August 3 roundup

  • On the medicalization of nearly everything: “Bitterness, Compulsive Shopping, and Internet Addiction” [Christopher Lane, Slate]
  • Lawyer representing Sarah Palin to blogger: do you want to be served with our defamation suit at the kindergarten where you help out? [Alaska Report via Rachel Weiner, HuffPo]
  • “The 7 Most Baffling Criminal Defenses (That Sort of Worked)” [Cracked via Popehat]
  • Canada: crash victim gets C$2M, sues deceased lawyer for omitting a defendant who’d have chipped in another C$1.3 million [Calgary Sun]
  • Privacy breach notifications mostly a costly waste of time but do keep lawyers busy [Lee Gomes, Forbes]
  • “News Websites in Texas and Kentucky Invoke Shield Laws for Online Commenters” [Citizen Media Law]
  • North Carolina suit against TVA “a sweet gig for the state’s attorneys” [Wood, Point of Law]
  • Blawg Review #223 is at Scott Greenfield’s [Simple Justice] with another part hosted at the Blawg Review home site itself.

Two Florida men prosecuted for “gang hand gestures” on MySpace

Two Lee County, Florida men face possible prison sentences of five years because their MySpace pages show them making hand gestures that prosecutors say are associated with street gangs. “Their prosecutions are the first under a state law passed last year that criminalizes the use of electronic media to ‘promote’ gangs.” The bill’s sponsor, state legislator Rep. William D. Snyder, R-Stuart, says in response to charges that the measure violates the First Amendment by criminalizing expression: “none of our freedoms are absolute, and the freedom of expression is not absolute”. [Steven Beardsley, Naples Daily News, Jul. 30] (& welcome Reason “Hit and Run”, Coyote readers)

“Jobless grad sues college for 70G tuition”

Monroe College grad Trina Thompson is suing for a refund of her $70,000 tuition “because she hasn’t found gainful employment since earning her bachelor’s degree in April, according to a suit filed in Bronx Supreme Court on July 24.” [New York Post; NBC New York]

P.S. Joanne Jacobs: “I have a feeling Monroe doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee.” Jane Genova: lawsuit of this sort “should have been filed years ago”. More: Daniel Indiviglio, The Atlantic; The Onion.

Another frozen cache problem

Due to a plugin upgrade, many users found our front page stuck on its July 30 version over the past couple of days. I think I’ve resolved it now; if you’ve still got a July 30 version of the front page and forced-refresh won’t help (Windows: ctrl+F5, Mac/Apple: Apple+R or command + R), let me know.

“Teen passenger in speeding car sues driver who was hit”

Investigators for the Salem, Mass. police concluded that the Pereira cousins’ vehicle had been speeding along recklessly at 81 mph when they collided with the Honda Odyssey minivan of Christine Speliotis and her passenger; Timothy Pereira now faces multiple charges while police concluded that Speliotis was traveling at a reasonable speed and did not charge her with wrongdoing. Now Brandon Pereira, who was a passenger in his cousin’s vehicle and severely injured in the crash, is suing Speliotis, who with her passenger suffered broken bones and other injuries. His attorney, Roland Hughes, provided this quote to the Salem News: “Basically, under Massachusetts law I’m trying to get compensation for my client anywhere I can.”

Noneconomic damages and pets

George Wallace reports:

Late [July 31], the California Court of Appeal issued its decision in the case of McMahon v. Craig, holding unequivocally that California law does not permit an animal owner to recover damages for his or her emotional distress at the injury or death of an animal caused by negligence, and that there can be no recovery of damages for loss of the companionship of a non-human companion.

The report is first-hand, for it was blogger Wallace who represented the winning side in the case. Congratulations are in order.