Academia, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Society

Illinois School Scraps Girl Varsity Basketball Team’s Visit To Arizona

There is a growing controversy in Illinois where School District 113 has blocked the Township High School ‘s Girls Varsity Basketball Team from traveling to Arizona in December due to the passage of that state’s controversial immigration law. I was asked to consider the argument of the District that it was compelled to bar such travel as a constitutional matter. While I respect (and share) the concerns of the Board over this law, I do not believe the trip is barred as a matter of constitutional law. Given the hard work of these girls in achieving such a honor, I believe the board should reconsider its decision if they make the championship. While there remain legitimate objections to the law, I do not believe that this bar on travel is compelled as a legal matter.

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Bizarre, Politics

Polling Poultry: Nevada Bans Chicken Costumes During Upcoming Election

It appears that officials will not allow free range chickens to roam on election day in Nevada. Republican Senate candidate Sue Lowden has been ridiculed for her comment about how people used to barter for medical care. Critics have suggested that she was looking back fondly on the way “our grandparents would bring a chicken to the doctor.” Now, officials have banned chicken suits at polling places to stop critics from ridiculing Lowden.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

School’s Out: Gaza Gunmen Burn Girl’s U.N. School for Teaching “Dancing and Immorality”

While religious police in Saudi Arabia are herding Emo girls (here), gunmen in the Gaza Strip have burned down a U.N.-run summer camp for children for educating girls and playing hip hop music.
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Criminal law, Society

City of Brotherly Love: Thieves Steal Another Wheelchair From A Disabled Person in Philadelphia

Just days after we discussed the low-lives who stole a wheelchair and dog from a disabled man in Philadelphia (here), it has happened again. An eight-year-old boy who suffers from cerebral palsy had his wheelchair stolen when he went into his home briefly with his nurse.
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Criminal law, International, Media, Politics

England To Shield Identities of Alleged Rapists

Rape shield laws have always been controversial with defense counsel and some civil libertarians because they shield the identity of the alleged victim but not the alleged attacker. Now, the coalition government in England appears ready to address that controversy by banning the identification of both alleged victims and criminal defendants in rape cases.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society, Torts

Hopping Mad: Politics in Arizona Goes To The Frogs

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has turned to humor and an amphibian advocate to make her case to Arizona voters — making fun at critics who have been denouncing the Arizona law without reading it. The video has become a hit and pushed Brewer ahead of her Democratic opponent in the race, Terry Goddard.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Obama Official Suggests That Government May Not Process Illegal Immigrants Arrested Under Arizona Law

The Obama Administration appears close to doing what many thought was unthinkable from a political standpoint: opposing the enforcement of federal law for any illegal immigrants caught in Arizona. That appears to be the suggestion of John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an interview this week.

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