The LAW & LAWYERS Blog

On Friday, a Philadelphia federal judge threw out a complaint that was filed by a lawyer claiming that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) wasn’t a legal U.S. citizen. the lawyer was aiming to get Obama taken off the Nov. 4 ballot.

Phillip J. Berg alleged that Obama was born in Mombasa, Kenya and was actually a citizen of Indonesia and was therefore ineligible to be the president of the United States.

On Sept. 24, Obama and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) asked the judge to dismiss his complaint, calling his allegations “ridiculous” and “patently false”. They further said the Berg had “no standing” to challenge the qualifications of any presidential candidate because he didn’t show the requisit harm to himself.

Berg had earlier requested a temporary restraining order on Aug. 22, which was denied by the same judge; however, the judge didn’t rule on the merits of this lawsuit until last week.

On Friday the judge agreed with Obama and the DNC. In a 34-page document, the judge wrote that Berg’s accusations of harm were “too vague and too attenuated” to award standing to any voter.

The judge further said the Berg’s claim and tactics were “frivolous and not worthy of discussion”.

Berg had argued that Obama’s Democratic nomination kept people from voting for Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY), for whom Berg had backed in the primary elections.

The judge said Berg’s arguments “ventured into the unreasonable”.

The FACTS

Obama was born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961. He is a U.S. citizen.

In an effort to squash the rumors, the campaign posted a documents issued by the state of Hawaii on its Web site to confirm his birth on American soil.

Berg alleged that the document was a forgery.

The nonpartisan Web site, FactCheck.org examined the original documents and ruled it legitimate.

In addition, a Aug. 13, 1961 birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser listed Obama’s birth there on Aug. 4.

Additional Resources:

–The Presidential Candidates on the Economy

–Obama Talks about Credit Card Debt and Bankruptcy

–Presidential Candidates on the Housing Crisis

–2008 Presidential Election: A Look at the Foreclosure Crisis, Taxes & Retirement

The Washington Post reported on September 12 that court documents were released showing a key witness in the Rosenberg trials gave a different statement in front of the grand jury than she did at the trial.  The testimony helped send Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair with her husband, Julius, in 1953.

Ruth Greenglass, who was married to Ethel’s brother, David, testified that she had been recruited by Julius to spy for the Russians.  The contradictions in her testimony suggest that it was Ruth’s notes that were passed to the Soviets and not the Rosenberg’s.  In recent years, David recanted his original testimony, and the recently opened transcripts show that Ruth’s statement changed from what she said at the trial to what she said in front of the grand jury.  Ruth was never tried and her husband served 10 years in prison.

A strange tale of international intrigue and mystery was published yesterday in the New York Times—but the intrigue comes from obscure international child custody laws, and the mystery from a New York man who was totally clueluess about how to apply them to his situation.

The story involves the adopted child of Eric Hyett and Joshua Glazer, who were married in one of the first same-sex marriage ceremonies in Massachusetts.  Their child, Jedidiah Hyett-Glazer, now 2, was born to a surrogate mother, and lived with the men until their split sometime last year.  A joint custody arrangement was ordered, with one man keeping the boy during the week, the other during the weekend.

However, Hyett failed to show up to return the child to Glazer after an extended stay, and later revealed over the phone that he was in Israel with the child and would not return.  Hyett said that he had read the law, and claimed that his action was at worst a first-degree custodial interference, a crime for which he could not be extradited.  He also claimed sanctuary in Israel with the child as per the Hague Convention, a treaty that governs international adoption.

However, Hyett should have consulted a divorce lawyer.  Not only was he wrong in claiming a provision of the Hague Convention—an Israeli family court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction—but he was wrong that his custodial interference would not cause him to lose custody.  Glazer was given custody and Hyett now awaits trial in Manhattan, facing up to four years if convicted.

It’s a strange story, but one that reminds you how important a divorce lawyer can be in making sure you’re on the right side of the law, in tricky matters of child custody and especially when dealing with international matters.

Facing the threat of lawsuits in the wake of the D.C. v. Heller, several suburbs of Chicago and several towns in West Virginia are moving to eliminate, amend or otherwise clarify their own laws on buying and possessing guns within city limits.

The AP reports that Morton Grove and Wilmette, both suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, repealed their bans on handguns as a response to the NRA, who immediately filed lawsuits following the Supreme Court decision. Wilmette was not actually sued, as it had stopped enforcing its ban over a decade ago.

In West Virginia, the Charleston Daily Mail reports, Charleston officials have received pressure from the state’s gun rights group, West Virginia Citizens Defense, to rescind its restrictions on handgun purchases.  Charleston limits purchases of handguns to one per month, and bans guns on city property, as a result of a deadly shooting spree that occurred in 1993.  However, the mayor and city officials expressed no interest in revisiting these laws.

Martinsburg, West Virginia, however, has made the move to clarify its gun laws, expressing that guns are allowed on city streets, just not in municipal buildings.

Sometimes you come across stories that leave you asking this question above. Here are two such examples:

• Wisconsin Law Allows Parents To Pray Rather Than Call A Doctor; and

• Library Aide Fired For Reporting Child Pornography Suspect.

A Fort Collins, CO couple has a drug problem.

Specifically, their marijuana plants that were seized by the Fort Collins police were returned dead earlier this month, according to denverpost.com.

Here’s the background: James and Lisa Masters had more than 36 marijana plants at their home. Police confiscated them in a raid and sent the couple to jail, where they spent a little more than a day. Apparently, the couple’s plans to grow, use and sell marijuana for medical purposes were thwarted by one small problem: they were not on the state’s medical marijuana registry.

The Masters have claimed that they were unable to afford a license to use and sell the pot before the police raid, but since their stint behind bars have secured a license with help from friends. Since their return home, the police have given the plants back. But, of course, they’re no longer living.

The controversy here comes over the issue of whether this is a medical marijuana case or not. If it is, the police should not have harmed the pot plants in any way, and could be found at fault in court. If it’s not considered a medical marijuana case–which is possible, since the couple didn’t join the registry until after their arrest–the police will likely be found to have no liability.

A judge has already dismissed the original charges against the Masters, ruling that the police search of their home and seizure of the pot plants were illegal. The issue of the dead pot, though, remains to be solved.

This is a contest that no one wants to win, and no one really wants to see someone win either.  It is, however, a strong message about drunk driving and it comes at a time when people do need a reminder.

In Maryland, St. Mary’s newspaper has run an ad, and as tacky and tabloid-looking as it seems, the message is sobering.  Or so they hope.

The newspaper is having a custom coffin built and they will give it away free to the first person to kill themselves this holiday season by driving drunk.

The editor of the paper, Ken Rossignol, is a crusader against DUI.  Each week he publishes a list of those who have been arrested for DUI in the community.  He still feels that the message is just not getting through to people, so he came up with the coffin giveaway to raise awareness this holiday season.

Rossignol’s brother was killed in a drunk driving accident in 1975.  He hopes that no one claims the contest coffin.

In Topeka, Kansas, a man who agreed to be a sperm donor for a long time friend who wanted to have a baby is now fighting for parental rights to the twins he fathered.

Daryl Hendrix is a gay man who is in his 40s, and says decided that since he is mature and now financially able to support children, he agreed to provide his friend,  Samantha Harrington, with his sperm so that she could become pregnant.

According to Hendrix, Harrington assured him that they did not need a written agreement and that since she is a lawyer and they had been friends for 10 years, he believed her.  He says that on the second try, Harrington became pregnant and called him to say, “Congratulations Daddy.”

When the babies were born in May, 2005, Hendrix says that he got a nasty surprise when he attempted to go see the children at the hospital.  He was turned away and not allowed to see the newborn boy and girl.  He was then informed that sperm donors have no legal rights without a written agreement.  Harrington also filed legal documents asking that Hendrix have no legal rights to the children.

In October, the court upheld the 1994 Kansas law that denies Hendrix parental rights to the children in the absence of a written agreement.

Hendrix is appealing to the state Supreme Court and says that he will take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

During warehouse raids in Nashville and Lynchburg, Tennessee where Jack Daniels whiskey is made, officials seized 2,400 bottles of the whiskey.  Some of the bottles that were snatched in the raids are over 100 years old, and may not see another year.  It’s set to be poured right down the drain.

Fans of the historic whiskey are protesting the planned disposal of the Jack Daniels whiskey.

No one has been arrested, but officials say that some of the whiskey could have been stolen from the distillery and they suspect that it was being sold by someone without a license.

In Tennessee, the law dictates that whiskey that can not be legally sold must be destroyed.  That means that any bottles seized with labels designed for sale overseas and all of those with broken seals will be poured out.  Some of the bottles may be able to be sold at auction.

The estimated value of all the liquor seized is around $1 million.  Some of the antique bottles are now collector’s items.

One of the bottles is dated from 1914, and the seal on this bottle is unbroken.  That makes its worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000.

A company in New York has created a small digital camera that fits onto a gun and sells for $700. Police think that the cameras could provide vital information and evidence, especially in situations when officers are required to use deadly force. They also believe the camera will be a beneficial training tool.

Officers in Orange County, New York are going to give the digital pistol cams a try on their standard-issue Glock pistols. Dennis Barry, the head of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department says that they don’t see any down side to the cameras on their guns.

The mini pistol cams will be attached to the firearms, just under the barrel of the weapons, starting in January. The cameras are designed to begin recording digital video and audio as soon as the gun is removed from the holster. The pistol cam developers have even designed the units to encrypt the video so that there is no risk of tampering.

The video cameras on police weapons may also improve police relations with the public. If everything is now being recorded, there may no longer ever be the need to “take the officer’s word for it”, as there will be indisputable video proof of what actually took place.