International Law

U.S. Supreme Court Extends Camera Ban at California Gay Marriage Trial

Posted on January 13, 2010
In a 5-4 ruling today, the U.S. Supreme Court has indefinitely extended the ban on videotaping the ongoing Proposition 8, same-sex marriage trial in California.- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCEORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

Frum's Torture Apologetics

Posted on January 12, 2010
David Frum on John Yoo's recent appearance with Jon Stewart:Yoo had come to the interview to elucidate a couple of simple points. The question he had been asked by the security arm of government was not, ?How can we torture?? but ?What can we do that isn?t torture?? Yoo is a lawyer, not an expert in interrogation...

US Supreme Court Blocks You Tube Airing of Gay Marriage Trial

Posted on January 11, 2010
Trial begins today in the constitutional challenge to Califormia's ban on same-sex mariage.The U.S. Supreme Court has today issued a temporary order staying a federal judge's ruling last week that permitted videotape of the hearings to be uploaded and broadcast via You Tube...

Twice the Punishment

Posted on January 08, 2010
WSJ Law Blog wonders aloud:How would the law punish Siamese twins if one of the twins committed murder without the other being involved?- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCEORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

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Rick Mercer on the Harper Prorogue and Afghanistan

Posted on January 06, 2010
Rick Mercer:It is ironic that while our parliament has been suspended we are a nation at war. On New Year's Eve we greeted the news that five Canadians were killed in a single day with sadness but not surprise. We are at war because ostensibly we are helping bring democracy to Afghanistan...

France to Outlaw "Psychological" Domestic Violence?

Posted on January 05, 2010
Is this Daily Mail story for real?Married couples in France could end up with criminal records for insulting each other during arguments. Under a new law, France is to become the first country in the world to ban ' psychological violence' within marriage...

Fox News or the 700 Club?

Posted on January 04, 2010
You be the judge:- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCEORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

Canada's Top 100 CEO's Are Doing Just Fine

Posted on January 03, 2010
Canadian Press reports that Canada's top 100 CEO's didn't have such a bad year in 2008;Canada's 100 highest paid CEOs pocketed an of average $7.3 million in 2008, the same year Canadians were hard hit by the emergence of the worldwide recession, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives...

Video: If Only Life Was Really Like This...

Posted on January 02, 2010
All you need is love... May we earthlings inch just a little bit closer in 2010.What a fantastic job done by the people who mixed this video.(ht: KJR)- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCEORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

Our Most Tweeted Posts for 2009

Posted on January 01, 2010
Via Topsy: 18tweetsWise Law Blog: Texas Judge Uses Facebook, Explores Social Media Ethics for Judiciary, Lawyerswiselaw.blogspot.com15tweetsWise Law Blog: e-Resources for Lawyerswiselaw.blogspot.com12tweetsWise Law Blog: Law Professor "Outed" as Anonymous Bloggerwiselaw...

And the Award Goes To ...

Posted on December 31, 2009
The 2009 CLawBies are now online. We are honoured that Wise Law Blog was named as a runner up for Best Canadian Law Blog. I'm also particularly pleased to see the honourable mentions received by my OMG! Law Talk compadres, Michael Carabash and Omar Ha-Redeye, in the Legal Culture Award category...

The Obama Response to Cheney: 'We Don't Need to Beat Our Chests'

Posted on December 31, 2009
Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications Director, at The White House Blog:To put it simply: this President is not interested in bellicose rhetoric, he is focused on action. Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country...

The 'Israelification' of Airports

Posted on December 31, 2009
The Toronto Star contrasts Israeli and North American airport security:"Do you know why Israelis are so calm? We have brutal terror attacks on our civilians and still, life in Israel is pretty good. The reason is that people trust their defence forces, their police, their response teams and the security agencies...

On Succession Planning and Discrimination

Posted on December 31, 2009
William Neuman of New York Times looks today at the retirement of McDonald's President and Chief Operating Officer, Ralph Alvarez, largely for medical reasons, after only three years as second-in-command at the international burger giant.An 'expert' cited in the article, At McDonald?s, a Retirement Stirs Questions, is quite perturbed, apparently, by the company's succession planning processes:Nell Minow, a founder of the Corporate Library, which rates the performance of boards, said ?high turnover at the sub-C...

140Law - December 31, 2009 Edition

Posted on December 31, 2009
With the 'tens upon us in but a few short hours, allow me to thank all of our readers, RSS subscribers, Facebook friends, LinkedIn contacts and Twitter followers and list-makers for being with us here in 2009. To those who've been kind enough to retweet and link to our articles this year, many thanks...

Countdown's "Cacaphony of Crazy"

Posted on December 30, 2009
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann reviews the year of Palin: And for those following the Palin child custody shenanigans currently playing out in Alaska, pleadings filed by Levi Johnston in support of his successful motion to open the process are here.- Garry J...

U.S. Appeal Court: Limits On Police Taser Use

Posted on December 30, 2009
McClatchy reports:A federal appeals court on Monday issued one of the most comprehensive rulings yet limiting police use of Tasers against low-level offenders who seem to pose little threat and may be mentally ill.In a case out of San Diego County, the 9th U...

Sinead's Hand

Posted on December 29, 2009
This Irish offering on same-sex civil marriage is one of Andrew Sullivan's picks for ad of the year: - Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCEORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

A Dog's Bylaw

Posted on December 29, 2009
Too funny (via Cy S.).- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCEORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

The Criminal Complaint Against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Posted on December 27, 2009
More reading:U.S. Charges Suspect, Eyeing Link to Qaeda in Yemen; Terrorism Charges Filed in Detroit Airplane Incident;Terrorist wore suicide underwear Family of airplane suspect had raised concerns about him - Garry J...

2009 Canada Blawg Awards

Posted on December 27, 2009
It's law blog award season, once more. Amazing, isn't it, that this time of year is upon us again, so soon?The good folks at the ClawBies have asked that we narrow our nominees down to three, but, this year, I will resist that temptation (which would require that I overlook too many), and simply name my personal picks for Canada's best law blogs in the categories below...

Hack Calls Kettle...

Posted on December 27, 2009
Oh, Jonah - Fire Napolitano:If the White House wants to assure people that it takes the war on terror seriously (a term Robert Gibbs used this morning by the way), they could start by firing this patenly unqualified hack.Hacktacularity in action at The Corner...

Air Canada Travel Advisory: Delays at Airports

Posted on December 27, 2009
An Air Canada security advisory cautions travellers to be prepared for delays:MONTREAL December 26, 2009 -- Air Canada advises passengers travelling to the U.S. that due to enhanced government security measures air travellers should arrive early at airports to allow extra time to clear security screening...

Flight 253: Which Version Shall We Believe?

Posted on December 25, 2009
Is this just a matter of nuance? The writers' spin in these two articles is so diametrically opposed, I had to double-check to confirm these reports relate to the same flight and incident (they do):Passenger tried to blow up U.S. flight: Officials (Toronto Star)A Northwest Airlines passenger landing in Detroit on Friday tried to blow up the flight but the explosive device failed, two U...

Blogging Christmas in Music

Posted on December 25, 2009
A quick look at Christmas tunes being featured on the intertubes today.First, a collection of (arguably) the best:(via Kos)And then, there's this:Oy vey, ho ho ho. It's a full blown, Santa Klezmer happy hora extravaganza - from Bob Dylan, no less!As my friend Jingles might put it, simintov and mistletoe to you all...

Looking Ahead to "The Tens"

Posted on December 25, 2009
In Lawyers & Legal Professionals Looking Ahead to 2010, Adrian Lurssen of JD Supra compiles a good sampling of thoughts from lawyers and leading legal marketers on the year that was and the path ahead for the legal profession.You'll find comments from a strong Canuck contingent that includes Erik Magraken, Jordan Furlong, Steve Matthews and myself...

Merry Christmas...

Posted on December 25, 2009
... joyeux Noël, feliz Navidad, miilaad majiid, feliz Natal, shèng dàn kuài lè, buon Natale, and a hearty Christmas sameach, to all who are celebrating. Happy holidays to all of you, from all of us at Wise Law Office and Wise Law Blog. A special shout out to my blawger and blogger friends...

N.B. Judge Orders MVA Plaintiff to Disclose Facebook Records

Posted on December 23, 2009
CBC reports on yet another Canadian Facebook disclosure decision - this time by a New Brunswick court:Court of Queen's Bench Justice Fred Ferguson... wrote in his decision there's a low threshold for disclosing evidence and it met the "semblance of relevance" test required when deciding if information will be turned over during discovery...

Supreme Court of Canada To Bloggers: Act Responsibly

Posted on December 23, 2009
The Supreme Court of Canada explicitly addressed bloggers in two companion decisions yesterday that may well have revolutionized Canada's libel law landscape by adopting a new "responsible journalism" defence into Canada's common law.Chief Justice McLachlin articulated the new rules of the road - for bloggers and traditional journalists, alike - in Grant v...

Supreme Court of Canada: "Responsble Journalism" is a Defence to Libel Action

Posted on December 23, 2009
In two groundbreaking decisions today, the Supreme Court of Canada has expanded free speech protections for journalists and new media writers by affirming a new, responsible journalism defence in libel actions. In Quan v. Cusson, 2009 SCC 62, a unanimous court held:The defence of responsible communication on matters of public interest recognized in Grant v...

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