Felony Failure to Return VHS Rental Tape

“It was an honest mistake from a bygone era, but neglecting to return a Sabrina the Teenage Witch VHS tape rented 22 years ago earned an Oklahoma woman a criminal record for felony embezzlement.

Caron McBride, 52, discovered the charges earlier this month after she got married and applied for a driver’s license under her new last name in Texas.

She was told to call the Cleveland county district attorney’s office in Oklahoma, which told her there was a warrant for her arrest for failing to return the video of the children’s show that records indicate she rented in 1999.

‘I have never watched that show in my entire life, just not my cup of tea,’ McBride told Fox25. ‘Meanwhile, I’m a wanted felon for a VHS tape.’”

— “Unreturned Sabrina the Teenage Witch VHS leads to US woman’s arrest warrant,” Richard Luscombe, The Guardian

More: 

“Overdue VHS Tape From 1999 Leads to Warrant for Embezzlement,” Neil Vigdor, New York Times

“She never returned a VHS copy of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch,’ DA’s office said. 20 years later, she faced a felony.” Jaclyn Peiser, Washington Post

“Overdue Sabrina the Teenage Witch VHS Rental Leads to Felony Charge 21 Years Later,” Brian Cronin, CBR

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Image by Mike Licht (who knows the shop in question wasn’t a Blockbuster). Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

 Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Marriage Equality in Virginia. And 10 Other States.

The Supreme Court declined to reconsider federal appeals court rulings overturning bans on gay marriage in five states. Same-sex marriage is now legal in Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin. Six other states — Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming — bound by the same appellate rulings had stayed same-sex marriage pending the Supreme Court’s review, and should get with the program shortly. That means marriage equality is the law in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Appeals Court: Oklahoma Same-Sex Marriage is OK

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an earlier Federal court decision and struck down Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban, ruling it violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause. The same Federal court rejected a similar law in Utah. Either or both of those cases may now be brought before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The full Oklahoma opinion is here.

More:

“Court Finds Oklahoma Cannot Ban Gay Nuptials,” Jack Healy and Adam Liptak, New York Times

“Appeals court upholds ruling voiding Oklahoma gay marriage ban,” Heide Brandes, Reuters

“Federal appeals court rejects Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban,” German Lopez, Vox

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Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-jAT

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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U.S. Judge: Oklahoma Same-Sex Marriage is OK

On Tuesday Judge Terence Kern of the Northern District of Oklahoma ruled that the Sooner State’s amendment banning same-sex marriage is “an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit” and violates the U.S. Constitution.

Don’t order the cake and orange blossoms just yet, though. The ruling is stayed pending appeal, so there won’t be gay nuptials in Muskogee any time soon.

Okie Embryos Denied Personhood

A bill to grant personhood to unborn Oklahomans tragically miscarried in the state’s House of Representatives this past Thursday. The legislation seemed perfectly viable in the State Senate two months ago, when it was passed 34 to 8, but the bill failed in caucus before it could become implanted on the House floor for a vote, and has been resorbed back into the body politic. Come to think of it, that’s just like the development of the vast majority of fertilized human eggs, which don’t lead to live birth.