Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On June 28, 1776, an incident that may have escaped your elementary school education occurred when one of General George Washington’s elite bodyguards was hanged for “mutiny, sedition, and treachery.” Digging Deeper Irish born Thomas Hickey, of unknown age, had immigrated to North America and served in the British Army during the French and Indian War, as an attendant to Major General William Johnson.  When the Americans declared Independence in 1776, Hickey joined the revolution as a private in the Continental Army, serving in George Washington’s personal bodyguard corps called the “Life Guard.” Hickey found himself in…

A Brief History On June 27, 2017, a massive cyber attack began on Europe, the USA, and Australia, with Ukraine being the main target.  Businesses, government offices, utilities, banks, and other targets were hit, 80% of which were in Ukraine. Digging Deeper Although disguised to appear as ransomware, the 2 day attacks were found out by Ukrainian investigators to have been perpetrated by Russian agents within Ukrainian territory.  The hackers’ equipment was seized, and it was also discovered this same group was responsible for a 2016 attack against Ukrainian financial institutions and utilities. After the 2014 seizure of the Crimea…

A Brief History On June 21, 1973, the US Supreme Court handed down a decision in Miller v. California, establishing a way to determine if something is “free speech” guaranteed by the 1st Amendment or if it is obscene. Digging Deeper Referred to as the “Miller Test,” SCOTUS determined that three factors must be present for some sort of expression to be considered obscene and not covered under “free speech.”  These three factors are: “Whether ‘the average person, applying contemporary community standards’, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, Whether the work depicts…

A Brief History On June 13, 1996, after a tense 81 day standoff with the FBI, a group of Americans in the area of Jordan, Montana that had declared themselves “sovereign citizens” not subject to the laws of the United States, finally surrendered. Digging Deeper The Montana Freemen, as they called themselves, had the idea that they could legally declare their lands “Justus Township,” an independent entity outside the jurisdiction of the US government.  Various disregard of laws and debts soon got this group in legal and financial trouble, and some were convicted of crimes.  By 1996, the FBI had…

A Brief History On June 5, 1893, the murder trial of Lizzie Borden began.  Borden was accused of killing her father and stepmother with an axe.  Despite the popular assumption of her guilt, she was acquitted in one of the most famous trials in US history. Digging Deeper Some of the other candidates as the most famous American trial include the following: In The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial of 1921 for robbery and murder, the men were believed by many to be railroaded because they were immigrants and anarchists in a case that saw worldwide attention. The Scopes Monkey Trial…