L.I. woman: county should have prevented cop’s affair with me

“A Massapequa woman who claims to have spent “over 100 nights” with an on-duty Nassau County police officer has filed legal notice that she intends to sue the county for $10 million. Tara Obenauer, 42, said in court papers that the county failed to supervise Officer Mike Tedesco, allowing him to visit her home regularly for about seven months until February, almost always during his shifts, in his uniform and while driving his patrol car.” [Newsday]

More, NY Post: local attorney “flabbergasted that officials are being blamed for not chaperoning the couple’s sex romps.”

Filed under: Long Island, personal responsibility, police

NYC: drinking beer on a stoop

“I don’t care what the law says, you’re getting a summons,” says the officer. But property rights turn out to have their day. [Vivian Lee, NY Times “City Room”] More: Above the Law interview with Brooklyn Law student Andrew Rausa.

Filed under: alcohol, NYC, police

Miami-area cop jailed three times, fired six

Accusations against the Opa-locka officer include

cracking the head of a handcuffed suspect, beating juveniles, hiding drugs in his police car, stealing from suspects, defying direct orders and lying and falsifying police reports. He once called in sick to take a vacation to Cancún and has engaged in a rash of unauthorized police chases, including one in which four people were killed.

Although he’s “joked about his record of misconduct,” the “Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association has successfully fought Bosque’s dismissals.” [Miami Herald via Tim Lynch, Cato Police Misconduct Project] However, we know from Canadian Auto Workers economist Jim Stanford’s recent column in the Globe and Mail that in right-to-work states, which include Florida, unions are “effectively prohibited.” So it seems there’s no need to worry about a Florida police union’s having too much power.

Filed under: Florida, police, police unions, public employment

Prosecution and police roundup

Appalling: localities partner with tax-farming “probation” firms to run up routine misdemeanor fines into crushing debts for citizenry [NYT, Tuccille/Reason] “Pay Up: Criminal Justice Debt in Philadelphia” [Penn Law/YouTube, Brennan Center]
“The institute estimates a wrongful conviction rate in sex assault cases of between 8-15%” [Richmond Times-Dispatch; Urban Institute via Balko] For the guilty, marginalization may worsen recidivism: “Do Sex Offender Registries Make Us Less Safe?” [Prescott, Regulation mag, PDF] Sex-offense detention for dollars [Greenfield]
Majority of Florida voters support Stand Your Ground [Quinnipiac; Glyn/NRO; earlier, Sun-Sentinel] Collection of cases in which Florida SYG defense was asserted [Tampa Bay Times; Ta-Nehisi Coates; Jacob Sullum on TBT’s slant, related by Sullum here and here] Bipartisan origins of Florida SYG statute differ greatly from what you may have heard [Daily Caller, auto-plays video] “Two studies on Stand Your Ground” [Robert VerBruggen/NRO] Florida lawyer Troy Webber’s analysis of law [Hussein & Webber] Related: Jeralyn Merritt.
Problems with police dogs as evidence [Balko, Greenfield]
Tennessee: “Mom jailed for letting kids play at park” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids, related]
Tenth Circuit adopts broad view of already-broad federal wire fraud statute [Paul Enzinna/PoL]
New Gotham law will fine taxi drivers up to $10K for giving ride to a prostitute, drivers will have to take a course on recognizing what hookers look like [Amy Alkon]

Filed under: animals, Florida, NYC, Philadelphia, police, prosecution, sex offender registries, stand your ground, Tennessee, Tenth Circuit

Cops: This guy’s face assaulted our fists

Gotta watch out for the suspect’s face, let your guard down and all of a sudden he’s using it to go after your knuckles [Scott Greenfield]

Filed under: Long Island, police

Memo to: Liberty County, Texas police

When a psychic calls in to inform you of an extremely sensational crime story undetected up to now, think carefully before you act [Scott Greenfield]

Filed under: expert witnesses, police, Texas

Labor and employment roundup

“The extra UAW subsidies cost $26.5 billion… The Detroit auto bailout was, in fact, a UAW bailout.” [James Sherk and Todd Zywicki; Volokh]
In 5-4 decision [Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham] Supreme Court rejects Department of Labor interpretation of independent contractor status [Trevor Burrus/Cato, SCOTUSBlog, Michael Fox]
“The next battleground for the NLRB? Acting General Counsel Suggests At-Will Disclaimers May Violate NLRA” [Daniel Schwartz, earlier]
Thoughts on labor law from David Henderson and from Jacob Levy at Bleeding Heart Libertarians; “Freeing Labor Markets by Reforming Union Laws” [Charles W. Baird, Downsizing The Federal Government]
Aspiring Gotham cop: “Anti-gay Muslim cries bias” [NY Post]
New York privacy law conceals misconduct in uniformed services [Tuccille, Reason]
“The New Front in the Labor Wars Has Officially Opened in Michigan” [Shikha Dalmia]

Filed under: autos, labor unions, Michigan, NYC, police, privacy, religious discrimination, wage and hour suits

Labor and employment law roundup

Connecticut: “Medical Marijuana Bill Includes Restrictions For Employers” [Daniel Schwartz, my take earlier]
More on Montgomery County Maryland police-disability scams [WaPo editorial, earlier] California cop-pension backlash [Greenhut]
Highest rate of per capita EEOC charges is in Deep South [David Foley, Labor Related]
Are unpaid internships immoral? Illegal? [David Henderson/Econlog, more]
NLRB memo launches assault on common language found in personnel manuals [Daniel Schwartz]
Year’s most embarrassingly awful dispute over whether employee misconduct was within scope of employment [Lowering the Bar, adult content]
Ominously, Canadian Supreme Court has read labor union rights into the nation’s constitutional Charter, most recently in Fraser case [Workplace Prof on new book; CFLR; Roy Adams/SocialPolicy.org]

Filed under: California, Canada, Connecticut, labor unions, Maryland, police, wage and hour suits

Police misconduct report map

A new Cato Institute project. More: Tim Lynch, Cato; Scott Shackford, Reason.

P.S. Destined for the map? “Police officer fired for driving 143 mph while drunk gets his job back” [BoingBoing]

Filed under: Cato Institute, police, public employment

Senate votes to continue gun-toting FDA raids

Amish raw-milk farmers beware: as Mike Riggs reports at Reason, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced an amendment that would have curtailed the power of Food and Drug Administration agents to carry firearms and make warrantless arrests — the agency would still have retained many other legal weapons with which to secure compliance with its will — but the amendment failed by a 78-15 vote. The 15 are listed here.

Filed under: eat drink and be merry, FDA, police