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When Bieber tweets, politicians listen. Or rather, they listen and make jokes on Twitter that other people take seriously. A Boston City Councilor this week had to explain that he does not actually intend to try to pass legislation preventing Justin Bieber-inspired graffiti, according to the Associated Press, as reported by US News and World Report . Bieber asked artists inspired by his music to paint murals like the one on a Boston pizza shop, an image that he tweeted to fans....

For years, New York has tried to clamp down on the city’s sex shops. But the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled this week that adult video stores, bookshops, and even topless dancing clubs are all protected by the First Amendment. Does freedom of speech = freedom of sex? The ruling allows porn stores so long as no more than 40 percent of their offerings contain sexual content. New York City had previously tried to ban erotic-themed stores, cabarets, and other establishments within 500 feet of a school, house of worship, or another sex-related business....

Playboy Enterprises has reportedly settled a lawsuit with a model who got whacked in the behind with a golf club during a California event in 2014 for an undisclosed amount, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Elizabeth Dickson sued Playboy and radio host Kevin Klein for assault and battery, demanding more than $500,000. Dickson sued last year, arguing that she did not consent to being hit at the Playboy Golf Finals....

An Illinois police officer was arrested in a shooting spree that killed one man and injured three others. 37 year-old Brian Dorian has been charged with first degree murder in connection to the shooting rampage that took place at a construction site on Tuesday morning. Forty minutes after the first shooting, he crossed state lines into Indiana and fired shots again. CNN reports that the shooter struck up conversations with the victims before pulling out his gun and taking fire....

South Carolina’s Supreme Court has awarded custody of Baby Veronica to her adoptive parents, and not her biological Cherokee dad. The ruling brings to a close a protracted and highly emotional legal battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 3-2 decision, the state court sent the case back to a family court with instructions to finalize Veronica’s adoption by Matt and Melanie Capobianco, who live in Charleston....

How the announcement of Senate Banking Committee Chair Senator Christopher Dodd’s retirement is affecting the financial reform process is still playing out in Washington. One effect is the pressure on a key element of the reform, the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that Senator Dodd is considering dropping plans for an autonomous agency responsible for protecting consumers against industry abuse in credit cards, mortgages and other aspects of lending and simply assigning the powers to another agency....

The phrase ‘victimless crime’ can be surprisingly controversial. A victimless crime is defined as an offense to which all parties consent and no one is injured. But not everyone agrees on how ‘injury’ should be defined; and some ask, if no one is injured why is it a crime? Some people say that possessing drugs is a victimless crime while others argue that drugs harm society generally and make all of us, the community at large, victims of drug deals....

Manufactured housing has long been a mainstay in American culture. Before the term manufactured housing was coined, these homes were called mobile homes or trailers. The defining characteristic shared by these types of housing is their ability to be transported. As a result of the mobile nature of manufactured housing, owners don’t always share the same rights and obligations as other homeowners. Manufactured housing can take many forms, ranging from permanent placements to a life on the road....

Driving drunk? Bad idea. Driving drunk with a child in the car? Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. Drunk driving exposes you and other drivers to potentially deadly accidents, and drunk driving with kids in the vehicle puts them at risk as well. In 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that almost 20 percent of all traffic fatalities involving children 14 and younger were alcohol-related. Some states have responded by adding severe penalties to their DUI statutes if a child is in the car at the time, and other states apply child abuse statutes to cases of drunk driving....

George Zimmerman’s bail request should be granted, as the accused murderer “accepts responsibility” for allowing the court to be misled about his finances, his attorney argues in a new motion. Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara filed the motion ahead of a bail hearing set for Friday, when O’Mara will again try to secure his client’s release pending trial, the Orlando Sentinel reports. A trial date has not yet been set. In a Motion to Set Reasonable Bond, O’Mara argues Florida’s state Constitution practically requires Zimmerman’s pretrial release....

Edward Cullen is one hot vampire. So hot, in fact, that when he’s not sparkling in the sun or stalking watching over Bella Swan, he’s chilling out on the beaches in the Florida Keys where bloodsucking is all the rage. Last August, a fifteen year old girl covered in bite marks filed a police report stating that she was attacked while on a jog. The girl told police that a former friend had been the one to attack her....

In the wake of mass demonstrations during the 2016 Republican National Convention, we prepared a little primer on protest related laws. And after the tragic and horrifying events in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend, we thought it might be time to round up some more questions, answers, and tips for keeping your protest activities legal. So here are five more legal aspects to protests and public demonstrations to consider before taking it to the streets....

Summer is around the corner and folks are getting ready to pack their knapsacks for a sojourn in a faraway land. But what’s the best way for travelers to carry their hard-earned cash? For those who are afraid of traveling with large amounts of cash or credit/debit cards, you may have entertained the idea of travelers’ checks. They function like cash, but can be replaced if lost of stolen. But are they still legally valid?...

The National Safety Council (NSC) has called for banning all cell phone use while driving. The NSC warning goes further than many other such calls by asking states to ban even hands-free cell phone driving. The NSC, who previously led the “Click it or Ticket” campaign on seat belt use, plans to combat cell phone driving through advocating state legislation against it, and by educating drivers and businesses on the risks of cell phone driving....

This past summer, the city of Chicago passed new regulations on home-sharing and short-term rental companies like Airbnb, adding a new four percent licensing fee to fund enforcement and homeless services, along with a complaint hotline. The new rules also require those who lease their houses or apartments by the night to pay share data on their listings with the city to ensure compliance with the law. But a new lawsuit claims those rules “imposed draconian and unintelligible restrictions on home-sharing that hurt communities, violate constitutional rights, and punish responsible homeowners....

Has teen rapper Chief Keef been arrested again? Yes, and this time, it’s for marijuana. According to a police report obtained by TMZ, the 17-year-old Keef was allegedly smoking pot at a fancy hotel in DeKalb County, Georgia. No further details have been released on the most recent arrest of Keef (whose real name is Keith Cozart). We do know that he is being charged with disorderly conduct for this incident, however....

A federal appeals court has rejected Bush administration efforts at curbing air pollution, holding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its powers in issuing new emissions standards under a 2005 clean air rule. In a decision issued on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found “more than several fatal flaws” in the Clean Air Interstate Rule adopted by the EPA in 2005. The Los Angeles Times reports that the rule “required 28 mostly Eastern states to reduce smog-forming and soot-producing emissions that can travel long distances in the wind,” with the EPA estimating that it would prevent approximately 17,000 deaths per year....

Don Johnson scored a major victory yesterday, not on the screen, but in a Los Angeles courtroom. The actor and musician won $23.2 million in profits from the producers of the 1990’s television show “Nash Bridges.” The jury agreed with Johnson’s argument that he owned half of the series and found that they had failed to pay him his share of the profits. The three defendants, Rysher, a production company, chief among them, unsuccessfully argued that the show had yet to make a profit....

Even government agencies are making smartphone “apps” now. The FBI’s iPhone app, Child ID, was released last week. What’s the purpose of the FBI’s new application? Child ID allows parents to store information on their children such as height, weight, gender, date of birth, hair and eye color and whether or not they have piercings. The application will also allow parents to store a child’s photos. The application is meant to help parents and law enforcement if tragedy strikes and a child goes missing....

With the holidays approaching, it seems like the best way to handle those pesky shopping lists is just to buy a bunch of gift cards right? Wrong! Sometimes you end up giving a nightmare instead of a dream gift. Why is that? Sometimes retailers pretend that gift cards are like cash, but there are things in the fine print. For example, gift cards can expire before they can be used. Or the gift card has a monthly “maintenance” fee....