Society

Tayo Fabuluje and the Importance of Character In A Champion

fid12667Chicago-Bears-Logo2Like many, I watched the 2015 draft unfold with great interest. It was fascinating to watch the soaring success of a Marcus Mariota (including a reported effort of my Chicago Bears to unload Jay Cutler on the Tennessee Titans in exchange for their second slot — and Mariota). It was equally fascinating to watch the plunge of Randy Gregory from a top draft pick to number 60 after showing himself incapable to not doing drugs even when his entire NFL career and future depended on it. However, while the Winstons, Mariotas, and other elite players tend to get the limelight, I was rooting for a guy picked by the Bears in the final round. I was rooting for Tayo Fabuluje. There is no reason that you would know his name but I hope someday you will.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Torts

Court rules that DEA Does Not Have to Pay Damages To Company After Agents Secretly Enlisted Its Driver To Participate In Drug Sting Resulting In His Death and Heavy Damage To Truck

Lee.Rosenthal4224622x350There is a troubling case out of Houston that shows the continuing immunity of the government from even lethal acts of negligence. In Patty v. United States, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54871A, Plaintiff Steven Craig Patty sought damages in a bizarre case where the DEA paid one of his drivers, without his knowledge, to participate in a highly dangerous drug sting with one of the most violent Mexican drug cartels. Lawrence Chapa, 53, (right) the driver, (who had been arrested in 2010 for possession of a controlled substance) was shot eight times. The sting went badly and resulted in the killing of Patty’s driver and shooting up his tractor-trailer. He claimed conversion, abuse of process, and constitutional torts, but U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ruled that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is not liable to him even for the repair of this tractor-trailer. It is all an example of the sweeping protection afforded to “discretionary” acts by federal officers.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Lawyering, Politics, Society

GoFundMe Site For Six Charged Baltimore Officers Taken Down After 41 Minutes

816fd620-f069-11e4-a4a8-49179b3b0ba2_Baltimore-copsLike many, I am still waiting for the evidence used as the basis to charge the six officers in Baltimore for the death of Freddie Gray. This morning, however, I was disturbed to read that an effort to create a fundraising site for the defense of the officers was taken down on GoFundMe. It appears that the site has a very questionable standard for funding that does not afford accused parties a presumption of innocence in asking for support to fund their defense.

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Criminal law, Environment, Media, Society

Graffiti Artists Defacing Natural Areas and Wilderness Trails In Latest Tagging Sensation

220px-André_SaraivamrA_smallThere is a growing war between environmentalists and graffiti artists over “tagging” natural settings and parks. Hiking is my main pastime and I have long been mystified by people who go to gorgeous natural settings and degrade them with their graffiti. However, some “artists” are now heralding the move to add graffiti to natural trails and sites. One of them is Andre Saraiva is an internationally known graffiti artist who showed how he tagged a boulder at the Joshua Tree National Park. In my view, he should be arrested but he and other graffiti artists think that this is a matter of celebration and pride to ruin these sites for the rest of us. Saraiva appears to believe that some of us go on hikes to see his childish scriblings on tree and rock. Most people try to escape such urban mess by taking to the trails and Saraiva and others are committed to degrading nature in the very same way. The solution is simple in my view: arrest him.

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Environment, Society, Torts

Injured Hiker Charged Roughly $10,000 For Mountain Rescue

1800px-Loon_Panorama_annotatedWe have previously discussed the trend of citizens being charged for rescue in federal and state parkland. I have always been a critic of the practice because rescues are part of the costs of maintaining these parks. Many volunteers participate in such rescues and largely oppose the charging of the victims, even when they made negligent decisions. The latest is Edward Bacon, 59 year old man from Michigan, who is appealing the imposition of a $9,300 bill for his rescue at the White Mountain National Forest.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Bloodletting Parties Raise Questions Over Legality of “Arterial Tapping”

300px-4_transfusionJust when you thought this world could not get weirder. The story below describes a new fetish fad where New Yorkers is to cut veins to bleed over canvas or just bleed out among friends. Bloodletting parties involve what is called “arterial tapping,” whereby a dominant partner taps a submissive partner’s artery – the ultimate in bondage where the dominant partner controls actual blood flow. What I found most notable about the story from a legal perspective is the fact that it names the “Santos,” or organizer, of some of these parties as Dr. Edwin Perez, a licensed physician. That leads to an interesting question of whether Perez could be stripped of his license if the allegation is true.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Society

Asian American Band Granted Appellate Hearing On Denial Of Trademark Of Its Name As Racially Disparaging

textonlyI 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. That case is still being appealed but a new case may well answer some of the question raised in the prior column. An Asian American rock band called “the Slants” has appealed a decision to deny it trademark protection — allowing the question to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A panel previously upheld the denial in In re Simon Shiao Tam, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6430.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International

Two Cases In The United States and Australia Raise Questions Of Punishment For The Torture Of Animals

Qokka_by_the_Hotel_Rottnest,_WA,_Rottnest_Islandmoose-John-J-MosessoThere are two more disturbing cases highlighting the abuse of animals and the limited sanctions available in such cases. In Anchorage, three men were arrested after they allegedly killed a yearling moose after tormenting it in a public park area. In Australia, two men were arrested for trying to burn a small protected animal alive for fun. In both cases, there is a considerable gap between the horrific actions and the penalties under the law.

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Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Religion, Society, Torts

Stranger in a Strange Land: ABA To Hold Session On The Cultural Defense

200px-AbalogoI will have the honor of serving as the moderator on a panel at the American Bar Association’s conference in Washington, D.C. today. The panel is entitled “Stranger in a Strange Land: Cross Cultural Issues in the Courts.” This is part of an internationally successful program organized by Judge Hon. Delissa A. Ridgway of U.S. Court of International Trade. Judge Ridgway has brought together jurists and lawyers from around the world to discuss difficult cultural issues that are increasingly appearing in criminal and civil cases. These cases deal with arguments or defenses that turn on the cultural norms or practices of a given defendant or litigant. The cases have forced the question of when and how courts should recognize such defenses.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society

Baltimore Councilman Accuses President and Baltimore Mayor For Using Racist Term In Calling Rioters “Thugs”

20130915StephanieRawlings-Blake1280x1920-1President_Barack_ObamaBaltimore City Councilman Carl Stokes (D) went on CNN yesterday and attacked President Obama and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) for referring to rioters in Baltimore as “thugs” saying, “just call them n*ggers”. It is a familiar controversy for readers of this blog. Last year, various commentators objected to my writing about the “thuggish” behavior of Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman
 as inherently racist — a position that I rejected. I have continued to use thug as both a noun and adjective. Now it appears that President Obama and Mayor Rawlings-Blake are being accused of the same use of racist code words by Councilman Stokes.

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Courts, Lawyering

Philadelphia Judge Refuses To Reverse $1 Million Fine Against Lawyer Despite Supporting Testimony From Multiple Witnesses

PanepintoPhiladelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Panepinto appears immovable on a controversial roughly $1 million sanction imposed on insurance defense lawyer Nancy Raynor after a witness discussed a bar subject in his testimony. Raynor insists that she told the witness not to discuss that a woman in the case was a smoker. Various witnesses have come forward to say that they heard Raynor give such instructions, but Panepinto has dismissed the new evidence and refused to budge on the sanction. Many lawyers are worried about the standard being set by the case since witnesses will sometimes stray in their testimony without any direction or knowledge of counsel.

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Criminal law

SUV Driver Almost Kills Three Children By Inches After Speeding By School Bus

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 6.00.09 PMWe have previously discussed the type of people who refuse to stop for school buses. I am not talking about the occasional mistake to see a stopped bus, but people who intentionally drive around buses and children so not to be delayed or inconvenienced. The video below shows just how thoughtless and dangerous these idiots can be as a driver of a SUV missing killing three children by inches after speeding through the space between the bus and the curb.

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Society

Suppose They Gave a [Game] and Nobody Came? The Answer Can Be Found Today In Baltimore

BaltimoreOriolescap181px-Chicago_White_Sox.svgTomorrow’s game between the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles will be a bit different on Wednesday not due to who will appear but who will not be present . . . any fans. Due to the rioting and robberies in Baltimore this week, the teams have decided to hold a game without fans in the stadium — a possible first for the MLB (if you discount most days with the Oakland As). The question is why with the National Guard deployed and days of police operations the city cannot even protect a small area in the tourist heavy harbor area. They appear to be working off the question from the 1971 feature film, Suppose They Gave A War and Nobody Came.

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Criminal law, Society

Baltimore Burning: Video Shows Protester Sabotaging Fire Hoses As Mayor Denounces “Thugs” Destroying Her City

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 6.59.57 AMThe video below sums up the worsening situation in Baltimore. Protesters have been sabotaging fire hoses to stop the Fire Department from saving buildings. The CVS in this case was first looted and then burned (as have other business and cars). When the Fire Department showed up, this man punctured the hose to frustrate efforts at putting out the fire. In the meantime, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake denounced the “thugs” in the streets of her city. She however added another mangled quote after her earlier assurance that the police would give protesters “space” to destroy. For the riots consuming the city during the afternoon and in the early evening. The mayor objected that the city is being “destroyed by thugs who in a very senseless way are trying to tear down what so many have fought for.” People immediately asked if there was a sensible way to tear down the city.

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