Legal Commentary

Canadian Man Ordered To Pay $873 Million In Fines For Spam

Posted on October 12, 2010
Adam Guerbuez has been ordered to pay $873 million in fines after sending four million spam messages to Facebook promoting marijuana and sexual-enhancement drugs. From March to April 2008, Guerbuez sent 4,366,386 spam messages to Facebook users. He was fined $100 in damages and $100 in punitive damages for each of the messages...

Goose Cooked: Man Arrested After Jumping Into River To Catch One-Legged Goose For Dinner

Posted on October 12, 2010
In Wausau, a certain one-legged goose is getting the last honk after a man jumped into the river to catch it for dinner only to end up in jail. Troy Kaczor, 40, got the free meal in jail after he was rescued by police who later discovered he was a wanted man...

Perils of the Press: . . . And Now a Word From Our Producer

Posted on October 12, 2010
Our latest entry in our series on the Perils of the Press (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here) shows the peril of venting your anger as a producer near a hot mike. The astonishing thing is that the anchor is able to maintain her composure throughout [...

Chavez Supports China in Denouncing Nobel Prize For Liu Xiaobo

Posted on October 11, 2010
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has again shown his preference for supporting totalitarian regimes over human rights in his latest outrageous statement: supporting China in denouncing the Nobel Prize given to dissident Liu Xiaobo. Chavez stated “[t]his (Liu) is like Obama, the other peace prize...

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English Prime Minister Suggests U.S. Military May Have Killed Linda Norgrove

Posted on October 11, 2010
Prime Minister David Cameron told the public this week that British aid worker Linda Norgrove may have been accidentally killed by U.S. forces during a rescue mission in Afghanistan. He attributed the death to the possible use of a grenade by U.S. forces in the rescue effort...

Over 1000 Teachers Fired For Abuse of Underaged Girls in Kenya

Posted on October 11, 2010
This is a shocking figure: More than 1,000 teachers have been fired for sexually abusing girls over the last two years in Kenya. According to the government, last year, 600 teachers were dismissed over allegations of sexual abuse, and 500 more have been let go this year...

Can The Petkovs Be Charged or Sued in Their Alleged Harassment of a Dying Seven-Year-Old Girl?

Posted on October 11, 2010
There is a horrific story out of Michigan where a couple Scott and Jennifer Petkov are accused of a cruel campaign targeting a seven-year-old girl, Kathleen Edwards who is dying from Huntington’s disease. The Petkov’s alleged posted pictures showing Kathleen’s mother (Laura Edwards, who died of the disease last year at the age of 24) [...

Baby Door or Doggie Door?

Posted on October 10, 2010
This always happens when everyone rushes for the door at once. Methinks the doggie door may have to be locked until junior gets a little bigger . . .

Indonesia Court Sentences Playboy Executive To Two Years in Jail for Indecency

Posted on October 10, 2010
Erwin Arnada, 47, former editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia, has begun a two-year sentence for publishing pictures of women in undergarments — photos that are less revealing than the standard ads found in the Subway. The prosecution was pushed by the Islamic extremists who are increasingly controlling the courts and politics of this country...

The Reich Man For the Job: Ohio GOP Candidate Shown in Nazi Uniform

Posted on October 10, 2010
What is it about public officials and Nazi uniforms these days. We just saw a Portland police officer accused wearing a Nazi uniform and building a memorial to fallen German soldiers including a SS officer and a war criminal. Now, Rich Lott, Ohio Republican nominee for Ohio’s Ninth District (second from the left) has been [...

Dora Explores Liability: Voice of Cartoon Character Sues Nickelodeon

Posted on October 10, 2010
Caitlin Sanchez, 14, has filed a lawsuit against Nickelodeon alleging that the network denied her full compensation as the voice for “Dora the Explorer.” The New Jersey team says that she (and her parents) were taken advantage of by network lawyers who convinced them to sign an unfair and ambiguous contract...

Oregon Police Officer Disciplined as ?Nazi Sympathizer?

Posted on October 09, 2010
We have been following cases where public employees have been disciplined or fired for activities in their private lives from teachers to coaches to lunch ladies (and here and here) to prison guards to city officials to police officers. There have also been such cases involving private employers as well as international cases (here)...

Canadian Surrogate Refuses To Abort Baby With Down?s Syndrome in Possible Test Case Over Parental Obligations

Posted on October 09, 2010
There is a fascinating case in Canada on the legal status of babies carried by surrogates. We have seen various rulings in surrogate cases, including surrogates awarded custody and surrogates fighting for such rights. The couple who (upon learning that the baby carried by their surrogate had Down’s Syndrome) wanted to abort the baby...

Scientists To Release Altered Mosquitoes To Fight Dengue Fever

Posted on October 08, 2010
This is pretty cool. Scientists are about to release mosquitoes infected with a bacteria that cut cut the insistence of dengue fever in half. Known as “breakbone fever” because of its pain, dengue fever kills 40,000 people a year and infects over 100 million in tropical nations...

Philadelphia Police Officers Arrested After Allegedly Robbing Fellow Officer

Posted on October 08, 2010
Philadelphia police officers Sean Alivera, 31, and Christopher Luciano, 23, have been charged with an impressive list of crimes, including criminal conspiracy, robbery, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, theft, and other related charges...

National Republican Senatorial Committee Uses Philadelphia Actor to Portray ?Hicky? West Virginia Voters.

Posted on October 08, 2010
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has pulled an ad showing real West Virginia guys complaining about West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D). The problem is that the real guys were not only actors but actors from Philadelphia. The ad makers told the talent agency that ?We are going for a ?Hicky? Blue Collar look...

Obama Administration Accused of Blocking Report on Potential Seriousness of BP Spill

Posted on October 07, 2010
We have previously discussed how the Obama Administration played down the environmental damage caused by the BP oil spill, including public statements by people like Carol Browner that the oil (which was later found) had miraculously disappeared. Now, documents have been disclosed suggesting that the Obama Administration blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the [...

Pittsburgh Judge Rejects Plea Agreement As Something That Prosecutor Only Gives ?To White Boys?

Posted on October 07, 2010
In Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Judge Joseph Williams has caused a controversy by rejecting a plea bargain on the ground that it is the type of deal that “only goes to white boys.” The plea agreement involved three months probation for a man accused of fighting with police during a traffic stop...

San Diego Police Officer Accused of Trashing Million Dollar Home After Foreclosure

Posted on October 07, 2010
San Diego police officer Robert Acosta and his wife Monique were allegedly not happy with the foreclosure on their million-dollar home. According to witnesses, they trashed the home, tore up the garden, and stole items before leaving the property. They now have been arrested and face a claim for over $200,000 in damages...

Mississippi Lawyer Jailed By Court For Not Reciting Pledge of Allegiance

Posted on October 07, 2010
Mississippi Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn means it when he asks everyone to stand and say the pledge of allegiance. When attorney Danny Lampley of Oxford stood but did not recite, Littlejohn threw him in jail. Littlejohn was just honored by the Mississippi bar for 50 years in public service...

Report: Ethiopian Jews Allegedly Being Given Controversial Birth Control Drug

Posted on October 06, 2010
There is a raging controversy in Israel where feminists and doctors have accused health officials of using a controversial birth control drug Depo Provera on female Ethiopian immigrants. The activists charge that the policy is based on racism and doubts over the “Jewishness” of the Ethiopians...

Saudi Prince on Trial For Sexually Assaulting and Murdering Servant

Posted on October 06, 2010
We have seen a steady stream of criminal cases involving Arab princes and princesses accused of beating or killing their servants (here and here). Now, one prince, Saud Bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir al Saud, 34 (grandson of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah) is accused of strangling his male servant Bandar Abdulaziz (left) after sexually assaulting him [...

Bosnian Police Announce That They Will Not Press Charges Against Girl Who Throw Puppies Into River

Posted on October 06, 2010
The girl who gained international infamy by throwing puppies into a fast-moving river while being videotaped. They then put the videotape on YouTube. Now, the Bosnian police have decided that she will face no punishment of any kind due to her age. I fail to understand why an act of such cruelty would go unpunished [...

?I Am Not A Witch?: O?Donnell Releases Unique Campaign Ad

Posted on October 06, 2010
It is perhaps an indication of our contemporary politics that 37 years ago, on November 17, 1973, Richard Nixon was declaring “I am not a crook.” Now, Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is about to run an ad declaring “I am not a witch...

Representation in ?Sister Wives? Case

Posted on October 06, 2010
As has been the practice on this blog, I wanted to disclose my representation of the Brown family, who are the subjects of the new series “Sister Wives” on TLC. As in the past, any comments on the case by me will be limited. However, various people have suggested the reported criminal investigation as a [...

Right of Sepulcher: Medical Examiner Sued After Former High School Friends Observed Deceased Boy?s Brain In a Jar During Morgue Tour

Posted on October 06, 2010
Andre Shipley and his wife, Korisha, were already mourning the loss of their son Jesse when they were given an added injury by the New York city medical examiner when they learned that their son’s brain was on public display in a jar. The case is the latest controversy over the “right of sepulcher...

Federal Judge Arrested For Alleged Drug Use With Relationship With Stripper

Posted on October 05, 2010
Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp Jr. has been arrested on charges that he purchased drugs on several occasions from an Atlanta club stripper with whom he was having a sexual relationship. Camp, 67, is charged with purchasing and using cocaine, marijuana, Hydrocodone and Roxycodrone...

Report: Buffalo Police Officer With Political Connection Reportedly Racks Up Disciplinary Charges

Posted on October 05, 2010
This is a curious story. West Seneca Police Chief Edward F. Gehen called in the FBI to investigate an officer, Sean P. Kelley, who had a long line of disciplinary problems, but was rumored to be too well-connected to fire. Kelley is accused of attacking a young man who made a rude remark to Kelley [...

Garden-Variety Crime: Florida Man Does Drive-By Shooting To Kill His Alleged Drug Associate?s Garden

Posted on October 05, 2010
Steve Ewing, 35, may be involved in drugs but he has a unique concept of a drive-by shooting. Reportedly unhappy with a neighbor in a dispute over drug money, Ewing loaded a squirt gun with poison and drove by killing his neighbor’s plants. It was a scene that left horticulturists in shock and horror at [...

THE PORTEOUS IMPEACHMENT: THE FACTS

Posted on October 05, 2010
With the completion of the trial portion of the Porteous impeachment, the parties are required to submit the proposed findings of fact as established in testimony. Below are the material facts in the trial in a filing that we submitted to the Senate. The findings are divided by Articles of Impeachment and may help explain [...

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