorted out of the chamber. The group taking credit for the protest is 99Rise and they were arguing against the 2010 Citizens United decision that ushered in a whole new era in the way that politics and money interact. Today was the fifth anniversary of that historic decision.

The seven people escorted out of the chamber have also been charged with violating a law by making “a harangue or oration, or utter[ing] loud, threatening, or abusive language in the Supreme Court Building,” among other charges. An eighth individual was also slapped with conspiracy-related charges but it’s unclear how he or she was involved.

99Rise has now dubbed them the “Supreme Court 7.” They appear to be a grassroots-type organization that seeks to take the influence of big money and corporations out of politics. Their website outlines the group’s main goals as the following:

We thus seek a Constitutional Amendment and supplemental federal legislation that would guarantee the principle of political equality, as well as ensure that neither private wealth nor corporate privilege could be used to exercise undue influence over elections and policymaking. To this end, we are committed to deploying the most powerful tool of social and political change: strategic nonviolent resistance.

Despite the splash that the protesters made in the media with their actions, not everyone was that impressed. According to ScotusBlog, Roberts muttered “Oh, please” while all the chaos was going on.

After the protesters were taken out of the chamber, the justices continued with business as usual. One of the more closely followed cases of this term–Holt v. Hobbs–was decided. SCOTUS unanimously decided that Gregory Holt, a Muslim prisoner in Arkansas, should be allowed to grow a short beard in accordance with his religious beliefs.

Regardless of what happened in the Holt v. Hobbs case, however, the protesters ended up being a bigger news story. It’s rare that people interrupt government procedure like they did today, particularly in somewhere as stoic as the Supreme Court.

From an actual goal-oriented perspective, 99Rise’s choice to interrupt the Supreme Court doesn’t make that much sense. While it obviously handed down the Citizens United decision, it has no ability to enact the type of reform, like an amendment, that 99Rise ostensibly is looking for. That being said, from a public relations standpoint, it made total sense. A relatively unknown group got the chance to brand itself, put its message out there, and create martyrs out of its seven members who were arrested.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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While it may be a new year, it doesn’t mean that the arrests are getting any more normal. Ready for the first weird arrests of the week of 2015? Click through below.

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2015, everyone. It is the time of year that we all make some resolutions that we have no intention of actually keeping. And to help you decide just want you want to resolve to do this coming year, I am going to tell you some of mine. And if you want to avoid the old standards such as losing weight or being a better person, I suggest you take my lead on these.

So, without further ado, here are my 2015 New Year’s resolutions:

1. Don’t be stupid.

When John Doe (since this guy’s name was unreported, I will have to go with the old John Doe pseudonym) was receiving a parking ticket, I guess he got really excited. Who could blame him? Parking tickets are great, right? Anyway, I say this because as he was receiving the ticket, he apparently grabbed it from the officer’s hands really quickly. Too quickly.

Snatching a ticket from an officer is a really stupid thing to do. How do I know this? Well, as Doe was being pushed up against the wall and handcuffed, he asked just what it was he had done to lead to this arrest, and he was told he was being arrested “for being stupid.”

Courtesy of Giphy.

And since I do not want to be arrested, my first New Year’s resolution is to avoid being stupid. Though I fully admit that this is easier said than done.

2. Don’t threaten to kill dinosaurs.

Violence is never the answer. Let’s just be clear about that up front. Which is why writing stories about shooting dinosaurs is just plain wrong. Alex Stone learned this the hard way.

Sixteen-year-old Stone was supposed to write a little bit about himself and a status in the style of a Facebook page. So when the teacher saw that on the page he threatened to shoot his neighbor’s pet dinosaur, she had no choice but to take the threat seriously. After all, this was a nonfiction report, so there was no way this kid could have been making up his desire to kill that dinosaur. And killing pets in youth is the first sign of becoming a sociopath, correct? This was not something to take lightly.

Courtesy of Giphy.

After reading the essay, the teacher immediately reported the incident to the office where the kid was both suspended for a week and arrested for disorderly conduct (though to be fair, the police claim the arrest had nothing to do with the threat to the dinosaur’s life).

Stone is suing. I suppose he just isn’t an animal lover. PETA would not be pleased. And in the manner of many sociopaths, Stone’s mother could not see anything wrong with her son’s conduct. She was quoted as saying something silly along the lines of “we don’t have dinosaurs anymore.”

This story has really opened my eyes to the dinosaur awareness movement. In result, I pledge to not threaten dinosaurs even once in the year 2015.

3. Don’t point bananas at police officers.

Nathan Channing is a funny guy. Or at least he says he is. I’m inclined to think he is right because when I heard his story I did laugh. So basically a cop was driving down the road when Channing decided to take a yellow object out of his pocket, point it in the air, and then point it at the officer. The cop, in fear for his life, called for backup. The backup cop, thinking he was about to be shot, started to pull out his own, non-banana, gun when Channing finally yelled out, “it’s a banana.”

Courtesy of Giphy.

Channing said that he did this because he thought it would be funny and good as a YouTube video. The only problem, other than the whole making police officers think that you have a gun pointed at them, is that Channing did not think to record this future YouTube video. I assume he thought it was going to be acted out later documentary-style a la Drunk History. He claims the reason it wasn’t taped was because this was just the test run; however, he does admit that he now realizes his joke probably wasn’t a really good one.

In honor of Channing’s lately-developed wisdom, I now resolve to not point bananas, or any other gun-looking item, at any law enforcement member.

So there you have it, a complete list of resolutions that I encourage you all to follow. Of course, I’ll probably be doing all of these come mid-January. Especially the dinosaur one. Who can ever keep these resolutions anyway?

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post New Year’s Resolution: Don’t Get Arrested appeared first on Law Street.

This week’s weird arrests of the week is one of my favorite yet, with a celebrity appearance, an Instagram celebrity appearance, and a magician’s great near-arrest. Read on to learn about the weirdest arrest stories to surface over the last week.

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

While you’re resting from the massive quantity of food that you consumed on Thanksgiving, take some time to check out the weird and disturbing arrests that happened this week, and be grateful that the worst thing to happen to you was gluttony.

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Today’s installment of weird arrests of the week has a lot of fun highlights–including an international flair as an incident from Australia made the list. Enjoy!

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Congratulations on surviving another Halloween, everyone! While recovering from your big night, you might as drag out the holiday a bit more and freak yourself out a little with all the weird things that people have gotten themselves arrested for this week. Check out the top five weird arrests from this week.

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Top 5 Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

As per usual, it’s Friday, so it’s time to scroll through a slideshow of all the weird crimes that have happened. I’ve been told it’s an excellent way to procrastinate your way to five o’clock, so enjoy this list of the top weird arrests of the week!

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Rama via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

If you’re a member of the Wasco California Police Department, you’ve had an interesting week. Wasco, near Bakersfield, has been all over the news for an interesting problem it’s having. But is it actually a problem, or a weird hoax turned viral?

Google it and you’ll see a bunch of headlines about crazy clowns terrorizing the town and stalking people. Here’s a news report showing some of the images:

I’ve never been particularly scared of clowns, but it’s hard to find those images anything other than disturbing. The story has been widely covered by a bunch of networks and websites with the perspective that a bunch of people are dressing up as maniacal clowns and then wandering around Wasco and neighboring towns scaring the shit out of people.

The details here are really hard to untangle, but what we do know is at least some of the pictures being attributed to this craze are from an art project created by a Wasco artist and her husband. She photographed him dressed as a clown in different places — a fun and creepy art piece. Then, the pictures started spreading, especially on social media. Someone made a Wasco Clown Facebook page, ostensibly at this point still referring to the art subject.

At some point, some people may have started co-opting the viral pictures and actually dressing up as clowns and posing around the area, sometimes with bats or other things that could be possibly be used as weapons. There are claims of 20 or so sightings in recent days, and a 14-year-old boy was just arrested for dressing up like a clown and then scaring a child in his neighborhood. He has been cited with “annoying a minor.”

News networks have taken the coverage of these disturbances and run with them — understandably so. It’s a few weeks before Halloween. Clowns are creepy, and pretty consistent horror movie fodder. Apparently there’s something called “Coulrophobia,” which means fear of clowns — though it isn’t completely accepted as a real phobia, despite the large number of people who get the heebie-jeebies from red noses and curly wigs.

Theories vary about why clowns unsettle people so much, and really the phenomenon is strange — I don’t think I can think of a figure who walks the line so fluidly between humor and fun and fear and loathing. No one is really sure why clowns have occupied that place in our collective psyche, although a prevailing theory seems to attribute it to what clowns are at their essence: something dark and grotesque writ humorous. After all, with a clown we never know what’s under the mask? And they invoke the question, why would a normal person want to look and act that way?

But back to Wasco — what’s really going on there? Police truly aren’t saying much beyond that this is just an internet hoax that’s made its way mainstream and is gaining copycats. With the exception of the 14-year-old boy who scared his neighbor, there haven’t been any arrests. There’s also been no indication of violence. Wasco police are checking out the reports of course, but there’s no indication this is anything different than say, the trend of planking a few years back. The reason for the news coverage appears to be mostly sensationalism and morbid fascination. So anyone in the Bakersfield area, don’t worry, your town isn’t turning into a scene from “It” anytime soon.

Unless, of course the Wasco clowns have the police department hostage and are forcing them to say these things….

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [John Ryan Brubaker via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What’s the Deal With the Clown Problem in Wasco, California? appeared first on Law Street.

It’s Friday, which means that yet again we’ve had a week full of weird arrests. From stupid criminals, to equally stupid cops, it’s been a wild week!

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Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Every time I see a law enforcement officer in public — mall cop, fashion police, regular 5-0 — I have the irrational fear that they are out to get me. (This is especially true of the fashion police, but my fear of them might not be that irrational as anyone who has seen my clothing choices could attest.) I’m never doing anything I’m not supposed to be doing (or at the very least, I’m never doing anything I’m going to admit to you), but that doesn’t matter: I am sure I am about to be thrown in handcuffs and taken downtown. Little did I know, instead of fearing this, I should have been hoping for it. Just ask Elizabeth Daly or Mickey Lynn Goodson.

What’s The Legal Water-Drinking Age?

Underage college student Elizabeth Daly went to a grocery store and bought cookie dough and “sparkling water,” so she claims. And let me tell you, I would have been suspicious if I heard this story, too. Who buys cookie dough and water together? That is clearly a cover up. You drink milk with cookies — nothing else. Clearly the cookies were supposed to make her look innocent while she snuck out a whole lot of liquor in cleverly marked sparkling water bottles. She even went so far as to pretend to be buying these items for a philanthropy event run by her sorority. Yeah right, sister, sounds a little too good to be true if you ask me. And I’m not the only one who thinks this way.

As Daly left the store, plainclothes officers surrounded her SUV and banged on her windows — one trying to break a window while another drew a gun. Daly sped off, even grazing two officers on her way out. Feigning innocence yet again, she called 911 and reported the men as if she was not aware that they were cops. When she was told who they were, she returned to the scene of the crime and was arrested for eluding police and assaulting officers. (As it turned out, the case of beer she bought while underage — the event that caused the stop — was actually the case of sparkling water that Dalyt claimed it to be. So they couldn’t really charge her with that.)

Courtesy of Tumblr

Daly spent the night and part of the next day in jail. She also had to post bail, hire a lawyer, and miss school and social events. Her record was eventually expunged and all charges dropped, but it was too late for forgiveness at that point. Daly sued for $40 million. She settled for $212,500 though — which will buy a lot of cookies and water for her next event.

Of Mucus and Meth

When you are already feeling sick and mucusy, the last thing you want is to be arrested at your local Winn-Dixie for possessing controlled substances. I mean, it isn’t really fair. I know, personally, when my head is all stuffed up, the last thing I can think about is keeping my meth lab running. Perhaps Mickey Lynn Goodson looks smarter than me, though.

I can’t say what exactly about her was suspicious looking, but I can tell you what happened to her after she bought two pharmacist-recommended boxes of Sudafed. She was, of course, promptly arrested.

As many people know, Sudafed clears up your congestion, relieves sinus pressure, and helps build your booming meth business. Goodson claims that she bought the drugs for purely health-related reasons. But let’s face it. If I wanted to make meth, bought Sudafed for my basement lab, and then got caught, my first instinct might be to lie as well.

Courtesy of Quick Meme.

This must have been what the arresting officer was thinking too. Because after he stopped her and took her Sudafed, told her she had to wait for more officers, searched her car with the other deputies, took her to the sheriff’s office, asked to search her home, told her “Oh, I’ll get a search warrant,” held her for hours, arrested her on her own front porch, questioned her about what she had gotten rid of, and booked and charged her with possession of a controlled substance, he still wanted to find out more.

To further this goal, he really did go out and get that search warrant he promised Goodson and her husband he would get. How, you ask, did he show probable cause? Well, he informed the magistrate about all of Goodson’s false and misleading statements and evidence.

As it turns out, Goodson might not have been a meth maker after all. All charges were dropped against her. And she only had to put up with all that nonsense for 15 months so she really has no right to complain — I’ve had sinus infections that lasted longer than that (they don’t go away without Sudafed and I’m too scared to buy some). Still, though, complain she will…by suing in a Tallahassee court. Who wants to take my bet that she will win something here?

The moral of today’s post is that when you buy something — anything, no matter how innocent looking you think it might be — act really suspicious and maybe some bumbling officer will mistake you for a bad guy and make an arrest thus insuring all your debts are paid off and your next vacation is paid for. After all, it worked for Daly and Goodson, and they weren’t even trying!

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Ashley Shaw (@Smoldering_Ashes) is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time.

Featured image courtesy of [epSos .de via Flickr]

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Careful When Buying Water and Cold Meds, You Might Just Get Arrested appeared first on Law Street.

Here’s your Thursday reminder that a substantial part of the population is incredibly weird, incredibly creepy, incredibly stupid, or some combination of the three. Luckily, these people often get arrested for their weirdness/creepiness/stupidity, and I get to write about them. Without further ado, here are the top five weird arrests of the week.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Mike via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.