DECISION IN SMITH CASE

Judge Seidlin, barely choking back tears this afternoon, issued his ruling in the dispute over who has the right to decide where the body of Anna Nicole Smith is buried. The Judge decided, in his own inimitable way, that her daughter -and thus, the Guardian ad litem, has the right to decide where the body should be buried. The Judge went on to strongly urge that the body be buried next to her son in the Bahamas, but in the end, he said he was leaving the final decision to the Guardian Ad Litem.


Speaking of North of the Border, we received this vaguely disturbing email today - allegedly from one of the Robed Readers North of the Border:

My Dearest Rumpole: I have taken the time to E-Mail you this story from the BBC website about a blogger in Egypt jailed for posting an insult on his blog. I can assure you that many of my colleagues will be discussing the merits of the Egyptian legal system in the coming days vis-a-vis your little blog. Sleep well.
Robed Reader North of the Border.



Egypt blogger jailed for 'insult'

Soliman was arrested for his "insulting" blog posts in November . An Egyptian court has sentenced a blogger to four years' prison for insulting Islam and the president.
Abdel Kareem Soliman's trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt.
He had used his web log to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator.
A human rights group called the verdict "very tough" and a "strong message" to Egypt's thousands of bloggers.
Soliman, 22, was tried in his native city of Alexandria. He blogs under the name Kareem Amer.


Rumpole Responds: Yikes!