News & Media
Ciolli files motion to quash
The AutoAdmit case has taken an interesting twist. Mr. Ciolli has filed a pro se motion to quash a subpoena in the Western District of Virginia. There has been no reply to it yet, although the plaintiffs have gotten a little extension of time in which to file their response. It is a good read… especially for anyone who wants Ciolli’s side of the story on the whole AutoAdmit fiasco.
Best… prom… ever…
Wow… just wow… HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Adult performer Dakoda Brookes has a blind date this Saturday at a Los Angeles area high school prom. Brookes, 19, has been set up with an 18-year-old senior named Alex who has never had sex but is bringing a porn star as his date to his school’s biggest event. (source) XBIZ also reports that Alex is a virgin. Brookes, 19, says that a friend in Los Angeles made the arrangements. She brushed off any insinuations that this would be a sordid affair. “He didn’t have a date and I said ‘Sure, I’ll go,’ ”
Wisconsin Law School Dickeys around with the First Amendment
The latest out of the University of Wisconsin: Sex toy party banned due to someone crying “I’m offended!” I might have expected this out of Texas, but Wisconsin? The Wisconsin Law Students for Reproductive Justice had planned an event called “Sex Toys 101” to promote safe alternatives to sex, educate about sexual health and pleasure, and discuss law concerning sex toys, according to the group. (source) Unfortunately, someone whined that the posters for the event offended them. Remember, in the left-wing academic world, the most important right that anyone has is the right to never, ever, ever, be offended. But…but…
Law professor sues his students
Experts watch as professor sues students, Treated like a pariah over false claims of prejudice At first blush, I was about to give the plaintiff an ass-hat award. But, after reading the whole story, I’m more inclined to give it to all parties involved. Professor Richard Peltz, a First Amendment professor at the University of Arkansas appears to have been the target of some overly-whiny students who falsely accused him of being a racist. Apparently he didn’t support affirmative action enough, and defended a student who spoke against it. Unfortunately, most of academia is so insanely left wing that it
One for the "Tort Reformers"
You have got to read this. Turkewitz presents a flawless argument in favor of the American tort system. Punitive Damages: Why America is Different than Europe
Quote of the day
“I think it’s ironic that she charged Gov. Spitzer $2,000 for sex and she wants to charge me 10 million for taking some naked pictures of her.” Girls Gone Wild’s Joe Francis, speaking out about prostitute Ashley Alexandra Dupre’s $10 million lawsuit against him. (source) HT: Wimberly
I BELIEVE tag hits speed bump (rejoice)
It looks like Flori-duh’s latest state-sponsored proselytizing might have “hit a roadblock” (as reported on CNN). The plate design did not make it into a bill sent to Governor Crist on Tuesday. Opponents of the plate said approving it would result in a court challenge because it violated the separation of church and state and gave the appearance the state was endorsing a particular religious preference. Gee, ya think? Supporters countered that not approving it could also result in a lawsuit. Republican Sen. Ronda Storms, a plate proponent, said the state had created a “public forum” by allowing a variety
Flunkiedom and Mikes Lemonade
Professor Christopher Ratte is a pretty clueless guy. The University of Michigan archeology professor took his son to Comerica park to watch the Detroit Tigers play. Ratte is one of three or four people who haven’t heard of Mikes Hard Lemonade. Ratte is a tenured professor of classical archeology at the University of Michigan, which means that, on a given day, he’s more likely to be excavating ancient burial sites in Turkey than watching “Dancing with the Stars” — or even the History Channel, for that matter. The 47-year-old academic says he wasn’t even aware alcoholic lemonade existed when he
"Civil Disobedience Can Start a Revolution"
Scott Greenfield writes one of his most inspiring posts ever — about a gay couple in New York who staged a small act of civil disobedience to try and stare down New York State Senate Majority Leader, Joe Bruno (R-Brunswick). Bruno steadfastly refuses to allow the N.Y. Senate to vote on whether same sex couples should be treated like everyone else.
Trademark Zombies!!!
Jon Welch reports on a recent GM loss before the TTAB, and reports on an interesting phenomenon — a company that attempts to resurrect abandoned trademarks. See Finding Old “LASALLE” Automobile Mark Abandoned, TTAB Dismisses General Motors’ Opposition for Lack of Priority
Congratulations to George W. Bush!
At least he set some kind of record: Lowest approval rating in the history of the Gallup Poll. USA Today. Here’s what I want to know: Just how abjectly stupid and clueless do you have to be in order to join the 28% of Americans who think that this clown is doing a good job? Hat tip to Quizlaw (which is hilarious, by the way … check it out)
"Legal Weed" not allowed either…
The International Herald Tribune reports: SACRAMENTO, Calif.: Vaune Dillmann thought the wording on his bottle caps was just a clever play on the name of the Northern California town where he brews his beer — Weed. Federal alcohol regulators thought differently. They have ordered Dillmann to stop selling beer bottles with caps that say “Try Legal Weed.” While reviewing the proposed label for Dillmann’s latest beer, Lemurian Lager, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau said the message on the caps he has been using for his five current beers amounts to a drug reference. In a letter explaining
Guest Blawgger, Ross Kerr – Is the right to publicity a property right or a publicity right?
A few weeks ago, the District of New Hampshire decided that right of publicity claims were “intellectual property” claims, and thus such claims fell outside Section 230 immunity. See Gimme section 230 shelter – online dating pranks and CDA Immunity. This got me wondering… how would Florida courts look at this issue? I asked my students to analyze it, and Mr. Kerr turned in a particularly blog-worthy analysis. Read it after the jump.
Paul Broun hates our freedom and hates our troops
Forgive the headline, but I just love feeding conservatives neo-cons their own feces. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., has proposed H.R. 5821, the so-called “Military Honor and Decency Act” to close a “loophole” in the law that allows nudie magazines to be sold on military bases. Irony alert! If it passes, the people who are fighting the taliban, allegedly to protect our freedom, will no longer have the freedom to buy the latest issue of Penthouse. “Our troops should not see their honor sullied so that the moguls behind magazines like Playboy and Penthouse can profit,” said Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga.,
Effective advertising
Warning, this video is likely to be deemed legally obscene in Polk County, Florida. The rest of you watch and laugh. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOXlF1t1ZyI]
A constructive way to deal with offensive anonymous speech
Princeton University students seem to have figured out that the cure for bad speech is good speech, not crybaby censorship or really stupid lawsuits. Maybe they should send Yale the memo. See Fighting Gossip With Graphics
Posner kills PC dead
Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Ill. has a policy that “allows speech in favor of homosexual conduct, but bans speech critical of homosexual conduct,” according to his lawyers. I presume that the policy is a little less radical than that, but nevertheless, we get the point. The school wants to promote diversity, so it prohibits hate speech. A couple of bigoted students decided to wear anti-gay t-shirts on the “Annual Day of Silence,” an event that gay rights groups promote to bring attention to discrimination against homosexuals. The school decided that these shirts violated its policy. A noble thought,
I BELIEVE! (that Edward Bullard is an ass-hat)
State Rep. Ed Bullard (D-Miami) has decided to try and upstage Carey Baker in his quest to be the dumbest legislator in Florida (little do they know that Rhonda Storms has that title locked up). Bullard proposed that Flori-duh become the first state in the union to produce a specialty license tag to explicitly promote a particular (pick your word) superstition/religion. (source) When asked whether this should open the state of flori-duh’s license tags to all beliefs, Bullard said “no.” Bullard, the plate’s sponsor, isn’t sure all groups should be able to express their preference. If atheists came up with
Is Kozinski really that out of touch?
Professor Roger Alford of Pepperdine University recently published a post, Chief Judge Kozinski on the Death of the First Amendment. Either Alford misquoted Kozinski or Kozinski went off the deep end. Alford reports that Kozinski declared that “the First Amendment is dead.” [F]rom my perspective, the essence of his speech was that, in a day when Internet speech is not capable of suppression, the ability of the First Amendment to have a moderating effect is now gone. What use does a constitutional limitation have on government restrictions on speech when the government no longer has the ability to control speech?
Banned in Boston – law books for prisoners
Prison Legal News, a publisher that distributes books dealing with prisoners’ legal rights, has been forced to sue the Massachusetts Department of Corrections for banning its publications from Mass. correctional facilities. The corporation distributed books in Massachusetts prisons until 2003, when a policy was adopted that allowed only approved vendors to send books to prisoners, said Paul Wright, the editor of Prison Legal News. Wright said he has written letters to Clarke and other prison officials asking to be put on the approved list. “We haven’t gotten anywhere with them,” Wright said. “I think some of it is the hostility