The car hadn’t been operated and it wasn’t clear that it was even operable, but Minnesota, like so many states, has a strictly worded DUI law. “Intending to sleep off a night of drinking [is] treated as the same crime as attempting to drive home under [the state’s] legal theory which does not take motive into account.” [The Newspaper; Minnesota v. Fleck, PDF; Alkon]
Archive for January, 2010
Be nice to staff
Departing assistant sets up email autoanswer taking revenge on lawyer boss. [Above the Law]
California school district bans dictionary from classroom
It’s a Merriam-Webster Collegiate and contains naughty bits that kids might stumble across or even look up on purpose. [Southwest Riverside News Network via Popehat]
Wherein I’m supposedly worth three electoral votes
Stephanie Mencimer suggests that 11% of Alaskans would have switched their votes to Obama in 2008 if they knew that the eeeevil author of this op-ed was in Anchorage helping Governor Sarah Palin address the politically-motivated “Troopergate” investigation. Color me skeptical.
“US to lift 21-year ban on haggis”
P.S. Not unrelatedly, a haggis-related Blawg Review #248 at Scots Law Student. More: Alex Massie, Spectator (via Katherine Mangu-Ward).
P.P.S. Jumping the gun? An email to Andrew Sullivan from someone claiming to be with USDA says the ban is under review for revision but that no decision has been made yet. And more from Katherine Mangu-Ward.
Great moments in deportation law
“An Iraqi immigrant who stabbed two doctors to death has won the right to stay in Britain after a judge ruled that he would pose a danger to the public in his homeland. … The Home Office wanted to deport him on his release to protect the British public,” but a tribunal ruled that a violation of international human rights because Laith Alani would pose a danger to the Iraqi public and himself. Presumably it’s better for the British public to face the dangers. [Telegraph]
Jack Litman, 1943-2010
I met the noted criminal defense lawyer once when we appeared on the same talk show. Somehow I didn’t realize he was the one who defended Oliver Jovanovic, target of a dubious (to say the least) sex-crime prosecution in the 1990s. [Gillers, Legal Ethics Forum]
Update: Kindle not helpful enough to blind users
“Two organizations representing the blind have settled a discrimination lawsuit against Arizona State University over its use of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader device. … The university, which denies the pilot program violates any law, agreed that if it does decide to use e-book readers in future classes over the next two years, ‘it will strive to use devices that are accessible to the blind,’ according to their joint statement.” [AP/ABC News; earlier] Related: Berin Szoka, “An Internet for everyone” [L.A. Times/City Journal]
Let’s all panic over cadmium in kids’ products
Or actually let’s not, since there’s no indication anyone has been hurt [Washington Post “The Checkup” via AmendTheCPSIA, more; earlier]
Florida bar probing at least 35 senior lawyers in Rothstein firm
Does this set some sort of record? The bar confirmed that it is examining whether nearly three dozen “members of the former firm — Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler — lied about the amount of money in client trust accounts and whether they stole any of it. … Several of Rothstein’s former partners have said they were unaware of his scam.” [Miami Herald]