Ouch: Violaters of the city of Fort Lupton’s noise ordinance were in for a big surprise this past Friday. The city’s judge sentenced citizens who have been busted for being too loud to 1 hour of listening to unpopular or unusual music. In a courtroom with mostly young adult offenders, Dolly Parton’s "I Will Always Love You" played loudly on … Read More
L’Affaire Chemerinsky
I’m following this story closely. The law blog of the Wall Street Journal has the latest. It seems to be the UC’s Chancellor, Mike Drake, is in — or should be in — hot water. If the latest reports are true, he bowed to outside political pressure, and even admitted behind closed doors (before he denied it publically) that Chemerinsky’s … Read More
Liberal Academia?
Sure: About a week ago, Erwin Chemerinsky, the well-known constitutional law scholar at Duke, signed a contract to be the inaugural Dean of the new law school at the University of California at Irvine. Yesterday, the Chancellor of the University of Cailfornia at Irvine flew to Durham and fired Chemerinsky, saying that he had not been aware of how Chemerinsky’s … Read More
Seriously — How Hard Is It To Come Up With A Porn Name?
You just take the name of your first pet, and the name of the street you grew up on. So my porn name would be Nitya Pleasant View which, ironically, is also the porn name of my brother and sister. Okay, that’s not a good porn name, but it works well for most people. Even if it doesn’t work well, … Read More
The Sleaziness Of The Libby Clemency
How can this be viewed as anything other a brazen admission that Bush & Co. feels they are above the law? Scooter Libby was convicted by a jury consisting of the American people who heard all the evidence, and concluded that he committed purjury and obstructed justice. Even Bush admits that he respects the jury’s verdict; his only issue was … 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
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
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
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 Alabama Sex Toy Case
Well, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled (for the fourth and probably last time) and the statute has been upheld: it is now illegal to sell sex toys in Alabama. (Guns, however? No problem). All tittering aside, the legal issues in this case were complex. In the end, however, I think the Eleventh Circuit got it wrong. Let me explain. In … Read More
Constitutional Crisis
The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court says we are experiencing a "Constitutional crisis". That’s very very serious. The last time I heard that phrase was during Watergate. But what exactly is the constitutional crisis he’s talking about? This: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made judicial pay the sole topic of his second annual report, issued on … Read More
Fastow Sentenced
Sometimes I don’t think I’ve done enough with my life, but then again, this guy was a classmate of mine in college, so I shouldn’t complain.
What Singer Is Most Often Quoted In Judicial Legal Opinions?
Inquiring minds want to know. The answer? Dylan, by a mile. He’s also the favorite in scholarly legal journals. Artist Number of Citations in Legal Journals Number of Citations in Judicial Opinions Total 1. Bob Dylan 160 26 186 2. The Beatles 71 3 74 3. Bruce Springsteen 64 5 69 4. Paul Simon 51 8 59 5. Woody Guthrie … Read More