Outed
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007I have been outed before my Grand Opening. Thanks Ken.
Archive for June, 2007
Student Blogger SLAPP’d by Small Claims Judge
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007The Student Press Law Center reports:
A student blogger at the University of California at Berkeley lost a small claims libel lawsuit filed against him by a FrontPageMag.com columnist whose articles the student’s blog scrutinized.
While exploring his remaining legal options following the June 13 decision, the student, Yaman Salahi, is asking for donations on his blog to help pay the $7,500 that the judge awarded to the columnist, Lee Kaplan.
Salahi started the blog in May 2006 to “take a critical look at [Kaplan’s] articles and point out inaccuracies or falsifications,” he said. Salahi said Kaplan is a local figure involved in covering student activism.
After repeatedly threatening litigation, Kaplan sued in September for libel and tortious business interference.
“Instead of criticizing my politics, he tried to go after my personal reputation as a journalist,” Kaplan said. “He put up things saying I’ve been sued for libel, that I’ve engaged in criminal activity, that I’ve violated contracts,” Kaplan said.
In the lawsuit, Kaplan alleged that Salahi called him a “douche bag,” but Salahi said the phrase never appeared on his blog. “He’s completely lying,” Kaplan said.
One might ask why the blogger did not fight the small claims lawsuit with an Anti-SLAPP motion to strike. The answer, according to the Student Press Law Center: “the judge dismissed Salahi’s anti-SLAPP motion as inappropriate for small claims court.” The blogger has set up a legal defense fund that you can access here. While I don’t agree with this particular blogger’s politics, this sure seems like an example of a SLAPP suit which should concern bloggers everywhere.
Judge to Seek Immediate Removal of Nifong from Office
Monday, June 18th, 2007The New York Times reports:
The senior judge in Durham, N.C., said last night that he would file orders this morning to immediately suspend from office Michael B. Nifong, the district attorney at the center of the Duke lacrosse case.
* * *Mr. Nifong was disbarred Saturday and had promised to resign, but he told the governor he planned to stay in office four more weeks.
“I will suspend him in the morning,” Judge Orlando F. Hudson Jr. of Superior Court said in a telephone interview last night.
Judge Hudson said he would also authorize Sheriff Worth Hill to “enforce the order to the best of his ability.”
“That is,” the judge said, “if that means removal of Mr. Nifong from the building, I think the sheriff can do that, or take away his parking pass or his key.”
Brendlin v. California
Monday, June 18th, 2007Today the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion concerning the rights of car passengers to assert Fourth Amendment challenges when a police officer initiates a traffic stop:
When a police officer makes a traffic stop, the driver of the car is seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The question in this case is whether the same is true of a passenger. We hold that a passenger is seized as well and so may challenge the constitutionality of the stop.
Brendlin v. California (No. 06-8120) 38 Cal. 4th 1107, 136 P. 3d 845, vacated and remanded.
Welcome
Monday, June 18th, 2007Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. My name is Jeff Lewis and I am an appellate and litigation attorney in Southern California. I used to publish the political and legal commentary blog known as The Southern California Law Blog. This blog will feature stories and articles of a more narrow focus: appellate and litigation. Feel free to look around and leave a comment or two.