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In plaintiff’s challenge to the constitutionality of the Mental Health Services Act, which expands funding for mental health services for all Californians by imposing an additional tax of 1 percent on annual income in excess of $1 million, trial court judgment is affirmed as there is no constitutional infirmity in the Act as an income tax may be rationally based on a taxpayer’s income level and ability to pay, and there is no need to show that a particular taxpayer personally benefits from a tax assessed for the public good....

Jury instructions are the very important rules that judges give to jurors before they begin deliberations on a case. We have recently covered several cases where postings on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become a concern in the jury box and an item to be included in the jury instructions. In this latest case, however, the presiding judge said he should have included another instruction: “Don’t do anything stupid....

New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith was arrested in Miami Beach, Fla., on Thursday night in what cops characterize as a slam-dunk case that dates back to 2011. Police stopped Smith, 26, in South Beach about 8:30 p.m., ESPN reports. Officers say they recognized the NBA star’s famous face, and knew they had a bench warrant for his arrest. Smith spent the night in the Miami-Dade County jail and posted bond early Friday for the warrant that apparently stems from an incident a year ago....

An attorney in Gainesville, Florida, has, rather strategically, tailored his ads to appeal to a decidedly counter-culture target audience. Specifically, he targeted the youth at Gainesville’s yearly punk event, the Fest, by posting flyers around the event with the words, “Arrested during The Fest?” Is this genius lawyer marketing, or is it ambulance chasing? Romain Jeanticou sat down with Juan C. Calama, an attorney who practices in Gainesville Florida. Jeanticou asked Calama about the latter’s fliers which were strategically placed all over the city in time with Gainesville’s notorious punk music festival....

Some people love their laptops, but this guy is ridiculous – or is he? Chris Sevier says he wants to marry his laptop, and he has filed complaints in five different courts to prove it. But is he really in love with his machine? According to reports, Sevier is actually trying to show that same-sex marriage is ridiculous. The former lawyer and Vanderbilt law graduate has been joined by an animal lover who wants to marry her parrot in this unusual, if not unnatural, quest....

Move over Black’s, there’s a new dictionary in court and it’s free. Urban Dictionary, an online slang dictionary, is a source that some lawyers and judges are relying on in court to define the latest in urban vocab. Words like “iron,” “catfishing,” “dap,” and “grenade” are just some of the words defined using Urban Dictionary in courts last year. Should attorneys should be “cited” for this new resource? It’s online, free, and … reliable?...

Oklahoma City Thunder public address announcer Jim Miller has been arrested for child sex-abuse charges, USA Today reports. Miller was removed as the NBA team’s announcer following his arrest on three felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 16. Two of the three alleged victims say there was sexual abuse involved. Miller is also accused of masturbating to computer porn while forcing the three children to watch him, according to court records....

Positive things have been said about Pokemon Go, most notably how it bring reclusives who play video games out into the light of day. But it’s unlikely anyone expected the upside of the game that the Milford, Michigan police experienced last week. A wanted man presented himself to them in front of the station in his pajamas at night, seeking a nearby Pokemon, reports the Huffington Post. The player must be identifying with the characters in his game right now....

While you can’t sleep in the weeks leading up to your big trial because you’re so excited to deliver your best zingers to your all new jury and make your money to keep your coffers good and fat, you’re all alone in your excitement. Okay, maybe other trial lawyers might get excited too, but that’s it. Unfortunately for the makers of the recently cancelled reality TV show ‘You the Jury,’ trial attorneys do not make up a significant percentage of the TV watching public....

As you may or may not know, Valentine’s Day is barely more than a week away. And as young, single associates, certain feelings of anxiety or pressure may be originating from a non-work source – not having a date. The workplace is a common place for new relationships to blossom, but should associates risk asking out their coworkers? We’ve broached the topic of lawyers finding love before. There are a number of apps which can help you find that special someone (even if just for the night), but what happens if you decide to fish in your firm’s pool?...

Chew on this: Subway’s “footlong” subs aren’t really a foot long, a new lawsuit claims. Gasp! Well, now Subway will have to defend itself against allegations of false advertising. Two men in New Jersey are suing Subway, claiming that the sandwich-maker lied about the size of its footlong subs. The lawsuit comes after an online photo went viral, showing an Aussie posing with a sandwich and a tape measure. The photo shows a “footlong” sandwich measuring in at 11 inches....

When Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar, it wasn’t much of a surprise, but it was a triumph for the actor, who’d been nominated ten times before. But forget Leo. Forget Brie Larson, forget Spotlight, forget even Chris Rock. Guess who else won at the Oscars? Lawyers. Here’s how. DiCaprio would have never have made it up to the Oscar stage if it hadn’t been for BigLaw – and the cruel, nihilistic worldview legal practice can sometimes promote....

Last week we gave all of you doubting whether you had time to take summer vacation a little nudge to take legal-history inspired vacations. We even had suggestions for the nerds at heart, and the too-cool-for-school types. No matter what kind of vacation you take, at some point – most likely five minutes before your flight at the airport gift shop – you will deal with the question: Do I need to bring back souvenirs for my co-workers?...

There’s a former Florida deputy spanking girls, videotaping the act, and sending them to a boyfriend. Sounds bizarre, but unfortunately it’s real. Robin Pagoria, 45, was arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse, production of child pornography, promotion of child pornography and possession of child pornography, reports The Ledger. Disturbingly, Pagoria was hired in 2005, so she has been a Florida detention deputy for nearly six years, reports The Ledger. She has resigned her position as a detention deputy, reports the New York Daily News....

Now that you’ve secured your summer associate position, what courses should you take to prepare for your potential life as a first year at BigLaw? Harvard law professors surveyed attorneys from 11 large firms to find out what courses law students should be taking to help them succeed as new associates, according to The Washington Post. While the usual courses like evidence and federal courts are high up on the list, law students may be surprised that finance courses are highly recommended....

One of the most common ways that professionals will network with each other, outside of those awful events, involves getting coffee or lunch. For busy professionals, squeezing in some mid-day networking when they wouldn’t otherwise be billing hours is just simply an efficient use of time. However, there’s one question that often plagues the un-anointed networker: who pays? Fortunately, there is an easy rule of thumb to remember: the person who extended the invite pays, but the invitee should offer to cover their share, at least once....

A very unhappy Valentine’s Day led to a violent attack, a boyfriend barricaded in a bedroom, and the arrest of his knife-wielding girlfriend, a sheriff’s report asserts. The alleged motive: Anger over the boyfriend’s failure to buy a Valentine’s Day present, Cincinnati’s WKRC-TV reports. Kierra Reed, 22, of Colerain Twp., Ohio, faces a charge of aggravated menacing in connection with a Valentine’s Day spat that allegedly turned into a life-threatening, and knife-threatening, situation....

There are all kinds of scams out there: the omnipresent grandparent scam; the finger-painting scam, so popular in the posh kindergartens these days; and, of course, the fake baby funeral scam. And there’s the classic, shoot yourself and your significant other in a faked home invasion to get settlement money from the property manager scam; an oldie, but a goodie. Suspect Victims Doug Teixeira and Lindsey Pelton, of Deltona, Florida told officers two men entered their apartment and demanded to see “Javier,” and they had the gunshot wounds to prove it....

It’s not unusual for employees who are fired to walk out the door with a bit of resentment. Even those who quit might leave on poor terms. But with the rise of social media, the anger of an ex-employee can be easily amplified. We’re not talking about just a few upset tweets here, but things like potentially damaging, even defamatory, statements on review sites like Yelp or recruitment platforms like Glassdoor....

DNA extracted from a beard hair left at the scene of an armed burglary has led to the arrest of a suspect in the case, one year after the crime was committed. Sheriff’s deputies in Oneida County, New York, say that an armed man confronted a woman inside her home last December. Although the man escaped, the woman was able to grab hair from the man’s beard before he fled, The Associated Press reports....