Law Times

www.lawtimesnews.com Page 16 March 10, 2008 / Law TiMes CHANCELLOR MCMURTRY Former Ontario chief justice and attorney general Roy McMurtry just got a little busier in his "re- tirement" after last week being named chancellor of Toronto's York University. "With its commitment to social justice, its innovative ap- proach to education, and the limitless potential of its students, York University has so much to offer this province and this coun- try," says McMurtry in a release. "I am delighted and humbled to have the opportunity to serve as chancellor of York." McMurtry, who also served as Canada's high commissioner to the U.K., will be installed into the position on May 23. He succeeds former Canadian Supreme Court justice Peter deCarteret Cory, who has been York's chancellor since 2004. "Roy McMurtry has helped shape the legal and social frame- work of Ontario, and York Uni- versity is fortunate to have him in this important leadership role," said Marshall Cohen, chairman of York's board of governors. McMurtry was born in To- ronto and graduated from York's Osgoode Hall Law School. He was a trial lawyer for 17 years be- fore being elected to the Ontario legislature in 1975, where he was appointed attorney general by then-premier William Davis. He was appointed chief justice of On- tario in 1996. McMurtry is the founder and president of the Osgoode Soci- ety, which was created in 1979 to promote the writing of Canadian legal history. Last year, he received Osgoode Hall Law School's Award of Excellence and the President of the Canadian Bar Association's Award of Merit. PROVINCE WANTS TOUGHER GUN LAWS The province's justice ministers got together last week to call for more action on gun crime from their federal counterparts. "Passage of Bill C-2 is a good first step, but there's more work to do," says Attorney General Chris Bentley in a release. "Let's take the next step and get serious about decreasing the availabil- ity of handguns. We need to ban handguns and stop the flow of guns across our border." The two sides met March 3. The Ontario justice ministers planned to use the forum to press for greater federal involvement in the battle against gun crime. At the meeting, Bentley and Ontario Minister of Commu- nity Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci asked federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and federal Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day to impose a ban on handguns, pay for 2,500 new police officers that were promised nationwide, and increase anti-gun-smuggling secu- rity at the Canada-U.S. border. The provincial ministers also lobbied Ottawa to end amnesty on the long-gun registry. "The federal government was elected on a promise to put 2,500 more police officers on Canada's streets, but have committed less than half of the funding," says Bartolucci. COALITION WANTS CRIMINAL CODE CHANGED The Violence in the Media Co- alition is pressing leaders of the major federal political parties to embrace changes to Canada's Criminal Code, which they say excludes females from protection from public incitement of hatred. The group says the code's pro- visions on public incitement of hatred only protect individuals identified by colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, and sexual orienta- tion. "Public incitement of hatred is prohibited in the Criminal Code because it is an acknowledged contributing factor in encourag- ing violence and discrimination against a target group," reads an open letter sent by the group to Prime Minister Stephen Harp- er, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, NDP Leader Jack Lay- ton, and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe. "Omitting girls and women from the list compro- mises their safety. There is no jus- tification for it. It is a stark piece of 'unfinished business,' and one has to seriously wonder why it is taking so long to deal with it." The Inside Story Confidential CAN I GET A PROZZIE WITH THAT PINK SLIP DES MOINES, Iowa — What's in Las Vegas is in Las Vegas, not in Des Moines. Neil Jorgensen, 62, worked at the Riverside Casino and Gold Resort. For his one-year anniversary on the job, the ca- sino gave him a $100 gift cer- tificate and a free night's stay at the casino's hotel. Jorgensen had a good old time drinking wine and eat- ing steak. He then went back to his room and decided he wanted to watch some porn. He called up the hotel manag- er and asked for assistance in setting that up. Later, he called the manager back and asked if he could assist in procuring a prostitute for Jorgensen. The manager refused, Jor- gensen called the hotel next door and asked the same ques- tion. Hotel workers were then dispatched to his room to ask Jorgensen to please quit call- ing for hookers. When the ho- tel supervisor knocked on Jor- gensen's door, he was met by the occupant in his birthday suit. Said occupant was fired the next day. At his hearing for unem- ployment benefits, Jorgensen argued the resort's advertising claimed, "it's just like Las Ve- gas," so he thought, "I was in Las Vegas. "Gamblers have been al- lowed to continue gambling after they've urinated on the black-jack table standing in full public view," he testified. "I think there's a little dual standard here." Administrative Law Judge Terence Nice rejected Jorgens- en's claim for benefits. NO WAY ON EARTH, RULES JUDGE LOS ANGELES — Policeman Michael Harrington felt he'd been ripped off for $44.63 of overtime, so he sued. He later settled for $10,500 and sought about $46,000 in lawyers' fees. It was all a little too much for Justice Miriam Vogel of the Los Angeles' 2nd District Court of Appeal. She reduced the fee award to $500. "At the risk of understate- ment," Vogel wrote in her rul- ing for the three-judge panel, "there is no way on Earth this case justified the hours pur- portedly billed by Harrington's lawyers." He was represented by Los Angeles' Harris & Ruble. "It is as plain to us as it was to the trial court that, from the outset, this was a dispute about $44.63 and that it was not vi- able as a class action," Vogel wrote. "It is equally plain that Harrington was underpaid as the result of an honest mis- take." Harrington, a Los Angeles police officer, filed his suit against Payroll Entertainment Services Inc. after getting paid $758.37, instead of $803, for a 14-hour, off-duty day pro- viding traffic and crowd con- trol for a movie production. He sought class certification for himself and 15 other officers. CASE SOLVED: IT WAS GHOSTS BUCHAREST — Obviously no ordinary vandal could have been responsible for the prob- lems facing residents of the small burg of Lillieci. According to ananova.com, families in the town reported broken windows, bicycles fly- ing through the air, and can- dles being blown out when there was no wind. Mircea Hadimbu, 68, who claims his house has now been completely wrecked, says, "The windows started to break one by one. I saw two bicycles moving through the air on their own." Hadimbu and others com- plained to the police that they were being spooked by evil spirits. The police had a good laugh at that. Now the joke's on the cops, who have seen the evidence themselves and concluded that ghosts must be to blame. A police spokesman says, "There were bottles and things flying around. I did not know what to dodge first. We can find nothing to suggest it was anything other than what the people claim." A priest has been called in to perform exorcisms of houses in the town in the hope that the attacks will finally stop. Seen, heard, or been involved in a bizarre brief? Tell Viola James about it at viola.james@gmail. com Bizarre Briefs By Viola James Enabling Lawyers through Technology Tel: 416.322.6111 Toll-free: 1.866.367.7648 www doprocess com Real Estate • Corporate • Estates For more Inside Story, please visit www.lawtimesnews.com dyedurham.ca • 1-888-393-3874 • Fax: 1-800-263-2772 Choose Dye & Durham your ONE source supplier OFFICE & FURNITURE PRODUCTS � We're a Canadian Company Office Furniture D ye & Durham offers Ergonomic Furniture products with tips on selecting Ergonomic soloutions that offer more comfort and productivity. Contact one of our Ergonomic Furniture specialists today for comfort tomorrow. OBUSFORME ® Keyboard Support Shown DD LT GRLBBB-03 Frntr bw 2/27/08 9:44 AM Page 1 LT "No! I do not want to hear the one about the moose, the clown, the bartender and the appointed special advocate for security-certificate cases." LT *Page 1-16.indd 16 7/18/08 12:49:51 PM

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