… and it looks like the fatal shots were the last two, which hit him on the top of the head. Apparently, while falling forward. NOT at close range. The New York Times has the details. Meanwhile last night… another night of clashes. Although law enforcement is better (the Missouri State Police are not provoking lawlessness like the St. Louis County … Read More
Live-tweeting Michael Brown’s Killing
Kid was watching and tweeting…. Let it load… start at bottom witness to Brown killing
Fourth Circuit Overturns Virginia Same-Sex Marriage Ban
The religious right continues losing their reactionary culture war, as a federal appeals court strikes down Virginia’s ban on marriage equality. And this ruling will also affect conservative bans on same-sex marriage in West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, so it’s a significant defeat for the forces of atavism. “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, … Read More
Hobby Lobby Wins
In a not-very-suprising 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided in favor of Hobby Lobby in the recent case involving religious freedom and corporations. As a result of the holding, business owners with religious objections to birth control may defy federal rules requiring most employers to include contraceptive care in their health plans. This is in direct contravention of what the Supreme Court … Read More
Patriots
So that Nevada couple who shot the police, a random bystander and then themselves declaring that "the revolution" had begun had been at the Bundy Ranch? What a surprise. It turns out they were right wing radicals. Who'd a thiunk it?
Today’s Shooting Proves NRA Is, Well, Wrong
Wayne LaPierre, the NRA honcho, likes to spout this lame aphorism every chance he gets: "The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" Au contraire, Monsieur LaPierre: Meis, who was working at the time as a monitor who sits at a desk in the lobby, near the Hall’s front door, … Read More
Gun Nuts Go Too Far For The NRA
They created a monster. But how to get the toothpaste back in the tube? In a remarkably frank statement issued on Friday, the National Rifle Association said that gun activists in Texas had "crossed the line from enthusiasm to downright foolishness" with their demonstrations at fast food restaurants. Activists, most notably those with a group called Open Carry Texas, have drawn … Read More
California Shooting Rampage
A horrific mass shooting at UCSB over the weekend. A lunatic armed with a semi-automatic handgun allegedly posted a misogynistic tirade on YouTube before hunting down and shooting women on campus. Seven dead (including the gunman) and seven more injured. Nothing to see here. Move along, right? The deaths this weekend were disgusting, but not as disgusting as "Joe The Plumber", who … Read More
Wait, They Can’t Do That!
Can they? WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has been quietly revising its decisions years after they were issued, altering the law of the land without public notice. The revisions include “truly substantive changes in factual statements and legal reasoning,” said Richard J. Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard and the author of a new study examining the phenomenon. The court can act quickly, as when … Read More
Dog Bites Man: Supreme Court Justices Believe In Free Speech More If They Agree With The Speech
Full article here. Graph here:
World’s Worst Lawyer™ Defends World’s Worst Racist Cattlerancher™
Oh, Aaron Walker. Please don't practice law. Ever. Even academically on your blog. You're just so bad at it. You embarass yourself and the profession. Yes, folks, the World's Worst Lawyer™ is back at it again. Taking a break from his Brett Kimberlin obsession, Aaron Walker tackles current events — specifically, the Cliven Bundy issue in a terribly-reasoned and tragic post … Read More
Hashtag #Fail
I love spontaneous protests, particularly when they happen in cyberspace: An exercise in social media outreach turned #epicfail Tuesday when users flooded the Twittersphere with some of the NYPD’s most infamous moments of brutality. The NYPD, through its Twitter page, innocuously asked people on to post pictures of themselves interacting with New York’s Finest — complete with the hashtag myNYPD. … Read More
This Bundy Thing
The story of the Bundy ranch has slowly made its way into mainstream media circles. It started out on the absolute fringes of the far right, then worked its way to Fox News. And now, others are picking it up. It's troubling, not so much for what is actually going on, but because it shows the absolute lack of morality … Read More