move the head and the body will follow
If you’re at all interested in the recent ruling by California federal district court Judge Vaughn Walker striking down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, I recommend the full text of his opinion.
“Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians.”
Maybe this guy should get a clue:
Introducing some of the worst lawyer commercials on television. I’d also link to a few done by local attorneys here in Montgomery, but I think they know who they are.
Sandra Day O’Connor argues for a merit-based system of choosing state judges. Her idea:
A better system is one that strikes a balance between lifetime appointment and partisan election by providing for the open, public nomination and appointment of judges, followed in due course by a standardized judicial performance evaluation and, finally, a yes/no vote in which citizens either approve the judge or vote him out. This kind of merit selection system — now used in some form in two-thirds of states — protects the impartiality of the judiciary without sacrificing accountability.
While perusing Alabama’s statutory laws recently, I found the following gems. Can’t help but wonder if many suits are brought under these statutes these days.
§ 6-5-181. Words falsely imputing woman’s chastity actionable
Any words written, spoken, or printed of any woman falsely imputing to her a want of chastity are actionable without proof of special damages.
§ 6-5-350. Action by unmarried woman under 19 years of age
An unmarried woman under the age of 19 years may prosecute as plaintiff an action for her own seduction and may recover such damages as may be assessed in her favor.
§ 13A-14-3. Marathon, etc., contests prohibited
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to promote, advertise or conduct any marathon dance contests, walkathon contests or similar endurance contests, by whatever name called, of walking, dancing, riding or running, and it shall be unlawful for any person to participate in any marathon dance contest, walkathon contest or similar physical endurance contest by walking, dancing, riding or running continuing or intended to continue for a period of more than eight consecutive hours, whether or not an admission is charged or a prize awarded, and it shall be unlawful for any person to participate in more than one such contest or performance within any period of 48 hours.
§ 13A-14-1. Maiming one’s self to escape duty or obtain alms
Every person who, with design to disable himself from performing a legal duty, existing or anticipated, shall inflict upon himself an injury whereby he is so disabled and every person who shall so injure himself with intent to avail himself of such injury to excite sympathy or to obtain alms or some charitable relief shall be guilty of a felony.
§ 13A-14-4. Fraudulently pretending to be clergyman
Whoever, being in a public place, fraudulently pretends by garb or outward array to be a minister of any religion, or nun, priest, rabbi or other member of the clergy, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00 or confinement in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
§ 13A-12-1. Certain acts prohibited on Sunday
Any person who compels his child, apprentice or servant to perform any labor on Sunday, except the customary domestic duties of daily necessity or comfort, or works of charity or who engages in shooting, hunting, gaming, card playing or racing on that day, or who, being a merchant or shopkeeper, druggist excepted, keeps open store on Sunday, shall be fined not less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not more than three months. However, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the operation of railroads, airlines, bus lines, communications, public utilities or steamboats or other vessels navigating the waters of this state, or to any manufacturing establishment which is required to be kept in constant operation, or to the sale of gasoline or other motor fuels or motor oils. Nor shall this section prohibit the sale of newspapers, or the operation of newsstands, or automobile repair shops, florist shops, fruit stands, ice cream shops or parlors, lunch stands or restaurants, delicatessens or plants engaged in the manufacture or sale of ice; provided, that such business establishments are not operated in conjunction with some other kind or type of business which is prohibited by this section. It shall also be lawful to engage in motorcycle and automobile racing on Sunday, whether admission is charged or not; except, that this proviso shall not be construed to prevent any municipality from passing ordinances prohibiting such racing on Sunday.
§ 13A-12-2. Holding public markets and trading therein on Sunday
Any person who opens, or causes to be opened, for the purpose of selling or trading, any public market or place on Sunday, or opens, or causes to be opened, any stall or shop therein, or connected therewith, or brings anything for sale or barter to such market or place, or offers the same for sale therein on that day, or buys or sells therein on that day, including livestock or cattle, shall, on conviction, be punished as prescribed in Section 13A-12-1. Any place where people assemble for the purchase and sale of goods, wares and merchandise, provisions, cattle or other articles is a market house or place within the meaning of this section.
The hands-down winner: Motion to Kiss My Ass
Ulrich Schnauss, one of my favorite downtempo artists, is locking horns with Axl Rose over the alleged theft of portions of two of Schnauss’s songs. I hope Ulrich get lots of new fans and some of Axl’s money out of this debacle.
You’d think this judicial opinion ruling that Satan cannot be sued would be more fun, but it’s not.
Hortensio:
Sir, you say well, and well you do conceive,
And since you do profess to be a suitor,
You must, as we do, gratify this gentleman,
To whom we all rest generally beholding.
Tranio:
Sir, I shall not be slack; in sign whereof,
Please ye we may contrive this afternoon,
And quaff carouses to our mistress’ health,
And do as adversaries do in law,
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
The Taming Of The Shrew Act 1, scene 2, 269–277
I was surprised to learn in law school that the right to privacy is not expressly guaranteed by the Constitution, but is extracted from portions of the Bill of Rights and, depending on which case you read, from the Fourteenth Amendment. Only recently have I come across the article which essentially brought the right into being, originally published in the Harvard Law Review by Samuel Warren and Louis D. Brandeis in 1890. It is a long but fascinating read and can be found here.
Is this the best Sotomayor’s critics can do? Attack her “thorough . . . but sometimes leaden” writing style? Grasp those straws, folks.
Best oddball judicial opinions.
“Now, whoever owns the instrument that is ringing, bring it to me now or everybody could take a week in jail and please don’t tell me I’m the only one that heard that. Mr. Martinez, did you hear that ringing?…
Everyone is going to jail; every single person is going to jail in this courtroom unless I get that instrument now. If anybody believes I’m kidding, ask some of the folks that have been here for a while. You are all going.”
It amuses me to think that right now there are several interns at the GOP and Fox News headquarters reading through the 3,600 legal opinions published by Judge Sotomayor during her 17 years on the federal bench, scanning for political fodder. Those poor saps.
Concerning the recent Pirate Bay tomfoolery, one need only consider Google.
You may have heard about the guilty verdict that was recently handed down against the owners of Pirate Bay, a torrent search site. They are appealing the case, however, and have issued the following message on their blog, which is worth publishing:
TPB FTW
So the first verdict finally came, almost 3 years after the raid. You might have heard about it in the news…
You, our beloved users, know that this little speedbump on the information super highway is nothing more than just, a little bump. Todays verdict has already been appealed by us and will be taken to the next level of court (and that will take another 2 or 3 years!)
The site will live on! We are more determined than ever that what we do is right. Millions of users are a good proof of that.
We have seen that some people that we dont know have started collecting donations for us, so we can pay those silly fines. We firmly ask you NOT to do this. Do not gather or send any money. We do not want them since we will not pay any fines!
If you really want to help out, here is a list:
* Seed those torrents a little bit more than you usually do!
* Buy a t-shirt and show the world where your sympathy is.
* If you live in Europe, vote in the election for the EU parliament in June.
* Continue to build the internets! Start more bittorrent sites, blog more, start your own lobby group, create, remix, mash up and continue to grow more heads on this amazing hydra that we know as the internets!
* Do not be afraid of using the network. Invite your friends to this and other file sharing systems. Calm people down if they’re upset. We need to stay united.And say it loud say it proud! We are all The Pirate Bay!
I’ve always been curious exactly how a filibuster works. I know they’re very effective, because they are used every single legislative session in Alabama, often stalling or killing bills I would support. Well, it’s happing right now. A bill has been proposed to remove sales taxes on groceries, and it failed to get enough votes last week to pass. So it’s back up for a vote, and apparently someone is worried that it will get enough votes this time because a full-fledged filibuster has begun. You can read the full text of the filibuster order here. Essentially, it’s an arbitrary and silly rundown of what issues will not be the order of the day. An example:
Representative Black:
HB1998
Entertainment incentives, providing for table games and full-blown casinos, ownership of existing facilities transferred to Judiciary Committee chair, country music stars access provided for, income tax exemptions for showgirls.…
Representative Graham
HB4973
Government control act, Paul Hubbert declared King, tax exemption for bananas to feed 800-pound gorillas.
It seems like this sort of legislative tactic should be banned. But no one would ban it, for fear that they would be depriving themselves of a tool they might need one day. I think I can hear Karl Marx laughing.
Maybe I’m biased, but I really, really like this judge.
The Summum case blows my mind. Exactly how much constitutional credence should we give to every hairbrained cult religion out there?
