Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. NEW YORK - A man arrested after telling lawyer jokes at a courthouse got the last laugh when a grand jury dismissed the disorderly conduct charge against him. "It's still legal in America to tell jokes - even about lawyers," said 70-year-old Harvey Kash's lawyer, Ron Kuby, about Monday's decision. Kash testified he was exercising his First Amendment right when he shared a few lawyer jokes with his friend, Carl Lanzisera, 65, as they waited to enter a Long Island courthouse last month. Kash and Lanzisera are founders of Americans for...

The Governor's state-of-the-state address caused quite a stir. Most Republicans were happy, most Democrats were angry, and the media -- whose impossible job for four years was to make Gray Davis look interesting -- loved it. From their perspective, Arnold has issued a declaration of war and, if nothing else, war is interesting. For California taxpayers, the substance of Schwarzenegger's speech was "A-plus" material. Sure, the reiteration of his "no tax" pledge was the centerpiece, but this time we saw something new. The entire theme of his address was that now is the time to stop ignoring the structural problems...

Those two Long Island men who say they were arrested for telling lawyer jokes at a Nassau County courthouse (see yesterday's post) were soon deluged with offers by lawyers to represent them for free. Reports Newsday: "Barbara Bernstein, executive director of the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she found the arrests "bewildering" and she called the men yesterday to determine whether the organization could help. "It's just bewildering and preposterous that they should be arrested for telling lawyer jokes," Bernstein said. "What's the violation of law here?" (Zachary R. Dowdy, "Lawyers offer help after pair's...

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Two men have been arrested for trading lawyer jokes while waiting on line to get into First District Court in Hempstead. The two men, 69-year-old Harvey Kash, of Bethpage, and 65-year-old Carl Lanzisera, of Huntington, were in court Monday as part of their work with Americans for Legal Reform, a group that monitors how the courts serve the public. While waiting on a long line to get through into court, they began telling each other lawyer jokes such as, "How do you tell if a lawyer is lying? Answer: his lips are moving." Well, an attorney within...

The line leading into First District Court in Hempstead Monday morning was long and frustrating, but it was the punch line in a lawyer joke that got two rabble-rousing comedians arrested. "How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?" Harvey Kash, 69, of Bethpage, said to Carl Lanzisera, 65, of Huntington, as the queue wound into the court. "His lips are moving," they said in unison, completing one of what may be thousands of standard lawyer jokes. But while that rib and several others on barristers got some giggles from the crowd, the attorney standing in line about five...

MEPSTEAD, N.Y. - Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes? It happened this week to the founders of a group called Americans for Legal Reform, who were waiting in line to get into a Long Island courthouse. “How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?” Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera. “His lips are moving,” they said in unison. While some waiting to get into the courthouse giggled, a lawyer farther up the line Monday was not laughing.