News & Media
Sheriff Mike Scott vs. The Media (again)
Lee County, Floriduh: Sheriff Mike Scott, (who I wrote about here) didn’t like being questioned about a federal lawsuit filed against his department. To show everyone that he’s boss, he decided that the Fort Myers News Press will no longer have the right to ask questions at press conferences, and he’s decided to severely limit press access to his department. (source) Apparently, this is not the first time that Mike Scott has thrown a temper tantrum at the media.
D.C. Judge Smokes out a First Amendment Violation
The “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act”, Pub. L. No. 111-31, 123 Stat. 1776 (2009) gave the FDA the authority to regulate the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Under that law, Congress mandated that the DHHS must “issue regulations that require color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking.” It also required that the top 50% of all cigarette packages, and the top 20% of all cigarette advertising, must carry one of the following messages with graphic images. WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive. WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children. WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease. WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer. WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease. WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby.
Did Rush Limbaugh Defame Sandra Fluke?
Update: A more complete analysis is here. I received an inquiry asking if Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a “slut” would be the proper basis for a defamation claim. I do not believe it would be. In order to have a valid defamation claim you must have: A false statement of fact About the plaintiff That harms the plaintiff’s reputation False Statement of Fact? For most of our history, stating or implying that a woman was unchaste would give rise to a claim for defamation per se. In fact, in recent history, a number of courts have specifically held that describing a woman as a “slut” is defamatory per se. See, e.g., Bryson v. News Am. Publs., 672 N.E.2d 1207,
Ken Mehlman, "my bad"
Ken Mehlman feels bad about his part in anti-gay bigotry he supported to get his dipshit in chief re-elected. “At a personal level, I wish I had spoken out against the effort,” he says. “As I’ve been involved in the fight for marriage equality, one of the things I’ve learned is how many people were harmed by the campaigns in which I was involved. I apologize to them and tell them I am sorry. While there have been recent victories, this could still be a long struggle in which there will be setbacks, and I’ll do my part to be helpful.” (source) Better late than never, I guess.
A brilliant attack on "bullying laws"
Derek Bambauer gives us a great essay on what is wrong with bullying laws.
Sandra Fluke is not a "slut" (just a liar)
Apparently, Rush Limbaugh found Sandra Fluke’s bullshit slinging on Capitol Hill to be worthy of disrespect. (so did I) He called her a slut (I did not), which of course, brought about the shrill screeching of harpies. Nancy Pelosi had this to say: “When Sandra Fluke testified before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee after Republicans attempted to silence, she courageously spoke truth to power. As a result, today, she has been subject to attacks that are outside the circle of civilized discussion and that unmask the strong disrespect for women held by some in this country. We call upon the Republican leaders in the House to condemn these vicious attacks on Ms. Fluke, which are in response to
Is Nevada's Anti-SLAPP statute as weak as it seems?
Generally, Nevada’s Anti-SLAPP seems like a pansy-ass statute without much teeth. But some recent applications of NRS 41.635-70 give the Nevada version almost as much of a bite as California’s—the state regarded as having the best Anti-SLAPP statute in the country. Last year, Clark County Court Judge Gloria Sturman dismissed a lawsuit against local real estate investors on behalf of collection agencies, applying NRS 41.660. The Defendant investors argued that the lawsuit was a SLAPP suit intended to gather information about a larger group of investors the collection agencies regularly did business with. Judge Sturman agreed, concluding that the plaintiffs failed to meet their to show the defendants had engaged in wrong-doing, and that the defendants’ communications with the Nevada
Judge should review history of First Amendment
Pennsylvania District Judge Mark Martin needs to review his First Amendment law a little more carefully. Ernie Perce, an atheist who marched in a Halloween parade last year dressed as “zombie Mohammed,” was before Judge Martin after he alleged he was attacked by Talaag Elbayomy, a Muslim who took action after he witnessed Perce’s costume. Perce wore a turban and a long, fake beard and painted his face green. During the parade, he yelled the phrases “I am the prophet Mohammed! Zombie from the dead!” He marched with another protestor, who was dressed as a zombie pope, carrying a banner that read, “The Parading Atheists of Central Pennsylvania: Ghoulish, Godless, God-awful.” According to Perce, Elbayomy attacked him, and Elbayomy was
Legal Education Reform that I can Stand Behind
Back in 2007, before it was all cool and shit to do so, I wrote “What is Wrong With Legal Education?” Looking back on it, I think that it somewhat missed the mark. One of the worst things about legal education is the fact that any moron can walk into a shit law school, get a guaranteed student loan, and start racking up debt. The system essentially is a government-sponsored indentured servitude program, which allows law schools to churn out a product that would never be able to survive if market forces were allowed to act on it. Professor Howard E. Abrams of Emory Law School hits the ball out of the park with his “application” to be dean at
World of Warcraft promulgates epic 7th Circuit opinion
In an opinion so bizarre it is only fitting to be released on Leap Day (February 29), the Seventh Circuit ruled on the appeal in U.S. v. Lucas today. The order is available here, and the case originated from the Western District of Wisconsin. In the appeal, Lucas argues that the district court committed errors that resulted in a too-long sentence. The Seventh Circuit disagreed. Like most disputes, the one between Lucas and his victim, a minor known only as “CG,” arose over money: Lucas became acquainted with CG while playing an online video game, World of Warcraft. While playing the game, Lucas began sending sexual messages to the minor asking CG to send naked pictures of himself. CG refused,
Proposals to fix Copyright
Public Knowledge proposes some ideas for how to fix copyright. (source) Curb abuses of DMCA takedown notices. The best part of this is is that they propose broadening the penalties for bogus takedowns. I think this is a pretty good idea, as I have seen my share of DMCA takedown requests that targeted clearly fair use or were used to simply take down material that the requester did not like (for example, alleged defamation). I think it goes a little too far in seeking to penalize parties who use automated scripts to send takedown requests. While I appreciate that such a scattergun approach creates collateral damage, I also can see how copyright owners are fighting such a game of whack-a-mole,
Floriduh county adds sex offender restrictions. It should matter to you.
In Florida, registered sex offenders can not live within 1,000 feet of a school, church, day care center, or a park. Florida municipalities set up even more restrictions. See Wernick, In Accordance with a Public Outcry: Zoning Out Sex Offenders Through Residence Restrictions in Florida, 58 Fla. L. Rev. 1147, 1163-1164 (2006). In Miami, despite its density, prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of such places. As a result, in some places like Miami, they set up a shanty town under a bridge because they could not find anywhere else in Miami where it was legal for them to live. (source) Lake County, Florida wants to go even further — prohibiting sex offenders from living within 500 feet
Artist alleges mural drove aesthetics of music video
Artist Maya Hayuk of Brooklyn filed a complaint against RCA Records and Sony Music alleging that several aspects of her mural “Sunshine” were incorporated into the music video for “I Only Wanna Give It To You” by Elle Varner. In her complaint, Hayuk states that she her career includes more than 75 group an solo gallery shows, installations, and murals throughout the U.S. and several countries. Her work has been licensed for use on several different goods, and she normally commands “premium fees and royalties” for their use in commercial settings. According to the complaint, Hayuk originally created the mural for a music video, also called “Sunshine,” for a video by recording artist Rye Rye and M.I.A. In that music
Stephen Hawking likes strip clubs
Apparently likes strip clubs. (source) I suppose it is news because those of us who like strip clubs are, on average, more intelligent than those who hate them. Lets face it, your average dipshit holding a bible, or your average feminist-who-hates-her-father isn’t going to be all that bright. So, us pervs like to think that there’s a connection between high intelligence and high sex drive / sex interest. So yay, Stephen Hawking and I have at least one thing in common.
Twitter announces country-specific censorship policy
Twitter announced that it will begin censoring tweets specific to individual country’s freedom of expression policies. While before, the only way Twitter was able to censor tweets was globally, the social networking site now says it can tailor its censorship of tweets to users from specific countries. Twitter claims it has not yet used its powers of censorship, but that if it does, it “will attempt to let the user know” and “will clearly mark when the content has been withheld.” In its announcement, Twitter offered the examples of the France and German ban on pro-Nazi content. Thus far, Twitter says it has mostly only deleted tweets that linked to child pornography. Twitter has said it will only take down
New Laws Pertaining to Airline Travel
1. Surprise Reclining Banned: Before you recline your seat, turn around and ASK the person behind you. At the very least, even if they’re a jerk about it, they’ll have time to move their laptop. Punishment for violations – it is perfectly acceptable to kick their seat for the entire flight. 2. If you have checked baggage, sit the fuck down when the plane lands. You can’t leave the airport until your bags come to the carousel. You will be standing at a carousel for at least 20 minutes waiting for your luggage. Let the people who only brought carry-ons off the damn plane. 3. Slow asses must accommodate movers. If you’re flying, then that means you are trying to
Muslim judge in Pennsylvania limits 1st Amendment
From Charles Platt A judge in Pennsylvania who just happens to be of muslim faith informed a plaintiff that the 1st Amendment doesn’t necessarily give you the right to “p people off.” The plaintiff had worn a “Zombie Mohammed” costume in a public parade in Mechanicsburg, thus enraging a muslim observer who ran forward and tried to choke the man until police intervened. Charges of harassment, filed against the muslim for trying to choke the demonstrator, were dismissed by the muslim judge. Details here.
Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.
“America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography. A wealth of research is now available demonstrating that pornography causes profound brain changes in both children and adults, resulting in widespread negative consequences. Addiction to pornography is now common for adults and even for some children. The average age of first exposure to hard-core, Internet pornography is now 11. Pornography is toxic to marriages and relationships. It contributes to misogyny and violence against women. It is a contributing factor to prostitution and sex trafficking.” -2012 GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum. Source. Given that Mr. Santorum is visiting my fair state of Arizona today, I felt it apropos to remind everyone that Spreading Santorum is still numero uno on the
