Dallas, TX –A transgender woman was cited for disorderly conduct for using a women’s restroom at Parkland Hospital.  Paula Witherspoon, 56, entered the bathroom, used a stall, washed her hands and left.  She was possibly the only person in the bathroom at the time.  The complaint was made by a woman sitting in a waiting room outside the bathroom.
Twenty-two years ago while living as a man, Witherspoon was convicted of sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.  She was also convictead of indecency with …

Indiana –Three girls who were expelled from their middle school for joking on Facebook about which classmates they would kill are being backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.  The ACLU filed a federal complaint that contends the girl’s right to freedom of speech was violated.  The three eighth-graders were students of Griffith Middle School. A parent of another student made a copy of the Facebook conversation and gave it to the principal in January.  Right away the principal suspended the girls for 10 days. An expulsion hearing in February …

Washington D.C. — The United States Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 on Wednesday that the guarantee of effective legal representation extends to plea bargain agreements.  This ruling opens up a possibility for a defendant to appeal their sentence on the grounds that their lawyer gave them bad advice regarding a plea deal.  This ruling could affect many cases, as many criminal cases end in plea bargains and not jury trials.  The five justices that voted for the ruling were Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and fellow …

Sacramento, CA –A federal lawsuit was filed on Wednesday by 19 students and alumni of UC Davis who were pepper sprayed and roughed up by campus police last November.  The suit also claims that their free speech rights were violated.  The incident occurred on Nov. 18 during a demonstration on campus.  The students were part of the Occupy movement. They were protesting the latest tuition increases and the use of force by UC Berkeley police.  Campus police sprayed the students with pepper spray as the sat or crouched on …