News & Media
Naughty Teenagers
by Charles Platt Since “protecting our children” became a reliable mantra for DAs seeking re-election at some time during the Reagan administration, the horrors of statutory rape and child pornography have justified countless legislative excesses. Unfortunately such laws conflict with the inconvenient biological fact that most young people become capable of reproducing around the ages of 12 or 13. Age-of-consent
A funderemployment primer
By J. DeVoy [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAs2EXsHfMg&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Metalocalypse is one of my favorite shows* for many reasons, among them being its extreme social commentary. The music video, while graphic, invokes themes that have been addressed in mainstream offerings like Office Space and The Office, such as the futility of working jobs we hate and the soul-killing duplicity that corporate advancement entails. In light
Law School Relegation
by Christopher Harbin European Soccer Leagues have a concept called relegation. Teams that are in the bottom of the standings get punted down to the second-class league for the entire next season. Similarly, top performers in the second-league get promoted to the top-flight league. Imagine if the loathsome Yankees royally sucked one season and had to spend their next season
My First Earthquake
I guess there have been other earthquakes since I’ve been out west, but I never really noticed them. Today was a little different. My chair started bouncing up and down, and I thought that the dog was jumping on the back of the chair. Then I noticed that the windows were waving in and out, everything on the shelves was
Seizures (not the epileptic kind)
by Charles Platt I have no formal legal training, but emigrated from the UK to the US partly because I liked the First Amendment. The wisdom of my decision was affirmed when an erotic novel that I had written in 1969 was seized, in Britain, by the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the publisher was jailed for three months. That
Sexting Story on Nightline
A high school kid forwarded nude photos of his 16 year old girlfriend to some friends. For that, a dipshit prosecutor decided that Philip Alpert needed to be charged with 72 sex crimes, and that he should be on the registered sex offender list. Here is his story. The prosecutor is quoted as saying that he had no other option.
No One Has The Right To Live Without Being Shocked
Of course, don’t let any of the academic circle-jerk (The U.S. legal academy) hear you say that. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ3VcbAfd4w&feature=player_embedded] H/T: Marc D.
And this is who Jesus allegedly died for?!
By J. DeVoy A Florida man recently pled no contest to five misdemeanor theft counts arising from his theft of food from various restaurants and stores. Though spared jail time, the court required the defendant, George Jolicoeur, to pay court costs and restitution. This conduct was hardly new for Jolicoeur, who had been grifting free food from businesses for years. A Seminole
NPR Story on SLAPP Suits
I was interviewed on the subject of SLAPP suits by Nazanin Rafsanjani. The interview is available here.
Congress Weighs Law Against Some Lawsuits
Discusses the Federal Anti-SLAPP legislation pending before the House of Representatives. Transcript available here. The Citizen Participation Act, which would introduce anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) remedies in Federal law if adopted, is designed to deter lawsuits filed to silence critics of powerful entities.Read more…
Happy "Good" Friday
Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man, living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of 10 things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these 10 things, he has a special place full of fire and
Hope and change in the face of rejection
By J. DeVoy Not an April Fool’s joke — just a good, if trite, op-ed from Susan Estrich, with whom I normally disagree. From law school and college students facing graduation just weeks away to applicants who are realizing for the first time that their best isn’t good enough, there’s something for everyone. I know that no one gets all
Rep. Steve Cohen with more badassery!
hot on the heels of being named a Legal Satyricon First Amendment Bad Ass for introducing Federal Anti-Slapp legislation, Rep. Cohen gives a shout out to Alex Chilton, may he rest in slack. [YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9LGwzGnx5w&sns=em]
Majority of Tea Party movement is female
By J. DeVoy New facts about the Tea Party movement emerge in a recent Quinnipiac University poll. 74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican; 16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic; 5 percent are solidly independent; 45 percent are men; 55 percent are women; 88 percent are white; 77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in
Garcetti v. Ceballos potentially subsumes public employees' First Amendment rights
By J. DeVoy Public employees in political jobs often walk a difficult line when they speak about current affairs. Historically, this speech was protected by the Pickering-Connick test, established in Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District, 391 U.S. 563 (1968), and Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138 (1983). Under that test, courts engaged in a two-step
Comparing Cocks – Granite State Takes the Lead
Condomania apparently did an extensive survey of cock sizes throughout the United States. This article, from the Phoenix New Times, proudly boasts the Grand Canyon State’s fifth place finish. According to the study, New Hampshire has the biggest average penis size in America. That makes sense, what with all that self-confident “Live Free or Die” thing going on. At the
The Definition of Irony
To prove that she’s not really a spoiled little brat, Alicia Gustaferro has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the producers of ABC’s “Wife Swap.” Yeah, that’ll show em. (source)
$29M Infringement Suit Waged by 3 Gay Adult Studios
Addressing a case where piracy transcends into appropriation of copyrighted work. Copyright laws prohibit the unauthorized commercial use of another’s content. Three studios filed suit, including Corbin Fisher, because infringers were passing off the studio’s content off as their own original content. Read more…
Quote of the day
I think that she is confusin the term “lesbian” with “second wave feminist,” but its a great quote anyhow. “To me, a lesbian is a person with a dour world view who meets a similar woman, bonds with her, and they proceed to have a sex life so banal and tedious that it rivals that of middle-class heterosexual couples. I’m
