Law

In a somewhat stunning decision, SkyNews reports that a US judge has ruled that the families of victims in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School can sue the maker of the weapon used in the attack, arguing the Bushmaster rifle is a military weapon that should not have been sold to civilians.

As SkyNews reports,

Gun companies had sought to reject the negligence and wrongful death lawsuit filed two years after the attack by nine victims' relatives and a survivor.

 

A 63-year-old high school math teacher from east Texas was arrested for assault after a video showed her repeatedly slapping a student around the head in class. KGW reports: The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Mary Hastings, a teacher at Ozen High School near Beaumont, was arrested Friday on an assault charge. @pside_prince this.

American Footballer and Super Bowl winner for the New Orleans Saints, Will Smith, 34, was shot and killed by a driver in a road rage attack after getting involved in a minor traffic accident. The former defensive end was driving with his wife when his car was rear-ended by his attacker who then pulled out a gun and started firing during the altercation over the accident. Smith’s wife was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds to the leg. The attacker, 28-year-old Cardell Hayes, is in custody on second degree murder charges.

A man in Arizona who was protesting what is being called a “botched” presidential primary vote has been arrested on a felony charge. His crime? A state trooper claims a safety pin in the man’s pocket threatened him. NBC News reports: Jonathan McRae, 23, of Paulden, was arrested after he and other protesters were asked to leave the visitors gallery in the House of Representatives.

A large majority of U.S. citizens are completely unaware of a little thing called jury nullification. In essence, it gives members of a jury the power to throw an entire lawsuit out and acquit a criminal even if the state has done its job proving the defendant guilty. A good example of this would be if an older man was arrested and on trial for growing medicinal marijuana in his own backyard for personal use. Let’s say the man is facing 20 years in prison and a steep fine.