News & Media
It is a shame that we are not Norwegian
Despite the horrible tragedy in Norway, it seems that Norwegian politicians are not rushing out to pass new laws to restrict liberties in that country. In fact, instead of dick-waving and “oh goody, now we get to pass a Nordic Patriot Act,” this is what the Norwegian King had to say: “I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is
Scott Randolph, Flori-duh Rep., needs a First Amendment refresher
State Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) wants to pass a bill that makes it a felony for jurors to try and sell their story within 9 months of a trial. (source) Apparently, Mr. Randolph, in his rush to score cheap points in a bill tagged with the Casey Anthony wand, forgot about Simon & Schuster v. Crime Victims Board, 502 U.S.
Wall Street Journal's Hypocrisy on News Gathering
Trevor Timm at “Legal As She Is Spoke” provides a thoughtful essay comparing the Wall Street Journal’s stance on the phone hacking scandal and its stance on Wikileaks. (source)
As if you needed more evidence that Herman Cain doesn't belong in office
Naturally, his candidacy is no more serious than Sarah Palin’s nomination for a Rhodes Scholarship, but this guy is a constitutional train wreck. He claims that any community has a right to ban a mosque in their community. Fuck the First Amendment, Boo Boo! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZqyIM1jAMU] No, Herman, No. No you can’t. While I personally would like to see mosques, synagogues,
Newark, NJ learns a little something about the First Amendment
The City of Newark, NJ, will be shelling out more than $50,000 for violating a journalist’s First Amendment rights: Roberto Lima, editor of Newark’s Brazilian Voice newspaper, was awarded $55,000 plus legal fees in response to a civil suit he filed for wrongful arrest in 2008. Lima claimed Samuel DeMaio asked Gerald Carlos, a photographer for the newspaper, if he
TER founder receives default judgment of $20,000
By J. DeVoy The intersection of adult entertainment and the measure of statutory damages under the Copyright Act – one of colleague Ron Coleman‘s favorite subjects – all in one article from XBIZ? How conveeenient. Ron is counsel of record with Marc and I in Righthaven LLC v. Hyatt, where, on behalf of amicus Media Bloggers Association, we made some
The "attack elites with white solutions" meme
By J. DeVoy Today, Rupert Murdoch was viciously pied, in the face, in Britain. In 2004, George Soros was attacked with glue. Am I the only person who sees this trend? Do white materials just show up better on camera? Non-elites have shoes thrown at them. Though, say what unkind things about GWB you will (and many will be correct),
NYT on Law School Economics
By J. DeVoy Just weeks before the bar exam, the New York Times craps all over the nonsensical economics of legal education. Based on the Times’ research, US News rankings play a surprisingly large role – and one much larger than the relevance such rankings actually have in practice. (“Oh, you went to Vanderbilt instead of Boalt? I’m not even
Why filming porn in Las Vegas should make sense (or: unsolicited response to Bobbi Starr)
In Nevada, prostitution – defined in NRS 201.295 – operates in a manner very similar to the California statute at issue in Freeman. Overburdened though Nevada’s courts are, the state lacks an intermediate appeals court and could settle the question of porn production’s legality fairly quickly, with a fairly libertarian Nevada Supreme Court to render the final decision. Then again,
Data Encryption and the Fifth Amendment
By J. DeVoy If you have encrypted data that is seized during an investigation, and law enforcement officers are incapable of decrypting it, can you refuse to provide the codes to remove encryption? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) believes so, and recently submitted an amicus brief to that effect in U.S. v. Fricosu, Case No. 2:10-cr-00509-01-REB (D. Colo.) (hey, cool,
Barack Obama lies about his dead mother
By J. DeVoy Ann Althouse has the story. In short, the moving tale Obama regularly recounts about his mother’s tragic battle with insurance companies – which was relied on heavily by the White House in pushing health care reform – is false. The story begins in May, but is just breaking now because the New York Times has had such
Goddamned Illegal 'mmgrnts
Last week, in Phoenix (home to Sheriff Joe Arapaio), my taxi driver seemed to think that he would gain points with me by bitching about “all the damn illegal Mexicans we have to pay for here.” “We gotta pay to educate ’em,” he said. “Pay to hospitalize ’em, and pay to put ’em in our jails. I informed him of
USS Righthaven hits another iceberg
By J. DeVoy Today, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Hunt held a hearing regarding the Order to Show Cause he previously issued in Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC et al, Case No. 2:10-cv-01356 (D. Nev.). Righthaven, represented by Las Vegas attorney Shawn Mangano and national law firm Kirkland & Ellis in this matter (though only Mangano was at the
Can we subpoena the photographer monkey?
By J. DeVoy Subpoenaing the monkey would resolve some of these issues. But we cannot. Per Peter Gabriel, you can shock the monkey – but you cannot subpoena him. Those are for people. Plus, monkeys can be extraordinarily violent. There’s nothing alpha about serving a subpoena on a creature that’s prone to ripping off your face: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9fOZ-Y74I&w=560&h=349] H/T: Techdirt,
Gonorrhea approaches superbug status
By J. DeVoy For as long as most readers of this blog have been alive, effective and quick treatment of the sexually transmitted disease Gonorrhea has been a given. That may be changing. As has been reported with many types of bacteria, a strain of Gonorrhea has developed that is resistant to most antibiotics currently available. As a result, untested
Ken thinks that Jack Thompson is still a deluded ass
I wholeheartedly agree. (source) According to Jack Thompson, the disbarred and fucktarded former crusader against rock music, porn, and video games, lawyers can’t flip the bird to anyone, ever, apparently.
Dispatches from the front in the primate intellectual property war
By J. DeVoy Monkeys and copyrights have become a topic of fierce debate, and are at the leading edge of the great ongoing war between apes and humanity. Crime and Federalism shows us why we should respect primate claims to intellectual property. Please, someone amend the Copyright Act so that we may know peace in our time.
"Sometimes you have to have tyranny to have freedom"
Best trolling of the Orlando Police Department ever. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pJuedzzLXE] Hat Tip: Mr. DNA
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
Apparently it sounds an awful lot like “Europe’s last dictator” Alexander Lukashenko feeling all butthurt. Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus has ordered a crackdown on political protests. In order to evade tough regulations on public rallies, protesters eschew placards and shouted slogans, and merely clap their hands to display their anger at Mr. Lukashenko’s policies. Since the weekly flash mob
