April 2014

A Zinger From 1877

It is doubtful if by strict search through the files of the various courts of this state a judgment was ever before rendered in favor of a party upon a document, called “petition,” that would begin to compare in worthlessness…




Lawsuit Alleges Duck Attack

KATU in Portland reports that a woman who says she was attacked by a duck at a trailer park has sued the duck's owner. Plaintiff alleges in part that said duck was a repeat offender. According to the complaint (which…


A Good Reason Not to Tattoo “MURDER” on Your Neck

Can you guess? It's because such a tattoo might unduly influence a jury if you are, at some point, charged with murder. At least that was the argument made recently in Barton County, Kansas (Great Bend Tribune), by the defense…


Fish Waved in Parliament

The parliament was Italy's, and the fish was reportedly a sea bass:   If you want to know why he was waving it, here's the story, but I really think this is one where the waving of the fish (which…


TSA Turns Away Mute Stroke Victim

KABC in Los Angeles reported on April 5 that our heroes in the TSA had successfully prevented another innocent disabled person from flying. This time it was a stroke victim in a wheelchair who couldn’t answer questions about her expired…


Judge Posner Blasts Banana Lady

I'm a big fan of using images in briefs and opinions when that is appropriate, and it's hard to think of a more appropriate case than one involving a lady in a banana suit. The specific case I'm thinking of…


Abnormal Use Reviews My Book; Crayons Involved Again

Thanks to Jim Dedman and the others at the award-winning products-liability blog Abnormal Use for reviewing The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance, with a special thanks to Batten Farrar for his expert rendition of the cover. This is the second time crayons have been used…


Get a Smell at These Emails

This isn't strictly law-related, except that the point of these emails seem to be to drive traffic to some terrible law-related site. But I'm going to make an exception here. If you write a blog you will, at some point,…