Legal Commentary

Video: New Jersey Children Taught to Sing Obama?s Praises

Posted on September 25, 2009
This video raises an interesting question for educators and lawyers alike. These students at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, NJ are being taught to chant and sing praises of the President Barack Obama. Is that an appropriate exercise in a public school or does it smack of [...

School Fires Lunch Lady For Telling Parents That Boys Tied Daughter to Fence and Whipped Her

Posted on September 25, 2009
Carol Hill was fired at the Great Tey Primary School in Essex after she told Scott David that his seven-year-old daughter Chloe had been tied to a fence and whipped with a skipping rope by bullies. The school had only mentioned “an incident” and did not reveal the names of the boys...

Legal Question of the Day: Should A Lawyer Be Able to Wear Jeans and Hats in Court?

Posted on September 25, 2009
Attorney Todd C. Bank really liked his Operation Desert Storm hat. Almost as much as Eastern District of New York Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis (left) disliked it. Bank, a sole practitioner in Queens, lost his constitutional claim that he had a right to wear jeans and a hat of his choice in [...

Florida Man Challenges Law Criminalizing the Publication of Address and Telephone of Police Officers

Posted on September 24, 2009
There is an interesting case developing in Florida where Robert Brayshaw is facing a year in jail under a law that makes it a crime to post a local police officer?s phone number and address. The law raises serious constitutional questions under the first amendment...

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When Does Disrespect Become Disorder?

Posted on September 24, 2009
Below is today’s column on the aftermath of the Joe Wilson controversy. The threat of the Democrats to punish members using certain words to criticize the President raises some novel and unresolved constitutional questions. When Does Disrespect Become Disorder? This month, Rep...

In Defense of Man-Cow Relations: New Jersey Judge Drops Charges Against Police Officer for Having Sex with Cows On the Grounds That They May Have Enjoyed It

Posted on September 24, 2009
New Jersey police officer Robert Melia Jr. will not face criminal charges for allegedly having sex with five calves under a perfectly bizarre ruling by Judge James J. Morley. We previously discussed the case, here. Morley dismissed animal cruelty charges on the grounds that the cows may have enjoyed having sex with [...

Self-Diagnosis: Woman Complains About Stabbing Sensations for Months Before Doctors Find The Cause: A Six-Inch Knife

Posted on September 24, 2009
Shanghai, China (The Weekly Vice) – Ying Shi, 26, apparently was correct when she complained repeatedly to doctors about a stabbing pain in her stomach, but doctors could not imagine what it might be . . . until they finally took an x-ray months later...

Contrition Through Aggression: ACORN Sues Filmmakers While Claiming Regret Over Misconduct of its Employees

Posted on September 24, 2009
As we discussed earlier, ACORN has decided to move forward with a lawsuit against the independent filmmakers who showed its employees engaged in potentially unlawful conduct. While insisting that it is terribly sorry for the actions of its employees, ACORN is pursuing the people who forced the misconduct into the open: filmmakers James [...

Dr. Phil?s Fun With Felons: Couple Charged After Bragging About Life of Crime on Television Show

Posted on September 23, 2009
The perils of being on Dr. Phil. Matthew Eaton, 34, and his wife, Laura, 26, appeared on the “Dr. Phil Show” and bragged about how they shoplifted and then sold stolen items on the Internet. The parents of three young children boasted how they had made as much as $1 million...

Chicago Nurse Sues After Being Arrested for Asking to Speak to a Supervisor Before Taking Blood of a Suspect

Posted on September 23, 2009
Lisa Hofstra, a nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, has filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Chicago and a Chicago Police officer named Rodriguez (first name unknown) after she was arrested for wanting to speak to a supervisor before taking the blood from a suspect on Rodriguez’s orders...

Half-a-Pug Each: Court Orders Joint Custody of Pet for Former New Jersey Couple

Posted on September 23, 2009
A New Jersey court has handed down a ruling that may be cited in thousands of disputes over pets by divorcing or separating couples. Doreen Houseman and Eric Dare split up after 13 years as an unmarried couple in 2006 and agreed on the easy division of possessions with one notable exception: Dexter, [...

Jury Acquits Denver Officer Who Broke Teeth of Man By Slamming His Head Into the Pavement

Posted on September 23, 2009
It took a jury only two hours to acquit Denver Police officer Cpl. Michael Cordova of excessive force, even though a videotape (below) of his actions breaking the teeth of John Heaney caused public outrage. Cordova faced a charge of third-degree assault after he slammed Heaney’s face into the pavement while Cordova served as [...

Repostiltskin: Repo Man Allegedly Drags Mother Holding Infant and Then Abandons Four-Year-Old Along a Road Five Miles Away

Posted on September 23, 2009
A car dealership in Ohio can honestly say that it will not charge customers “their first born.” The second born will do fine. In Cleveland, Ohio, Salimah Tutstone has charged that a repo company employee not only improperly repossessed her car but dragged her and her 1-year-old child while she fought to get her [...

Perils of the Press V

Posted on September 23, 2009
This video of a reporter hit by a studio light somehow missed our “perils of the press” series. For prior entries, click here and here and here. I cannot imagine a stronger worker’s comp case.

English Judge Orders That Pedophile Teacher May Resume Relationship with Victim

Posted on September 23, 2009
An English judge, Judge Anthony Pitts, has shocked police and prosecutors by expressly permitting prep school music teacher Helen Goddard, 26, to continue her relationship with a 15-year-old student after she is released from prison. Goodard received a 15-month sentence for her lesbian affair with the 15-year-old student...

Naked Gun: Police Called After Citizens See Naked Men Running Around Intersections . . . Only To Find The Police Were Already on the Scene

Posted on September 22, 2009
When citizens were alarmed at the sight of naked men running around intersections at 4 pm, they immediately called the police. They then learned that there were already officers on the scene — running around the police van naked. It appears that, not only were two officers running around the van naked at traffic lights, [...

Buffy The Propaganda Payer? Obama Administration Accused of Asking NEA Artists To Promote the President and His Policies

Posted on September 22, 2009
Buffy Wicks, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement has been accused (with others) of encouraging artists supported by the National Endowment for the Arts to produce works supporting President Obama and his policies. The story first appeared in BigGovernment...

California Police Repeatedly Taser and Partially Strip Double Amputee in Public ? But Bring No Charges After Six Days Incarceration

Posted on September 22, 2009
Police in Merced, California are looking into a case of a double amputee who claims that he was tasered twice by police in his wheelchair, partially stripped in public, and then held for days without charge. Gregory Williams, 40, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and resisting arrest but never charged...

Flying Human Cargo Class: Meet the Future of Air Travel

Posted on September 22, 2009
We previously discussed the interest of RyanAir in transporting humans like cargo in planes by removing traditional seats. This is the inevitable continuation of the downward trend in airline comfort and passenger expectations. Now, there is a design by Design Q on the market that could be coming to an airport near you...

Made in China: Officials Accused of Seizing and Selling Babies for Foreign Adoption

Posted on September 22, 2009
There is an incredible story in the Los Angeles Times about a new scourge of corruption in China: the removal and selling of babies against the wishes of their parents. The officials are first finding families in violation of child care laws and then, instead of imposing a fine, they are taking the [...

Bowling for Dealers: Florida Police Caught on Tape Playing Wii During Drug Raid

Posted on September 22, 2009
When police raided the home of drug dealer Michael Difalco, it did not take long for them to find what they were looking for. The officers of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force were caught on video playing Wii Bowling during the nine-hour drug raid...

Nigeria Demands Apology From Sony for Commercial

Posted on September 21, 2009
The nation of Nigeria is shocked that Sony is making fun of the country’s reputation as the haven for Internet fraud. The country is demanding an apology for this commercial — and the transfer of money to help release $10 million from the account of a deceased wealthy uncle...

Teenager Killed on His Way Back From a Birthday Party By a Drunken Ex-Con Driving a Stolen Car ? Parents Sue Parents of the Birthday Boy and the Owner of the Stolen Car

Posted on September 21, 2009
Lawsuits against bars and businesses under Dram Shop laws have become routine, though still somewhat controversial when owners are sued for the excessive drinking of third parties, here and here and here. We have seen a few cases where parents or home owners have been sued, though those cases are far more controversial, here...

Filings in Jefferson Case Reveal New Improper Relationship Between an FBI Agent and a Witness

Posted on September 21, 2009
The post-trial proceedings in the case of former congressman William Jefferson took a sordid turn today with the discussion of yet another allegation of an FBI agent having a sexual relationship with a witness. FBI agent John Guandolo appears to have had had such a relationship with the government’s lead informant, Lori Mody...

Candy Addiction: Father Arrested After His Son Handed Out Cocaine in Daycare After Being Told It Was ?Candy?

Posted on September 21, 2009
Shaheed Wright, 25, was arrested in New Jersey last week after he allegedly hid cocaine in his four-year-old son’s jacket and told him it was “candy. His son believed him and took the cocaine to school and shared it with his classmates. Police found several baggies of the drugs at the day care center...

Wife Argues With Husband So She Allegedly Runs Over . . . His Best Friend

Posted on September 21, 2009
In Oklahoma, Rebekah Leigh Crouch, 27, has a curious way of preserving a relationship: she is accused of running over her husband’s best friend. Crouch believed that the friend, Mathew Dewayne Dowling, 33, was encouraging her husband to leave her so she allegedly ran him over after an argument with her husband...

Fair and Balanced . . . and Staged? Fox Producer Found Rallying 9/12 Protesters

Posted on September 21, 2009
Fox News has announced that it has punished a producer who is captured on this video rallying crowds in a 9/12 protest. According to Huffington Post, the employee is Fox News producer Heidi Noonan. Here is the clip from Fox on the make-up of the crowd: It is not clear whether Fox is equally concerned over [...

Simian Sensibilities

Posted on September 20, 2009
Given our evolution stories this week, this picture was apropos. Of course, there are limits to simian evolution:

Can a Creationist Be A Good Mayor? St. Petersburg Debates Whether a Mayor?s Religious Beliefs Are Relevant to His Competence to Lead

Posted on September 20, 2009
There is an interesting debate going on in St. Petersburg where mayoral candidate Bill Foster is being attacked for his belief in creationism. As Florida’s fourth-largest city, St. Petersburg has tried to attract businesses and industry. His critics claim that high-tech companies are going to get the wrong impression if the Mayor believes [...

Obama Administration Moves to Dismiss Lawsuit By Gay Married Couples Over Federal Benefits

Posted on September 20, 2009
Civil libertarians have been objecting that liberals are ignoring the Obama Administration’s continuation of a number of Bush programs and policies — in contradiction to President Obama’s presidential campaign promises. From torture to unlawful surveillance, Obama has continued the positions of President Bush in federal courts in seeking to dismiss lawsuits and claim sweeping [...

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