tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30190822424098522682008-05-07T20:39:06.706-04:00Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-43849070215234927912008-05-07T09:20:00.003-04:002008-05-07T09:22:42.196-04:00

Remember the DC administrative law judge who claimed $54 million in damages over a missing pair of pants? He's at it again, although this time he is only after $1 million and his job back.

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-59342602162161588622008-05-07T08:56:00.002-04:002008-05-07T09:00:07.515-04:00

Trial attorneys often wonder what goes on inside the jury room. Here's a very detailed look thanks to a juror in the Uma Thurman stalking case who also happens to be a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-19528616637291578362008-05-06T12:25:00.002-04:002008-05-06T12:54:15.932-04:00

Not being a patent attorney, I don't pay much attention to patent law. There are occasionally stupid patent decisions that get my ire up, but by and and large the ins and outs of patent procedure, but apparently two-thirds of the patent judges were unconstitutionally appointed. DoJ hasn't even denied it, and constitutional lawyers are all in agreement that it's not even close. This could

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-84351907628165055422008-04-03T21:53:00.003-04:002008-04-03T22:18:19.403-04:00

The Times has an excellent article on "surreptitious sampling," the police practice of collecting DNA samples from suspects without their knowledge (and without a warrant). In a typical case, the cops follow a suspect who may happen to be smoking a cigarette or drinking a soda. The cigarette butt or soda can collects trace amounts of saliva, which contains the suspect's DNA. The suspect throws

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-19856428095033431072008-04-03T21:45:00.003-04:002008-04-03T21:51:57.254-04:00

I haven't been posting lately. By lately, I mean in the past 10 months. I am not really at liberty to discuss it, but I had to focus on other things. My situation is stabilizing, and I really miss writing about the law. So I am back.

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-7899128588420241772007-05-11T13:48:00.000-04:002007-05-11T14:20:12.989-04:00

The Supreme Court of Washington has affirmed a murder conviction that was based in large part by DNA evidence obtained through absolutely appalling trickery, even by cop standards. Trying to close a cold case, the police concocted a ruse to obtain the DNA- they sent the suspect a letter from a fictitious law firm, claiming that he was a class member in a (phony) class action. Naturally, he

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-71796307119015320032007-04-30T15:37:00.000-04:002007-04-30T16:21:11.278-04:00

I tried to hard to overreach with this blog. I think I wrote some interesting things at times, but I also went for weeks without anything to say. When you cast too wide a net, you will come up empty. Yet, I don't particularly want to reel in my focus. I am a law geek, first and foremost. I love the law, including matters outside my immediate practice. Which is why Scott v. Harris is so

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-34046982909146183262007-03-31T09:09:00.000-04:002007-03-31T13:54:00.261-04:00

Engadget reported yesterday that the c,mm,n (pronounced "common") was unveiled at a Dutch auto show. c,mm,n is the world's first open source car, and the technology and plans are available for hacking and tweaking. Another open source car in the offing (but nowhere near a rolling prototype) is OScar. This is a day that I have been waiting for, when open source churns out major consumer

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-17830811370557373872007-03-29T09:56:00.000-04:002007-03-29T10:07:52.332-04:00

I've been away for awhile, actually doing, you know, important stuff. In the meantime, let me share this. The totally brilliant John Hodgman explains executive privilege to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-33422611723037976492007-02-24T09:45:00.000-05:002007-02-24T12:21:37.193-05:00

I've had an idea in my head lately- that I should write about those cases where, in my opinion, the Court screwed up. Not merely where I disagree, mind you, but where the Supreme Court just flat screwed the pooch- not only was the result wrong, but the reasoning was wrong as well. A truly bad decision will will apply bad law to achieve a bad result. The cases in the anti-canon have a few

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-71632461246918955822007-02-22T11:30:00.000-05:002007-02-22T11:42:27.309-05:00

I owe the Legislature of Pennsylvania an apology. The phrase "ultimate sexual act" is not an example of poor legislative drafting. Instead, it copies word for word the language of the Supreme Court in Miller v. California:We emphasize that it is not our function to propose regulatory schemes for the States. That must await their concrete legislative efforts. It is possible, however, to give a

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-73863240405305407832007-02-21T18:48:00.000-05:002007-02-21T21:04:24.287-05:00

I am working on an appeal (that is due tomorrow- no time like the present, right?) which has significant First Amendment implications. Specifically, it is about whether the no-porn clause in our local sex offender parole/probation conditions meets Constitutional muster. Among the many things at issue is whether the condition is vague and overbroad. The trial court opined that it wasn't because

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-27987863800746405692007-02-20T11:17:00.000-05:002007-02-20T11:38:13.193-05:00

The Supreme Court today decided the case of Philip Morris v. Estate of Williams, throwing out an $79.5 million dollar punitive damage award on the theory that awarding punitive damages as a way to punish a defendant for harms caused to other people not involved in the case is taking under the due process clause. However, and here is where my brain starts to hurt, the jury can consider harm to

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-40249407119102801382007-02-19T11:32:00.000-05:002007-02-19T12:49:28.370-05:00

Civil unions are officially underway in the Garden State, my much maligned but I would go to war to save her home state. The more I think about the nature of rights, the more I think that Justice Scalia is off his rocker. Controversies like same-sex marriage are exactly the sort of thing that courts should be deciding. Justice Scalia recently debated a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada on

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-14675827110718643572007-02-16T16:17:00.000-05:002007-02-16T16:38:50.943-05:00

Thanks to Norm at Crime & Federalism for the hat tip on this, although he went off on a different angle. The Facts (short version)- Guy from New York goes to Connecticut, allegedly has too much to drink and kills a pedestrian. Returns to New York, confesses to his parents, and they allegedly help him cover it up. Like I said, short version. Longer version here. The guy is charged with

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-83856175657716172342007-02-16T15:10:00.000-05:002007-02-16T15:55:06.737-05:00

Tip of the hat to the ACSBlog for this gem. Right wing legislators in Georgia and Texas are arguing that teaching evolution (as well as gravity, apparently) in public schools is unconstitutional because it is actually an ancient Kabbalistic conspiracy. The Kabbalah is a mystical Jewish tradition practiced by none other than Esther Ciccone! (Okay- that was mean...) According to the memo (all

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-18267867033266745912007-02-15T15:55:00.000-05:002007-02-15T16:00:34.847-05:00

When I started this blog, I envisioned it as a forum to comment on The State of the Law- that's capitalized, you see. However, with my net cast so wide, I find myself in a bit of a pickle. With absolutely everything in the world to write about, I have nothing to say, as evidenced by my increasingly infrequent posts. So I need to think for a few days about what I want this blog to be about, and

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-4609423233489921062007-02-12T09:04:00.000-05:002007-02-11T21:12:01.402-05:00

We have only just concluded the First 100 Hours, and Washington is back to its old ways. With much fanfare, the new Congress changed the rules to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation." Link repaired! In just the last two months, lawmakers invited lobbyists to help pay for a catalog of outings: lavish birthday parties in a lawmaker’s honor ($1,000 a lobbyist), martinis and

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-81464239166521134752007-02-03T09:52:00.000-05:002007-02-03T09:53:37.787-05:00

I am a criminal defense lawyer- I have represented killers and rapists, thieves and thugs. And none of them are nearly so slimy as IP attorneys. A stay-at-home-mom in Ohio and breastfeeding activist has gotten a C&D letter from the National Pork Board, because her Cafepress store carried a t-shirt that reads "The Other White Milk." I say carried because it seems that shirt may have been taken

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-59859704033471381572007-02-02T11:17:00.000-05:002007-02-02T11:57:07.458-05:00

There is a story making the rounds that the No Fun League has sent C&D letters to various churches planning to host Super Bowl parties. Apparently a church in Indiana was planning to host a "Super Bowl Bash" as a fundraiser. The NFL faxed a letter advising that the words "Super Bowl" are trademarked and that the league prohibits charging admission to watch the game. So far, the League was

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-83101010575668169332007-02-01T09:39:00.000-05:002007-02-01T10:26:42.722-05:00

By now you have probably heard about the Great Aqua Teen Hunger Force Fake Bomb Scare. If you haven't, I can summarize it this way- to promote the upcoming ATHF movie, viral marketers placed LED Mooninites around various cities, including Boston (where quite frankly, I would expect them to know better). Somebody who had never heard of ATHF and who did not recogize a little pixelized Space

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-89680059506284962922007-01-26T11:19:00.000-05:002007-01-26T13:20:30.536-05:00

I haven't posted in a bit, as I sorted through something I have written about on my personal blog. Not that there hasn't been news, I have just paid some attention to me. But now- back to the law stuff. In a bit of news without analysis, these are happy times for death penalty opponents. A North Carolina court handed down a ruling that amounts to a moratorium on executions. The law in NC is

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-85337371314047154072007-01-11T18:21:00.000-05:002007-01-11T19:37:18.392-05:00

If you have been paying any attention to my shared news feeds down the right column, then you will see many stories about the Apple iPhone. I am a Mac geek, I have been waiting for this phone, and I may be in the market for a new one. So my interests and my needs may converge. Well, iPhone was registered as a trademark by Cisco for its new line of VOIP phones. Although Cisco and Apple were

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-29982369736709973752007-01-09T20:31:00.000-05:002007-01-09T21:32:37.334-05:00

The Supreme Court decided two cases today. Well, they decided one, and punted on the other. In the first ruling, the Court held that paying royalties to a putative patentee under a license agreement does not foreclose the licensee from challenging the validity of the patent at issue in the license itself. This is a great turn of events for innovation- patent trolls have basically choked the

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019082242409852268.post-83687849194451529782007-01-07T10:20:00.000-05:002007-01-07T10:32:24.950-05:00

Greg has handed out the PD Blogger Awards in a lavish ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and what can I say- it was an honor to be nominated. I was totally gobsmacked when Blonde Justice did the one-armed pushups. I just wish I knew how Marisa Tomei got an award. Seriously- congrats to all the winners! I read you all everyday!

Charles Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02625607607098510780noreply@blogger.com