* How would you describe the mainstream media’s recent reporting on Citizens United? Not true, not true — and Dan Abrams explains why. [Mediaite via The Corner / Ramesh Ponnuru]
* Whether the U.S. Constitution requires marriage equality can be debated as a matter of constitutional law. But as a policy matter, is this still an open question? Even Professor John Yoo, the bane of liberals’ existence, supports same-sex marriage as a policy matter. [Ricochet]
* I support marriage equality, but I do not support glitter bombing. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye (and files a lawsuit over it). [Althouse]
* If you adopt your 42-year-old girlfriend, does that turn your sexual relationship with her into incest? Professor Terry Turnipseed — yes, that’s his real name — is on the case. [Slate]
* Professor Mark Fenster writes an interesting post in defense of boredom (triggered by Adminlawgate at Yale Law School). [PrawfsBlawg]
* Speaking of boredom and frustration, let’s talk about… e-discovery! [Inside Counsel]
* What’s a hot practice area for 2012? [Going Concern]
* Speaking of hot practice areas, are you an intellectual property or technology lawyer? If so, this development might interest you. [MarketWatch]
* How many friend requests did these firms just get? Fenwick & West and Simpson Thacher are the Biglaw stars of Facebook’s S-1 filing for its $5B initial public offering. Like. [Am Law Daily]
* The prosecution is expected to make its arguments today in Julian Assange’s appeal of his extradition from the U.K. to Sweden. Hope it won’t affect his role on The Simpsons. [CNN]
* Adventures in fourth-tier second-tier law school marketing: go to the University of Dayton School of Law, take a tour, and get your first-year textbooks for free. Mmm, the sweet smell of bribery. [National Law Journal]
* The little hybrid that could: Heather Peters, the former lawyer who decided to sue Honda in small claims court, has won her case. Maybe she should reconsider her career options? [Los Angeles Times]
* Looking for a way to shield your assets during a wrongful death suit? Just adopt your adult girlfriend. It has “nothing to do with the lawsuit” — dude just wants to bang his daughter. No big deal. [Palm Beach Post]
* Unpaid internships are so last season. A former intern for fashion mag Harper’s Bazaar wants class action certification for a lawsuit claiming that her free labor violated wage and hour laws. [New York Times]
Would you force your kid to eat this?
Sometimes kids can be really annoying and behave really badly. Luckily for my parents, I was a little bit of both when I was younger. After throwing a spare rib at someone’s head in a Chinese restaurant, my parents didn’t take me out to dinner with them for months. After throwing a puzzle at the wall and making a huge hole in it, my parents didn’t allow me to have playdates for a while. Apparently, I was a big fan of throwing things when I was a little girl.
But my parents never hit me, and they certainly never abused me. They just took things away, and made me see that there were consequences for my actions. My parents are awesome. And look at what a fine specimen I turned out to be! Now I make fun of people on the internet for a living. They’re so proud.
Now, I don’t have kids, but from what I see happening around me, I feel like parents just don’t know how to be parents anymore. But they do know how to be drama queens. Case in point: an Alaska mother was so desperate to get on the Dr. Phil show that she filmed herself forcing her child to hold hot sauce in his mouth and shoving him into a cold shower.
Is this child abuse? You bet your ass it is, and this bad mommy might be going to jail for it….
Continue reading “Hot Sauce Is for Eating, Not for Disciplining Your Kids”
Thus far, 2010 has been a great year for LGBT rights. As noted previously, federal judges have struck down Prop 8′s gay marriage ban, section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.
Today the gay rights movement scored another win — this time in Florida, and this time from a state court….
Continue reading “Florida Appellate Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay Adoption”
* It’s that time of the year, when you yet again resolve to no longer be an attorney. You have one more chance to make this same futile resolution when Chinese New Year rolls around. [The Complete Lawyer]
* Any food substance that sustains armies and people still living in Y2K bunkers deserves nothing less than a full-on defense of its rights. You go, Hormel. [Likelihood of Confusion]
* Healthy parenting or affirmative action? I We wonder if little Shiloh will turn out like that other token biological celebrity offspring, Satchel Ronan Seamus (or just another needy, rich, hot girl, whose mommy never loved her). [Hot Gossip at MSN Entertainment]
* Darwinism resurfaces, and thank God, because I really hate tiny dogs. [St. Petersburg Times]
* Bonus season may be behind us, but we still have money on our minds. [May It Please the Court]
* I am open to all genres of TV shows, as you may know. But this? Almost makes me long for the days of Ally McBeal. [QuizLaw]
From the Daily Mail of the U.K. (where newspapers are more fun to read):
Angelina Jolie has attacked Madonna for adopting a child ‘illegally’. She said the singer should never have visited an impoverished African country with the sole intention of choosing an infant.
Her comments follow accusations that Madonna used her fame and money to speed the adoption of one-year- old David Banda late last year.
‘Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he was born,’ said Miss Jolie, who has adopted two Third World youngsters of her own
But Ms. Jolie was diplomatic in her criticism:
“Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal.’”
Because, you know, following the law is such a personal decision.
This struck us as a little silly:
“‘Brad and I want to continue to adopt, but keeping a big family uses up a lot of money.”
Because it’s just so hard to make ends meet when you earn $10 million per picture, and your partner earns $17 million per picture.
Angelina Jolie attacks Madonna for ‘illegal adoption’ of baby David [Daily Mail]
* Only those of you who are heartless very, very jaded will think this is some dated National Geographic-esque gimmick. Some of you may be able to help with the remaining countries… And yes, we’ve already made a call to Madonna’s people about crossing Malawi off the list. [New York Children]
* Not the ideal set-up, but better than keeping them in a car without cracking a window. No one tells her how to raise her kids. [CNN]
* Leave it to Trump to personify garishness even without the gold facades and conspicuous branding.
[AP via Yahoo! News]
* Perez Hilton is getting his karmic retribution for defacing B-list celebrities’ crotches and septa. [Radar]
* Props to Rachel Sklar for working a promissory estoppel joke into a post about the New York Times. The humor may have been lost on many HuffPo readers; but the ATL audience will surely appreciate it. [Huffington Post]
* Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Give three pastors $1.3 million and, chances are, they’re going to use it for more than just bread and wine. [Talk Left]
Drudge already took our original idea for a post title: “I’m Keeping My Baby.” But we will soldier on, chiming in on a subject that has captured international attention and has a legal angle: Pop star Madonna’s adoption of a one-year-old baby boy from Malawi, David Banda.
Allegations have been made that Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, did not proceed through standard legal channels in carrying out the adoption. Madonna denies such allegations:
“We have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate,” the singer, 48, said in an open letter released by her publicist.
“After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand our family.”
Pundits don’t preach; baby’s in trouble deep.
Madonna and Child flew from Malawi to London. Now they’re apparently bound for the United States:
Madonna is planning to fly to America to adopt the African boy she flew into London. Sources in Los Angeles say she has hired an American adoption agency because she fears British authorities could block her bid to become mother to 13-month-old David Banda….
Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie could face a criminal investigation by British authorities after she brought David from Malawi yesterday.
A criminal investigation? Yikes. Well, at least Madonna has the benefit of expert counsel: “[T]he star is taking the advice of friends Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to pursue the adoption in California.”
Inter-Race Adoptees Say Worried About Madonna Child [Reuters]
Madonna follows adoption route in US after advice from Angelina [Daily Mail]
* So it’s official. I’m not going to get into my spiel about western paternalism, but celebrities, please note: there are countless children in THIS country who need a family. [Associated Press]
* Can you say “Oh no he didn’t!”, when he doesn’t even know that he did? Note to anonymous Australian professional — colonial chic is passé. [Opinionistas]
* Mayor Gavin Newsom, ex-husband of ex-San Francisco assistant DA and Court TV hottie Kimberly Guilfoyle-Villency, has some real young arm candy. Yes, she’s legal — just not of legal drinking age. [San Francisco Chronicle]
* I keep forgetting we need a license to do this job. [New York Magazine]
* You may read that a Columbia Law professor has created a searchable site of Posner opinions. They’re funny, apparently, but probably not as useful as his 1996 book. [Project Posner]
* I love to celebrate the adventurous, entrepreneurial spirit of the common lawyer. But, um….maybe not. [Illegal Briefs]
We kinda love this lady:
A woman is taking the unusual step of trying to unadopt her 15-year-old son, saying she learned of his troubled past only after he molested two younger children.
“You don’t want to throw somebody away,” said Helen Briggs, a longtime foster mother. “But sometimes you have to.”
Look, we don’t blame her. What would you do if you adopted Chucky?
But did she save the receipt? And isn’t it long past the 30-day return period?
Mother Seeks To ‘Unadopt’ Teen After Discovering He Molested Young Children [Associated Press]
* How would you describe the mainstream media’s recent reporting on Citizens United? Not true, not true — and Dan Abrams explains why. [Mediaite via The Corner / Ramesh Ponnuru]
