Remember that “historic” vote to lift the statutory ban on 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia? Senators lined up to vote unanimously with the 9/11 families and to reject the threats of Saudi Arabia to wreck economic havoc on the United States. However, it was revealed this week that Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. added a small amendment to the bill that gave the Administration the right to bar such lawsuits. Since the Administration opposes the changing of the law, its position is quite clear. Now many are objecting that the Senate vote was knowingly misleading given the Schumer amendment.
Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, is moving back to Germany after shifting its operations to Asia for cheap labor. However, wages are increasing even in Asia so Adidas has found workers even cheaper: robots. Adidas will be making shoes again in Germany by 2017 but will employ relatively few actual Germans.
The rapid decline of free speech in England accelerated further this month with a ruling of the British high court banning The Sun newspaper from naming celebrities involved in a sordid sex story despite the fact that all three names are widely known and discussed on the Internet and non-British newspapers. Indeed, papers like the Toronto Star have running virtually mocking accounts of Elton John, his Toronto-born husband David Furnish, and British businessman Daniel Laurence. Elton John is obviously the quintessential public figure who has participated in a wide range of stories and programs on his family life with Furnish and their children. It is a chilling example of England’s rollback on basic free speech and free press protections.
We have another example of how copyright and trademark laws are being using to bully and stifle individuals or small businesses. In Beulah, Michigan, locals enjoy their Blue Caribou Cafe and its quirky dishes like Hypocrite Omelet (a vegetarian omelet with your choice of meat.) However, if Caribou Coffee Company has the final say, Blue Caribou may no more. You guessed it. Caribou Coffee appears to believe that it owns Caribou-themed restaurants.
Continue reading “Thinning The Herd: Caribou Coffee Sues Small “Blue Caribou” Diner Under Trademark”
Prolancia Aquila Turner, 26, seems to have come up with a novel claim of discrimination or police abuse. After being arrested for stealing from a jeweler in a Florida mall, Turner angrily objected to the police that “Everyone steals from this store. Why are you picking on me?” In the meantime in California, the reduction of shoplifting penalties are being blamed for an increase in the crime as criminals treat short sentences as a minor cost-of-doing business (or in this case, not doing business).
A 48-year-old taxi driver in England was facing a long prison sentence after Claire Emma Carr, 20, accused him of sexual assaulting her. The driver however turned out to have a camera system or he could have been convicted based solely on the testimony of Carr. While she was prepared to send him away for years and ruin his life and the lives of his family, she will be jailed for only 12 weeks.
Continue reading “English Taxi Driver Cleared Of False Sexual Assault Allegation By Videotape”
Police officers are often most at risk in approaching cars along highways and a new case shows just how dangerous that task can be. Two officers were injured when Kelvina Freeman, 23, threw her car into reverse and fled a traffic stop. She was later captured and now, rather than facing a speeding ticket, Freeman is facing serious jail time for multiple felonies.
A prominent lawyer Melbourne barrister, Ross Ray QC, was killed recently in an accident that was both ironic and tragic in its facts. Ray was the lead litigator fighting a requirement of safety rollbars on “quad bike” or off-road vehicles. He was killed on his farm in Mansfield when his quad bike rolled over and pinned him due to the lack of a rollbar.
There is a development in the case of Officer David Rodriguez who was shown in the now viral video below pulling his gun on a citizen who was videotaping him. He was placed on paid administrative leave by the department in Rohnert Park (50 miles from San Francisco) but he was later restored to his position after a finding that he did not act improperly. Millions have watched the videotape and clearly disagree. Rohnert Park resident Don McComas is now suing the officer and the city of Rohnert Park for unspecified damages over the July 29 incident.
Continue reading “California Man Sues Police Department Over Confrontation In Viral Video”
We have been discussing the bizarre situation of the two major parties nominating the two candidates with not just the highest, but unprecedented, negative numbers with voters. The presumptive nomination of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have renewed calls for reforms to challenge the control of a duopoly of power in the country. This week there are new polls showing not only that Trump and Clinton are roughly equal in the high rejection of the majority of the voters, but 58 percent say that they are considering voting for someone other than Trump and Clinton. That could be a huge boast to the Libertarian and Green candidates this election. It also may reflect the dangerous gamble of the establishment in the Democratic party in securing the nomination for Clinton.
Continue reading “Poll: 58 Percent Of Voters Considering Someone Other Than Trump or Clinton”
There is a human rights complaint in Ottawa, Canada after Jenna Vecchio was asked by a female employee of Movati Athletic club not to wear a tank top as too revealing. Vecchio has gone public with pictures to say that she was humiliated by all of the attention in the club over her wearing the tank top . . . which she has posted.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den by Peter Paul Rubens is a painting that has inspired millions in capturing the moment of faith dedicated in the Bible. The same cannot be said about the scene this week in Santiago, Chile where a man stripped naked and jumped into the lion enclosure at the zoo in what is believed to be a bizarre suicide attempt. In order to save the man, the zoo was forced to shoot and kill the two lions. (Warning: disturbing video shot from YouTube below.)
Continue reading “Man Strips Naked and Jumps Into Lion Cage . . . Zoo Kills Two Lions To Rescue Him”
United States District Judge Andrew Hanen issued a remarkable opinion yesterday that found that Justice Department lawyers not only lied to him and opposing counsel but “it is hard to imagine a more serious, more calculated plan of unethical conduct.” What is even more remarkable however is that, after finding such calculated and unethical conduct, Hanen ordered the lawyers to simply take ethics classes rather than refer them to the bar for suspension or disbarment. Many attorneys object that government lawyers routinely escape serious punishment for false or misleading statements. In this case, the judge found that the Justice Department misled him and opposing counsel in a case by Texas and 25 other states that sought to block President Barack Obama’s controversial immigration programs. Hansen blocked the program. Notably, the Justice Department is even opposing ethical classes as a sanction.
We have previously discussed the controversy over the Redskins name. I have previously written about my disagreement with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decision to rescind federal trademark protections for the Redskins as a racially disparaging name as well as the underlying law used to strip the team of its trademark protection. The law allows for a small administrative office to effectively dictate the outcome of a long simmering societal debate over the team name. More importantly, the standard for determining what names or words are disparaging remains dangerously undefined with striking contradictions as we have previously discussed in permitted and disallowed trademarks. One of the cases that I have discussed involves an Asian-American rock band called The Slants, which was also barred by the office. Now, an independent poll by the Washington Post has found that 9 out of 10 Native Americans say they are not offended by the Washington Redskins name. This is consistent with past polls going back years that have found that the vast majority of Native Americans do not object and are not offended by the name. In particular, a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that same overwhelming result. Indeed, the numbers have not changed despite years of advocacy by a small fraction of Native Americans.
Continue reading “Poll: Nine Of Ten Native Americans Do Not View Redskins Name As Offensive”
It is not every recent law grad who can claim that he appeared before the state supreme court soon after graduation. Unfortunately, this is one appearance that University of Wisconsin law graduate Joshua Jarrett is unlikely to add to his resume. In a close vote, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Jarrett could be admitted to the bar so long as he is supervised for two years. Bar officials sought to block Jarrett after concluding that he had misrepresented his grades and credentials in a job application.