law

13 posts

The New World of Cop Blanche

Cop blanche
/käp blänSH/
noun
1. Complete freedom of police officers to do as they wish against the people, even committing crimes or violating their constitutional and legal rights, without repercussion.

The last two weeks have seen a pair of high profile grand juries fail to return indictments on police officers that utilized lethal force on unarmed suspects. In the 1987 novel Bonfire Of The Vanities, author Tom Wolfe quotes New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler, saying “a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich, if that’s what you wanted.” Continue reading →

What the U.S. Embassy Cannot Provide You

I have watched a lot of movies where Americans visit in a foreign country, run into serious trouble, and inevitably go to the American Embassy for help. Usually these are in war or action movies where people fear for their lives, but even so, such movies have I think, instilled in my imagination an unrealistic picture of what an embassy, and particularly the American Embassy can and can’t do. A recent (actually on going) experience in a foreign country, lets call it Bangladesh Pleasantville, made me realize how truly naive I am about how helpful the embassy would or could be for its citizens (well in my case I am a permanent resident with an American family). Continue reading →

The American Bar Association Wants Unpaid Interns to Do Law Firm Pro Bono Work

American_Bar_Association_WaAside from setting unnecessary and extraordinarily costly requirements for legal education and opposing key, cost-saving reforms, the American Bar Association found a new way to prove that it is woefully out of touch with the current legal market and ensure that many members of the new generation of lawyers won’t become dues paying members to an organization that remains crushingly out of touch with the reality of today’s legal job market. Continue reading →

Who IS America’s Hottest Attorney General?

California Attorney General Kamala Harris
California Attorney General Kamala Harris

President Obama ignited a firestorm of controversy when he described California Attorney General Kamala Harris “as by far, the best looking attorney general.” Um, Mr. President? That’s not the kind of thing you’re supposed to say. You’re supposed to be better than that. We might expect Bill Clinton to say things like “Check out the gams on that deputy assistant secretary of agriculture!” But not you. We elected you because you’re not a skanky man-whore like Bill Clinton or a gibbering rodeo clown eating a shit sandwich like George W. Bush. Continue reading →

US Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling OT


Today, the nation awaits the fate of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known to some people as “Obamacare.” Will we join other civilized societies and provide healthcare for the people of the United States or will we continue the broken system of for-an-insane-amount-of-profit privatized health care for the fortunate. Continue reading →