Legal Humour News - August 18, 2008

Hi and welcome to this week's newsletter. If it's in the news and it's got a legal slant, we'll do a blawg on it.

This week has not disappointed us in the foolish events department. Please enjoy Marcel's blawg, "Clergy, Cleanliness, and Clowns", which analyses the bizarre actions of a crooked minister, a clean freak, and a cross dressing thief.  But there is still hope for the human race, as is seen in the revelations about a small tea shop near Toronto where the honour system is the law and patrons report and pay for what they have purchased, as they are about to leave the place. The workings of this unusual establishment are demonstrated in "Straight Tea".
 
Finally, we have a gamut of reported amusing legal odds and sods that recently happened. It seems we can always count on human nature to keep amusing us. 

Odd or Amusing Legal Stories from the Past Week:

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1 - See You In Court!

MD. Woman Sues For Right To Massage Horses
Mercedes Clemens is certified to massage humans, but she claims the state of Maryland is keeping her from her first love: Massaging horses. She shut down her equine massage practice in a Washington suburb after state officials told her state law only allows veterinarians to perform such services. Now she's suing two state agencies, saying regulators are unfairly barring registered massage therapists who want to practice on animals.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/08/11/6412196-ap.html

NZ Judge Rules Against Strange Name
A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names and did something about it. Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed. In his ruling, Judge Rob Murfitt cited a list of other unfortunate names. Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/07/24/6252146-ap.html

Ex-con Sues Amex, Says It Aided In His Arrest
A disbarred Manhattan lawyer who pleaded guilty to statutory rape has sued American Express for giving police credit card information which he says led to his 2006 capture in Grimsby, Ont. The 44-year-old said American Express violated its agreement to withhold customer information from third parties.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/07/21/6225291-ap.html

Court Rules Lesbians Are Not Just From Lesbos
A Greek court has dismissed a request by residents of the Aegean island of Lesbos to ban the use of the word lesbian to describe gay women. Three residents of Lesbos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho whose love poems inspired the term lesbian, brought a case arguing the use of the term in reference to gay women insulted their identity. In a July 18 decision, the Athens court said the word did not define the identity of the residents of the island, and so it could be validly used by gay groups in Greece and abroad.
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2231197820080722

Italy's Top Court: Jeans Cannot Stop Sex Assault
Italy's top criminal court has upheld the sexual assault conviction of a man who argued that the victim's jeans prevented the attack. The court provoked outrage a decade ago by ruling that it was impossible to rape a woman wearing jeans.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/07/22/6232801-ap.html

2 - Crime and Punishment

Cops Mistaken For Strippers At Birthday Party
Police say two officers who responded to complaints about a raucous weekend party in western Germany were mistaken for male strippers by the female guests. A round of applause from the apartment resident - who had just turned 30 - and her friends greeted two officers who went to investigate.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/07/28/6287276-ap.html

Michigan 'Joker' Sentenced To 1 Day In Jail
A man accused of trying to steal a large Batman movie poster from a cinema lobby while dressed as the Joker has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge of malicious destruction of property.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/08/14/6449436-ap.html

Groom Charged With Being Too Near Bride At Wedding
A New York state man has been arrested for getting too close to his bride on their wedding day. Police say Timothy quarrelled with a wedding guest at a party after his wedding to his ex-wife in Batavia. Officers knew the 45-year-old from previous arrests and realized his bride had an order of protection against him.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/08/13/6436336-ap.html

Cop Suspended For Demanding Free Starbucks
A Chicago police officer has been suspended for 15 months for demanding free coffee and baked goods from six different Starbucks. The Police Board ruled in May that the 55-year-old cop intimidated Starbucks employees by screaming at them and flashing her badge, handcuffs, or gun when they wanted her to pay.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/08/07/6380566-ap.html

Grandma Arrested For Driving With Child On Roof
Authorities say a grandmother was arrested for driving around the parking lot of a Florida grocery store with her 3-year-old child sitting on the roof of the car. Authorities say the woman told police she was giving the child some air and letting her have fun.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5giCot2jNLiqLQ3x-HyEGhzudj3xAD92DONVO2

3 - Politics, Law, and Governance

PM: Confederation Brought N.L. Into Canada - In 1867
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says it was like a reunion when Newfoundland and Labrador became part of Canada - nearly a century before the province actually did. During a funding announcement in Cupids, N.L., Harper told a crowd of about 100 that Canada became whole when the province joined the country 59 years ago. Moments later, he said: "So when Newfoundland finally joined together with us in Confederation in 1867, we all say it was like a family reunion." Newfoundland did not join Canada until 1949 after a very close referendum.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/08/14/6453276-cp.html

Sweden Relaxes Rules On Naming Children
Swedish authorities say parents can now name their newborns "Budweiser" or "Metallica" if they so wish. For decades, Swedish tax authorities had banned parents from naming their children after fast-food chains, rock bands or their favourite brand of beer.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/08/12/6425601-ap.html

Penguin Gets Knighthood
Nils Olav already has medals for good conduct and long service. He was made honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King's Guard in 2005. And recently he was knighted. Not bad for a 90-centimetre tall penguin - actually, three of them. A resident of Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, the original Nils Olav was made an honorary member of the King's Guard in 1972 after being picked out as the guard's mascot by lieutenant Nils Egelien.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_penguin_knighted

4 - And Now for Something Completely Different

Buy Evidence Of My Husband's Adultery On eBay
An Australian woman has taken revenge on her cheating husband by putting a photograph of his lover's underpants up for sale on the auction site eBay. In the listing the woman says she is selling a picture of a pair of lacy black knickers and an empty condom wrapper "size small" found in her bed after her husband had an affair with another woman.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080813/od_nm/adultery_knickers_dc

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