The Law Site

Anna Nicole Smith…. I never thought I’d bring that name up on this board, but I just can’t help it. Everywhere I turn, the drama never ceases. Who is the father of her baby? How did she die? We aren’t talking about Mother Teresa, here. We’re talking about a gold digger who is a recreational pill addict, attaining celebrity from her embarassing nature. It comes as no surprise to me that Anna Nicole’s cause of death was drugs - anyone who watched her show could tell she was on something. Now that we know drugs were her undoing, we can move on to what’s really important; the paternity of her sweet child, aka ‘who gets her money?’

The death penalty has always been the subject of great debate for me. Generally, I support it. However, I do not support the endless appeals and years of delays, costing taxpayers millions of dollars. A murderer tends to get more support from the government than any other person, and that is wrong. I also think the death penalty is an easy way out, after all, I’d rather be done with it then waste away in a cell for the remainder of my days. Also, I do not know that the death penalty prevents any crimes. Well, at least in Virginia, there will be no more crimes which carry penalty of death. Governor Kaine recently vetoed five bills that would have expanded Virginia’s death penalty, a state second only to Texas in executions.

Oh, to be a teenager again! Actions like these seem like the kind of things I would do in high school. Apparently, some kid in Juneau, Alaska was suspended for 10 days (beats my record of 5!) for displaying a banner saying “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” at a school-sanctioned event. Granted, the message was vague, if existant at all, but the First Amendment makes no differential between intelligent soapbox prose and high school rabble rousing like this. Despite the fact the kid did it to intentionally encite reaction from his school, the Supreme Court should uphold his rights. You may not be able to cry fire in a theater, but you should be able to display a pointless banner. Then again, this is at a school, and the court has been notoriously against student expression.

The more knowledge you have about the law, the more ethical dilemmas you face when you read about cases nationwide. For example, an Oregon couple recently agreed to trade marijuana for a chance to have sex with a five year old. Alright, well the bottom line is, anyone willing to even discuss molesting a child has something deeply wrong with them, and needs jail. On the other hand, I can’t see how they were charged with aggrivated sexual battery, as if they actually did the crime. I agree they need couseling, but they were trapped in an online sting. They never committed the crime, but obviously are bad people. Where should a person with respect for the law stand on this issue?

Since this is a blog about law, I find the plight of the highest attorney in our country one of interest. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is standing his ground and refusing to resign, despite taking responsibility for firings of several DA’s on political grounds. The fired had strayed from Bush and Gonzalez and began to defy their ‘orders’ leading to the dismissals. Despite overwhelming evidence and a chance to save face, Gonzalez will go on as the embattled Attorney General. I just think it’s embarassing for the whole nation to deal with attorneys with less than reputable standing, especially when it’s the highest one in the land.

I don’t know about you guys, but I had English teachers in my day that seemed so spaced out and so full of knowledge that I couldn’t help but think how much fun it would have been to sit with them, sip on some drinks, and dicuss literature. I don’t know if Shakespeare was anywhere in sight, but a Pittsburgh teacher who was once a finalist for Teacher of the Year is in hot water over an party with underage drinking. On some level, I admire this woman. There must be a reason that she was so close to being teacher of the year, perhaps because she understands the teenage mind and how to encourage it. I guess there’sno defending her actions, just I would personally love it if Mrs. Stevens from my senior year would share some cognac with me and discuss the work of Thomas Wolfe!

Wow, have you been following the story about that crazy astronaut? This woman obviously didn’t need to get on a shuttle, because she was already in outer space! The bizarre love triangle caused former astronaut Lisa Nowak to go insane, following her boyfriend’s mistress around the country intending to kidnap her. Not wanting to waste precious time, Nowak fitted herself with a diaper and got to work.  The victim tried to escape from the wigged astronaut, but was blinded by pepper spray from her. Authorities also found in her possession a BB gun, a mallet, tubing, and a knife. It is uncertain what Ms. Nowak’s intention was, but it was certainly far from conventional.

I have always been the first one on the scene when it comes to defending MySpace. Besides all of the alleged negatives coming from the site, there is plenty to be thankful for. Families and friends have been reuinited thanks to the power of this social networking site. Now, at least one person on MySpace is sitting behind bars because of his gutsy posts on his site. The teen instructed the police to ‘catch me if you can’ and they did exactly that. Despite his friends encouragment from the comment section, the Michigan 16-year-old was brought to justice by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office without incident. You have your First Amendment, but it is a never good idea to tease the cops.