Jezebel: Law

Air Marshals: The Assholes of the Sky

Cassie Murdoch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:40:00 EST

Anyone who travels regularly wants to believe that federal air marshals are friendly heroes who are aboard every single flight. (C'mon, it's possible). But the reality, unfortunately, is not so sunny. According to a new government report, air marshals might be fine to share a three-hour flight with, but they don't sound like they'd be too great to work with, particularly if you're a woman. More »

Shitty New Bills Would Make Domestic Abuse More Difficult to Prosecute

Erin Gloria Ryan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:20:00 EST

Today in terrible ideas: a new pair of bills proposed by New Hampshire Republicans would seek to put fresh red tape between police and their ability to arrest domestic abusers in the state. There's no way this could possibly go wrong! More »

What to Do When You're the Breadwinner in Your Relationship

Kate McGuinness — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:45:00 EST

Mass media has trumpeted a market research study's conclusion that young, single, childless, white women living in cities out-earn their male counterparts. Feminists would love to embrace the results, but, in fact, the analysis has many flaws, including the failure to account for educational differences. That hasn't stopped The New York Times from characterizing this finding as a global "trend" and predicting large scale changes in gender roles. More »

FBI Commission To Vote on New, Less Stupid Definition of Rape

Erin Gloria Ryan — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:50:00 EST

Today, the FBI will finally vote on a new definition of rape that will take the place of the current model, and antique from 1929. Victims' rights activists are applauding the move and calling the change long overdue, since the current definition of rape basically said that in order for a woman to be legally raped, Genghis Khan himself needs to travel through time and abduct her to China in front of at least 5 witnesses. Also she has to be a nun. More »

The Most Insane Job-Interview Tips Ever

Anna North — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST

We've seen offensive, annoying, and just plain ridiculous tips for professional attire before. But a missive from Duke's Women Law Students Association puts all these to shame with its insanely detailed, frequently obvious, sometimes batshit, and occasionally helpful recommendations. More »

Woman Mind-Bogglingly Ordered To Pay Spousal Support To Convicted Rapist

Anna North — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EDT

A California woman was sexually assaulted by her husband, and caught the whole thing on tape. He went to jail, but when he gets out, a judge has ruled that she'll have to pay him alimony. More »

Legal Secretaries Would Rather Not Work For Lady Lawyers

Anna North — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:30:00 EDT

A new study shows that female lawyers may be unpopular with legal secretaries. Is this because lady lawyers are just too busy to be nice, or because people have higher expectations of female bosses? More »

Urban Outfitters And The Navajo Nation: What Does The Law Say?

Jenna Sauers — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EDT

Sasha Houston Brown's open letter to Urban Outfitters regarding its use of the word "Navajo" in its product names may or may not have inspired company C.E.O. Glen Senk to fauxpologize in the comments — the company still won't confirm or deny whether it was really Senk or someone impersonating him — but it's certainly kicked up quite the media storm. More »

Did TechCrunch Discriminate Against A Pregnant Editor?

Irin Carmon — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EDT

A prime job opens up, and the person who's discussed as an excellent choice happens to be on maternity leave for the next four months. She gets passed over. Is that legal? Well, it just happened at AOL and Techcrunch. More »

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Slides Down Emergency Chute To Safety

Irin Carmon — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:50:00 EDT

Seventy-eight year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on a plane today that had to be evacuated for engine trouble. Luckily, she wasn't injured, and simply slid down the emergency chute. More »

Obama's Judicial Picks Are Most Diverse Yet

Irin Carmon — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:10:00 EDT

Bill Clinton may have popularized the phrase "looks like America" for his administration, but Barack Obama has him beat, according to a new analysis. "More than 70 percent of Obama's confirmed judicial nominees during his first two years were 'non-traditional,' or nominees who were not white males." Bill Clinton's percentage was 48.1 percent, and George W. Bush's was 32.9 percent. Judges were only counted once, meaning that, say, Sonia Sotomayor wouldn't be double-counted. More »

Judge: Texas Can't Force Doctors To Show Sonogram Results

Irin Carmon — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:30:41 EDT

One of Rick Perry's legislative victories as governor of Texas was a law that fined doctors unless they offered to show sonograms to women seeking abortions, described fetal development in detail, and offered up audio of a heartbeat. Now a judge says that's unconstitutional. More »

Why We'll Never Get Another Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Irin Carmon — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:20:00 EDT

In a speech yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she would likely not be confirmed if she were nominated today. Depressingly, there's no apparent reason to disagree. More »

Judge Rules that Taxing Texas Strip Clubs Doesn't Violate Free Speech Rights

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:25:14 EDT

Last month, we reported on the court battle over a law in Texas that requires strip clubs to pay a so-called "pole tax" of $5 per patron. Club owners claimed that since nude dancing is a form of expression, the tax violated their right to free speech and were refusing to pay up. This week, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the club owners. More »

New Jersey Repeals Laws Governing Ravishment

Anna North — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:15:00 EDT

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has gotten rid of several outdated state laws that discriminated against women in language that now seems absurd. More »

Dog Helps Children Testify About Sexual Abuse

Irin Carmon — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:40:00 EDT

"She just kept hugging Rosie," a psychologist told The New York Times. "She" was a fifteen-year-old testifying about her father repeatedly raping her, as well as impregnating her. Rosie is a golden retriever named after Rosa Parks who helps abused children testify in New York courts. Similarly-trained dogs work with children or developmentally disabled adults around the country. More »

New Law to Clear Prostitution Convictions for Human Trafficking Victims

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:31:00 EDT

As of the beginning of next year, Illinois victims of sex trafficking will have the opportunity to legally expunge their records of convictions related to their being forced into prostitution. More »

The Lesbian Juror Who Could Change The Course Of Discrimination Cases

Irin Carmon — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:50:53 EDT

A gay Nigerian inmate said he was just trying to hug a prison guard, but he was charged with assault after the guard fell. In jury selection for the case, the dismissal of a lesbian may change whether sexual orientation is protected by the constitution. More »

Woman Goes Into Labor, Finishes Bar Exam Anyway

Irin Carmon — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:25:00 EDT

A woman just took the Illinois bar exam while in "active labor," and not only did she finish, she gave birth to a healthy baby less than two hours later, according to Above The Law. More »

Massive Shock That Female Jurors Didn't Go Easy On Blagojevich

Irin Carmon — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:30:21 EDT

Earlier this week, a jury of eleven women and one man convicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 charges related to corruption. So much for the theory that emotionally susceptible ladies would never convict him. More »

How The Wal-Mart Women Lost

Irin Carmon — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:00:04 EDT

All nine Justices today agreed on a legal point about whether the women suing Wal-Mart count as a single class. It's where they disagreed, 5-4 along ideological lines, that matters — namely, whether you can have a discriminated class without a written policy of discrimination. Guess which side all three female justices were on? More »

Supreme Court Sides With Wal-Mart In Gender Discrimination Class-Action Case

Irin Carmon — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:44:18 EDT

In a unanimous decision, the justices said that the up to 1.6 million women who were allegedly discriminated against at Wal-Mart could not sue as a class. The Court hasn't ruled on whether Wal-Mart has discriminated against female employees. [Earlier] More »

The Complete Guide To Stupid Sexual Harassment Defense Arguments

Lauri Apple — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:50:00 EDT

Recently Lisa Beauchamp sued her employer, the Teamsters Local 150 in Sacramento, for sexual harassment after a union official said not-sexy sex things to her, touched her inappropriately, and traded massages with a group of "office party girls" during workplace functions. A jury found for Beauchamp, but dang—she lost on a legal technicality. Now the Teamsters' lawyer is saying dumb things ... as lawyers involved in these cases sometimes do. More »

Juror On NYPD Rape Case: "A Woman Knows When She Is Penetrated."

Irin Carmon — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:35:00 EDT

Melinda Hernandez says of voting to acquit two New York City police officers of rape, "I am a feminist. This was devastating to me. But I had to do my job and be fair and impartial." More »

Lawyer Objects To "Large Breasted Woman" In Courtroom

Anna North — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:41:00 EDT

A lawsuit against an Illinois car dealership took a strange turn recently, when the defendant's lawyer complained about a "large breasted woman" in the courtroom. More »

The Roe V. Wade Catch-22

Irin Carmon — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:28:00 EDT

It turns out that the single-minded focus on the overturning of Roe v. Wade has missed the point. Roe is being undermined not by a sweeping decision, but by its systematic chipping away, state by state, in a game of chicken between anti-choicers and major pro-choice organizations. More »

Montana Governor Vetoes Conservative Bills With Branding Iron

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:15:00 EDT

Brian Schweitzer, the Democratic governor of Montana, has an unorthodox way of telling his state's Republican legislature to STFU- he does it with piping hot metal pressed to the offending bills, twenty-one in all. Schweitzer broke his own record for most consecutive bills vetoed and he did it with swag befitting a Montana cowboy. Yee haw. More »

Particularly Debauched Night Leads To Office Drama

Sadie Stein — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:15:00 EDT

3 Toronto lawyers lost their jobs after an epic-sounding "night of debauchery." Now one's suing for wrongful termination. So what, exactly, went down? More »

28 Years After Divorce, Woman Gets Alimony

Sadie Stein — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:35:00 EDT

Better late than never! And in the Delhi lower judiciary court's defense, she filed late...they've only been deliberating the case for 17 years. More »

Tennessee Cheerleading Squad Charged With Gender Discrimination

Sadie Stein — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:36:00 EDT

After a Columbia Central High School sophomore sued the school's cheerleading coach, the board of ed, the principal and the director of schools, a judge issued a restraining order against the squad; for the moment, no new cheerleaders can be selected. More »

Goofy Law Sends Arizona Politico's Girlfriend To Jail After Domestic Dispute

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:35:34 EST

On Friday night, Arizona State Senator Scott Bungaard and his girlfriend got in a jealousy-related scuffle on the way home from a fundraiser. Both Bungaard and his companion showed signs of a physical altercation, but only his companion was taken into police custody. Why? Legislative immunity, baby. More »

How Facebook Can Help You Get Out Of Jury Duty

Anna North — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:25:00 EST

Lawyers are now using Facebook to weed out potentially problematic jurors. UFO enthusiasts, amateur sexperts, and keg-standing college students, you'll never have to do jury duty again! More »

Forever 21's Bizarre Knockoff Empire

Jenna Sauers — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:55:00 EST

The top row of shirts is by Forever 21. The bottom row is by a small California-based label called Trovata. Welcome to a peek behind the curtain at secretive, cult-y, and very rapidly growing fast-fashion chain Forever 21. More »

The Latest Key Development in Amanda Knox's Trial

Lauri Apple — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 13:40:54 EST

Amanda Knox's lawyer thinks DNA evidence found on the knife Knox allegedly used to kill her roommate in 2007 was inconclusive. Experts will now take 90 days to review the evidence. Meanwhile, her stepfather says she's "doing well" but "apprehensive." More »

Honorable Woman Becomes Your Honor

Lauri Apple — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:20:16 EST

[Columbus, Ohio, January 8: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland administers the oath of office to Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown during her swearing-in ceremony. An advocate of children and women, she's the first female African-American justice on Ohio's Supreme Court. Image via AP.]

Dog and His Owner Save Girl From Sex Attack

Lauri Apple — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:20:06 EST

Today's heroic duo is Chicago resident Agustin Zamora Jr. and his pal Scooby, a 160-pound Great Dane, who helped nab a man suspected of attacking a 14-year-old girl. The suspect's been charged with attempted criminal sexual assault. Nice work, guys! More »

Faking a Casting Call to Abduct a Baby: Not a Good Idea

Lauri Apple — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST

Just ask actress/model/singer Michelle Marie Gopaul, who's now facing charges of abduction of a minor after doing just this. Another item to put on your list of lifetime don'ts! More »

Sisters Starting Over

Lauri Apple — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 11:40:00 EST

[Jackson, Mississippi, January 7: Gladys (left) and Jamie Scott wave during a news conference held after their release from prison. Their life sentences for armed robbery were suspended after Gladys agreed to donate a kidney to Jamie. Image via AP.]

Comatose Teen Girl Gets A Jaywalking Ticket

Margaret Hartmann — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:04:00 EST

As 13-year-old Takara Davis was being rushed into surgery after being hit by a car in Las Vegas, police handed her mother a jaywalking ticket. Takara is in a medically-induced coma, but police insist they, "wouldn't do anything deliberately insensitive." More »

Convicted Rapist Seeks Right to Starve to Death

Lauri Apple — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 12:25:18 EST

A state court has agreed to hear the case of a prisoner who's protested his rape conviction by hunger-striking for the past four years. Being force-fed is "torture," he says—and not just because prison food tastes bad. More »