How Appealing



Sunday, May 18, 2008

“Afraid of public trial, author to plead guilty in online obscenity case”: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday contained an article that begins, “She battled the federal government’s allegations for more than a year and a half, but in the end, Karen Fletcher’s mental health will win out over her principles. And First Amendment lawyers will lose a key chance to have a court determine whether text-only material can be considered obscene. Ms. Fletcher has decided to plead guilty to six counts of distributing obscenity online stemming from fictional stories published on a members-only Web site. First Amendment lawyers thought an acquittal in the case could have begun a trend — proving that text-only cases do not rise to the level of obscenity standards.”

I wrote about the case in the October 9, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com, headlined “Text This: Words Alone Can Violate Federal Obscenity Laws.”

Posted at 8:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“Group fighting Barnes move looks west for help”: Yesterday’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer contained an article that begins, “After getting thumped in Montgomery County Orphans’ Court, the people who want to keep the Barnes Foundation’s art collection in Lower Merion are looking west for a strategy. All the way to Montana, in fact. The Supreme Court of the Big Sky State recently removed the board of a museum for breaching its fiduciary responsibility. The Friends of the Barnes Foundation sees parallels.”

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“California chief justice says same-sex marriage ruling was one of his toughest; Ronald M. George, a moderate Republican who voted with the majority, likens the case to civil rights battles”: Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The New York Times reports today that “California Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage Fuels a Battle, Rather Than Ending It.”

And The Boston Globe contains an article headlined “Celebration, then strategizing in Calif.; Gays look to Mass. in battle to keep marriage rights.”

Posted at 8:17 AM by Howard Bashman