From 52 J. Legal Ed. 619 (2003): He who seeks equity must do so with full pockets. Equity is not for the squeamish. Equity, schmequity. Equity can be grumpy before its first cup of coffee. Equity is crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Equity is a mean drunk. Equity, like all […]
Author Archive | Eugene Volokh
Religious Law in American Criminal Courts
From Torres v. State (Fla. Ct. App. Nov. 6, 2013): Appellant challenges his [thirty-year sentence] for first-degree sexual battery…. We agree that the trial court’s comments could reasonably be construed to suggest that the trial court based appellant’s sentence, at least in part, on religion. Therefore, we reverse and remand for resentencing before a different […]
Equity Abhors Historical Error
Well, maybe it doesn’t, but it should. My colleague Sam Bray, who’s a remedies scholar, passed this along to me, and I thought it very much worth posting: As every lawyer and law student knows, the old separation between courts of law and courts of equity has been abolished almost everywhere. Some of the historical […]
Commenter Sues Newspaper for Refusing to Remove Comments About Him
He loses, in Hupp v. Freedom Communications, Inc. (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 17, 2013), and will likely have to pay the defendant’s attorney fees to boot (under the California anti-SLAPP statute). Plaintiff Paul Hupp’s claim was that the Orange County Register “violated its user agreement ‘by making public comments and not removing said comment about […]
“The Hyped Campus Rape That Wasn’t”
An interesting and troubling column by Cathy Young (Minding the Campus). The opening paragraphs: If a satirist had set out to write a scathing parody of the campus crusade against rape, he could not have come up with anything more bizarre, or more ridiculous, than the real-life comedy-drama that unfolded last month at Ohio University […]
You Can’t Force Public School Students to Salute the Flag (or to Hold Their Hands over Their Hearts)
That’s been well-settled First Amendment law for 70 years, but some government officials are still not on top of it. Three years ago, a judge’s attempt to force people to say the Pledge hit the news; now, it’s a Florida teacher. According to Hernando Today, An Explorer K8 teacher was suspended [for five days without […]
Kosher for Christmas
Newly certified from Orthodox Union (Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America), which administers the U-in-a-circle kosher certification mark: CHRISTMAS MILK Frisco, TX October 24, 2013 Brands: Christmas Milk Products: French Vanilla Eggnog, Chocolate Swirl, OU-D French Vanilla Eggnog, Original, OU-D French Vanilla Eggnog, Sea Salt Caramel Swirl, OU-D Perfectly sensible, yet still amusing. Thanks […]
May Crime Victim (on Active Duty but on Leave) Testify in His Military Uniform?
An interesting question, which Carver v. State (Oct. 31, 2013) answers “yes,” following several other such decisions: After a jury trial, Rebecca Michelle Carver was convicted of pointing a firearm at another and reckless conduct…. Her sole [grounds for appeal] presents a question not previously considered in Georgia: whether the trial court erred in denying […]
Spell Checker for Legal Documents?
Is there a good spell checker that’s optimized for legal documents? I have in mind features such as: ignoring brackets, as in “revers[ing]” or “[w]here”; allowing a word to be viewed as correctly spelled in italicized text (usually a case name) without treating it as correctly spelled in normal text; automatically recognizing common terms in […]
Georgia Supreme Court Justices on the Second Amendment, Carrying Guns in Public, and Felons
Hertz v. Bennett (Ga. Sup. Ct. Nov. 4, 2013) rejects a Second Amendment objection to the denial of a concealed carry license. The petitioner, the court notes, had pleaded no contest to five felony counts — “three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of shooting from a vehicle, and one count […]
Irish Constitutional Convention Recommends Referendum on Changing Blasphemy Ban to “Incitement to Religious Hatred” Ban
The Irish Constitution expressly prohibits blasphemy; the Irish Constitutional Convention has just voted to recommend a referendum on replacing this provision with a ban on “incitement to religious hatred,” though delegates were split on whether there should be a statutory blasphemy ban as well: Voting yesterday on whether the offence of blasphemy should be kept […]
Viri Clarissimi
I just recently learned that, in the Roman Empire, our very own abbreviation “VC” stood for “vir clarissimus.”
Interim Police Chief Threatens Police Attention for Those Who Advocate for Drug Legalization
Ken White (Popehat) has the details, with the text of the chief’s Facebook comments. Pretty appalling. Thanks to Charles Chapman for the pointer.
Yelling “Toy Guns” on a Crowded Facebook Page
From an East Haven, Ct. Police Department press release: On October 22, 2013, Angelo Appi (DOB 1-3-1967) turned himself into the East Haven Police Department on an arrest warrant charging him with Breach of Peace in the Second Degree. The arrest warrant originated from an incident that took place the previous day in which Appi […]
Virginia Tech Not Liable for Failing to Warn Students About the Shooter
From today’s Commonwealth v. Peterson (Va. Sup. Ct. Oct. 31, 2013) (paragraph break added) (unanimous): [E]ven if there was a special relationship between the Commonwealth and students of Virginia Tech, under the facts of this case, there was no duty for the Commonwealth to warn students about the potential for criminal acts by third parties…. […]