The Phelps verdict, free speech, and fighting words
Eugene Volokh has an extensive analysis up at the Conspiracy (see Nov. 2). For some flavor of the Phelps group’s extreme forays into picketing and public abuse of hapless Topeka residents, and...
View ArticleJune 16 roundup
Educator acquitted on charges of roughness toward special ed student sues Teacher Smackdown website over anonymous comments criticizing her [NW Arkansas Morning News, Citizen Media Law Project, House...
View ArticleOK for private school to have English-only rule
“A federal judge ruled [last month] that a Wichita Catholic school policy requiring students to speak only English didn’t break any civil rights laws.” U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten still felt...
View ArticleNovember 2 roundup
Headline stories of the week: Crude for sure: Law.com runs highlights of the tapes of American lawyers stage-managing the Ecuador-Chevron suit [Corporate Counsel, ShopFloor] Why such broad gag orders...
View Article“Man Sues Couple He Kidnapped”
Jesse Dimmick, who invaded the home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley at knifepoint and held them for some time against their will, is now suing them for allegedly reneging on a promise to hide him from the...
View ArticleUpdate: convicted kidnapper’s suit against victims dismissed
A Kansas judge “last week dismissed Jesse Dimmick’s lawsuit against the couple he kidnapped in southwest Shawnee County.” [Topeka Capital-Journal, earlier] Tweet Tags: criminals who sue, Kansas Update:...
View ArticleMay 18 roundup
Very silly Common Cause suit against Senate filibuster [Adler, Doug Mataconis, Jack Shafer (Filibuster unconstitutional? "Yes, but only when the GOP has the majority.")] More on football concussion...
View ArticleState of Kansas hits sperm donor for child support
William Marotta and the recipient of his donation signed an agreement that he would have neither rights nor obligations with respect to any offspring that resulted. But the state of Kansas says that...
View ArticleSchools roundup
Disabled kids and their parents among chief losers in NYC school bus strike [Richard Epstein] “School District to Spend $2.4 MILLION on Guards? A Mom Protests” [Free-Range Kids, N.C.] “Our Schools Are...
View ArticleSchools roundup
More on court’s enjoining Alabama House from sending schools bill to governor [Joshua Dunn, earlier] Connecticut mom’s fibbing to get kid into better school district, interpreted as theft of services,...
View ArticleKansas couple: indoor hydroponics prompted “pot” raid
The couple say they believe they were raided because of their use of an indoor gardening setup to raise six tomato, melon and squash plants in their basement. “A drug-sniffing dog was brought in to...
View ArticleColorado school funding found constitutional
The Colorado Supreme Court, wisely resisting a national campaign of school funding litigation, has turned down a lawsuit arguing that the state is obliged under its constitution to step up school...
View ArticleIntellectual property roundup
“Make patent trolls pay in court” [Judge Randall Rader, Colleen Chien, and David Hricik, NYT] “Let’s play”: Nintendo claims “monetization rights” to fans’ videos on YouTube [Doctorow, BoingBoing] I...
View ArticleEthics roundup
Eliciting false testimony among sins: “Ninth Circuit finds ‘textbook prosecutorial misconduct’” [Legal Ethics Forum] Syracuse: jurors say insurance company lawyer observing trial got uncomfortably...
View ArticleKansas: state sues sperm donor for child support
“A Kansas district court heard arguments [last] Friday in the case of a man who is being sued for thousands of dollars in child support by the state after donating his sperm to a same-sex couple he...
View ArticleSchools roundup
Following outcry, Ohio lawmaker drops proposal to license homeschool parents [Jason Bedrick/Cato, sequel] In Colorado U. crackdown on professor’s deviance course, university retracts claim that...
View ArticleResponded to Craigslist ad seeking sperm donor
And now he must pay child support, a judge has ruled, reasoning that William Marotta had not succeeded in waiving his parental responsibilities because a physician had not overseen the artificial...
View ArticleSchools roundup
“Attorney parents of ‘mathlete’ lose again in legal battle over right to select son’s algebra teacher” [Martha Neil, ABA Journal, earlier] One reason NYC doesn’t close schools amid brutal winter...
View ArticleLabor and wage-hour roundup
Nomination of David Weil as Labor Department wage/hour chief could be flashpoint in overtime furor [Terence Smith, Hill] Another reaction to President’s scheme [Don Boudreaux, Cafe Hayek, earlier here...
View ArticleCourts and the Kansas schools, cont’d
Andrew Ujifusa at Education Week (“Kansas Ruling Fuels Debate on Adequacy of Funding”) quotes me: But the union’s solution of significantly higher funding for schools isn’t the obvious or correct one...
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