Shon R. Hopwood was not a particularly sophisticated bank robber.
“We would walk into a bank with firearms, tell people to get down, take the money and run,” he said the other day, recalling five robberies in rural Nebraska in 1997 and 1998 that yielded some $200,000 and more than a decade in federal prison.
Mr. Hopwood spent much of that time in the prison law library, and it turned out he was better at understanding the law than breaking it. He transformed himself into something rare at the top levels of the American bar, and unheard of behind bars — an accomplished Supreme Court practitioner.
He prepared his first petition for certiorari — a request that the Supreme Court hear a case — for a fellow inmate on a prison typewriter in 2002. Since Mr. Hopwood was not a lawyer, the only name on the brief was that of the other prisoner, John Fellers.
The court received 7,209 petitions that year from prisoners and others too poor to pay the filing fee, and it agreed to hear just eight of them. One was Fellers v. United States.
“It was probably one of the best cert. petitions I have ever read,” said Seth P. Waxman, a former United States solicitor general who has argued more than 50 cases in the Supreme Court. “It was just terrific.”
Mr. Waxman agreed to take the case on without payment. But he had one condition.
“I will represent you,” Mr. Waxman recalled telling Mr. Fellers, “if we can get this guy Shon Hopwood involved.”
Mr. Fellers said sure. “It made me feel good that we had Shon there to quarterback it,” Mr. Fellers said.
The former solicitor general showed the bank robber drafts of his briefs. The two men consulted about how to frame the arguments, discussed strategy and tried to anticipate questions from the justices.
The case was about whether the police had crossed constitutional lines in questioning Mr. Fellers, who had been convicted of a drug conspiracy. Mr. Hopwood said he thought persuading Justice Sandra Day O’Connor would be crucial.
In January 2004, Mr. Waxman called Mr. Hopwood at the federal prison in Pekin, Ill. They had won a 9-to-0 victory. Justice O’Connor wrote the opinion.
Lil Wayne is constantly moving. But the hyperactive hip-hop star will find himself suddenly sedentary come Tuesday, when he has to report to prison to serve a yearlong sentence for gun possession.
“I don’t like to stop,” Wayne, 27, tells Rolling Stone. “I believe you stop when you die.”
He says his prison term is God’s will for him and everything happens for a reason.”I look at things as ‘Everything is meant to be.’ I know it’s an experience that I need to have if God’s putting me through it.”
Wayne’s felony charge came after a July 2007 arrest in New York City, when police found a .40-caliber handgun in his tour bus. Initially Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., pleaded not guilty – but in October, he changed his plea to guilty in exchange for a reduced 12-month sentence.
But before he finds himself waking up behind bars at New York’s Rikers Island, Wayne is packing in video shoots, recording sessions of songs from The Carter IV and time with his family. He says he’s avoiding getting tips on prison life.
“This is Lil Wayne going to jail,” he says. “Nobody I can talk to can tell me what that’s like. I just say I’m looking forward to
Shoot, what’s the answer to that one? This guy just paid me 100 grand for a speech and a question and answer session. What’s he asking me? Maybe I can get away with saying death panels, Socialism and where’s his birth certificate. Oh, wait, I wrote some crib notes on my hand—energy, that’s it! Whew. After Sarah
Palin’s keynote speech last night at the Tea Party Convention, she sat down with the event organizer Judson Phillips for a brief question and answer session. The questions were apparently pre-screened and Palin’s team of handlers had presumably prepped her on the right-wing talking point answers. But the half-term governor of Alaska still needed to look at the crib notes she scribbled on her left hand, to answer basic questions.
After trying to answer a question about what conservatives should do if they regained control of Congress, Palin muttered something about cutting spending and then faltered, seemingly forgetting her talking points. She then glanced at the crib notes on her left hand and came up with some energy talking points. Energy was the first word written on her hand. Mind you, Palin attacked President Obama during her speech for using a teleprompter for some of his major speeches.
A blown up image of Palin’s left hand reveals the Sarah Palin-Tea Party master plan to take their country back from the Socialists and to return to constitutional principles:
Energy Budget Tax Cuts Lift American Spirits
JUDSON PHILLIPS: “As soon as that happens what do you think are the top 3 things that have to be done?”
The company once known for its “don’t be evil” motto is now in bed with the spy agency known for the mass surveillance of American citizens.
The National Security Agency is widely understood to have the government’s biggest and smartest collection of geeks — the guys that are more skilled at network warfare than just about anyone on the planet. So, in a sense, it’s only natural that Google would turn to the NSA after the company was hit by an ultrasophisticated hack attack. After all, the military has basically done the same thing, putting the NSA in charge of its new “Cyber Command.” The Department of Homeland Security is leaning heavily on the NSA to secure .gov networks.
But there’s a problem. The NSA and its predecessors also have a long history of spying on huge numbers of people, both at home and abroad. During the Cold War, the agency worked with companies like Western Union to intercept and read millions of telegrams. During the war on terror years, the NSA teamed up with the telecommunications companies to eavesdrop on customers’ phone calls and internet traffic right from the telcos’ switching stations. And even after the agency pledged to clean up its act — and was given wide new latitude to spy on whom they liked – the NSA was still caught “overcollecting” on U.S. citizens. According to The New York Times, the agency even “tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant.”
All of which makes the NSA a particularly untrustworthy partner for a company that is almost wholly reliant on its customers’ trust and goodwill. We all know that Google automatically reads our Gmail and scans our Google Calendars and dives into our Google searches, all in an attempt to put the most relevant ads in front of us. But we’ve tolerated the automated intrusions, because Google’s products are so good, and we believed that the company was sincere in its “don’t be evil” mantra.
Capitals 4, Bruins 1: In the immortal words of Wayne Coyne, “do you realize?” So, do you? Do you realize that the Washington Capitals, with last night’s win over the Boston Bruins, are bulldozing their way through not just what is probably the best year in the 35-year history of the franchise, but one of the best seasons in the sporting history of Washington, D.C.? Do you realize the Capitals now have a larger lead for first in their conference than any other NHL team has at the top of their division? Do you realize that they are doing it as a team — including a goal last night from Boyd Gordon, a total of 18 players have scored for the team during the streak. (And do you realize that the Caps might actually be looking for ways that they can improve that already incredible offensive power?) Do you realize that Alex Ovechkin is actually only the second hottest Russian on the team at the moment? Do you realize that they’re winning in different ways — for instance, this evening, the Caps rode Tom Poti’s defensive acumen in the first and an unreal save by Jose Theodore in the second until they finally opened the floodgates in the third with three goals.
The tune reminds that “it’s hard to make the good things last.” But the Capitals are sure doing a pretty good job.
N.H. — His most famous character, Holden Caulfield, said it was impossible to find a place that is “nice and peaceful,” but J. D. Salinger may have found something close for himself in the woods of this tiny town.
Here Mr. Salinger was just Jerry, a quiet man who arrived early to church suppers, nodded hello while buying a newspaper at the general store and wrote a thank-you note to the fire department after it extinguished a blaze and helped save his papers and writings.
Despite his reputation, Mr. Salinger “was not a recluse,” said Nancy Norwalk, a librarian at the Philip Read Memorial Library in Plainfield, which Mr. Salinger would frequent. “He was a towns- person.”
And last week, after his death, his neighbors would not talk about him, reflecting what one called “the code of the hills.”
“Nobody conspired to keep his privacy, but everyone kept his privacy — otherwise he wouldn’t have stayed here all these years,” said Sherry Boudro of nearby Windsor, Vt., who said her father, Paul Sayah, befriended Mr. Salinger in the 1970s. “This community saw him as a person, not just the author of ‘The Catcher in the Rye.’ They respect him. He was an individual who just wanted to live his life.”
The curious constantly descended on Cornish and the surrounding area, asking residents for directions to Mr. Salinger’s house. Instead of finding the home, interlopers would end up on a wild goose chase.
How far afield the directions went “depended on how arrogant they were,” said Mike Ackerman, owner of the Cornish General Store. Mr. Salinger, he said, “was like the Batman icon. Everyone knew Batman existed, and everyone knows there’s a Batcave, but no one will tell you where it is.”
“ What must come out of this whole Toyota debacle is a stronger, better-budgeted NHTSA. Currently, the entire annual budget of the NHTSA, which includes motor vehicle, highway and driver safety and includes grants to the states, is less than the annual budget of the federal government to guard the embassy in Baghdad. While hundreds of thousands are killed and injured in the United States, we’re spending more on some huge embassy that’s the result of a criminal war of aggression by Bush and Cheney. ”
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: A German man who stuffed 44 small lizards into his underwear before trying to board a flight has been sentenced to prison in New Zealand for plundering the country’s protected species.
Hans Kurt Kubus, 58, will spend 14 weeks behind bars and must pay a 5,000 New Zealand dollar ($3,540) fine before being deported to Germany as soon as he is released, District Court Judge Colin Doherty ruled onTuesday.
Kubus was caught by wildlife officials at Christchurch International Airport on South Island in December, about to board an overseas flight with 44 geckos and skinks in a hand-sewn package concealed in his underwear.
He admitted trading in exploited species without a permit and hunting absolutely protected wildlife without authority, pleading guilty to two charges under the Wildlife Act and five under the Trade in Endangered Species Act.
Department of Conservation prosecutor Mike Bodie told the court Kubus could have faced potential maximum penalties of NZ$500,000 ($355,000) and six months in prison.
Bodie said the department sought a deterrent sentence for “the most serious case of its kind detected in New Zealand for a decade or more.”
A new professional basketball league boasting rosters made up exclusively of white Americans has its eyes set on Augusta, but the team isn’t receiving a warm welcome.
The All-American Basketball Alliance announced in a news release Sunday evening that it intends to start its inaugural season in June and hopes Augusta will be one of 12 cities with a team.
“Only players that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are eligible to play in the league,” the statement said.
Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver, who has publicly expressed his support for minor league teams in the past, said he would not do the same for this team.
“As a sports enthusiast, I have always supported bringing more sporting activities to Augusta,” he said. “However, in this instance I could not support in good conscience bringing in a team that did not fit with the spirit of inclusiveness that I, along with many others, have worked so hard to foster in our city.”
Clint Bryant, athletic director at Augusta State University, laughed when he heard the news.
“It’s so absurd, it’s funny, but it gives you an idea of the sickness of our society” he said. “It shows you what lengths people will go to just to be mean-spirited. I think at any basketball level, no matter if it’s all black, all white, all Hispanic, all Asian or anyone else, the players should just be a basketball team.”
Don “Moose” Lewis, the commissioner of the AABA, said the reasoning behind the league’s roster restrictions is not racism.
“There’s nothing hatred about what we’re doing,” he said. “I don’t hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here’s a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like.”
Lewis said he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of “street-ball” played by “people of color.” He pointed out recent incidents in the NBA, including Gilbert Arenas’ indefinite suspension after bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room, as examples of fans’ dissatisfaction with the way current professional sports are run.
NEW YORK - Burger King Corp. said Friday it plans to open a Whopper Bar in the South Beach area of Miami next month.
To keep up with Miami’s night life, Burger King (BKC)’s new Whopper bar will offer American beer and Whopper sandwiches around the clock, staying open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It will be the chain’s first U.S. location to sell beer, and the restaurant will offer a delivery service for local customers, a walk-up window for orders on the go and an outdoor dining area.
“Not only is South Beach in our backyard, but the warm weather, famous nightlife and colorful personality of the destination make it a great fit for a Whopper Bar restaurant,” Chuck Fallon, Burger King’s North America president, said in a company statement.
Burger King’s bar will offer variations on its traditional Whopper sandwich, including an exclusive addition: the Black & Bleu Steakhouse XT. Customers will be able to choose from 20 sauces, displayed in a “visible toppings theater.”
And when South Beach locals pick up a 4 a.m. burger, they will also have their choice of Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors beer, including Budweiser, Miller Lite and Budlight Lime at a cost of $4.25.
“That adds a new element to the Burger King brand,” said Tom Forte, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group. “It also creates a different mystique for going to a Whopper Bar versus a traditional restaurant.”
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