November 2007

Police Battering Ram Brings Pizza Thief to Justice

Police in Eastpoint, Michigan, arrested 19-year-old Jessica Gray on Wednesday after an incident in which she allegedly grabbed an order of food from the delivery man and then slammed the door and refused to pay him.  Gray and her four…



Guitar Has-Beens v. Guitar Hero

On November 20, attorneys for the band The Romantics filed a complaint in federal court against Activision, the publisher of the game "Guitar Hero," claiming that the game infringes on the group’s rights to its own likeness. In the interest…




Missouri City Joins Campaign Against Saggy Pants

Earlier this month, the Board of Aldermen in Pine Lawn, Missouri, voted to impose fines for wearing pants that sag below the waist, joining several other communities bravely fighting this scourge of modern society. Pine Lawn is a small community…


UPDATE: Battle Over Cat Jurisdiction Enters Fifth Year

Back in July, I reported on a dispute between federal and local authorities as to who had jurisdiction over the descendants of Ernest Hemingway’s mutant six-toed cat.  (See Legal Battle Rages Over Future of Hemingway’s Mutant Cats, July 19, 2007.) …


Drug Dealers Subject Buyer to Cookie Torture

Is it really "torture" if what you’re being burned with are freshly baked cookies right out of the oven? Well, obviously not, if you’re John Yoo, since this seems unlikely to cause pain equivalent to that caused by organ failure…


Judges in China Ordered Not to “Frolic,” Hold Hands

Earlier this month, the highest court in China’s Henan province issued a comprehensive set of regulations it said were intended to "improve judicial etiquette."  They are pretty exhaustive, to the point that one might wonder what the hell exactly has…