Phoenix: “Deputy swipes document from defense counsel”

Making the rounds of the legal and libertarian blogs: Legal Ethics Forum, Scott Greenfield, Coyote, Orin Kerr/Volokh, from original reporting by Nick R. Martin/Heat City. Radley Balko at Reason:

I don’t know Arizona law, so perhaps a Hit & Run reader with some experience there can help out. Could it possibly be legal for a law enforcement official to meander up to the defense table, begin reading the defense team’s files, then take documents from said files without notifying the attorney? That sounds absurd on its face, even for Maricopa County.

Filed under: Arizona, Phoenix, police

More on Prof. Jones’s suit against Above the Law

Eugene Volokh, a preeminent free speech analyst, weighs in on the complaint and is anything but complimentary. Above the Law itself collects links here, and our earlier post has drawn many comments.

Update 3:20 p.m.: Jones drops case. More: Popehat (on role of Marc Randazza).

Filed under: legal blogs

“Judge: Man has to pony up $10K to sue workers he robbed”

Clinton Township, Michigan: “A man who was shot and allegedly beaten by party store operators he had just robbed was ordered Monday to post a $10,000 bond in order to continue his lawsuit against them.” [Macomb Daily via Obscure Store; earlier]

Filed under: criminals who sue, loser pays, Michigan

November 4 roundup

Four California lawyers accused in what prosecutors say is giant insurance fraud ring employing staged or “paper” car wrecks, Mark Geragos is defending [Metropolitan News-Enterprise, Glendale News-Press via ABA Journal]
“Civil Gideon law could overwhelm civil courts”, Ted is interviewed again [Legal NewsLine, earlier]
“Is that a popularly-elected state judge in your pocket?” [What About Clients?, earlier]
Audit Integrity, sued by Hertz over financial risk assessment, takes case to SEC [Felix Salmon, earlier]
OSHA nominee David Michaels, SKAPP and the right to bear arms, continued [David Kopel/America’s First Freedom, earlier and more]
NJ case raises knotty questions of press liability for reporting allegations in lawsuits [WSJ Law Blog]
Washtenaw Jail Diary, which made splash on Twitter earlier this year, now reprinting at Ann Arbor Chronicle (earlier);
“Not every country bubblewraps its kids” [Free-Range Kids on Germany] Background checks for senior-center pen pals and more school overprotectiveness [same]

Filed under: child protection, civil gideon, crash faking, David Michaels, insurance fraud, judicial elections, libel slander and defamation

Unpersuasive claims of victimhood dept.

“Madoff’s Accountant Acknowledges Guilt, Casts Himself as Victim” [NLJ]

Filed under: Bernard Madoff

“OSU fraternity must pay homeless man who was shot by member”

“A jury has awarded about $41,000 in damages to a homeless man who was shot by an Oregon State University fraternity member in 2006.” The Association of Alpha Beta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho had expelled the member after his arrest for the .22 caliber rifle shooting, but witnesses said members had been known to fire BB-gun shots from the fraternity’s windows in the past. A lawyer unsuccessfully sought punitive damages on the theory that the fraternity had tolerated “animosity against the homeless”. [AP/OregonLive]

Filed under: colleges and universities, guns, Oregon

“Law Professor Sues Above the Law Blog”

Ben Sheffner at Copyrights & Campaigns, Michael Krauss at Point of Law and Karen Sloan at the NLJ have details on a pro se suit filed by University of Miami lawprof Donald Marvin Jones.

Filed under: false light, law schools, legal blogs, online speech

The trouble with Holmes

When you hear a judge praised for his literary skill in writing opinions, remember the fate of Carrie Buck [Terry Teachout]

Filed under: judges

Authentic handmade Chinese noodles

Yet another interesting food that may never be the same following a safety crackdown, in this case by the Los Angeles health department [L.A. Times via Katherine Mangu-Ward, Crispy on the Outside]

Filed under: food safety, Los Angeles

November 3 roundup

American Federation of Teachers backs off earlier aggressive trademark stance against critical website [AFT Exposed via Ron Coleman, earlier]
Unintended but ever-so-predictable consequence of cash-for-clunkers: cheap used cars now a lot less cheap [Coyote]
Strange that Pat Robertson doesn’t seem to know hate-crime laws cover crimes motivated by religious bias [Neiwert]
Court rules against New York law firm’s debt collection practices [ABA Journal]
Trouble amid the Lamborghinis: rumors swirl of financial defalcations at prominent south Florida law firm [WSJ Law Blog and more] Plus: Rothstein’s huge bipartisan political donations [DBR]
Ohio: “Man dressed as a Breathalyzer for Halloween is arrested for DUI” [Obscure Store]
Blawg star Mark Herrmann (Drug & Device Law) writes a brief in Supreme Court case on (unrelated) topic of prosecutorial immunity for misconduct [Scott Greenfield]
Administration’s task force on medical liability reform meets amid signs it won’t accomplish much [Wood, ShopFloor; related, Stanley Goldfarb/Weekly Standard]

Filed under: debtor-creditor law, medical malpractice, Scott Rothstein, trademarks