Legal Commentary

Sun Power: Is It Time To Explore Massive Solar Panel Sites?

Posted on June 10, 2010
There is an interesting graphic by solar panel advocates showing the area needed to be covered by solar panels to fuel the world. These are obviously huge areas but it offers an interesting perspective. The advocates point out that large areas of such panels could produce massive amounts of energy — particularly if located in [...

South Carolina Democratic Nominee for Senate Facing Felony Obscenity Charge

Posted on June 10, 2010
The late South Carolina Congressman James L. Petigru once said, “South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.” First there was Mark Sanford, who resigned after an affair with a woman in Argentina. Then the woman who wants to replace him, GOP gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, became embroiled [...

Rough Audience: 75-Year-Old Man Faces Seven Years in Jail for Airplane Joke

Posted on June 09, 2010
I have always have considerable concern over the constitutional basis for arresting people who make jokes in airports or airplanes about terrorism or bombs. Now, Draco Slaughter, 75, is facing seven years in prison for making a joke on the way off his flight...

Weighty Tort Question: Negligence or Assumption of the Risk?

Posted on June 09, 2010
This is a graphic video but I offer it to my torts students as an example of the disconnect between legal and common judgment. I am told that Logan Lacy was attempting a squat at Sr. Nationals in Chicago when he vomited on the head judge and then passed out...

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Galileo Gives Finger to Florence

Posted on June 09, 2010
Tourists are flocking to see a rather gruesome display in Florence, Italy. The Museum of the History of Science has re-opened after years of renovation with a display of two of Galileo’s fingers. These fingers have been added to a pre-existing finger and tooth from the astronomer...

I?ll Be Back: Schwarzenegger Casts Second Ballot After Trying to Vote for Two Candidates for Senate

Posted on June 09, 2010
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was facing a difficult choice in one of the most hotly contested GOP primaries for the U.S. Senate in years. He appears to have been struggling with his top two favorite candidates in the race between former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former congressman Tom Campbell, and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore...

Turley Joins Porteous Defense as Co-Lead Counsel

Posted on June 09, 2010
In the past, I have disclosed my involvement in high-profile cases to avoid any conflict with this blog or questions why I am not posting on a particular subject. Accordingly, I wanted to confirm that I have agreed to serve as co-lead counsel in the Senate impeachment trial of Judge G...

Another Oil Platform Leaking in Gulf

Posted on June 09, 2010
Remember those oil rigs that President Barack Obama assured the public do not cause spills in opening up the East Coast to drilling? Another one appears to be leaking. The Ocean Saratoga is not far from the Deepwater Horizon and it has not been disclosed how serious the ongoing leak is...

Closing the Anger Gap: President Obama Pledges To Find Someone With An ?Ass to Kick?

Posted on June 08, 2010
With polls showing the public view of the government’s response to the BP spill as worse than Bush’s response to Katrina and liberals criticizing Obama for not being “more angry” in public, the White House has moved to close the anger gap...

Hoax: Video Showing Heavy Weapons Discovered on Mavi Marmara is a Fraud

Posted on June 08, 2010
A video has been racing around the Internet — purportedly showing heavy weapons discovered behind bags of flour on the Mavi Marmara. The find would serve to justify the lethal raid on the flotilla to Gaza and some posters have asked why no uproar? The answer is because the video is a fraud — it [...

Overzealous: Chicago Public Defender Arrested After Allegedly Attacking Prosecutor in Courthouse

Posted on June 08, 2010
Cook County public defender Henry Hams has been criminally charged after police say he choked a prosecutor in a courthouse after a dispute over setting a court date for a post conviction hearing. Police say that Hams had to be pulled off the 50-year-old assistant state?s attorney who was then treated at Mount Sinai Hospital...

Auto Pilot: Video Reportedly Shows Drunk Driver Taking Flight at Airport Parking Garage

Posted on June 08, 2010
This video purportedly shows a drunk driver who decides he doesn’t need a plane to take flight at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. There were no injuries to the tollbooth operator and the driver was not seriously hurt. The driver was reportedly arrested, however...

Israel Apologizes for Spoof Video

Posted on June 08, 2010
We recently saw the video released in Israel mocking the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the flotilla controversy — featured on Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Now the Israeli government has apologized for the video — which was distributed by its press office...

Video: Kalamazoo Student Naps Through President?s Graduation Speech

Posted on June 08, 2010
President Obama’s graduation speech at Kalamazoo Central High School appears to have produced more hibernation than inspiration in one student. Take a look at the kid on the upper row. Who needs whale music when you have the President of the United States to lull you into a deep sleep? The speech appears to work [...

Wedding Flasher: South Carolina Man Ruins Wedding By Repeatedly Exposing Himself

Posted on June 07, 2010
Things were not-so-pleasant in a wedding in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina this week when Downing Deese, 26, pulled up in a boat with friends on Shem Creek. Deese says that he was “inspired” by the wedding to repeatedly expose himself during both the ceremony and reception...

Problem Solved: Democratic Members Told To Avoid Town Halls and Open Events With Constituents

Posted on June 07, 2010
With anger bubbling over with Congress and White House across the political spectrum, the House Democratic leadership have found an answer: stop holding town hall meetings and unscripted events. As reported by the New York Times, Democratic members are avoiding encounters with constituents in such meetings and relying on invitation-only events...

Super Debt Cycle: U.S. Debt Set to Surpass Gross Domestic Product

Posted on June 07, 2010
Economists continue to line up warning of an economic meltdown as the U.S. moves toward 2012 when our debt will exceed our gross domestic product. The White House and Congress, however, continue to spend wildly on Iraq, Afghanistan, and other programs...

Porn Actor Dies After Being Tasered and Falling Down Cliff

Posted on June 07, 2010
Questions have been raised over the police actions leading to the falling of porn actor and murder suspect Stephen Clancy Hill (aka Steve Driver) off a cliff in California. Police reportedly tasered Hill despite the fact that he was perched on the cliff, but the video below is unclear whether he jumped or fell...

Atomic Belly Flop

Posted on June 07, 2010
With the opening of the pool, we have been watching painful belly flops as kids rediscover the relationship of diving boards and physics. I thought I had to share perhaps the worst belly flop in history. Constable Velumurugan of the Tamil Nadu State Police broke the diving record by leaping off a 125 foot ladder [...

CBN Features Israeli Video Mocking Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza and Flotilla Allegations

Posted on June 07, 2010
This video was released by Israeli activists making fun of the flotilla and claims of suffering in Gaza. The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) has been featuring the video. The video mocks claims that “a billion dollars” cannot buy enough to feed people in Gaza and supply their children with “missiles and cheese...

Heather Has Two Mommies and Fewer Problems: Study Finds Children of Lesbian Parents Have Fewer Emotional Problems

Posted on June 07, 2010
A 25-year study has been released with a finding that children raised in lesbian households are psychologically well-adjusted and have fewer behavioral problems than children of hetereosexual parents. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, was conducted by Dr...

Cat Hot Tub

Posted on June 06, 2010
You know you can spend hundreds at spas for this type of thing. A little after this photo, a plumber arrived and explained that the couple had hair build up in their sink . . .

Palin: Oil Spill is the Fault of Environmentalists

Posted on June 06, 2010
On the heels of Rush Limbaugh suggesting actual sabotage by environmentalists, Sarah Palin is joining the cause in blaming environmentalists for the oil spill by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico. Palin blamed “misguided radicalism” of environmentalists (as opposed presumably to “guided radicalism” of conservatives) for the disaster...

Drill, Baby, Drill: Lawmakers Demand More Drilling and an End to Moratorium

Posted on June 06, 2010
With the BP spill destroying large areas of our coast and expected to move up the East Coast, lawmakers are pushing President Barack Obama to honor his earlier pledge to life the moratorium on new drilling along our coasts. The oil lobby is pushing for expanded drilling even as the disaster mounts in the Gulf [...

Israel Admits to Editing Flotilla Tapes and Issues ?Clarification? on Offensive Comments Attributed to the Mavi Marmara

Posted on June 06, 2010
After Israel released a tape purportedly showing passengers on the Mavi Marmara making inflammatory comments, many questioned the authenticity of the tapes and charged that they had been edited. Leaders on the ship said that they never radioed the IDF to tell them “Go back to Auschwitz” and that they are “helping Arabs go against [...

Egyptian Court Upholds Ruling Stripping Citizenship From Men Who Marry Israeli Woman

Posted on June 06, 2010
An Egyptian court in Cairo has upheld a ruling that any Egyptian man who marries an Israeli woman should be barred from military service and stripped of their citizenship in order to rid the country of “disloyal” elements. The law appears conflict with existing Egyptian law, but lawyer Nabih el-Wahsh (who brought the action) insists [...

Pet of the Week: Meet Cousin Oliver

Posted on June 05, 2010
This week’s winner is Cousin Oliver who is also known as Oliver or just Ollie. She was submitted by “Buddy Hinton.” She was named after a character on the Brady Bunch because “I was a little red headed stranger when I was first adopted into my family...

Bar-B-Que With a Bang

Posted on June 05, 2010
This barbeque apparently shoots a twenty-pound roast pig down your throat. The problem is that when you go up, the cook often says the same thing: “I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire six pigs or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself...

Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Hopping Down The Creepy Trail . . .

Posted on June 05, 2010
I should save this for Easter, but I just saw it. From the face of the kid, I expect years of therapy followed this make-shift bunny outfit. This must be one of the lesser known branches of family Leporidae. However, I would be a bit uncomfortable with finding him filling baskets late at night in [...

Jury Votes to Acquit Fairfax Coach of Molestation in Ten Minutes

Posted on June 05, 2010
We have an interesting case here in my backyard in Fairfax County, Virginia. A Fairfax County jury deliberated only 10 minutes before acquitting Sean Lanigan, 43, a popular schoolteacher and coach of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The jury’s reaction and the paucity of evidence in the case has led some to question why prosecutors [...

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