A case of fowl play

In honor of Thanksgiving, let us know forget the infamous case Frigaliment Importing Co. v. B.N.S. International Sales Corp which faced the ever important question - What is chicken? What I do know, the Bluth family wouldn't be able to tell you.

Finish Him

 Schwarzenneger v. EMA:

JUSTICE KAGAN: It’s a candidate, meaning, yes, a reasonable jury could find that Mortal Combat [sic], which is an iconic game, which I am sure half of the clerks who work for us spend considerable amounts of time in their adolescence playing.

JUSTICE SCALIA: I don’t know what she’s talk[ing] about.

Justice Sotomayor incorporated her Star Trek knowledge by asking about torturing Vulcans.
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: Would a video game that portrayed a Vulcan as opposed to a human being, being maimed and tortured, would that be covered by the act?

Zazzle Gets Us

You want a "I Survived Palsgraf" bumper sticker or a t-shirt telling everyone you are a "Reasonably Prudent Person". Zazzle has it.

http://www.zazzle.com/

Highlight Everything

Warning - this video has some inappropriate language. That being said. It is pretty hilarious.

When in doubt, reference an awesome movie

Possibly the best argument by parties trying to overturn EPA's greenhouse gas regulations:

"Like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz pointing Dorothy in opposite directions on the Yellow Brick Road, EPA's contradictory directions have misled the public."

www.eenews.net/assets/2010/09/16/document_gw_02.pdf

When a tomato has been splashed

"The first payment was also the last. Shortly after the sign was installed someone hit it with a tomato ... rust, also was visibile ... in its corners were 'little spider cobwebs'... 'some children's saying written down in here.'"
" And that really brings it down to the tomato. And of course, when a tomato has been splashed all over your clock, you don't like it." - Walter & Co. v. Harrison

Really? Seriously?

Law Schools Now Require Applicants To Honestly State Whether They Want To Go To Law School

September 15, 2010 | ISSUE 46•37

NEW YORK—A growing number of law schools have begun requiring applicants to specify in writing whether they do, in fact, have some desire to attend law school, or are just using it as a predictable last resort. "We want to separate those who actually see themselves becoming attorneys from those who just want to put off joining the adult world for another three years," Fordham Law School director Bruce Green said Thursday, showing reporters an application that asks students to check boxes marked "Really?" and "Seriously? You're really that into this?" "We want prospective students to know that they will actually have to study the U.S. legal system. As in, the whole thing." Word of the new requirement has already reportedly caused a 450 percent spike nationwide in applications to graphic design schools.

Thanks to The Onion.

"A delightful read"

Vokes v. Arthur Murray, Inc was presented to our class by a student as a "delightful read". It was indeed.

Worry not, the court found for the widow. So sit back and enjoy the language brought to you by Judge Pierce.

"Plaintiff Mrs. Audrey E. Vokes, a widow of 51 years and without family, had a yen to be "an accomplished dancer" with the hopes of finding "new interest in life". So, on February 10, 1961, a dubious fate, with the assist of a motivated acquaintance, procured her to attend a "dance party" at Davenport's "School of Dancing" where she whiled away the pleasant hours, sometimes in a private room, absorbing his accomplished sales technique, during which her grace and poise  were elaborated upon and her rosy future as "an excellent dancer" was painted for her in vivid and glowing colors."

Some more colorful language:
"Thus she embarked upon an almost endless pursuit of the terpsichorean art"
"she was influenced unwittingly by a constant and continuous barrage of flattery, false praise, excessive compliments, and panegyric encomiums"
"She was incessantly subjected to over-reaching blandishment and cajolery. She was assured she had "grace and poise""

Letter of the Law

Even your clothes want to tell lame law jokes. Thanks to Laurie Sellick and Cambell v. Wentz.

You can actually buy this at Zazzle!

Slings and Arrows

"Fairall, who happened to have secreted a bow and quiver of arrows in the rafters to prevents its theft, loosed one but did not see where it landed ['I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to the earth, I knew not where' - The Arrow and the Song, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.] In this case, the defendant learned where it landed - in his back ... May a person who enters the habitat of another at 3 o'clock in the morning for the announced purpose of killing him, and who commences to beat the startled sleeper's bed with a stick and set fires under him, be entitled to use deadly force in self defense after the intended victim shoots him in the back with an arrow? Upon the basis of these bizarre facts, we hold (with apologies to William Shakespeare and Hamlet, Act III, sc. 1) that he may not, and instead must suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." (bold added for emphasis)
- California v. Gelghorn (California 1987)

Gays Can't Marry, and Spinster Women Can't Parachute on Sundays

Winner of most ridiculous: 

In the Alaska Constitution: "To be valid or recognized in this State, a marriage may exist only between one man and one woman."

Also on the books: It is unlawful to view moose from an airplane.

A few others:
1. On the books in Florida:  Unmarried women who parachute on Sundays may be jailed.

2. On the books in Arizona:  It is legal for a man to beat his wife once a month.

3. On the books in Arkansas: "Sec. 18-54. Sounding of horns at sandwich shops. No person shall sound the horn on a vehicle at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 p.m. (Code 1961, 25-74)"

4. On the books in South Carolina: "SECTION 20-7-8915. Playing pinball machines.
It is unlawful for a minor under the age of eighteen to play a pinball machine."


5. On the books in Riverside, California:  kissing on the lips, unless both parties wipe their lips with carbonized rose water, is against the local health ordinance.

6. On the books in Nebraska: It is not legal for a tavern owner to serve beer unless a nice kettle of soup is also brewing

Link to original article: 12 Ridiculous Laws States Would Rather Have Than Gay Marriage

I Can't Get No Satisfaction

Inspired by Gibson v. Cranage

Bam!

The Essence of Emeril the contract.
- inspired by the court finding that delivery in December was in essence in Internatio-Rotterdam, Inc. v. River Brand Rice Mills, Inc.

"Word of the Day" Song

I saw this on Glass Onion Blog. Demetri Martin went to Yale as an undergrad and then to NYU Law School.

Can't Always Get What You Want

"When I said READING pipes ... I meant READING pipes biaatch!" -inspired by  Jacob & Youngs v. Kent

Bosom of Time

"... still the consequences of such past negligence were in the boson of time, as yet unrevealed."
 Marshall v. Nugent

Inimitable Glow

"Her duties and responsibilities in respect of the family unit complement those of the husband, extending only to another sphere. In the good times she lights the hearth with her own inimitable glow". - Montgomery v. Stephan.

When asked by Professor Pruitt, my Tort's professor, if I exuded an inimitable glow, I had to be honest and reply, "Yeah, sometimes." Upon appeal, this opinion is affirmed.

The Beginning...

The blog was encouraged by fellow classmate Laurie Sellick who enjoyed my gchat updates. The update that started it all: "Law School should be four days a week ... it feels like I never reach a place of temporary safety". Inspired by People v Salas.