I blogged below about whether recording the McConnell meeting violated federal law; in this post I’ll offer some thoughts on whether it violated state law. With the caveat that I had never looked at Kentucky’s surveillance statutes until an hour ago, my sense is the answer is pretty unclear from the sparse sources available. Kentucky’s […]
Archive | April, 2013
We (Still) Need More Facts to Know If Recording the McConnell Campaign Meeting Violated Federal Law
Mother Jones recently released a surreptitiously recorded conversation of a Mitch McConnell campaign meeting. Talking Points Memo reports on some allegations about who recorded the communication and in what circumstances: A local Democratic official in Kentucky said that two leaders of the group Progress Kentucky recorded a behind-closed-doors meeting between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell […]
Research Assistant Jobs for GMU Law Students
This is an announcement for George Mason University Law School students only. This summer, I may end up hiring more research assistants than I originally anticipated. As a result, if you are a GMU law student, have strong research skills, and have any interest in constitutional law, property rights, political ignorance, or other topics on […]
Police Officer Survey Showing Overwhelming Opposition to Various Gun Restrictions
I’ve seen a good deal said about this survey, and in particular about the view of 95.7% of the 15,000 respondents that “a federal ban on manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds would [not] reduce violent crime.” But while I’m inclined to agree with the policy views of the […]
Note to Trademark Office: This is Not Trademarkable
ATX Brands LLC, which owns Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill (in Bikinis, TX), has obtained a federal trademark for the mark “Breastaurant” in connection with “restaurants and bars.” [I was hoping that this Yahoo story got it wrong somehow – but I checked at the Trademark Office site, and indeed, the term has been registered […]
Bribery? Extortion? Political Speech?
Here’s an interesting case: Someone posts a video on YouTube showing State Rep.Tarah Toohil (R PA) as a young woman smoking what appears to be a bong and about to kiss a woman sitting nearby. Rep. Toohil acknowledges that she is the young woman in the video, but in a video response says “I am […]
Derringer v. Derringer
Good to see that Derringer v. Derringer (N.M. Ct. App. Mar. 6, 2013) is in large part a Second Amendment case — though the claims were waived, alas.
Symposium on Rehnquist’s Fourth Amendment
Every year, the Mississippi Law Journal publishes a symposium issue on an aspect of the Fourth Amendment. The latest symposium issue is now available as a single .pdf file: William Rehnquist’s Fourth Amendment.
The Zombie Defense
In the proud tradition of the Twinkie Defense and the Chewbacca Defense, we now have the Zombie Defense: A young transient who said he was trying to shake zombies off a stolen semi-trailer truck he was driving caused a major freeway incident in southern California that sent four people to the hospital and tied up […]
Florida “Revenge Porn” Bill
A Florida bill would ban “knowingly transmit[ting] or post[ing]” to any web site, a “photograph or video that depicts nudity of another person” coupled with “personal identification information” of that other person, “for the purpose of harassing the depicted person or causing others to harass the depicted person.” “Harass” is defined as “to engage in […]
City to Store Owner: You May Not Sell Brillo Pads
I expect that such restrictions are not uncommon, but I just noticed them for the first time, in Amina, Inc. v. City of Minneapolis (Minn. Ct. App. Jan. 29, 2008): During November 2005, relator applied for grocery, food manufacturing, and tobacco dealer business licenses from respondent to operate a convenience store and deli in North […]
Proposed California Bill Would Strip Youth Groups’ Sales Tax Exemption If They Discriminate Based on Sexual Orientation or Religious Affiliation
By Eugene Volokh on April 10, 2013 6:11 pm in Freedom of Association, Gay Rights, Religion and the Law
The proposed law, Senate Bill 323 seems pretty clearly aimed at the Boy Scouts, who would lose the exemption unless they reject both their policy against gays and their requirement of belief in God. The sales/use tax exemption is likely not a very big deal for the Scouts, but I take it that there might […]
Fighting Words
An interesting and likely correct application of current “fighting words” law, from In re E.O., 2013 WL 1339930 (Kan. Ct. App. Mar. 29, 2013) (nonprecedential): Although the phrase “fuck you” is offensive and profane, when it is said once by a juvenile to an adult, police officer or not, who is 150 feet away, while […]
Canon Law in American Courts, or, Real Nun or Fake Nun?
From McCarthy v. Fuller (7th Cir. Apr. 10, 2013), an interesting opinion by Judge Posner (some paragraph breaks added), with the first appearance of “exclaustration” in a Westlaw-accessible American court decision: These three interlocutory appeals arise from a complicated and acrimonious litigation, charging RICO, trademark, and copyright violations along with Indiana torts, that has been […]
“Srinivasan Confirmation Hearing A Love Fest”
So reports McClatchy’s Suits & Sentences blog: Sri Srinivasan seems assured of winning approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, following the conclusion of a 90-minute confirmation hearing that featured lots of bipartisan praise and no particularly tough questions. With Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah saying he supports Srinivasan, and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of […]