Mary Strey may be condemned for driving while drunk, but there is something redeeming in the 911 call below where she calls to report herself to police in Neillsville, Wisconsin.

Strey of Granton, Wisconsin had the sense of responsibility to call the police on herself on October 24th. Here is the transcript of the call:

Dispatcher:
Clark County 911.

Mary M. Strey:
Somebody’s really drunk, driving down Granton Road.

Dispatcher:
OK, where at, on Granton Road?

Mary M. Strey:
Ah, there’s only like six miles… drive through Granton and Neillsville.

Dispatcher:
Which way are they going?

Mary M. Strey:
They are going, um.

Dispatcher:
Are they going toward Granton or going toward Neillsville?

Mary M. Strey:
Towards Granton.

Dispatcher:
OK, are you behind them, or?

Mary M. Strey:
No, I am them.

Dispatcher:
You am them?

Mary M. Strey:
Yes, I am them?

Dispatcher:
OK, so you want to call in and report that you’re driving drunk?

Mary M. Strey:
Yes.

Dispatcher:
OK, what’s your name?

Mary M. Strey:
Mary.

Dispatcher:
OK, hold on a second, Mary. OK?

Mary M. Strey:
OK.

She will face a misdemeanor drunken driving charge due to a blood-alcohol level of twice the legal limit. She will appear in December in the case. While she is to be faulted for getting into the car in the first place, it would seem that such a case warrants a degree of leniency given her self-incrimination.

For the story, click here.

While many of us were opposed to women-only parking spots in South Korea, we may want to make an exception for Cha Sa-Soon who just passed her written driver’s license exam after 950 attempts.

She appears to be the previously unidentified woman who flunked the test 771 times, here.

She attempted to pass the exam almost every day since April 2005.

She still have to master the driving portion of the exam.

For the full story, click here.

Despite the claims of parents about always doing your homework, homework has been the undoing of many a fine criminal. In two cases this week, alleged high school and college felons were implicated when they left homework at the scene of the crime.

The first crime occurred at the University of Arizona where fraternity pledges with Phi Kappa Psi fraternity were allegedly sent by members to take every copy of the university paper, the Daily Wildcat — 10,000 copies in all. The reason, the paper suggests, is that the college reporters had done a story on an alleged fraternity date-rape.

Papers were found dumped in various places outside of the campus.

The article reported that a girl claimed to have been drugged at a Phi Kappa Psi party and thought she may have been raped.

The paper says that the culprits dropped their homework at one dump site — homework belonged to PKP pledges Nick Kovalski and Alex Cornell.

PKP President Keith Peters refused to speak to reporters. What is remarkable is that the city and university police appear to have dropped the case. The newspaper reports that they are not sure that a crime has been committed because the paper is free. That is odd. Just because a paper is free does not mean that it can be wantonly destroyed. Under this theory, paid newspapers in various cities could regularly pick up the copies of free papers like Denver’s Westword and dump them into landfills. This was the destruction of property, not the use of the newspapers. It also fits such crimes as criminal mischief and potentially conversion. It cost the media department about $8,500, and the paper was forced to run free ads for businesses that bought space in the stolen papers.

I have no desire to see these students go to jail, but I believe an investigation is warranted with a plea (and eventual expunging of their records after probation) if they in fact committed these acts. Clearly, the students and the fraternity brothers who sent them on such a mission should also face suspension.

If the campus and city police will not act, the newspaper should sue both the fraternity and the students for conversion.

It is also a shocking attack on free speech and free press at a university, but the campus police seem to be responding with a giant collective yawn. It has become all to common on campuses, here.

For the full story, click here

In the meantime, a high school student in Rhode Island has been charged in a robbery after he left his homework at the home. The police in Woonsocket say that the two 15-year-old boys skipped class Monday and broke into a house near school. The homework fell out as they loaded their school bags with loot like video game systems.

They were charged with breaking and entering — and being late on their homework.

For the high school case, click here.

It is all straight out of the Big Lebowski:

Who says that a math geek cannot become a super hero? Mahmoud Vahidnia is a math student at Tehran’s Sharif Technical University where he recently won the gold medal at the country’s National Math Olympics (yes, geeks have an Olympics of their own). Vahidnia, however, has become a political icon in Iran after he publicly chastised the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the brutal crackdown of protesters.

At first, Vahidnia was blocked by organizers from speaking and then one of the organizers tried repeatedly to cut him off. However, to the surprise of many, Khamenei allowed him to speak in a televised encounter. The government is now using the incident to show that freedom thrives in the Islamic republic, which is being described as “The revolutionary leader’s fatherly response to critical youth.”

The exchange lasted 20-minutes and Khamenei appeared taken aback at first. The criticism followed Khamenei denouncing the questioning of the presidential results as the “biggest crime” since he personally found Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be the winner.

Mahmoud then raised his hand and launched into a criticism of the crackdown with such memorable statements as “I don’t know why in this country it’s not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you . . . In the past three to five years that I have been reading newspapers, I have seen no criticism of you, not even by the Assembly of Experts, whose duty is to criticize and supervise the performance of the leader.”

Khamenei insisted, “We welcome criticism. We never said not to criticize us. … There’s plenty of criticism that I receive.”

Indeed, the jails are filled with such critics.

For the full story, click here.

This must be a mother horse.

Fortunately, the girl in the video was not injured but this horse appears to be teaching her a lesson about proper equine etiquette.

This is a lesson that some adults have had to learn on occasion:

The Sharia courts of southern Somalia are busy again showing the world the importance of the separation of mosque and state. In the latest outrage, the Sharia court of al-Shabab ordered Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, stoned to death in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the town of Merka. The Islamic judges, however, showed mercy for the woman who is pregnant. She will be allowed to give birth and then immediately stoned to death.

According to witnesses, it took at least seven minutes for the man to die as he screamed in pain from the stoning.

Many in Islam are equally horrified by this extreme interpretation of the Koran — though we have seen similar outrages in Saudi Arabia.

The al-Shabab organization has been regularly stoning people to death, including two men in the same town just last week. They previously stoned a 13-year-old girl to death. She was reportedly raped before her execution.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has accused al-Shabab of corruption as well as brutality. He noted that they “are forcing women to wear very heavy clothes, saying they want them to properly cover their bodies” but they are also selling the women the clothes and making a profit.

For the full story, click here

The good people at Hezbollah are offering the world another insight into extremist thought. The militant group has banned “The Diary of Anne Frank” from schools as Zionist propaganda by focusing on the plight of some Jews. I suppose when you are teaching kids to blow up innocent people, an account of an innocent victim can appear propagandistic.

What is striking is that the censorship occurred not over the book but simple excerpts from the book shown to school children in a private English-language school in western Beirut. That led to a shrill attack from Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel, which asked how long Lebanon would “remain an open arena for the Zionist invasion of education.”

Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan criticized the school for exposing the children to a story about a suffering Jewish girl: “These respected, established schools are teaching the so-called tragedy this girl lived, and yet they are ashamed to teach the tragedy of the Lebanese people, the tragedy of the Palestinian people… the tragedy of the people of the south under the hands of Zionist occupation.”

Notably, the Lebanese routinely prevent citizens from reading unapproved material through its censorship bureau, which actually blanked out the chapter in this textbook. However, a student purchased a book privately that had the chapter, which was shown to other students.

There is even a committee for “the ban of Zionist products” that called for the removal of the book. Attorney Naim Kalaani of the committee says that showing the book is a crime. What a wonderful role for a lawyer — criminalizing free speech and possession of a classic book.

For the full story, click here.

While conservatives believe that the Pledge of Allegiance “drives Liberals crazy,” Sesame Street seems to have the same effect on them. Conservatives are outraged by what they view as a dissing from Oscar the Grouch and an unnamed muppet who referred to a network called “Pox News” in a dismissive way.

On the show, it is clear that the Grouch in fact watches GNN — the Grouchy News Network. However, GNN (a reference to CNN) is turning off by the other muppet who announces “I am changing the channel. From now on I am watching ‘Pox’ News. Now there is a trashy news show.”

One critic complains “The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of “Sesame Street” without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority. And don’t tell me, ‘If you don’t like it change the channel.’ There are no channels left! It’s everywhere.”

The absence of any muppet audience for MSNBC may require some attention by the network and review of their business plan. Of course, Glenn Beck is believed to be an actual muppet, which should give Fox an advantage:

There may also be an advantage to open pandering to the muppet demographic:

For the full story, click here.

Blockbuster and Facebook are the defendants in two interesting privacy lawsuits in Texas where Cathryn Harris is suing them for revealing her name and movie rental tastes. Even more shocking is that anyone is still renting “The Jewel of Nile” with Michael Douglas in 2009.

Harris 25, discovered that every time she rented a movie, Facebook added a note showing the movies that she rented in an agreement with Blockbuster. She insists that “I wasn’t renting any movies that I’m ashamed of, but what if I had been? It’s nobody’s business.” Actually, she should be ashamed. It was a terrible movie and I want everyone to know that Cathryn Harris rents insipid romantic adventure films. There I said it.

Many, however, may be a bit surprised by the agreement between Blockbuster and Facebook, which is part of Facebook’s controversial Beacon system — allowing cross tracking on different sites. It is part of the whole Facebook obsession with keeping everyone up-to-date on everything that you do in a given day.

In 2007, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the Beacon system — removing the automatic posting of the information. However, Harris alleges in the two lawsuits (one against Blockbuster and one against Facebook) that Blockbuster still shared the information with Facebook in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act below.

Facebook is reportedly settling a similar California lawsuit, which may result in pulling plug on the program, here.

The federal law was passed when Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork’s video tastes were disclosed during his contentious nomination fight. His selection were a bit more impressive than Harris’: A Day at the Races, Ruthless People and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Ruthless People can be forgiven as preparation for his time before Congress.

The Video Privacy Protection Act states in part:

(b) Video Tape Rental and Sale Records.—
(1) A video tape service provider who knowingly discloses, to any person, personally identifiable information concerning any consumer of such provider shall be liable to the aggrieved person for the relief provided in subsection (d).
(2) A video tape service provider may disclose personally identifiable information concerning any consumer—
(A) to the consumer;
(B) to any person with the informed, written consent of the consumer given at the time the disclosure is sought;
(C) to a law enforcement agency pursuant to a warrant issued under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, an equivalent State warrant, a grand jury subpoena, or a court order;
(D) to any person if the disclosure is solely of the names and addresses of consumers and if—
(i) the video tape service provider has provided the consumer with the opportunity, in a clear and conspicuous manner, to prohibit such disclosure; and
(ii) the disclosure does not identify the title, description, or subject matter of any video tapes or other audio visual material; however, the subject matter of such materials may be disclosed if the disclosure is for the exclusive use of marketing goods and services directly to the consumer;
(E) to any person if the disclosure is incident to the ordinary course of business of the video tape service provider; or
(F) pursuant to a court order, in a civil proceeding upon a showing of compelling need for the information that cannot be accommodated by any other means, if—
(i) the consumer is given reasonable notice, by the person seeking the disclosure, of the court proceeding relevant to the issuance of the court order; and
(ii) the consumer is afforded the opportunity to appear and contest the claim of the person seeking the disclosure.
If an order is granted pursuant to subparagraph (C) or (F), the court shall impose appropriate safeguards against unauthorized disclosure.
(3) Court orders authorizing disclosure under subparagraph (C) shall issue only with prior notice to the consumer and only if the law enforcement agency shows that there is probable cause to believe that the records or other information sought are relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry. In the case of a State government authority, such a court order shall not issue if prohibited by the law of such State. A court issuing an order pursuant to this section, on a motion made promptly by the video tape service provider, may quash or modify such order if the information or records requested are unreasonably voluminous in nature or if compliance with such order otherwise would cause an unreasonable burden on such provider.

The act notably allows for punitive damages:

(c) Civil Action.—
(1) Any person aggrieved by any act of a person in violation of this section may bring a civil action in a United States district court.
(2) The court may award—
(A) actual damages but not less than liquidated damages in an amount of $2,500;
(B) punitive damages;
(C) reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred; and
(D) such other preliminary and equitable relief as the court determines to be appropriate.

For a copy of the complaint, click here.

For the story, click here.

Rep. Todd Akin is under fire for claiming that saying the Pledge of Allegiance “drives liberals crazy.” However, the Missouri congressman seems to stumble on the words when he leads a group of teabaggers in Washington.

Red Skelton did it a bit better:

Of course, Democrats do not help themselves by sitting through the pledge as a protest to the Republicans taking over one of their legislative houses:

Of course, there appear to many conservatives in places like Texas who hate both the pledge and the nation that it represents:

An evangelical Christian kindergarten teacher has sued Texas to contest the state’s right to require her to submit to fingerprinting. Pam McLaurin, however, is not alleging privacy or contractual violations. She is alleging that fingerprinting is the Mark of the Beast foretold in the Book of Revelations and thus violates her religious beliefs. It turns out that the Beast has laid the foundations for its Kingdom on Earth in the Texas Education Agency.

McLaurin is challenging the requirement of fingerprinting to get her certification under state law as part of a background check. She has already taught at the Big Sandy School District in Dallardsville for 20 years.

Her complaint states that “[McLaurin] does not believe that it is just coincidence that Revelations speaks about only those with the ‘mark on his forehead or finger’ will be able to buy or sell, since only those teachers that comply with the fingerprinting requirements will maintain their jobs.” She specifically cites Revelations 13:16-17 and 14:9-11.

Let’s go to the source, shall we?

Revelations 13:16-17 states:

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,

17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Revelations 14:9-11 states:

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

Now, from personal experience in teaching, I can say that the passage “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image” is a reference to the tenure and promotion process.

The good thing is that the Bible does allow for unspecified damages and declaratory and injunctive relief from the defendants, including the Texas Education Agency, Texas State Board of Educator Certification, Commissioner Robert Scott and Associate Commissioner Jerel Booker. That is so much more practical that wiping them out with the jawbone of an ass. (Judges 15:14-17)

Of course, McLaurin’s theory would indicate that she is working for an agency already in league with the Beast. The decision of the Beast to use the TEA was a brilliant ploy. Notably, its website does contain a suspicious “StarChart” program and a mysterious project called the Texas Tomorrow Fund — one can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Now, I do not want to freak anyone out, but I have looked more closely at this Texas-style TEA beast. It cannot be an accident that the recommended temperature for white tea is 66 C or that it was introduced in places like Korea in 661, here. Indeed, there are the strange rock outcroppings called “The Devil’s Tea Table,” here, and even Devil’s Tea recipes, here. One has to be blind to miss the signs.

By the way, McLaurin’s claim is not unique. Her case is similar to a lawsuit by a group of Michigan farmers, some of them Amish, challenging rules requiring the tagging of. Amish farmers have contested the required use of RFID chips on livestock as the mark of the Beast (on beasts), here. A judge, however, recently dismissed that claim, here.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have also alleged discovery of the Biblical beast and the marking of hands in a prior column.

Now here is the Biblical kicker. Wayne Haglund, the lawyer for the Big Sandy Independent School District, actually supports McLaurin in her claim and believes that she has a legitimate religious claim. He insists that the district is “caught in the crossfire” of having to carry out the state law. So let me get this straight. Haglund believes that it is a legitimate and protected religious practice to believe that fingerprinting is a sign of the Beast and thus a teacher or potential teacher can decline to be checked in a computer system for felons. This is the case even though that Bible actually states that “The second beast of Revelation 13 will cause ‘all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.” Fingerprinting does not leave a mark on your hand or forehead. It leaves it on a piece of paper that is then digitized. Under this bizarre interpretation, any ink, lotion, or impression left by McLaurin’s fingers could constitute a sign of the Beast. However, she is willing to take a photo and presumably a optic scanner or other imagining picture. Thus, what if the state simply takes a picture of her fingerprints directly on a digitized scanner? How is that different from asking her to take a high-resolution picture?

As we saw recently, some teachers are objecting to the required submission of DNA material for employment, here. While this objection is made on privacy (and logic) grounds, would McLaurin view DNA samples as a sign of the Beast?

Ironically, the resistance to large data banks of tracking and identification information is being opposed by liberals and evangelicals — albeit for vastly different reasons:

Privacy, however, remains a better basis for opposing some government intrusions than lunacy. How an image left on a paper is a credible belief of a mark left on a body is beyond me. While the school district may find this a credible claim, I doubt the courts would give it any more credence than the Amish farmers seeking to prevent farm beasts from being given the Sign of the Beast.

For the story, click here.

It appears that felons in the small town of Appleton, Wisconsin have to learn a bit about drive-by shootings if they are going to compete with nearby Milwaukee or Chicago. Andrew J. Burwitz, 20 will appear (aptly) in Outagamie County Court after being accused of an attempted drive-by shooting. The problem, police say, is that he forgot to roll down his window — leaving telltale glass all over the street and his car.

Burwitz is now charged with four counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, four counts of endangering safety by reckless use of a firearm, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property and placed on a $25,000 cash bond. He has reportedly confessed.

The alleged target of the subpar drive-by shooting were two houses, including his ex-girlfriend’s house and a house apparently selected at random.

Burwitz may find this a poor entry on his resume for the Crips or Bloods. After allegedly shooting out his own window, he went to an auto glass shop and filed an insurance claim. He wasn’t hard to find and the police promptly found a 9 mm handgun and spent shell casings.

I am not a specialist in insurance law, but generally shooting out your own window in a drive-by shooting is not covered in most policies.

The officers, however, should not chuckle too loudly. As this video shows, even officers can forget a few details on occasion like getting out of the way of the falling wall:

{By the way, if you look closely, a woman appear casually from inside the targeted house. She seems quite calm with a Swat team trying to bust down the wall and does not appear particularly concern when the wall almost decapitates her and a team of Swat members rush by].

For the full story, click here.

Secularists are often blamed by religious figures for everything from hurricanes to teen pregnancies. Now, it appears that secularists are also responsible for religious extremism and, oh yes, the demise of Western Civilization and Europe as we know it. No, this is not the latest religious tirade from Tony Blair. It is Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks of Aldgate, who clearly pinned the blame for the demise of Europe on those who hold secularist views. Lord Sacks, 61, is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth since 1991.

Lord Sacks insists that the rise of secularism has diminished the influence of “tolerant religion” which he compares to the rise of fundamentalism — an apparent reference to Islam. In an annual lecture to the think-tank Theos in London, he noted that Europe was the world’s most secular region and the only one experiencing population decline. This, he suggested, is due to the fact that religion pushes family and parenthood. The result of the rise of secularism, he explained, is a drop in population which is being overwhelmed by fundamentalist immigrants. It also has created dangerous “relativism” due to people who are no longer following the direction of religious leaders like himself.

However, he is most concerned about production of Judeo-Christian babies. Religion, he insists, means bigger families which means more people to resist the threat of fundamentalism: “Wherever you turn today – Jewish, Christian or Muslim – the more religious the community, the larger on average are their families.”

He also accused secularists of having no sense of sacrifice and duty — for that, it appears, you need God: “In that [secular] culture, where will you find space for the concept of sacrifice for the sake of generations not yet born? Europe is dying, exactly as Polybius said about ancient Greece in the third pre-Christian century.”

He added: “Albert Camus once said, ’The only serious philosophical question is why should I not commit suicide? I think he was wrong. The only serious philosophical question is, why should I have a child? Our culture is not giving an easy answer to that question.”

Lord Sacks holds to a rather old saw: that Western Civilization is doomed without a religious foundation. He ties that view to a more concrete notion that it all comes down to the population numbers — whoever has the most kids wins. It is not really the size of your population but the size of your ideas that ultimately prevails in history. The Mongols had a large population and a successful army but left little cultural or political influence on history despite actual conquests. The Visigoths and other cultures left an equally light historical footprint. Was it for lack of faith or the lack of civilizing values?

Our principles will prevail because they are right and tied to basic human needs for free speech, association, and, yes, religion. Ironically, those who advocate faith-based politics like Blair and Obama are threatening those values by aligning themselves with the force of intolerance like Egypt, here. The Chief Rabbi should be more concerned about the growing sacrifice of free speech on the altar of religion than how we need to drop our secular values if we want to survive.

He ends with this dire warning:

“Let me be blunt. Either we win or the fundamentalists win and that is the challenge. If the fundamentalists win, I wouldn’t hang around too long.”

Secularists might not be too aggrieved if Lord Sacks did not hand around too long.

For the full story, click here.h

Kenneth Herron may have picked the wrong cage but apparently the right counsel. Herron was acquitted of “disturbing dangerous animals” on a novel defense by deputy public defender James Conger. Conger argued that the bears were actually not that disturbed when Herron came into their cage after the San Francisco Zoo closed.

Herron, 21, was facing a misdemeanor charge for entering the zoo on September 26th. He went into the cage with two 500-pound grizzlies. One bear sniffed Herron’s shoe but then fled when a zoo official fired a warning shot. Conger argued that one bear sniffing a shoe does not a disturbed grizzly make.

This is a disturbed grizzly defending against a real cougar (as opposed to a conger).

Notably, this is not the first controversy involving humans versus animals at the zoo, here.

The jury agreed with Conger and found no disturbance. Moreover,
Superior Court Judge Wallace Douglass ruled the day before that a trespassing charge against Herron could not proceed because the prosecution couldn’t prove that he intended to “occupy” the cage — particularly given his mental problems.

In the end, Conger proved that a 150 pound lawyer is more dangerous than two 500-pound grizzly bears.

For future cases, here is a zoological expert on the bear necessities of life:

For the full story, click here.

Another case is using the court system for entertaining justice. Evelyn Border, 55 and her daughter, Tina Griekspoor, in Bedford, Pa. have been sentenced to sit outside a courthouse with a sign saying that they stole a gift card from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday. I have previously opposed the use of such humiliation and public scorn punishments, here. It is trend of judges who are freelancing with their own forms of humiliating justice for citizens — an erosion of professionalism and continuity in our legal system.

Border and her daughter had to stand outside the courthouse for 4 1/2 hours with signs reading “I stole from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday! Don’t steal or this could happen to you!” They swiped the card when the girl put the card on a shelf while a Walmart employee helped her.

For pictures of the punishment, click here

Due to their humiliation, Bedford County District Attorney Bill Higgins says he is willing to ask for probation instead of jail. What is particularly disturbing is that this appears to be Higgins’ own initiative rather than the court’s. He is forcing citizens to commit acts of humiliation to his liking or face have harsh sentence demands. Since this type of circus-like punishment is popular with the public, other prosecutors may follow suit and seek their own forms of justice. Higgins may need the distraction given his own controversial record, here. I wonder whether he would support public signs for accused adulterers or having sex in the courthouse.

The girl’s mother is going to bring the girl to watch the public humiliation to teach her about justice, she told the media. However, this has little to do with justice in our system. It teaches this little girl that inflicting humiliation is part of society’s plan and social justice. That is a poor lesson for both justice and children.

For the story, click here and here

Twenty-three suspects, including the former CIA station chief in Milan Robert Lady, were convicted of kidnapping by an Italian court for the CIA’s “extraordinary renditions.” It is the first such trial on the controversial practice.

Recently I discussed on Rachel Maddow (here) how the U.S. has ignored international law in the bombing of Pakistan sites and seems to argue that it is not unlawful because it is the United States who is carrying out the attacks. The same basic argument is being used on these extraordinary renditions where we engage in criminal acts in foreign countries and insist that, while we would prosecute other nations for such actions on our soil, we are in a materially different position. This court clearly disagrees.

Lady was given an eight-year jail sentence for his part in the seizure of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, who claimed that he was subsequently tortured in Egypt. Lady’s superior, Jeff Castelli, the then head of the CIA in Italy, and two other Americans were acquitted on the grounds that they enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Another 21 alleged CIA operatives and a US air force officer were each sentenced to five years in jail. All were tried in absentia and are now to be treated as fugitives under Italian law. This will likely lead to a demand of extradition with the U.S. refusing to comply — a position that will undermine our own attempts to get extradition of others from foreign countries. We will continue our position — as on torture (here) — that we only apply international legal principles to others and not ourselves.

For the full story, click here.

MIke Bartlett of Kent, Ohio probably thought that the worst thing that happened to him on Sunday was finding his house on fire at 4:30 am. He was wrong. After Bartlett ran in and out of the house to save people, he was tasered by officers standing outside and arrested.

Bartlett noticed the fire in his sister’s room when he returned home and went into the room to be sure that she was not there. He then ran through the house looking for others. He returned to the burning house to locate the sleeping girlfriend of his cousin.

The resident, Mike Bartlett, said he was returning from downtown for his cell phone when he noticed his sister’s room on fire. He ran in to make sure she was not there and continued to find his friends in the basement and alert them of the fire. He said his cousin’s girlfriend was sleeping upstairs so he went back in the house to retrieve her.

“As I was running downstairs, I could hear the window glass popping because of the heat,” Bartlett said.

When he went outside, he found police officers standing in the driveway. He claims that they dismissed him when he approached for help but then, as he walked toward one of his friends, they tackled him and tasered him. The officers claim that he was combative and intoxicated.

Bartlett also complains that he was given no medical attention and was only taken to a hospital after his court appearance despite the fact that he had first and second degree burns.

This is not the first time that police have arrested a man after he tried to rescue people or pets from a burning building, here, In another case, a son was tasered for trying to rescue his Dad — who proceeded to drown in the water.

For the full story, click here

We have been discussing the propriety of public schools putting on worshipful performances about President Barack Obama. While I voted for him and support many of his policies, it does concern me to see children enlisted in such performances, which are not the norm in American education or politics. While some extreme conservatives have been campaigning on this issue, I do believe that there is a legitimate objection to the use of children to sing the praises of political leaders.

There are the lyrics of one of the videos published from these schools:

We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Yeah, haha, haha.
Alright, come on now, here we go;
You know we gotta get Barack and all of his crew
In the White House so they can prove that
In their hearts they know what to do
And that includes Michelle and the kiddies too
[kids chanting] “There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
[Chant at end of song – unintelligible

Another song includes such lyrics as:

Barack Obama there is none higher
Other politicians should call me sire
To burn my kingdom you must use fire
I create change till I retire!

Democratic Party come correct
Our cuts are on time our rhymes connect
Got the right to vote and will elect
Others can’t feel us but give us respect

That strikes me as significantly over-the-top. I expect that, if such a song was performed about George Bush (defending us and our families), liberals would be equally upset over the use of children to lionize a conservative leader.

I have long objected to how this country is increasingly deifying our presidents through elaborate inaugurations and unquestioned loyalty. I spend a lot of time pushing civics in schools, particularly elementary schools. This is not a valuable civics lesson. These songs advance the same type of cult of personality. It is not the civics lesson that I would want kids to learn. Indeed, it is precisely the opposite lesson. Kids should view a president as a citizen leader who carries out the will of the people — not our divine protector and national father. Citizens, not the President, protect our rights and our future.

The hard-right voices who denounced Obama’s speech to the nation’s children were clearly alarmist and unhinged, here. Moreover, Obama is legitimately a figure for discussion and inspiration in the schools. However, we should recognize that some of these videos cross the line and tend to politicize our public schools. Putting aside the fact that conservatives and Republicans send their kids to public schools too, school administrators should not make adoration of a leader part of the curriculum.

For the story, click here.

Yes, it appears that Al-Qaeda has its own magazine.

It appears that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has published the magazines Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Battle) and Sada al-Jihad (The Echo of Jihad). The organization is the branch of al-Qaeda that operates primarily in Saudi Arabia.

The biggest barrier to expansion is the resistance among many homeowners to have home delivery with Al-Qaeda employees throwing the brown paper bags at their houses while screaming “Allu akbar!”

Of course, I personally cannot wait for the burkini edition. The nice thing is that you not only get special travel package offers to places like Kandahar, but a subscription gets you an immediate expense paid trip to Cuba and a material support charge.

With the demise of Gourmet Magazine, Al-Qaeda hopes to compete with such food inserts entitled “How to Prepare Ratatouille With Real Rat Over Campfires” and ‘Meals with the Mujahideen.”

The highlight is the Dear Binny column where you can write to get advice on everything from “what clashes with Kalashnikovs?” (the answer is Fall fatigues) to “Is my gum disease caused by Jews” (the answer is yes). Of course, most of the personal questions involving marriage problems generally end with the same advice: stone your wife and marry a child bride.

Of course, U.S. publications appear to be competing on the raw violent side of journalism, here.

For the full story, click here.

The gay-rights movement has suffered a harsh defeat at the hands of voters in Maine. The voters repealed a law that allowed for same-sex marriage — reducing the states allowing same-sex marriage or civil unions. Maine is now the 31st state to reject same-sex marriage. [The two men on the state seal are now strictly prohibited from marrying each other in the State of Maine].

With most polls reporting, 53 percent of voters had approved the repeal. At the same time, a liberal measure passed with voters expanding the state’s 10-year-old medical marijuana law — keeping Maine as the third state with New Mexico and Rhode Island allowing marijuana dispensaries. Thirteen states have legalized medical marijuana.

Notably, the other states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire and Vermont — have legalized same-sex marriage through court rulings and legislative action. No state has passed a same-sex measure by popular vote.

The only hopeful news is that the vote was relatively close. One has to wonder how President Obama might have made a difference if he supported the law. Obama declined to even state support for the law or a similar campaign in Washington state and Kalamazoo. Obama appears to have forgotten his campaign promises to the gay community to fight for their rights. Even after a year in office, the Administration has yet to even end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — something that Obama can do unilaterally. With such a close vote in Maine, the President’s support might have made the difference.

Personally, while I support recognizing marriage for gay couples as an alternative, I remain convinced that the best approach is for all couples to register civil unions with the states and leave the term “marriage” to individual religions to define, here.

For the full story, click here

In Syracuse, New York, Rascell Williams is looking at a curious charge for a horrible crime. Williams, 28, is charged with hanging his girlfriend’s four-month-old kitten with a belt and making a video of the animal struggling. It was discovered by the girlfriend, Joanne Cichy, the day after Halloween and turned over the police.

Cichy says that she found the images on her digital camera showing the kitten struggling before going motionless. The video shows Williams stepping in and out of the video. The kitten was later found under the porch alive later.

Williams can obviously be sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. It is the criminal charge that is interesting. It is unjustifiable animal cruelty. “Unjustifiable” animal cruelty seems to suggest that there is justifiable animal cruelty. Yet, it is a charge raised in other cases, here and here. The New York code does have one provision referring to unjustifiable injury to animals:

353. Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide proper sustenance
A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or causes, procures or permits any animal to be overdriven, overloaded, tortured, cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or killed, or to be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who wilfully sets on foot, instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both.

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit or interfere with any properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or investigations, involving the use of living animals, performed or conducted in laboratories or institutions, which are approved for these purposes by the state commissioner of health. The state commissioner of health shall prescribe the rules under which such approvals shall be granted, including therein standards regarding the care and treatment of any such animals. Such rules shall be published and copies thereof conspicuously posted in each such laboratory or institution. The state commissioner of health or his duly authorized representative shall have the power to inspect such laboratories or institutions to insure compliance with such rules and standards. Each such approval may be revoked at any time for failure to comply with such rules and in any case the approval shall be limited to a period not exceeding one year.

Either way, of course, he fits this definition from any number of ways. The cat proved to have more lives but he is likely to be less fortunate.

For the full story, click here

What would we do without Wal-Mart? When Wal-Mart is not destroying historic sites or abusing employees and customers (here) it is working hard to guarantee the efficient spread of swine flu or H1N1. The Center of Disease Control (CDC) is now intervening to address Wal-Mart draconian labor practices which violate the CDC guidelines, common sense, and human decency. The store imposes a “demerit” system that penalizes employees for staying home with flu-symptoms — preferring it appears for them to come to work to infect customers. It may require a slight change to the slogan “Save Money. Live Better” to reflect the shorter life expectancy for employees and customers alike.

The store imposes demerits and deducts pay when employees stay home, as recommended by the CDC, with flu symptoms or to take care of children with such symptoms. One of the main recommendations of the CDC is for employers to allow workers to stay home with flu symptoms and to allow them to do so with sick children at home.

Wal-Mart omitted that part of the CDC instructions in its policy for employees, who are told to simply wash their hands and cover their nose and mouth when coughing.

It, however, proceeds to impose a rule that any employee who misses a day due to sickness will receive a one-point demerit and lose eight hours of wages. Three such absences within six months leads to discipline and a fifth day results in “active coaching” by management. I am not sure what that is but it does not appear good. A sixth day leads to what Wal-Mart calls “Decision Day,” when a worker can be either terminated or put on a year-long trial period during which time he or she can be fired for any infraction and cannot be promoted.

The result is that Wal-Mart employees are coming in sick and reportedly loading their children with Motrin and Dimetap to suppress the fever of their children with the flu to keep them in school — further spreading the flu.

Many employees have complained for years that Walmart fired them after having documented illnesses. In one case on the radio this morning, a former employee complained that he was in such pain that he was barely able to walk and asked to go to the hospital. The supervisor told him that he would receive a demerit and face “decision day.” When he returned with proof from the hospital, he was fired and told it was due to missing work and getting angry at a supervisor after she told him that she would not accept a doctor’s note verifying the injury.

On the positive side, Wal-Mart is now offering a new line of coffins — the ultimate offering for a Big Box store. This closes the loop for customers who can shop at the store, be infected, die, and actually leave in a big box.

For the full story, click here and here

Prosecutors in Adams, Massachusetts have a novel case involving evidence that will be used twice in separate unrelated trials, including for one crime after the evidence was put into the evidence vault itself. Adams Police Officer Alan C. Vigiard, 45, is accused of possession of child pornography. His first “possession” occurred in his review of child pornography in the evidence vault.

The chain of custody issue is a bit weird when the custodian himself is accused of the crime. It is also a novel (but defensible) view of “possession” when the officer is found to have viewed the tapes for personal enjoyment. He appears, however, to have made copies of the material.

Vigiard was actually identified by a scar on his hand and CDs discovered by investigators. CDs were found to contain 153 images of child pornography. The police focused on one video clip of a male masturbating in front of a computer monitor. What was surprising about the videotape was the familiar setting — the Police Department evidence room. The man was not clearly shown but Vigiard was identified from a scar on the back of his hand.

The police also discovered that “Lime Wire” — a peer-to-peer file sharing program — had been installed on the evidence room computer.

Vigiard is married with two children. He is facing up to five years in state prison as well as fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.

For the full story, click here

A Saudi court has reviewed and upheld the sentence of a 22-year-old man to be beheaded and crucified for the raping of five children. It is the latest medieval measure from the Saudi Sharia courts.

There is little sympathy of the man who was found guilty of raping five children and leaving one to die in the desert.

However, Saudi Arabia continues to mete out cruel and unusual forms of punishment. In this case, the body of the man will be displayed in public, a practice that has previously caused international expressions of outrage and disgust, here and here.

For the full story, click here.

This is one of the most incredible videos that I have seen. In the video above, Officer Adam Stoddard with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is clearly shown reading confidential papers of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia while she is addressing the court on behalf of jail inmate Antonio Lozano (accused of fighting with another inmate). He then pulls a sheet from the file on the defense table and gives it to another deputy to be copied.

What is equally amazing is the relatively weak response from Judge Lisa Flores, who could presumably see Stoddard’s actions from the bench. It is possible that she was blocked in her view by counsel. In the video, Lozano appears to be the only person who clearly notices the removal.

When told, however, Flores reacts a bit defensively to objections from Cuccia and tells her repeatedly to calm down, even though Cuccia seems determined but professional in her statements to the court. Flores also immediately offers a justification that Stoddard is there to protect the court — apparently by copying confidential material. Eventually, she suspends the sentencing hearing.

A hearing was later held before Judge Gary Donahoe and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office defended Stoddard, insisting that he must screen all defense documents that are passed to an inmate. He insisted that, when he walked near the defense attorney’s table, he recognized some documents that weren’t previously screened.

It is true that some courts allow deputies to thumb through papers to be certain that they do not contain contraband or weapons, but this is a cursory inspection. It is a somewhat controversial practice but it is so limited that most attorneys are not concerned because the officers do not read the papers. Most courts do not have this practice. While your papers can be inspected at jails in face-to-face meetings, courtrooms are generally not subject to such inspections. After all, most courts have metal detectors at the entrances. Weapon transfers, therefore, are not a serious threat in counsel-to-client interactions in court. That leaves contraband, which is not a justification (in my view) for such intrusion. We have seen lawyers arrested on such charges (here and here), but it is incredibly rare. It is more common to see deputies arrested for contraband rackets than attorneys.

I have never heard of an officer copying a document at a prison or a court in such an inspection. This document was found by Donahoe to be subject to attorney-client privilege. Stoddard is clearly reading the document and proceeds to take it without notifying Cuccia and making a copy. It is a simply amazing violation of constitutional and confidentiality rules. I am surprised not to have seen a strong statement and intervention from the Arizona state bar in the case, but I hope that will be coming this week.

For the full story, click here.

In a highly disturbing video, Minneapolis police officers are shown tasering a man who is clearly shown with his hands on the hood of a car and not resisting arrest. Rolando Ruiz is seen and heard screaming in pain from the taser, which is applied to the back of his neck and held to his body as he falls to the street.

The Minneapolis Police Department has been previously sued for such abuse caught on videotape.

Remarkably, Ruiz is asking only for $75,000 and discipline against the officer for violating his civil rights. That is a bargain basement price for the city, which should settle this case in a nanosecond.

I cannot imagine what could justify such an assault once the suspect is yielding in this fashion. Even if Ruiz was previously uncooperative, he is clearly not threatening the officer at the time of the tasering. What is particularly striking is not just the apparent submissive posture of the suspect but the cavalier attitude of the officer on the video. This comes on the same week that we posted other stories of the troubling use of tasers, here and here.

Here is some of the coverage of the tape from the station that first revealed the story:

For the video, click here

Unless there is an extraordinary untold story here, there is obvious grounds from not just tort liability but possible charges against the officer.

For the story and another video link, click here

Military police at the Eielson Air Force Base are facing questions of the need to taser Glen M. Wilcox, an 81-year-old Episcopalian priest. Wilcox was caught allegedly going 11 miles over the speed limit.

The officers with the 354th Security Forces Squadron said that they pulled Wilcox over just after 1 p.m. and that Wilcox refused to accept the documents. They allege he then took off down the highway.

Wilcox insists that he only left when the officers waved at him and “I thought that meant I could go on.”

The officers notified the Alaska State Troopers and treated the matter as a “high-risk traffic stop” when they stopped Wilcox again. They say that he initially refused to roll down his window, but eventually got out of the car. He was told to put his hands behind his back but Wilcox says that he is unable to physically do that and tried to show them that he could not physically comply.

The officers said that Wilcox used profanity and shifted as they tried to cuff him, but Wilcox insists that they had already thrown him to the ground when they tasered him.

What is interesting is that, while the officers charged him with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault, prosecutors dropped the charge. We discussed today how the Mercury News has found a common use of assault or resisting arrest charges in cases involving questionable use of force, here.

We also saw recently another tasering of a motorist for failing to obey an officer, here.

Wilcox later pleaded guilty to a reduced count of disorderly conduct and a misdemeanor count of failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer.

Notably, other departments are able to handle octogenarians without the use of tasers — even when they pull guns, here.

For the full story, click here.

Kudos to one of our anonymous readers from Barrow, Alaska.

The Washington Post recently saw a journalistic battle of a different kind when Style reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia and editor Henry Allen got into a physical altercation. Punches reportedly flew from the reporters until other journalists intervened — and presumably began to try to grab an exclusive on the cause for the fight. Left is a picture of Roig-Franzia and right may or may not be a picture of Allen in an editorial meeting.

Witnesses say that it was Allen who punched Roig-Franzia after the latter came to the defense of reporter Monica Hesse, after Allen told her that it was “the second worst story I have seen in Style in 43 years.” Ok, you got me, what was the worst story?

The question apparently was left unanswered in a room of reporters after Allen went postal. Roig-Franzia was working on the story with Hesse and told Allen not to be such a “c—sucker.” Roig-Franzi reportedly called Allen a “dick” and tore a page from his notebook during a staff meeting preceding the fight. Allen reportedly demanded, “Give me my fucking notebook” and Roig-Franzia complied. It is well known in the business that one reporter does not touch another reporter’s notebook — it is like one cowboy touching another cowboy’s hat.

In his defense, Allen was upset over errors in a piece on a civil war battle that put the battle in the wrong state. (The worst piece in his view apparently was a story on Paul Robeson that was full of errors).

Allen reportedly threw two punches — hitting Roig-Franzi once before Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli jumped in and hit Allen with a chair and did a piledriver on Roig-Franzia. Ok, I made up that last part. He broke up the fight.

It is not clear if Brauchli then announced to the whole newsroom: “The First Rule of the Post Club is You Do Not Talk About the Post Club. The Second Rule of the Post Club is You Do Not Talk About the Post Club.”

Allen may be feeling a bit frisky and carefree: he accepted a buyout from the Post recently and only had a few weeks left on his contract. Allen insists that this is just a sign of the Namby Pamby times that journalists are living in: “Back when I got into journalism, the idea that a fistfight in a newsroom would turn into a news story was unthinkable. The guys in the sports department at the New York Daily News, they had so many, you wouldn’t even look up.”

Indeed, here is an early video from the Post newsroom when Allen started as a new reporter:

. . . and that was just the Food Section.

For the full story, click here and here.

Scott Wright paid a heavy price for clean hands. Wright was working on his old Cadillac in a parking lot when San Jose police approached. When Wright reaches for a rag to wipe off the oil on his hands, the police tasered him and then beat him with their batons — breaking his arm. They proceeded to charge him with resisting arrest — a charge that we often see in such cases where officers seek to justify such encounters.

Notably, the prosecutors dropped the resisting arrest charge but there has apparently been no action taken against the officers for the charge or the injury.

Mercury News has completed a study that seems to confirm what we have discussed previously on this site: the use of resisting arrest as a charge in cases of alleged police abuse. The newspaper reviewed 206 court cases in which the defendant was charged with violation of California Penal Code section 148, the misdemeanor crime of resisting arrest or delaying or obstructing a police officer. Of those, 145 — 70 percent of the cases — involved the use of force by officers.

It is a fascinating and disturbing study. While not known widely outside of San Jose, Mercury News is an extraordinary newspaper with a long list of award-winning investigations to its credit.

For the full story, click here.

Prosecutors in Carmel, Indiana have a perfectly bizarre crime involving a state representative, a lawyer, money-laundering for the Russian mob, a porn store, and a decades old grudge. In the case, Indiana State Representative Ed DeLaney was injured by longtime foe, lawyer Augustus Mendenhall, 38, in what the latter says was an elaborate trick gone bad.

Mendenhall admits that he lured DeLaney under a false claim that he was a representative for a Russian company that was a front for the Russian mafia. “I expressed to him that they wanted to launder or implied money through real estate here in Indiana,” Mendenhall said. Mendenhall donned a wig, gloves, coat, and appeared under the false name of Victor White. He also brought a gun. When he met DeLaney at a secluded spot, he asked “If he was right with God” and pointed the gun at him.

However, he refused to say whether he pulled the trigger.

Police say that he did pull the trigger. What is clear is that in the struggle the former Air Force veteran caused serious injuries to DeLaney, including several broken ribs and will have to have surgery for broken bones around his eye socket.

The grudge going back 26 years involves Mendenhall’s father. In the 1980s, Burke Mendenhall owned property and wanted to lease part of its property to an adult bookstore. The local prosecutor, Steven Goldsmith filed suit against Mendenhall under Indiana’s Racketeering and Corrupt Influence laws and seized the property.

Ed DeLaney was the attorney who worked on the case for the mall’s owners, DeBartolo Group. Notably, DeLaney’s wife, Ann, headed up the sex crimes unit as a deputy prosecutor in Goldsmith’s office at the time.

The litigation went on for years. The result was financial ruin for the family and Mendenhall blamed DeLaney. Burke Mendenhall filed a lawsuit against the city

Mendenhall blamed DeLaney for it. In 1997, Burke Mendenhall filed suit against the city and that case went to the state Supreme Court, but lost. Mendenhall says that he joined the military to simply support his family.

Mendenhall is now facing multiple counts, including attempted murder, and a $3 million bond, here.

Augustus (“Gus”) Mendenhall, is a 2008 graduate of the IU School of Law-Indianapolis.

For the full story, click here and here

Kudos: Gary Welsh

Ok, one arrest on Halloween in Oxford, Ohio got a bit weird when a giant Breathalyzer was given a breathalyzer and then arrested for drunk driving. This is the type of metaphysical brain teaser that you normally only get in freshman philosophy courses, but it happened to James Miller, 18.

Miller was driving in his giant Breathalyzer costume when he was stopped. The police appear to have become suspicious when he allegedly went the wrong way on a one-way street. They then found a giant breathalyzer driving the car with a blood level of .158, or twice the state’s legal limit. They also found an open can of Bud Light — Ohio has an age of 21 for drinking alcohol and 30 for serving as a human breathalyzer.

Now here is some free criminal defense advice. The defense goes something like this: as a breathalyzer Miller was used by various people to measure their alcohol content. The result is obviously a degree of alcohol saturation, but he technically never drank a drop. It is generally not a good idea, however, to prove sobriety by inviting the officers to “blow me.”

Of course, it would help if he could open his eyes for the mug shot.

For the story, click here.

A tort action in Chicago presents a somewhat novel dispute over the proper way to eat a sandwich. Mackenzie Seiler went to Jimmy John’s restaurant for a Turkey Tom sandwich. He went into anaphylactic shock after he bite into the sandwich, which turned out to be tuna and filled with cheese and mayonnaise. A person with severe allergies, he had specifically told them to hold the cheese and mayo — let alone the tuna. However, the restaurant says it was his fault for failing to properly unwrap the sandwich before biting into it.

He is now seeking more than $50,000 from Jimmy John’s after going into shock.

Seiler’s attorney, Richard Egan, insists that his client ate the sandwich in a traditional way: by peeling back one end of the wrapped sandwich and eating it like “a burrito.”

Jimmy John’s says that his eating habits are contributory negligence and that he is responsible for his three days in the hospital. The restaurant insists that a reasonable person removes the sandwich from its wrapping, inspects it, and only then bites into it. (I also tend to weigh the sandwich on an atomic scale to confirm proper weigh and measure the sandwich to guarantee that it is properly proportioned . . . but that is just me).

Once again, I do not get why the restaurant wants to fight this one. How many jurors does the restaurant think actually unwrap a sandwich completely and do an inspection before chomping down? This fight occurred because the restaurant refused to pay his hospital costs.

I am particularly interested in the experts that will be called by either side in this dispute. The EU must have a rule on this. Of course, there may be some raw regionalism in the case with the restaurant accusing Seiler of eating “like a New Yorker.” I would suggest the sandwich truck guys and the guys at the Billy Goat Grill as obvious choices for experts on sandwich tactics and customs. Of course, as shown in the case of TJ Hooper, industry custom is not always controlling, so the court could articulate a new standard for sandwich consumption.

For the full story, click here and here.

Kudos to Art Nicoletti

Former Vice President Dick Cheney found himself in the same position of not only his aide Scooter Libby but countless criminal defendants. He simply could not remember a thing about his involvement in the leaks involving Valerie Plame. Indeed, he had little recollection of his own actions on 72 occasions — even after shown material with his own writing.

The recently released documents only reinforce the view of some of us that federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was far from the “junk yard dog” that he was portrayed to be in the media. I have been quite critical of the Fitzgerald investigation which seemed to me conspicuously restrained vis-a-vis high-ranking officials like Karl Rove and Cheney. I never understood why Fitzgerald treated Cheney as such a protected figure and gave people like Rove endless opportunities to get his sworn statements right before the grand jury. Fitzgerald said at the time that “there is a cloud over the vice president,” but he still declined to further investigate Cheney or seek an indictment — while going after Libby for what would appear a weaker case of claimed faulty memory.

Libby indicated that it was Cheney who told him Plame’s identity. Fitzgerald seemed to go out of his way to give Cheney every opportunity of escape, including allowing the sharing of investigative material.
Fitzgerald never focused on Cheney even after his lawyer Terrence O’Donnell refused to promise that Cheney would not speak to other witnesses.

While Libby remembered going to Cheney with his notes showing Cheney to be the source of the Plame information, Cheney told the investigatior that he could not “recall Scooter Libby telling him how he first heard of Valerie Wilson. It is possible Libby may have learned about Valerie Wilson’s employment from the vice president … but the vice president has no specific recollection of such a conversation.”

Cheney refused to even answer some questions outright.

On other questions, clarity seemed to break through the confusion. While claiming little recollection on major points, Cheney appears to have had an excellent memory on such issues as such politically sensitive questions as whether Plame’s employment was discussed in connection to her husband Joe Wilson’s criticism of the Administration.

The Justice Department has prosecuted witnesses for such telling gaps in memory. With Cheney, Fitzgerald seemed intent on leaving him as a conveniently absent-minded witness while moving against his top aide.

For the FBI summary, click here.

For the full story, click here.

There is an interesting fight between Planned Parenthood and its former director in Bryan, Texas. (Yes, it appears the same town where the Virgin Mary was recently discovered in bird droppings, here). Abby Johnson worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years, but decided to leave after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. This has led to the filing of a restraining order against her by her former employer after she joined forces with the Coalition For Life.

Abortion opponents have often litigated and legislated to try to force prospective mothers to watch ultrasound images before having an abortion. This case is likely to reinforce such efforts.

Johnson stated that, after seeing the images, she decided to quit: “I just thought I can’t do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it.” She resigned on Oct. 6th.

She has claimed that the organization has changed its policies in the bad economy to push for abortions.

Last Friday, she and the Coalition for Life were hit with temporary restraining orders filed by Planned Parenthood, which seeks to prevent her from disclosing information about the organization.

Rochelle Tafolla, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson stated “We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary.”

The parties are expected to square off in court on November 10th.

For the full story, click here

Brian Schroeder, a 26-year-old 2009 graduate of Harvard Law School, has been reportedly charged in the arson of the Sept. 11 memorial in Manhattan. Schroeder turned himself in on November 1st. He is accused of breaking into the chapel and setting it on fire. While the remains of victims are housed in the structure, the fire did not affect those remains but did destroy mementos and other property.

Schroeder is originally from Texas and was in New York to start with a law firm. He previously clerked for Sidley & Austin but it is not clear if that was the firm that he was joining. He is a graduate of Duke, where he majored in theater. At Harvard, he was the co-president of HLS Lambda and served on a task force to assess how to limit the impact of military recruiting on the campus gay community. He was also an editor on the Harvard Latino Law Review.

He is expected to be charged with arson.

If there was a case for a motion for venue change, this would be it.

For the story, click here and here.

It appears that there is no limit to our hypocrisy on torture. While blocking any criminal investigation or prosecution of American officials for our torture program, the Obama Administration is demanding to question the Sri Lanken Army Chief Sarath Fonseka over allegations of the torture in Sri Lanka.

The State Department is demanding answers to determine culpability for the crimes. Fonseka is visiting his daughters in Oklahoma and the US State Department wants him to testify against Sri Lanka’s powerful defense secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. After all, we cannot allow torture to go unpunished — so long as it is not an American official.

For the full story, click here

In Bryan, Texas, people are flocking to see the image of the Virgin Mary found in a bird dropping on a truck mirror. It appears that Salvador Pachuca examines all of his bird droppings before washing his truck and found a divine rendition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in bird poop.

One woman observed “As soon as I looked at it, it just gave me chills all over my body. I was like, I just couldn’t believe it.”

Cristal Pachuca explained that “It’s just something special to us and she’s the one who appears when a miracle happens.” Either that or it appears when a car wash is about to happen.

Nevertheless, Cristal says that “we just all feel protected. It’s a blessing to our family and to everybody that comes to see it.” They have removed the mirror to leave it in a protected place of reverence.

Of course, this is still better than the image found in grill grease, here and here and here.

For the picture and story, click here.

In Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Rodney Bolton, 38, has been charged with attempted theft of a Ferret from a pet shop by hiding it down his pants. The charges to his crime, however, are even more unique.

Bolton clearly understood the dangers of secreting ferrets in one’s underwear since he allegedly induced the animal to bite a witness to the Pet Supermarket heist. When a 17-year-old boy confronted Bolton in the parking lot, he allegedly squeezed the ferret and then shoved it into the teen’s face — causing it to bite the teen.

That is the basis for the charge of simple battery with a “special weapon” in addition to the retail theft charge. As for the ferret, counseling and therapy is expected to take years.

For the full story, click here.

Jerry Falwell tried to warn the world about the Purple Teletubby Tinky Winky, but everyone laughed, here. Well, they’re not laughing now in London where the television character is being sought by police in a Halloween armed robbery.

Tinky Winky was implicated in the crime of robbing a woman at gunpoint in the center of London. It turns out that Falwell was wrong in one sense: Tinky Winky wears a purse not because he is gay but because he just snatched the purse from some old lady.

The police ultimately grabbed a purple Tinky Winky only to discover it was a guy dressed for Halloween. Constable Kevin Lui explained in quintessential British understatement: “He was deemed not to be the teletubby we were looking for. Unfortunately, Halloween provides (robbers) more cover than any other night.”

Tinky Winky is very familiar to dealers on the streets of London as a strung-out loser who will bust a cap in your head for a piece of Tubby Toast (slang for brown heroin).

The fact is that the Underworld associations of the Teletubby crew (they actually live underground) has been well-known to the police for years:

For the full story, click here.

Tinky Winky reportedly went “Telebad” after being wounded in an assassination attempt:

Ok, I will be the first. Yes, I raided the kids’ bags last night for snickers, but Leslie did the same for Heath bars.

We have assembled a record of candy collection in our house. (Yes, we decided not to offer the kids the Vatican’s offer of an alternative fun mass). We persisted even in the rain last night to pick the neighborhood clean. Our house had the usual waves of trick-or-treaters: cute toddlers at 7, energetic adolescents at 8, and then the army of barely dressed burned out teenagers at 9 (including one who just showed up with tin foil on his head). That is the problem when you are known as a source of the Cadillacs of Candy: snickers and Peanut Butter cups.

We often follow dangerous products on this blog, such as the Halloween flashlight had risked bursting into flames. It turns out one such product literally walked in my front door. I will be reporting a dangerous product discovered by my son, Benjamin, who wore a costume of a man riding an ostrich at Party City. The only problem is that it proceeded to shock him from the internal engine that inflates the bird.

While we were on our way to the block Halloween party, the shocks required us to go back home and assemble a new costume (Ben went as a crazy old man instead). While it was not raining at the time, it was misty. I will be filing a complaint with the FTC (though the consumer protection reporting site is the first defective product I may report since it denies access to the report form. The Consumer Product Safety Commission website is virtually shutdown on one of the most important days for reporting defective or dangerous products). I have also alerted Party City. I would love to know how such a product can be issued to children.

For those of us putting away the tons of Halloween candy, be careful on the use of the family forklift.

This is not unique among forklift accidents: watch this incredible video.

The University of Akron has taken the radical step of demanding that all faculty and employees submit a DNA sample — causing one adjunct professor Matt Williams (who teaches four communications and continuing education courses) to resign. Williams notes “It’s not enough that the university doesn’t pay us a living wage, or provide us with health insurance, but now they want to sacrifice the sanctity of our bodies.” He’s right.

One of the most striking aspects of this policy is how entirely unnecessary it is. The rule was adopted by the Board of Trustees in August without much debate — or apparent reason.

Laura Martinez Massie, Akron spokeswoman insists that the university wants “a safe environment for all of its students and employees” and that “DNA testing was included in the policy because there have been national discussions that indicate that in the future, reliance on fingerprinting will diminish and DNA for criminal identification will be the more prominent technology.” Ok, I am a bit lost here. Police have the ability to collect DNA evidence when there is a credible basis as part of a criminal investigation. What does this have to do with the University of Akron?

The university stated in its Akron policy:

The University of Akron is committed to providing a safe environment by protecting the health, welfare and safety of all students, employees and visitors to our campus. As such, the University conducts pre-employment background checks for all applicants selected for employment. This policy shall apply, without limitation, to all individuals selected during the hiring process for full and part-time faculty, contract professional and staff positions. It is a condition of employment that all such individuals submit to the criminal background check procedures.

For the full policy, click here

Yet, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 specifically states:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any employee, or otherwise to discriminate against any employee with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment of the employee, because of genetic information with respect to the employee.

This is a remarkably dim-witted idea by the Akron administration and is rightfully being opposed by faculty. Schools can do background checks on new faculty without demanding their DNA profiles be made part of the school’s records. It also increases the chances that such information can be demanded through civil litigation or other means. What is amazing is how little thought appears to have gone into this extreme measure despite its dangers to privacy and individual rights. Akron seems to want to be on the forefront of eroding privacy rights, which are already threatened by these private databanks and searches. It is a remarkably ignoble and frankly ignorant approach for a university — particularly without serious debate among the faculty and Akron community. It would seem that the school needs a new Administration more urgently than a new DNA database.

Notably, Williams is a vice president of the New Faculty Majority, a national organization created this year to advance adjunct interests — a valuable mission given the poor treatment of such faculty by many schools.

For the full story, click here.

On this video, a Utah officer appears to taser a him for a traffic ticket simply because he does not immediately obey the officer’s demands. Watch how the officer immediately pulls out his taser when the man is simply refusing to sign the ticket.

The officer tasers the man in front of his pregnant wife and then threatens the wife when she gets out of the truck. The officer states that the man was tasered for not obeying him. We can see other such uses of the tasers as a corrective punishment for citizens not obeying officers, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I fail to see the justification in the use of force here. The man could well sue for the tasering. While he was not responding immediately to the officer, he was primarily contesting that there was a speed sign as claimed by the officer. The entire disagreement was over his refusal to sign the ticket. The officer does not attempt to call back up or insist on the man signing the ticket before he can leave. Instead of continuing to speak to the man, he orders the man out of the truck, pulls out his taser, and shoots him. While the man turns back toward his truck, it should not result in such a sudden escalation of force.

This is a bizarre video. The police officers are trying to arrest a man who is mocking them and not cooperating. The officers decide to taser him rather than simply force his hands into cuffs. The man screams “I am being illegally tasered, I am defending myself” and proceeds to escape.

In defense of the officers, they repeatedly try to cuff him and do not taser him until he starts to swing his arms. However, the taser requires them to let go of the man which results in his escape. It is not clear why the two officers could not continue to hold the suspect and secure the cuffs without the use of the taser.

Halloween is the favorite holiday for all torts professors and personal injury lawyers. (Indeed, I am convinced it was invented by a personal injury lawyer). Common carrier hay rides, lighting vegetables on fire, handing out foodstuffs without a permit . . . It’s the most litigious day of the year. So, with no further ado, here is this year’s annual Spooky Torts and Crimes list of actual cases from Halloween. Happy Halloween everyone (except those avoiding the holiday due to demon-inspired soul-sucking candy or papal prohibitions).

This year, we have already seen flashlights that appear to burst into flames, politically incorrect costumes pulled from the shelves, and dead bodies mistaken for Halloween decorations. Yesterday, we also saw a tragic death of a teen who accidentally hanged herself, here.

For those taking down the cobwebs in the morning, we strongly encourage that you not use a blowtorch, here.

Dickson v. Hustonville Haunted House and Greg Walker (?) (2009)

Glenda Dickson, 51, broke four broken vertebrae in her back when she fell out of second story window left open at the Hustonville Haunted House, owned by Greg Walker.

Dickson was in a room called “The Crying Lady in the Bed” when one of the actors came up behind the group and started screaming. Everyone jumped in fright and Dickson jumped back through an open window that was covered with a sheet — a remarkably negligent act by the haunted house operator. She landed on a fire escape and then fell down some stairs.

OUTCOME: While no criminal charges are planned, this would appear a likely case for a lawsuit for negligence. Since it only happened yesterday, we may have to follow up next year to see if this got really scary.

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Maryland v. Janik (2009)

Sgt. Eric Janik, 37, went to a haunted house called the House of Screams with friends and when confronted by a character dressed as Leatherface with a chainsaw (sans the chain, of course), Janik pulled out his service weapon and pointed it at the man, who immediately dropped character, dropped the chainsaw, and ran like a bat out of Halloween Hell.

Outcome: Janik is charged with assault and reckless endangerment for his actions. Charges pending.

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Patrick v. South Carolina (2009)

Quentin Patrick, 22, an ex-convict in Sumter, South Carolina shot and killed a trick-or-treater T.J. Darrisaw who came to his home on Halloween — spraying nearly 30 rounds with an assault rifle from inside his home after hearing a knock on the door. T.J.’s 9-year-old brother, Ahmadre Darrisaw, and their father, Freddie Grinnell, were injured but were released after being treated at a hospital.

Patrick left his porch light on — a general signal for kids that the house was open for trick and treating. The boy’s mother and toddler sibling were in the car.

Patrick emptied the AK-47 — shooting at least 29 times through his front door, walls and windows after hearing the knock. He said that he had been previously robbed. That may be so, but it is unclear what an ex-con was doing with a gun, let alone an AK-47.

OUTCOME: Charges pending for murder.

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Kentucky v. Watkins (2008)

As a Halloween prank, restaurant manager Joe Watkins of the Chicken Ranch in Paris, Kentucky thought it was funny to lie in a pool of blood on the floor. After seeing Watkins on the floor, the woman went screaming from the restaurant to report the murder. Watkins said that the prank was for another employee and that he tried to call the woman back on her cell phone.

OUTCOME: Under Kentucky law, a person can be charged with a false police report, even if he is not the one who filed it. The police charged Watkins for causing the woman to file the report — a highly questionable charge.

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Mays v. Gretna Athletic Boosters
95-717 (La.App. 5 Cir. 01/17/96)

Defendant operated a haunted house at Mel Ott Playground in Gretna to raise money for athletic programs. The haunted house was constructed of 2×4s and black visqueen. There were numerous cubbyholes where “scary” exhibits were displayed. One booster club member was stationed at the entrance and one at the exit. Approximately eighteen people participated in the haunted house by working the exhibits inside. Near and along the entrance of the haunted house was a bathroom building constructed of cinder blocks. Black visqueen covered this wall.

Plaintiff and her daughter’s friend, about 10 years old, entered the haunted house on October 29, 1988. It was night time and was dark inside. Plaintiff testified someone jumped out and hollered, scaring the child into running. Plaintiff was also frightened and began to run. She ran directly into the visqueen-covered cinder block wall.

There was no lighting in that part of the haunted house. Plaintiff hit the wall face first and began bleeding profusely from her nose. She testified two surgeries were required to repair her nose.

OUTCOME: In order to get the proper effect, haunted houses are dark and contain scary and/or shocking exhibits. Patrons in a Halloween haunted house are expected to be surprised, startled and scared by the exhibits but the operator does not have a duty to guard against patrons reacting in bizarre, frightened and unpredictable ways. Operators are duty bound to protect patrons only from unreasonably dangerous conditions, not from every conceivable danger.

As found by the Trial Court, defendant met this duty by constructing the haunted house with rooms of adequate size and providing adequate personnel and supervision for patrons entering the house. Defendant’s duty did not extend to protecting plaintiff from running in a dark room into a wall. Our review of the entire record herein does not reveal manifest error committed by the Trial Court or that the Trial Court’s decision was clearly wrong. Plaintiff has not shown the haunted house was unreasonably dangerous or that defendant’s actions were unreasonable. Thus, the Trial Court judgment must be affirmed.

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Powell v. Jacor Communications
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

320 F.3d 599 (6th Cir.2003)

On October 15, 1999, Powell visited a Halloween season haunted house in Lexington, Kentucky that was owned and operated by Jacor. She was allegedly hit in the head with an unidentified object by a person she claims was dressed as a ghost. Powell was knocked unconscious and injured. She contends that she suffered a concussion and was put on bed rest and given medications by emergency-room physicians. Powell further claims that she now suffers from several neuropsychological disorders as a result of the incident.

OUTCOME: Reversed dismissal on the basis of tolling of statute of limitations.

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Kansas City Light & Power Company v. Trimble
315 Mo. 32; 285 S.W. 455 (1926)

A shapely pole to which, twenty-two feet from the ground is attached a non-insulated electric wire . . Upon a shapely pole were standard steps eighteen inches apart; about seventeen feet from the ground were telephone wires, and five feet above them was a non-insulated electric light wire. On Halloween, about nine o’clock, a bright fourteen-year-old boy and two companions met close to the pole, and some girls dressed as clowns came down the street. As they came near the boy, saying, “Who dares me to walk the wire?” began climbing the pole, using the steps, and ascended to the telephone cables, and thereupon his companions warned him about the live wire and told him to come down. He crawled upon the telephone cables to a distance of about ten feet from the pole, and when he reached that point a companion again warned him of the live wire over his head, and threatened to throw a rock at him and knock him off if he did not come down. Whereupon he turned about and crawled back to the pole, and there raised himself to a standing position, and then his foot slipped, and involuntarily he threw up his arm, his hand clutched the live wire, and he was shocked to death.

OUTCOME:

Frankly, I am not sure why the pole was so “shapely” but the result was disappointing for the plaintiffs. Kansas City Light & Power Company v. Trimble: The court held that the appellate court extended the attractive nuisance doctrine beyond the court’s ruling decisions. The court held that appellate court’s opinion on the contributory negligence doctrine conflicted with the court’s ruling decisions. The court held that the administrator’s case should never have been submitted to the jury. The court quashed the appellate opinion.

“To my mind it is inconceivable that a bright, intelligent boy, doing well in school, past fourteen years of age and living in the city, would not understand and appreciate the fact that it would be dangerous to come in contact with an electric wire, and that he was undertaking a dangerous feat in climbing up the pole; but even if it may be said that men might differ on that proposition, still in this case he was warned of the wire and of the danger on account of the wire and that, too, before he had [**458] reached a situation where there was any occasion or necessity of clutching the wire to avoid a fall. Not only was he twice warned but he was repeatedly told and urged to come down.

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Purtell v. Mason
2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49064 (E.D. Ill. 2006)

“The Purtells filed the present lawsuit against Defendant Village of Bloomingdale Police Officer Bruce Mason after he requested that they remove certain Halloween tombstone “decorations” from their property. Evidence presented at trial revealed that the Purtells placed the tombstones referring to their neighbors in their front yard facing the street. The tombstones specifically referred to their neighbors, who saw the language on the tombstones. For instance, the tombstone that referred to the Purtells’ neighbor James Garbarz stated:

Here Lies Jimmy,

The OlDe Towne IdioT

MeAn As sin even withouT his Gin

No LonGer Does He wear

That sTupiD Old Grin . . .

Oh no, noT where

they’ve sent Him!

The tombstone referring to the Purtells’ neighbor Betty Garbarz read:

BeTTe wAsN’T ReADy,

BuT here she Lies

Ever since that night she DieD.

12 feet Deep in this trench . . .

Still wasn’T Deep enough

For that wenches Stench!

In addition, the Purtells placed a Halloween tombstone in their yard concerning their neighbor Diane Lesner stating:

Dyean was Known for Lying

So She was fried.

Now underneath these daises

is where she goes crazy!!

Moreover, the jury heard testimony that Diane Lesner, James Garbarz, and Betty Garbarz were upset because their names appeared on the tombstones. Betty Garbarz testified that she was so upset by the language on the tombstones that she contacted the Village of Bloomingdale Police Department. She further testified that she never had any doubt that the “Bette” tombstone referred to her. After seeing the tombstones, she stated that she was ashamed and humiliated, but did not talk to Jeffrey Purtell about them because she was afraid of him.

Defense counsel also presented evidence that the neighbors thought the language on the tombstones constituted threats and that they were alarmed and disturbed by their names being on the tombstones. James Garbarz testified that he interpreted the “Jimmy” tombstone as a threat and told the police that he felt threatened by the tombstone. He also testified that he had concerns about his safety and what Jeffrey Purtell might do to him.”

OUTCOME: The court denied the homeowners’ post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to and motion for a new trial. Viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to Officer Mason, a rational jury could conclude that the language on the tombstones constituted threats, that the neighbors were afraid of Jeffrey Purtell, and that they feared for their safety. As such the Court will not disturb the jury’s conclusion that the tombstones constituted fighting words — “those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.”

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Goodwin v. Walmart
2001 Ark. App. LEXIS 78

On October 12, 1993, Randall Goodwin went to a Wal-Mart store located on 6th Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He entered through the front door and walked toward the sporting goods department. In route, he turned down an aisle known as the seasonal aisle. At that time, it was stocked with items for Halloween. This aisle could be observed from the cash registers. Mr. Goodwin took only a few steps down the aisle when he allegedly stepped on a wig and fell, landing on his right hip. As a result of the fall, Mr. Goodwin suffered severe physical injury to his back, including a ruptured disk. Kelly Evans, an employee for appellee, was standing at the end of her check-out stand when Mr. Goodwin approached her and informed her that he had fallen on an item in the seasonal aisle. She stated that she “saw what he was talking about.”

OUTCOME: Judgment affirmed because the pleadings, depositions, and related summary judgment evidence did not show that there was any genuine issue of material fact as appellant customer did not establish plastic bag containing the Halloween wig which allegedly caused him to slip and fall was on the floor as the result of appellee’s negligence or it had been on the floor for such a period of time that appellee knew or should have known about it.

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Eversole v. Wasson
80 Ill. App. 3d 94 (Ill. 1980)

The following allegations of count I, directed against defendant Wasson, were incorporated in count II against the school district: (1) plaintiff was a student at Villa Grove High School which was controlled and administered by the defendant school district, (2) defendant Wasson was employed by the school district as a teacher at the high school, (3) on November 1, 1978, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Wasson was at the high school in his regular capacity as a teacher and plaintiff was attending a regularly scheduled class, (4) Wasson sought and received permission from another teacher to take plaintiff from that teacher’s class and talk to him in the hallway, (5) once in the hallway, Wasson accused plaintiff of being one of several students he believed had smashed Wasson’s Halloween pumpkin at Wasson’s home, (6) without provocation from plaintiff, Wasson berated plaintiff, called him vile names, and threatened him with physical violence while shaking his fist in plaintiff’s face which placed plaintiff in fear of bodily injury, (7) Wasson then struck plaintiff about the head and face with both an open hand and a closed fist and shook and shoved him violently, (8) as a result, plaintiff was bruised about the head, neck, and shoulders; experienced pain and suffering in his head, body, and limbs; and became emotionally distraught causing his school performance and participation to be adversely affected . . .

OUTCOME: The court affirmed that portion of the lower court’s order that dismissed the count against the school district and reversed that portion of the lower court’s order that entered a judgment in bar of action as to this count. The court remanded the case to the lower court with directions to allow the student to replead his count against the school district.

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Holman v. Illinois
47 Ill. Ct. Cl. 372 (1995)

The Claimant was attending a Halloween party at the Illinois State Museum with her grandson on October 26, 1990. The party had been advertised locally in the newspaper and through flier advertisements. The advertisement requested that children be accompanied by an adult, to come in costume and to bring a flashlight. The museum had set up different display rooms to hand out candy to the children and give the appearance of a “haunted house.” The Claimant entered the Discovery Room with her grandson.

Under normal conditions the room is arranged with tables and low-seated benches for children to use in the museum’s regular displays. These tables and benches had been moved into the upper-right-hand corner of the Discovery Room next to the wall. In the middle of the room, there was a “slime pot” display where the children received the Halloween treat. The overhead fluorescent lights were turned off; however, the track lights on the left side of the room were turned on and dim. The track lights on the right side of the room near the tables and benches were not lit. The room was dark enough that the children’s flashlights could be clearly seen. There were approximately 40-50 people in the room at the time of the accident.

The Claimant entered the room with her grandson. They proceeded in the direction of the pot in the middle of the room to see what was going in the pot. Her grandson then ran around the pot to the right corner toward the wall. As the Claimant followed, she tripped over the corner of a bench stored in that section of the room. She fell, making contact with the left corner of the bench. She experienced great pain in her upper left arm. The staff helped her to her feet. Her father was called and she went to the emergency room. Claimant has testified that she did not see the low-seating bench because it was so dimly lit in the Discovery Room. The Claimant was treated at the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a fracture of the proximal humeral head of her left arm as a result of the fall. Claimant returned home, but was unable to work for 12 to 13 weeks.

OUTCOME: “The Claimant has met her burden of proof. She has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the State acted negligently in placing furnishings in a dimly-lit room where visitors could not know of their location. The State did not exercise its duty of reasonable care. For the foregoing reasons, the Claimant is granted an award of $ 20,000.”

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Ferlito v. Johnson & Johnson
771 F. Supp. 196

Plaintiffs Susan and Frank Ferlito, husband and wife, attended a Halloween party in 1984 dressed as Mary (Mrs. Ferlito) and her little lamb (Mr. Ferlito). Mrs. Ferlito had constructed a lamb costume for her husband by gluing cotton batting manufactured by defendant Johnson & Johnson Products (“JJP”) to a suit of long underwear. She had also used defendant’s product to fashion a headpiece, complete with ears. The costume covered Mr. Ferlito from his head to his ankles, except for his face and hands, which were blackened with Halloween paint. At the party Mr. Ferlito attempted to light his cigarette by using a butane lighter. The flame passed close to his left arm, and the cotton batting on his left sleeve ignited. Plaintiffs sued defendant for injuries they suffered from burns which covered approximately one-third of Mr. Ferlito’s body.

OUTCOME: Ferlito v. Johnson & Johnson: Plaintiffs repeatedly stated in their response brief that plaintiff Susan Ferlito testified that “she would never again use cotton batting to make a costume.” Plaintiffs’ Answer to Defendant JJP’s Motion for J.N.O.V., pp. 1, 3, 4, 5. However, a review of the trial transcript reveals that plaintiff Susan Ferlito never testified that she would never again use cotton batting to make a costume. More importantly, the transcript contains no statement by plaintiff Susan Ferlito that a flammability warning on defendant JJP’s product would have dissuaded her from using the cotton batting to construct the costume in the first place. At oral argument counsel for plaintiffs conceded that there was no testimony during the trial that either plaintiff Susan Ferlito or her husband, plaintiff Frank J. Ferlito, would [**9] have acted any different if there had been a flammability warning on the product’s package. The absence of such testimony is fatal to plaintiffs’ case; for without it, plaintiffs have failed to prove HN9proximate cause, one of the essential elements of their negligence claim.

In addition, both plaintiffs testified that they knew that cotton batting burns when it is exposed to flame. Susan Ferlito testified that she knew at the time she purchased the cotton batting that it would burn if exposed to an open flame. Frank Ferlito testified that he knew at the time he appeared at the Halloween party that cotton batting would burn if exposed to an open flame. His additional testimony that he would not have intentionally put a flame to the cotton batting shows that he recognized the risk of injury of which he claims JJP should have warned. Because both plaintiffs were already aware of the danger, a warning by JJP would have been superfluous. Therefore, a reasonable jury could not have found that JJP’s failure to provide a warning was a proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries.

The evidence in this case clearly demonstrated that neither the use to which plaintiffs put JJP’s product nor the injuries arising from that use were foreseeable.

But in Trivino v. Jamesway Corporation, the following result:

The mother purchased cosmetic puffs and pajamas from the retailer. The mother glued the puffs onto the pajamas to create a costume for her child. While wearing the costume, the child leaned over the electric stove. The costume caught on fire, injuring the child. Plaintiffs brought a personal injury action against the retailer. The retailer filed a third party complaint against the manufacturer of the puffs, and the puff manufacturer filed a fourth party complaint against the manufacturer of the fibers used in the puffs. The retailer filed a motion for partial summary judgment as to plaintiffs’ cause of action for failure to warn. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the actions against the manufacturers. On appeal, the court modified the judgment, holding that the mother’s use of the puffs was not unforeseeable as a matter of law and was a question for the jury. The court held that because the puffs were not made of cotton, as thought by the mother, there were fact issues as to the puffs’ flammability and defendants’ duty to warn. The court held that there was no prejudice to the retailer in permitting plaintiffs to amend their bill of particulars.

OUTCOME: The court modified the trial court’s judgment to grant plaintiffs’ motion to amend their bill of particulars, deny the retailer’s motion for summary judgment, and reinstate the third party actions against the manufacturers.

Happy Halloween everyone. Remember to get those signed waivers from the children. I am personally proud to report that my oldest son Benjamin has chosen to go as a safety cone (I kid you not). It shows that risk adverse traits are dominant in the progeny of torts faculty.

Dan Delong, an English teacher at Southwestern High School in Piasa, Illinois has been suspended for allegedly allowing students in his English classes to read an article about homosexuality in the animal kingdom. The article that Delong allegedly had his class read was published in a 2006 edition of “The Gay Animal Kingdom” and is available at http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_gay_animal_kingdom.

The article by Lehrer explores the work of people like Joan Roughgarden, a biology professor at Stanford University who challenges Darwinian sexual selection by documenting more than 450 animal species that engage in homosexual behaviors. An estimated 450 species exhibit such proclivities, here. She explained:

“When I was at that gay pride parade. I was just stunned by the sheer magnitude of the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] population. Because I’m a biologist, I started asking myself some difficult questions. My discipline teaches that homosexuality is some sort of anomaly. But if the purpose of sexual contact is just reproduction, as Darwin believed, then why do all these gay people exist? A lot of biologists assume that they are somehow defective, that some developmental error or environmental influence has misdirected their sexual orientation. If so, gay and lesbian people are a mistake that should have been corrected a long time ago. But this hasn’t happened. That’s when I had my epiphany. When scientific theory says something’s wrong with so many people, perhaps the theory is wrong, not the people.”

Students have rallied around Delong, here.

These were high school students, who are supposed to be exposed to different views and theories. Do you consider the material still “inappropriate” for high school students?

For the full story, click here.

While police officers are being fired for ticketing protected progeny in Stockton, Utah, teenagers are being arrested in American Fork, Utah for rapping at McDonald’s drive-through. They insist that they are innocent, but the police insist that it was indeed a bad rap, but a good collar.

It appears that people in American Fork do not like mixing rap with burgers. The teens said that they were simply rapping their order out of fun as on a popular video on YouTube below, which begins with, “I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce …” The rap goes slower as it goes on.

Spenser Dauwalder was told that they were holding up the line — even though he said that there was no one in line. Nevertheless, he and his three 17-year-old friends left without buying anything.

The store manager, however, acted quickly and wrote down the car license plate number and called the police who tracked down the rappers in a high school parking lot. They were cited for disturbing the peace.

American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow insists that his force was right to charge the teenagers: “It was not just that they were rapping, they continued to hold things up.”

For his part, the owner of the McDonald’s franchise, Conny Kramer, insists that it was not about holding up a line (which does not appear to have existed) but rather a clear and present danger to the employees from rappers: “The employee in question felt that her safety was at risk as a result of the alleged actions of these individuals in the drive-thru, not as a result of them rapping their order.”

Now here is the McDonald’s rap video that they were imitating. [WARNING: IMITATING THIS VIDEO CAN RESULT IN YOUR ARREST IN UTAH]

For the full story, click here.

Officer Joshua Rowell in Stockton, Utah (population 443) has been reinstated this week after being fired by Mayor Dan Rydalch. It appears that Rowell had the audacity to ticket the mayor’s son and was fired on the spot by an anger father. He was out of a job until the Top Kopp — Police Chief Heinz Kopp — and others objected.

The Stockton City Council finally yielded to public outcry over the incident and reinstated Rowell. Rowell had ticketed Rydalch son’s after he evaded a DUI checkpoint and was then found to be driving without a license.

The mayor insisted that he fired Rowell for “exceeding the scope of the traffic checkpoint” and “refused to cooperate with a superior.” However, Kopp said that Rydalch was irate over the ticket and acted in an “inappropriate and unprofessional” manner.

For the full story, click here.

The dangers of drunk Ewoks is a little known danger for costume parties. However, the Today Show became the unwitting focus of inebriated Ewoks, including Al Roker who appears have a claim for sexual assault.

Ewoks too often are treated as cute denizens of a far off planet. What is less known is the criminal side of this species, including the Ewokefia — the organized crime syndicate of Ewoks big in the rackets and narcotics trades.

They are not some fluffy space characters as Predator learned recently: