Government

Testing Seat Belt Law, Kansas Man Buckles Up in an Unusual Manner

Kansas law requires motorists to buckle up. But it doesn’t say their seat belts have to be attached to their vehicles, Paul Weigand argues. Due to a phobia about being trapped by a seat belt during an accident, he developed a special freestanding seat belt that he wears even when…

Jan 6, 2011 11:54 PM CST

Filmed at Money Machine, Inserting Quarters, Man Is Simultaneously Issued a Parking Ticket

Scott Larsen was already unhappy about the city of Chicago’s hefty parking fees, he told an NBC Chicago news crew as he was feeding money into a central machine that issues a receipt that the motorist must then walk back and put on the dashboard inside his or her vehicle.…

Jan 6, 2011 11:14 PM CST

Feds Join Criminal Probe of Claimed Snow-Removal Slowdown in NYC After Heavy Storm Last Week

Following news reports that New York City municipal workers may have intentionally slowed down snow removal efforts during a blizzard last week, as payback for layoffs, demotions and salary cuts, the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office has opened a criminal probe. That action follows investigations begun earlier by district attorneys in…

Jan 5, 2011 12:36 AM CST

9th Circuit Asks Calif. Supreme Court If Prop 8 Backers Have Standing in Same-Sex Marriage Appeal

When a federal judge in San Francisco struck down a voter-approved state ban on same-sex marriage last year, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then-Attorney General Jerry Brown declined to appeal. So backers of the ballot initiative stepped in to do so. Now the federal appeals court to which they have taken…

Jan 4, 2011 11:33 PM CST

Murder Victim Takes Photo of Gunman and Alleged Lookout, Leading to Suspects’ Arrest

Seconds before he was shot to death on New Year’s Day outside a Manila restaurant, a Filipino politician reportedly took a family photograph. Included in the image of his wife, daughter and mother-in-law, which is published by the Houston Chronicle, is a man standing behind a car at the left…

Jan 4, 2011 5:21 PM CST

Subway Passengers Stranded in Snowstorm Plan to Sue NYC

Passengers who say they were stranded for seven hours on the A Train when New York City was hit by a blizzard last week plan to sue. Represented by attorney Aymen Aboushi they are seeking a Metropolitan Transportation Authority policy to prevent others from undergoing the same experience, according to…

Jan 3, 2011 6:06 PM CST

Jailed for Life in $11 Robbery, Freed Sisters to Save State Money as 1 Donates Kidney to Other

Jailed for life in Mississippi over an $11 armed robbery, two sisters weren’t scheduled for possible release until 2014. But the state governor brokered their early release in the controversial case, saving Mississippi a lot of money because one sister, Jamie Scott, is on dialysis. Meanwhile, the other, Gladys Scott,…

Dec 30, 2010 6:36 PM CST

County Attorney Sues to Force Judge Out of Office; He Calls Her Incompetent

No, we’re not talking about Maricopa County, Ariz., but Williamson County, Texas. But for that detail, however, and a different cast of actors, the drama being played out is much the same: A county attorney struggles for power with the county commissioners, battling for control in the courts and, on…

Dec 30, 2010 3:54 PM CST

Is Web Shame Game Too Tough on Some Defendants?

Internationally vilified for tossing a cat into a trash can, in an act captured by a surveillance camera–and then identified after footage was posted online–a British woman was fined about $400 in the animal cruelty case in October. The subject of death threats as well as a multitude of critical…

Dec 28, 2010 4:53 PM CST

Dispute Over $5 Municipal Meeting CD Costs Township $17K, All But $4.04 for Attorney’s Fees

Charged a $5 fee for a compact disc recording of a 2008 municipal meeting in Bridgewater, N.J., resident Tom Coulter thought the fee, which is set by a municipal ordinance, was excessive. So he complained to the New Jersey Government Records Council, which agreed. The township now offers a CD…

Dec 23, 2010 5:16 PM CST

Feds to Develop Policy for Accommodating Breastfeeding Moms at Work

Going a step beyond the requirements of the new health-care overhaul bill adopted this year, President Barack Obama has asked the Office of Personnel Management to develop a policy offering “appropriate workplace accommodations” for all nursing moms who work for the feds. Under the law, some federal workers aren’t covered,…

Dec 22, 2010 9:04 PM CST

Feds Must Pay Islamic Charity Lawyers and Their Counsel $2.5M in Warrantless Wiretap Case

The chief federal district court judge in San Francisco has ordered the federal government to pay more than $2.5 million, primarily in attorney’s fees, concerning its warrantless wiretap, under an executive surveillance program authorized by President George W. Bush, of two Washington, D.C., lawyers for a now-shuttered Islamic charity in…

Dec 22, 2010 8:11 PM CST

Is Plastic Santa’s Ho-Ho-Ho (and Singing) Too Loud? N.J. Judge Must Decide

Jill Patella clearly enjoys Christmas. A video of her New Jersey home shows decorations in every window and a plethora of holiday lights. She even has her toilet decorated with a special seat cover and commode rug. But a neighbor says the ho-hos and singing of a life-size plastic Santa…

Dec 22, 2010 12:43 AM CST

Lawyers for WikiLeaks Founder Outraged as Documents Leak About His Own Accusers

Lawyers for the founder of the secret-revealing WikiLeaks website are expressing outrage about a new development in the Swedish sex case in which their client–who has not been charged–is being sought for questioning. One of the same newspapers that earlier published a stash of confidential United States diplomatic cables obtained…

Dec 20, 2010 11:07 PM CST

Lawyer Sues After Police Take Him to Psych Ward for Smoking on Window Ledge

A trial lawyer who takes cigarette breaks while sitting on his window ledge has sued New York police for taking him to a psych ward because of worries he was suicidal. Mark Moody’s apartment is on the second floor, and the window ledge is only 12 feet above the ground,…

Dec 20, 2010 12:59 PM CST