Deron Johnson, 48, a man “with a lengthy rap sheet”, denies that he was trying to rob Margaret Johnson, 59, of her purse and gold chain when she shot him from her motorized wheelchair with her licensed .357 Magnum. Cops grabbed him but he won acquittal at trial and he’s now suing her and the landlord of her Lenox Terrace housing complex in Harlem, asking millions. [New York Post]
More: Scott Greenfield has questions, as does Bill Poser in comments.
We had no clothes for them, no beds, no presents; nothing was in readiness for them, except our hearts (and even those needed some sprucing up). They came on a Friday. We went shopping on a Saturday. Where did we go shopping? Thrift shops, of course. We had an immediate and urgent need for clothing, toys, and bedding for two new children, and we lived on an enlisted man’s salary. It was only two weeks before Christmas. The thrift shop enabled us to fill the gap between our income and our needs.
Now families that rely on thrift stores are in trouble from coast to coast: Salem and Marblehead, Mass. (“Throwing away perfectly good clothing”); Nantucket, Mass. (imagine being a landscaper or laundry person trying to raise a kid on that expensive island); Herkimer, N.Y. (“new motto, ‘When in doubt, throw it out'”); Beaver County, Pa.; Imperial, Neb.; Denver, Colo.; San Luis Obispo, Calif. (“I say, ‘Just try to pass the toys down through your family or give them to friends,’”); The Garden Island (Kauai, Hawaii)(via CLC and CPSIA). Some background from NARTS (National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops), which is doing a CPSIA Impact Survey of its members.
And so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden behind the fowl-house. That was a fine place to make a bonfire, only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. He had the potatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning he promised to come quite early and burn the whole lot.
If you’re organizing much-publicized multi-million-dollar lawsuits in California courts on behalf of Nicaraguan banana workers allegedly rendered sterile by pesticides, it’s best not to bring in plaintiffs who 1) have kids and 2) never worked on the banana farm. [Bruce Nye, Cal Biz Lit; NLJ]
Now that they’re in the saddle Senate Democrats are planning to strip away various long-fought restrictions on federally funded legal services programs. For the moment, at least, the class actions are supposed to be based at least ostensibly on existing law (litigation aimed at “law reform” was a specialty of the early legal services programs) and the programs will need to keep their books in such a way that federal taxpayer funds do not appear to be going toward their lobbying of legislators.
Actually, the principal of East Shore Middle School in that Connecticut municipality has banned not just hugs but high-fives, horseplay and “physical contact” of any sort, per WCBS-TV.
Michael Arrington, TechCrunch: “The California legislature is considering regulating the color of cars and reflectivity of paint to reduce the energy requirements to cool them. …dark colors just don’t reflect well, so they are likely out.” (via Coyote Blog).
P.S. Ian Douglas of the Telegraph (h/t Walker in comments) says reaction to the rules has been exaggerated and that so long as a “cool paint” with infrared reflectivity is used, California drivers can have any color they want, even if it’s black. And yet more from Janet Neilson, Western Standard.
Eugene Volokh notes a disturbing case arising from land-use conflicts in Walkersville, Maryland.
Ordinary kids’ bicycles, as opposed to the motorized kind, haven’t gotten much attention in the CPSIA outcry. But they’re in trouble too. More: see April 6 update, including an informative CPSC submission (PDF) by Mayer Brown for the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association; and an upcoming meeting of the alarmed industry.
But there’s a romantic underground doing it anyway.
Short takes for the weekend: