Sunday, April 27, 2008

Law Society Approves Law School in Thunder Bay

Last week, the Law Society of Upper Canada approved the addition of a Law School at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The Toronto Star reports:

The school would be the first in Northern Ontario and would cater to aboriginal students. It has the support of former prime minister Paul Martin and Michael Bryant, Ontario's minister of aboriginal affairs, among others.

Before it can be launched, the Lakehead law school still needs to win approval from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and from the provincial ministry of colleges and universities. But barring some major change of heart, approval seems likely.

The approval for a seventh law school in Ontario comes just 2 months after the Law Society's task force review of the Ontario bar admission and articling process, which included a proposal to abolish the articling requirement as a result of job shortage.

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Crayon Battle Draws Felony Charges Against Florida 8 Year-Old

From USA Today:

WBBH-TV says a fight over crayons led to felony charges against an 8-year-old boy in Fort Myers, Fla.

The second-grader was charged with aggravated battery after a teacher told police that he hit some of his classmates and then punched his teacher during a violent outburst at Royal Palm Exceptional School.

The boy, who we're not identifying because of his age, is said to be 4 feet tall and weigh about 70 pounds.

"If he was overpowering her that much, I feel like she shouldn't be in that line of work," his grandmother, Dorothy Williams, tells the station. "If she can't deal with him, put him in someone else's classroom. If it's a male, whatever, and let them restrain him," she adds.

Lee County Judge Joseph Fuller says the boy needs a "time out." He'll be arraigned next month.

To the teachers reading this, can you please let us know - is this really necessary?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

UPDATE:

Canada, eh picks up on a similarly outageous story reported by CBS, this one involving a Florida kindergarten student:

St. Petersburg (Fla.) police officers handcuffed an unruly 5-year-old girl after she acted up in her kindergarten class.

A video camera, which was rolling March 14 as part of a teacher's classroom self-improvement exercise, captured images of the girl tearing papers off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and punching an assistant principal before police were called to Fairmount Park Elementary School.

Then it shows the child appearing to calm down before three officers approach, pin her arms behind her back and put on handcuffs as she screamed, "No!"

- GJW

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Hillary Will Win

For quite some time, I have been privately forecasting a Hillary Clinton victory in the Democratic presidential nomination contest.

Today, I am going public - I anticipate that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party's 2008 nominee.

It is comments like this one, from Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean, that convince me the tide has turned:

[Superdelegates] have every right to overturn the popular vote and choose the candidate they believe would be best equipped to defeat John McCain in a general election. . . If it's very very close, they will do what they want anyway. . . I think the race is going to come down to the perception in the last six or eight races of who the best opponent for McCain will be. I do not think in the long run it will come down to the popular vote or anything else.

The numbers are now close and very clear.

Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will emerge from the primary elections with a decisive advantage in elected delegates or popular vote. The primaries will not break the current deadlock.

In spite of months of relentless spin from Mr. Obama's surrogates - spin that has had much traction in the political media - that purported to narrow or bind the free votes of superdelegates at the actual convention, Mr. Dean's comments speak the truth.

Superdelegate votes will ultimately be cast based on what is happening on the ground at the time of the convention.

While anything can change, and it still may, it seems most likely that the Clinton campaign will continue to build momentum and peak in the final weeks of the primary season, just in time for the party's August 25 -28 convention in Denver.

The increasingly desperate and divisive pronouncements of Mr. Obama's supporters are not helping. Yesterday's attacks by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, as reported by CNN, are a case in point:

Clyburn told the newspaper that many African-Americans believed the Clintons were trying to damage Obama to the point where he could not be elected. He also made similar comments in an interview with Reuters Thursday.

"There are African Americans who have reached the decision that the Clintons know that she can’t win this," he told Reuters. "But they’re hell-bound to make it impossible for Obama to win.”

Speaking with the New York Times, Clyburn said such actions could lead to a longtime division between the former president and his once most reliable constituency.

“When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar,” Clyburn said. “I think black folks feel strongly that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation.”

Efforts by Mr. Clyburn and others to play a 'race card' against Mrs. Clinton and her husband are a shameless insult to history.

Beyond that, such tactics are likely to backfire by further alienating the very Democrats that Mr. Obama has, to date, had so much difficulty convincing.

As the certainty of an Obama nomination declines, his campaign must temper the temptation of some surrogates to employ their own a 'scorched-earth' game plan that sullies and undermines an ultimate Hillary Clinton candidacy, and in the process, instigates dangerous racial discord in the nation.

And while Mr. Obama should by no means be conceding defeat at this point, perhaps he must begin considering the Audacity of the Vice-Presidency.

For it is Mr. Obama alone that will be in position to unify the party and the nation, if, as I now expect, he emerges from the Convention as a very close, but much-admired, runner-up.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Friday, April 25, 2008

Video: Reverend Jeremiah Wright on Barack Obama - "He Does What Politicians Do"

A serious body blow to the Obama mystique, from Bill Moyers Journal on PBS:


Reverend Wright on Barack Obama:

"So here at a political event, he goes out as a politician and says what he has to say as a politician..."

Who better than his pastor of twenty years to make it known that Mr. Obama is but a mere mortal, after all?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Acquittal Of Robert Baltovich

After the Crown declined to lead evidence in yeterday's re-trial of Robert Baltovich on charges arising from the June 19, 1990 killing of Elizabeth Bain, it took the jury virtually no time to acquit him.

Today, the Toronto Star asks the million dollar question: Did Paul Bernardo do it?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Persons

April 23, 1928:

Eighty years ago today, in 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not persons under the British North America Act and therefore could not hold office. In 1929 the British Privy Council reversed the decision, saying the exclusion of women from public office was "a relic of days more barbarous than ours.''

The Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Edwards v. Canada is here.

The Privy Council appeal decision in Edwards v Canada is here.

Wikipedia has more on these historic decisions:

The Famous Five had begun to bring attention to their cause of putting a woman in the Senate. At the time the legal definition of "qualified persons" under the British North America Act (BNA Act 1867) was thought by the Canadian Government not to include women.

In 1928, the Minister of Justice submitted a reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada asking if "the word "Persons" in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867 include[s] female persons"

Opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada

The five Justices who heard the case held that the meaning of "qualified persons" did not include women. The majority judgment was written by Francis Alexander Anglin, with Lamont and Smith J. concurring. Mignault J. and Duff J. wrote separate concurring opinions. A common misinterpretation of the case is that the Supreme Court held that women are not persons. For example, at the Canadian Status of Women, Government of Canada, website it says that: "After five weeks of debate and argument the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the word "person" did not include women." On the contrary. The Supreme Court of Canada noted explicitly that "[t]here can be no doubt that the word "persons" when standing alone prima facie includes women."The Court interpreted the definition of 'qualified person' as intended by the drafters of the BNA Act 1867, despite acknowledging that the role of women in society had changed since that date. The Court held that the common law incapacity of women to exercise public functions excluded women from the class of "qualified persons" under s. 24 of the B.N.A. Act.In 1867 women could not sit in Parliament and thus if there were to be an exception to the practice from that period it would have to be explicitly legislated.

Opinion Of the Privy Council

Lord Sankey, writing for the committee, found that the meaning of "qualified persons" could be read broadly to include women, reversing the decision of the Supreme Court. The landmark ruling was handed down on October 29, 1929.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Quotable

Bernie Farber, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, on human rights commission complaints against Macleans Magazine and Mark Steyn:

Steyn's observations are not actionable under the law and the complaints against them fall outside the mandate of human rights commissions. Borovoy ignores the salient passages of the Supreme Court of Canada's 1990 decision in the John Ross Taylor case, which upheld the constitutionality of the Canadian Human Rights Act's anti-hate provisions. In so doing, the court established guidelines for hate-based complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Most relevant, the court noted that "hatred or contempt" refers "only to unusually strong and deep-felt emotions of detestation, calumny and vilification."

The commission's investigation of Steyn shows it has lost sight of the legislation's original purpose and the narrow fence it establishes against truly discriminatory speech. Such speech violates core Canadian values and has been upheld as a reasonable limitation of free expression precisely because of that incompatibility.
So by all means, let's tweak the law to eliminate some of its discretionary elements. Amendments could call for an ombudsperson to adjudicate objectively if the complaints meet the high threshold for action, or cost consequences for applicants who bring frivolous complaints.

But the Canadian Jewish Congress supports the act as it was originally intended: to protect minorities in Canada from speech that truly vilifies or discriminates.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Blackberrys: The Next Frontier in Unpaid Overtime Claims?

Are you constantly sneaking peaks under the table at your Palm or Blackberry when you are out at a restaurant?

Well, perhaps in the future you may be getting paid for doing so.

WSJ Law Blog picks up on what may soon become a hot topic in unpaid overtime claims - the numerous hours spent by Blackberry users outside the office addressing workplace concerns:

The next front in the ever burgeoning field of wage-and-hour litigation? Blackberrys, according to a story in the National Law Journal. Click here for another take on the topic, which ran in the NYLJ last year.

According to the story, litigation could be “just around the corner,” filed by employees who will claim overtime for all the hours they’ve spent typing away on their Blackberrys, cell phones, or other communication devices.

For more discussion, see ABA Journal's Are BlackBerry Overtime Suits Coming? and Workplace Law Prof's Blackberry Overtime Claims?

Overlawyered also tackles this issue: "Require that employees get permission first before using their BlackBerrys after work hours

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Video: Hillary Clinton's Pennsylvania Victory Speech

A big night for the Hillary Clinton campaign, with a convincing ten-point victory in the long-awaited Pennsylvania primary.

Here is her victory speech:

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Britney Spears' Lawyers...

... are getting a rather nice payday, acccording to CNN:

A court commissioner on Thursday authorized various lawyers representing Britney Spears and her family to be paid more than $372,500 out of Spears' funds.

Britney Spears' father has had control of her finances since her hospitalizations in January.

Commissioner Reva Goetz ordered the attorneys paid from
Spears' assets, which are under the control of her father, James Spears, and attorney Andrew Wallet. They have had control of the pop star's finances and estate since she was hospitalized twice in January.

More detail from Contact Music:

BRITNEY SPEARS has been hit with a legal bill of almost $400,000...

A Los Angeles court ordered the pop star to pay the cash to the numerous lawyers involved in all her legal affairs over the past three months.That includes her custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline and her conservatorship issues.

At a hearing on Thursday (17Apr08), Commissioner Reva Goetz ruled Spears' court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham will continue to receive $10,000 a week and Andrew Wallet, the co-conservator of Spears' finances, will receive an advance of $100,000.

People.com reports Wallet has not received a salary for his services to Spears since taking over her estate issues with the pop star's father Jamie in February (08).

Meanwhile, the law firm which won Jamie Spears control of his daughter's affairs will also be advanced $175,000, and a lawyer representing the singer's brother Bryan Spears has been handed a $22,000 windfall.Finally, Spears' new divorce lawyer, Stacy Phillips, has been awarded $75,000.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Free Clotheslines, Blowing in The Wind

With yesterday's energy-conserving announcement by Premier Dalton McGuinty that Ontario's subdivisions will no longer be permitted to ban outdoor clotheslines, Toronto Star reports Toronto Hydro will be lauching a free, clothesline giveaway at selected retail outlets:

Each Saturday and Sunday from April 26 to May 11, retractable lines for indoor or outdoor use, worth $13 to $15 each, will be handed to the first 500 shoppers at some Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Costco and Zellers locations. Details can be found at torontohydro.com.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Springsteen - Obama: Wrong for Pennsylvania, Wrong for America...

An amusing parody...

(h/t: Red Tory)

....

On a much sadder note, MSNBC reports that long-time E-Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici died of melanoma yesterday, at age 58:

NEW YORK - Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band’s sound on hits from “Hungry Heart” through “The Rising,” died Thursday. He was 58.

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. News of his death was posted late Thursday on Springsteen’s official Web site.

He last performed with Springsteen and the band last month, appearing during portions of a March 20 show in Indianapolis.

“Danny and I worked together for 40 years — he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much ... we grew up together,” Springsteen said in a statement posted on his Web site.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Your Fish is My Command* (Happy Passover)

It is that time of year again, when matzah is hidden, questions are asked, wines are imbibed, and (in Montreal, anyways) playoffs are watched between courses.

We'd like to wish a very happy Passover to all who are celebrating. May no matzah be stuck in your molars!**

All the best from Wise Law Blog.

* That's gefilte fish, of course. (Line stolen from my sister)

** Lfted from my frend Michael W.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Springsteen Endorses Obama

Bruce Springsteen has announced his endorsement of Barack Obama as Democratric Presidential nominee.

In a letter addressed to friends and fans posted his Web site, Springsteen said he believes Obama is the best candidate to undo "the terrible damage done over the past eight years."

"He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next president," the letter said. "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.' "

Here's The Boss from 2004's Vote for Change tour, on the eve of America's last presidential election:



- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Divorce By YouTube

We've written previously on the troubling emergence of the "divorce blog,"

These are web logs in which a divorcing spouse typically airs the family's "dirty laundry" online, often in a running commentary, for all to see.

Tricia Walsh-Smith, one of the protagonists in a bitter Broadway divorce-in-progress, has now taken this disturbing trend up several notches.

She has brought her grievances to the nation - via YouTube:

CNN has the story:

Some prominent New York divorce lawyers couldn't think of another case where a spouse -- in this instance, the wife of a major Broadway theater operator -- had taken to YouTube to spill the secrets of a marriage in an apparent effort to gain leverage and humiliate the other side.

"This is absolutely a new step, and I think it's scary," said Bonnie Rabin, a divorce lawyer who has handled high-profile cases. "People used to worry about getting on Page Six [the gossip page of the New York Post]. But this? It brings the concept of humiliation to a whole new level."

In a tearful and furious YouTube video with close to 150,000 hits to date, former actress and playwright ("Bonkers") Tricia Walsh-Smith lashes out against her husband, Philip Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway,

She goes through their wedding album on camera, describing family members as "bad" or "evil" or "nasty," and talks about how her husband is allegedly trying to evict her from their luxury apartment. She also makes embarrassing claims regarding their intimate life, and then calls his office on camera to repeat those claims to a stunned assistant .

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Hillary Clinton's New Ad

Pennsylvania voters speak in Hillary Clinton's latest ad:

Apparently this "traitorous" act of allowing voters to be heard has peeved some of Barack Obama's more easily-aggrieved supporters.

(Voters speaking? Can't create precedent for that - the people of Florida and Michigan might get ideas...)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Monday, April 14, 2008

401 Pigs

It's been a while since I've had occasion to opine on swine (and if you haven't yet read of the misfortunes of one Alaina Templeton, you ought to), but this report from CityNews of a motor vehicle accident yesterday on Toronto's Highway 401 certainly provides adequate cover for another fleeting poke into the genre:

For years, drivers have been complaining about road hogs on the 401. But on Monday, they actually saw them. About 50 pigs were set free along a stretch of North America's busiest highway after a spectacular crash closed the road for hours and had police marvelling that none of the drivers involved lost their lives.

It happened around 8am on the 401 near Winston Churchill Blvd., but the reason for the cause remains a mystery. The OPP say the driver of a livestock truck didn't slow down with the rest of traffic, causing his rig to hit an Enbridge Gas vehicle, which in turn smashed into a silver Honda in a chain reaction crash. Both drivers in the latter vehicles were sent to hospital with serious injuries, but are expected to pull through.

The incident caused a six-hour closure of the westbound highway.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Bits and Briefs

A busy period has kept me from writing as much as usual. So, here is another installment of Bits and Briefs to get us caught up on some recent legal happenings:

  • Is waterboarding the latest chic technique for corporate team-building? An Utah employee who was waterboarded by his boss at a motivational sales meeting thinks not. "You saw how hard Chad fought for air right there. I want you to go back inside and fight that hard to make sales." See: Team-Building or Torture? Court Will Decide - Washington Post

  • Yet another Borat lawsuit has been filed - this will make it fourteen, to date. A Maryland driving instructed has joined the list if litigants who have sued Sacha Baron Cohen after allegedly being duped into appearing in the 2006 motion picture. See Bashing "Borat" - OnPointNews

  • Fined for the F-Bomb - A U.S federal judge in Philadelphia has sanctioned Aaron Wilder, a Long Island mortgage broker and his lawyer with a $29,000.00 fine, after a profanity-laced, two day deposition that featured 73 usages of a naughty word that rhymes with buck, duck and (since it's NHL playoff time) puck. Mr. Wilder now complains of censorship. ""It's in usage," he said of the F-word. And using it, he added, is his "constitutional right." See Deposed, Not Composed and video of the "Deposition from Heck" - Philadelphia Inquirer

  • Not Bad for a ten year old: Daniel K. Wedding II, a ten-year-old Toledo boy has become the first kid in class to be awarded a U.S. Patent, after inventing a polycarbonate plastic boomerang toy. "Whether Daniel wants to grow up to become a patent attorney, an electrical engineer or his dream of being "the next Bill Gates" probably depends on what mood one catches Daniel in." See Boy, 10, granted a toy patent - Scripps News

  • The Facebook founders' lawsuit may soon be over. A dispute between Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg and his former Harvard colleagues over the original code that allegedly was a precurser to Facebook is apparently drawing to a close. "A person briefed on the status of the dueling lawsuits" said a settlement was expected within weeks." See Facebook and ConnectU lawsuit to reach settlement - Associated Press; Facebook to Settle Lawsuit Over Its Origins - New York Times

  • As anticipated, a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission against Mark Steyn and Maclean's Magazine over an allegedly anti-Islamic article has been halted by the Commission. A Statement by the Commission advised, "In a recent decision, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (the “Commission”) decided not to proceed with complaints filed against Maclean’s magazine related to an article “The future belongs to Islam.” The complainants alleged that the content of the magazine and Maclean’s refusal to provide space for a rebuttal violated their human rights. Denying a service because of human rights grounds such as race or creed can form the basis for a human rights complaint. However, the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) does not give the Commission the jurisdiction to deal with the content of magazine articles through the complaints process." Also see: Ontario Human Rights Commission to Steyn And Macleans... - BigCityLib

  • Professor Orin Kerr at Volokh has an interesting discussion on whether U.S. jurors should be made aware of mandatory minimum sentencing laws prior to deliberations. See Thoughts on United States v. Polizzi - The Volokh Conspiracy

  • Meet the Borings - Aaron and Christine Boring of Pittsburgh have launched a suit against Google for "intentional and/or grossly reckless invasion" of their privacy, after Google's Street View posted images of their home on its online service. The Borings claim "in excess of " $25,000.00 for compensatory, incidental, consequential and punitive damages, and seek Google's destruction of all photos of their home in all media. See: Couple Sues Google Over "Street View" - The Smoking Gun; Couple Suing Google Maps For Private Residence Pictures - Web Pro News

  • It sure is reassuring to know that Existence of Sex Tape with Husband Shouldn't Impact Sexual Harassment Claim. An Ohio state appeals court has held, "Whether or not [the plaintiff] willingly made a tape with her husband in the privacy of her own home has no bearing on whether or not her exposure to pornography at her work place was unwelcome and damaging." - Workplace Prof Blog

  • Finally, animal rights is a developing area of law that we should definitely keep an eye on. See Owner Charged With Cruelty for Failing to Treat Cat's Ailments from Overlawyered. A commenter asks "So if my cat gets cancer and I choose not to spend thousands on chemo and radiation I can be charged with a crime?" Good question. Maybe someday.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

Haircuts, Drivers' Licences, Bitterness and Hypocrisy

Having read the various apologetics from Obama supporters in their comments to Annie Kenet's post earlier today, "Obama Rules" Broken, I'll weigh in, too.

Of course the current "bitter voters" story is dumb.

Of course Mr. Obama's comment about gun-toting, bible-clinging, bitter Pennsylvanians has been spun out of proportion and robbed of context in the uproar that has followed.

And of course it's unfair to an Obama candidacy that is about a whole lot more than one, ill-conceived comment.

Thing is, this is how the American political process always plays out.

These press pile-ons are ridiculous, dysfunctional, and the root cause of the triumph of incompetence that twice led the nation to elect George Bush as its president.

But pardon me for noting that Mr. Obama's defenders are sounding an awful lot like schoolyard bullies who've thrown lots of sucker-punches, but break into unabating tears after receiving a taste of their own medicine for the first time.

Nothing contributed more to Mr. Obama's January 3rd Iowa caucus victory than the manufactured silliness that followed an October 30th Democratic candidates' debate, when Hillary Clinton supposedly equivocated about a New York State bill that dealt with drivers' licences for illegal immigrants.

Of course, this was a local state matter, entirely out of the federal domain, entirely irrelevant to the serious issues affecting the well-being of the nation, and entirely removed from Mrs. Clinton's control or influence in Washington.

So where was Mr. Obama then, when the press savaged Mrs. Clinton as a vague, untrustworthy flip-flopper?

Ummmm... he was jumping on the bandwagon, hitting hard too, building momentum, and watching the votes roll in:

Hillary Clinton, in the recent Democratic Debate, was savaged by John Edwards and Barrack Obama for her apparently contradictory stances on immigration. She said she favored the plan by the state of New York to issues drivers licenses for illegals, but said it wasn't the best thing to do, but that it was needed to bring illegals out of the shadows.John Edwards attacked Hillary Clinton for saying two things in the space of two minutes. Barack Obama also chimed in claiming he didn't understand Senator Clinton's answer. However, when asked by Tim Russert where he stood, Barack Obama essentially held the exact same position as Senator Clinton.

Similarly, much earlier in the campaign, when the cost of John Edwards' haircuts rose to national prominence as an election "issue," where was Mr. Obama?

We know the answer.

He was sitting back, watching Mr. Edwards' candidacy be delegitimized and destroyed by a media narrative that repeatedly hinted at the candidate's "masculinity deficit."

And, of course, all the while, Mr. Obama was watching his votes roll in.

Let's face it. Mr. Obama's candidacy has benefited enormously from these previous media hit-jobs.

Now, it is he who misspoke, and it is he who is on the receiving end. Like it or not, this may just be the beginning for him.

In an ideal world, this minor gaffe would not be a big deal.

U.S. politics, however, is no ideal world.

These are the kinds of issues, regrettably, that seem to galvanize the media and resonate with voters. U.S. elections are won and lost on this silliness.

Mr. Obama did not rise to defend his adversaries when they got "the treatment."

And from where I sit, he can't sit back and reap the benefits when it happens to his opponents, but credibly cry foul when it happens to him.

That is just hypocrisy.

And America has a few too many hypocrites in office, already.

Bitter hypocrites, in fact.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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"Obama Rules" Broken

In a prior post, Garry Wise outlined his “Obama Rules” - the playbook for Obama supporters and much of the American media covering the race for the Democratic presidential nomination between Senator Hilary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama:

Rule 1:

Every word Barack Obama (or any one of his supporters) shall utter shall be deemed to be historic, monumental and as pronouncing a self-evident, higher truth never before heard.

Rule 2:

Every word uttered by Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton (or any other supporter of the Clinton campaign) shall be deemed to be controversial, divisive and solely driven by a shameless desire for political gain, at any cost.

After a particular comment made by Senator Barack last week, however, it appears (mercifully) that some rules are just meant to be broken.

CNN reports:

Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday tried to clarify what he meant when he said some small-town Pennsylvanians are "bitter" people who "cling to guns and religion."

Sen. Barack Obama told a newspaper if he offended anyone, he deeply regrets it.

I didn't say it as well as I should have," Obama admitted in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday, the day after he first defended his comments, "because the truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation -- those are important." The Illinois senator made the controversial comments at a California event that was closed to the media last Sunday.

Obama defended his point of view amid intensified criticism from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain that's he's elitist and out of touch.

The following is Mr. Obama's controversial remark:

It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

........

Update - April 13, 2008:

With their usual lightning-speed, Mr. Obama's supporters have now responded to the controversy. See: Bitter Voters for Obama.

I've also added my own 2.5 cents to this discussion. See: Haircuts, Drivers' Licences, Bitterness and Hypocrisy

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Position Available: Junior Legal Assistant, Toronto

Hiring: Junior Legal Assistant - Toronto Law Office

Wise Law Office is currently seeking a Junior Legal Assistant to join our Toronto law offices.

The successful applicant will deliver direct client services, coordinate our current marketing initiatives and provide reception and administrative support in our offices.

This position offers a genuine opportunity for the successful candidate to grow within our firm's innovative legal environment, build legal knowledge and skills, expand and enhance our client services, and contribute in a direct, hands-on manner to our firm's growth and profile within the legal community and Ontario legal marketplace.

See the full job posting at our website: Position Available: Junior Legal Assistant, Toronto

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Gang Wars and Family Courts

Graffiti - Gang Wars and Family CourtsHere's a story for the books from the Denver Channel.

I can imagine the custody battle already:

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father's arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.

.... His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.

"They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim,'" Sandoval said

Ah, the many challenges of parenthood...

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Supreme Court Justice Bastarache Announces Retirement

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Mr. Michel Bastarache announced his retirement from Canada's top court.

According to a Supreme Court of Canada news release:

The Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada, announced today that Justice Michel Bastarache has written to the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Robert Nicholson, to advise that he will retire at the end of the spring session of the Court, effective June 30, 2008. “Justice Bastarache has served on the Court with wisdom, and made enormous contributions to the Court and to Canada. He is a valued colleague and a friend, who will be missed by all the members of the Court”, said the Chief Justice.

For his part, Justice Bastarache said, “It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to be a member of the Supreme Court of Canada. There are but a small number of jurists who have had the opportunity to serve their country in this capacity, and to have had the chance to participate so directly in the development of the law. I am extremely grateful for the privilege of serving as a member of the Court.”

Justice Bastarache was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on September 30, 1997, just over 2 years after his appointment to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.

His successor is expected to be appointed by October 2008.

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

.....

UPDATE: April 13, 2008

St. John, New Brunswick's Telegraph-Journal highlights three judges from the Province who are seen as potential appointees for Justice Bastarache's soon-to-be vacant Supreme Court of Canada seat:

Ernest Drapeau, chief justice of the province, and New Brunswick Court of Appeal judges Joseph Robertson and J.C. Marc Richard are seen as having the legal breadth and intellectual depth to make them worthy appointees.

-Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Monday, April 07, 2008

Canada's Thriving Defamation Industry

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Saskatchewan Premier Brad WallIs it becoming trendy for Canada's elected politicians to play the defamation game?

Canadian Press reports that Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, following closely in the Prime Minister's guiding footsteps, is the latest to throw his hat into the nation's libel litigation sweeps:

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has advised The Canadian Press he intends to sue the national news agency for defamation for a headline it ran on a story featuring controversial comments he made on a home-movie videotape made more than 16 years ago.

The headline on the first story, published on the wire before Wall or Lukiwski had apologized, stated: "Tape with Sask premier and Tory MP has racist, sexist, homophobic comments: NDP."

"The headline of the article states directly, or by innuendo, that Premier Wall was responsible for racist, sexist and homophobic comments appearing on a videotape," reads the notice of intent to sue under Saskatchewan's Libel and Slander Act.

"Those comments were in fact made by another individual. Premier Wall was not in the room when the comments were made and first learned of those comments (Thursday)."

..."We feel we accurately portrayed the allegations made by the NDP, and that the tape was a matter of public interest," said Scott White, Editor-in-Chief of The Canadian Press.

"We're a bit surprised the premier has decided to take legal action against the media for doing what it does on any given day, which is to accurately report the to and fro between political parties."

Should the scope of the nation's political debate really be decided in the courts?

Canada would be well-served if Messrs. Harper and Wall spent a bit more time answering the legitimate questions that have left the nation's voters wondering, and a lot less time with their lawyers.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

UPDATE:

The Canadian Press reported on April 7, 2008 that "Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he is dropping plans for a defamation lawsuit against The Canadian Press over its coverage of the release last week of an old videotape containing offensive comments."

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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