When your legislators really care about democracy, it shows. In the U.S., most speeches are made to a C-SPAN camera in an otherwise empty room, and almost nobody watches. In other countries, they feel strongly enough to get involved in…
Joshua Robinson, 38, a West Virginia lawyer, pleaded guilty on April 19 to a felony charge of "unlawful wounding" after he was arrested for going after a client with a baseball bat. I suppose there are situations in which you…
As I wrote last year (here, and here), since 1849 the Kentucky Constitution has required anyone holding any "office of honor or profit" to swear that they have never fought or otherwise participated in a duel. This provision was added…
The Reuters report starts out like this: BERLIN (Reuters) – Four elderly Germans went on trial on Monday charged with kidnapping their financial adviser and holding him prisoner in a basement in an attempt to recover 2.5 million euros (2.19 million…
Police in Roxbury, Massachusetts, said that an exasperated mother called 911 on Saturday, saying she could not get her 14-year-old son to stop playing "Grand Theft Auto" and go to sleep. Angela Mejia said she woke up at 2:30 a.m., hours…
As you have probably heard, things are going just great in California, apart from the state being massively in debt, occasionally on fire, and thoroughly riddled with active fault lines. Also, our bridges suck, but on the bright side, the…
I have been meaning to post on this case for a while, and given yesterday's post on the story of Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman punished for wearing pants, now seems like a good time. In July, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno,…
Thou shalt not pass Go.
In March, two members of the Oakland (California) City Council finally resolved an epic and high-stakes legal battle after a fight that lasted three months and spawned a legal opinion by the city attorney. The burning question: who was entitled…
The Supreme Court did take up the "emergency" motions for reconsideration in the Carcieri case at its Friday conference today, and denied them. That means it will not decide whether Joe Larisa or Ted Olson gets to argue for the…