I remember this story vividly, and also remember being pissed that it was Margaret who said it because I felt that having a character as annoying as her make a declaration like that turned it into a petulant statement rather than a motivational one.

Judges should not make rulings based on the “political” views of the attorneys before them. That is the opposite of impartiality.

But you are protected by the First Amendment in front of the bench if the court is exercising viewpoint discrimination. The court can prohibit political expressions altogether, but it cannot allow only political expressions in support of particular causes. Once a government actor allows some political expression, the…

I have, actually, although it’s not usually extensive like “no pins” etc. It’s usually something along the lines of “appropriate attire; no shirts with vulgarity.”

I agree that attorneys should act as close to transparent agents of their clients’ interests as possible while in the courtroom. I also agree that there’s no freedom of expression in the courtroom when it comes to dress. But if the judge, as he said, was allowing flag pins (which are, despite his protestations to the…

Yup. Playing games on your phone at a concert is pretty rude if (a) the venue is otherwise dark and your glowing screen is distracting people, (b) your game-playing is loud enough that people around you can hear it, (c) you are in an audience small enough that the performer is particularly likely to notice you…

It’s also more than a little ironic that the person flipping out about someone wasting moments of their Beyoncé experience on their phone is on his phone wasting moments of his precious Beyoncé experience worrying about what someone else is doing.

So this guy gets 6 months, but the guy that hacked some baseball information gets 4 years?

The authorities shouldn’t get to decide that something is illegal just because they want it to be. Cops and prosecutors being able to decide what the law is have a strong tendency to use that power to hurt women, people of color, and queer people. Those of us who are in one or more of those groups have a particularly…

“Judge Elizabeth Branch, who authored the opinion.” The story here is that the legislature is incompetent at writing laws. Don’t blame the judges for having to work within the democratic system.

Judges can’t do that.

I get this isn’t a glamorous job, but is it really necessary to shit on this guy for working?

Ted Cruz is exactly the kind of person whose entire knowledge of basketball would have been gained from reading the rulebook.

That’ll teach ‘em. There’s nothing straight men hate more than naked ladies.

No, the kids are legally innocent. He’s allowed to protect himself and his property, but he shot off his property—the teenagers weren’t trespassing and did not threaten him until after he brandished a gun at them. At that point, they (may have) aimed their vehicle at him in self defense.

Why do you believe his account, without any fact checking, and not theirs? No crime was committed against the man with the gun, and he shot at them. This is about as clear as it gets.

That guy should go to prison no matter which story is true. You can’t pull a gun on people in a public street, then claim self-defense when they try to run, even if it’s in a car in your direction.

The tire is also a sticking point for me, as it would have gone flat pretty quickly.

The kids aren't innocent? It's legal to be on public property like streets even at night and even when you're close to someone's house

Very true, I’ve had quite enough of people screwing in public. Just do it at home, folks!