News & Media
Libel Tourism Law Passes!
Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) represents the people of Memphis, TN. His district also includes Graceland. That can’t be a coincidence, because he is the Congressional King of Free Speech legislation. Cohen sponsored HR 2765, the Libel Tourism bill, and Obama signed it into law on Tuesday. The new law now protects Americans from defamation judgments that plaintiffs might obtain abroad — in countries where free speech receives less protection than it does in the USA. The need for such a law arose back when American author Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote a book, “Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Funded and How to Stop It,” and published it in New York. A Saudi, Khalid Bin Mahfouz, did not appreciate how he was portrayed
iPhone users have more sex
By J. DeVoy Saith OKCupid. Photo: OKCupid Note to readers: Do not conflate causation with correlation.
Vince McMahon's (World Wrestling Entertainment) wife for senate – Aww Yeahhh, Brotherrr
By J. DeVoy Linda McMahon, a Connecticut Republican, took the erudite Peter Schiff into the political steel cage tonight and, while two combatants enter, only one may emerge. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your political affiliation) the winner was the former CEO – and wife of the current CEO – of World Wrestling Entertainment, formerly the World Wrestling Federation. If victorious, I have no doubt that McMahon will take a steel chair to Washington’s spendthrift policies. There is, in fairness, little doubt as to Linda and Vince McMahon’s business acumen, turning a little-known professional wrestling outfit into a publicly traded global brand within 30 years. Something about how she earned her money by having grown men throw one another through
Anne Rice rinses off her Christianity
Anne Rice is possibly America’s most famous Catholic who doesn’t sit on the Supreme Court. Well, make that “was.” Anne Rice, like many people with functioning brains, has decided to walk away from christianity. (source)
The First Amendment is a Beautiful Thing
Somewhere… sometime… somebody got it in their mind that christianity and sex were incompatible. Then, someone else got it in their head that christians couldn’t just shut their traps and believe in their Magic Space Zombie Jew and their other assorted fairy tales — they had to actively work to interfere in other people’s lives. Case in point, Magic Space Zombie Jew believers seem to relish protesting outside of strip clubs and sex shops. Usually it is just a comical spectacle — a bunch of kooks standing outside a dildo store waving signs that quote some crappy book written by a bunch of nitwits 2000 years ago who wiped their asses with their hands and obviously tripped on some kind
Beyond porn: Is black metal the final frontier of obscenity insanity?
As a genre, black metal tends to forego verses, choruses and traditional concepts of consonance and tonality to create an atmosphere of fear and terror. Predominantly originating in Scandinavia, it is an art form with a violent history, and its very existence is opposed around the globe today. In 2004, Polish authorities confiscated concert video recordings of Norwegian band Gorgoroth, which were to be used in a forthcoming live DVD. The police based this seizure on the concert’s content, as the band played while flanked by sheep heads on stakes, four nude, crucified models, and numerous satanic symbols, all of which were covered in blood. The concert’s organizer was fined approximately $3,000 as a result. The band later recreated this
Whyyyyyyyyyyy
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHIZ2Jl2vuQ&hl=en_US&fs=1] …And Epic Why Guy is born. Sometimes you’ve just gotta shop! As much as the American education system receives its due bashings, apparently the Canadian system needs some remedial civics on the finer points of public and private fora. (Or is Canadian law so different from the ol’ US of A?)
N.D. Cal. strikes down Proposition 8
By J. DeVoy Vaughn Walker, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, has ruled in a monster 136-page opinion that Proposition 8 violates the 14th Amendment rights of same-sex couples. The full order can be found here. The decision is significant, especially on the heels of the District of Massachusetts striking down a section of the Defense of Marriage Act. In contrast, Wisconsin ruled in June that its gay marriage ban, memorialized in the state’s constitution as a separate amendment, was constitutional. Despite the inconsistency of courts across the country, today’s decision indicates that the fundamental right to marry applies to all people. Although Proposition 8 has been held unconstitutional and its enforcement enjoined,
Rapidshare Cries about Intellectual Property Rights
Now this is sorta funny. Rapidshare whining about someone violating its intellectual property rights. See RapidShare AG , Christian Schmid v. N/A Maxim Tvortsov WIPO Case No. D2010-0696 (June 22, 2010). Rapidshare lost. When you lose a trademark infringement case to an unrepresented Russian who doesn’t even respond to the complaint, that’s a sign that you have shit-ass karma or shit-ass lawyers. H/T: Defend My Domain Blog
Floatopia! The Unintended Consequences of a Nanny State
“The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” – Leia Organa, Princess of Alderaan And the more you pass stupid laws for the purpose of screwing with drunks’ fun “for their own good,” and the more you pass stupid laws because the authorities are too lazy to simply enforce the laws we have on the books, the more you will force the drunks to adapt and be resourceful — and the more idiocy will ensue. The Whale’s Vagina isn’t really a drunkard’s town. You rarely see overly inebriated toolbags on the street — unless that street happens to be in Pacific Beach. But, that’s what Pacific Beach is there for — every
"White Collar Trash"
JD Hull’s “What About Clients?” blog could kick Chuck Norris’ ass. Evidence: Read this little passage he writes about law professor Peter Friedman. This man can help you. He deferred teaching full-time until after more than, say, an 18-month law prof-law firm stint before joining the ranks of a group that, in recent years, has screwed the pooch badly on the education of students. Which has been a living hell and nightmare for our law firm. (source) I think that Dan and I might have come from the same litter. See The Worthlessness of Legal Education. Dan then swoops in with this roundhouse kick to the face At a minimum, I’d like American law schools to help my firm defray
Dipshit Dines and her MacKinnonite Crusade
Sound the alarm! The pornographers are coming to get us. Or so says the ever-hysterical Gail Dines in a recent Boston Globe article about her latest book. To Dines, it is not coincidental that pornography has grown increasingly brutal in its treatment of women as the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan have underscored the real-world gains of women in the fields of politics, law, business, and medicine. Among other things, she says, “Pornography is a backlash against women’s advancement.’’ (source) Yeah, that’s it. The moment that I heard about Elena Kagan’s nomination, I just had this incredible desire to jack off watching Belladonna suck dick. I mean, how
Great Editorial on Snyder v. Phelps
I have written a lot on the Snyder v. Phelps case since my first post on it, here. Now that Phelps is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, there seems to be more to say about the case, and John W. Whitehead says it brilliantly: America once symbolized the very essence of free speech, where society’s most arduous and insidious ideas could be put to the test in what Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes termed the “free marketplace of ideas.” Today, however, we have been captured by the chains of political correctness and an emerging war empire. And if we do not throw off these chains, we will bury freedom along with our fallen soldiers. Read his whole brilliant editorial here.
Suck it, El Jobso
by Jason Fischer A while back, attorneys for Apple concocted a creative argument for why jailbreaking your iPhone constituted an infringement of the copyrights in the device’s software, based on the anit-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (more familiarly known as the “DMCA”). The Library of Congress (as the body that promulgates regulations for enforcement of the Copyright Act) has today proposed an exemption to liability that specifically puts the kibosh on Apple’s legal theory. This article was originally posted on The Tactical IP Blog
First Amendment meets Second Amendment
The sheriff of Osceola County, Iowa denied a concealed weapons permit to Paul Dorr because he engaged in too much protesting, passing out leaflets, and writing letters to the editor. (source) U.S. District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett wasn’t having any of that. Sheriff Weber’s rationale for denying the permit was reported as “concern from public. Don’t trust him.” (source). This was despite the fact that Dorr held a permit for a number of years, apparently without incident. Sheriff Weber informed Dorr that he would deny future applications as well. Weber testified that he had heard people refer to Paul as “a whacko, delusional, a nut job, a spook, and narcissist,” Bennett’s decision noted. “Regardless of the adjective used to
Libel Tourism Law Looks Like It Will Pass
The U.S. Senate passed a law that will make libel judgments from other countries void in the United States unless the judgment was won in a trial where First Amendment rights were taken into account. (source). Previous posts on this issue here, here, and here. It looks like the bill will pass the house as well. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, charged that libel judgments in foreign courts were “undermining” freedom of speech and of the press and “chilling” open debate in the United States. “While we cannot legislate changes to foreign law that are chilling protected speech in our country, we can ensure that our courts do not become a tool to uphold foreign libel judgments
Thank Goodness They Are Here To Protect Us
A bunch of hippies got together to start a “raw food” cooperative. The cops busted them for selling non corporate-blessed food. (source) While I think that’s pretty retarded and a waste of time and money, the funniest part is that the junior-college-flunkouts raided the contraband-yogurt store with guns drawn. (video)
New Obscenity Prosecution – United States v. Adult DVD Empire
Federal prosecutors have filed obscenity charges against Adult DVD Empire in the Western District of Pennsylvania. (source) This is the same district where Mary Beth Buchanan held her little reign of terror. It appears that her successor, Robert Cessar, is just as much of a petty little control freak as his predecessor. this was a left-over case from her obnoxious and un-American ass. Time will tell if her successor, Robert Cesar, is as much of a petty little control freak as Buchananan or if he’s just cleaning out the old files and saving face. Nevertheless, prosecutions like this, my readers, is why I will not be voting for Obama in 2012. I don’t give a shit if “Bible Spice” Palin
Porn star saves man from wrongful CP prosecution
By J. DeVoy Reason has a great story about a man charged with possession of child pornography due to a Nifong-esque disregard of evidence favorable to the defendant. Ultimately, the case’s heroine, Lupe Fuentes, made an appearance to set the defendant free.
The Legal Satyricon Hits the Road
Three Satyricon correspondents are taking bar exams in the coming days. Wish them luck, or at least neutrality. If you’re fortunate enough to be in one of the following cities, let us know in the comments. Christopher Harbin – Buffalo, New York (a/k/a Legal Satyricon on Ice). Chris will be taking the New York bar exam in the Buffalo Convention Center. Afterward, he plans on taking in an unseasonable blizzard as well as the sights and smells of urban decay. Jason Fischer – San Diego, California. Jason will be taking the three-day California bar exam in sunny San Diego, despite being a licensed attorney in Florida. As Bill Carradine once said, “this is me at my most…masochistic.” During this time, he will
