News & Media
ABA 100
Oh yeah, that ABA 100 thing that was going on a few months ago. We won. Why am I only getting around to announcing it now? Lulz, of course.
Malpractice Alert! How did you dispose of your last photocopier?
It seems that photocopiers store a lot of data and when you get rid of an old photocopier, you may be giving away privileged information. Source. That’s why I don’t sell old laptops. I just yank out the hard drive, smash it to smithereens, and then blowtorch the hell out of the actual hard disk.
Australian study shows that strip clubs are safer than churches
The New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research showed that you are statistically more likely to be a victim of a crime at church than in a strip club. Places of worship also took the lead in sexual offences (16), theft from motor vehicles (33), resisting arrest (7) and liquor offences (10). Harassment and threatening behaviour at places of worship (30) was over 50percent more than at places of adult entertainment (13). (source)
Rejoice! U.S. v. Stevens Opinion Out! A Sunny Day for the First Amendment!!!
Free speech wins 8-1. The reasons for my joy are pretty clearly laid out here in a prior post on the case. The Government contends that “historical evidence” about the reach of the First Amendment is not “a necessary prerequisite for regulation today,” Reply Brief 12, n. 8, and that categories of speech may be exempted from the First Amendment’s protection without any long-settled tradition of subjecting that speech to regulation. Instead, the Government points to Congress’s “‘legislative judgment that . . . depictions of animals being intentionally tortured and killed [are] of such minimal redeeming value as to render
Awooooga – U.S. V. Stevens Affirmed
by Christopher Harbin The Supreme Court affirmed the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Stevens, 8-1. Big Free Speech Victory today. Prior coverage from Randazza here and here. We’ll update later after we’ve dissected the opinion.
Worst. Oral argument. Ever.
By J. DeVoy Oral arguments are strange things. With enough practice, they can be sharp and flawless tools of advocacy, but trying to use them too soon can lead to disaster. I had a case of the latter during a moot court practice last year. Eager to enhance my argument, I tried to go completely without notes for my second or third practice. I also had the added challenge of appearing before my coach and two faculty practice judges. I brought my legal pad just to be safe. I had no intention of needing or using it, but thought that
What if Japan had won WWII?
Would life be better or worse? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9uY9NRVVNQ]
Cool Website
Just click over to the HEMA website. Don’t click on any of the products — just watch.
Economist Rap Battle
by Christopher Harbin [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk]
Peter Steele . . . Rest in Slack
By J. DeVoy Peter Steele, singer/bassist for Type O Negative, is dead from heart failure at age 48. His musical openness about death, lust, suicide, love and loss, was inimitable. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DxgVB48JSY&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Trust and Impaired Driving
by Charles Platt I’d like to extend my previous post on drunk driving to examine the relationship of trust between driver and passengers. If I am a passenger in a car, and the driver knows that I don’t want him to drink, we might argue that a relationship of trust exists, and if the driver is secretly violating that trust, he’s not being ethical. If the passenger is an infant who cannot assess the condition of the driver, the relationship of trust becomes especially clear. What about other people–pedestrians and drivers–sharing the highway? Do they have an implicit relationship of
PSA: It's "website"
By J. DeVoy The Associated Press Stylebook hath spoken.
SEC sues Goldman Sachs [alternative title- :( ]
By J. DeVoy The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil suit against Goldman Sachs and one of its employees, Fabrice Tourre, for securities fraud. The complaint revolves around Goldman’s alleged misrepresentations about the quality of loans underlying a collateralized debt obligation (CDO). Paragraph five summarizes the consequences neatly: The deal closed on April 26, 2007. Paulson paid GS&Co approximately $15 million for structuring and marketing ABACUS 2007-AC1. By October 24, 2007, 83% of the RMBS in the ABACUS 2007-AC1 portfolio had been downgraded and 17% were on negative watch. By January 29, 2008, 99% of the portfolio had been downgraded. As
Does anyone know this chick's number?
Laura Hall, 20, has been banned from buying or drinking alcohol anywhere in England or Wales. Police applied to magistrates for the order because of the number of drink-related offences that Hall had been involved in. She had already been banned from pubs and clubs in her home town of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, under the PubWatch scheme. (source) The Legal Satyricon will gladly sponsor her for a drinking binge in the USA when she turns 21. We’ll let DeVoy chaperone her. (conditions apply)
I'm getting to the point that I may go back to using PCs instead of Macs
If Apple keeps it up with this kind of crap. First, Steve Jobs channels Andrea Dworkin by deciding that he doesn’t want us to view porn on our iPhones, and now the App Store rejected a cartoonist’s app because political cartoons mock public figures, and are thus against Apple’s policies. Yeah really.
National Day of Prayer Unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb of the Western District of Wisconsin ruled that the National Day of Prayer is a violation of the Establishment Clause. (source). The case was a no-brainer. I haven’t seen the decision yet, but if it followed any precedent at all, I am sure that I can predict its content. Under Lemon v. Kurtzman, a government action is a violation if it fails the following test: The government’s action must have a secular legislative purpose; The government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion; The government’s action must not
Hell Freezes Over — Glenn Beck Makes Sense!
This is going to be one bizarre day… I watched a segment from Glenn Beck and not only did it not make me want to puke, but I agreed with him. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vv-yzFL190]
The Bare Breasted Truth
By Tatiana von Tauber Envision spending a nice sunny Saturday downtown when suddenly a crowd of women come at you – topless! Do you gasp? Quickly grab your children and cover their eyes? Do you think, WTF, laugh or grab your camera? Portland, Maine had plenty of diversified reactions to just such an event. About two dozen women participated in a march on Congress Street to bring attention to breast equality: women can go topless too and in Maine it’s legal. Of course this half-naked public and free event sparked a lot of onlookers and unsurprisingly, amateur photographers yet the coordinator