Legal Commentary

Atheist Sues Army Over Sectarian Ceremonies

Posted on September 28, 2008
Army Specialist Dustin Chalker is a loyal soldier, a good citizen, and an atheist. It is the last of his characteristics that has caused problems when he is ordered to sit through ceremonies with sectarian religious observations. With the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, he has filed suit in a federal district [...

The Devil Makes Him Do It: Christian Leader Suggests Satan is Behind Obama and God Has Sent Palin in Response

Posted on September 28, 2008
James Bramlett, a well-known Christian advocate and former CBN employee, has unraveled the political and biblical entrails this year. The result is quite alarming. Barack Obama’s true campaign sponsor? SATAN. Fortunately, Bramlett has informed his readers that God sent Sarah Palin, who appeared to protect the faithful from the Godless hoard...

Palin Trivia: Quick Name the Five Colleges that Sarah Palin Attended in Six Years to Get Her College Degree

Posted on September 27, 2008
Academics around the country are playing a weird new trivia game akin to Where’s Waldo — Collegiate Edition. I have been challenged by professors to name all of the colleges that Palin attended in her long pursuit of a college degree. Palin pools appear the rage among the academic set...

Norman Evasion: Mistrial Declared in Baseball Player Joe Petcka?s Pet Problem

Posted on September 27, 2008
A New York judge has declared a hung jury at the trial of a former minor league baseball player and actor Joseph Petcka for his alleged beating, stomping and kicking his girlfriend’s cat to death during a drunken fury. The jury deliberated for five days on the charge of aggravated animal cruelty in the death [...

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Picking Between Anorexic and Obese Students at Harvard: School Removes Calorie Counters From Dining Halls

Posted on September 27, 2008
Harvard University appears to have made a curious choice in its dining halls. Harvard University Dining Services has been supplying index cards with nutritional information for people concerned about fat and calorie content — part of a national trend to give more information to consumers...

Dead Schunk in the Middle of a Row: Wisconsin Court Rules That Family Members Can Inherit Estate After Assisting in Suicide

Posted on September 27, 2008
A very interesting ruling out of Wisconsin this week on assisted suicide and inheritance. Judge Margaret Vergeront ruled that Linda Schunk, and youngest child, Megan, may inherit the estate of Edward Schunk, 63, even if they assisted him in killing himself...

A Lawyer?s Lament: Paul Newman Dead at 83

Posted on September 27, 2008
The legendary Paul Newman is dead at 83. Newman was a favorite of many lawyers (particularly this lawyer) for his great performances in law-related movies from Cool Hand Luke to The Verdict. My personal favorite was Cool Hand Luke. His epitaph may have been written in that movie by the voice over: “He was smiling… [...

Ninth Circuit Rules That U.S. Companies Not Guilty of Genocide in Use of Pesticides in Ivory Coast

Posted on September 26, 2008
The United States Court of Appeals has ruled that 700 Ivory Coast farm workers cannot establish that exposure to a U.S.-made pesticide, known as DBCP for dibromochloropropane, constituted genocide. The court ruled that there was no evidence that Amvac Chemical Corp...

Tony Alamo Arrested on Mann Act Violations

Posted on September 26, 2008
Police found minister Tony Alamo holed up in the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona when they finally arrested the Arkansas preacher for transporting minors across state lines for sexual purposes. A minister who used to associate with people like Bill Clinton, Alamo has been giving interviews, including the interviews below, steadfastly defending [...

For Whom the Torts Toll: Disney is Sued After Hemmingway Bites Girl

Posted on September 26, 2008
An interesting case was filed against Disneyland in California over a dog bite. Lena Dickerson was 2-years-old when she was encouraged to pet a German shepherd-Labrador retriever mix named Hemmingway at the Disneyland petting zoo in October of 2006. She was severely bitten on the face and left with scarring...

Michigan Court Narrows Definition of Sex Offender to Exclude Bestiality

Posted on September 26, 2008
The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that the definition of sex offender does not include people convicted of bestiality. That means that Jeffrey Scott Haynes, 45, will not have to register after serving time for have sex with sheep. Haynes has a long history of crimes that stretch across the criminal code from forgery [...

I Quit: Washington Mutual CEO Fishman Gets $20 Million for 17 days of Work ? Before the Whole Company Was Sold

Posted on September 26, 2008
The virtual collapse of Washington Mutual was a tragedy for many thousands of customers and clients. Everyone, however, is breathing a sigh of relief: he recently hired CEO Alan H. Fishman has landed on his feet. He only worked at WaMu for 17 days and will receive roughly $20 million...

Charges Dropped in Flatulent Assault on Officer

Posted on September 26, 2008
The prosecutors of Kanawha County have asked to drop charged filed against 34-year-old Jose Cruz who was accused of committing assault on an officer by expelling gas near him. He still faces DUI charges, however. The remaining question is whether the police department in Kanawha County will take any actions against the officer who [...

Keeping the Plainsman Plain (and Straight): New Mexico Board of Education Takes Over Student Publications After Lesbian Yearbook Picture

Posted on September 26, 2008
The good people on the board of education in Clovis, New Mexico have voted to review all of the content of all student publications after a Yearbook published pictures of lesbian couples in their high school. Principals are also empowered to censor such publications like the Plainsman Yearbook...

Problem Solved? New York Police Taser Naked Man on Ledge Who Then Dies in Fall

Posted on September 25, 2008
Many police departments spent countless minutes trying to get people off building ledges or perches. New York police, however, have a more efficient approach: they shot him with a taser and collect him after he falls. In the case of Inman Morales, 35, it resulted in his death...

The Witch-Resistant Candidate: Palin Participates in Blessing to Protect Her From Witchcraft

Posted on September 25, 2008
Gov. Sarah Palin has campaigned on being resistant to earmarks and corruption, but she can now claim to be witch-resistant. A video below has emerged on YouTube that shows Palin participating in a collective blessing from Bishop Thomas Muthee, a regular at her evangelical Wasilla Assembly of God church, who prays for protection from [...

Tort Magnet: Man Hit by Train Hours After Being Hit by Car

Posted on September 25, 2008
For ambulance chasers, Robert Evans, 46, is a perpetual motion machine of torts. He started the day by being hit by a hit-and-run driver in Boulder, Colorado and finished the day by being hit by a train. (He appears to have run out of time on adding a plane accident)...

Man Sues Over Amputation of Penis Under the ?Emergency Rule?

Posted on September 25, 2008
In Louisville; Kentucky, a major malpractice case has been filed by a man who consented to a circumcision and instead discovered after the surgery that the doctors had amputated his penis. Philip Seaton has sued both the surgeon Dr. John Patterson and anesthesiologist, Dr...

New Mexico Officer Accidentally Shoots and Kills Himself

Posted on September 25, 2008
Albuquerque police Lt. Todd Parkins tragically died Wednesday morning after he shot himself in the chest by accident. Parkins, a veteran police officer married to a former police officer, accidentally discharged his weapon when he was putting it into a home safe...

Flatulent Felony: West Virginia Man Charged with Gaseous Battery on Officer

Posted on September 25, 2008
Jose Cruz was being charged with a DUI in South Charleston, West Virginia when he intentionally or negligently expelled gas in the presence of the arresting officer. The result was a charge for battery upon an officer, who noted in the charge form that it was particularly potent...

Y?allgenics: Louisiana Legislator Calls for Program for the Sterilization of Women on Welfare

Posted on September 24, 2008
State Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie had announced that he may have a way to help end multigenerational welfare families: pay women on welfare $1000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied. Since it is voluntary, he insists that it is not eugenics. It’s friendlier...

Leading French Author Pierre Péan Prosecuted for Hate Speech

Posted on September 24, 2008
We have been discussing an alarming trend against free speech rights — in the West. Another such example emerged this week with criminal charges filed against leading French author Pierre Péan, who is charged with racial hatred for derogatory things said about Tutsis in a book in a book about Rwandan genocide...

Student Suspended for Wearing Political Tee-Shirt in Colorado

Posted on September 24, 2008
Even at eleven years old, Daxx Dalton shares his father’s intense conservative views and displayed those views by wearing a tee-shirt to school that read “Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.” The fifth grader wore the tee-shirt on a day when the students at Aurora Frontier K-8 School were asked to wear red, white [...

Oklahoma Supreme Court Disbars Judge Over Use of Sex Device in Court

Posted on September 24, 2008
Former Oklahoma District Judge Donald Thompson, 61, has been disbarred by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Thompson was convicted in June 2006 of using a “penis pump” in court under his robes and served prison time on that conviction. Thompson ultimately served 20 months of a four-year term and has had to register as a sex [...

UMass be Kidding: Campus Minister Offers College Credit to Students Volunteering for Obama

Posted on September 23, 2008
It appears that working for Obama will not only put you in good stead with God but gain you some badly needed credits at the University of Massachusetts. School officials have moved to rescind an offer of two college credits for students who volunteer for Democrat Barack Obama...

Of Mice and People: Parents in St. Louis Seek to Ban Steinbeck Classic

Posted on September 23, 2008
In Kansas City, Dana Washington is leading the latest move to ban a book in America. Washington wants John Steinbeck’s classic “Of Mice And Men” removed from Washington High School’s 500 book reading list because it uses the n-word...

Bookstore Chain Pulls Magazine for Cover Showing Female Ministers

Posted on September 23, 2008
The mullahs in Iran have nothing on us. The Southern Baptist convention has ordered a book chain to remove a magazine for its shelves as offensive because of its cover showing female ministers. If you want to see a picture of female ministers, you will have to go to somewhere other than Lifeway [...

Knoller Gets 15 Years to Life in Dog Attack

Posted on September 23, 2008
Marjorie Knoller has bee resentenced after her long trip through the courts. She was previously released when her original sentence was overturned. Now, she is back in jail for 15 years to life for the 2001 mauling death of Dianne Whipple. That is considerably more than the four-year prison term that she [...

Pet Stole Owner Forced to Pay Damages and Costs to Thief Who Stole his Money

Posted on September 22, 2008
If Mark Poveromo feels a bit confused in New Haven, Connecticut, he is not the only one. A judge recently ordered Poveromo to pay damages, court costs, and attorney’s fees to a thief who stole his money. Builder Mark R. Koch of Illinois first stole the money, was convicted of theft, and then successfully [...

Laying Hands Upon: Pittsburgh Debates Whether ?Spiritual Palace? is Really Swinger?s Club

Posted on September 22, 2008
This could make for an interesting constitutional challenge in Pittsburgh. John and Kim Ondrik insist that they are running a church out of their home, which they call the Spiritual Palace of the Church for Spiritual Humanism. Their neighbors call it a swingers club...

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