News & Media
NJ Governor Chris Christie is awesome
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw0aBkt8CPA&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Governor Christie tells a public school teacher seeking around $83,000 in compensation, exclusive of benefits, that she doesn’t have to work if she doesn’t like her current pay. He then tells a woman bemoaning cuts in social spending that, unlike the United States, New Jersey “can’t print money.” It’s a shame that blunt common sense is so rare.
California Bar President pwns law schools in lengthy screed
By J. DeVoy Howard B. Miller, President of the State Bar of California, had harsh words for California’s law schools in May 2010’s California Bar Journal. Acknowledging the bleak outcomes for graduates in the classes of 2008, 2009 and 2010, Miller calls the economic cocktail of few jobs, high competition and massive debt “devastating.” The exact numbers at the margins are not as clear as we would like, because so much involves small firms and personal circumstance, and many of the changes are too recent for complete accuracy. The average debt of law graduates now approaches or exceeds $100,000, and because of recent increases in tuition, especially at public institutions which historically have been more affordable, debt burdens will be
Weighty civil rights issues in Michigan
By J. DeVoy A Michigan woman is suing Hooters for allegedly putting her on a 30-day “weight probation” period, leading to her constructive discharge. Accordingly, the first cause of action in her complaint against this chain of family restaurants was for weight discrimination. Those in BarBri may already know that weight is not a suspect class, despite the fat acceptance movement’s desperate pleas to the contrary. But hold the phone, because in Michigan, weight is a recognized basis for discrimination — and has been since 1976! From the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act’s preamble: AN ACT to define civil rights; to prohibit discriminatory practices, policies, and customs in the exercise of those rights based upon religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height,
Cool video / Our predictions come to pass
By J. DeVoy In March, I speculated that a third Creative Commons-licensed album was forthcoming from recording business pioneers Nine Inch Nails. This recently came to pass… kind of. First, music was released, but from How To Destroy Angels, Trent Reznor’s side project with his new wife. Second, no word yet as to whether the forthcoming album will be released under a Creative Commons license or traditional copyright license. The group’s first single shows a copyright registered to the Null Corporation at Amazon.com, but so too does Nine Inch Nails’s 2008 Ghosts I-IV release, which made a big splash upon being released under a Creative Commons license. Therefore, the best information available on this subject is inconclusive for now, and
Court Allows Copyright Infringement Free For All On File Hosting Sites
by Christopher Harbin Right now, it appears that courts are willing to let file-hosting sites like Rapidshare, Hotfile, and Megaupload live in the void in the law between Grokster, Limewire, and Napster. Recently, Judge Huff of the Southern District of California denied Perfect 10’s request for a preliminary injunction against Rapidshare holding that P10 could not prove a likelihood of success on the merits. A couple of notes from the decision: 1. Judge Huff finds that Rapidshare is not violating the 106(3) distribution right because their activity is distinguishable from Hotaling and Napster. Judge Huff reasons that because Rapidshare does not index its files, it is not making the files available in the same way that Hotaling and Napster were. 2. Judge Huff affirms the general
Ninth Circuit Holds Academic Liberty Pwns Workplace Harassment
by Christopher Harbin My man crush on Judge Kozinksi got kicked up a notch after reading his slammin’ opinion in Rodriguez v. Maricopa County Community College Dist. Here, Kozinksi, joined by Ikuta and Sandra Day (sitting by designation), held that a professor’s racist emails to a college employee listserv on a matter of public importance was protected speech under the First Amendment and thus cannot constitute workplace harassment. Walter Kehowski is a math professor at Maricopa County Community College. Kehowski sent three racially charged-emails (presumably to a list-serv) that were received by all employees of the District with email access: two challenging the District’s support of “Dia De La Raza”, which is celebrated by some Hispanics instead of Columbus Day and another calling for preservation of
Draw Mohammed Day
by Charles Platt aka Ahmed Mom I do hope the free speech advocates who frequent this forum will be observing Draw Mohammed Day, scheduled to begin tomorrow. Here’s the inevitable facebook page, and here’s news of the inevitable backlash (even before the day gets started–it can only get better). Personally I have upgraded my Facebook photo to get in the spirit of the thing, hoping that Northern Arizona won’t be high on the moslem hit list.
Attention Trademark Professors: I Found Next Year's Trademark Exam Question
You’re welcome in advance.
New dads also suffer post-partum depression
By J. DeVoy A new study, involving statistical review of 43 prior studies on post-partum depression that included 28,000 adult males and females, has shed new light on this form of depression. The condition, normally associated with women such as Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in a bathtub after a lengthy bout with it, generally isn’t associated with men. But maybe it should be: Some 10.4% of fathers experience depression during the postpartum period, the analysis showed. In the general population, 4.8% of men are believed depressed at any given point in time, according to government data. For women, the rate of postpartum depression was estimated at nearly 24%, according to the new analysis, which was published Tuesday
Indefinite detention OK for sex offenders
by Charles Platt “The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal officials can indefinitely hold inmates considered ‘sexually dangerous’ after their prison terms are complete.” (Washington Post) Since it is her duty to do so, nominee Elena Kagan argued the government’s case in favor of indefinite detention. She “compared the government’s power to commit sexual predators to its power to quarantine federal inmates whose sentences have expired but have a highly contagious and deadly disease.” Clarence Thomas dissented, saying he could find no provision for this in the US Constitution. That’s one cheer for Clarence. Scalia was the other dissenter. The remaining justices couldn’t find anything wrong with the legislation that legitimizes this indefinite detention. It seems to me, there is
Don't lie down drunk near your car
by Charles Platt In West Virginia, you can lose your license for a year even if there’s no proof that you were driving, or there’s a possibility that you might have done all your drinking after driving. Being near your car while drunk is enough. “The decision came in the case of Eric R. Cain who was found lying passed out on in front of his car on Route 19 by Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Cole at around 2:30am on June 2, 2007. The car had been safely parked and there was no key in the ignition. Cole arrested Cain for DUI after a breath test estimated Cain’s blood alcohol level at .15. Six days later, the state filed
The decline of Western Civilization, as told by YouTube
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2IHnWY-i6Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Stop one on our tour of the forthcoming dark age: Fundamentalist muslims attack Lars Vilks during a presentation on free speech at a Swedish university. Vilks was behind the 2007 cartoon depictions of Muhammad, and the film he intended to show continued this theme. What wasn’t shown in the video is the attempted arson of Vilks’s home on May 15, 2010. Some would argue that Vilks should have been more sensitive, or chose his forum more intelligently. Surely he anticipated the reaction his art would provoke. In a society that values free speech, though, the mere fact that Vilks wanted to make and show such a film should be sufficient reason for him to do so
In Yo Face!
To all those that doubted me when I proclaimed that Apple had a whole lot to do with the fuzz busting down a Gizmodo editor’s door, I humbly submit to you this link.
School's out forever
By J. DeVoy On May 8, 2010, Chris Harbin graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. Today, I’ll take my walk across the stage as well. Neither event was as interesting or cool as this commencement, though.
Cressbeckler
I will be on this guy’s show this evening.* [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlJdsX181QU] *Joking
NFL Harshes on 420 Football League's Trademark Mellow
The 420 Football League is an interesting concept. A bunch of stoners got together and made a sport out of smoking dope. You snap the ball by taking a toke, and you advance the ball one yard for each second that you can hold the hit. (source) The NFL is not amused, and they sent a cease and desist letter to the 420 League. I’d say that the NFL probably has a decent dilution argument. On the other hand, the 420 league has a good parody defense. Of course, it would be a lot cheaper and easier to just change the logo. H/T: Wimberly
Unhinged tinfoil hat lawsuit of the day
By J. DeVoy When the first paragraph of your civil complaint alleges this… …Plaintiffs allege the financial and banking system imposed on them by the Federal Reserve Banking System is a violation of their Constitutional and Human Rights. That the banking system practiced by the New York Federal Reserve Bank, owned and controlled by the Defendant Wall Street Banks [Ed.’s note – includes Citigroup, Citi bank, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan but *not* Goldman], is the most sinful and evil PONZI scheme man is capable of devising. It will permit them to control the financial and political systems in the New World Order, advocated by owners of Wall Street and foreign banks and the present key leaders in our government. America
Free speech and "societal costs"
by Charles Platt I assume you legally qualified guys have seen this quote: “Whether a given category of speech enjoys First Amendment protection depends upon a categorical balancing of the value of the speech against its societal costs.” This of course is from a certain Ms. Kagan who seems upwardly mobile right now. Of course she said this while arguing a case on behalf of the US Government, and thus was merely doing her best to concoct an argument based in part on precedent. But still.
"Gotcha!"
Flori-duh State Senator, Mike Bennett (R) was (gasp!) “caught watching porn” during a senate session. (source) And the pile on begins… the story even made today’s news in Sweden. While I enjoy watching Republicans fall from grace over sex scandals, this one is a non-issue. First off, the image was hardly “pornographic.” Second, the image was on his screen for a brief moment. Third, which of you have never screwed off while at work, whether it is looking at a racy photo or checking on how your fantasy baseball team is doing? Bennett isn’t my favorite legislator, but his record hardly seems to be one of a socially conservative demagogue. His explanations were not the best, but in this round,
