Whackademia Quote: Teachers in Australia Are as Powerless as U.S. Educators

Teachers [in Australia] confronted by violent students are banned from "shouting angrily" or pursuing children who try to run away unless they [the students] are in danger or likely to cause harm. A lengthy list of classroom dos and don'ts also prevents teachers from taking students' personal items, including mobile phones, from them except where there are safety concerns. The rules of "good or acceptable practice" in public classrooms require teachers to ask students to hand over their phone if it is disrupting a lesson….As in the state's 2240 government schools, Catholic schools in Sydney do not administer corporal punishment in any form and have a general "hands off kids" rule.

Bruce McDougall and Linda Silmalis, The Telegraph, January 25, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: Bad Times For The Legal Profession

     Anyone who wonders why law school applications are plunging and there's widespread malaise in many big law firms might consider the case of Gregory M. Owens.

     The silver-haired, distinguished-looking Mr. Owens would seem the embodiment of a successful Wall Street lawyer. A graduate of Denison University and Vanderbilt Law School, Mr. Owens moved to New York City and was named a partner at the then old-line firm of Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer and Wood, and after a merger, at Dewey and LeBoeuf….

     But on New Year's Eve [1913], Mr. Owens filed for personal bankruptcy….

     The bulk of his potential liabilities stem from claims related to the collapse of Dewey and LeBoeuf, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012….Mr. Owen's situation is all too emblematic of pressures facing many partners at big law firms. After Dewey and LeBoeuf collapsed, Mr. Owens seemingly landed on his feet as a partner at White and Case. But he was a full equity partner at Dewey, Ballantine and Dewey and LeBoeuf. At White and Case, he was demoted to nonequity or "service" partner--a practice now so widespread it has a name, "de-equitization."

     Nonequity partners like Mr. Owens are not really partners, but employees, since they do not share the risks and rewards of the firm's practice. Service partners typically have no clients they can claim as their own and depend on rainmakers to feed them….

     "It's sad to hear about this fellow, but he's not alone in being in jeopardy," said Thomas S. Clay, an expert on law firm management…."For the past 40 years, you could just be a partner in a firm, do good work, coast, keep your nose clean, and you'd have a nice career. That's gone."

James B. Stewart, "A Lawyer and Partner, and Also Bankrupt," The New York Times, January 24, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: Smuggling Piranhas

     Federal authorities say a tropical fish merchant has admitted smuggling more than 39,000 piranhas into New York City [from Hong Kong] and mislabeling them as common aquarium fish. The Justice Department says Joel Rakower and his Queens company, Transship Discounts, Ltd., pleaded guilty on January 29, 2014 and agreed to pay $73,000 in fines.

     Piranhas are illegal in New York City and more than two dozen states. Prosecutors say Rakower imported the piranhas in 2011 and 2012 and resold them to fish retailers in several states Only 850 were recovered. [Piranhas are a freshwater fish from South American rivers.]

"Merchant Admits Smuggling Piranhas into NYC," Associated Press, January 30, 2014

Whackademia Quote: Are Colleges and Universities Hostile to Male Students?

     It's something like 60 percent women going to college and 40 percent men….I think that actually what's happening is that not only is college much less desirable to men, I think that the environment itself is actively hostile toward men.

     So, I think you've got two things going on there: College isn't to men as important as it used to be, and there are other things that men are finding to do. And at the same time, I think that the discrimination against men in these diversity-field, women-dominated schools is also acting as a kind of barrier to men. A lot of men don't want to put up with it, and a lot of people think, "Of course that's not really happening," but people have no idea what men face in our colleges today.

     For example, they can get into college today and be charged with any type of sexual harassment or sexual abuse, and there doesn't have to be really proof shown that they've done something. There are a lot of cases across the country where men actually can be charged with a very low preponderance [of evidence] for crimes as hideous as rape. And there's campus tribunals at some of these colleges that just say, "You know what, we think you did it and you're out of school.

Dr. Helen Smith (psychologist) in  a Forbes Magazine interview January 28, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: Pedophilia Court Settlements Plunge Catholic Diocese into Bankruptcy

     The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, Montana is set to file for bankruptcy protection in advance of proposed settlements for two lawsuits that claim clergy members sexually abused 362 people over decades and the church covered it up….The settlement details are being worked out, but the U.S Bankruptcy Court in Montana would be responsible for approving and supervising the disbursement of $15 million to compensate the identified victims, plus an additional amount set aside for those who come forward later….

     The two lawsuits filed in 2011 claim clergy members groomed and abused the children from the 1940s to the 1970s. They claim the diocese shielded the offenders and knew or should have known the threat they posed to children.

Matt Votz, "Catholic Diocese to File for Bankruptcy Protection," Associated Press, January 31, 2014

Criminal Justice Quote: NYC's Armored Car Heist

     The FBI is hunting three brazen armored car robbers who struck in a midday robbery in Queens on Friday, January 31, 2014. Authorities say a GardaWorld armored truck arrived at the HSBC Bank located at 82-57 Broadway. One of the armed guards entered the bank to make a regularly scheduled pick-up. As the guard was leaving with the money, he was attacked by three Asian or Hispanic males at gunpoint in the ATM lobby.

     As they fled with the cash, the robbers sprayed the guards with mace. The men were dressed in heavy winter clothes, and after leaving on foot, may have driven away in a navy blue or black Ford Explorer getaway vehicle….

     GardaWorld is offering a reward of up to $50,000 in the case. It did not disclose how much money was stolen….

Luke Funk, "3 Wanted in Brazen Armored Car Robbery," MYFOXNY, February 1, 2014 

Criminal Justice Quote: The Poisoning Death of an Unborn Baby

     The Florida man accused of tricking his girlfriend into taking an abortion-inducing drug to cause her to miscarry…has been sentenced to nearly 14 years behind bars. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara sentenced 29-year-old John Andrew Weldon on January 27, 2014, saying that while he did not think Weldon was an evil person, his action was evil….

     Weldon accepted a plea deal last year to avoid a possible life sentence if convicted of murder under the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, instead pleading guilty to product tampering and mail fraud. Weldon found himself facing a possible life sentence after his girlfriend Remee Jo Lee refused to abort their baby and he tricked her into taking a Cytotec pill, resulting in the miscarriage. She was nearly seven weeks pregnant….

Caroline May, "Man Who Tricked Girlfriend Into Taking Abortion Pill Sentenced to Nearly 14 Years in Prison," The Daily Caller, January 27, 2014

Criminal Justice Quote: Headless Man Found in Wyoming

     Authorities in Wyoming are hoping that a unique belt and buckle will help them solve a murder mystery. The Park County Sheriff's Office released a photograph of the belt, which was found on the headless body of a man who died of multiple gunshot wounds. Because the man was decapitated, authorities are having a tough time trying to identify him….

     The design of the belt and buckle has been identified as similar to "piteado," a type of craftsmanship common to some parts of Mexico and Guatemala….Over the weekend, deputies and specially-trained dogs searched in and around the crime scene to locate the missing body part. They found no evidence. According to the final report from the forensic pathologist, the dismemberment occurred post-mortem….

Dena Ford, "Investigators Work to Identify Decapitated Man in Wyoming," CNN, January 28, 2014

Criminal Justice Quote: The NYC Cartier Watch Smash and Grab

     Five thieves have made off with more than $700,000 worth of watches from luxury jewelry store Cartier in Manhattan in broad daylight. Customers and staff watched in shock as the five brazen bandits used a hammer to smash open a display case near the door and scoop up 16 timepieces around 12:30 PM Thursday, January 30, 2014, fleeing the store before police could arrive. [Whose idea was it to display expensive watches near the door?]

     The robbers had pushed past an unarmed guard at the door and were out of the store before the other guards could react. [Jewelry store guards should be armed. Who is in charge of security at this place?] Investigators said two of the men had masks covering their faces and all were wearing gloves.

     The thieves were possibly emboldened by the heavy police presence around Times Square overseeing preparations for the Super Bowl festivities. [They were emboldened by the watches being so close to the door.] Men believed to be the thieves were seen by nearby construction workers before the robbery, peering into the store. When they made their move, the thieves used hammers to smash the half-inch thick glass of the display cabinet. [They make glass that can withstand hammer blows.]

Alex Greig, "Brazen Daylight Robbery in Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Cartier Store," Mail Online, January 31, 2014 

Whackademia Quote: Is it Racist for Campus Police to Describe a Black Criminal Subject as African American?

     Administrators at the University of Minnesota have been asked to stop considering race when compiling physical descriptions of crime suspects. A group of minority students and teachers representing the African American and African Studies department, Black Faculty and Staff Association, Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, Black Mens Forum, Black Student Union and Huntley House for African American Males sent a letter to UM President Eric Kaler demanding that campus crime response protocols be reconsidered.

     At issue are the campus crime alerts. When a crime is committed, university authorities release a physical description of the suspect to the campus populace. Since race is an important identifying physical detail, a suspect's ethnicity is included in the alert. The minority groups identified this as a racist practice….

     In addition to no longer including a suspect's race in the crime alerts, the letter also asked for campus police to receive more diversity training….

Robby Soave, "Physical Descriptions of Crime Suspects are Racist, Black Students Claim," The Daily Caller, January 31, 2014