• As Maryland churches seek relief from property fee, pastors “also have agreed… to preach environmentally focused sermons;”
• ABA cracks down on prosecutors who rent out their letterhead to debt collectors;
• In Europe, some anti-discrimination and domestic violence laws now reverse presumption of innocence and instead require defendants to prove they are not guilty;
• Behind a small Massachusetts town’s proposal to ban cigarette sales, a lot of public and foundation money cycled through the lobbying effort;
• Court dismisses suit by man who fell off chair in lawyer’s office;
• Law firm that advertises plaintiff’s work on overtime class actions settles lawsuit claiming that it did not pay proper overtime;
• Quebec: Woman snapped in skimpy top on her front porch can collect from Google Street View.

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• “EEOC to court: never mind whether we use background checks too“;
• “Detroit man fights $30k child support bill for kid that is not his”;
• Carry work tools, get arrested: New York’s crazy “gravity-knife” law;
• “Blind man sues Redbox, alleges kiosks are not accessible to visually impaired”
• “Update: John Wayne heirs lose case against Duke University“
• Engineer’s solution to California affirmative-consent sex law: “simple push-button device which controls a separate panel with a red light and a green light.” More seriously, 28 Harvard law professors stand up for principle, if unsuccessfully;
• Forfeiture: “Iowa Troopers Steal $100,000 in Poker Winnings From Two Players Driving Through”

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• California environmental laws hailed as having “worked” because developer’s request to build under existing zoning took only 20 years to win EIR approval. Plus: California toughens criminalization for unlicensed contractors. And! “California Destroys Winery For Use of Volunteers“;
• Details: “Law firm mistakenly identifies dead smokers as alive in 588 suits”
• Former intern apologizes for letting herself be used as plaintiff in suit against David Letterman;
• 13-year-old piano prodigy embarks on ten-day world performance tour, gets docked for truancy days by D.C. schools;
• St. Louis North County: “Why Does a City With 600 Residents Need 14 Cops?” Related on forfeiture, CBC warns Canadians against carrying large sums of money with them on trips to the U.S.;
• Before you file a claim of amputation of all four of your limbs, be aware that such a claim is checkable;
• “Down comes the pediatrician’s wall of baby pictures, another HIPAA casualty.”

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• “Put Down the Cupcake: New Ban Hits School Bake Sales.”
• New Facebook acquaintance, most likely a lawyer-marketing-bot, “wanted to know if I’d died or was suffering a lingering fatal condition…. I thought I’d finally found Zombie Dating.”
• Shut down Uber, Lyft, and other ride-sharing apps until they can demonstrate disabled accessibility? Salt Lake City slaps $6,500 tickets on ridesharing drivers;
• Federal grant programs drive police militarization; “Wrongfully arrested man charged for getting blood on cops’ uniforms.“
• British Medical Journal urges government action against salty cheeses such as Roquefort, feta and halloumi; FDA vs. wooden onion crates;
• Warning sign: “this sign that warned you will be ‘Exhibit 1’“;
• “L.A. to pay $26 million for ban on naps by garbage-truck drivers.”

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• In California, you can be threatened with fined for using water during drought and also fined for not watering your lawn;
• Bad Obama administration ideas, part ninety-zillion: “The steep cost of junior-manager overtime“
• Money sought after attempt to break world record for “Fastest Time to Jump Through 10 Panes of Tempered Glass” does not end well;
• Mom charged in Connecticut for letting her 11-year-old daughter wait in car;
• Bending to its will: “Feds indict FedEx for not snooping into packages“;
• Florida jury awards $23 billion to woman in smoking case, jet-owning lawyer says it’s (all together now) not about the money;
• What if an AirBnB renter just refuses to leave?

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• Texas ruling: “Firefighter’s Fear Of Burning Buildings Does Not Qualify As A Disability”;
• “A presumption of guilt in sexual assault cases”;
• As regulators and competitors attack Uber and Lyft on multiple fronts, Austin, Tex., impounds cars of hapless owners who use sharing apps to offer rides. Relatedly, “NYC official impounds car used to transport cancer patients to hospital“;
• FDA backs off, at least for the moment, talk of banning centuries-old practice of aging cheese on wood boards;
• “Tenured Wisconsin Prof Sues Former Student Over Online Comments on Her Teaching”;
• New York Times columnist Tim Egan takes a swing at Wal-Mart, and refreshingly, Wal-Mart swings back;
• Feds’ war on antiques and musical instruments continues as US customs seizes 7 violin bows from Budapest orchestra, plus more.

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• “Weapons Policy Bans Fencing Group From Practicing On Campus”;
• Those “everything you know about the Stella Liebeck case is wrong” memes are often wrong themselves;
• “Of course they handcuffed her. You can’t be too careful with a nine year old.”
• Ways of being on disability: “No disability pension for ex-officer who staged shooting” (N.J.); Providence ex-firefighter sues after video of muscular weightlifting workout leads to cessation of disability check;
• More of this please: “Minnesota ‘unsession’ dumps 1,175 obsolete, silly laws“;
• “Tom Goldstein’s letter for rich client who threw porn star off roof for video” dubbed “instant classic”;
• Collecting Indian arrowheads: one era’s childhood pastime, another’s life-destroying felony.

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• “Chicago judge ruled legally insane wants to be restored to bench,” and voters don’t seem to mind that;
• New Kevin Underhill book on odd laws, The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance, review and interview by Jim Dedman;
• Music rights organization BMI sues Cleveland bar over one night’s performance by a cover band, seeking up to $1.5 million;
• It’s rash to assume you can fire an employee caught working another job while on FMLA leave from your workplace. And the Chicago transit union’s contract provides that a train operator can be dismissed if caught sleeping at the controls twice “within a short period of time.”
• In more than 2,000 seizures, border agents confiscated more than 25,000 prohibited Kinder Egg chocolate-covered toys during one recent year;
• Bernie Marcus of Home Depot recalls how dropping a lawsuit enabled him to focus on what was important in life;
• “This guarantee does not cover shark bite, bear attack or damage by children under five.”

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