U.S. Supreme Court

Long Beach Play '8' is Public Theater's Coming Out Party

A new theater entity opens Friday in Long Beach and rarely has a producing organization exploded from the box with a more emotionally charged subject or with such a familiar cast. The entity is the Public Theatre of Long Beach. The play is 8, which dramatizes the courtroom battle that resulted in ... More >>

Filipino Sham Marriage, Illegal Alien Scam Operators Reluctantly Saying Bye, Bye to USA

Filipinos Wilfredo Tiongco Ngo and Maria Teresa Lamayo Ngo operated a massive scheme that kept illegal immigrants secretly working in the United States at the pair's elderly health care assistance business in Orange County.By repeatedly changing their company's name, encouraging sham marriages and m ... More >>

State Assembly Candidate Troy Edgar Goes to Wacko Racist CCIR Meeting

Troy Edgar didn't quite know what he was in for when he showed up at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) meeting in Garden Grove last night. Perhaps the Republican 72nd Assembly District candidate was not aware that CCIR has been labeled an extremist hate group, led by venom-tongu ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Alan Keyes and Wiley Drake's Obama Birther Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court has officially declined to hear the Barack Obama "birther" lawsuit. This legal remedy was not sought by "Queen of the Birthers" Orly Taitz but the conservative shark hired by the Alan Keyes-Wiley Drake presidential tag team of 2008. (Actually, the Aliso Viejo lawyer/dentist/re ... More >>

Better Call Glew: Driving While Beltless!

Is it true the police can arrest you for not wearing your seatbelt or if you drive without your ID?

Better Call Glew: Can Cops Search Your Car Over A Speeding Ticket?

The other day I was pulled over by an OC Sheriff for speeding. When he came up to my car, he told me why he pulled me over and asked me to get out of my car. The cop then had me put my hands on the hood of my car and patted me down. He then looked around the inside of my car with his flashlight. He ... More >>

Better Call Glew: A Case of Improbable Cause

​This weekend I got a DUI. The way the cop stopped me seemed weird to me though. He said he pulled me over for speeding.  I knew I wasn't speeding because I saw him behind me and when I asked how fast I was going he said 66 mph!!! He immediately started asking me questions about how much I ha ... More >>

What We Learned, Feb. 4-10

​It's a week worth of bite-size Orange County news and what it all taught us.FEB. 4: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange reveals on its website that it is accepting from parishoners new names for Crystal Cathedral through Feb. 20. Bishop Tod Brown's only requirement is that the new moniker be "C ... More >>

Valerie Plame Comes Out of the Cold to UCI Law

​Valerie Plame, whose career as an undercover for the CIA ended when the Bush White House blew her cover in 2003, comes to the UC Irvine School of Law Feb. 17 to give a free talk about her experiences.Now going by Valerie Elise Plame Wilson, to reflect her marriage to former Ambassador Joseph C. W ... More >>

[UPDATED With New Celebration Location:] Court Strikes Down Proposition 8; Celebration in Downtown Santa Ana Tonight!

UPDATED, FEB. 7, 4:30 P.M.:The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage.A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that Proposition 8, which limits marriage to one man and one woman and was approved by voters in 2008, violates equal protection rights u ... More >>

Proposition 8 Ruling to Come Tuesday

​The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday is expected to release a decision on Proposition 8, the state's same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in 2008.U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who is now retired, ruled in 2010 that the ban violated federal equal protection rights for gay and les ... More >>

Tooraj Nakhei: Can't Be Convicted For Date Rape Because He's Nuts

Nakhei: The "I'm coocoo!" defense fails after date rape.​After using a Persian Internet dating service, Nooraj Aghmiyouni Nakhei of Oregon flew to Orange County in 2003 to meet an Iranian woman who'd recently immigrated to the United States. The two met for a drink and ate lunch. But she decided t ... More >>

Souhair Khatib Can Sue County of Orange for Having to Remove Her Hijab: U.S. Supreme Court

​The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld an Orange County woman's right to sue the County of Orange for its jailers making her remove her hijab, or traditional Islamic headdress, in a Santa Ana courthouse holding cell in 2006. The high court essentially rejected an appeal by the county of a March ruli ... More >>

[BREAKING:] Judge's Right to Rule on Prop. 8 Affirmed

​The chief federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that his retired colleague Vaughn Walker was under no legal obligation to step aside from ruling on California's same-sex marriage ban because he is a gay man.Walker ruled in August that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

Anal to the Chief! Santorum Runs ... for President

​Either a former senator from Pennsylvania or the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex has announced his candidacy for president of the United States.One of those Santorums ended speculation on ABC's Good Morning America this morning.

[UPDATED with New Kern County Stink:] Courts Weigh Orange County Poop

​UPDATE, MAY 26, 12:42 P.M.: There's an interesting nugget about Orange County and the Carlyle Group in coverage of the ongoing court battle over human waste from Southern California spread atop farmland in Kern County.Anyone trying to put the Bush 43 years behind them may have forgotten about the ... More >>

[UPDATED with Promotion for Liar:] Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick Wins Supreme Court Ruling Against County Taking Her Daughters

​UPDATE, APRIL 26, 11:52 A.M.: You might assume--wrongly, it turns out--that lying to a juvenile court commissioner so a woman's two daughters would be taken away from her for years would cost two County of Orange social workers their jobs. Even if you didn't believe those workers lied after the f ... More >>

[UPDATED] Irvine 11 Charged With Misdemeanors, Face Jail, Probation, Community Service if Convicted

​UPDATED, FEB. 28, 8:33 A.M.: The Islamic Institute of Orange County hosts "Stand With the Irvine 11: Community Town Hall and Action" at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the IIOC Multipurpose Room, 1220 N. State College Blvd., Irvine.The event flier follows after the jump. (Also, scroll down a couple posts i ... More >>

Supreme Court Smacks Down Local Armenian Genocide Deniers

​This week, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of Griswold v. Driscoll, a Massachusetts-based case in which a group of plaintiffs sued the State Board of Education because it didn't include references to Armenian-genocide deniers in school curricula covering the Armenian ge ... More >>

Birthers Cling to Case With an OC Connection Claiming Obama is Ineligible to be President

​Political Vel Craft ("Veil of Politics") is an amazing site with ads against the climate change "con," a link to the U.S. Debt Clock and blanket coverage of the WikiLeaks-exposed marriage between the United Kingdom and The Illuminati. There's also a call for U.S. Supreme Court C ... More >>

City Wins One, Loses One in Supreme Week

​It's rare for a city to be involved in one case before the U.S. Supreme Court, let alone two. By refusing to hear Long Beach-related appeals this week, justices handed the city one loss and one victory.After serving nearly 14 years in state prison for a 1988 child rape, Leonard McSherry of Santa ... More >>

Surprise, Surprise: Prop 8 Backers Will Appeal

Photo by Mary Bell/OC Weekly​It was only a matter of time--fewer than 24 hours transpired--before Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's controversial ruling declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional was appealed by Prop 8 backers."We will certainly appeal this disappointing decision.  Its ... More >>

Supreme Court Doesn't Help Orly Taitz; 12-Year-Old Does

Christopher Victorio / OC Weekly​On July 8, Laguna Niguel's Dr. Orly Taitz filed an application with the Supreme Court of the United States in a (maybe) last-ditch attempt to avoid paying the $20,000 in fines levied on her by a federal judge last year. On Thursday, though, Justice Clarence Th ... More >>

Mi Casa Es Mi Casa

How Fullerton resident Alex Bernal's 1943 battle against housing discrimination helped change the course of American civil rights

John Eastman and Tom Harman Dealt Legal Blows in GOP Race for State AG

Photo by Christopher VictorioState attorney general wannabe John Eastman's Kodak moment at the California Republican Assembly convention in Buena Park last month.​The two Orange County Republicans who want to be California's next attorney general lost their respective ballot-designation disputes-- ... More >>

Supreme Court Weighs Orange County Poop

​The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to let Orange County's poop go . . . to Kern County.

Roe v. Wade Wades into Newport Beach

ColbertNation.comSheryl WuDunn, who appeared on "The Colbert Report" last year, is the guest speaker at Saturday's Roe v. Wade event.​A Roe V. Wade commemoration will be held Saturday evening in Newport Beach and--guess what?--it's a celebration of the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision leg ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Helps Inject Some Mexican-Hater Money Into Bill Hunt's Campaign for Sheriff

OC's Famous Desegregation Case Finally Gets Its Historical Due, But One Family Feels Left Out

Teaching Museum Uses Adventure Films to Help Fund Mendez v. Westminster Exhibit

Jonathan Copp, RIP.​What do the plucky Museum of Teaching and Learning, an internationally acclaimed film festival and the landmark Mendez v. Westminster School District case of 1946 have in common?All three could learn you something.The Fullerton-based Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL) is s ... More >>

Banned in 1990, 'Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story' Lives On in Bootlegs and a UCI Prof's Book

Wiley Drake Gets the Keith Olbermann Stamp of Disapproval

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Pastor Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park has been previously recognized for interfaith gestures, helping the less fortunate and sheltering the homeless on church property despite threats from lawsuits, ... More >>

When Benicio del Toro Got Mad at Gustavo

Photo by my chicaI originally wasn't going to post about this because it has no relevance to Orange County, but my jefe insists: I had a run-in with actor Benicio del Toro at last week's American Film Institute tribute to Michael Douglas. The context of why I was on the red carpet in the first place ... More >>

Why Won't Loretta Sanchez Return a Blogger's Phone Call?

It's fascinating to see the double standard that Orange County politicians employ with bloggers in these days of a flat media landscape. While blogs such as Red County and The Liberal OC are virtual megaphones for, respectively, conservative and liberal operatives and politicians (some even contribu ... More >>

Chapman Law Dean Shifts From One Controversy to Another

Photo by Christopher VictorioJohn C. Eastman (right) listens as John Yoo debates at Chapman last month.The last time you read a Navel Gazing post that mentioned John C. Eastman, dean of Chapman University's School of Law, it was in reference to him teaming with the university's visiting law professo ... More >>

Cypress College Recognized for Muzzling Free Speech

Photo by Gregory MiguelA hand-cuffed activist is led away from an anti-abortion protest at Cypress College last year.The independently funded Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression cites the administration of Cypress College on its 18th annual list of the "best" Muzzlers of Fr ... More >>

Local Obama-Phobe Seeks And Annoys Justice

Thanks to commenter "Doubtful" for bringing extraordinary news to our attention: Dr. Orly Taitz, our Mission Viejo/Rancho Santa Margarita dentist turned political activist, has embarked on a crusade to harass members of the Supreme Court of the United States.Last Friday, Taitz got up at 3 in the mor ... More >>

Why Isn't Wiley Drake Suing God Over Inauguration?

We've previously told you about Buena Park pastor Wiley Drake suing to prevent Barack Obama from being inaugurated as president of the United States on Jan. 20 and, if that fails, suing to stop U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts from delivering the oath of office to Obama. For good measur ... More >>

Prop 8: No Way in Hell Is This Over

I spent my Election Night trying to find non-existent parking outside Hamburger Mary's in Long Beach. The celebration inside sure looked like fun, though, but I don't think I would have stuck around past midnight to watch all the tears turn from Obama joy to Prop 8 despair. Failing that, I instead d ... More >>

Update-a-palooza

A variety of stories lurching forward this morning… It looks like the most special of all special elections is finally over, and Janet Nguyen is the new First District Supervisor, winning by a total of 3 votes.   Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner rejected Trung Nguyen's claim th ... More >>

The Tortuous Path

George Bush has fundamentally reshaped the "conventional wisdom" of American political life in a way that most presidents can only dream of. Ronald Reagan elicited only agreement, at least rhetorically, that "the era of big government is over." George Bush has elicited agreement that "those claiming ... More >>

Diary of a Mad County

A Third Reprieve

One of OCs most notorious death-row inmates wants to be sparedagain

Reality Check

Golden Smog

Ready to Inhale

Alan Bock says the medical-marijuana war is over, and the good guys won

Shot in the Arm

Why the poor resort to backroom injections