Category: Society

Nothing Succeeds So Much As Failure: Obama Could Use A Loss In The Immigration Case

Below is today’s column in the USA Today on the arguments this week in the immigration case, Arizona v. United States. (Docket No., 11-182). At issue is Arizona’s Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (S.B. 1070) directing state law-enforcement officers to cooperate and communicate with federal officials regarding the enforcement of federal immigration law. Beyond the difficult constitutional and statutory questions in the case, there is another element to the case that could come within months of the 12th anniversary of Bush v. Gore

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Burn, Baby, Burn: Detroit Fire Chief Proposes To Let Vacant Properties Burn Down To Save Money

Faced with additional cuts in its budget, Executive Fire Commissioner Donald Austin has proposed an easy way to save money: let buildings burn down. Austin would like to allow such drastic action if the building is over 50 percent ablaze and does not endanger surrounding dwellings. In the meantime, Baltimore is looking into advertisements on the side of fire trucks. They are the latest examples of the insanity that has taken hold of this country as we burn hundreds of billions in Afghanistan and Iraq because our leaders have lacked the courage to withdraw forces from those countries. Instead, we will allow buildings to burn down while building facilities for Iraq with one of the world’s largest oil reserves.

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Illinois Judge Under Fire After Being Tied To Attempts To Access 243 Porn Sites

Associate Judge Joseph Polito is under fire this week after a FOIA request from the media revealed that someone using his computer login and password tried to access 243 hardcore sites as hugeheavybreasts.com, and portofdebauchery.com. Since this was a county computer, the matter has now been referred by Chief Judge Gerald R. Kinney for investigation with the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board.

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Sexist Legos? Feminist Group Denounces Lego For LadyFigs

Feminists have launched a campaign of criticism against the Danish company, Lego, over its new line of figures called LadyFigs. Lego has added subtle curves to its new “LEGO Friends.” Not exactly soft porn, mind you. Just characters without the traditional blocky form. Nevertheless, SPARK executive director, Dana Edell,”They have little breasts and they have fancy hair.”

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Vanderbilt Strips Religious Group of Recognition For Requiring Officers To Have Religious Commitment

I have previously discussed the collision between anti-discrimination laws and free exercise of religion. Now, Vanderbilt University has stripped a Christian student organization of official recognition (and presumably funding) because it requires its members to have a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

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Don’t Mess with Texas’ Executions

Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

As an Illinois resident I was heartened by the fact that a former governor took the politically dangerous action to halt all executions and recently the current Governor of Illinois signed a bill to  end the death penalty in Illinois.   Tribune   With that background, I was saddened to read that since 1976, more than 1/3rd of all executions that took place in our country happened in Texas. Since 1976, Texas has executed 481 people.  Truth Progress  Why does Texas continue to execute people when many experts assert that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime?   Continue reading “Don’t Mess with Texas’ Executions”

Zimmerman: Media Circuses Make for Bad Justice

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger

At this point, to be honest, all of the back and forth regarding “evidence” in the Zimmerman Case that has occurred here over a number of threads has been mere speculation that misses the salient issues raised by this case. The real (admissible) evidence will be presented at the trial and a hopefully an unbiased jury will make its decisions. The issues that we need to discuss from my perspective are:

1. Did the Sanford Police make a mistake in releasing Zimmerman rather quickly and allowing him to retain his gun, which was potential evidence?

2. Was there undue outside influence used upon the police to end their investigation quickly?

 3. Is there a degree of probability that in many Stand Your Ground venues, had the victim been white and the protagonist of color, that the protagonist would have been immediately arrested?

4. What are the purposes of a business oriented lobbying group, like ALEC, in getting “Stand Your Ground” Laws passed?

5. Is this once again an instance where a media circus has poisoned the ability to have a fair trial? Continue reading “Zimmerman: Media Circuses Make for Bad Justice”

Catholic Bishop: Obama Acting Like Hitler and Stalin

What happened to those homilies about the prodigal son and rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s? Parishioners were surprised with this Sunday’s homily by Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky comparing President Barack Obama’s health care policies to policies of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.

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Cooley Law Grad Sues Photography Studio For Before and After Shots Of His School Picture

Recent Cooley Law School grad Aminur Khan did not take long in locating a client: himself. Khan is suing a Michigan photography studio, Call Photography, for using his photo without permission to advertise its ability to retouch blemishes — showing Khan in before and after photos where his skin blemishes were removed.

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Things That Tick Me Off: Wi-Fi Charges At Hotels

It is time again to vent as part of the “Things That Tick Me Off” series — an arbitrary list that helps keep me sane by periodically raving at the world. This week’s addition is wi-fi charges, particularly at high-end hotels (though this remains the case with some mid-range hotel chains as well) I am staying this week at the Waldorf-Astoria while I speak at the ABA’s Legal Malpractice conference. Not only does the hotel charge $15 bucks for wi-fi in the rooms but $15 for each and every device such as iPads. The Waldorf-Astoria is a beautiful and historic hotel and it is certainly not alone in this practice. However, it is irritating to be clipped for such costs after checking in. This is less common in Canada and Europe hotels.

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Trademark Wars: Lawsuits Filed Over Ownership of “Yuuup!”

I have repeated complained about the ludicrous scope of U.S. copyright and trademark laws in allowing people to claim common terms, symbols, and expressions (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Now, R&B singer Trey Songz is in court in a dispute with Storage Wars personality Dave Hester over rights to profit from the word “Yuuup!”

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