Story here. Excerpt:

"Florida is among 28 states that have no compensation system for the wrongfully imprisoned. "If you're a convicted felon, when you finish your sentence they give you $100 cash and a bus ticket when you leave prison," said Michael Olenick, one of Crotzer's attorneys. "But if you've been wrongly convicted and they let you out, you don't get $100 or the bus ticket."

It's up to wronged individuals to lobby the Legislature for compensation, an inconsistent and maddening process. Last year, the Senate didn't take up Crotzer's claims bill. So far, only one of Florida's nine DNA-exonerated inmates, Wilton Dedge, has gotten a claims bill passed ($2 million in 2005).

A less capricious system could soon arrive, with the Legislature considering a broader bill (HB1025) that would set an automatic process for the wrongfully convicted. It would cap payment at $50,000 per year of imprisonment or $2 million."

Story here. Excerpt:

"The Virginia Department of Education reported that 255 elementary students were suspended last year for offensive sexual touching, or "improper physical contact against a student." In Maryland, 166 elementary school children were suspended last year for sexual harassment, including three preschoolers, 16 kindergartners and 22 first-graders, according to the State Department of Education. Statistics for the District were not available.

In 2006, a kindergartner in Hagerstown, Md., was accused of sexual harassment after pinching a female classmate's buttocks. A 4-year-old in Texas was given an in-school suspension after a teacher's aide accused him of sexual harassment for pressing his face into her breasts when he hugged her.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A SOUTH Australian politician, a female one at that, suggests women should sign a contract before sex to combat false rape allegations.
...
Ms Bressington says sex contracts may be necessary to protect men if proposed new laws are passed in her state.

On ABC radio last week she said: "This Bill makes men guilty until proven innocent and they will have no defence."
...
She said these contracts could also contain personal details, such as the woman's address and licence number, as well as her marital status and whether she has children.
...
This is the silliest piece of legislation I have encountered. Ms Bressington's suggestion misses the point that women are the vulnerable ones here.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A 14-year-old schoolgirl has escaped being prosecuted after she falsely claimed a man brutally raped her as she walked home from school.

Now the fuming man, Cleveland Kennedy, intends to take out a private prosecution against her after being wrongly labelled a paedophile.
...
After the 'attack', terrified Mr Kennedy was arrested and kept in a special sex offender protection unit in prison on remand for 75 days.

Meanwhile as a 'treat', his accuser was taken abroad on holiday to get over her 'ordeal.' But then she agreed she had made it all up.

However, the CPS ruled the girl should be given a final warning after a police investigation that she had perverted the course of justice, leaving Mr Kennedy furious.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A woman already charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy now faces a second charge involving a different boy.

Sabrina Marie Simpson, also listed in police records as Sabrina Murphy, was in jail Friday, under bonds totaling $500,000.
...
The new charge stems from claims by an island boy, 14, that Murphy drove him to East Beach and performed at least two sex acts with him, according to the affidavit used to obtain an arrest warrant.
...
In that case, Simpson faces a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which carries a possible prison term of five to 99 years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
...
Police said the investigation was ongoing and that more charges could be coming.'

Remember this one from 2006? The suspects are currently on trial. Video report here.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Florida police say they've found their ninja robber, and she is a 55-year-old mother and former nursing assistant.

Betty Hudson was charged Wednesday with armed robbery after police said DNA on a ninja-like mask linked her to two bank robberies in central Florida, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.
...
Hudson already was in jail on earlier robbery charges accusing her of robbing a bank in Gainesville, Fla., using the same disguise, the station reported.'

I found this article from the Rocky Mountain News. I wish more news services would do as this one does. A great article, must read. Excerpt:

'By now, our young man had rented a nice house in a nice neighborhood, a home for the girls, and petitioned for custody. The Judge in his wisdom denied the petition, denied additional time in the summer months, and raised the child support.

In court this mother bragged about the fact that she lives essentially rent free in this house, is on food stamps and LEAP for propane and meets every other need with his child support (the father of the teenager is unknown and she receives no support from the father of the baby) there is another teenage son who lives with his father and spends summers with them, presumably also sharing that one bedroom. She proudly proclaimed that she stays home 24 hrs a day with her children.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Texas politics and business have long been reputed to operate within a good ol' boy network. There isn't a chance of that in this small Panhandle town where six women now rule.

Postmaster Diane Manuel's somewhat tongue-in-cheek rationale: "We have people skills, and we're a lot better to look at than most guys."

She added, "You know why else women run this town? They're not as cocky."

Chet Boler, who's worked for the town for six years, most recently as its public works director, is sold on McLean's female leadership.

"The women do a lot more investigating than the men did in making an educated decision," he said. "They want to do everything by the book, which is the way it needs to be."'

Video here.

The female defense attorney compares this incident to a couple of girls fighting on the back of a school bus. She also believes community service is an acceptable punishment.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Six days after she was sucker punched and beaten in her own Baltimore classroom, high school art teacher Jolita Berry still finds it almost impossible to watch the MySpace video of the attack. And she can’t make herself go back to work.
...
The attack happened last Friday morning in Berry’s classroom in Reginald F. Lewis High School in Baltimore. One of the girls in the class approached the 30-year-old teacher and got nose-to-nose with her and threatened her.'

“I told her, ‘You’re in my personal space, back up. If you hit me, I will defend myself,’ ” Berry said. “Before I knew it, she hit me in the face.”'

Story here. Excerpt:

"Two young girls accused of brutally attacking another girl on a playground are too emotionally immature to understand the criminal charges against them and the charges should be dismissed, their attorneys said.

The girls, ages 10 and 11, face aggravated assault and other charges for the attack on another 10-year-old girl at an elementary school playground the evening of April 3. The girls are accused of stomping on the victim and breaking her hip, police said."

For those who don't know about her, Violet Blue may be one of the few syndicated sex-advice columnists who also actually knows how to write. (I can count on one hand the number of such people.) Anyway, she has bravely taken on the concept of "feminist porn", and while some of what she says in this article is propagating negative stereotypes about both sexes, men in particular, she is taking the issue head-on and making some good observations. I doubt either feminists or MRAs will find themselves in full agreement with the article-- good! It keeps things interesting. Excerpt:

'Feminist porn. For many, seeing those words together is like putting together the words "comfortable flight," "lightly scented" and "Bill O'Reilly: journalist." We now have Jet Blue and Virgin America, not everyone can smell your panty liners, and there's no debate about the irony of the last bit — but pretty much everyone wants to know, what the hell are porn and feminism doing in bed together?'

Story here. (For the video report, click "Girl Fight Trend Growing" under the "Related to Story" box.) Excerpt:

'Behavioral experts said girls are the worst offenders for the type of bullying associated with a recent attack described as "animalistic" in which a group of six girls pummeled a classmate for 30 minutes until she passed out.
...
A search for "girl fight in Florida" in YouTube uncovered a series of violent fights in Brevard, Volusia and Orange counties.

Experts classify the beatings as cyber-bullying, saying the girls can continue to torment their victims long after their bruises heal by posting the beatings online for the world to see.

Behavior experts said girls are the worst offenders for this type of bullying, Local 6's Lauren Rowe reported.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Hillary Clinton has famously claimed that "Research shows the presence of women raises the standards of ethical behavior and lowers corruption." Ironically it's Mrs. Clinton who has now come under withering criticism as her ethical lapses and make-believe claims become legion.
...
Being the expert of Freudian psychology that she is, Steinem derides men because they "tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman." Playing the victim for all its worth, Steinem concludes that "Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life."

So as Hillary Clinton tells voters to forgive and forget her Bosnia folktale and as Nancy Pelosi's autocratic regimen reigns, we should recall that despite whatever other virtues they may possess, female politicos are cut from the same frayed ethical cloth as the rest of us mere mortals.'