Not a gang, just family.

The good news from Cincinnati is that Juggalos are not gang members. Whew; now I can get a good night sleep.

Juggalos are followers of the Farmington Hills-originated rap duo, Insane Clown Posse. Think: hard-core, off-color drug-addled rap version of Jimmy Buffet's "parrotheads".

The band and its followers are making headlines again from a lawsuit that is grinding along in the federal court system. A small group of Juggalos appealed the dismissal of their federal civil rights lawsuit and the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal and remanded the case back to Detroit for further proceedings.

The beef arose in 2011 when a much-publicized FBI report characterized Juggalos as a loosely-organized hybrid gang; whatever that means. The Sixth Circuit's opinion states that, "Juggalos are easily spotted because they display, on person or property, insignia representative of the band."  [Yes, in fact, they do  r-e-p-r-e-s-e-n-t, and the "insignia" most commonly displayed is a crazy man running with a hatchet, pictured above.]

The rap group's devotees cried foul in the wake of the FBI report, claiming their civil liberties were impinged through such heavy-handed law enforcement tactics. Juggalos are not a gang, they proclaim, just one big happy sloppy family.

The Sixth Circuit's opinion details the specific transgressions claimed by each of the six plaintiffs, two of whom claim their ICP-themed tattoos caused them grief with the U.S. Army because of their perceived association with a gang on the "government gang list."  Accordingly, plaintiffs claim violations to their First and Fifth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.

In reversing the federal court in Detroit, the Sixth Circuit held that Juggalos did have proper standing to sue in the federal court under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act. The appellate ruling, however, also directed the lower court to now consider the governments claim-based motion to dismiss the case.

So this litigation will be around for awhile. If you are a Juggalo, it certainly does not hurt to have Michigan's largest law firm, Miller Canfield, representing your interests along with the ACLU.

Nevertheless, Juggalos beware. This was merely a [small] procedural victory. For his part, the local cop on the beat will always view you a part of a crime gang.

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This blog has covered the defamation lawsuit filed by the Cooley Law School against one if it's more vocal critics from the beginning.  The defamation defendant is one of the legion of graduates that has trashed the law school; in this case, a blog titled "The Thomas M. Cooley Law School Scam".

This is an important privacy law and First Amendment case.  This post brings our readers up-to-date with an important development in the case: oral argument at the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Cooley's defamation suit, pending in the Ingham County Circuit Court, was assigned to Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III. Cooley is represented by the Miller Canfield law firm and the anonymous blogger, using the pseudonym "Rockstar05", is represented by Washington D.C. lawyer Paul Levy of Public Citizen, and Berkeley, MI attorney John Hermann.

For their part, Miller Canfield had been vigorously prosecuting their cause of action, issuing subpoenas in two states [Michigan and California] to the Rockstar05's Internet service provider, seeking to rip the lid off the blogger's identity.

In September and October of last year, hearings were conducted on Rockstar05's motion to quash Cooley's subpoenas.  Somewhere along the way, the internet service provider in California apparently made an inadvertent disclosure of the blogger's identity to the Miller Canfield firm, who immediately moved the court to amend the complaint, seeking to add the now-disclosed individual to the suit.

Judge Canady initially sequestered the pleadings and documents that referenced Rockstar05's identity while it considered supplemental briefings on this First Amendment issue.  The lower court denied Rockstar05's motion to quash the subpoena, providing time for defendant to lodge an interlocutory appeal, and allowing an amicus [various media organizations] to intervene in the case.

Rocktar05 appealed Judge Canady's decision relative to the subpoena, filing this brief on appeal through his [or her; we do not know] high-powered Washington D.C. media lawyer.  For it's part, the media has filed a hard-hitting amicus brief.

Oral arguments were conducted last week at the Michigan Court of Appeals in Lansing.  This blog predicts [hopes] that the Michigan Court of Appeals will decide in favor of the critical blogger.

The primary issue before the intermediate appellate court is whether Cooley must disclose to the trial court a rational litigation-oriented basis to divulge the blogger's identity; something other than revenge.  The blogger's appellate lawyer asked the Court of Appeals to adopt the "developing consensus" standard.  When asked to un-mask an anonymous speaker, this standard would require the trial court to:

• Provide notice to the anonymous speaker and an opportunity to defend the speaker's privacy;
• Require the defamation plaintiff to identify the specific allegedly tortious statements;
• Ensure the defamation plaintiff's complaint sets forth a valid cause of action;
• Require an offer of proof supporting the claims made in the defamation complaint; and
• Balance the relative harms to the plaintiff and defendant as to the anonymity.

For it's part, the Miller Canfield law firm argued on behalf of Cooley that Michigan law does not require a preliminary showing that it is likely to prevail on the merits prior to un-masking the anonymous litigant and blogger's identity.

We here at the Law Blogger will monitor this case and report back to our readers as to how the Court of Appeals decides this privacy law issue.

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This blog has covered the defamation lawsuit filed by the Cooley Law School against one if it's more vocal critics; one of the legion of graduates that has trashed the law school in a blog titled "The Thomas M. Cooley Law School Scam".  This post brings our readers up to date with some important recent developments in the case.

Cooley's defamation suit, pending in the Ingham County Circuit Court, was assigned to Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III. Cooley is represented by the Miller Canfield law firm and the anonymous blogger, using the pseudonym "Rockstar05", is represented by Berkeley, MI attorney John Hermann.

For their part, Miller Canfield has been vigorously prosecuting their cause of action, issuing subpoenas in two states [Michigan and California] to the Rockstar05's Internet service provider, seeking to rip the lid off the blogger's identity.

In September and October, hearings were conducted on Rockstar05's motion to quash Cooley's subpoenas.  Somewhere along the way, the internet service provider in California apparently made an inadvertent disclosure of the blogger's identity to the Miller Canfield firm, who immediately moved the court to amend the complaint, seeking to add the now-disclosed individual to the suit.

Judge Canady initially sequestered the pleadings and documents that referenced Rockstar05's identity while it considered supplemental briefings on this First Amendment issue.  In October, however, the lower court denied Rockstar05's motion to quash the subpoena, providing time for defendant to lodge an interlocatory appeal, and allowing an amicus [various media organizations] to intervene in the case.

Rocktar05 has appealed Judge Canady's decision relative to the subpoena.  The media has filed a hard-hitting amicus brief.  Miller Canfield's response on behalf of Cooley Law School is expected to be filed any day now.

This blog predicts that the Michigan Court of Appeals will grant leave for this issue to be decided; apparently one of first impression here in Michigan.

At stake is the ability of vocal critics of a "public figure" to express their opinion anonymously, without the fear of having their mask pulled off, and their identity disclosed.

You'll have to stay tuned for the results on this important case.  It could likely take a few years to wind its way through the court system.

www.clarkstonlegal.com

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A class action law suit was filed against the Cooley Law School this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.  In addition to legal counsel from Gotham, attorney Steve Hyder from Monroe, MI, himself a Cooley graduate, is local counsel on the suit.

The 45-page complaint reads like an indictment on the issue of student loans versus available law jobs in this protracted economic downturn.  The complaint alleges that Cooley intentionally uses false statistics (i.e. graduate employment rates and graduates' salaries) to lure and retain prospective law students .

The New York law firm handling the heavy lifting in the suit, Kurzon Strauss, is also suing the New York Law School on nearly identical grounds, but in state court.  Each suit seeks hundreds of millions in tuition refunds from the respective law schools.

Last month, Kurzon Strauss was on the receiving end of a law suit filed by Cooley, alleging defamation.  The firm had been trolling around Craigslist and Facebook soliciting candidates for its class action suit.  Understandably, Cooley wanted to get the drop on the firm and steal the negative publicity thunder such a suit would generate.  Always the publicity gurus over there at Cooley.

Cooley will probably use the same law firm on defense as they do on offense; Miller Canfield.  One way or another, this litigation will siphon-off some of Cooley's rich profits as they continue to tap deeply into the American Dream, lawyer-style.

August 2013 Post Script: Now, several years later, the US District Court dismissed the Cooley alumni law suit and in granting the FRCP 12(b)(6) motion, District Judge Gordon Quist was not kind to Cooley's self-serving rankings, characterizing the behemoth as a bottom dweller.  Judge Quist's opinion is here.

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