“Today is the greatest [Mon]day I’ve ever known”

First, if you want to hear some excellent commentary by knowledgeable folks, as well as yours truly trying to sound intelligent, check out my first podcast:

Alabama lawmakers are meeting in Montgomery, but what are they talking about? We asked the experts and got an education.

Dave White, who covers the State House for The Birmingham News and [Wheeler], author of Alablawg join us to discuss pending legislation, including that pay raise lawmakers just approved for themselves, reform bills and what could be coming for educators.

Second, I just got back from court where the judge tossed what was a really stupid case against my client.

Basically, my client was attempting to repossess a vehicle from a delinquent debtor, and ended up being charged with criminal trespass. There were no allegations of violence or danger, all my guy did was go into her garage to make sure the vehicle was the one he was trying to repossess. She told my client to leave, and he did.

Why that led to an arrest and prosecution for criminal trespass, I don’t know. A criminal trespass is the knowingly unlawful entry into a dwelling. Given that the law, and most installment contracts, allow the creditor to enter the debtor’s property to recover the collateral, this was not an unlawful entry. Even if it was, a garage is not a place where a person usually resides, i.e., it is not a dwelling. Finally, even if the entry was unlawful, it was not done knowingly. By virtue of his job as the repo man, my client had a good faith belief that he was privileged to be in the garage. This just was not a crime.

The ADA, though, disagreed. Who is right? Me, of course, but what counts is that the judge interrupted my motion for a judgment of acquittal in order to grant it for us.

Like I said, a really stupid case, but one that caused my client – a young guy with a wife and two little kids – a lot of stress. All he was doing was his job. Thankfully, the judge recognized that and tossed the case.

The Funniest Thing You’ll See This Week

It’s still Monday morning, but I’m pretty sure this is it.

If I had seen that newscast, I would have had a heart attack from laughing too hard. I wonder if the FCC has come calling yet?

H/T Jeff at AI.

Hispanic Codes

Back in August I posted about Huntsville’s attempt to preserve and protect our white culture and heritage regulate illegal immigration:

[The proposed ordinance] would, among other things, deny business permits to any business that hires an illegal – whether knowingly or not; prohibit illegals from leasing or renting property; and fine anyone who rents to an illegal - whether knowingly or not -$500 a day. The council considered it last week, and decided to take some time to further study the issue.

As I explained here, Huntsville and several other cities around the country cut and pasted the ordinance – and the “factual findings” underlying it - from a sorry ass racist  p.o.s. grassroots organization in California.

Huntsville delayed a vote on the ordinance so they could “study” it further. Hazelton, Pennsylvania, though, adopted it. And starting today, they get to go to court to defend it.

I’m no immigration lawyer, but based on what little I know, I expect the City to lose. The feds have exclusive jurisdiction over immigration, and it is hard to see the ordinance as anything other than an attempt to regulate immigration. 

Of course, none of this directly impacts Huntsville. The ordinance is the same, but unless the Hazelton case goes to the Supreme Court, the result will not be binding down here. Still, federal courts like to walk in lock-step, so if Hazelton loses, I would be very surprised to see Huntsville adopt this ordinance.

Oh yeah, on a related note:

The Ku Klux Klan, which just a few years ago seemed static or even moribund compared to other white supremacist movements such as neo-Nazis, has experienced a surprising and troubling resurgence due to the successful exploitation of hot-button issues including immigration, gay marriage and urban crime. Klan groups have witnessed a surprising and troubling resurgence by exploiting fears of an immigration explosion, and the debate over immigration has in turned helped to fuel an increase in Klan activity, with new groups sprouting in parts of the country that have not seen much activity.