New Hampshire man arrested for 152nd time
July 23, 2008
A New Hampshire man accused of stealing a $1.99 can of beer from a convenience store is being held on $10,000 bail because prosecutors complained that this is the 152nd time he’s been arrested.
Paul Baldwin, 48, has convictions for a wide variety of offenses, including theft, receiving stolen property, arson and criminal mischief. In addition... More
Shutting up a gym grunter is legal in New York
July 23, 2008
A frustrated New Yorker was within his rights when he picked up a stationary bicycle at a gym and crashed it into a wall because the hedge fund manager who was riding it kept grunting loudly and yelling things like “Woo-hoo!,” “Good burn!” and “You go, girl!,” a jury has decided.
Christopher Carter, a 45-year-old... More
Six arrested for cheering at high school graduation
July 23, 2008
Six people have been arrested for cheering for friends and relatives at a high school graduation in Rock Hill, S.C. Audience members at the ceremony at Fort Mill High School were told to hold their applause until the end, but some couldn’t resist cheering and clapping for family members, prompting police officers to swoop in and charge them with disorderly conduct. Jonathan Orr, 21, applauded for his cousin and was dragged out, handcuffed and taken to a jail cell. William Massey, 19, “clapped... More
One lawyer’s courtship of genuine happiness
July 23, 2008
This is not a story about the law; it’s about people. But it does happen to have a lawyer as its central character. It was the early 1990s, and attorney Marc Davis had a good life. He had a nice house in the Philadelphia suburbs and a lovely wife named Pat. I know this because Marc is my wife’s uncle. We would visit Marc and Pat, have a nice dinner and sip one of Marc’s fancy wines. But Marc’s life, like that of many lawyers, was perhaps too predictable. I wonder if one day... More
Woman hurt by drunk doctor awarded $6M
July 10, 2008
A Springfield woman who claimed her doctor permanently injured her after he fell on her during a drunken stumble has been awarded $6 million.Elizabeth Nelligan, 24, sued Dr. Mark Radzicki in 2005, claiming that during a social visit to his house, Radzicki broke her foot after he knocked her over while he was intoxicated. A jury in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield awarded Nelligan $5 million. An additional $1 million in interest was awarded by the court. Radzicki was Nelligan’s primary... More
Court: male stripper who dresses as cop can carry billy club
July 10, 2008
A male stripper who dresses as a cop can use a billy club in his act, a British court has ruled. Stuart Kennedy, 25, a genetics student from Aberdeen, was stopped on his way to a show by two female police officers who accused him of impersonating an officer. When Kennedy explained that the costume was part of his striptease act, the officers proceeded to attend his complete performance (to verify his alibi), but then arrested him anyway for possession of a weapon. At trial, the prosecution claimed... More
Boston - Big Dig
July 10, 2008
Case of Tell-All Press Secretary Speaks of Possible Legal Limits
July 9, 2008
Amid the furor behind the specific allegations of President Bush’s ex-White House press secretary Scott McClellan, and the ensuing fallout with his former friends and with Bush, lies an important question: Should there be a legal limit on what a communications official or press secretary can say about his former boss? With a couple of exceptions, the law currently places few limits on what an ex-employee can say about a former principal. An employee could be asked to sign a non-disclosure or confidentiality... More
California: our ‘same-state’ partner?
July 9, 2008
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued Brown v. Board of Education, arguably the watershed moment of the civil-rights movement. On May 17, 2004, the first same-sex couple to be married legally in the United States obtained their marriage license in Massachusetts, thanks to the 2003 Supreme Judicial Court decision in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health. Four years later to the week, on May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court rejected that state’s ban on same-sex marriage. In a narrow... More
Bias victim gets $4.5M jury award
July 9, 2008
A woman who once worked as director of Cambridge’s police review board has been awarded $4.5 million by a jury that found the city retaliated against her after she filed a discrimination complaint in 1998. Malvina Monteiro was one of several women who filed gender and race discrimination complaints against the city in the 1990s. Monteiro claimed that her boss then retaliated against her, stripping her of important duties and eventually firing her in 2003. A jury in Middlesex Superior Court awarded... More
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