Legal Commentary

Stop The Torture of Pvt. Bradley Manning

Posted on March 05, 2011
  Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger   The nightmare started back in July of 2010.  Pvt. Bradley Manning was arrested and detained in the Brig at the Quantico Marine Base on allegations that he stole and then leaked classified documents to Wikileaks...

Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and Protesting Workers: The Story Continues

Posted on March 05, 2011
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger There have been some new developments in the Wisconsin story since my last post on the subject, Is the Scott Walker Story Just the Tip of the Koch Brothers Political Iceberg?. More than six hundred comments have been left at that post?and it takes a long time to load [...

Illinois Legislator Moves To Ban Filming Accident Scenes

Posted on March 04, 2011
We have been following the widening practice of policy arresting citizens for filming them in public. Both courts and commentators have denounced the practice, but Illinois State Rep. Tom Holbrooke (D-Belleville) wants to move forward and criminalize some filming in public — of any accident scenes...

Florida Court Stays Decision on Healthcare ? Allowing Continued Implementation of the Law

Posted on March 04, 2011
After U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson struck down the healthcare law, we discussed a curious part of his opinion where he declined to grant injunctive relief but then stated that it was not necessary because his declaratory judgment served the same function...

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English Woman Receives Damages for Paralyzing Fall at 33 Years in India

Posted on March 04, 2011
This story caught my eye on Reddit because last night I went to a dinner in Milwaukee and discussed how it still takes decades for a civil case to be brought to verdict in India — a huge barrier to businesses and firms in that country. As a demonstration of the problem, it took 33 [...

Michigan High School Player Dies After Scoring Winning Basket in Overtime

Posted on March 04, 2011
This is one of the saddest stores of the year. Wes Leonard, 16, had just achieved the dream of a basketball player — scoring the winning basket in overtime for his high school. He then collapsed and died. The Fennville High School player in Michigan had just scored and the crowd erupted in joy when [...

?The Beast Has Eaten!?: MS-13 Member Offers The Nation An Example of the Rising Gang Carnage in the United States

Posted on March 04, 2011
Defense lawyer Sam Schmidt, defense attorney for Julio Chavez has his work cut out. His client is looking at a first-degree murder charge but helped create the perfect case for a prosecutor: a murder in front of witnesses after which he displayed MS-13 gang signs and allegedly proclaimed “The beast has eaten!” It turns out [...

Westminster (London) Moves To Ban Lying Down in Public and Giving Away Food

Posted on March 04, 2011
A new law in Westminster (London), England would make it illegal to lie down in a public place and to give away food. It is another example of cities criminalizing or banning conduct that includes routine behavior. It is an invitation for arbitrary enforcement since I doubt the police will be arresting folks resting in [...

Northwestern Professor Under Fire For Live Sex Demonstration in Class

Posted on March 03, 2011
Things appear to have changed a bit since I attended Northwestern. Prof. John Michael Bailey gave his students an optional demonstration as part of his “Human Sexuality” class with a naked couple having sex in his class. Over 100 students watched as a man used a sex toy on a woman in the class...

Ready to Wehr: Famed Designer Galliano To Face Criminal Charges Over Alleged Anti-Semitic Remarks

Posted on March 03, 2011
Famed Christian Dior designer John Galliano will face a criminal trial over an alleged anti-Semitic rank against a rival. As previously discussed in a column and a line of blog stories (here and here and here and here), various Western governments have been curtailing free speech by prosecuting blasphemy and speech against various groups...

Norfolk Employee Fired After Receiving Pay for 12 Years While On Administrative Leave

Posted on March 03, 2011
Jill McGlone, a former administrative worker at the Norfolk Community Services Board, is hoping mad and I don’t blame her. She has alleged that she was wrongly terminated from a job that she had not done in 12 years while receiving full pay. McGlone was suspended back in 1998 but somehow got lost in the [...

LawDragon Selects Top 500 Lawyers

Posted on March 03, 2011
LawDragon has released the results of its increasingly popular survey of the top lawyers in America. The Top 500 Lawyers includes many familiar names from Carter Phillips to Gerry Spence to Antonin Scalia. I was fortunate to again make the list this year...

Mistrial Declared in New York After Juror Suddenly Announced That She Previously Saw The Defendant . . . Dragging The Victim Across a Bridge

Posted on March 02, 2011
We all wait in our careers for that Perry Mason moment that never comes in a trial . . . when someone stands up in the court and screams “Yes, I did it!” One lawyer in the trial of Earl Berry, 40, came close in a real plot twist. On the second day of the [...

Gas Overwhelms Cook-Off: Texas Police Officer Suspended After Allegedly Throwing Tear Gas Canister Into Competitor?s Booth

Posted on March 02, 2011
Gas is always a concern at any cook-off with Bar-B-Que and beans but one Houston police officer is accused of supplying tear gas of his own. Mike Hamby, 51, has been suspended for allegedly tossing a tear gas canister into the booth of a competitor at the cook-off...

Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Westboro Church

Posted on March 02, 2011
In an important reaffirmation of the free speech, the Supreme Court has ruled 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro is infamous for its deranged, homophobic protests at funerals of falled U.S. troops. In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court refused to allow the universal disgust at Westboro’s views influence [...

California Teacher Suspended For Rattling a Table to Get Attention of the Class

Posted on March 02, 2011
I have often used this blog (here) to complain about how teachers and administrators have used criminal charges to regulate routine instances of childish behavior. Now, we have the inverse situation of a teacher who has been confronted by police over the rattling of a desk due to an irate parent...

Florida District Attorney Refuses To Prosecute Citizen for Videotaping Officer in Public

Posted on March 02, 2011
We have another case of a police officer arresting a citizen for videotaping him in public . . . with a twist. We finally have a prosecutor, Pinellas (Florida) State Attorney Bernie McCabe who refuses to prosecute such an abusive charge unlike so many other prosecutors who take these cases and perpetuate the abuse against [...

Supreme Court Upholds Use of Dying Statements as ?Non-Testimonial? Evidence

Posted on March 01, 2011
The Supreme Court has ruled that a mortally wounded man’s dying statement is “non-testimonial” and can be used to convict a man of murder. The ruling, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor raised serious concerns under the confrontation clause of the Constitution...

As Ukraine Heralds Chernobyl as Tourist Site, Scientists Warn of Catastrophic Collapse and Radioactive Release

Posted on March 01, 2011
Some of us expressed alarm or disgust at the recent push by Ukrainian officials to bring tourists to Chernobyl (here and here). Now, it appears that these officials were likely aware that the reactor is in danger of leaking deadly radiation due to the potential collapse of part of the structure...

Fourth Grader in New York Suspended Over Kick Me Sign

Posted on March 01, 2011
A New York school has suspended a 9-year-old boy in the fourth grade for putting a “kick me” sign on the back of a classmate. The suspension was handed down for “bullying.” While I have written about the need for greater efforts against bullying, I hope that this incident is not just limited to a [...

Iran Protests Symbol for London Games As Hidden Zionist Message

Posted on March 01, 2011
When you look at this image, what do you see? It turns out that the Iranian government sees a Zionist conspiracy bent on taking over the 2012 Olympics. The Iranian government has sent a formal letter of protest to the International Olympic Committee objecting that the logo for the 2012 London Olympics spells out “Zion...

Canadian Judge Under Fire For Light Rape Sentence and Comments on Victim

Posted on February 28, 2011
Manitoba Justice Robert Dewar is under attack for his sentencing of Kenneth Rhodes, 40, for sexual assault. Dewar gave Rhodes just a two-year conditional sentence to be served as home for raping a 26-year-old woman. Dewar appeared to blame the victim in part for the attack...

U.S. Site Blames New Zealand Earthquake on . . . Gays

Posted on February 28, 2011
It didn’t take long for religious fanatics in the United States to uncover a nugget of prejudicial hate in the ruins of the recent earthquake in New Zealand. Christchurch Quake is registered in Utah and claims that the earthquake was God’s judgment on the people of New Zealand for allowing “lesbians running loose on the [...

Illinois Man Sends Over $200,000 To Fake Web ?Girlfriend?

Posted on February 28, 2011
I am always shocked by folks who fail for Nigerian Internet schemes or web cons. The saddest, however, are the ones (as we have seen) that prey upon people looking for companions. A 48-year-old Naperville man has added himself to that lonely hearts club after giving $200,000 to a fake “girlfriend” who he only knew [...

Watch a Real Reporter At Work

Posted on February 28, 2011
If you want to see a real reporter who asks the tough questions, take a look at Joey, 5, interviewing the Chicago Blackhawks. Joey finally asks such long-simmering questions as “what’s the big deal with girls?”

Thomas Condemns His Critics As Undermining The Supreme Court

Posted on February 28, 2011
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reportedly unleashed an attack on his critics for his violations of disclosure laws and alleged conflicts of interest. He warned law students that these critics are “undermining” the Court and endangering the country by weakening core institutions...

The Obama Administration Inserts Provision Into UN Security Council Measure To Protect Mercenaries From War Crimes Prosecutions

Posted on February 28, 2011
The recent United Nation Security Council decision to freeze the assets of the Gaddafi family was heralded as a high-point of international cooperation to fight authoritarian abuse. What has gotten less press attention is the role of the United States in drafting the resolution...

Applying Trademark Law to Fictional Brands

Posted on February 27, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger Benjamin Arrow, a 3L at Fordham University School of Law, has raised an interesting question in his article for The Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal. Can a use in fiction constitute a ?use in commerce? sufficient to reserve priority rights in a trademark? In 1996, [...

Lawyers Using Groupon ? Ethical?

Posted on February 27, 2011
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger We have previously discussed the law firm with the drive-thru window, here. That notion seems upscale compared to law firms using Goupon. Groupon (group coupon) is a deal-of-the-day website that can determine your computer’s location through it’s IP address and offer you discounts on goods and services in [...

Three?s The (Ch)Arm

Posted on February 27, 2011
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger Think reality is self-evident. Neuroscientists at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institutet aren’t so sure. Seems recent testing reveals it is quite easy to convince the human mind that it’s body has three arms...

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