In 1956, the city of Cincinnati passed an ordinance making it illegal for a group of three or more people to gather on a sidewalk for the purpose of “annoying” others. When it comes to space law cases, a precedent actually exists that serves as a foundational guide. The Court declared that the statute wasn’t arbitrary or unreasonable, and they deferred to the lower courts, which had upheld the ordinance. While the First Amendment lets magazines print such nonsense without fear of criminal prosecution, people can sue the publication for defamation and related offenses.

As Justice Roberts wrote, “The global need to prevent chemical warfare does not require the Federal Government to reach into the kitchen cupboard, or to treat a local assault with a chemical irritant as the deployment of a chemical weapon.”.

A fruit is a plant’s ripened ovary, so the tomato is as much a fruit as an apple or a banana is—as is the pumpkin, the cucumber, the zucchini, and the chili pepper. The rejection was very similar to Nix v. Hedden in valuing the intention of the law’s writers over technical definitions. Though the final product was barely distinguishable from the traditional alternative, the government accused the company of mislabeling it. The lawyer, Alan Isaacman (played by Ed Norton in the clip above), argues that if Falwell could sue Hustler for the ad, politicians could equally well sue Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau or Johnny Carson from The Tonight Show.

Strange Space Lawsuits. The twins did not fit the definition of “child” under the Social Security Act. So when wealthy Francis C. Welch wanted to erect a building just under 38 meters (124 ft), the city squashed his plan. In this recent case, microbiologist Carol Bond poisoned her husband’s lover with toxic chemicals. Under revised regulations, Aereo and similar services could return as legal competitors to cable and satellite providers. A lower court agreed with Aereo’s arguments, but the Supreme Court didn’t.

It is aimed directly at activity protected by the Constitution. The details of the offense could no more serve to validate this ordinance than could the details of an offense charged under an ordinance suspending unconditionally the right of assembly and free speech. In 1937, when a toxic supposed medication killed over 100 people, the FDA could only seize unsold bottles because it declared them mislabeled. The law is therefore unconstitutionally vague. They decided to follow the spirit of the law rather the letter—most people consider savory items like tomatoes to be vegetables, so the law presumably included tomatoes under the “vegetable” umbrella. This treaty governs all space activities involving both exploration and use of outer space, including the moon a… The federal law was written to govern how rogue states use weapons, not to punish scorned spouses. Robert Capato died of cancer in 2002, but in the year leading up to his death, he regularly deposited his semen at a sperm bank. They were the biological offspring of two legally married persons. So in the end, because a smut peddler was worried over his right to free speech, he ended up shooting the advertising industry as a whole in the foot. Jun 1, 2012 Source: wired.com. The company suspended services soon after. They would pay royalties but bypass the existing transmission system, much like Netflix. Or, rather, approximately 95 barrels—no one bothered to count the exact number, hence the odd title of the case. When local police used this ordinance to shut down protests, a group of students challenged the law all the way to the Supreme Court. A remarkable document that came from UNOOSA’s efforts was that of the Outer Space Treaty. The service treaded some tricky legal ground. We need not lament that we do not have before us the details of the conduct found to be annoying. The Douglas Packing Company was selling a product called “apple cider vinegar,” but instead of making it from fresh apples as most manufacturers did, they made it from dried apples. It changed in 1946 due to the deaths of a few chickens.

The definition covered natural-born children, adopted children, and step-children, but it said nothing about children conceived artificially after the father’s death. The service Aereo let subscribers watch broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.) On a large scale, height restriction laws help air safety, as antennas thousands of feet tall obstruct aircraft. This was one of the rare times that an item, rather than a person, has faced the ruling of a court. The tax law in question (The Tariff of 1883) is now long gone, of course, but the ruling has implications for related cases today. For this product misrepresentation case, neither the company in question nor any of its representatives were brought before the court. But in the 1880s, the Port of New York was taxing tomatoes as vegetables. The sound of low-flying planes scared the chickens into running at the sides of the coops—usually to their deaths. Space Cases: The Weirdest Legal Claims in Outer Space. The appellants in this 1970 case—businesses that sent material, including porn, across the nation through the postal service—claimed that the restriction infringed on their free speech. In such cases, the broadcast counts as a “public performance,” and you owe the copyright holder royalties. It was renting equipment to users, who legally transmitted free TV channels to themselves for their own personal use. This landmark ruling was a huge win for comedians across the country—and for all of us. In June 2014, it ruled that Aereo was infringing on the networks’ copyright.

Damien B. is a part-time writer and basketball lover who is interested in history, politics, crime, and of course basketball. They may even move beyond broadcast channels and let users pay for premium channels individually, offering an alternative to the monopoly that cable companies sometimes hold.

The Court agreed, further declaring that the law’s potential for violating free speech was immense. Aereo claimed that it wasn’t a cable company, it didn’t broadcast to large groups of people, and its signals were not public performances. 10 Lasting Historical Mysteries From Around The World, 10 Weird Court Cases Involving Puppets, Animals, And…, 10 Strange But True Cases Involving Scarecrows, Top 10 Times The US Government Took Inanimate…, 10 Disturbing Cases Of Unethical STI Experiments, Top 10 Unfortunate Cases Of Mistaken Identity, Top 10 Movies That Destroyed The Studios That Made Them, 10 More Ridiculous Deaths In Horror Films, 10 New And Strange Reasons To Love Black Holes, Top 10 Under-Appreciated Scary Movies To Watch This Halloween, Top 10 Mystery Novels That Deserve A Movie Adaptation, Top 10 Mind Blowing Facts About Majestic Mountains, Top 10 Horror Short Films That Will Keep You Up At Night, Top 10 Amazing Flea Market Finds Worth A Fortune, Top 10 Creepiest Places On Earth (That You Probably Don’t Know), Are they pillows, or are they stuffed animals, end at the borders of a person’s property, Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, suspending unconditionally the right of assembly and free speech, Top 10 Scandals That Rocked Royal Families, 10 Cases of American Intervention in Latin America, 10 Hilariously Petty Acts By Politicians And Leaders.

He lost his case. Nor can they claim personal damages from the public’s exposure to the material if it is created in the spirit of parody. In Boston, city ordinances limited the height of any building to 38 meters (125 ft), except in residential areas, where the height was capped at 30 meters (100 ft). Any individual with their own equipment can legally replicate Aereo’s services on a personal level without paying networks anything. The court, however, unanimously rejected her argument.

Famous rulings, such as Roe v. Wade or Brown v. Board of Education, are still debated and studied to this day due to the profound impact they have had on the American political landscape.