January 13, 2005
Jailed for Lawyer Jokes
A little bit of local news from MSNBC.com:
Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes?Yep, jailed for jokes that a nearby thin-skinned John Edwards-type didn't much care for. I would add that he apparently wasn't a very good lawyer either; the "good ones" (according to the lawyer mentioned below) have special security passes and don't have to wait in line with the peons.It happened this week to the founders of a group called Americans for Legal Reform, who were waiting in line to get into a Long Island courthouse.
"How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?" Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera.
"His lips are moving," they said in unison.
While some waiting to get into the courthouse giggled, a lawyer farther up the line Monday was not laughing.
He told them to pipe down, and when they did not, the lawyer reported the pair to court personnel, who charged them with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
I actually heard these guys (well, one of them) on the radio this morning when they made an appearance to explain their story and get legal representation from the liberal lawyer/talk show host I love to hate, Ron Kuby. While I disagree with Ron on the vast majority of his politics, he is a hell of a lawyer, and I'm glad he's taking on this one... for free.
Of course, this arrest should never have happened, which makes the fact that the two guys arrested were with a judicial reform advocacy group all the more ironic.
Note: Despite what the caption says, the name of the dog in the Ron Kuby link above is Lily, not Commie. "Commie" just describes Kuby's political stance.
