The law and the jungle

It's no big deal one way or the other if the unnamed lesbian high school student in Lebanon wins her suit against the school district and is allowed to wear a tuxedo to the prom. Schools have been given more leeway in recent years to regulate all sorts of student behavior, so it would be no great surprise if she lost. On the other hand, who cares what she wears? Are we going to make Secretary of State Hillary Clinton give up her pants suits and start wearing dresses to diplomatic functions?

Good lord:

With about three months left in the current school year, the number of Chicago Public School students slain has reached 26, matching the total for all of last school year.

Most of the killings have taken place on neighborhood streets and not during school hours.

Bloomington has established a Web site at which citizens can report "minor crimes," such as vandalsm, lost property or thefts under $750 for which there are no suspects. It is being touted as progress made possible by technology:

The goal of the new system is to save police and victims time. BPD Records Division Supervisor Joan Manning said she estimates the BPD makes about 250 to 300 reports for minor crimes every month.

Some people are upset with the White House for throwing its weight around and making the Indiana Live Casino in Shelbyville pull its ad campaign showing a look-alike of President Barack Obama stumping for "change you can believe in." (Just read some of the reader comments attached to the story.) But the president is just exercising the same "right of publicity" we all have, which is the right to control or prevent the commercial exploitation of our own images. So far, Posted in: Hoosier lore, The law and the jungle, Politics and other nightmares

Indiana Senate Bill 11 would prohibit most public and private employers from adopting or enforcing rules barring firearms from company property. The Journal Gazette is, naturally, appalled:

Advocates for gun rights argue that law-abiding citizens should be allowed to keep weapons locked in their cars, but they ignore the tragic examples of employees who have taken the lives of co-workers when overcome by rage.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, so a lower court's dismissal of it stands, and New York City's attempt to hold gun manufacturers liable for gun violence is over, and that might have an affect on Gary's efforts to do the same:

The headline on this story said "Portage takes stand on crime," which really made me want to read it. Perhaps here was a city that was going to be brave and be for crime, perhaps as a justifiable way to stimulate the economy. Alas, the "stand" was just the same old, safe, anti-crime posturing:

Let's celebrate Family Values Day in Indiana! First up -- "Son, go to your room. On second thought, go to jail":

A Carmel teenager was arrested after forging checks from his father's checking account, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said today.

Tough economic times bring out some people's creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. And we can't have that, especially if it results in something "unsightly" that might offend delicate sensibilities. So city officials have no choice but to crack down:

“You've got dozens of people bringing their cars to shopping mall parking lots, sticking

I admit that sometimes it's a struggle to come up with our weekly poll questions, and some of them might seem a trifle lame. I don't think we'll ever have one this bad, though, from the Adelaide Advertiser and Sunday Mail of Australia:

Is it a good idea to marry a serial killer? Vote in our poll on the lower right of this page

I voted so I could see the current results, which are (based on 1,787 votes):

Yes, love transcends all boundaries: 21 percent