Year: 2014

Uncategorized

Picture This! US Patent Office Grants Amazon ‘Photography Against A White Background’ Patent

PatentTrademarkOffice-Seal_svgSubmitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor

Doesn’t it seem “patently” absurd that Amazon would be granted a patent for the process of taking a photo against a white background? Earlier this week, Udi Tirosh broke that news at DIY Photography. Tirosh said that he really wasn’t sure how he could tag the story any way “other than a big #fail for the USPTO, or a huge Kudos for Amazon’s IP attorneys.” He added that in a patent titled “Studio Arrangement,” Amazon took IP ownership on what photographers “call shooting against a seamless white backdrop.”

Tirosh wrote that Amazon’s patent “describes the arrangement of elements in the studio to make a product shot—and “even details the F-stop, ISO value and focal length you need to use”:

a background comprising a white cyclorama; a front light source positioned in a longitudinal axis intersecting the background, the longitudinal axis further being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the white cyclorama; an image capture position located between the background and the front light source in the longitudinal axis, the image capture position comprising at least one image capture device equipped with an eighty-five millimeter lens, the at least one image capture device further configured with an ISO setting of about three hundred twenty and an f-stop value of about 5.6; …

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Criminal law, International, Politics

Mexico Government Commissions Former Vigilante Group Fighting Drug Cartel In Michoacan

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Flag of MexicoThe government of Mexico demobilized a vigilante group fighting the drug cartel Knights Templar in the State of Michoacan.  The group, consisting of manly ranchers and farmers, was successful in largely expelling the cartel while the government was not able.

At a ceremony in the city of Tepalcatepec, where the group began in February of 2013, uniformed members of the now official Self-Defense Council of Michoacan (CAM) were assigned arms and uniforms.  120 officers were sworn in as a rural police force.

The group’s spokesman, Estanislao Beltran proclaimed. “Now we are part of the government.  Now we can defend ourselves with weapons in a legal way.”

Mexican Army Forces in MichoacanThere are hopes in the government the creation of this new police force will end the lawlessness in the state and the vigilantism of the civilian population.  The federal commissioner for Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo said that action would be taken now against “false self-defense groups” but said of the CAM “[You] will have the responsibility of defending your neighbors from delinquency and organized crime.”

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International, Justice, Lawyering, Politics

Lawyer Representing Doctor Accused Of Aiding The US To Find Bin Laden Quits Case After Receiving Death Threats

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Flag of PakistanIn an interview with the BBC, Lawyer Samiullah Afridi said his defense of Dr. Shakil Afridi Would end due to continual death threats against him over the last two years. Samiulla, who is not related to his client, had at one point left the country out of fear for his safety.

We previously discussed the worsening situation for lawyers in Pakistan defending those accused of infamous crimes and civil rights issues in the Murder of Attorney Rashid Rehman.

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Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Religion, Society

Sharia Law Becomes Effective In Brunei: Law Permitting Stoning To Death Of Gays, Adulterers And Apostates Will Follow

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

The Sultan of Brunei
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah

Absolute monarch Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei announced in January a harsh form of sharia law will be enacted. Effective in three phases beginning now and spanning two years, the edict eventually allows for the stoning to death of homosexuals, adulterers, and apostates; for amputation of limbs for those convicted of theft; and flogging for abortions and the consumption of alcohol. The capital offense provisions of the law reportedly apply only to Muslims.

Sultan Bolkiah claims this is a step in solidifying a long cultural tradition in the sultanate which was established in the fourteenth century. Increasingly conservative Muslim politicians and officials in Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia are beginning to move from sharia being limited to family matters to now criminal law and capital offenses. Acheh in Indonesia is included especially. While Brunei enjoys one of the highest per capital income in the world, has many social benefits such as effectively free health care and education, its population of over 416,000 individuals now is seeing human rights restricted in a trend that is generating international condemnation in the West. Al-Jazeera reported that many members of the Muslim ethnic Malay majority have voiced cautious support for the changes. However, non-Muslim citizens, who are fifteen percent of the population, led a rare burst of criticism on social media earlier this year, but largely went silent after the sultan called for a halt.

Emblem of Brunei“Theory states that God’s law is harsh and unfair, but God himself has said that his law is indeed fair,” the sultan said.

But will Western governments be willing to isolate countries engaging in abuses of individuals and oppression of the human rights of populations or is trade and money going to become the focus and inconveniences such as abuse continue to be ignored?

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Justice, Society

Most Domestic Partnerships In Washington Will Automatically Become Marriages June 30th

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

LGBT USA Pride FlagJune 30th, 2014 will mark a significant change in nomenclature and status for same sex couples who had previously registered their domestic partnership starting in 2012. After this date, these couples’ status will change automatically to “married.” This presents an opportunity to become married without the administrative overhead of now filing for a marriage license. Couples after June 30th who enter into a union will be considered married.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Lawyering, Politics, Religion

The Murder Of Rashid Rehman

rashid-rehmanThe legal profession this week lost one of our best and bravest. Pretending to be potential clients in a matrimonial case, two people entered the law firm of Rashid Rehman Khan and shot him to death. Rashid Rehman, a coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), had faced death threats for years after he courageously represented a university professor accused of blasphemy. Unable to kill the accused, Islamic extremists appear to have now killed the lawyer. Rehman never flinched in his commitment to the rule of law and to this country.

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Criminal law, Society

Arizona Appellate Court Strikes Down Scottsdale Public Intoxication Ordinance

The_wine_is_a_mocker_1663-1664_Jan_SteenThere is an interesting ruling out of Arizona where an appellate court has overturned a Scottsdale municipal ordinance barring people from being intoxicated in public. The ordinance was found to be in conflict with a 1972 state law that prohibits municipalities from criminalizing “being a common drunkard or being found in an intoxicated condition.” The intent behind the law was to recognize alcoholism as a disease as opposed to a crime. The case is Arizona v. Coles, 2014 Ariz. App. LEXIS 78 (May 6, 2014).

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Criminal law

Self-Defense or Police Frenzy? Investigation Reveals That Miami Police Fired Almost 400 Rounds At Immobilized Car With Suspect Inside — Hitting Homes, Businesses, and Two Other Officers

article-2521664-1A03904800000578-615_306x429New details have emerged in the shooting last December of two men in Miami Dade County. Police were looking for Adrian Montesano, 27, who had shot a police officer after robbing a Walgreens at gunpoint. They spotted him in a car with another man and gave chase. The Blue Volvo crashed and was wedged between a light pole and a tree. Police surrounded the vehicle and then opened fire — hitting the car with some 50 bullets. There was then another period of quiet and the men were told to surrender. Some witnesses say that the wounded men were raising their hands. Police say that they saw movement and unleashed a barrage of bullets. In all, some 377 rounds were fired — hitting other cars, businesses, and a home with children inside. Some are calling this a case of a police “frenzy” where the officers lost control in two rounds of massive shooting.

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Criminal law, Society

Florida Police Kill Wrong Man In Search of A Suspect Accused Of Attempted Murder . . . Later The Suspect Was Never Suspected Of Attempted Murder And In Fact There Was No Crime

andrewscottYou may recall that we discussed the disturbing case involving the shooting of Andrew Lee Scott, 26, an entirely innocent man who was killed by Florida police after they went to the wrong home to arrest an attempted murder suspect, did not announce they were officers, pounded on a door at 1:30 am and then shot and killed Scott when he pointed a gun at the strangers at his door. They were looking for Jonathan Brown who is suspected of attempted murder and insisted that they had little choice in the shooting. Now, to compound the tragedy, it turns out that Brown was also completely innocent. Brown was exonerated after being charged with attempted murder when witnesses established that there was no crime to begin with. In fact, the witnesses suggested that Brown was something of a hero. The family is now in court and, while the charges were dropped some time ago, I wanted to run an update on the case.

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Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion

GW Grad Challenges Georgia’s Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Michael & Shane, and familyThis week, I had the honor to speaking at the dinner of the Atlanta IP Inn of Court. I was particularly fortunate to spend time with Michael Bishop (shown here in the blue shirt and beard), one of George Washington Law School’s graduates and the incoming president of the Inn. In the course of our conversations, Michael told me about a lawsuit where he is actually a party as opposed to counsel. He and his partner, Shane, are suing for the basic right to marry — a right that is not only forbidden in Georgia but the state constitution goes further to ban the recognition of marriages from other states. The lawsuit is enormously important and well pleaded, as the complaint below attests. It could prove to be an excellent vehicle to again seek Supreme Court review, though that will take a while since it was just filed.

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Politics, Society

Let Them Eat Ammo: New Hampshire Rep Calls For Allowing Citizens To Buy Guns With Food Stamps

tim-horrigan-dogNew Hampshire Representative Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) is outraged over what he describes as “a blatant violation of the Second Amendment.” The violation? People on public assistance cannot use EBT cards to buy guns. He is objecting to legislation barring the use of EBT cards for this purpose and denying people on welfare to hunt and defend themselves with guns.

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Academia, Society

“I’m Going To My Own Promised Land”: Larry Mitchell To Leave Cleveland For New York

Lawrence MitchellWe previously discussed the lawsuit against Case Western and former dean (and former George Washington law professor) Lawrence Mitchell. Mitchell has been accused of retaliating against his former associate dean Raymond Ku, including suggestions of three-some trysts with students and administrators. Ku’s allegations have been affirmed by a former administrator who came with Mitchell to Case Western from GWU, Daniel Dubé. There are also unnamed faculty and students referenced in the complaint. [For Dubé’s affidavit, click here] Mitchell later resigned but pledged to remain as a faculty member at Case Western. At the time, I discussed Mitchell’s options as limited but suggested that “he would be marketable at corporate law firms where these allegations may be viewed as less of a problem, particularly if he goes to New York.” Well, he has now announced that he is indeed in leaving in a blog posting entitled “Leaving Egypt” . . . for New York.

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Columns, Congress, Politics, Society

GAMING GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

1399419480000-TURLEYBelow is my column in USA Today on the use of set aside categories based on race, gender, or other criteria for government contracts. While the set aside issue arose in the recent controversy over Braulio Castillo, there are legitimate questions that should be discussed over the efficiencies and equities of the system. There is also the question of self-identification on these issues. Veteran’s status is easier to confirm, though in the Castillo case we saw the definition can be wildly out of whack. However, we have seen controversies involving people who self-identify as having minority status based on questionable basis such as the controversy over Senator Elizabeth Warren who listed herself as a minority due to Native American blood. There is presumably some criteria for such claims when made in government contracts but I am not sure who where that line is drawn. The real question is whether it would not be better for Congress to directly fund programs to help minority groups rather than require special treatment in government contracting. Hopefully, we can have such a debate without rancor and personal recriminations. There are good-faith reasons to debate whether government contracting should be based solely on the best price and product determination in my view. It is not questioning the purpose of this policy but the means used to achieve it.

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