We can expect the gun control debate to grow louder in the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting on October 1, 2017. Shooter Stephen Paddock killed at least 58 people and injured nearly 500 others in the recent massacre. Proponents of stricter gun control will likely point to this shooting to plead for stricter regulation of our Second Amendment right to bear arms. Their rationale is that someone intent on mass killing would be … Read more
Oct 11, 2017
Mass Shootings, the Second Amendment, and the Gun Control Debate
Aug 16, 2017
Don’t Break the Law Just Because There’s a Solar Eclipse
Oregon will be the first state in the U.S. to experience the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Given the expected increase of traffic and tourism, the Oregon State Police would like to remind you that the eclipse is no excuse to break the law. For example, unless there is a genuine emergency or another exemption applies, you have no right to stop your car in traffic to get a better view. (See ORS … Read more
Jun 20, 2017
Scrubbing the Internet of What You Don’t Like – What Works and What Doesn’t
From time to time we get calls asking us to help remove items posted to the internet that the caller finds embarrassing, unfair or just plain wrong. Sometimes we can help but often we can’t. Recently Walter Olson at the Overlawyered web site of the Cato Institute collected a number of recent posts by law professor Eugene Volokh here, here and here as well as this story in Tech Dirt.
A few simple … Read more
May 16, 2017
Now That We’ve Taken Your Money, Prove Why We Shouldn’t Keep It; Or, The Advantages of a Presumption of Guilt
Some states apparently insist that even if your criminal conviction is overturned on appeal and the charges against you are dismissed, the state should still keep any fines you’ve paid unless and until you can prove that you were actually innocent of the crime you were charged with in the first place. In other words, they actually have a presumption of guilt that you have to overcome before the state will return the fines you … Read more
Mar 6, 2017
Have You Had Anything to Drink Tonight? – Ask Me No Questions and I’ll Tell You No Lies
Pulled over by the police, watching the flashing red and blue lights in your rear view mirror, you look for your license, registration and proof of insurance. You roll your window down and the officer asks if you’ve been drinking.
What should you say?
The truth of course. Always the truth. Especially if the truth is that you haven’t been drinking.
But what if you have been drinking?
Before you answer, you might want to … Read more
Feb 7, 2017
It’s How That Old Joke Goes
A tax professor, an IRS ethics advisor, and a meth dealer all walk into a bar. Except it’s just one guy.
An adjunct professor at Georgetown Law who also worked in the Office of Professional Responsibility for the Internal Revenue Service was recently charged with selling large quantities of methamphetamines.
If one is considering a similar career path, better to work for Pfizer where the governmental red tape is significantly lessened.
Charges are not … Read more
Jan 24, 2017
Photo Radar – A Case Even a Law Professor Can Win
In a recent amusing post Adam MacLeod tells the story of his encounter with the burgeoning photo radar system in his local court which caused him “to go over the top”.
After winning his trial he still had to fight to get back the money the court had made him pay in order to get his trial. As Orin Kerr points out here, many of his more pretentious constitutional arguments are not legally sound, … Read more
Jan 23, 2017
The Crime of the Wild – Know Your Endangered Species
Although our schools do not equip us to distinguish between the almost 1500 different bugs, lizards, birds, rodents, fish, etc. that the government labels “endangered”, it is now being argued that to take or kill even one of these creatures should be criminal regardless of how innocent or inadvertent the act. Even an endangered splat on your car’s windshield might render you a criminal and send you to jail.
Jan 20, 2017
Giving False Testimony to a Grand Jury is a Privilege
Testimony before grand juries is serious. It generally results in the issuance of felony charges and a warrant authorizing the arrest of the person charged. Testifying falsely before a grand jury so that an innocent person is indicted and arrested can really ruin the victim’s day. However, a recent 6th Circuit Court case eloquently demonstrates that you can’t recover damages for malicious prosecution or for violation of your civil rights under 42 U.S.C. §1983 … Read more
Jan 10, 2017
Criminal Law and Wheelchairs: Be Careful Where You Roll
Most of us wouldn’t think that hang gliders require the same regulation through rules and laws as airplanes and helicopters. Most of us probably wouldn’t think that wheelchairs, even if motorized, should logically be governed by the plethora of traffic laws and rules applied to cars, buses and trucks driving down our streets and highways. After all, a wheelchair enables someone who can’t walk to achieve a personal mobility equivalent to walking. A wheelchair does … Read more
503.226.1162