How Appealing



Tuesday, August 26, 2008

“Ohio man sentenced for writing racial hate letters”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A man who wrote hundreds of hateful letters to black and mixed race men — including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter — was sentenced Tuesday to three years and 10 months in prison.”

And The Cleveland Plain Dealer provides a news update headlined “Writer of racist threats sentenced to nearly four years.”

Posted at 3:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Vetted Judges More Likely to Reject Asylum Bids”: In Sunday’s edition of The New York Times, Charlie Savage had an article that begins, “Immigrants seeking asylum in the United States have been disproportionately rejected by judges whom the Bush administration chose using a conservative political litmus test, according to an analysis of Justice Department data.”

The article features charts and graphs.

Posted at 8:22 AM by Howard Bashman



“Calif. High Court Surprises by Expanding Arbitration Review”: law.com provides a report that begins, “Reversing three state appellate rulings and possibly running afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court, California’s high court on Monday expanded trial court judges’ power to review arbitration decisions.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link.

Posted at 8:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Bonds’ lawyers move to dismiss 10 charges”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Lance Williams has an article that begins, “Barry Bonds’ legal team took a second run Monday at paring back the indictment facing the former Giants’ slugger, who is accused of lying to a federal grand jury about whether he used steroids.”

Posted at 8:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Law School Rankings Reviewed to Deter ‘Gaming'”: Today in The Wall Street Journal, Amir Efrati has a front page article that begins, “The most widely watched ranking of U.S. law schools may move to stop an increasingly popular practice: schools gaming the system by channeling lower-scoring applicants into part-time programs that don’t count in the rankings.”

Non-subscribers to WSJ.com can obtain free access to the full text of the article via Google News or directly by clicking here.

Posted at 7:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Typo vigilantes answer to letter of the law; Crusaders whited-out, corrected historic Canyon sign”: Last Friday’s edition of The Arizona Republic contained an article that begins, “Two self-anointed ‘grammar vigilantes’ who toured the nation removing typos from public signs have been banned from national parks after vandalizing a historic marker at the Grand Canyon. Jeff Michael Deck, 28, of Somerville, Mass., and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff after damaging a rare, hand-painted sign in Grand Canyon National Park. They were sentenced to a year’s probation, during which they cannot enter any national park, and were ordered to pay restitution. According to court records, Deck and Herson toured the United States from March to May, wiping out errors on government and private signs. On March 28, while at Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim, they used a white-out product and a permanent marker to deface a sign painted more than 60 years ago by artist Mary Colter. The sign, a National Historic Landmark, was considered unique and irreplaceable, according to Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix.”

And in other coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Men banned from national parks after vandalism.”

Back on March 28, 2008, The Boston Globe profiled the men and their mission in an article headlined “On the road looking for typos; Grammar-conscious pals set signs straight.”

At least it’s still lawful to photograph gramatically incorrect signs and mock them on blogs.

Posted at 7:03 AM by Howard Bashman