A pair of interesting legal issues were resolved (one, granted, for the time being) over the past day or so and the results are, to say the least, fascinating.

First up…

Texas Grand Jury Clears Planned Parenthood, Indicts Its Accusers

As I’ve stated many times before, I’m loathe to get into politics on this blog but the ironies involved in this case are too damn interesting not to.  A few months back, anti-choice activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt surreptitiously filmed Planned Parenthood staff while posing as part of a company interested in buying fetal tissue for research.  According to most neutral observers, the video they subsequently released showing the conversations between them and the Planned Parenthood staff were heavily edited to make it appear the people they were talking to from the organization were cavalierly willing to sell and profit from fetal tissue.

This created an incredible bruhaha…but in the end mostly among the right wing anti-choice crowds, including Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, who bizarrely stated in the Presidential Debates she saw things in these videos which just weren’t there.

Regardless, the controversy was enough to get many states whose politicians have a thing against Planned Parenthood to initiate investigations of the organization.  These investigations have led to nothing so far and, in the case above, even less than nothing.

In this case, as the CNN article notes, not only was Planned Parenthood cleared, but the accusers were indicted and now face the possibility of up to 20 years in jail.

A fascinating result, to say the least, but even that isn’t enough to stop the politicians of Texas (a state that is seemingly run by hard right anti-choice pro-gun folks) from continuing their “investigations” into Planned Parenthood.  And so it goes…

Second up…

FSU Agrees on Lawsuit Settlement with Jameis Winston’s Rape Accuser

Being from Florida, it was hard not to somewhat follow Jameis Winston’s career since he was a star quarterback in Florida State University (FSU).  Now the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during his days at FSU Mr. Winston sure found himself in many odd and sometimes very troubling situations, as can be read here:

James Winston Incidents Timeline

While these incidents run the gamut between trivial and very serious, clearly the most disturbing of the incidents involves the allegations Mr. Winston raped fellow FSU student Erica Kinsman.  She brought suit against Mr. Winston and FSU and now the school and Ms. Kinsman have settled the lawsuit for nearly one million dollars.

Given the amount of incidents involving Mr. Winston, one can’t help but wonder why FSU didn’t take stronger action against him, up to and including before and after the rape allegations.  It makes one realize the power of the purse college football has on a University, even one as large as FSU.

The fact is that Mr. Winston, despite his repeated behaviors, was an incredibly gifted college level quarterback and has proven, in his first year as the quarterback of Tampa Bay, a very good professional one as well and that makes officials who should know better willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

To be fair, since going pro I haven’t heard of any off-field issues regarding Mr. Winston so one hopes that perhaps he’s finally matured and/or the Tampa Bay team has him covered and controlled far better than FSU ever did.

Following the announcement of the settlement between Ms. Kinsman and FSU, the school of course continued to deny any wrongdoing and claimed the settlement was reached to avoid further legal expenses.  I’m absolutely certain this is indeed the case and, further, I suspect most of the settlement payment was issued by the school’s insurance company.

As for whether they would win in court, given Mr. Winston’s history I wonder.  Perhaps a settlement was in the best interests of the University after all.