Law Times

Page 16 May 16, 2016 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story "Look on the bright side! Now you don't need a warrant to see inside my trunk." © 2015 Stewart. All rights reserved. We put legal professionals front and centre and we put our efforts into keeping real estate transactions where they belong – in your office. Learn more about our level of support, call (888) 667-5151 or visit stewart.ca. Ally Untitled-4 1 2016-03-02 10:19 AM GOD FAILS TO SHOW UP IN COURT. AGAIN HAIFA, Israel — An Israeli man has applied for a restraining order against God, on the grounds he feels he has been the subject of un- kind treatment, Legal Cheek web site reports. Legal Cheek quotes David Shoshan, who lives in Haifa, as saying, "For the past three years he [God] started to treat me harshly and not nicely." Shoshan has apparently gone to police for as- sistance with the issue. Legal Cheek reports that Judge Ahsan Ca- naan called the application " ludicrous." Legal Cheek cited a news web site called NRG, and said, "According to the report, the judge appeared to question Shoshan's state of mind, telling him that he should seek help, but not from the courts." The court documentation notes that God did not attend the hearing. MAN GETS INTO LEGAL TROUBLE FOR DOG'S 'NAZI SALUTE' COATBRIDGE, Scotland — A Scottish man may be charged with a hate crime after his dog allegedly made a Nazi salute in a video, reports The Guardian. The web site says a 28-year-old man was ar- rested, after a video clip surfaced that "allegedly shows a pug sitting in front of a screen showing footage of Adolf Hitler and appearing to make Nazi salutes." The Guardian reported that the video was available online, and quoted Police Scotland as saying it "caused offence and hurt to many people in our community." The man was arrested for the improper use of electronic communications under the Com- munications Act 2003, the web site reported. "There is no place for hate crime in Scotland and police take all reports of incidents seri- ously," detective inspector David Cockburn was quoted as saying in The Guardian. VAGINA-SHAPED ART ALLOWED, SAYS JAPANESE COURT (PHEW) TOKYO, Japan — A Japanese artist has been found guilty of obscenity for sharing digital information to create a replica of her genitals for artistic purposes. Through the Associated Press, the CBC reports that a Japanese court found Megumi Igarashi, known as Rokudena- shiko, guilty of the charge for the digital distri- bution of data of her own vagina. She was fined the equivalent of about $4,700 for distributing the information, said the CBC. "The court said a set of three plaster figures in the shape of her vagina, decorated and painted in bright colours, did not look like skin or im- mediately suggest female genitalia and therefore were not obscene, her lawyers said," according to the CBC report. "However, the judges said the data, from a scan of her own vagina, could be used with a three-dimensional printer to cre- ate a realistic shape that could sexually arouse viewers." The CBC reports that Igarashi spoke out against the ruling. "There is very much a male-oriented view of what is considered obscene in terms of the female genitalia, and my work is to overturn those notions. I am extremely frustrated that that message did not come across to the judges," Igarashi told reporters after the ruling. NOTE TO SELF: DON'T SHOOT SELF IN GROIN TACOMA, Wash. — The News Tribune re- ports a 16-year-old boy accidentally shot him- self in the groin after an alleged drug deal gone wrong. The boy had allegedly set up a drug deal on Facebook over marijuana. The shooting happened when the boy went to put the gun in his pants, said The News Tribune. The boy was taken to hospital, where The News Tribune reports he had an operation to fix a "fractured pelvis, fractured femur and se- verely damaged femoral artery, records state." LT JUDGE HONOURED BY SABA OF NORTH AMERICA Justice Russell Juriansz has been recognized by the South Asian Bar Association of North America with its Pion- eer Award. Ron Choudhury of Miller Thomson LLP is the recipient of the association's Cornerstone Award, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario received the Public Service Achievement Award, and BMO Financial has been recognized with the En- terprise Award. The awards were given out during the association's annual convention in Houston this month. "Justice Juriansz is only the second Canadian to be awarded SABA North America's Pioneer Award," according to a SABA of Toronto news release. "Justice Juriansz is being honoured for, in part, being the first South Asian judge appointed to the Superior Court of Justice and the first minority judge appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario." OMBUDSMAN CALLS TO ABOLISH INDEFINITE SEGREGATION Ombudsman Paul Dubé has called on Ontario to stop putting prisoners in segregation for in- definite periods of time. "Indefinite segregation should no longer be an accepted or legal correctional practice in Ontario," said Dubé in a news release. The ombudsman has released a submission to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correc- tional Services called Segrega- tion: Not an Isolated Problem, that details 28 recommendations, including "creating an indepen- dent panel to review segregation placements, and giving proce- dures — such as a 15-day limit on placements — the force of law." The submission is available at www.ombudsman.on.ca. ONTARIO ACCESS TO JUSTICE CHALLENGE LAUNCHED The Legal Innovation Zone at Ryerson University has an- nounced the Ontario Access to Justice Challenge, where up to six startups will receive support. The challenge is receiving sup- port from Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General. "The Ontario Access to Jus- tice Challenge will offer up to six successful innovative startups admission to the LIZ to develop their ideas. The best among them will share $50,000 in seed money," according to a news re- lease from Ryerson University. "The Challenge is expected to result in products, technologies, or processes that will have a di- rect positive impact on access to justice in Ontario. Founders or co-founders whose startups contribute to the public's access to the justice system are encour- aged to apply." For details, visit http://legalin- novationzone.ca/a2jchallenge. LAW TIMES POLL Law Times reported a recent Su- perior Court decision, Daggitt v. Campbell, gained attention because of strong words a judge had about an expert witness re- peatedly criticized for bias. Read- ers were asked if a judge should strike experts from trial at a pre- liminary stage. Eighty-one per cent of re- spondents said yes, if the expert showed a clear pattern of bias, judges should strike them from trial at a preliminary stage. But 19 per cent said no, it was not pru- dent or fair to strike experts at a preliminary stage, and this didn't honour the court process. LT Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Russell Juriansz is the winner of the South Asian Bar Association of North America's Pioneer Award. 19 % YES, I AGREE 81 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE

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