The Law Site

Jack Kevorkian, famous and controversial pathologist, was released from jail after serving 8 years of a 10-25 year sentence for his role in the death of a client. “Dr. Death” as he became known was a staunch supporter or a person’s right to die with dignity, and he aided many clients who turned to him for euthanasia. Dr. Death may not be far behind the people he helped die, as he has advanced Hepatitis C contracted in Vietnam earlier in life. Dr. Kevorkian doesn’t intend to help new clients die any longer, as his time is running short himself. The Kevorkian case will always be an interesting study in the euthanasia debate. Kevorkian risked everything, and he lost the last years of his life in a cell, because he was committed to helping sick people let go of life if they were ready.

Here is an interesting take on justice. In the old days, and I’m talking bible days, the prevailing wisdom in court proceedings was to take what the accused had taken. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Though this simplistic approach has been largely abandoned, I read about a guy who recently bit off more than he could chew, literally, when his wife called him ’short’. Suffering from a Napoleon Complex or mere insanity, this guy actually bit off his wife’s lip after she made fun of his stature. You see? The burden would be liften from the Judicial system is everyone could just work out their own problems in ways like this…

You know, when you go to a baseball game, you assume you are in a pretty safe place. There isn’t a ballpark in America that isn’t at least minimally patrolled by security. At a Mets game in New York, you expect the police to be there if needed. No matter who is there, though, they can’t help you from being crushed by a drunken patron. Apparently on opening day, a drunken 300 pound gentleman fell intoxicated onto a woman, breaking her spine. He picked the wrong person to fall on, though! The woman was a New York attorney, who named Mets ownership, the beer vendor, the security and “John Doe” (the fat, drunk guy who got away) in her lawsuit. The only part I don’t agree about is the beer vendor, who had nothing to do with the irresponsibility of the man or ineptness of security. After all, they try to get you to not drink by charging $8 a beer, what else are they supposed to do?

Geez, here’s another one involving small kids. There are few subjects to me as sensitive as the plight of Vietnam War veterans. Nowadays, when the troops come home, they are welcomed with open arms and nothing but love and respect, despite how unpopular the actual war is. This hasn’t always been the case… Vietnam veterans returned to the ire and hatred of a frustrated American nation. They were spit on, called baby killers, and had trouble finding work. It’s no wonder so many of them are homeless, like a gentleman who was beaten nearly to death by a 10-year old. Add one more travesty to a long list for this poor Vietnam veteran, all but forgotton until beaten by a preteen punk…

Haha, here is another good one to break up the usual deep thought on this board. All you can do when hearing this one is shake your head and wonder what happened to society. Apparently, two kids, aged 9 and 10, broke into a local daycare facility in Milwaukee. Did they know about some secret safe that held deposits? Of course not, the kids broke in to get boxes of crayons, little tubs of Play Doh, paper, and even milk. I think we all dream of having an entire toy store to ourselves at least one time, these kids just took that opportunity. I don’t think anyone would be well served by criminal charges here. Have the parents pay the damages, and give them a good talking to.

A judge in Alabama has come up with a creative way to embarass thieves while sparing them and the state the burden of jail time. Two women who stood accused of stealing from the local Wal-Mart were subjected to wearing placards outside the store for an entire day. In exchance, they did not have to go to jail for 60 days. I’m not sure how I feel about this, personally I’d rather wear a sign than go to jail for two months. I think creative judgments like this are fair and should be used more often. I think everyone wins, especially when talking about Wal-Mart. Who deserves jailtime for stealing a seven dollar item from Wal-Mart? In my eyes, Wal-Mart is just as guilty of theft when they buy cheap products from Vietnamese children making 4 cents a day, but that’s for another day…

In a perfect world, our judicial system would be as smooth and impartial as possible. However, if you read any headlines at all you realize there are two different systems: One for the rich and powerful and one for the rest of us. The one people like me deal in is one where if you commit a crime, you go to jail. In the Court of the Rich, you can pay off whoever to get the trial as delayed as possible. A perfect example is the R. Kelly trial. He videotaped himself performing grotesque acts on a minor, about as simple as it gets. Anyone else would have already been in jail, getting well acquianted with the larger gentlemen in the shower. Through an improbable series of events, here we are five years after the indictment and still no trial date in the near future for R. Kelly…

If you at all familiar with eBay, you realize there generally isn’t much money to be made with clothing, unless it’s special. Concert shirts, maybe. Perhaps clothing with historical significance or costumes, but a child’s coat? Imagine the surprise of an Oregon family when they were looking for a replacement coat, and found the exact one on eBay coming from their small town. It turns out the seller was the kid’s teacher. I’m sure we all had teachers that threatened to take our stuff and keep it, but I never knew they meant it literally! The coat would have fetched a few dollars for the veteran teacher who was making $69,000 a year. I’d be sitting pretty making 69 grand a year, having every summer off, and living in the cheap state of Oregon. Guess the few dollars from a kid’s coat was worth throwing it all away for… Then again, who am I?

I remember a few years back there was a rash of these ‘kid left in car’ cases. Am I wrong when I ask “what is wrong with these people?!” The first time may have been a mistake. It should be elementary that things should not be left in a sweltering vehicle in the sunlight. Most of us smokers are concious of leaving a lighter on the dashboard, let along leaving our child in the back seat. I think once the first person got away with it, whether it was a legitimate mistake or just the most irresponsible parenting in recent memory, it paved the way for subsequent cases. Tired of paying for a child? Leave it in the car… Come on, people. There are plenty of places that will take a child out of a tough situation or will offer help. Baking to death in a car has to be one of the cruelest and most painful death for a child…

A Utah Mexican restaurant is taking the law into their own hands… well, kind of. Melina’s Fine Mexican Restaurant was ripped off of $3,000 during the night in cash and checks waiting for deposit. When asked about the reward, the answer was painfully simple: they didn’t have any money to offer. The 500 taco deal in exchange for information leading to the crook is surprisingly not the only free taco gimmick in recent memory. Taco Bell, if I recall correctly, was giving away a lifetime of free tacos for a single PS3 system. Nowadays, I don’t think you could get a single combo meal for the thing!