News-Observer: Gov. Pat McCrory announced Thursday that his office and four outside attorneys would represent North Carolina in the federal government’s challenge of House Bill 2, hours after making a political issue of a court document filed in the case by his Democratic challenger. An exchange of political volleys Thursday started when the Republican governor portrayed Attorney General Roy Cooper … Read More
Bad News For McCrory And HB2 Lovers
After the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request Tuesday to reconsider a previous ruling affirming the rights of a Virginia transgender student, Gov. Pat McCrory’s defense of HB2 has a hit a major road block. The intermingling of the two cases in question—the pivotal Virginia case (G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board) decided in favor of transgender student Gavin Grimm, and McCrory’s HB2 defense, … Read More
The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission Complaint Against Roy Moore
The world’s worst judge may finally be going down:
Court Opinion: 4th Circuit Sides with Transgender High School Student Suing School Board for Access to Boy’s Bathroom
The Fourth Circuit just reversed a lower Virginia court, which had tossed a lawsuit by a transgender boy against the school district which barred his access to the boy’s room. Not a final decision on the merits — the case was handed back down to the Virginia federal court. But a good harbinger, since on other federal appeals court has … Read More
The Yahoos Get Their Day In Court
Remember that 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that finally ended with one dude getting killed? Yeah, it’s still a rallying cry for the lunatic right, who love to carry around the Constitution but haven’t bothered to have it read and explained to them (except by other lunatics). Seven men are facing federal charges of conspiracy, weapon, theft and damaging … Read More
Good News From Newtown
The lawsuit survives: BRIDGEPORT – In a shot heard around the nation’s gun makers and dealers, a Superior Court judge Thursday refused to toss out the lawsuit by the families of the Sandy Hook victims against the manufacturer of the gun used by Adam Lanza to kill the 26 school children and teachers in December 2012. Judge Barbara Bellis ruled … Read More
For THIS, I Finally Appear In Playbill
Sigh: In a new statement provided to Playbill.com by Schwartz’s team, the composer-lyricist takes a hard line against North Carolina Governor McCrory and encourages citizens of the stage to turn their anger into activism. It can be read in full below: First of all, I think it’s important to remember that this is not just me, this is a collective … Read More
Scalia’s Absence Already Having An Impact
If Scalia was alive, this case would have ended up differently: A case that had the potential to weaken public sector unions across the United States ended with a somewhat unexpected victory for unions on Tuesday, as the Supreme Court divided 4-4 on the question of requiring nonmembers to pay a fee to the public sector union that negotiates the … Read More
Gov McCrory Signs HB2 Into Law
Here’s why he did it: Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance. That’s why I signed bipartisan bill to stop it — Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) March 24, 2016 … which kind of reminds me of when Edith Bunker of “All in The Family” couldn’t understand how a man could be in love with another … Read More
Missing The Point
The award goes to Gersh Kuntzman of the New York Daily News for writing this: No disrespect to the jury in the Erin Andrews case, but I can’t breathe. The Fox Sports reporter just got a $55 million award for the pain and suffering of being videotaped naked in a Nashville hotel room in 2008. Fifty five million dollars because people … Read More
Breaking: Scalia Dead at 79
Just coming over the news. Found dead at a West Texas “luxury ranch”, whatever that is. UPDATE: Very quick initial thoughts (I will “eulogies” him later.) The political implications of this are huge. For one thing, this Supreme Court term had many important 5-4 issues in front of the Court, or… what would have been 5-4. Immigration, climate change, even … Read More
The Sad Story Of Christine Mumma
The North Carolina Bar just ruled that Christine Mumma violated professional conduct rules in her quest to free an innocent man from prison. Mumma is an attorney for the North Carolina Innocence Project (actually, The NC Center on Actual Innocence) She was trying to free Joseph Sledge, 71, who had spent more than three decades in prison for a double homicide he did … Read More
Florida Can No Longer Lock Mentally Disabled People And Forget About Them
Fifteen years ago, J.R. — an intellectually disabled man who “functions as a seven-year old.” — was charged with sexual battery, but he was never tried because a court found him incompetent to stand trial. Instead, J.R. was involuntarily committed to a residential mental facility by a court order that contains no end date. End of story. You see, under … Read More
“Happy Birthday” Now In Public Domain
Finally: A judge grants summary judgment to a filmmaker challenging Warner/Chappell’s copyright to a song more than a century old. The world’s most popular English-language song is potentially free from copyright after a federal judge ruled on Tuesday that filmmakers challenging Warner/Chappell Music’s hold on “Happy Birthday to You” should be granted summary judgment. According to the opinion on Tuesday … Read More
The Back End Of The Kentucky Court Clerk
It looks like Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis doesn’t want to go back to jail after all. Kim Davis, the embattled Kentucky county clerk, at the center of the dispute over gay marriage and religious liberty, appeared to back down from the threat of more jail time Monday, saying while she still refuses to authorize marriage licenses, she will not … Read More