In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Sunday April 2, 2023

First, from www.latimes.com: Girl didn't want goat slaughtered; officials sent deputies - Los Angeles Times
A 9-year-old girl in California was bonded with her goat, Cedar, which she was due to have sold and slaughtered at the Shasta District Fair. When the time came, the girl couldn't go through with it and the mother decided to take the goat and deal with the consequences. After the family moved the goat to a farm in Sonoma County, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office got involved and sent detectives with a search warrant to recover the goat. Despite the mother's offer to pay for the goat, the animal was taken and slaughtered. The family has since filed a federal lawsuit against Shasta District Fair and county officials, arguing they committed an "egregious waste of police resources" and violated their rights.

Next, from lawprofessors.typepad.com: Section 16(b) is Unconstitutional, Apparently
A Magistrate Judge recently dismissed a claim for disgorgement of short-swing profits against a 10% beneficial owner of 1-800 Flowers, on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked Article III standing. Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, which was enacted in 1934 to prevent insider trading, provides that any profit realized by an insider from any purchase and sale within a period of less than six months should inure to the issuer. Judge Wicks held that the mere fact that an insider earns short-swing profits does not demonstrate that there was an injury to the corporation, and therefore no Section 16(b) action may be maintained, either by the issuer itself or derivatively by its shareholders. The court allowed for the possibility that some kind of injury might be associated with such profits in a particular case, but held that such an injury must be alleged and proven. The decision is currently on appeal.

Finally, from www.newyorker.com: A Biden Ally on the Post-Indictment Stakes of Another Trump Presidency
Presidential historian Jon Meacham spoke with Radio Hour this week about the potential rise of Donald Trump in the 2024 election, and his own decision to decline a formal role in the Biden Administration. Meacham discussed the stakes of this latest chapter in the Trump saga and the need to confront the impulse of authoritarianism in the country. He also discussed the Republican "Brigadoon" fantasy that Trump would fade away without any factual basis for that wish, as well as the root of Trumpism and past moments of regrettable behavior from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

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Today's paper of the day is Bail at the Founding by Kellen Funk and Sandra G. Mayson. This paper provides a thorough account of bail law and practice in the founding era, from approximately 1790 to 1810. It reveals three key facts: 1) the black-letter law of bail during the founding era was highly protective of pretrial liberty, 2) in reality, for those on the margins of society, bail practice rarely followed the law, and 3) the bail system in the founding era was a system of unsecured pledges, not cash deposits.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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