Residents in Houston are a bit concerned when Harris County police decided to call off a manhunt of an escaped prisoner because of the heat. The man was arrested for possession and suspected of robbery. However, he was able to get out of his handcuffs during transport and escaped. The police started the manhunt but then called it off because it was just to darn hot.
Continue reading “We’ll Search For You When Its Cooler: Texas Manhunt Called Off Due To Heat”
Sean Murphy’s career as a dermatologist appears short-lived. Murphy had long complained about a wart on his finger, so he decided to remove it . . . with a 12-gauge shotgun. It succeeded and took off the wart with the rest of his finger. He was later arrested and convicted of illegal possession of a firearm.
Continue reading “Mad Dogs and Englishmen: Yorkshire Man Removes Wart (and Finger) With A Shotgum”
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign today from his seat in Congress. In addition to the political pressure from his own party, Weiner had a couple of strong legal reasons to resign.
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There is an interesting Long Island case that could be the basis for a lawsuit on the mishandling of a corpse. In spreading her father’s ashes around his favorite places (including on a dinosaur at the Museum of Natural History), Jennie Spooner, from Amityville, found an array of garbage in the urn, including ballpoint-pen springs, glass shards, metal staples and a half-melted crucifix.
Continue reading “Long Island Woman Finds Garbage in Cremated Remains Of Father”
Just in case you did not see this, I felt you should see what may be the most awkward moment in the history of the world. This is Australian anchor Karl Stefanovic who decides that, if you have the spiritual leader of millions of Buddhists for an interview, you should start with a joke.
Continue reading “Worst Joke Ever”
San Francisco’s Commission of Animal Control last year was lambasted over a move to ban puppies, hamsters, and kittens from being sold in the city. Now, the Commission is moving on to a new proposed ban: goldfish.
Continue reading “The Scales of Justice? San Francisco Moves Toward Banning Sale of Gold Fish”
In high-profile cases, clients will sometimes ask defense counsel how they should look in a mug shot that will be plastered across the media. There are different schools of thought, but John Edwards clearly went with the smiling “I Can’t Believe These Guys Are Doing This” shot.
Continue reading “Prisoner Elected Most Likely To Succeed”
Today, I have the honor of representing ten members of the United States House of Representatives in challenging the constitutional basis for the Libyan War — and the underlying claims made by President Obama. These members include Democrats and Republicans from across the political spectrum. They share a belief that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution expressly requires the authorization of Congress before a president can commit the nation to war. The lawsuit will be heard in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. We filed this afternoon and held a press conference with the members in front of the courthouse. A copy of the complaint (which will be heard by Judge Reggie Walton) is below.
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Chief Judge James Ware of Federal District Court for the Northern District of California has rejected a motion for disqualification of Judge Vaughn Walker (shown left) because of his longtime relationship with his partner. Judge Ware noted that there was no evidence that Judge Walker intended to marry his partner.
If George Santayana was correct that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” there are a lot of surprises in store for the raising generation of Americans. A new study shows a shocking lack of knowledge about U.S. history among our school children, including the fact that only 35% of fourth-graders knew the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. The results of the study are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Continue reading “Study: Only One Out Of Five Children Are Proficient in U.S. History”
House Speaker John A. Boehner sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday informing the President that the Congress now views him in breach of the War Powers Resolution absent authorization from Congress for his military deployment in Libya.
Continue reading “Boehner Accuses Obama of War Powers Violation”
We have been following the trend against free speech rights of students and the disciplining of students for speech outside of school. This includes the opinion in Doninger v. Niehoff with then Judge Sotomayor. Now, the Third Circuit has handed down a major victory for free speech in rejecting a parody on MySpace as the basis to discipline two teenagers in Pennsylvania. The case is J.S. v. Blue Ridge Mountain School District, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 11947 (June 13, 2011).
Continue reading “Court Rules Against School in Disciplining of Teens For MySpace Parody”
Police in Los Angeles are searching for a stolen 780-year-old religious relic of St. Anthony of Padua. What is fascinating is that I cannot find a single article saying what the relic was — clothing, teeth, bone, or other object. I would love to read the police report under description of property. In the meantime, Catholics are praying to the patron saint of lost and missing items . . . St. Anthony of Padua.
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After the disclosure that heroic Amina Arraf, a Syrian lesbian blogger, was actually a guy from Georgia, many believed it could not get weirder on the blogosphere. Then Bill Graber came forward to admit that, like Tom MacMaster, he is also a guy masquerading as a lesbian blogger. With the search for an actual lesbian on the blogosphere, I want to put to rest a growing rumor that I am actually an Iranian lesbian masquerading as a middle-aged professor. It may indeed that all of the actual lesbians are pretending that they are middle-aged men as middle-aged men pretend they are lesbians. However, I am not an Iranian lesbian. That should do it.
There is an interesting torts case in Palm Harbor, Florida where four diners were burned by the banana foster at Ozona Blue Grilling Co. The waiter accidentally added too much rum to the bananas foster causing burns to the people around the table, including one severe burn case of a woman whose dress caught fire.
Continue reading “Banana Foster Tort: Four Customers Burned By Flambé”