February 4, 2012
- Hour 1
- Steven Slevin was held for nearly two years without trial on a DUI charge in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. He was awarded $22 million as a result. His lawyer, Matt Coyte, discusses the case and the verdict. There has to be more to this, right? … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Jess Williams, Public Information Director for Dona Ana County, New Mexico presents the other side of the Slevin verdict. What duty does a jail have to those it houses? … Click here to listen.
January 28, 2012
- Hour 1
- The President’s State of the Union Address: Just more politics? Another campaign speech? … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- We finish our discussion of the State of the Union speech.
- Local police shootings: Justified? Necessary? What are the standards used to make these judgments?
- What can we learn about the Jimmy Dimore trial by examining the documents available to the public? … Click here to listen.
January 21, 2012
- Hour 1
- Technical Difficulties… Don’t Click yet… Coming Soon … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Technical Difficulties… Don’t Click yet… Coming Soon … Click here to listen.
January 14, 2012
- Hour 1
- Ohio Senator John Ecklund (R-Dist. 18) represents Portions of Lake, Geauga, and Cuyahoga County. We discuss a new requirement that DNA be collected from anyone arrested for a felony, even before formal charges are brought. Is it right, proper, and fair that those samples will be retained even if the defendant is found “not guilty”? … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Bob Gondor was cleared of murder and released from prison after 16 years partly as a result of questions surrounding DNA testing. He was an unexpected, but very welcome guest of Real Law Radio. We talk with him about his case and his experience. … Click here to listen.
January 7, 2012
- Hour 1
- The National Defense Authorization Act allows indefinite detention of anyone, anywhere for terrorist acts against the U.S. President Obama signed it, but said he didn’t like it, and might not obey it. Huh? … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Montana defies the Supreme Court on Campaign Financing.
- The worst lawsuits of 2011? … Click here to listen.
December 24, 2011
- Hour 1
- Technical Difficulties… Don’t Click yet… Coming Soon … … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Technical Difficulties… Don’t Click yet… Coming Soon … … Click here to listen.
December 17, 2011
- Hour 1
- Last week we heard from supporters of the Ohio Heartbeat Bill. This week we hear from the other side of the issue. Kellie Copeland, Executive Director of NARAL ProChoice Ohio, discusses the impact that the bill, if enacted, will have on women. Is there really a “War on Women” being waged in Columbus? … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Do-it-Yourself Sperm Donation? Ewwwwww… but on the other hand (pun intended), why not? Who’s being harmed? … Click here to listen.
December 10, 2011
- Hour 1
- In March we brought you the story of the Heartbeat Bill in the Ohio House of Representatives when legislators heard the “testimony” of an unborn fetus. The proposed law passed the house in June and hearings before the Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee have begun. Janet Porter, Founder and President of Fath2Action, and author of the bill, examines the premise that law must protect the unborn from the moment their heartbeat can be heard. … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Under Cuyahoga County’s new “Executive/Council” form of government, the Sheriff and other traditionally elected officials are now appointed by the County Executive. Should the County Prosecutor also be an appointed position? Would there be a detrimental degree of political influence on the independence of the office? … Click here to listen.
December 3, 2011
- Hour 1
- No more Happy Meals in San Francisco. The ban went into effect Thursday. Why is it necessary? Apparently because parents were being bullied by their kids. How’s it working out? Joe Eskenazi from San Francisco Weekly joins us to let us know. From the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City to the “left coast” at San Francisco Bay, Real Law Radio reaches out to see what happens when people act out of fear before they think things through. … Click here to listen.
- Hour 2
- Are government bans the solution? Happy meals are just one example. A Light Bulb Ban looms in the immediate future. Is this really what we want government to do, or are our elected representatives in the dark? … Click here to listen.
- Hour 3
- More on the Light Bulb Ban. Is it really about the environment or is it about imposing values? Reminiscent of the “You Gotta Be Kidding Me” File, can the ban really lead to Fowl Homosexuality?
- There is a continued stink being raised over tear gas at the Occupy protest at the University of California in Davis. Where is the line between “acceptable” and “excessive” when the police use force?
- … Click here to listen.
November 26, 2011
- Hour 1
- The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the ObamaCare case in March. They have allotted an unprecedented 5 hours for these arguments. We make our predictions for the outcome.
- Insurance companies will be required to use a new disease classification system in 2013. It has been in the works for 16 years. Two questions: Is this really necessary, and “What could this possibly have to do with turtles or lampposts?”
- Hour 2
- Do we need a different method of nominating presidential candidates? AmericansElect.org is trying to provide one. How did we end up with a system like the Electoral College, and what’s wrong with it?
- ·Hour 3
- Shoppers using OC spray on Black Friday to gain “advantage” over other shoppers? What is OC?
- Crazy court motions and downright STUPID motions. (Make a note… it’s almost never a good idea to threaten the judge presiding over your case.)
November 13, 2011
- If you were to witness a crime, who would you tell? Is “football coach” anywhere on your list of folks who need to know? Penn State University is embroiled in controversy over just this issue. Is Joe Paterno really the guy best suited to deal with the sexual abuse of a child? Could it all have been stopped more than a decade ago if witnesses had done things differently? What does the law require?
November 5, 2011
- Hour 1
- Issue 2, changing the collective bargaining process for public employees in the State of Ohio, will be decided by referendum this Tuesday. Ohio District 12 Senator Keith Faber discussed his views with us regarding both the need and the impact of Issue 2 on public employees and the economy of the State. Senator Faber is Vice-Chair of the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, the first senate body to hear discussions regarding Senate Bill 5. Who better to explain it, right?
- Hour 2
- Kevin O’Brien, Editorial Columnist from the Plain Dealer, discusses his support of Issue 2 and his reasons for that support. While we might not agree, Kevin’s statement of the principles behind his support offer a refreshing change from the sloganeering of both campaigns. He offers the best argument in favor of Issue 2 that Real Law Radio has heard.
- Hour 3
- You’ve heard what the politician and the columnist have to say about Issue 2. During this hour your hosts sound off. We’ll tell you why we think the issue is (now was) a bad idea.
- Should the government have any say in what you name your child? How about if you want to name him Adolf Hitler, or name her Aryan Nation?
October 22, 2011
- The City of Topeka, Kansas, repealed its local Domestic Violence law. Does this mean you can punch your spouse in the face? Are victims paying the price for budgetary shortfalls? Are suspects being released only to do more harm on their loved ones? Are people dying in Topeka because the law has been repealed? David Bevens, the Communications Director for the City of Topeka explains the Real Law behind their decision.
- The passengers on a public bus in New York City segregate themselves on the bus – men in the front, and women on the back of the bus. Should the New York City Commission on Human Rights investigate? How do we reconcile actions that seem to violate concepts of the “public good” with legitimate, deeply held individual religious beliefs?
- Herman Cain and his sweaty balls. Not really, but maybe Mr. Cain has it right when he says this country should get a sense of humor about itself. Is Ben & Jerry’s new Schweddy Balls Ice Cream really an attack on the moral fiber of the nation?
October 9, 2011
- Protesters are “occupying” Wall Street. The “occupy” movement is spreading to other large cities. They are “occupying” downtown Cleveland. Did you notice? What do the protesters really want? We can tell you what they SAY they want, because Josh Cherkes from the Real Law Radio Student Union went to Liberty Plaza in New York City and asked. What an idea…
October 2, 2011
- Michael Prell comments on the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood before the United Nations. Is there actually common ground between President Obama and the Tea Party Patriots?
- Norman Berdichevsky, author of “The Left is Seldom Right,” discusses his view that political labels of “Left,” and “Right” have little meaning anymore, and that the “Left” gets benefit from the continued use of these otherwise largely pointless terms. His advice? “Don’t accept at face value an argument which, because the claim is made that a policy is considered right-wing or left-wing, that you can immediately identify who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”
- Tom Fields, a Real Law Radio listener, has submitted a petition to the White House asking that the Constitution be amended to guarantee that “everyone who has evidence of injury due to negligence or wrongdoing… will have the opportunity to freely and fully present their evidence to a jury empowered and obligated to investigate, judge, and remedy the legitimate complaints in a timely manner.” Is such an amendment necessary?
September 25, 2011
- Troy Davis was executed Wednesday for the 1989 murder of a Savannah, GA, policeman. Are Americans who support the death penalty “savages”? Is this just another “lynching” wrapped in the cloak of justice? Does it matter that a white supremacist was executed the same day? The U.S. Supreme Court ordered an extraordinary evidentiary hearing in Davis’ case. That hearing did not prove Davis’ innocence.
September 18, 2011
- What are the rules governing lawyers’ conduct? Who makes those rules? Are lawyers allowed to contact you to discuss the possibility of representation?
- “Man shot by Kokomo police was holding cologne, not gun,” says the headline. What really happened, and what is a reasonable response?
- Are TSA-style pat-downs necessary at NFL Football games? Ten years after the 9/11 attacks should we just expect to be searched any time we are in a large group? Is this yet another sign that we are living in a police state?
- http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-16/news/29913074_1_walk-in-tub-cullen-claims-drain-stopper
- An Illinois woman was stuck in a $12,000 high-end walk-in bathtub for 30 hours. First of all, who spends $12,000 on a bathtub? Now she is suing because the chain on the stopper broke. Is that the real story, or is there more to it? Is this another “McDonald’s Coffee Lawsuit”?
September 10, 2011
- Hour 1
- Are we any safer ten years after the 9/11 attacks? Sean Burke, Vice President of the Center for National Policy says we may not be, but we could be if we altered our tactics in evaluating threats.
- Local funeral director Chuck Brunner, of the Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home in Mentor, Ohio, outlines his role as a civilian disaster responder and member of D-MORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team).
- Hour 2
- Professor Randall Coyne teaches at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Having been a member of the defense team for Timothy McVeigh (convicted and executed for the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City), Ahmed Ghailani (a “high value detainee” charged with the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Dar Es Salaam), and individuals labeled “enemy combatants” and subjected to indefinite confinement at the Camp X-ray military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, Professor Coyne has a unique perspective on changes to the legal system following seminal events in U.S. History. Have we given up basic rights in pursuit of safety and security? Are we heading toward a “Police State”?
- Hour 3
- Archived audio recorded during of the events of 9/11 documents confusion and disbelief as air traffic controllers and responders cope with previously unimaginable circumstances. The recurring theme of “Looking to Higher Authority” forces us to deal with our own fears, and to think about whether we are willing to relinquish control of some aspects of our lives to those we presume are capable of providing safety.
September 3, 2011:
- We weren’t on the air today. We were preempted by Akron Zips Football. They got beat BADLY. It would have been more fun to listen to Real Law Radio.
August 27, 2011
- Hour 1
- Author and Middle East Scholar Reza Aslan provides perspective on the “Arab Spring,” the Revolution in Libya against the Ghadafi regime, and American policy in the region. Are the principles of democracy on the rise in the Middle East, or do we really only have a choice between Western-backed dictatorship and fundamentalist theocracy? Aslan, author of “No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam,” and “How to Win a Cosmic War,” describes revolutions in the region as a youth movement.
- Hour 2
- It is now illegal for Missouri teachers to “friend” their students on Facebook in order to “protect students from predatory teachers.” Is this protection necessary? Is the law constitutional? Or are legislators meddling in a valuable relationship? How much government are we willing to accept in the parent/child relationship?
- Do you know what’s riding along with you on Greyhound buses? Do you want to know?
- Hour 3:
- Rick Perry, Republican governor of Texas and conservative candidate for President, sent a bill to Washington, DC, for the costs to the State of Texas of the federal government’s inattention to the issue of illegal immigration. Who is paying the costs now?
- On a lighter note, where are you going to be on August 26, 2012? According to GoTopless.org, thousands of women are going to be in Washington, DC, to protest differences in the law that allow men to take off their shirts in public, but say it is indecent for women to do the same.