'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Despite a global crackdown on human traffickers and a pledge by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that stopping this type of "modern slavery" was a top priority, foreign diplomats in the United States remain immune from punishment when they abuse members of their household staffs.
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. followed a public shaming of the former D.C. Council chairman this week with a vow to "ensure public trust" — a pledge sure to be tested as he resolves his probe into Mayor Vincent C. Gray's 2010 campaign, the last in a trio of investigations that blazed a path this year from city hall to the federal courthouse.
With his DNA discovered on the woman who accused him of trying to rape her and forcing her to perform oral sex, former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn may employ a consensual sex defense that poses risks for defendants and prosecutors alike.
State Attorney General Jerry Brown sued the federal government Wednesday, asking a judge to stop government-sponsored mortgage buyers from blocking a program that lets homeowners pay for energy-efficient improvements through increased property taxes.
