Legal news, some illegal. All of it interesting
1. The Bird (Yep That One) Is the (Protected) Word
A man arrested for one-finger saluting a police officer is high-fiving his legal team. The man sued the Vermont State Police for violating his First Amendment rights in 2018. A trooper pulled him over after he thought he saw the man flip him off. He hadn’t, but even if he had, the Constitution guarantees freedom of flip, which the man explained with some profanity. The officer let him go and the man gave him the finger for real. So, the trooper pulled him over again and took him to the bird, we mean, big house. VSP agreed to pay $100K plus $75K in legal fees.
Long arm of law, no fingers, here…
2. Cincinnati Jail Allowed Teen Interns -Whaaa?
From the terrible, terrible ideas file – a teenage girl is facing charges for allegedly smuggling drugs and contraband to inmates in an Ohio county jail. The 17-year-old was working as a criminal justice intern for the sheriff’s office and allowed to supervise high security inmates. What could go wrong? The sheriff says they’ve had teen interns for decades and it’s not like she was unsupervised. Okaaay. But at least some lawmakers and others with a background in law enforcement are asking who in the disaster-waiting-to-happen thought it was a good idea to let female juveniles supervise inmates? The internship program has since received a death sentence.
3. Couple Fights For Their Right To Party
It’s a testy day in the neighborhood, a messy day for some neighbors. A Maryland couple’s suing several of their neighbors for calling the police on them every time they have a party – which is a lot. Since buying and fixing up their house, they’ve thrown numerous shin digs for family, college friends, and fundraisers. Neighbors called police on them 41 times, saying would you be quiet? Could you be quiet? Please won’t you be my quiet neighbor. The host and hostess, who are black, contend that what their Caucasian neighbors are really saying is would you be white? And they’ve filed a civil rights lawsuit against neighbors and the county.
4. IRS Can’t Take Your Call Right Now or Ever
Only a government agency would set 85% as its goal for level of service. But when you’re the IRS and a taxpayer’s chance of reaching a customer service representative is tantamount to winning the lottery, 85%’s good. Thus, the nation’s tax collector proudly rated its service score for this year’s tax season 88% – up from a pandemic low of 4%. But hold on to your W2s. That stellar self-assessment applies even though two-thirds of people calling the agency still fail to reach a human and only one-fifth of the 2M people calling the collections phone line reached a representative. Go government! Not tracked was how often callers’ issues were resolved.
