March 2007

New LAPD Flashlights Feared Less Effective in Beatings

On Friday, LAPD Chief William Bratton unveiled new police flashlights powered by LEDs rather than standard bulbs.  The new flashlights are brighter, use less power, need fewer batteries, and so can be made smaller than the two-pound, two-foot model that…




Celery-Throwers Face Charges in Britain

The soccer team Chelsea FC has banned three fans, and says it may press charges against them, for throwing celery onto the soccer pitch during the FA Cup quarter-final on March 19.  Two were arrested at the match; a third…


U.S. Supreme Court Gets All Up in Guam’s Face

In a long-awaited and dramatic decision, the Supreme Court held today, unanimously, that in the context of the Guam Organic Act’s debt-limitation provision, 48 U.S.C. section 1423a, Guam’s debt limitation must be calculated according to the assessed valuation of property…


Officials Report Burqas May Hide More Than Female Form

Someone who shows up at a checkpoint anywhere in the Middle East with strange bulges under their clothing is likely to attract some attention.  (I concede that this could happen anywhere, depending on the nature of the bulge.)  That’s what…


Philippine Police Warned Not to Walk Too Gaily

Police officials in the Philippines were targets for criticism last week for discriminatory comments made by Samuel Pagdilao, chief superintendent and spokesperson for the Philippine National Police.  Pagdilao had warned police that they might be subject to administrative charges for…


Sen. Specter’s Lips Refuse to Participate in Subpoena Vote

Paul Kane of the Washington Post’s "Capitol Briefing" blog wrote recently that although the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday to approve subpoenas for top White House aides in connection with the prosecutor-firing scandal, former committee chairman Arlen Specter appeared…


Googling the Bar

People reach Lowering the Bar in many different ways.  Sometimes the Internet address comes to them in a dream, inscribed in letters of gold on mighty tablets handed to them by a majestically robed spirit guide who looks a little…


Bay City Rollers Reunite for Lawsuit

The Wall Street Journal’s excellent law blog reported this week that the members of the 1970s band "The Bay City Rollers" have filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York seeking royalties from their label, Arista Records. Those…