Birdsong's Law Blog

Washington, D.C.: Federal agents arrested a man for allegedly trying to smuggle 4 pounds of cocaine through Washington’s Dulles Airport using powdered soup packets.  A dog sniffed him out.

The headlines read: ” How he got into hot water.” Yuk, yuk, yuk…

Wayland, NY:  This one is about a drunk who got arrested for DWI on a snowmobile — in June.  Police in upstate New York arrested Carl Kruchten  for drunk driving after he took his snowmobile and rode it through his neighbors back yards, tearing the yards to pieces.

HIC!

France: We have learned that U.S. subway fare beaters are not nearly as bad as the French.  It is reported that jumping the turnstile is so common in France,

Kurt Bressler is one of Professor Birdsong’s brightest students.  Mr. Bressler who has travelled in Germany and Austria took my Refugee and Asylum Law course in 2008.  He wrote his seminar paper on violence against foreigners in Germany.  Late last year he expanded on his paper to satisfy his upper level requirement for graduation.  He has given me permission his expanded paper on my blog.  He makes some good points about violence against foreigners in Germany that might just apply universally.  Have a read:

Immigration Reform and Violence Against Foreigners in Unified Germany

Kurt Bressler, J.D. Candidate 2010, Barry University School of Law

 I. Introduction           

            Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany has struggled in its quest for an effective and all encompassing solution to the dichotomy between its immigration laws and the omnipresent xenophobic violence associated with them. In reality, this is not a problem which is unique to Germany; all countries struggle with racist violence in one form or another. Historically though, Germany has shown a correlation between the passing or relaxation of its immigration laws and a spike in racist violence, especially in the area formerly known as East Germany.

            An example of the racist violence faced by non-ethnic Germans can be seen in the United States asylum application filed by Zakia Mashiri.[1]Zakia and her husband are natives of Afghanistan who lived in Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall. On numerous separate occasions, the Mashiri’s were subjected to violence based on their non German background. One such incident occurred when Zakia’s husband was severely beaten in his taxi after being subjected to racial slurs and threats.[2]He was also beaten in a similar fashion on several other occasions. The Mashiri’s son was also beaten by neo-nazi’s several times while returning home from school.[3] Each time, the reason for the attack was explicitly stated: Germany is for German’s. 

            Another poignant example of the violence endured by foreigners in Germany occurred in November of 2007. A group of eight Indian asylum seekers were chased

Alliance, OH: She needed a matchmaker not 911.  A woman desperate to find a husband called the local 911 number five times asking authorities to find her a husband.  “You need to get a husband?” a confused operator asked the woman who responded: “Yes, let’s do it.”  What Audrey Scott, 57, got was three days in jail — and no husband.

Could she have been drunk?  You think!

Pennsylvania: Troy Alvin, a convicted murderer, willed his TV, radio and his corpse to the judge that convicted him in the case.  The will attempt did not succeed.  Judge Edward Smith quashed the will because he said it was just an attempt by Alvin to get him off the case for a conflict of interest.

Alvin was no Perry Mason.

Kalamazoo, MI: Patrons at a Wendy’s drive-through in Kalamazoo got mad after their order wasn’t filled to their satisfaction, so they hurled drinks,

 This problem is posted for Professor Birdsong’s first Immigration Law Class on August 24, 2010.  Students are advised to read the problem thoroughly and be prepared to discuss preparing an immigration scheme for Guadeloupe.  This  problem is designed to prepare students for the issues they will need to learn in this course.

This is an important primer.  Be prepared for class!

Part II  –    The Problem

 [N.B. Please do not undertake outside or additional research on the country of  Guadeloupe, or the make up of the people or the government there as listed in this examination.  Accept all facts in the problem herein as true and dispositive  for purposes this examination. ]      

Assume for the purposes of this paper that it is now the month of May in the year 2013.  Assume further that the country of Guadeloupe which had first become a possession of France in 1635, and was until recently a Department of France (State), declared its independence and seceded from France in a bloodless coup led by Anon Zenon, leader of the Christian Movement for the Liberation of Guadeloupe on January 1, 2010.

As you may be aware, Guadeloupe is an archipelago of nine inhabited islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea just south of St. Barts and just north of Martinique (See Map). The land mass is ten times the size of Washington, D.C. Guadeloupe is inhabited by 500,000 people who were citizens of France until secession. The capital is Basse-Terre. The four ethnic groups who make up the population of the county are: black or mulatto 90%, white European 5% East Indian, 3% Lebanese 1% and Chinese 1%. Ninety five percent of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic; Hindus comprise 3 per cent of the represented religions; Protestants are 1%; and various traditional African religion represents 1% percent.

Guadeloupians are very religious people and their main reasons for seceding from France were the belief among many in Guadeloupe that France had lost its Catholic roots and was drifting into becoming a secular society while at the same time realizing that one third of the present day population of France were Muslims whose worship is Islam.

The charismatic Anon Zenon had for many years led the Christian Movement for the Liberation of Guadeloupe.  At independence Zenon was made President of the new democracy of  Guadeloupe

Vassalboro, ME: Maine police are hunting for a man who allegedly burned down the topless coffee shop where his girlfriend worked.  The blaze was set hours after the shop’s owner told the Town Council of Vassalboro that he planned to convert the place into strip club.  At last report, the suspect, Raymond Bellavance, 49, was still at large.

What a boob! I’ll bet alcohol was involved. Speaking of alcohol….

Lancaster, NY: In a strange case of law and order, a western New York man was charged with driving a lawn mower while drunk.  He allegedly had been joyriding on the mower down a busy street in Lancaster with a blood alcohol reading of nearly twice the legal limit.

Did they mean “lawn and order?”

Fort Walton Beach, FL: A 19 year old Fort Walton Beach woman was a passenger in a car driven by a friend who was pulled over for DUI.  That left her stranded, so police agreed to drive her home.  The officer took her to the police station instead,