Hard to believe that this guy can’t get elected to the North Carolina legislature, considering his overwhelming mastery of crime and its solutions: If schools, courthouses, and municipal buildings don’t post the command, "Thou Shalt Not Steal," it stands to reason that children would grow up believing that stealing isn’t all that bad. To Nathan, every societal problem can be … Read More
The Two Free Speech Cases
This, a post by Marty Lederman, nails the inherent contradiction in the two Free Speech cases handed down yesterday by the Supreme Court: A friend writes to note the striking contrast in the way the Chief Justice views the "reasonable" interpretation of the ambiguous expression in today’s two Free Speech Clause cases: From Wisconsin Right to Life: “Because WRTL’s ads … Read More
“I Got Your Satisfaction Guaranteed ….In My Pants!”
The "Case of the Judge’s Missing Pants" opinion — abridged: "Yes, the sign says ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’, but that doesn’t mean the dry cleaner must do whatever the customer wants, no matter how fuckin’ insane. A ‘reasonable customer’ standard applies." You can read the opinion here (pdf). The story starts on page 5. The background news coverage can be found here: … Read More
Supreme Court Roundup
Two seemingly contradictory cases on the First Amendment from the Supreme Court today. On the one hand, it is permissible to regulate student speech (at a public parade) when it references drugs. So, the First Amendment be damned. On the other hand, the same coalition of Justices think we cannot restrict issues ads (a McCain-Feingold regulation) because that would place … Read More
It’s Only A Game, Folks
Chill: An argument over a game of Yahtzee ended with one man dead and another charged with murder, according to reports from Florida.
Scalia Doesn’t Cite International Law; Cites Hollywood Instead
This guy is an idiot: Senior judges from North America and Europe were in the midst of a panel discussion about torture and terrorism law, when a Canadian judge’s passing remark – "Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra ‘What would Jack Bauer do?’ " – got the legal bulldog in Judge Scalia barking. … Read More
“Mommy’s In The Rug”
This sounds like the beginning of a horror movie: A pregnant woman vanished from her home, leaving behind broken furniture, a pool of bleach on the floor and just one witness – a 2-year-old son who told police, "Mommy’s crying … Mommy’s in the rug." Nobody knows what the 2 year old means by that.
Criminal or Combatant?: Orin Kerr On The Al-Marri Case
UPDATE: Screenshots of the al-Marri opinion added. Orin Kerr has some thoughtful objections to the recent Fourth Circuit case (Al-Marri v. Wright) holding that the U.S. government cannot hold a lawful visitor to this country in "indefinite military detention" simply by declaring him an "enemy combatant". According to the Fourth Circuit, the government can do many things — including transferring … Read More
Court Believes In That Thing Called The Constitution
Good decision: President George W. Bush cannot order the military to seize and indefinitely detain a Qatari national and suspected al Qaeda operative, the only person being held in the United States as an "enemy combatant," an appeals court ruled on Monday. In a major setback for Bush’s policies in the war on terrorism adopted after the September 11 attacks, … Read More
“Let Those Apples Fall”
Spring Awakening fans may have noticed some self-censoring done by the Spring Awakening performance last night on the Tonys. For example, in the song "Totally Fucked", the offending word (not "totally"; the other one) was replaced with the cast members covering their mouths. At another point, they sang "totally screwed". Not that bnit of self-censorship, I can understand. It’s … Read More
I Can’t Stress This Enough, People…
If you are going to commit heinous crimes, don’t present yourself as a freak on MySpace: He calls himself "Jack" and considers himself a "Sweet Troubled Soul" on his MySpace page. His interests include "eating small children and harming small animals." Oooooh. I want to be his MySpace friend, don’t you???? The page appears to belong to Edwin R. Hall, … Read More
Shorter Court Of Appeals: “They’re Just Words. Shit Happens”
Gotta love this profanity-laced decision (PDF) of the U.S. Court of Appeals. The issue was whether the FCC was being too arbitrary in fining the national networks for indecency — specifically, for the occasional profanity that leaks through. For example, at the live telecast of the Golden Globes a few years ago, Bono got up there and said "This is … Read More
Some Free Legal Advice From Me (A Lawyer)
For the love of God, if you’re sued, don’t blog about your case and reveal your defense strategy. Duh.
NC Witnesses Can Swear on Quran In Court
I’ve been following this story for a while, and frankly, I’m not sure why it was an issue to begin with: The issue surfaced when Muslims tried to donate copies of the Quran to Guilford County’s two courthouses. Two judges declined to accept the texts, saying that taking an oath on the Quran was illegal under state law. What exactly … Read More
The Creepy Hospital Visit
Very bizarre testimony yesterday from James Comey, the deputy attorney general when Ashcroft was the AG. The Washington Post calls it ""an account of Bush administration lawlessness so shocking it would have been unbelievable coming from a less reputable source." In March 2004, a paper needed to be signed by AG Ashcroft to continue the controversial warrentless eavesdropping program. By … Read More