Category: Courts

Bizarre, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Things That Tick Me Off, Torts

Poor Bathroom Etiquette: Pregnant Woman PO’ed Over Denial of Bathroom Privileges

Long Island resident, Lindsay Ekizian, has filed an interesting case in Manhattan (NY) Supreme Court alleging that the Hammerstein Ballroom callously failed to allow her use of its restroom. The 35 weeks along mother-to-be asked politely if she could use the bathroom as she was filing out of the establishment after seeing a comedy act. Rebuffed at first, she explained to the manager that she was pregnant (wonder why that needed to be explained) and was in desperate need. “There’s a bathroom at the end of the block,” came the compassionate reply according to the plaintiff. Unable to make it to the nearby diner, Ms. Ekizian suffered an indignity best left to the imagination.  Not sure of the theory of liability (intentional infliction emotional distress?), but if there ever was a case with jury appeal here it is.

Source: New York Post

–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

Prostitution May Become Legal This Saturday in Ontario

To the delight of civil libertarians and libertarians alike, the Canadian courts have been leading the world in dealing with conflicts between privacy principles and morality legislation. I am serving as an expert in the review of Canadian polygamy laws in British Columbia. In the meantime, the Ontario Superior Court may allow three prostitution laws to die this Saturday.
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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Torts

Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined: Hooter’s Security Roughs Up Granny Over Bill

Hooters Restaurants likes to promote their orange-hotpanted waitresses with the provocative tied-up teeshirts as, “delightfully tacky yet unrefined.”   The slogan might  be applied to its security guards too, if a  fiesty grandma gets her way. After disputing an errant appetizer on her bill from a Chicagoland Hooter’s, 54-year-old Livier Torres was manhandled by off-duty Oak Lawn Police Officer Joseph Schmidt as she tried to pay. Part-enforcer, part-social engineer (Schmidt reportedly told Torres daughter, “All you people are the same” in an apparent reference to their Mexican heritage.), the fearless crime fighter called for back-up against the marauding grandma — when a headlock and pinning her to the ground wouldn’t suffice. Despite a paucity of video Continue reading “Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined: Hooter’s Security Roughs Up Granny Over Bill” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Media, Military

London Mayor Tells Bush To Stay Out of Londontown — Will International Shunning Become Prosecution?

Boris Johnson, the conservative Mayor of London, has declared George Bush a persona non grata — asking him to stay out of London with his new torture-touting memoir. The question is whether such international shunning will become actual effort to prosecute Bush, who just confessed to war crimes. I discussed the controversy on Countdown.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Media, Military, Politics, Society

Ghailani Acquitted On Major Terrorism Charges — Rep. King Responds With Call To Change Legal System

The trial of alleged Al Qaeda accomplice Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani has resulted in an acquittal on all major terrorism charges in New York. Ghailani was charged with crimes related to the 1998 suicide bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. I will be discussing the verdict tonight on Hardball.

Continue reading “Ghailani Acquitted On Major Terrorism Charges — Rep. King Responds With Call To Change Legal System” →

Bizarre, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Alito Criticized For Participation In Another Conservative Fundraiser

Last night on Rachel Maddow, I discussed the controversy over Supreme Court justices attending political fundraisers. Specifically, Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito have been criticized for their participation in such events. Most recently, Justice Samuel Alito was identified by Think Progress at a fundraiser for American Spectator. Alito reportedly said that “it’s not important” that he attends such events. I disagree.
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Academia, Constitutional Law, Courts

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?—I See Anti-Marxists Looking at Me!

Part I

Earlier this year, the Texas State Board of Education removed children’s author Bill Martin Jr. from a proposal to include him in the third-grade curriculum section.  Martin would have been put on a list of authors who had made cultural contributions—along with Laura Ingalls Wilder and Carmen Lomas Garza—until board member Pat Hardy made the motion to toss out Bill Martin’s name. You see, Hardy had learned that “Bill Martin” had written an adult book that contains “very strong critiques of capitalism and the American system” from another board member named Teri Leo.

It was while Leo was researching Bill Martin on the Borders.com Web site that she discovered that he had written a book called Ethical Marxism. Leo alerted Hardy to her discovery in an email. Hardy explained: “She said that that was what he wrote, and I said: ‘ … It’s a good enough reason for me to get rid of someone.’ ”

Continue reading “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?—I See Anti-Marxists Looking at Me!” →

Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Science, Society, Torts

Seventh Circuit Allows “Death By Taser” Suit to Proceed

Reversing a lower court grant of summary judgment, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a Wisconsin couple’s “Death by Taser” suit to proceed to trial against the police and Town and Village of Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Their son, 29-year-old, Nickolos Cyrus, suffered from a bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and was well-known to the police for prior delusional — but non-criminal — episodes. When the young man was reported missing, police located him on a construction site. His parents allege that Nickolos was passive, unarmed, and had no history of violence such that multiple taser shocks would be needed to subdue him. The police respond that multiple taserings were a reasonable use of force under the circumstances and that his death was unforeseen.

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Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Lawyering, Politics, Society

The Porteous Impeachment: Post-Trial Brief

We have filed our post-trial brief in the Senate Impeachment Trial of United States District Court Judge Thomas Porteous. The brief, linked below, presents the factual record on each of the articles of impeachment after the conclusion of the Senate trial. We are expecting final arguments to be heard in December before all 100 Senators on the Senate floor.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Religion, Society

The Canadian Polygamy Case

The British Columbia Supreme Court will be some hearing testimony on the criminalization of plural unions — an extremely important case with global ramifications. As has been my practice in past cases, I wanted to confirm my involvement in the case as a court-appointed expert on the legality of such criminal laws. Weeks ago, I was retained to submit written testimony on the right of consenting adults to plural unions under United States and international law.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Military

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Order to End DADT Policy

On Monday, a panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals extended the freeze on an order by U. S. District Judge Virginia Phillips halting the enforcement of DADT.  The panel of judges was persuaded by the government’s argument that suddenly ending the prohibition on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military could have a deleterious effect. In their majority order, Judges Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain and Stephen S. Trott wrote the following:

– “The public interest in enduring orderly change of this magnitude in the military – if that is what is to happen – strongly militates in favor of a stay.”

– “Furthermore, if the administration is successful in persuading Congress to eliminate (the policy), this case and controversy will become moot.”

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Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Torts

I Thought That I Should Never See An Opinion As Lovely As a Tree–Wrong!!

Who says appellate judges can’t be literate — and hilarious.

Fisher v. Lowe
122 Mich.App. 418, 33 N.W.2d 67 (1983)

Syllabus

Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Uncategorized

Does Convicted Cop Equal Reasonable Doubt?

Norfolk, Virginia, Police Detective Robert Glenn Ford had a reputation as a hard-nosed cop who handled most of the City’s high profile criminal cases. Now he’s got another one but it’s his name “across the v” from the Government. Ford was convicted in federal court in Norfolk of extortion and lying to federal investigators. Specifically, the Government alleged that Ford took money from criminal defendants in exchange for helping them get lighter sentences. Ford maintains his innocence and vows to appeal.

Ford handled 200 homicide cases including the infamous “Norfolk 4” case which resulted in four convictions for the rape and murder of  an 18-year-old wife of a Norfolk sailor. Ford was accused by lawyers for the “Norfolk 4” of planting jailhouse snitches near in the men’s cell blocks to solicit confessions.

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Courts, Society

Giles Corey: An Iron Man Who Was a Victim of the Salem Witch Hysteria

There’s nothing like a little hysteria to get one’s heart pumping. Lately, we’ve seen people in our country who’ve been whipped into frenzies by the following things: the belief that Sharia law could be instituted in the United States, the proposed building of a Muslim cultural center not far from Ground Zero, and stories about Americans being beheaded in the Arizona desert. All this modern-day hysteria got me to thinking about the Salem witch trials, which took place here in my state more than three hundred years ago. It gave me the idea to write about Giles Corey. Corey was an elderly Massachusetts man who was accused of being a witch in March of 1692.

Here’s a poem by an unknown author that summarizes the story of Giles Corey:

THE MAN OF IRON

Giles Corey was a wizard strong, a stubborn wretch was he;
And fit was he to hang on high upon the locust tree.

So, when before the Magistrates for trial he did come,
He would no true confession make, but was completely dumb.

“Giles Corey,” said the Magistrate, “What hast thou here to plead
To those who now accuse thy sould of crime and horrid deed?”

Giles Corey he said not a word, no single word spoke he.
“Giles Corey,” said the Magistrate, “We’ll press it out of thee.”

They got them then a heavy beam, then laid it on his breast;
They loaded it with heavy stones, and hard upon him pressed.

“More weight,” now said this wretched man. “More weight!” again he cried;
And he did no confession make, but wickedly he died.

Continue reading “Giles Corey: An Iron Man Who Was a Victim of the Salem Witch Hysteria” →