We often discuss alleged crimes committed with bizarre or baffling elements. Even in that company, Eric Dion Warren is a standout. He obtained a loaner car from a BMW dealer, drove the car to a bank robbery, and then drove back to the dealer and tried to use the stolen bank money for the down payment on the car. He clearly took the slogan “Sheer Driving Pleasure” a tad too far.
I have previously admitted to being one of the few people apparently on planet Earth with little interest in the Royal family or the continuing travails of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. (No, I did not even tune into the wedding). However, the coverage is now pulling some of us into this vortex with legal and media developments. One such issue arose this week after Piers Morgan, the co-host of ITV’s “Good Morning Britain, committed the apparently unpardonable sin of declaring on air that he didn’t believe a word of what Markle told Oprah in her recent interview. Markle herself filed a complaint with ITV. For that transgression, Morgan is now reportedly under investigation by United Kingdom’s “Ofcom,” or Office of Communications, for violation of its “harm and offense rules.” It is another example of how both rights of the free press and free speech are under assault in the United Kingdom.
There is a tragic case out of Omaha that has led to a notable decision over tort liability for psychiatrists. The case involves a patient, Mikael Loyd, who was admitted to Lasting Hope Recovery Center after he told police that he wanted their help in killing his mother. Psychiatrist Jeana Benton determined that he was not a risk at the hospital and he was released. He then strangled his girlfriend, Melissa Rodriguez, who broke up with him during his hospital stay. Her parents, Angela Rodriguez and Adan Rodriguez, sued Lasting Hope and Benton’s employer, University of Nebraska Medical Center Physicians, but the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the action due to a lack of any legal duty to warn or protect the girlfriend.
This morning, we passed the 49,000,000 mark in views on the blog. We are continuing to experience a surge in viewers. 2020 was a record year in terms of traffic and 2021 is already surpassing the prior year. The blog continues to grow with new regular commenters and a growing international readership. Again, we thank our loyal readers who return every day to discuss contemporary legal, political, and occasionally bizarre stories. We have used these moments to give thanks for our many regular readers around the world and give you an idea of the current profile of readers on the blog. We continue to rank with the top legal blogs in the world. As always, I want to offer special thanks for Darren Smith who has continued to help manage the blog and help out folks who encounter posting problems. Continue reading “Res Ipsa Hits 49,000,000”
If Georgia Gwinnett College wanted to foster greater unity in its use of “free speech zones,” it succeeded in prompting a near unanimous Supreme Court in ruling against it in favor of free speech this week. The Court voted 8-1 that two former students should be able to sue for nominal or symbolic damages to avoid mootness on their challenges. Only Chief Justice John Roberts stood against the ability of the two former students to sue over the loss of free speech rights. Continue reading “Near Unanimous Supreme Court Rules Against Georgia Gwinnett College In Free Speech Victory”
The Biden German Shepherds have been sent back to Delaware after “Major” was involved in a “biting incident” with a White House security officer. Assuming the incident was a dog-bites-guard rather than a guard-bites-dog incident, the question is whether this is a “Major” liability concern. If nothing else, it allows me to talk about two of my favorite subjects: dogs and torts. Continue reading ““Major” Liability or One Free Bite? Biden Sends Dogs Back to Delaware After Biting Incident”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the complaint filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell against former president Donald Trump. Swalwell just filed a complaint that could prove to be the vindication that Trump has long sought in the riot in the Capitol on January 6th.
Here is the column.
Continue reading “Is Eric Swalwell The Answer To Trump’s Prayers?”
There is a saturation of coverage of the upcoming interview of Oprah and Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. The increasingly public spat between the Crown and the couple is turning nasty with an investigation into alleged bullying and abuse of household staff by Meghan. All of that sensational coverage has distracted from a far more substantive and costly matter. Meghan just won a case against Associated Newspapers and the ruling by London High Court Judge Mark Warby should be a concern for anyone who values the freedom of the press. Continue reading “British Court Rules Against The Press In Lawsuit By Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
After a two year long impasse, the Iraqi Parliament enacted law recompensing Yazidi and other similarly stationed ethnic groups for the genocide and other crimes against humanity they suffered at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It is hard to imagine how any human being could be made whole after having suffered such inhumanity prosecuted against these people. The Iraqi Government does deserve praise for making a credible and genuine effort to afford them a promise of compensation and opportunities to earn a more promising and just future within their country and society in general.
Iraqi President Barham Salih tweeted the legislation, “is a victory for the victims [and] our daughters who have been subjected to the most heinous violations and crimes of ISIS genocide.”
The law provides recognition by the Iraqi Government of the genocide, which up until then was only officially so by the Kurdistan Regional Government in the North.
Continue reading “Iraqi Parliament Enacts Recompense Law for Yazidi Genocide Victims”
We have been discussing the expanded censorship on the Internet and the threat to both free speech and free press rights. As stated recently in testimony before the House, I remain an unabashed “Internet Originalist,” favoring the free forum for speech that once defined these Big Tech companies. The expanding censorship of the Internet continues to show bias and contractions as Democratic members push for “robust modification” to silence opposing views of everything from climate change to social justice. A new controversy shows the contradictions as people spread the false claims of Rev. Louis Farrakhan that the Covid-19 vaccines are really the “vial of death.” The continued spreading of his views shows that speech like water has a way of finding a way out, even untrue and hateful speech. The proper response is not less but more (and better) speech. Continue reading ““Vial Of Death”: Farrakhan’s Anti-Vaccine Statements Expose The Fallacy Of Internet Censorship Policies”
We have been following assaults on academic freedom not just in the United States in recent years but abroad in recent years. This includes a researcher in Sweden who recently stopped Covid research after a harassment campaign due to his findings of the low risk poised by children returning to school. In South Korea, another such battle is waging over a publication by J. Mark Ramseyer, the Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, suggesting that Korean “comfort women” from World War II were likely contracted, not forced, by the Japanese military. It is a theory that is understandably outrageous and hurtful for many. Ramseyer’s writings have been denounced and even cities like Philadelphia have passed condemnations of his work. What is more concerning is the effort to fire Ramseyer or bar the publication that ran his theory. Now South Korean faculty who stood up for academic freedom are being targeted, even though they did not write in support of Ramseyer’s theory as opposed to his right to publish his views. Continue reading “American and South Korean Professors Fight For Academic Freedom In Controversy Over “Comfort Women” Publications”
There is a report that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is selling the digital signature to his first tweet reading “just setting up my twttr.” While I originally assumed that this was a prank, there have been reports of offers in the six figures for the tweet. The question is whether you would buy a painting when a billion identical paintings exist and an infinite number of others can be produced. The answer appears to be yes, though Dorsey may want to add “Chumps” at the end of the message “just setting up my twttr.” Update: bids have now surpassed $2.5 million.
Continue reading “Just Setting Up My Twttr [Chumps]: Jack Dorsey Reportedly Selling His First Tweet”
As teacher unions fight to keep schools closed, the true cost is being felt by students who are racking up failing grades, dropping out of virtual classes, increasing drug use, and, in rising numbers, committing suicide. In response, some union officials like the President of the Los Angeles Teacher’s Union has labelled calls to return to class examples of white privilege despite overwhelming science supporting resumption of classes. However, for minority students, this shutdown has taken a dire situation and turned into a free-fall disaster. The pandemic led to the closure of an already failing public school system, as evident in a shocking story out of Baltimore. As recently reported, a high school student almost graduated near the top half of his class after failing every class but three in four years. He has a 0.13 GPA. His mother finally went public in exasperation with the failures in the public schools. Continue reading “Baltimore Student Who Failed All But Three Classes In Four Years Was Ranked In Top Half Of His Class”
United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) is under fire after Maryam Qudrat, a mother of Middle Eastern descent, was asked by the UTLA to identify her race after criticizing the union’s opposition to reopening schools despite overwhelming science that it is safe. The response of the UTLA was evasive to the point of incomprehension. However, the controversy is fueled by recent efforts to portray parents demanding a return to school as racist or examples of white privilege, including recent controversial comments from the UTLA President. Continue reading “LA Teacher’s Union Under Fire For Effort To Racially Classify Critics”
If you want to know why waste and conflicts of interests are so prevalent in the United States, you need to look no further than the recent report of he Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) on the so-called G222 program. I wrote about this program in 2013 but we now have the result of the criminal investigation. Under the program, the United States Air Force spent $549 million to buy 20 Italian-made cargo planes for the Afghan government. They were found to be unreliable and turned into scrap metal for $40,257. No action was taken against the company, Alenia North America, or the Air Force General responsible for the outrageous contract (despite a finding of a conflict of interest). The Justice Department refused to take action because such cases are “unheard of.” Perhaps, but government officials and contractor heard the message loud and clear: there is virtually no contractual waste that you can commit in the United States military that will result in sanctions. This picture from SIGAR is what remains of over half a billion dollars of U.S. taxpayer money.