Legal Commentary

Pressing the Flesh: Georgia House Speaker Resigns Amid Sex Scandal With Lobbyist

Posted on December 04, 2009
Georgia’s House Speaker Glenn Richardson ran on a family values platform as a Republican, but has been embroiled in a scandal involving his alleged affair with a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas and Light. He later tried to commit suicide and now has resigned after his ex-wife came forward with alleged proof of the affair...

Barfoot and Flagrant: War Hero Fights For Right to Fly Flag

Posted on December 04, 2009
Col. Van T. Barfoot, 90, is one of the nation’s oldest Medal of Honor winners but has found himself in another desperate struggle: against his neighborhood association. Barfoot put up a 21-Foot flagpole to hoist Old Glory only to be told by the Sussex Square homeowners’ association that he will be sued if he [...

Pruning the Tree of Knowledge: Religious Advocates Vandalize Atheist Tree and Officials Demand That It Be Shortened By Eight Feet To Be Lower Than The Christmas Tree

Posted on December 04, 2009
In the Book of Genesis, the tree of knowledge was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9) from which God directly forbade Adam to eat (Genesis 2:17). In Philadelphia, religious advocates would prefer that it not be seen, let alone touched...

Long Island?s Les Misérables: Muslim Storekeeper?s Generosity Leads to Robber?s Redemption

Posted on December 04, 2009
This Christmas season, the most inspiring story may be one involving a Muslim store owner. It is the Long Island version of Les Misérables and Jean Valjean is played by a distraught robber in a convenience store. In May 2009, a man wielding a bat barged into the Shirley Express convenience store just [...

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Father Loses Job, Seeks Reduction in Child Support So Florida Judge Increases Payments By $300 and Then Recuses Herself for a Conflict

Posted on December 03, 2009
There is a disturbing case out of Orlando, Florida involving a curious ruling on child support. John Nelson is a father who had lost his six-figure salary as a software executive. Nelson secured a lower paying job as a teacher to support himself and pay his child support...

Party Pooper: White House Invokes Separation of Powers to Block Testimony of Social Secretary

Posted on December 03, 2009
Usually privilege fights focus on testimony of White House staffers on conversations with President or military and state secrets. President Barack Obama, however, has invoked the separation of powers to block the testimony of Desiree Rogers, the White House Social Secretary, on the recent controversy over Michaele and Tareq Salahi...

The Sofa of Suspension: Michigan Attorney Suspended Following Criminal Plea and Allegations That He Used a ?Couch of Restitution? To Solicit Sex From Clients

Posted on December 03, 2009
The entertainment world is quite familiar with the “casting couch” where aspiring actresses and actors are expected to grant sexual favors for parts. Now an attorney has been suspended for 180 days after being accused of using a “restitution couch” for clients to pay for legal services with sexual services...

Crew Member Sues Maersk Over Hijacking of Vessel By Pirates

Posted on December 03, 2009
There is an interesting torts suit stemming from the pirating of the Maersk Alabama in the Gulf of Aden. Crew members are now accusing the celebrated captain of the ship, Richard Phillips, of causing the incident by ignoring repeated warnings to sail around the area after earlier pirate attacks...

The True Obama High: Police Seize Obama Ecstasy Pills

Posted on December 03, 2009
Mario Guadalupe Saenz, 22, was arrested in Palmview, Texas after police found a bag of ecstasy pills that seemed strikingly familiar: they are shaped in Obama’s image. Other pills featured Homer Simpson. It turns out that that euphoria that you feel with Obama may be more chemical than political...

Dropping Acid For the Queen: Video Shows Effects of Military Experimentation with LSD

Posted on December 03, 2009
This video is truly amazing. The British had an entire unit take LSD to see how they performed after dropping acid. With one soldier climbing a tree to feed a bird and the commander rolling around laughing, the unit was ready more for Woodstock than Waterloo...

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT DOES A BUDDHIST MONK DO ON A BUMPER CAR?

Posted on December 03, 2009
This could be a Zen question. Do you aim for the other cars or the space between the cars? If “Buddhahood is defined as a state free of the obstructions to liberation,” this could be an avenue for self-enlightenment.

Seeing Rouge: Iran Bans Women With Makeup From Television

Posted on December 03, 2009
It is enough to make you blush, but don’t . . . it’s against the rules. The medieval troglodyte known as the Islamic Republic of Iran has issued a new directive. The state television authority has announced that it will bar any women wearing makeup from appearing on television as well as unIslamic [...

Benedict Arnold Cleared! West Point Found to Be Enemy Camp

Posted on December 02, 2009
Many conservative pundits are up in arms over MSNBC host Chris Matthews calling West Point the “enemy camp.” However, what has been ignored is the impact on the status of Gen. Benedict Arnold. In the video below, Matthews was observing that Obama was not getting the warmest of receptions from the cadets at West [...

No Cases for You: San Diego District Attorney Boycotts Judge

Posted on December 02, 2009
San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn has found a way to reduce his caseload. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has told prosecutors to block any criminal cases that go before the judge. Yet, when asked about the boycott, Dumanis insists that Einhorn is a ?well-respected jurist? — just a jurist whom she doesn’t [...

Cardinal: No Gays Go To Heaven

Posted on December 02, 2009
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barraga, Mexican Cardinal and President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers in the Roman Catholic Church, has declared that there are no homosexuals or transsexuals in heaven. If they want heaven, they have to change their sexual partners to members of the opposite sex...

Federal Judge Criticizes NYPD For ?Widespread Falsification? of Arrest Reports

Posted on December 02, 2009
One of the most famous federal judges in the country lashed out at the New York Police Department this week, accusing the department of a proven record of “widespread falsification by arresting officers.” The criticism came with Judge Jack Weinstein’s decision not to throw out a lawsuit by two men busted on false [...

Dead Letter: Mother Sues After Receiving Back Letter To Son in Iraq Stamped ?DECEASED?

Posted on December 02, 2009
There is an interesting tort case out of Minnesota where a mother mistakingly received a return letter stamped “DECEASED” after she wrote to her son serving in Iraq. Joan Najbar is a critic of the war and is suing the military for negligent infliction of emotional distress and other claims...

Court Throws Jesus Christ Out of Court as Disruptive

Posted on December 02, 2009
For those who have fought to introduce religious symbols like the Bible and the Ten Commandments in courthouses in Alabama (here and here), the decision of Judge Clyde Jones could not be more poignant. This week the Birmingham judge literally threw out Jesus Christ from the courtroom...

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon Convicted of Fraudulent Misappropriation

Posted on December 02, 2009
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has been convicted of a single count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. It was one of the original 12 counts of corruption in an indictment (later reduced at trial, including four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations...

Court Orders Arizona Deputy to Jail After He Refuses to Apologize for Swiping Attorney?s Notes in Court

Posted on December 02, 2009
Officer Adam Stoddard of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has added contempt of court to his prior violation of attorney-client confidentiality. At the urging of his boss, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Stoddard has refused to apologize to defense attorney Joanne Cuccia after he swiped handwritten notes from her papers — caught in the [...

TURLEY BLOG MAKES TOP 100 ? RACE BEGINS FOR TOP SPOT IN IMHO (OPINION) CATEGORY

Posted on December 01, 2009
The moment has come. For the last twelve months, we have basked in the glory as the Top Law Professor and Legal Theory Blog. Now, the ABA has started the Third Annual Competition. The good news is that we once again made the top 100 blogs. However, the ABA has mixed [...

Former Miss Argentina Dies After Cosmetic Surgery on Buttocks

Posted on December 01, 2009
We have been following tort cases involving cosmetic surgeries. Now, former Miss Argentina, Solange Magnano, has died from complications after undergoing gluteoplasty to reduce her buttocks in Buenos Aires. Close friend Roberto Piazza said the liquid from the injections “went to her lungs and brain” and she eventually died from an embolism...

Can You Hear Me Now? Police Officer Recorded Using Racial Slur on Cell

Posted on December 01, 2009
Maryland Trooper Sgt. John Maiello may wish that coverage was not as good on the Eastern Shore. He is accused of unwittingly leaving a message with a racial slur on the cell phone answering system of Teleta DaShiell. The officer on the call clearly believes that the phone call has ended and is [...

Satanic Styles: Syracuse Student Finds Answer to Homophobic Protesters

Posted on December 01, 2009
Finally, someone has an answer to homophobic protesters. Chris Pesto of Syracuse University found the perfect answer to a group who came to campus to protest homosexuals. The sinfully dressed protester is Michelle Deferio who protested with her father, Jim Deferio...

Can The White House Crashers Be Criminally Charged?

Posted on December 01, 2009
Tareq and Michaele Salahi are likely to discover the meaning of the common criminal law adage “one day on the cover of Time, next day doing time.” The Secret Service is likely to push for the criminal investigation of the White House crashers this week...

Report: Millions of AIDS Cases in Africa Are Caused By Medical Malpractice

Posted on December 01, 2009
There is a horrific report out of the Royal Society of Medicine. The number of AIDS cases in Africa continues to rise and is often blamed upon cultural practices and incompetent governments. Now, however, a report indicates that almost five million cases were likely caused by poor health practices, particularly the use of [...

Ohio Unveils New Single Drug Execution Protocol

Posted on December 01, 2009
After various prior scandals involving botched executions (and a recently cancelled execution), Ohio has introduced a new execution protocol and drug — abandoning the traditional three-drug cocktail for a single dose execution. The widely used three-drug cocktail was designed to minimize pain by inducing unconsciousness followed by death through paralysis of respiratory muscles and cardiac arrest...

Clouded Claim: English Pub Owner Fined for Copyright Infringement by Customer Using Free Wi-Fi

Posted on November 30, 2009
There is a disturbing case out of England this week where a pub owner was fined £8,000 ($13,183) because someone unlawfully downloaded copyrighted material over its free Wi-Fi system. The fine against The Cloud Pub could spell trouble for free wi-fi access and should prompt legislators to look at the need for an intervention [...

Indonesian Minister Blames Natural Disasters on . . . Television

Posted on November 30, 2009
Indonesian Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring has declared that he has isolated the cause for a string of natural disasters. It turns out that it is due to television and immoral programming. The minister made his comments after the country was hit by a powerful earthquake in September and noted that the disaster was [...

Stockholm Syndrome : Husband Released After Police Determine The Moose Did It

Posted on November 30, 2009
With karate chopping whales and conspiratorial cats, this should not surprise us. In Stockholm, Swedish police have released a husband suspected in the death of his wife after determining that . . . the Moose did it. Agneta Westlund, 63, was found dead during a stroll in the forest...

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