Legal Commentary

Grapes of Wrath: Law Professor Steinbuch Wins Appeal Over Book Detailing Alleged Affair with the ?Washingtonienne?

Posted on March 07, 2008
Arkansas Robert Steinbuch won an appeal to the Eighth Circuit in his case against former Senate aide to Mike DeWine, Jessica Cutler — the so-called Washingtonienne. Steinbuch sued after he was identified by initials by Cutler in her account of sexual affairs in Washington...

School Officials Punish Student for Saying Bad Things About Them on Her Home Computer

Posted on March 06, 2008
It often seems like school officials are waging a war on the first amendment. Only recently, school officials in Alaska prevailed in the “Bong hits 4 Jesus” case, a major rollback of student rights and free speech interests. Now, school officials are seeking to extend their reach not only to public demonstrations like [...

Nebraska Police Officer Fired Over Assocation With KKK-Linked Group

Posted on March 06, 2008
In what could be an important first amendment case, a Nebraska police officer, Robert E. Henderson, is fighting to keep his job after being fired for his associations with a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. It is only the latest such action taken against officers over their private lives or views...

At Last, A Gun For the Tiniest Felons: Company Makes a Lethal 2.16 inch Gun

Posted on March 06, 2008
SwissMiniGun has made the world’s smallest working revolver at just 2.16 inches long (5.5cm) with bullets that can kill. They are small enough for earrings or even a lovely lapel pin. They are also illegal in the United States. The gun comes in a variety of different versions (including 18-carat gold with [...

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Atheist in a Foxhole: Soldier Sues Over Discrimination on the Basis of Faith (Or the Fact Thereof)

Posted on March 06, 2008
So this is why “there are no atheists in a foxholes.” Army Spc. Jeremy Hall says in a lawsuit that he was told that he could not be promoted because one of the jobs would be to pray with his soldiers. Of course, if true, this would mean that a puppy thrower like [...

The Supreme Redux: Is John McCain Ineligible to Be President?

Posted on March 06, 2008
Imagine this. The country is fresh from a close presidential election when the Supreme Court is asked to decide who will be president. If you are thinking about the 2000 election, think again. The expected nomination of John McCain for president could trigger a fight over a relatively obscure provision in the [...

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Telecoms: Bush Calls On All Americans to ?Thank? the Telecoms

Posted on March 05, 2008
As President Bush appears to be winning over House Democrats to join their Senate counterparts in granting immunity, President Bush says in this video that it is not enough to wipe out roughly 40 civil liberties lawsuits — citizens need to say “thank you” to the telecom companies for their “patriotic” actions...

Mr. Motari?s Moment: Investigators Close in on Marine Who Threw Puppy Off Cliff

Posted on March 05, 2008
The United States Marines Corps is finally responding to international outrage over Marines the video below of a Marine throwing a puppy over a rocky cliff in Iraq. The Marine is called by the name Motari on the video and bloggers believe that they have identified the culprit...

Senate Unanimously Confirms Filip for No. 2 Position at Justice Depsite His Refusal to Answer Torture Question

Posted on March 05, 2008
The Senate Democrats have again caved on the issue of torture, unanimously confirming Chicago federal Judge Mark Filip to be the second-in-command at the Justice Department despite his refusal to answer the simple question whether waterboarding is torture — a fact established by U...

North Carolina Officer Stops Bus and Arrests Kids for Making Faces and Obscene Gestures at HIm

Posted on March 05, 2008
Sharpsburg police officer Travis Parker was insulted by a boy who made faces and allegedly an obscene gesture from a school bus at him. Most drivers mumble about “kids today” but Parker pulled over the bus, allegedly threatened the driver, and arrested the kid for disturbing the peace...

Semper Fido: David Motari Allegedly Apologizes for Throwing Puppy Over Cliff

Posted on March 05, 2008
While some commentators have rushed to suggest that the puppy shown in this video was either dead or stuffed, the accused Marine has reportedly posted an apology. David Motari has been named as the Marine in the video, though the Marines are still investigating...

Biblical Trip: Expert Suggests Moses Was Probably High on Mount Sinai

Posted on March 05, 2008
Professor Benny Shanon of Jerusalem?s Hebrew University has presented a startling theory: Moses was probably high when he saw the burning bush and received the word of God on Mount Sinai. He has identified a psychoactive molecule on Mount Sinai that is found in plants that produce similar hallucinogenic responses...

Stuffed Pup? Michele Malkin Challenges Puppy Video Outcry

Posted on March 05, 2008
Michele Malkin has weighed into the controversy over the puppy thrown off a cliff by a Marine in  Iraq. Malkin insists that the puppy was either dead or stuffed and that the puppy cries are dubbed. Malkin has analyzed the tape and notes the following: “The puppy doesn?t move...

Philadephia Judge Faces Removal for Hiding That She is a Former Felon

Posted on March 05, 2008
Philadelphia Judge Deborah Griffin has many positive things on her resume: a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the first black student to win the Missouri-Columbia Law School moot court, and overcoming great challenges in her childhood to become a lawyer...

Small Creature Attacks Large Newscaster

Posted on March 05, 2008
Here is one for the category of strict liability for wild animals and the assumption of risk defense. This video shows what happens when you use animals are props for ratings. Of course, there is a strong assumption of the risk defense to be made here...

Mukasey?s Paradox

Posted on March 04, 2008
Mukasey’s Paradox; On further review, his manipulations on torture and contempt are a beautiful, twisted thing. The recent decisions of Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey to block any prosecution of Bush administration officials for contempt and to block any criminal investigation of torture led to a chorus of criticism...

Foreseeable Misuse: Court Upholds $2 Million Judgment Against Lawn Mower Company

Posted on March 04, 2008
In a decision that could easily find its way into torts textbooks on foreseeable misuse, a Virginia court has upheld a $2 million judgment against lawn mower manufacturer, MTD in the death of 4-year-old Justin Simmons, who was run over by a machine. Justin was killed when he was at a Daleville day care center operated [...

Two Popular Authors Admit Fabricating Tragic Life Stories

Posted on March 04, 2008
The authors of two acclaimed books on inspiring childhood lives have admitted to fabricating their accounts. Misha Defonseca, author of the touching “Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years,” has admitted that she not only did not wander as an orphan through the Belgium woods in World War II, but she is not even [...

Proximate Cause Meets Murphy?s Law: Man Fatally Stabs Himself Fleeing Grill Accident

Posted on March 04, 2008
In common law torts, liability is often cut off by unforeseeable changes or superseding intervening forces. Michael Downing of South Carolina demonstrated this legal principle in a tragic way. Burned on the grill, he stabbed himself in the chest when he jumped back from the accident...

Gloria Steinem Says McCain?s POW Experience Over-Rated

Posted on March 03, 2008
Feminist leader Gloria Steinem attracted considerable attention this weekend after she rejected John McCain’s heroic period as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton as over-rated and suggested the Hillary Clinton was a better president because she was not “trained to kill...

Iran to Kill Two Gay Men By Throwing Them Off Cliffs

Posted on March 03, 2008
According to Amnesty International, the good people in the Iranian justice system are about to add another outrage from their prehistoric legal system. The group says that two gay men, Tayyeb Karimi and Yazdan, will soon be killed by throwing them off a cliff...

House Intelligence Chairman Indicates that House May Capitulate on Telecom Immunity

Posted on March 03, 2008
Civil libertarians are alarmed by Sunday’s interview with the House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes, suggesting that the House may surrender on the telecom immunity question. For a short period of time, it appeared that for once members of Congress would actually stand on principle and refuse immunity...

Shocking Video Shows U.S. Soldier Throwing Puppy Off Cliff

Posted on March 03, 2008
Animal rights advocates (and virtually every other human being) are in shock over this video showing U.S. soldiers showing a puppy off a cliff for fun. It is not a unlike scene of such cruelty. This video has been racing around the Internet and shows two U...

The Justice Department Calls Dr. Sami Al-Arian Before Third Grand Jury

Posted on March 03, 2008
Since the beginning of civil contempt proceedings against Dr. Sami Al-Arian, we have been heavily restricted in what we can discuss in public due to the on-going court sealing of proceedings. Today, however, the government presented a court order that granted him, again, immunity to testify and ordered him to appear before another grand jury...

Video: German Plane Almost Crashes on Landing

Posted on March 03, 2008
For years, there has been pressure on airports to deal with wind sheer dangers. There have been tort actions for actions raising wind sheer and an avoidable cause. This video of a Lufthansa jet would indicate that it remains a serious problem, even at one of the world’s most advanced airports like Hamburg...

Another Police Officer Shoots Wife Accidentally

Posted on March 03, 2008
Riley Taylor, 54, accidentally shot and killed his wife at a family function in Georgia. This follows another recent case of an accidental spousal shooting by an officer. Taylor shoot his wife, Denise, while cleaning his gun. Click here for the story...

Religious Tolerance or Gender Discrimination? Harvard Goes to Women-Only Hours at Gym

Posted on March 02, 2008
There is an interesting controversy brewing at Harvard University. The university has banned men from one of its gyms to create women-only hours - to accommodate Muslim women. While the effort is a commendable effort to accommodate a part of the Harvard community, it also constitutes a serious question of gender discrimination...

Spam and the First Amendment: Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Spam Law

Posted on March 02, 2008
A divided Virginia Supreme Court upheld the conviction Jeremy D. Jaynes under the state’s 2003 Anti-Spam Act. While many of us hate to admit it, he may have a point that the law is constitutionally flawed. This is one that may be heading to the Supreme Court...

A Question of Competence: Is McCain Funny Enough to be President?

Posted on March 02, 2008
A recent disclosure raises the disturbing question: is the president gets a call at 3:00 am for a joke, who do you want to answer the phone? Apparently, not John McCain. McCain was asked in 2003 for his funniest joke and this was the unnerving response...

Getting Entangled in Church-State Relations: Faith-Based Politics Causes Problems for the Leading Presidential Candidates

Posted on March 01, 2008
All of the major candidates - including Clinton, Obama, McCain, and Huckabee - have made plays for the religious vote by voicing positions on faith and seeking the endorsement of religious leaders. However, they are also discovering that mixing politics and religion is a risky business...

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