A century-old New Jersey law bans parents’ habitual use of profane or indecent language around kids [Eugene Volokh and followup]
Archive for June, 2009
Social media reminders
Haven’t promoted it in a while, but Overlawyered has its Facebook fan page. Find out who else is a fan! And the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, with which I’m affiliated, has just launched its own fan page here.
While we’re at it, remember that if you’re on Twitter, you can follow Overlawyered (featuring sporadic original material as well as a feed of new posts), Point of Law (ditto), and my own personal account.
Also while we’re on the subject, please take a moment to add Overlawyered to your RSS reader if you haven’t already.
“Lawyer for Holocaust Victims Claims Trust-Fund Dipping Was Inadvertent”
Longtime Overlawyered mentionee Edward Fagan, already removed from practice in New York, now fights disbarment in New Jersey.
“Tourism Bill to Be Combined With Anti-Civil-Liberties Hate Crimes Bill”
Tourism bill? [Hans Bader, Examiner; more on hate crimes legislation; Bader followup on U.S. Civil Rights Commission’s opposition to bill]
Massachusetts’s long tax arm
The state is suing the Town Fair Tire chain, saying its outlets in New Hampshire (a state with no sales tax) should have collected tax on Massachusetts residents’ purchases and sent it off to Boston on their behalf. It was supposed to know which customers these were by checking their cars’ license plates. [Daniel J. Flynn, City Journal] More: TaxProf covered the suit in February.
Everything in proportion (U.K. law enforcement edition)
The Guardian: “Thousands of people are being stopped and searched by the police under counter-terrorism powers simply to provide a racial balance in official statistics, the government’s official anti-terror law watchdog has revealed.” (via Jesse Walker, Reason “Hit and Run”). More: Patrick at Popehat.
“Craigslist Not Liable for Shooting That Used a Gun Sold Via a Craigslist Ad”
Eugene Volokh and Mark Hamblett of the New York Law Journal cover the opinion (PDF) in Gibson v. Craigslist (S.D.N.Y.) A sentence from the plaintiff’s opposition to the motion to dismiss: “For public policy concerns, [Craigslist] must be immediately regulated or shut down.” Earlier: Sept. 7, 2008.
Monday on the Hill: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied?
I’m speaking on the Hill this Monday along with Robert Alt of Heritage and Ken Boehm of the NLPC on this topic. Monday, June 22, 2009, 12:30 – 1:45 pm, Room B354, Rayburn House Office Building. “It may be an old legal cliche, but several pending cases that have been remanded by the Supreme Court raise the question of whether we face this problem today. Please join our distinguished panel for a lively discussion on several cases that have clogged court dockets in an effort to determine if this old legal cliche is, in fact, true.” And “Food Will Be Served.”
Ex-wife wins $500K in suit against new wife
North Carolina’s alienation of affection law strikes again. [WRAL via Lawyers USA; earlier]
More from commenter “spudbeach”: “I am _sooo_ glad that I live in Wisconsin. Not only are alienation of affection lawsuits not allowed, it is actually illegal to even threaten one! Wisc. Stats. 768.03 makes it illegal to threaten, and 768.07 sets the penalty to $10,000 fine and/or 9 months in jail.” And XRLQ observes that these laws (still on the books in Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah, as well as North Carolina) could impose liability not just on paramours, but on plain old friends or acquaintances who’d encouraged an unhappy spouse to leave a marriage. Yet more: Robinette, 2007 (via); The Briefcase.
The exploits of Alfred Rava, cont’d
Bruce Nye at Cal Biz Lit has more on the California lawyer and his numerous sex-bias challenges to stadium Mother’s-Day events and the like (Jun. 12, etc.). A coupon settlement with $260,000 in attorney’s fees is mentioned.