The US House of Representatives today passed a Cash-for-Clunkers bill, giving people up to $4,500 to trade in their old cars for newer, more efficient cars. Inspired by European and Chinese successes, the bill is naturally not without its detractors.
posted by spiderskull on Jun 9, 2009 - 63 comments

The 46 Anime Laws of Physics.
posted by msaleem on May 15, 2008 - 34 comments

American Lawbreaking. "This series explores the black spots in American law: areas in which our laws are routinely and regularly broken and where the law enforcement response is … nothing. These are the areas where, for one reason or another, we've decided to tolerate lawbreaking and let a law—duly enacted and still on the books—lay fallow or near dead." The first two entries are prescription drug abuse and internet pornography.
posted by ND¢ on Oct 15, 2007 - 84 comments

DUI for NOT Driving while Drunk A New Jersey appellate court yesterday upheld the principle that convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) can be imposed on individuals who were not driving. This is not one of those kooky old laws on the books.
posted by CameraObscura on Sep 14, 2007 - 99 comments

Nomic, as introduced by inventor Peter Suber (homepage): a game of self-modification—every move is an attempt to alter the rules governing how the game is played. Further from wikipedia. [A great deal more within.]
posted by cortex on Aug 27, 2007 - 59 comments

An Indonesian TV crew was invited to Malaysia for their Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign but encountered many problems. They write up about it - and start a flurry of comments and controversy across the Malaysian government about blogging. [more inside]
posted by divabat on Apr 6, 2007 - 14 comments

The folks at DownsizeDC have this crazy idea that the members of Congress should have to read the bills that they vote on. Here is their plan to make it happen.
posted by Who_Am_I on Mar 22, 2007 - 48 comments

Australian gun laws claimed to reduce mass shootings. In October, a study prepared by Australian pro-gun lobbyists and published in the British Journal of Criminology argued that tougher gun laws in Australia did little to lower murder or suicide rates. A newly released report agrees that historically declining murder rates were mainly responsible for the decline in average gun homicides from 93 to 56 per annum. In the USA there were approximately 10000 gun homicides in 2004. The report emphasises there have been no mass shootings since the laws were enacted.
posted by bystander on Dec 13, 2006 - 36 comments

NJ says yes to same-sex marriage! (altho it might not be called that in the end) -- link to pdf of ruling here.
posted by amberglow on Oct 25, 2006 - 138 comments

"What does a bill mean when I sign it into law? Why, whatever I choose for it to mean, no more, no less." This isn't the way I learned this stuff on Schoolhouse Rock; I'm unsurprised Congress isn't pleased by 'signing statements', either. Even the Supreme Court isn't all that happy. No wonder he's only vetoed one bill in 6 years.
posted by baylink on Jul 23, 2006 - 38 comments

The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (S. 1955) has passed out of committee and is now slated for a floor vote. The bill is ostensibly designed to save small employers money and extend health insurance options to employees who hadn’t had them. What it is actually likely to do is end basic health insurance coverage for women (and diabetics); birth control, regularly taken prescriptions, cancer screenings, maternity care, and more. Women in every state will lose benefits. S. 1955 would allow insurance plans to ignore important state laws that protect patients, directly affecting more than 90 million Americans. [more inside]
posted by dejah420 on May 2, 2006 - 42 comments

Nearly Half of Americans want to let states legally regulate and tax marijuana the way they do liquor and gambling.
Zogby International will pimp there services to just about anyone these days, including NORML for a poll on American's attitudes towards pot. According to the poll 65% of 18-29 year olds and 50% of 50-64 year-olds are cool with weed being legal and controlled like booze. The former slackers of Generation X, 30-49 year-olds, oppose it by 58% and the geezers over 65 oppose it by only 52%.

The pool shows some interesting generational attitudes. Is the 30-49 age group still following Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" mantra or is this the attitude of parents worried about their kids? I thought these folks were supposed to be the slacker generation, and now they're the strongest opponents to legalization.
posted by DragonBoy on Mar 17, 2006 - 130 comments

Aside from saving money on admission to Disney World and other theme parks, Florida residents can now use deadly force! A series of ads being runned in British papers warns potential tourists of Florida's new Shoot-First law (or the "Stand Your Ground" law for the 'backers out there). Paid for by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. [Previously on mefi]
posted by icontemplate on Sep 30, 2005 - 53 comments

Jurisimprudence. The Big Book of Fandom & Internet Law, brought to us by the kind folks at fandom_wank has been conveniently indexed on del.icio.us.
posted by Karmakaze on Sep 29, 2005 - 4 comments

Sexuality, politics, and memory in Twentieth-Century Germany. The introductory chapter of Dagmar Herzog's brilliant, deeply researched, and beautifully written book, and an informative review by Thomas Laqueur. (via nextbook)
posted by semmi on May 27, 2005 - 7 comments

If we don't ban the sexy cheerleaders, the terrorists will have won.
posted by Saucy Intruder on May 4, 2005 - 67 comments

The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights is slowly making its way through the Florida Senate. This bill would give students the right to sue professors if they feel their beliefs are not being respected during a class.
posted by hex1848 on Mar 24, 2005 - 60 comments

91 pounds of LSD? ...at that dosage level, Pickard and Apperson possessed 2 billion hits of acid—enough to give every person in the Western Hemisphere two doses and still have 250 million hits left over.

Ryan Grim is writing about acid again at Slate.
posted by Gankmore on Mar 15, 2005 - 98 comments

Reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, perhaps the most draconian in the nation, is being seriously debated right now on the floor of the New York State Senate. By the magic of the internets, you can watch this historic event happen, live.
posted by palegirl on Dec 7, 2004 - 12 comments

Britain - Stamping Out Terrorism. One Peaceful Protestor At A Time. "The Home Office proposes "to make it an offence to protest outside homes in such a way that causes harassment, alarm or distress to residents" [PDF & HTML] This sounds reasonable enough, until you realise that the police can define "harassment, alarm or distress" however they wish. All protest in residential areas, in other words, could now be treated as a criminal offence. The government will also seek to "suggest remedies" for websites which "include material deemed to cause concern or needless anxiety to others"."
posted by Blue Stone on Aug 3, 2004 - 29 comments

"A pint? That'll be three quid and a criminal investigation." From Fark. What's the line in the sand? Is there one?
posted by effugas on Feb 2, 2004 - 20 comments

"Want to get arrested? Walk home with me." It's LawForKids, the site devoted to giving the kids the education they need about drinking and other kewl stuff through the aid of really, really, really crappy cartoons. Plus, enjoy the intellectual and grammar-rich discussion on hard knocks in Juvie, plus Flash games about being a good citizen. Not sure about discouraging kids from crime, but I sure as hell want to stay away from a life of web design now.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Dec 14, 2003 - 29 comments

World Trade Organisation's Agreement on Government Procurement. "International law? I better call my lawyer. I don't know what you're talking about, about international law," the president said.
posted by the fire you left me on Dec 11, 2003 - 16 comments

It's the equivalent of "You can play the CD on three designated CD players that support the DRM. Like, it will play ONLY on xyz brand cd player and only three of those that you pick. Yes, you have to stick to that brand of cd player (the iTunes player, the supported OS of iTunes, no unix support in sight) and too bad if you have a fourth one in the bedroom. It's not gonna play in your second car's player either. Nor in the kitchen. Nor on your neighbor's player. Nor can you trade it on the used market when you're tired of listening to it. "
"They finally found a way to sell you some wind. Even better, they will restrict the direction and force in wich the wind will blow, how often and where it will happen..."

As "DVD-Jon" Johansen goes to retrial, a backlash is rising in the media & community towards Apple's DRM (digital rights management), a week after this same kid created an open-source program that lets users copy the songs that they bought onto other sources.
posted by omidius on Dec 2, 2003 - 28 comments

Picture Hunt time! How many women are in this picture? (more inside)
posted by AaRdVarK on Nov 6, 2003 - 54 comments

Caribou Coffee is smacked with a lawsuit for doing nothing when four employees complained of same-sex harassment from their boss. Among the allegations, one claims that the woman "[invited] one of the plaintiffs to her house to engage in some type of sexual activity with her dogs." You've gotta love the local tv news treatment of any given situation. Streaming video also available.
posted by Hammerikaner on Sep 24, 2003 - 6 comments

U.S. court rules FTC overstepped its authority when it set up the list to block telemarketing calls. Damn.
posted by MidasMulligan on Sep 24, 2003 - 64 comments

PA helmets repealed from heads. At midnight tonight, Pennsylvania will become the sixth state since 1997 to repeal its mandatory motorcycle helmet law. Actually, there are a few qualifications. The guys who put this together are probably keen on PA's state store new Sunday hours, too.
posted by ringmaster on Sep 3, 2003 - 52 comments

It's illegal to answer questions about where something is produced... if it's produced in Israel. Or so a Missouri company has just discovered. They've been fined for answering the question, "Are any of these products made in Israel, or made of Israeli materials?"
posted by dejah420 on Aug 12, 2003 - 32 comments

U.S. warns Canada against easing pot laws "David Murray, right-hand man to U.S. "drug czar" John Walters, says he doesn't want to tread on another country's sovereignty, but warned there would be consequences if Canada proceeds with a plan to decriminalize the possession of marijuana." WTF?
posted by ZenMasterThis on May 2, 2003 - 95 comments

Remind me never to cohabit heterosexually, "openly and notoriously," in North Dakota.
posted by artifex on Apr 3, 2003 - 39 comments

The Code of Hammurabi is generally recognized as the first laws ever written. Hammurabi was the ruler who chiefly established the greatness of Babylon (present day Iraq), the world's first metropolis.
posted by stbalbach on Mar 31, 2003 - 14 comments

Last Call to fire up a smoke in NYC has now chimed. As of today, it is now illegal to smoke in any public indoor space, including bars. The New York City Indoor Smoke-Free Air Act of 2002 gives further detail as to what defines a public indoor space. That, not including your residential lease that may prohibit as well. As Andrew Jacobs writes, Walk a Mile for a Camel? Not Far Enough Anymore.
posted by bluedaniel on Mar 30, 2003 - 162 comments

On September 17, 1998, in response to an armed robbery call, Houston police burst in to the home of John Lawrence. The police didn’t find a robber (nor would they – the call was deliberately false), but they did find Lawrence having sex with another man, Tyrone Garner. Lawrence and Garner were promptly charged with “engaging in homosexual conduct,” a misdemeanor under Texas law. They paid their fine and began a long legal challenge to Texas’ anti-sodomy law. That challenge has finally reached the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, which today agreed to hear their appeal early next year. Standing in the way is the Court’s own 1986 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, in which it held that anti-sodomy laws are constitutional. That may be about to change.
posted by pardonyou? on Dec 2, 2002 - 43 comments

More calls for stricter gun laws. Would new gun laws help or would criminals like John Mohammed just ignore any new laws and find a way to acquire more weapons anyway? [more inside]
posted by jasontromm on Oct 28, 2002 - 164 comments

The DMCA isn't the only Dumb Law. So may Strange Laws, even Sex Laws. There's many fun Obsolete Laws still on the books. The list Goes On and On.
Not sure what laws to follow, try A Law Librarian, or, better yet, WWJD?
posted by Blake on Oct 16, 2002 - 6 comments

Is Miranda warning enugh?? An amitted child molester may walk because he wasn't allowed to contact his consulate, why isnt this added to miranda?
posted by hoopyfrood on Sep 9, 2002 - 17 comments

E-mail is trespass? A disgruntled employee's emails to his former co-workers are a legally actionable form of 'trespass to chattels', says Intel. Have you ever trespassed to chattels? Should you fined or even jailed for it? 3 lower courts in Claifornia have said 'yes' to all or part of that last question. (linked to in a thread today, but it deserves it's own).
posted by Jos Bleau on Aug 14, 2002 - 12 comments

Katherine Harris has missed two election deadlines in the last month, failing to resign in time to run for Congress and miscalculating the filing fees required for 100 office-seekers. Guess who has a new appreciation for bending election law?
posted by rcade on Aug 1, 2002 - 27 comments

Britain to Relax Laws for Millions of Dope Smokers. The theory is that this move will free up officers and money to deal with more serious drug problems. As far as the classification goes, cannabis will now be grouped with anabolic steroids and growth hormones, two substances that I think are more dangerous than pot. What was it grouped with before?
posted by Miss Beth on Jul 9, 2002 - 18 comments

Minnesota passes internet privacy bill. How enforcable is this? How long before other States follow suit? Many questions. Same story on Yahoo.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on May 24, 2002 - 3 comments

When stupid laws attack: this article points out that the widely syndicated article about thwarting the copy protection of sony's CDs is a direct violation of the DMCA. Will news directors at Reuters, Yahoo, and CNN be seeing fines and jail time soon? How many times does it have to be pointed out that the DMCA restricts free speech as it attempts to thwart piracy at any cost? (via k5)
posted by mathowie on May 24, 2002 - 10 comments

"This website comprises hundreds of documents (texts, scores, audio and video files) associated with music copyright infringement cases in the United States from 1845 forward. All of these documents have been collected, edited, digitized, organized, analyzed, and commented upon by staff at Columbia Law Library and the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning." Under the discussion section, there a write-up entitled "Notation Software and Determination of Melodic Similarity". For all those music majors out there who are thinking about law school, this is definitely an alternative career waiting for you where you don't have to throw away all the music.
posted by margaretlam on Apr 18, 2002 - 4 comments

Be discriminated against for looking too good. In Western Australia, a widow whose husband died accidentally is losing compensation money because she's considered attractive enough to remarry. What stupid laws do you have where you live?
posted by Jubey on Apr 13, 2002 - 26 comments

Does this actually throw any more responsibility onto ISPs? In PA they are now mandated to block child pornography. But only the kiddy porn the government already knows about. Which apparently anyone can get around, anyway. Noble attempt at eradicating a social scourge or pointless burdensome do-nothing legislation?
posted by umberto on Mar 19, 2002 - 5 comments

Government admits spying on drug reform advocates. Not to be snide, but why are these people even surprised? You can't even get photocopies made these days without being ratted out.
posted by tankboy on Mar 18, 2002 - 15 comments

The Kansas State Legislature has reversed the decision that the state's supreme court made last week about a different kind of reversal. They've let evolution back in the schools, but they aren't quite ready for transexual marriages -- at least not when the widow(er?) would walk away with millions.
posted by milkman on Mar 15, 2002 - 12 comments

Sodomy laws repealed in Massachusetts Equal laws no matter what 'things' you're doing? The sky is going to fall? You decide.
posted by LinemanBear on Feb 22, 2002 - 27 comments

Woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery The man with whom she had sex admitted it, then denied it, and was set free for lack of evidence. She was pregnant when she received the sentence (which provides for her to be buried up to the chest and stoned by male villagers until dead). The Nigerian court in question recently implemented a fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic Law (Sharia, in the case), and have returned to mandatory sentences like stoning to death for adultery and amputation of hands for theft. Modernity, how we luff ya.
posted by brookish on Feb 14, 2002 - 23 comments

Town passes law banning nudity... ... but more notable is the section of the law banning erections in males over 10 years old. Why was a law like this needed? (link via Obscure Store)
posted by krewson on Feb 8, 2002 - 15 comments