St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is suing Twitter over an unauthorized page that used his name and gave the false impression that he was sending embarrassing messages. The litigation in Superior Court of California in San Francisco is only the latest of such lawsuits against such companies for failing to confirm and monitor such sites.
Continue reading “Twit Lit: Tony LaRussa Sues Over False Twitter Page”
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously observed that “the life of the law has not been logic, but experience.” One adherent to this principle appears to be Paul Baldwin, 48, who was arrested for the 153rd time and told a New Hampshire judge “I don’t need a lawyer – I’ve been in this court more than you have.”
Continue reading “A Life in the Law: New Hampshire Man Arrested for 153rd Time Asserts His Self-Taught Legal Training”
Former New Jersey municipal judge Richard Sasso has been permanently banned from the bench by the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Among the violations found by the committee was Sasso’s abuse of both lawyers and litigants; his presiding over cases while under the influence of alcohol and Vicodin, and improper public conduct including an unpleasant scene at a strip club called Torpedo’s Go-Go Club.
Continue reading “Torpedoed: Former New Jersey Judge Richard Sasso Banned For Life”
The reclusive author J.D. Salinger (a personal favorite) was seen this week — at least in court papers. Salinger broke from his self-imposed seclusion to file an interesting lawsuit to block a novel based on Holden Caulfield, the hero from “The Catcher in the Rye.” The book, entitled “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye,” is written by an author calling himself J.D. California and published by a Swedish company. It features Caulfield as an old man. The defendants include Swedish publisher Nicotext; its offshoot, Windupbird Publishing Ltd.; and California-based SCB Distributors as defendants.
Continue reading “J.D. Salinger Files To Block Publication of Sequel to Catcher in the Rye”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has handed down a decision that could play a role in the Sotomayor confirmation process. In National Rifle Association v. Chicago, the Seventh Circuit upheld a Chicago ordinance banning handguns and automatic weapons within city limits. In so doing, it held that the individual right to bear arms is not a fundamental right applicable to the states. It is precisely the hypothetical that some of us discussed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to bear arms in the Second Amendment. It also supports the view of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who has been criticized for two opinions (including one after the Heller decision) that rejected the right to bear arms as a fundamental right. Sotomayor received indirect support from two unlikely sources: conservative icons Frank Easterbrook and Richard Posner.
With hearings scheduled for House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Impeachment, U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent has decided to turn in this resignation to President Barack Obama. His lawyer Dick DeGuerin says that the hearings are now unnecessary and Judge Kent will not participate. However, his resignation will reportedly only be effective June 1, 2010.”
Continue reading “Judge Kent Resigns On Eve of Impeachment Hearing — Effective One Year From Now”
There is an interesting case of judicial ethics out of North Carolina where District Court Judge B. Carlton Terry Jr. was given a public reprimand for becoming “friends” on Facebook with the attorney for the defendant, Charles A. Shieck, in a child custody disputes. Terry was also reprimanded for not just posting statements about the case but googling the plaintiff in the case (and referencing what he had found).
Continue reading “North Carolina Judge Reprimanded for Facebook “Friend” and Googling Information on Litigant”
It’s official: Not only is pringles a food product, but it is a potato food product. That is the ruling of
Britain’s Supreme Court of Judicature which ruled with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and against Procter & Gamble U.K.. Just in case you thought this was small potatoes, the ruling means that Proctor & Gamble owes $160 million in taxes.
Continue reading “British High Court: Pringles are Potato Chips”
With the virtual absence of any objective review of Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions or positions by members of Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee appears to be gearing up for another confirmation process with little substantive content. As noted previously with regard to the Roberts and Alito hearings, confirmation hearings have become little more than extended photo ops for Senators.
Continue reading “Senate Prepares for the Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings”
The United Nations has released a new report on human rights that has found the record of the United states to be “deplorable.” With the continuing refusal of the Obama Administration to investigate war crimes and to support the Bush policies in court, we have lost an opportunity to show the country has committed itself to change these policies and demand accountability for those who implemented them.
Continue reading “United Nations: U.S. Human Rights Record “Deplorable” — Including the Continuing Failure to Investigate Torture By the Obama Administration”
This week saw the demise of a landmark case in the area of constitutional criminal procedure: Michigan v. Jackson. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rolled back on the protection of defendants that guaranteed that they had the advice of counsel before speaking with police at critical stages of a prosecution. In Montejo v. Louisiana (07-1529), Justice Antonin Scalia said that the protection was not worth the loss of confessions and only caused confusion. The Obama Administration supported the rollback on protections for criminal defendants and argued for Michigan v. Jackson to be overturned.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Overturns Landmark Case Michigan v. Jackson — With The Support of the Obama Administration”
The debate over Judge Sonia Sotomayor continues to rage this week. What is remarkable is how much is being said and how little substance can be found in the coverage. One would think that the law of averages alone would guarantee that some substantive points would be hit, if only by accident. It is becoming increasingly clear that, once again, we will not have a substantive and civil review of the qualifications of a Supreme Court nominee. Neither conservatives nor liberals seem to want (or are willing to tolerate) objective discussion of Sotomayor’s qualifications or opinions. For what it is worth, I would like to discard some of the most often heard arguments in the vain hope that we might still achieve some level of reasonable discourse in this debate.
Continue reading “Confirming Nonsense: Both Liberals and Conservatives Distort Debate Over Sotomayor”
Theodore B. Olson, the U.S. solicitor general under Bush and his lawyer in Bush v. Gore, and David Boies, who represented former vice president Al Gore in that case, have joined forces to challenge Proposition 8 in federal court after this week’s loss in the California state court system.
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What happen when you hold a trial and the police are the ones who take the Fifth? That question was answered by Cook County Circuit Judge Clayton Crane who ordered a new trial for Gangster Disciple member Cortez Brown, who alleged that he was forced to confess during beatings in custody.
The United States has been vocal in its denouncing of the recent arrests of journalists by North Korea and Iran. These countries refuse to comply with American values and legal process, particularly in the treatment of journalists. The biggest difference thus far: North Korea and Iran gave the journalists trials. Reuters cameraman Ibrahim Jassam has been held since September by the U.S. military in Iraq without charges or evidence.
Continue reading “U.S. Holds Journalist For Almost a Year Without Charges or Evidence”