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Judge Warned For Jailing Man Who Sighed
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# Commission on Judicial Conduct
Nov 15, 2005 4:24 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (ALBANY) A sigh isn't just a sigh in the courtroom of Nassau County Family Court Judge Richard Lawrence.
There, a sigh could lead to a few nights in jail.
But on Tuesday the state Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled Lawrence should be admonished for ordering a man locked up for contempt without first warning him he could be sent to jail or allowing him to say anything in his defense.
In November 2002, Mark Schulman was appearing before Lawrence on domestic violence charges lodged by his wife, Eva Schulman, and over an order by another judge giving the two joint custody of their two children.
During the proceeding, Schulman loudly sighed, fidgeted and on several occasions turned his back to the judge to retrieve personal belongings on a chair behind him.
The judge believed Schulman's conduct to be disrespectful, and in one instance, Lawrence ``gazed at him silently but intently,'' according to the commission's ruling. Court officers had also warned Schulman to be respectful several times.
When Schulman sighed again and shook his head, Lawrence ruled him in contempt and sentenced him to five days in jail.
Schulman objected, but Lawrence cut him off and raised the sentence to 10 days. Schulman again tried to say something, but the judge upped the jail time to 12 days. Schulman was then handcuffed and arrested. Instead of going to jail, he spent one night in secure custody at the Nassau University Medical Center.
Commission spokesman Robert Tembeckjian said Schulman was taken to the hospital after complaining about chest pains.
The commission said Lawrence violated state judicial conduct rules by failing to give Schulman the proper warning about his conduct or the chance to change his behavior.
Lawrence now admits his actions were wrong and would ``consider other alternatives'' to resolve the situation, the commission said.
``Respondent's failure to adhere to mandated contempt procedures _ which he clearly knew about but disregarded _ constitutes misconduct warranting public discipline,'' the commission said. Repeatedly raising the sentence ``was a gross abuse of discretion and a substantial overreaction to their efforts to protest his ruling.''
Lawrence's attorney, Robert Miletsky, said that while his client respected the commission's determination, he was disappointed by the admonishment ruling.
A private letter of caution, as suggested by three of the commission's members, would have sufficed as punishment, Miletsky said.
Midlands Most Wanted
Each Monday, The State will run information on a suspect wanted by authorities. Since the feature began in February 2004, 29 suspects have been taken into police custody.
RODNEY DANE HIGGINBOTHAM
• DATE OF BIRTH: July 29, 1965
• DESCRIPTION: 6 feet 1 inch, 165 pounds, brown hair and hazel eyes
• WANTED BY: Lexington County Sheriff's Department
• CHARGES: Third-offense criminal domestic violence
• LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: 232 Stagecoach Road, Gaston
• ALLEGED CRIME: Police said Higginbotham argued with his wife because she had not cooked anything. When she began cooking, he started making spaghetti while eating crackers and squeeze cheese. They argued, and he squeezed cheese on the kitchen floor. She squeezed the cheese on his truck, and he squeezed the cheese in her hair before fleeing in his truck. His wife said she washed her hair before the officer arrived to take her complaint.
• IF YOU SEE HIM: Call the Lexington County Sheriff's Department at (803) 785-8230 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 559-TIPS.
At work, women hit the 'Mommy wall'
Study finds most women change work roles after staying home with kids
PHILADELPHIA - Like many moms, Mindy Hauptman feels she's overqualified for carpool, but she believes she's also overqualified for her part-time marketing job at a bank in a Philadelphia suburb.
After taking three years off to raise kids, she wanted to pick up where she left off. But despite her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, no one would hire her for an executive job, much less at her old salary.
"I work with people, [and] I know I have as much experience as they have," says Hauptman. "I know I'm as competent as they are, and yet they're more senior than me."
Hauptman says taking the break grounded her skyrocketing career. And she has company, according to a Wharton survey of 130 professional women. Despite earning MBAs that many thought would protect them, these women said they were rarely candidates for executive jobs. After taking time off for motherhood, 61 percent changed industries, 54 percent had to change roles, changed their type of job and 59 percent took jobs with smaller companies.
"The people they were interviewing with would often put them on the defensive about it and say, 'You're not really up to speed,' or, 'You're not really ready,'" says Dr. Monica McGrath, who co-authored the study.
Quietly, many in the workplace who didn't take time off say fair is fair. In fact, author Warren Farrell says CEOs have told him they can't afford to hire these women back.
"You can't ask a company to subsidize you being at home with children and still expect to work for a company that will be tops in its field for 20 to 30 years," says Farrell, who wrote a book titled "Why Men Earn More."
Stepping off the career track is a long way off for most of the women students at the Wharton School of Business, but many of them are already talking about it. MBA student Esther Hong wants to run a company, but unlike women of a previous generation, concedes she may to give up that dream.
"If I go home and want to have kids, I'm not going to be able to be as successful as my male counterparts when I want to come back into the workforce," she says.
That's something Mindy Hauptman says she's already discovered.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
Appeals Court Overturns Lewdness Conviction
POSTED: 11:18 am EST November 10, 2005
UPDATED: 2:25 pm EST November 10, 2005
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TRENTON, N.J. -- An appeals court has overturned the lewdness conviction of a man arrested in a Woodbridge drugstore for vigorously scratching his groin area through his pants pocket.
Matthew Pinto claimed he had jock itch. His wife corroborated the claim.
Two girls had their backs to Pinto when employees saw him moving his hand up and down in 2003.
The appeals court says the mere touching or rubbing near a clothed, intimate body part is not flagrantly lewd, meaning lustful, indecent, obscene or wicked.
Boy risks suspension to join high school girls' bowling team
WLS By Theresa Gutierrez
November 8, 2005 - A battle is ongoing over a boy who wants to join a girls bowling team at a northwest suburban high school. Officials at Schaumburg High School have told the senior he cannot be on the team because of Illinois High School Association rules. The school does not have a boys bowling team. The student's parents say they are ready to file a lawsuit.
Seventeen-year-old Paul Rofus, a senior at Schaumburg High School, knew he risked being suspended if he attempted to show up at the bowling tryouts Tuesday for the female bowling team at Hoffman Lanes. He says although he was warned by the school's athletic director that he would be suspended, he decided to proceed with his fight.
"He also said if I show up at the bowling alley again like I did the other day or anybody approaches him or look at him the wrong way, he will suspend me," said Rofus.
The high school claims they are following policy of the Illinois High School Association. In a release the school states, Like most school districts, High School District 211 administers its interscholastic sports programs with the IHSA guidelines for post-season competition in which member schools are not permitted to enter a boy in an IHSA girls state tournament series.
"Participation opportunities for girls do not match participation opportunities for boys. Boys cannot participate on girls' team, although girls, if an opportunity is not provided, can participate on boys' teams."
Paul's mother is threatening to sue the school and the IHSA if they do not allow her son to join the girls' bowling team at Schaumburg High School.
"It just feels like it's totally discriminatory that they would allow girls to crossover but not boys," said Angeline Rofus.
Paul is an honors student who loves competing in track and football. He has received a number of recognitions for his athletic ability. Bowling is something he really enjoys. However, he say this issue is not just about bowling. It is also about his civil rights, and he just cannot see himself walking away from the problem.
"I support him 110 percent. Finally, somebody stood up to do it," said Jason Hoglund, Hoffman Estates High School. student.
Paul expects to be suspended Tuesday when he tries to go to class. He says it will affect the school year and negatively impact his ability to go onto college. But he says it is worth it to make his point.
School officials say every two to three years a survey is conducted to make sure the interests of the students are reflected in the programs they offer.
Sep 28, 8:18 AM EDT
NBC Plans to Run Controversial NHL Ad
NEW YORK (AP) -- Despite objections from Martha Burk, NBC said it was going ahead with plans to air an NHL commercial showing a bare-chested player being dressed by a scantily clad woman.
Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said the ad was offensive. Burk led an unsuccessful effort to allow female members at Augusta National three years ago and is stepping down as chair of NCWO on Nov. 1.
NBC said it had no problem with the spot, which first appeared last week on the NHL's Web site, and planned to air it on its NHL preview show Saturday.
"We've viewed the spot and find nothing objectionable," NBC Sports spokeswoman Alana Russo said Tuesday.
The ad is among a five-part "Inside the Warrior" series produced for the league. NHL spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur said the ads will also run on Comedy Central, MTV and VH1. Burk said the NCWO plans to write letters of protest to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics.
"One person's objectionable is another person's bottom line," Burk said. "I think it's shortsighted of them, but it's not unexpected."
Opening night for the NHL is Oct. 5, when all 30 teams will be in action following the season-long lockout.
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(09-14) 10:15 PDT San Mateo County (SF Chronicle) --
A 27-year-old pregnant San Mateo County woman is in jail accused of stabbing her boyfriend with a kitchen knife after the couple argued about her nutritional choices, authorities said.
The 18-year-old boyfriend, whom police have not identified, is being treated at a local hospital for stab wounds to his right lung and liver, said San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Christine Ford. He is expected to recover and be released from the hospital sometime in the next couple of days, she said.
Maria Islas pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in Redwood City to one charge each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence, Ford said. Each includes an added special circumstance of personally inflicting great bodily injury and weapon use, Ford said.
The most serious charge, attempted murder, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, Ford said.
According to Ford, the incident occurred in the middle of the afternoon of Sept. 8 in the home the couple shares in unincorporated San Mateo County near Menlo Park.
"There was an argument over her nutritional habits and how they impinged on the health of the pregnancy," Ford said.
Islas is three months pregnant by her boyfriend of several years. Islas allegedly grabbed a serrated kitchen knife and stabbed the 18-year-old boyfriend in the abdomen.
At the man's request, Islas called 911 and later was arrested by San Mateo County sheriffs.
Islas is being held in jail without bail, Ford said. Her attorney, Eric Liberman, said he didn't want to comment on the case because he was newly appointed to it and just met his client on Tuesday.
Islas will return to court Oct. 3, at which time a preliminary hearing will be scheduled, Ford said.
A couple of researchers tried to estimate the effect of being a mother on your likelihood of getting hired for a high-paying management job. So they created a bunch of identical resumes for men, women, whites, and blacks, and then paired them up so that each resume in the pair was identical except that one applicant in each pair was a parent and the other wasn't.
Wife sues man for loss of husband's love
A spurned wife in Durham, N.C., has sued her husband's male lover, accusing him of wooing away her husband. Pamela Lavone Putjenter alleges in a lawsuit filed in Durham superior court that Stephen Glenn Barefoot of Durham began to "willfully and intentionally seduce, entice, and alienate the affections" of her husband in January 2002.
She said her husband, Ronald Joseph Putjenter, eventually admitted to the alleged affair. As a result, the couple separated in March 2004, according to the lawsuit, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $10,000 each.
North Carolina is one of a handful of states that still allow scorned spouses to file lawsuits and collect monetary damages for alienation of affection and "criminal conversation," the term used in civil lawsuits to refer to sexual intercourse between a defendant and the plaintiff's spouse. Successful plaintiffs have won awards ranging from $1 to more than $1 million.
Alienation-of-affection lawsuits are rare, and same-sex complaints are even more obscure. Barefoot said Thursday that he knew nothing about the complaint against him. "It's news to me," he said. (AP)
He grabbed girl's arm -- now he's a sex offender
July 1, 2005
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter
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Fitzroy Barnaby said he had to swerve to avoid hitting the 14-year-old Des Plaines girl who walked in front of his car.
She said he yelled, "Come here, little girl," before getting out of his car and grabbing her by the arm.
He said he simply lectured her.
She said she broke free and ran, fearful of what he'd do next.
In a Thursday ruling, the Appellate Court of Illinois said the 28-year-old Evanston man must register as a sex offender.
While acknowledging it might be "unfair for [Barnaby] to suffer the stigmatization of being labeled a sex offender when his crime was not sexually motivated," the court said his actions are the type that are "often a precursor" to a child being abducted or molested.
Though Barnaby was acquitted of attempted kidnapping and child abduction charges stemming from the November 2002 incident, he was convicted of unlawful restraint of a minor -- which is a sex offense.
'Most stupid ruling'
Now, he will have to tell local police where he lives and won't be able to live near a park or school.
"This is the most stupid ruling the appellate court has rendered in years," said Barnaby's Chicago attorney, Frederick Cohn. "If you see a 15-year-old beating up your 8-year-old and you grab that kid's hand and are found guilty of unlawful restraint, do you now have to register as a sex offender?"
But Cook County state's attorney spokesman Tom Stanton said Barnaby should have to register "because of the proclivity of offenders who restrain children to also commit sex acts or other crimes against them."
In the criminal case against him, Cook County Judge Patrick Morse said that "it's more likely than not" Barnaby planned only "to chastise the girl" when he grabbed her, but "I can't read his mind."
"I don't really see the purpose of registration in this case. I really don't," Morse said. "But I feel that I am constrained by the statute."
Recognizing the stigma that comes with being labeled as a sex offender, the appellate court said "it is [Barnaby's] actions which have caused him to be stigmatized, not the courts."
ATLANTA - Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks made a deal with a company that is pitching a movie about her life to networks -- annoying officials who spent thousands of dollars searching for her.
ReganMedia, a New York multimedia company, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a story in Thursday's papers it has acquired all media rights to the "life stories" of Wilbanks and her fiance, John Mason.
The company did not say whether any money had changed hands.
"I am looking forward to developing the scripted project with Wilbanks and Mason," company president Judith Regan said in a statement. "Theirs is an unexpected and compelling story of love and forgiveness that has certainly taught me a thing or two."
The 32-year-old bride-to-be disappeared from her Duluth home on April 26, four days before her wedding in a high-profile ceremony with 600 guests and 28 attendants.
She took a bus to Las Vegas and then Albuquerque, N.M., and claimed she was abducted and sexually assaulted, but later recanted, saying she fled because of unspecified personal issues.
Wilbanks pleaded no contest earlier this month to making a false statement and was sentenced to two years of probation and 120 hours of community service. She also was ordered to continue mental health treatment and pay the sheriff's office $2,550.
Duluth spent nearly $43,000 to search for her. Wilbanks has repaid $13,249.
"It's disturbing to me on a personal basis that she's willing to profit from this, but there's nothing I can do about it legally," said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, who pursued charges against Wilbanks.
The question presented in this case is whether California's "statutory rape" law, § 261.5 of the Cal. Penal Code Ann., violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Section 261.5 defines unlawful sexual intercourse as "an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a female not the wife of the perpetrator, where the female is under the age of 18 years." The statute thus makes men alone criminally liable for the act of sexual intercourse.
Estero student feels 'booty' suspension is bum rap
By DAVE BREITENSEIN
[email protected]
Published by news-press.com on February 4, 2005
• Estero High School junior Brad Devlin, a sports reporter on the school's newscast, has been suspended from classes after making an ad-libbed remark, "I love booty," during a TV report on the girls soccer team. TERRY ALLEN WILLIAMS/The News-Press
You can kick some booty.
And you can shake your booty.
But as 17-year-old Brad Devlin found out, you are not allowed to say you love booty.
During his daily sports report last week on Wild 4 News, the Estero High junior and another student were recapping the girls soccer team's 8-0 shutout win against North Fort Myers. The script, pre-approved by their TV production teacher, said that the team really kicked some booty.
Then Devlin, wanting to inject a little energy into his broadcast, responded with a quick-witted joke:
"I love booty," he
cracked.
Instead of a laugh, though, Devlin's statement got him called into the administrative office. He then got the boot from school, suspended for five days in what Assistant Principal Howard Wendland termed "inappropriate comments on live school television broadcast."
Principal George Clover declined to comment on the suspension, the same punishment recommended if students bring a knife to school, start a fistfight or join in gang rituals on campus. Even if Devlin's statement was classified as minor sexual harassment, it would have been a Level I punishment under school district policy, resulting in a conference with administrators, school staff and parents.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss student discipline," Clover said. "We don't discuss anything, except with parents."
School district officials were not available for comment Thursday.
Estero was the same school that gained national attention when then-Principal Fred Bode refused to allow honor student Lindsay Brown to participate in commencement ceremonies after a security guard found a kitchen knife in her vehicle.
The term "booty" technically means a pirate's treasure, but in slang also refers to one's backside, a term popularized by K.C. and The Sunshine Band, and more recently Destiny Child's song "Bootylicious." The Web site urbandictionary.com also lists sex as an alternative meaning of booty. Devlin said that definition hadn't even entered his mind.
"I was talking about the soccer game. I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Devlin said.
As an aspiring broadcaster, Devlin tries to thrust a bit of personality into reports so viewers aren't bored. But Estero High has a no-ad lib rule, so students must follow a script, word for word, that has been pre-approved by their teacher.
Devlin has been stuck at home all week, suspended from school and grounded by his parents. He has been forced to clean the lanai, mow the grass, clean his room, weed the shrubs and price items for this weekend's community yard sale. He still is readying plans to fix up a small church in Lehigh Acres, his community service project to earn Eagle Scout status.
What Devlin hasn't been able to do, however, is any school work until the suspension ends, and that's what frustrates his mother. Irene Devlin is worried that a stupid mistake in one class will hurt her son in every subject, a punishment especially harsh considering her son already has missed days because of bronchitis, strep throat and his grandfather's funeral. She also objects to the long suspension for a relatively inane comment that wasn't directed at anyone.
"He wasn't touching anybody's butt and saying that, or even looking at anyone's butt and saying that," Irene Devlin said.
Brad Devlin has even heard he won't be allowed to return to the air.
"I'm going to ask, beg my teacher to still do field reporting," Devlin said. "That way it's not live, so my teacher can look at it first."