Bizarre

Who Owns “Hobo Ben”? Johnny Depp Sues Buffalo Professor Over Copyright Claim

Actor and musician Johnny Depp is back in court. No, not against his former wife Amber Heard, but in an action against a Buffalo professor who has alleged that he and his musical partner Jeff Beck plagiarized one of the songs on their latest album, “18.” At issue are lyrics allegedly taken from a toast called “Hobo Ben” by Slim Wilson, a Missouri prisoner featured in a 1974 book by folklorist Bruce Jackson. Jackson is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Buffalo and is the author of “Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me,” which contained the toast. On the merits, Depp has a strong argument against this copyright claim in my view.

Continue reading “Who Owns “Hobo Ben”? Johnny Depp Sues Buffalo Professor Over Copyright Claim” →

Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law, Media

MSNBC Legal Analyst Declares Trump Could Be Charged With Manslaughter

We previously discussed the declaration of Harvard Professor Lawrence Tribe that former president Donald Trump could be charged with the attempted murder of former Vice President Michael Pence. Now, MSNBC legal analyst and Michigan Law Professor Barbara McQuade has gone one better. She told MSNBC viewers that Trump could be charged with manslaughter for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot. Continue reading “MSNBC Legal Analyst Declares Trump Could Be Charged With Manslaughter” →

Bizarre, Columns, Congress, Courts, Politics, Supreme Court

“I Got it Passed by a Vote or Two”: Biden’s Latest Bizarre Boast on Student Loans May Come Back to Haunt Him

This weekend, I ran a column on President Joe Biden’s off-base boast that the Supreme Court and a lower court had declared that they are “on Biden’s side” on tuition forgiveness. After the column ran, however, the President claimed that he pushed through the loan forgiveness program through Congress on a narrow margin. That boast is particularly embarrassing because the Administration is in court claiming that he did not need to get congressional approval for the plan. It is likely to be raised by challengers in the next stage of litigation. It also may strangely reflect a moment of clarity in his subconscious mind, a faint recognition of the constitutional principles that he once defended as a United States senator. Continue reading ““I Got it Passed by a Vote or Two”: Biden’s Latest Bizarre Boast on Student Loans May Come Back to Haunt Him” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech

A Big Win for A Small Bakery: California Baker Wins Case Over Right to Refuse Cake for Lesbian Wedding

We are waiting for the potential blockbuster case of 303 Creative before the Supreme Court this term. However, a similar case just reached a final decision in California. In the case, Cathy Miller, a cake designer who owns the popular Tastries bakery in Bakersfield, California, prevailed against the Department of Fair Housing and Employment. She was sued for refusing to make a cake for a lesbian couple, Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-Del Rio, due to her religious beliefs.

Continue reading “A Big Win for A Small Bakery: California Baker Wins Case Over Right to Refuse Cake for Lesbian Wedding” →

Columns, Courts, Politics

Biden’s Boast: Blocking Judicial Review of a Half-Trillion Tuition Giveaway is Nothing to Celebrate

Below is my column in The Hill on the challenges to President Joe Biden’s massive loan forgiveness program.  President Biden boasted that the courts declared that they are “on Biden’s side.” It is not clear if Biden’s counsel explained the actual holdings in these cases or whether Biden simply forgot or ignored that explanation. Either way, the President’s boast was wildly off-base.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Biden’s Boast: Blocking Judicial Review of a Half-Trillion Tuition Giveaway is Nothing to Celebrate” →

Congress, Constitutional Law

Fauci and White House Officials Ordered to Testify in Social Media Censorship Case

There is an interesting development out of a case in Louisiana where a federal judge has ruled that Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House officials must testify in a case alleging a backchannel for censorship on social media.  The complaint in Schmitt v. Biden, No. 3:22-cv-1213 in the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana alleges that Facebook and Twitter coordinated their censorship programs with government officials. I have previously written about what some of us view as a “censorship by surrogate” system used on social media. This discovery could help understand some of those back channel contacts. Continue reading “Fauci and White House Officials Ordered to Testify in Social Media Censorship Case” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics

The Ninth Circuit Rules That There is no Chilling Effect in Forcing GOP Leaders to Hand Over Phone Records to Democrats

There is an important ruling out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this week where a divided panel held that Kelli Ward, the Chair of the Arizona Republican Party and former senatorial candidate, cannot withhold her cell phone records from the January 6th Committee. The impact on political speech could be not just chilling but glacial.

Continue reading “The Ninth Circuit Rules That There is no Chilling Effect in Forcing GOP Leaders to Hand Over Phone Records to Democrats” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics

Degrees of Contempt: Pundits Seek to Excuse the Lack of Prior Contempt Prosecutions in the Wake of the Bannon Sentencing

After the sentencing of Trump strategist Steve Bannon to four months behind bars, obvious comparisons were raised with the slew of contempt cases that the Justice Department refused to even submit to grand juries during prior Administrations.  The most cited was the contempt case against former Attorney General Eric Holder. That has led to various pundits insisting that there is no such comparison and nothing to see there. In my opinion, they are right to draw distinctions but wrong to dismiss the concern over selective prosecution of contempt cases. Continue reading “Degrees of Contempt: Pundits Seek to Excuse the Lack of Prior Contempt Prosecutions in the Wake of the Bannon Sentencing” →

Academia

Breaking News: Students Prefer Courses Without Exams, Papers or Assignments

Professor Constance Kassor at Lawrence University in Wisconsin is reporting that her course has the highest enrollment in the university. She said that “this should tell us something about the current state of college students.” Indeed it does. Students have changed little. Kassor’s course “Doing nothing” gives credit pass/fail in a course that requires literally nothing beyond showing up: no paper, no assignments, no exam. Surprise: it is very popular. Continue reading “Breaking News: Students Prefer Courses Without Exams, Papers or Assignments” →

Politics, Supreme Court

“He Cares about People”: Sotomayor Praises Thomas As Professors and Pundits Pile on Personal Attacks

We have been discussing personal attacks on conservative justices with figures like Vice President Kamala Harris and Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky  calling them “partisans” and “partisan hacks.” Justices like recently retired Justice Stephen Breyer and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg pushed back on such attacks on their conservative colleagues as well as calls for court packing. Now, Justice Sonia Sotomayor has defended her colleague and friend Justice Clarence Thomas as a compassionate and caring jurist. Continue reading ““He Cares about People”: Sotomayor Praises Thomas As Professors and Pundits Pile on Personal Attacks” →

Bizarre, International

Pasta Al Dente or Al Des Moines? Barilla Sued Over Claim as “Italy’s No. 1 Brand of Pasta.”

Barilla pasta is facing an interesting class action out of California after Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost sued over the claim on every box as  “Italy’s No. 1 brand of pasta.” The problem is that the pasta is actually made in Iowa and New York.  Continue reading “Pasta Al Dente or Al Des Moines? Barilla Sued Over Claim as “Italy’s No. 1 Brand of Pasta.”” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

Massachusetts Woman Charged with Assault with Dangerous . . . Bees
[Hampden County Sheriff]

Rorie Susan Woods, 55, is not the first woman accused of assault with a deadly weapon but she is certainly among the few to use bees as that weapon. That is what police are alleging after Woods allegedly met them (as they came to enforce an eviction order) with a swarm of angry bees. She was at the scene as an anti-eviction protester.

Continue reading “Massachusetts Woman Charged with Assault with Dangerous . . . Bees” →

Society

A Flight to Remember with Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson

I am speaking today at the Oklahoma City Town Hall and have enjoyed returning to this wonderful city. Yet, while this city never ceases to amaze me, it was the flight to Oklahoma that proved overwhelming. Before my flight, an older man called me over at the gate to say hello. It turned out to be Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, the Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowl  linebacker.  It then turned out that we were not only flying on the same flight but were seated next to each other. What followed was an incredible conversation with the former member of the “Doomsday defense.” Continue reading “A Flight to Remember with Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics, Supreme Court

President Biden Pledges to Codify Roe with Bill that Goes Far Beyond Roe

 

In what was billed as a major address yesterday by the White House, President Joe Biden declared that, if the Democrats prevail in the midterm elections, “here’s the promise I make to you and the American people: The first bill I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v. Wade. And when Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January, 50 years after Roe was first decided the law of the land.” As previously discussed, the bill being referenced by the President and Democrats is not a codification of Roe v. Wade, but rather a significant expansion of the precedent. Biden also returned to his claim that the right can be based entirely on the Ninth Amendment. Continue reading “President Biden Pledges to Codify Roe with Bill that Goes Far Beyond Roe” →

Media, Politics

Former New York Times Editor Lashes Out Against Paper Over Tom Cotton Controversy

Former New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet has finally spoken publicly about his role in one of the most disgraceful chapters in American journalism: the Times’ cringing apology for running a 2020 column by Sen. Tom Cotton. Bennet said publisher AG Sulzberger “set me on fire and threw me in the garbage” to appease the mob. It was an early indicator of what would be a collapse of journalistic values across the industry as “advocacy journalism” swept away traditional reporters and editors. The interview comes in the same week of a new poll showing media at a near record low in trust from the public. Continue reading “Former New York Times Editor Lashes Out Against Paper Over Tom Cotton Controversy” →

Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks