Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes had a famous saying: “Hard cases make bad law.” This is quite true. A particularly noxious defendant can assert rights that may very well have been abrogated during an arrest or trial. Recognition of those violations might well negate the defendant’s conviction. Judges are human, and the idea of setting a miscreant free might...
Last week a court decision (well, actually a decision on a motion for preliminary and permanent injunction) was handed down in the case of Andrew Hanson, et al., v District of Columbia. Mr. Hanson was challenging the District of Columbia’s ban on standard capacity magazines. If this sounds similar to the case we have been...
“You doing ok?” I looked up from staring at my Old Fashioned sweating on the bar. Delany, the blonde Asian barmaid, lifted my drink and put a coaster under it. Usually this was met with a degree of scolding, but today she decided to let it slide. “Yeah, I’m ok.” “Yeah, no you’re not… what’s up?” I sighed, and...
“Hear me now, oh, thou bleak and unbearable world Thou art base and debauched as can be And a knight with his banners all bravely unfurled Now hurls down his gauntlet to thee! Hear me, heathens and wizards and serpents of sin All your dastardly doings are past For a holy endeavor is now to begin And virtue shall triumph at last!” So...
Well, I had every intention of writing a blog this week about either God, the transcendent human condition, why I really like gefilte fish, or the demographic catastrophe about to manifest on the European continent… But, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, so to speak. We got a victory in federal court (well…...
MAJOR NEWS!!! Injunction issued regarding CA Roster!!! I was in Federal Court today making an appearance on an unrelated matter when my phone began to blow up….in a really really good way! The California Rifle and Pistol Association, (CRPA) in conjunction with the law firm of Michele and Associates had filed a lawsuit challenging the CA Handgun Roster. ...
There was a rhythmic flutter in the reflection. Water had pooled on the bar surface, a consequence of the moisture dripping off my Old Fashioned and the fact I had refused to use a coaster. A ceiling fan spun above me, reflecting light that creeped in from the shuttered windows and created a visual show in...
Wow. When I am depressed, despondent, and disaffected, I reach for a glass of Lagavulin and my annotated copy of Judge Benitez’s decision in Duncan v Bonta (Becerra). His turn of phrase and invectives at the State make me smile. His full-throated protection of the Second Amendment and the Constitution warms my darkened heart. Last Thursday morning...
Berlin, at the end of the Cold War, was a den of spies, vipers, and other miscreants. It was a beautiful place. A cold martini and a cold blade were in equal abundance and the one constant in this cloudy world was a lack of constants. Light might serve as an antiseptic, but in certain...
This has been “a week”. A good “week”... but a “week” nonetheless. Actually, more appropriately, I should say it’s been a “two and a half years”... and technically we are not done yet, but the Sword of Damocles has been removed. (Thank God.) For those of you who are not aware, the Law Offices of Lieberman...
