My Way ran a story on a pit bull attack of a woman in her own home. The animals came in through a pet door and also killed another neighborhood dog. Under the common law, there is no strict liability for domestic animals unless they have a known dangerous or violent nature. This has sometimes been referred to as the “one-free-bite rule.” Sometimes pit bulls have been classified as such, particularly in states with cities banning the animals
Month: August 2007
One of the oldest torts is the mishandling of corpse. FOX reported the judgment against a photographer accused of posing corpses with fruit and other objects. It is a classic tort in a modern setting.
CNN is reporting that American officials are rethinking whether democracy can work in Iraq. What is more interesting if the failure to try a true Madisonian approach in that country. As in Afghanistan, officials yielded to traditional notions of government rather than advocate the system that has lead to the most successful and stable democracy in history. The problem in Iraq is that we attempted to create the appearance of a democratic system without the necessary static elements.
<a href=”“>For the CNN story, see this link.
Prosecutors are considering charging a man 40 years after he shoot an officer who died at 64. Continue reading “Criminal charge 40 years delayed for cop shooting”
Published May 2002
This month, U.S. officials are still at wit’s end trying to figure out what to do with Citizen Hamdi. Yasser Esam Hamdi is the twenty-two-year-old who arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with the one item that no “battlefield detainee” should leave home without: a U.S. birth certificate. This has led to Hamdi’s transfer to Norfolk, Virginia, and what seems chronic indecision within the Bush Administration in how to handle his case. Despite the fact that Hamdi was only in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a brief time, it was long enough to be born and to claim to be a “dual citizen.” Continue reading “Yasser Hamdi, Dual Citizenship, and the Future of National Identity”
Published May 2002
Constitutional scholars and weatherman share an unstated fascination with the worst conditions; the freak storms that join together to release fantastic energy and fireworks. A fight is brewing in Washington this week that may produce such a perfect constitutional storm. All three branches of government are now colliding over the question of who controls access to presidential papers. The outcome of this fight, however, may also redefine aspects of executive privilege as well as core principles of open government.
Continue reading “Bush, Presidential Records Act, and History”
Published pril 26, 2002 /
In a hearing this week, the public heard for the first time from Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called “20th hijacker” on trial in Virginia. If Moussaoui was indeed trained to seek suicidal expression, he was in rare form in Virginia where he is attempting the closest legal equivalent. Continue reading “Zacarias Moussaoui and the 20th Hyjacker”
Yesterday, the CIA released part of its own internal review of the performance of the CIA leading up to the 9-11 attacks. The report concluded with an impressive degree of understatement that “the agency and its officers did not discharge their responsibilities in a satisfactory manner … and did not always work effectively and cooperatively.”
What is most maddening about this report is not only the failure to release it earlier (despite the obvious lack of national security dangers in release of a redacted report) but the fact that Tenet has yet to return the obscene Medal of Freedom given to him by President Bush. Congress should pass a resolution demanding that the medal be returned or stating the view of the house that Tenet’s performance did not warrant such an honor. More importantly, it is incumbent upon Republicans and conservatives to take the lead in such an effort. Tenet did not cause 9-11 but he failed in taking necessary steps to try to avoid it. When combined with this dismal performance leading to the Iraq war, the medal remains a shining example of America’s continued celebration of failure over the war on terror.
USA TODAY
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has continued his campaign to survive at any cost in the face of allegations ranging from false statement to violations of federal surveillance law. Despite persistent calls for Gonzales’ removal or impeachment, his allies dismiss the possibility he committed crimes while emphasizing that he is tough on crime. It is a defense that leaves many lawyers chuckling. The fact is that Gonzales is the best thing to come along for criminal defendants since Ernesto Miranda. Continue reading “Alberto Gonzales: Tough on Crime? Hardly.”
Published April 12, 2002
One of the most interesting facts about George Orwell, author of 1984 and Animal Farm, is that he was not George Orwell. The man who created a society of total transparency and observation chose to conceal his own name, Eric Blair. Authors like Blair, Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) adopted nom-de-plums for a variety of reasons ranging from persecution to prejudice to privacy. Continue reading “Anonymity and the Constitutional Right to be Nameless”
Published April 5, 2002
This month, Associate Justices Stephen Breyer, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia faced a challenge that any union field organizer could well appreciate. In a little reported opinion, these three justices lamented the failure of their colleagues to join them in taking a case over judicial compensation and reinforcing their position vis-à-vis their employer. In a case filed by federal judges, these three justices saw the case as a challenge to judicial independence by Congress but faced deafening silence from their other six colleagues. Writing a rare dissent in the Court’s declination of review in Williams v. United States, Justice Breyer revealed a solid core of support for reviewing, and possibly reshaping, a fundamental clause in Article III. Continue reading “COLAs, the Courts, and the Constitution”
Published March 18, 2002
Like Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, former President William Jefferson Clinton is someone that has “always depended on the kindness of strangers.” This certainly seems to be the case with Independent Counsel Robert Ray who, back in January 2001, cut Clinton a deal to avoid criminal charges in the Lewinsky matter. Now, with the release of his final report, it turns out that career prosecutors in the Ray’s office concluded that Clinton could not only be charged on the evidence but could have been convicted on the basis of that evidence. What is most troubling is that the report seems to confirm Clinton’s belief that his position, and not the evidence, would dictate the outcome of any criminal investigation. Continue reading “Bill Clinton and the Blanche DeBois Defense”
Published March 11, 2002
LOTTERY systems are simply irresistible for many citizens. While most people realize that playing a lottery is more recreational than rational, it is a small sum to enjoy the fleeting possibility of a windfall fortune. But what if the stakes were increased to play for your life? As bizarre as this suggestion might seem, millions of travelers participate in precisely that type of lottery each month. After Sept. 11th, the airlines decided to rely a random search program rather than using a comprehensive profile selection system. As a result, 40 million air travelers each month, participate in a system that has as low a chance of success as a state lottery with their lives in the balance. Continue reading “Passenger Profiling and the Terrorist Lottery”
Published Feb. 28, 2002 /
IN watching the Enron hearings, it seems a shame that we do not have a live analyst like Olympic skating events to describe the sheer brilliance of some of the moves of the members. Without a guide, a viewer is often unaware of the level of difficulty of previously Enron-sponsored members performing demonstrations of public interest. For these members, the transformation from Enron advocates to public advocates is akin to a triple-axel jump while holding an over-stuffed bank bag. Continue reading “Congressional Corruption and the Managing of the Enron Scandal”
Published Feb. 14, 2002
A YEAR after the presidential election, some liberal Democrats still appear to be slowly moving through the stages of loss first defined by psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. A recent proposal from former Clinton White House Counsel Abner Mikva would suggest that some Democrats remain mired somewhere between denial and bargaining. Continue reading “Abner Mikva and Living in Constitutional Denial”