Legal Commentary

Lawyer Loses Bid To Claim Over $100,000 in Deductions for Prostitutes and Related Expenses

Posted on September 15, 2009
Attorney William Halby has lost another effort to allow him to deduct his “medical” use of prostitutes from his taxes. He lost a claim of over $100,000 in deductions before the federal Tax Court. The opinion is fascinating. The problem is that Halby’s use of prostitutes was neither doctor ordered nor legal in New [...

The Tweet That Got Away: Obama Calls Kanye West a ?Jackass?

Posted on September 15, 2009
In the rush to tweet the news by leading networks, journalists can sometimes find that technology moves a bit faster than editors. It appears that President Barack Obama made an off-the-record comment that called Kanye West a “Jackass.” It ran on a twitter from ABC’s Terry Moran and appears to have led to [...

Guilty By a Hair? Florida Woman Accused of False Imprisonment By Holding Customer?s Hair

Posted on September 15, 2009
Chanda Davina Warren, 21, has a novel criminal charge. Police say that she was running a beauty shop out of her apartment when she demanded payment for a hair styling half way through the haircut to pay her bills. When the customer refused, she allegedly grabbed her hair and held scissors to it [...

Florida Man Insists on Being Able to Drink Shoplifted Beer Before Paying Debt to Society

Posted on September 15, 2009
There is a certain logic to the position of George R. Linthicum II, who was arrested after shoplifting beer from a Florida convenience store. If he was going to go to jail, he insisted that the police at least allow him to drink one of the beers. Linthicum is charged Wednesday with shoplifting, battery, possession [...

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Lord of the Flies II: Parents and Activists Call For End of School Farm Program After Students Vote to Cull Lamb

Posted on September 15, 2009
A popular farming and livestock program at a primary school in Kent may be shutdown after the student council voted to ignore objections from parents and animal activists and have a six-month-old lamb named Marcus slaughtered for cash. The 14-member council composed of 6 to 11 year old children voted to turn Marcus into [...

Wilson Admonished ? With Only Seven Republicans Voting for the Sanction

Posted on September 15, 2009
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, has achieved the ignoble distinction of being admonished by the House after refusing to apologize on the floor for his outburst during the presidential address of President Barack Obama. What is astonishing is that only seven Republicans voted to uphold the House rules and to admonish their colleague in [...

Fairley Certain: Prosecutor Decides that No Charges Are Appropriate for Officer Who Shot an Unarmed Fire Chief in Courtroom ? But Fire Chief Should be Charged

Posted on September 14, 2009
We previously discussed the case of Fire Chief Don Payne in Jericho, Arkansas where he went to court for a second time in one day to complain about the police use of abusive speed traps in the small town. An argument erupted in front of Judge Tonya Alexander and Payne was shot from behind by [...

Legal Question of the Day: Can Kanye West Face Legal Action For His MTV Conduct?

Posted on September 14, 2009
The video below shows what would be considered rude and brutish conduct in every culture from the American society to the Klingon society. But was it actionable? When Kanye West grabbed country-pop star Taylor Swift’s mike at the ceremony, there may have been a minor assault but the most likely charge, if any was brought, [...

ACORN Threatens Legal Action Against Filmmaker Over Investigative Film

Posted on September 14, 2009
ACORN has fired the two employees shown in the recent undercover video by filmmaker James O’Keefe of Veritas Visuals– showing the staffers advising a faux pimp and prostitute (here) on how to get federal assistance and lie on federal forms...

Danish Viral Video of Mother Seeking the Father of Her Son is a Fake ? and Possible Pitch for Tourism

Posted on September 14, 2009
This is an amazing story. This video went viral and shows an attractive Danish woman who used YouTube (and other sites) to look for the father of her baby boy (”August”) after a drunken one-night stand in Denmark. It now appears that she is actually an actress named Ditte Arnth Jorgensen and [...

Insurance With the Works: Indiana Board Latest to Rule That Employers Must Pay For Weight Loss of Workers

Posted on September 14, 2009
There is an interesting decision out of Indianapolis where a board has ruled that Boston’s Gourmet Pizza must pay for weigh-loss surgery of a 340-pound employee, Adam Childers, after he suffered a back injury at work. Boston’s Gourmet Pizza will have to pay for a lap-band surgery for Childers under a 4-3 decision of the workers’ [...

Federal Judge Blasts Lenient Treatment of Blogger Andrew M. Sullivan in Drug Case

Posted on September 14, 2009
In a rare rebuke to prosecutors, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings has criticized the decision of the United States Attorneys office to drop charges against well-known blogger Andrew M. Sullivan, who was arrested by park rangers on a Cape Cod national beach for possession of marijuana on July 13th...

Waste Not Want Not: Green Bike Shop Owner Given Citation for Not Having Enough Trash

Posted on September 14, 2009
Bike shop owner Mark Howard prides himself on running a green business with virtually no trash. It is a bit too green for English authorities, who hit him with a citation. The reason? Not enough trash. Howard was given a £180 fine because officers simply do not believe that anyone is that efficient...

THE PERILS OF ALL YOU CAN EAT RESTAURANTS

Posted on September 13, 2009
There is nothing sadder than binge eating. The terrible thing is when he woke up, he immediately stumbled over to the all-you-can-eat dessert table.

Police Officer Finds Missing Cat, Takes It To a Field, Shoots It In the Head, and Throw It In the Trash

Posted on September 13, 2009
Police in Raymore, Missouri have a curious way to recovering missing pets. When 19-year-old Tobey disappeared on Labor Day, she was eventually found by a police officer. However, since it did not have a tag, the dispatcher ordered the officer to take the cat directly to a field and “put him down...

Minnesota Man Shoots Himself While Trying to Loosen Lug Nut on Tire With Shotgun

Posted on September 13, 2009
Most of us when faced with a stuck lug nut on a flat tire will look for some leverage. A man in South Kitsap, Washington, however, looked for something with a bit more firepower. He was injured when he tried to loosen the nut with a 12-gauge shotgun...

Twelve-Year-Old ?Child-Bride? in Yemen Dies in Labor

Posted on September 13, 2009
Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, 12, is the latest victim of the tradition of child-bride under Sharia law in some Muslim countries. She died after three-days of labor trying to give birth to a child that was the result of her marriage to a 24-year-old man in Yemen...

Movie Selection of the Fittest: Creationists Block Internationally Acclaimed Movie on Darwin From Being Shown in U.S.

Posted on September 13, 2009
In an act of utter cowardice, United States distributors appears to be caving into a creationist campaign to bar the movie Creation on the life of Charles Darwin. The film explores his loss of faith following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie...

Pawlenty Suggests Minnesota May Join Tenth Amendment Challenge to the Federal Health Bill

Posted on September 12, 2009
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) appears to have joined those governors threatening constitutional challenges under the Tenth Amendment to any federal health care bill. I discussed these arguments last night on this segment of Countdown and earlier on this segment of the Rachel Maddow show...

Monkey Business: Arizona Man Hit with Dozens of Tickets as Mysterious Speeding Monkey

Posted on September 12, 2009
Dave VonTesmar of Phoenix has a novel defense to a series of speeding tickets: I am not the monkey in that picture and you cannot prove that I am. “Someone” driving VonTesmar’s car has been racking up dozens of speeding tickets while wearing monkey and giraffe masks...

Pressing the Flesh: Newt Gingrich?s Group Awards Porn Executive with ?Entrepreneur of the Year Award?

Posted on September 12, 2009
Newt Gingrich’s selection for “Entrepreneur of the Year” came not only as a surprise to executive Allison Vivas but Gingrich’s supporters. You see, Vivas is the president of adult entertainment studio Pink Visual, a porn operation...

Media Report: Caster Semenya is a Hermaphrodite

Posted on September 12, 2009
Now, here’s a novel legal question. If someone is a hermaphrodite, can they choose to run in either male or female races? That is a question that may face international sporting events after a report that an examination of Caster Semenya, 18, discovered that she has both male and female sexual organs...

Homeowner Convicted for Beating Armed Robber ? Faces Tort Liability

Posted on September 12, 2009
There is an interesting case out of England on the limits of self-defense, a question that we often discuss in class. Munir Hussain, 52, has been convicted for attacking an armed robber who broke into his house and held him and his family hostage — while reportedly promising to kill them all...

Madonna Accused of Sinking Bulgarian Ship and Killing 15 People

Posted on September 11, 2009
The Bulgarian Church has announced that it has found the culprit in the sinking of a boat this week that killed 15 people: Madonna. This may not come as a surprise to some, but it appears that Madonna’s show was such an affront to God that he decided to kill a bunch of Bulgarian [...

Georgia Accused of Killing Hundreds of Turtles To Protect Them From Their Owner

Posted on September 11, 2009
The State of Georgia has a curious way of protecting animals. In 2005, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources raided the home of amateur herpetologist Steve Santhuff and seized 500 turtles. Santhuff was ultimately able to prove that he had not guilty of criminal charges when a jury acquitted him of all charges...

It?s Okay To Be Gay in Uruguay: Civil Unions are Recognized in the First Latin American Country

Posted on September 11, 2009
“It’s okay if U R Gay in Uruguay.” That slogan could become one of the biggest tourist attractions of the year. This week Uruguay became the first Latin American country to legalize civil unions for homosexual couples. Under the new law, gay and straight couples will be allowed to form civil unions after living together [...

A Heckle Becomes a Rallying Cry: Joe Wilson Calls for Donations to Keep From ?Being Muzzled?

Posted on September 11, 2009
Rep. Joe Wilson has gone on the offensive with the release of this fund-raising video calling for contributions to prevent critics from “muzzling” him. This follows a \flood of contributions to his opponent Rob Miller in the immediate aftermath of his outburst on the floor of the House of Representatives during the President’s address [...

Texas Teenager Arrested in Wendy?s Prank Posted on YouTube

Posted on September 11, 2009
James Tyler Markle, 19, has been arrested in another prank case. In this case, his prank at a Wendy’s in Texas cost over $20,000 and resulted in charges of one count of terrorizing and one count of felony criminal damage to property. The prankster posted the prank on YouTube, which ultimately proved his undoing: The incident [...

Eight Angry Men: Jury Sent Home After Alleged Brawl During Deliberations

Posted on September 11, 2009
It is not clear what is more interesting the legal problems in the trial over Merck?s osteoporosis drug Fosamax or the alleged assaults occurring in the jury room during deliberations. United States District Judge John Keenan in Manhattan was forced to issue the novel “time out” order this week and send home the eight [...

Cats Frame Another Biped: Florida Man Arrested in Confrontation with Feline Fifth Column

Posted on September 11, 2009
When will this country wake up to the cat menace? After following cases of cats framing humans (here and here), we have yet another example of the feline Fifth Column. Robert Taylor fell victim to a classic cat trap. He returned home to find that his cat had used his bed as [...

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