News & Media
Barack Obama – A Jimmy Carter for the New Millennium
In the interest of presenting all perspectives, I asked one of the most intelligent and articulate conservatives I know to present a counterpoint to our recent endorsement of Barack Obama. – MJR by Jason Fischer, Special to the Legal Satyricon First off, I want to thank the Legal Satyriconistas for extending an invitation to me for a counterpoint to their recent endorsement of Democratic Presidential Nominee, Barack Obama. In today’s political landscape, where polarization is the norm, it is increasingly important that healthy, two-sided, rational debate be encouraged. Also, I apologize for violating the five-hundred-word suggested limit, but I’m not sure I could have expressed myself properly otherwise.
Max Hardcore Seeks Stay of Sentence While Appeal is Pending
From Tampa Bay Online: Adult movie producer Paul Little is asking a judge to let him postpone his 46-month prison sentence while his lawyers appeal his conviction on obscenity charges. Little, whose pornographic character goes by the name Max Hardcore, lives in California, but was tried in Tampa after investigators here ordered his films through the mail and downloaded them on the Internet. Little’s lawyers say in a motion filed late Thursday that they plan to appeal Little’s conviction on seven grounds, including the argument that federal obscenity laws violate the right to sexual privacy and are “unworkable when applied on the Internet.” The lawyers also maintained that U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew, who presided over the trial, erred when
Rapp v. Jews For Jesus – Rehnquist in Brennan's Robes
In Rapp v. Jews for Jesus, the Florida Supreme Court appears to do the First Amendment a great service by declining to recognize the false light invasion of privacy tort. However, this is a case of the ghost of William Rehnquist haunting Florida after stealing William Brennan’s robes. After protecting the First Amendment with a few pages of the opinion, the Court polluted most of the ground it gave by strengthening the tort of “defamation by implication,” and by adopting a standard for defamation cases that does away with the reasonable person test and replaces it with a “substantial and respectable minority” standard. What should have been a sweeping victory for First Amendment rights is likely to result in a
"Cocaine" Trademark for Soft Drinks Deemed "Immoral and Scandalous"
Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1052(a), bars the registration of trademarks that are deemed “immoral” or “scandalous.” For the past few years, the USPTO has been on a Section 2(a) rampage, and this decision is the latest step in the PTO’s quest to become the commercial morality police. See In re James T. Kirby, Serial No. 77006212 (Not Precedential). Mr. Kirby and his company, Redux Beverages, started marketing the soft drink in 2006, and they were immediately descended upon by the Food and Drug Administration. The primary complaint was that “certain claims rendered the product an unapproved new drug.” (source) However, it appears that Redux worked their issues out with the FDA, only to run into trouble
Mongols Trademark Seizure Update
UPDATED with copy of Order on Oct. 29. On Oct. 21, we reported that the Department of Justice sought an order seizing the Mongols Motorcycle Club’s trademark. See DOJ Seeks Seizure of Motorcycle Club Trademark. It seems that the Department of Justice was, at least initially, successful. The judge initially issued an injunction Tuesday, but that order was limited to barring the sale or distribution of the logo. New language was added, saying the gang members and their affiliates “shall surrender for seizure all products, clothing, vehicles, motorcycles … or other materials bearing the Mongols trademark, upon presentation of a copy of this order.” (source) I haven’t seen the written order, but either the news outlets got it wrong, or
Palin Unveils new Campaign Theme
Sarah Palin has unveiled a new campaign theme. See it after the jump.
The Only Officially Certified Sane Lawyer in Florida… a Lawyer no More
by Christopher Harbin and Zac Papantoniou At the stroke of midnight on October 25th, Jack Thompson will finally be booted from the guild. Disbarred. For those not in the “know,” Jack Thompson is a conservative, “Christian” activist and formerly-licensed attorney in the state of Florida. Over the years, Thompson has railed against numerous perceived “evils” of the modern era, such as, “nasty” rap lyrics, Howard Stern and most notably, violence in video games. In certain respects we have to admit that JT’s tenacity and fervor for crusading across the nation, filing lawsuit after lawsuit for the causes he believes in is somewhat admirable; however, it is our opinion that he has no place in being part of a profession that
Hookers! Hookers! Hookers! Or, Why I Love San Francisco
By Jessica Christensen, Legal Satyricon Employment Law Correspondent “The Barbary Coast is the haunt of the low and the vile of every kind. The petty thief, the house burglar, the tramp, the whoremonger, lewd women, cutthroats, murderers, all are found here. Dance-halls and concert-saloons, where blear-eyed men and faded women drink vile liquor, smoke offensive tobacco, engage in vulgar conduct, sing obscene songs and say and do everything to heap upon themselves more degradation, are numerous. Low gambling houses, thronged with riot-loving rowdies, in all stages of intoxication, are there. Opium dens, where heathen Chinese and God-forsaken men and women are sprawled in miscellaneous confusion, disgustingly drowsy or completely overcome, are there. Licentiousness, debauchery, pollution, loathsome disease, insanity from dissipation,
The Most Honest Man in the World (?)
Oh, if only Diogenes were still alive. I’m pretty sure this is real.
Decency and Humanity from Unexpected Quarters
Some of my faith in humanity is coming back after seeing these two stories: McCain supporters drive away a couple of asshats trying to stoke the “Obama is a Muslim” fires. (source) Too bad the McCain campaign shut down the man who identifies himself as the local chair of the McCain campaign from speaking to the press. A group of Mormons are speaking out against the LDS Church’s bigoted campaign to support Proposition 8 in California. (source)
India Launches Moon Mission
Off topic, but I’m a junkie for this kind of news. The mission website, courtesy of LulzRulez
DOJ Seeks Seizure of Motorcycle Club Trademark
On October 21, the Department of Justice announced an indictment of 61 members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club. The details of the criminal charges are beyond my scope of interest. However, this bit warrants some attention: “In addition to pursuing the criminal charges set forth in the indictment, for the first time ever, we are seeking to forfeit the intellectual property of a gang,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “The name ‘Mongols,’ which is part of the gang’s ‘patch’ that members wear on their motorcycle jackets, was trademarked by the gang. The indictment alleges that this trademark is subject to forfeiture. We have filed papers seeking a court order that will prevent gang members from using or displaying
Afghan Student Avoids Death Penalty, but Gets 20 Years in Prison for Blasphemy
Afghan student and part-time journalist, Parwez Kambakhsh, 24, downloaded and circulated an article about women’s rights under Islam. For his “crime,” the Afghan security police arrested him, tried him on “blasphemy” charges, and he was sentenced to death. An Afghan appeals court reduced the sentence to a 20 year prison term. (source) Just to be clear, this wasn’t in a Taliban-controlled region. This was in Hamid Karzai controlled Afghanistan. Remind me again which side in the “war on terror” is the side that “hates freedom.” Any questions as to why I am a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation?
Barack Obama Has a Posse and an Endorsement
MAJORITY OPINION by Christensen, joined by Randazza, Warrington, Papantoniou, and Harbin:
You're Doing it Wrong
Far be it for me to criticize another educator’s pedagogical approach… but I’m pretty sure that these two are doing it wrong. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcM2rXiSpoo] HT TaxProf Prof, who explains more about the story.
Robin Hayes – Losing the Election for McPalin, One Crowd of Peckerwoods at a Time
On Saturday, Republican Rep. Robin Hayes claimed that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.” (source) After that, Hayes’ spokeswoman claimed that Hayes “absolutely” denied making that comment. “She noted that other national reporters were at the event and didn’t pick up on [the remark].” (source) Ooopsie. It turns out that the reporter who broke the story wasn’t on the national media plane, so he was there before the “liberal media” got there. (source) Double oopsie – someone recorded the remarks: Click here to listen. Yes, in addition to saying that liberals “hate America,” he offered this wisdom: Sarah Palin, she’s a lady that knows how to git ‘er done. She’s been in Alaska and
Zack and Miri Make a CENSORED
Some days I need to check and make sure that the Carlyle Group didn’t completely take over the United States and give it to the Saudis. Today is one of those days. XBiz reports: The mere presence of the word “porno” in the title of upcoming mainstream comedy from Kevin Smith has created a storm of controversy. Even with creative efforts to market the film, some newspaper, TV and outdoor ads for the ads for “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” because they allude to pornography. (source) Numerous newspapers, TV stations, and cable channels refuse to run ads for the movie. Even in supposedly open-minded Los Angeles, alleged consumer complaints led to Fox Sports dropping ads for the movie during
Hustler Spread of Murder Victim: Arguably Tasteless, but Certainly First Amendment Protected
I have just posted my first installment at the Citizen Media Law Project Blog. Here’s the teaser: In June 2007, professional wrestling promotrix, Nancy Benoit and her son, Daniel, were the victims of a double murder-suicide committed by her husband, WWE wrestler, Chris Benoit. Approximately 20 years earlier, Ms. Benoit (then Nancy Daus) posed nude for photographer Mark Samansky. Benoit/Daus allegedly had a change of heart and requested that the materials be destroyed. Nevertheless, Samansky kept the video and made stills from it. After Benoit’s murder, Hustler Magazine obtained copies of Samansky’s photographs and stills with the intention of publishing them in the March 2008 edition of Hustler Magazine. Benoit’s mother, as administrator of her estate, retained counsel who sent
The Legal Satyricon Guide to Florida's Constitutional Amendments
After a week of wrangling, the Florida-based Satyriconistas have prepared the following Legal Satyricon Guide to the Florida Constitutional Amendments:
