The divide over President Donald Trump was vividly demonstrated by two comments this week. Fox host Lou Dobbs declared Trump to be “the greatest president in the history of our country” while former Trump associate (and Communications director) Anthony Scaramucci called him a “cult leader” in the vein of Jim Jones.
Continue reading “Jim Jones or George Washington? The Extreme Divide Over Donald Trump Widens”
This week, I taught (with our esteemed visiting Professor Luna) animal-related torts, including the “one-free-bite rule.” One question that came up in class was whether the size of the dog could be treated as knowledge of the vicious propensity of the animal. I explained that it did not correlate to viciousness and gave Great Danes as an example of a large but thoroughly gentle dog. Right on cue, a story ran that night of a woman in Ohio who was killed by her Great Danes. The case actually tracked some of the issues that we discussed in class with the notable exception of the breed commentary on my part.
Continue reading “Great Danes Kill Ohio Woman”
I still do not get the thrill of big game hunters, but a case in North Carolina shows that even the most one-sided hunts can take a bizarre twist.
Two hunters used dogs to force a black bear into a tree so they could stand below and shoot it. The bear tumbled out of the tree but was still alive and chased one hunter off a small cliff in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The hunter suffered bites and other injuries.
Continue reading “North Carolina Hunter Injured After Shooting Bear Out Of Tree”
The New York Times and various media outlets are reporting universal denials of the military that there was any evidence to support President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to his death. The embarrassing denials comes after a videotape contradicted Trump’s claim that “almost all” of farmers who attended his signing of an executive order were crying. The videotape shows no one crying. The statement on al-Baghdadi is particularly curious because al-Baghdadi ran down an alley and blew himself up with a suicide vest. Military sources say that there is no evidence of the whimpering and crying described by Trump.
Continue reading ““Something He Made Up”: Military Denies Trump’s Claim About Al-Baghdadi Death”
I recently presented my annual “Spooky Torts” powerpoint to my Torts class of the latest holiday litigation cases. At the time, I noted that the whole fear of razor blades in apples appears an urban legend. Well, give it enough time and someone will prove you wrong. That is the allegation of Waterbury, Connecticut police who say that Jason A. Racz, 37, put razor blades in candy bags of at least two trick-or-treaters.
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As many of you know, I love Halloween and we put on an embarrassingly excessive display each year at our house. It may be for that reason that I found a story in Yahoo News so disturbing. Children who came to the White House for the annual Halloween party were reportedly asked
to help “build the wall” by placing their own paper bricks onto a mural. If true, it was a remarkably low-grade move. Children should not be pulled into our politics or used for a prop.
Recently, a leading coroner declared that the autopsy of child abuser Jeffrey Epstein (who died in prison) was more consistent with strangulation than suicide. That proved material for jokes by Trevor Noah, the host of the Daily Show, with his guests Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. asked Hillary Clinton in an interview about conspiracies that suggest the Clintons have murdered people. Noah asked Clinton “I have to ask you a question that has been plaguing me for a while, how did you kill Jeffrey Epstein?” That led to a great laugh. However, it was a tad off-putting because they were discussing a child rapist and abuser who entertained Clinton’s husband repeatedly and reportedly flew him on Epstein’s infamous “Lolita Express” private jet. Ha, Ha . . . Thump. Or more accurately “Ha, Ha, . . . Trump.” The point was that the Clintons are the subject of wild conspiracy theories by Trump and his supporters — a fair point. However, when it comes to a sexual predator who was friends with your husband, Bill Clinton, there might be another source for late night humor.
Continue reading “Ha, Ha . . . Trump: Hillary Laughs About Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Epstein’s Death”I have previously disagreed with the overextended and unsupported claims of critics on allegedly clear criminal violations by President Donald Trump, including past statements by Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush and is a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. I am no fan of President Trump and have repeatedly criticized him for his language and actions in office. However, legal analysis continues to erode as analysts assure viewers that well-established crimes have been committed. The latest such example by Painter is that Trump continues to fundraise for Senators, a common practice of all presidents in election years. Painter insists that any such fundraising can constitute “felony bribery” since these senators will likely sit in judgment in any impeachment trial.
Continue reading “Painter: Trump Cannot Do Fundraisers For Senators Without Committing “Felony Bribery””
Kinley Rice is a woman in Oklahoma with a remarkable account of how an American Airlines contractor stole her Patagonia jacket then put it on the Internet for sale. She came across her own jacket and reported it to authorities. The story once again raises the failure of the TSA and airlines to take basic steps to prevent continued thefts from luggage. Despite billions in subsidies and profits, airlines continue to refuse to take relatively low cost measures to stop thefts, particularly continual and active surveillance of all baggage handling areas.
Continue reading “Oklahoma Woman Finds Stolen Jacket Being Sold On Internet By Airport Baggage Handler”
Here is our annual list of Halloween torts and crimes. Halloween of course remains a holiday seemingly designed for personal injury lawyers around the world and this year’s additions show why. Halloween has everything for a torts-filled holiday: battery, trespass, defamation, nuisance, product liability and more.
So, with no further ado, here is this year’s updated list of actual cases related to Halloween.
Continue reading “Spooky Torts: The 2019 List Of Halloween Litigation Horrors”
The crackdown on offensive and culturally appropriating Halloween costumes continues across the country. Some of us have objected over the free speech concerns raised by these actions. However, those concerns appear lost on most students. According to a recent poll by The College Pulse, most students reject the free speech concerns over costumes and support punishment for students who wear “highly offensive” Halloween costumes.
Continue reading “Halloween Triggers Renewed Calls For Punishing Offensive Or Culturally Appropriating Costumes”
There is an interesting legal dispute unfolding in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over a persistent rodent infestation at the Whole Foods at Glover Park. The store has been closed since 2017 after being shut down twice for rodent infestation by the D.C. Department of Health. Whole Foods is arguing in an arcane contracts dispute with its landlord that the infestation is an “act of God” and out of its hands.
Continue reading “Whole Foods: Rodent Infestation Is “An Act Of God””
Former White House chief of staff John Kelly publicly stated this week that he warned President Donald Trump that, if he replaced him with a yes man, he could well end up impeached. I found Kelly’s discussion of the confidential conversation with Trump to be deeply troubling. I believe a president has a right to confidential communications. However, I was not concerned with the response of White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham who declared, “I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President.” Since Kelly was warning about the danger of surrounding oneself with sycophants, the response was chillingly ironic. Indeed, I considered at first whether this was meant as an ironic joke. It is difficult to tell which is precisely the problem. The President has repeatedly referred to himself as “stable genius” so this is repeating his own self-appraisal.
Continue reading “Grisham: “[Kelly] Was Totally Unequipped To Handle The Genius Of Our Great President.””
President Donald Trump famously bragged that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters, okay?” Now, the judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit have pressed his counsel if that is true from a legal perspective. Trump counsel William Consovoy astonished the court by answering in the affirmative. Trump could commit murder and could not be even charged until after he left office. It is an extreme and in my view unsupportable claim based on a misreading of the Constitution.
Continue reading “Trump Counsel Argues That Trump Could Commit Murder In Public But Not Be Charged Or Prosecuted During His Presidency”
Pundits had a field day after President Donald Trump announced at the Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh that “We’re building a wall in Colorado” when talking about border wall progress on Wednesday afternoon. The best zinger came from Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette who simply asked “Is NEW Mexico going to pay for it?”
Continue reading ““Is New Mexico Going To Pay For It?”: Colorado Leaders Respond To Trump’s Declaration That He Is Building A Wall In Colorado”