Since the Mets' season is effectively over, pitcher Francisco Rodriguez headed to court today to surrender on charges of violating an order of protection for his girlfriend. See, a judge orders you not to contact your girlfriend after (allegedly) punching her dad, contact includes text messages like "Your parents are manipulating you like a marionette." more ›

A state law against loitering has been ruled unconstitutional three times since it was passed in 1965, but the city continues to enforce it, often using it as an excuse to round up the homeless in bus terminals and men whom cops perceive as gay and "cruising" for sex. Yesterday a United States District Court judge held the city in contempt of court for failing to comply with orders to stop enforcing the loitering laws. In a 44-page ruling obtained by the Times, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin blasted the city: more ›

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Convicted killer Natavia Lowery's stepdad left a Manhattan courtroom in handcuffs yesterday after disrupting her sentencing, which has now been delayed to April 26th. Earlier this year Lowery was found guilty of killing her former boss Linda Stein. According to the Daily News, yesterday her stepfather screamed in court, "She has the right to change counsel under the sixth amendment." The outburst was brought on after the judge insulted the lawyer the Lowery's hoped to bring on board for the sentencing, noting he hadn't even read the case file. Due to other complications, however, Lowery's sentencing would have been delayed anyway. And now her stepdad faces up to a year in jail after being charged with contempt. more ›

The mother of a 7-year-old who disappeared from a foster home in Brooklyn more than a week ago remains behind bars because authorities believe she knows where her son is. Staten Island resident Jennifer Rodriguez—who according to the Post was described by a social worker yesterday as a drug-addicted habitual liar—is being held on contempt charges as authorities continue to look her son, Patrick Alford, who went missing on Jan. 22. more ›

Investigators have been searching for 7-year-old Patrick Alford since he vanished from foster care in East New York last Friday, and they think his mother knows where he is. So a judge ordered that 23-year-old Jennifer Rodriguez be detained at Rikers Island on contempt charges until the boy turns up. "I have the authority to hold her pending compliance with the court's order," said Staten Island Family Court Judge Terrence McElrath. "Did she comply with order to produce the child? No." more ›

Observing the behavior of some politicians in Albany is like lifting up a rock and watching the cockroaches flip you off. After bringing the already slothful State Senate to a standstill this summer by aligning with Republicans, megalomaniacal scofflaw Pedro Espada Jr. of The Westchester Bronx was wooed back to the Democratic fold and handed the position of majority leader. But naturally the perks didn't stop there; it's now come to light that Espada's son, Pedro G., has been hired by the Senate for the job of "deputy director of intergovernmental relations." more ›