Monthly Archives: October 2012

Political disagreements can arise in the workplace at any time, but especially during an election season. Some of these can be heated. In the interest of maintaining order, many private employers restrict political speech in the workplace. Is this legal?   Political Speech Can Be Limited At least 80 percent of employees believe that they have a “free speech” right to discuss politics in the workplace: They’re wrong. The First Amendment protects people only from government interference with speech – …

Kalpeshkumar Patel, 40, failed in June to carry out his longstanding threat to burn down the Chevron station in High Springs, Fla. After dousing his car with gasoline in front of the store, he realized he had no lighter or matches and had to ask several customers, without success, to help him out. He was arrested before he could do any damage.    

The gun industry loves to put down President Obama and make you worry that he’s going to take away your guns. The National Rifle Association went ballistic, for example, when he made a comment in the Oct. 16 debate about supporting a ban on assault rifles, saying Obama was calling for “a gun ban” in general. But reports are surfacing that the industry has actually done very well under his administration: The AP reported on Oct. 19 that gun owners …

A civil trial began this week for a woman who was brutally beaten by an off-duty Chicago police officer in 2007. Karolina Obrycka is suing the city, alleging that police conspired to protect Anthony Abbate after the former officer was caught on camera repeatedly punching and kicking Obrycka behind the bar where she worked. Abbate was sentenced to probation for aggravated battery in 2009 and was fired from the police force. The lawsuit alleges that Abbate’s police buddies attempted to …

Did you know your cell phone can be tracked by the government, even when you’re not using it? Using a device called a Stingray, which acts like a “fake” cell phone tower allowing them to search large areas for a specific cell phone signal, the government is able to gather data on any other phones in the area. That clearly violates the Fourth Amendment, according to a constitutional challenge mounted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU as …