Legal Commentary

?¡Yo Quiero Taco Bell Dinero!?: Restaurant Chain Loses Case Over Talking Chihuahua

Posted on January 25, 2009
Taco Bell must pay the entirely of a $42 million in breach-of-contract award to the two Michigan men who created the idea of a taco-selling Chihuahua. oseph Shields and Thomas Rinks of Grand Rapids, Mich., prevailed in their claims against the chain as the originators of the “Yo quiero Taco Bell” ads...

Palin Fan Mistakingly Buys Infamous Effigy on EBay and then Refuses to Pay

Posted on January 25, 2009
There is a fight brewing about an Ebay sale after a supporter of Sarah Palin bought an effigy of her by mistake, thinking that it was just another item to add to his Sarah Palin collection. It turned out to be the controversial effigy of Chad Morrisette, a professional window dresser, who hung it in [...

The Goat Did It: Nigerian Newspaper Reports That Cornered Car Thief Turned Himself Into Goat

Posted on January 25, 2009
The Vanguard, one of Nigeria’s largest newspaper, has a different take on the conventional crime beat. The newspaper reported how a thief in Kwara state was chased and cornered by vigilantes and promptly turned himself into a goat. It now appears that our interest in the Happy Goat may be misplaced and this is indeed [...

Chicago Man Sues After Being Held Six Months on False Drug Charges

Posted on January 25, 2009
Anthony Hernandez has sued the Chicago police department after officers arrested him without probable cause on drug charges and then held him for six months in jail. Not only did Hernandez lose his jobs, but he missed the birth of a child. It also turns out that one of the arresting officers, Slawomir [...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Drunken Commodities Broker Attempts to Set WTC Elevator on Fire in Escape Effort

Posted on January 25, 2009
Ryan Brinkerhoff has a curious way to dealing with being stuck in an elevator. When he found himself unable to get out of the 40th floor of 7 World Trade Center, he decided the best course of action was to spray the interior of the elevator with cleaning fluid and lighting it on fire...

BBC Refuses To Air Appeal for Gaza Aid

Posted on January 25, 2009
The BBC has officially refused to air an appeal for aid for Gaza from ten international aid groups, including British Red Cross, Oxfam, and Save the Children. The BBC insists that, no matter how crafted, the aid request would undermine its impartiality in covering the conflict...

Booked: Iowa Woman Arrested Over Failure to Return Library Book

Posted on January 24, 2009
The librarians in Independence, Iowa don’t take kindly to people holding on to their books. Shelly Koontz, 39, probably feels like she has become a character out of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment after police arrested her for failing to return a book that she checked out in April...

Dead Man Standing: Family Fulfills Last Party Wish of Deceased Relative

Posted on January 24, 2009
Ok, this has nothing to do with the law, society, politics, or policy. It is just sooooo creepy that I have to post it so you will be equally creeped out. Angel Pantoja Medina, 24, was found dead under a bridge in San Juan and his family wanted to fulfill his desire to [...

State Legislator Seeks to Criminalize Bad Language and Droopy Pants

Posted on January 24, 2009
South Carolina state senator Robert Ford is seeking to criminalize bad language in songs and droopy pants. The former civil rights worker believes that he has the right to dictate the speech and styles of citizens — dismissing any claims of constitutional rights...

Dying Virginia Woman Confesses to Double Murder 42 Years Ago in Ice Cream Shop

Posted on January 24, 2009
Police in Staunton, Virginia are dealing with a deathbed confession that may have solved a 42-year-old double murder. Sharron Diane Crawford Smith, 60, confessed to the murder of Constance Smootz Hevener, 19, and Carolyn Hevener Perry, 20 (who was also Hevener’s sister-in-law) at High’s Ice Cream store on 1967...

Winter of Discontent: Far-Right Politician Convicted of ?Humiliating a Religion?

Posted on January 24, 2009
The international trend toward criminalizing any insulting of religion has reached Austria, which has now convicted far-right legislator Susanne Winter for making anti-Muslim statements, including the oft-stated charge that Mohammed was a pedophile for marrying an underaged girl...

Rikers? Fight Club: Three Officers Arrested for Allegedly Organizing System of Beatings and Extortion

Posted on January 24, 2009
Correctional Officers Michael McKie, Khalid Nelson and Denise Albright have been arrested on charges that they organized a fight club of inmates called “The Program.” Using teen enforcers called “The Team,” they allegedly oversaw a system of beatings, extortion, and terror at Rikers prison in New York...

Standoff in Safe Harbor: Temporary Guests Refuse to Leave House

Posted on January 24, 2009
There is an interesting case out of Safety Harbor, Florida of the classic peril of the guests who will not leave. Judson Randall says that agreed to help out Elizabeth Sewall and her daughter, Jessica Sewall, who were broke and homeless by letting them stay in his house for a month...

Oh Isratine: The One State Solution

Posted on January 23, 2009
The New York Times had a curious op-ed piece this week from Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi who proposed a “one-state solution” to the Palestinian crisis: a new Israeli-Palestinian state called Isratine. It was a surprising source for advice on the issue from a man not only linked to “Carlos the Jackal” and terrorist [...

E Pluribus Memorexus: Inaugural Committee Admits that the Original Classical Piece Was Taped Not Live

Posted on January 23, 2009
The truth is out. The inaugural classical piece by Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill was made to look live but was not. The music that America heard was a tape of a performance of “Air and Simple Gifts” by John Williams done days earlier...

Death of Sgt. Maseth in KBR Shower Incident Re-Classified From ?Accidental? to ?Negligent Homicide?

Posted on January 23, 2009
The U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division (CID) has finally changed the status of the investigation of Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a highly decorated, 24-year-old Green Beret, from ?accidental? to ?negligent homicide.? Maseth was killed in an act of unbelievable negligence and carelessness by KBR in a shower where he was electrocuted...

Chicago Police Officer Pleads Guilty of Beating 60-Year-Old Man Handcuffed and Shackled to Wheelchair

Posted on January 23, 2009
Chicago Police officer William Cozzi has admitted that he “lost it” when he attacked 60-year-old Randle Miles, 62, who was handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair at the time. The attack with his baton is shown on the video below. He pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation...

Duh!: Thief Arrested After Giving Officer False Address ? The Officer?s Address

Posted on January 23, 2009
We may be losing markets to foreign countries but we still have a superior level of criminal. A teenager from Achim was caught shoplifting and an officer demanded his address. The teen made up an address. The only problem was that not only did the teen not live there but the officer did...

Catholic Church Ordered to Reinstate Teacher Fired for Adultery

Posted on January 23, 2009
A Spanish court has rendered an interesting decision: ordering the Catholic Church to re-hire a teacher fired for adultery and to pay back pay of $12,888 to Maria del Carmen Galayo. Galayo was fired from her positionafter she separated from her previous husband and remarried without having an annulment...

Collared: Catholic Priests Arrested for Stealing As Much As $2 Million From Church Donations

Posted on January 23, 2009
Two Roman Catholic priests — Fr. John Skehan, 81, and Fr. Francis Guinan, 66, have been accused of an astonishing criminal enterprise — stealing between $800,000 and $2 million from Church funds at St. Vincent Ferrer Church, in West Palm Beach...

Medical Study Finds Direct Link Between Reducing Pollution and Extending Lives

Posted on January 22, 2009
What is often missing in the political debate over the environment is the direct cost of pollution on the health and lives of Americans. While the Bush Administration was attacking environmental regulations across the board, officials rarely acknowledged that the lower standard meant more children with asthma and earlier deaths of hundreds of thousands [...

Australian Cleric Defends Right of Husbands to Beat Their Wives and Force Them to Have Sex

Posted on January 22, 2009
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has weighed into a religious controversy, demanding a retraction and an apology from Islamic cleric Samir Abu Hamza for telling followers that they can beat their wives and force them to have sex under the Koran — in violation of Australian law...

Obama Re-Takes the Oath

Posted on January 22, 2009
In what must be one of the most embarrassing moments for a Chief Justice, Chief Justice Roberts gave President Barack Obama the oath for a second time on Wednesday in the White House map room. After a day of researching the question, the President’s White House counsel appeared to agree that he had not [...

Obama Moves to Close Gitmo Prison While Republicans Move To Delay Holder Nomination

Posted on January 22, 2009
President Barack Obama issued four executive orders Thursday, including one requiring that the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay be closed within a year. It was a widely anticipated move. The question remains, however, what to do about the war crimes committed at the facility...

On a Wing and A Prayer: East Coast Facing Mysterious Chicken Wing Shortage

Posted on January 22, 2009
Once again the main stream media has let us down. While everyone was covering Inaugural Balls in Washington, a major crisis is emerging in New York and New Jersey: a chronic shortage of chicken wings. Not only are restaurant and bar owners in a panic over the shortage and rising costs, they have [...

Silent No More: Federal Judge Strikes Down Moment of Silence in Illinois

Posted on January 22, 2009
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman has struck down the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act as unconstitutional. The decision is based on the Doctrine of Separation of Church and State and constitutes a departure from other rulings around the nation upholding such laws...

Man Abandons 280 Rats on Side of the Road in Cruel Conditions ? Given Only $1000 Fine

Posted on January 22, 2009
A Providence, Rhode Island man is in trouble after he abandoned nearly 300 rats on the side of the road. Toby Duffany, 22, was arrested for stuffing 280 rats into aquariums and cages on the side of a road. The rats were forced to turn to cannibalism and 75 rates died...

When Poodles Attack: ?Clinically Depressed? Poodle Bites Ex-French President Chirac

Posted on January 22, 2009
You simply can’t make this stuff up. Former French President Jacques Chirac was rushed to a hospital after being bitten by his white Maltese poodle, Sumo. Sumo has been under care for clinical depression, including treatment with anti-depressants...

Chief Roberts? Grammatical Malfunction: Does the Oath Count?

Posted on January 21, 2009
It was Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s version of a wardrobe malfunction. He flubbed the 35-word oath and learned why his predecessor Chief Justice William Rehnquist always read the oath for accuracy. Now, there is a debate as to whether the oath is constitutionally valid and the possibility that Obama should take [...

Indiana Supreme Court Allows Gary Gun Lawsuit to Proceed to Trial

Posted on January 21, 2009
In a very rare win for a city against a gun manufacturer, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit by the City of Gary can proceed to trial. These lawsuits have been uniformly rejected on various grounds, including standing. Yet, Gary with one of the nation’s highest homicide rates will be [...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.