Law Times

Page 16 November 18, 2013 Law Times • u The u Bizarre Briefs InsIde story By Viola James STATE CHALLENGED OVER 'COPSLIE' PLATE CONCORD, N.H. — Here's a licence plate some defence lawyers might like to have. According to Reuters, a New Hampshire man who last year changed his name to "human" has gone to the state's top court to defend his right to a vanity plate that insults police: COPSLIE. The man, formerly known as David Montenegro, argued in state Supreme Court that denying him the plate is a violation of his right to free speech. The man, an unemployed accountant, made his request for the COPSLIE vanity plate in 2010. "The Division of Motor Vehicles has a regulation which prohibits vanity licence plates containing messages which the DMV believes a reasonable person would find offensive to good taste. That regulation does not meet constitutional standards," human told a local CBS affiliate after the hearing. New Hampshire associate attorney general Richard Head, who argued on behalf of the government at the hearing, said the agency was within its authority to deny the vanity plate request. "The primary purpose of a plate is to identify motor vehicles, not to engage in public debate," he said in a phone interview. "A statement against an individual would be defamatory. In this case, the plate would have insulted an entire class of workers," he said. According to Reuters, the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union has sided with human. It called the government's standard on vanity plates "unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and viewpoint discriminatory," according to court filings. SINGAPORE'S BATMAN JAILED FOR STEALING SINGAPORE — Singapore's Batman is going to jail. According to Reuters, a Singaporean man with an unusual superhero-like name turned out to be a villain who consumed drugs and stole from his brother. Batman bin Suparman, which means Batman son of Suparman in the Malay language, has gone to jail for two years and nine months for various offences including stealing his brother's automated teller machine card to make withdrawals, media reported. The 23-year-old unemployed man had also broken into the office of a firm in western Singapore to steal money and taken heroin. LAWSUIT TACKLES INVASIVE PROBE DEMING, N.M. — Some people sue the police over strip searches, but a New Mexico man has a particularly graphic story to tell about his experience with the cops. According to Reuters, the man has filed a lawsuit claiming police subjected him to repeated anal probes and enemas after a routine traffic stop because they suspected he was hiding drugs. David Eckert, 54, claims violations of his civil rights in his lawsuit. "This suit is about stopping officers and doctors from subjecting people in their custody and control to unlawful sadistic medical procedures that violate the most intimate parts of the human body," attorney Shannon Kennedy said. According to Reuters, the legal action stems from Eckert's treatment by police after they pulled him over in January for failing to come to a complete stop while exiting a Wal-Mart parking lot in Deming, N.M. Officers suspected he was hiding drugs in his anus, based on the way he was standing and the fact that a police dog alerted to his driver's seat, and obtained a search warrant "to include but not limited to [plaintiff 's] anal cavity," according to the lawsuit. After a medical facility in Deming refused to carry out the procedures, Eckert ended up at the Gila Regional Medical Centre in nearby Silver City, the lawsuit says, where he underwent eight searches including digital penetration of his anus, three enemas, two X-rays, and a colonoscopy. Police ultimately found no drugs, according to the complaint. LT "Wait a sec! On this cheque for the trust fund for the ransom of that orphaned princess who needs a heart transplant and who owns all the oil leases in Nigeria, the last six zeros don't have a comma in the middle! Just how gullible do you think I am?" NEW ONTARIO JUDGES APPOINTED The provincial government has appointed a criminal lawyer as an Ontario Court of Justice judge. Patrice Band will preside at the courthouse in Brampton, Ont., as of Nov. 20. Called to the bar in 1999, Band most recently worked as a sole practitioner focusing on criminal defence, regulatory, and professional discipline work. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant Crown attorney Patrice Band as well as counsel for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. In addition, justices Gladys Pardu and Mary Lou Benotto are the newest judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal as the federal government recently made several appointments across Canada this month. Pardu replaces Justice Robert Sharpe, who moved to supernumerary status in June. She has been a judge since 1991. Benotto replaces Justice Robert Blair, who also became a supernumerary judge earlier this year. She has been on the bench since 1996. OBA CAMPAIGN LAUDED The ad agency behind the Ontario Bar Association's "Why I Went to Law School" campaign has won an award for best campaign work. The campaign featured personal stories of lawyers about why they decided to join the profession in an effort to improve its image among the public. The ad agency, Agency59, won a gold MarCom Award from the Association of Marketing & Communication Professionals, the OBA said. The award had more than 6,500 entries this year from corporate marketing and communications departments, ad agencies, public relations firms, design shops, and production companies.   CAMPAIGN SEEKS TO LIMIT JUDGES' TENURE Supreme Court of Canada judges should have their terms fixed at 12 years, a campaign launched last week is urging. The Canadian Constitution Foundation's campaign comes as the Supreme Court is debating whether to impose fixed terms on senators. "We thought it would be a good time to launch the campaign because the question of term limits is being decided by the Supreme Court of Canada itself," said Chris Schafer, the foundation's executive director. Schafer practised constitutional and regulatory law at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP before joining the foundation in 2010. The campaign stems largely from the concern that Supreme Court of Canada judges can remain in their posts long after the prime minister who chose them has left office. "This is just another extension of the [prime minister's office's] power. That's a concern for democracy," said Schafer. MCMURTRY HONOURED FOR ADR The Ontario Bar Association honoured former Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry for his contributions to alternative dispute resolution last week. McMurtry, counsel at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, helped establish and promote alternative dispute resolution in Ontario, according to the OBA. The award recognizes exceptional practice, writing, and teaching on dispute resolution issues as well as participation in continuing legal education related to the topic. McMurtry received his award at a dinner gala at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto last week. LAO SEEKING FUNDING APPLICATIONS Legal Aid Ontario is inviting legal aid clinics to apply for two new funding programs. A new $1-million fund will support clinic transformation and another $2-million fund will help strengthen the capacity of legal clinics. The deadline for submitting an application to the funds is Jan. 15, 2014, according to LAO. LT The title insurer that puts you front row, centre Putting the legal community front and centre has made us the #1 choice with Canadian lawyers for over a decade. Stewart Title does not support programs that reduce or eliminate the lawyer's role in real estate transactions. For more information call (888) 667-5151 or visit www.stewart.ca. Untitled-2 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 7/19/11 12:31:45 PM

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