Feh. If you're a foot fetishist, a Pay Less catalog can be pr0n.

That judge needs smacked..... If you consider maxim porn you need to get out more.

Yeah, not "Maxim" but I never could tell the difference.

/not porn
//porn is far less offensive

^^^^^^^

That biatch is smoking

That's why I stick with Sears catalogs.

A lawyer Maxim reader.

guilty on two counts of being an asshole.

I find it most curious that while more and more things are knee-jerkedly labled "porn" by the uptight among us actual porn is being produced at such a rate that some of it may actually go unfapped to so massive is the volume being churned out day after day after day, much of it, apparently, by amateurs.

By today's standards as to what kind of stuff is peddled in porn - almost kind of a sex-based "Fear Factor" episode - even Playboy doesn't even really count as "porn" anymore.

/hooray for amatures
//and alcohol
///and the hyper-ubiquity of digital cameras
////and an internet to post on

Maxim? How old was the lawyer? 12?

Inappropriate? In a courtroom setting, sure. But porno?? WTF?? The judge probably thinks Sunset magazine is porno. Ok, there maybe be a slight difference. Maxim does have scantily clad women, but its far from pornographic. Pornographic is close-ups of meat sticks pounding in and out of wet snooches, mouths, or the chocolate starfish and close-up money shots. Even simple nudity, like Playboy, isnt by any stretch of the imagination "pornographic."

NickelP: needs smacked

Wanted to put this out here for review.

/wow

Lawyers reading Maxim? The Wall Street Journal is there.

Oh_Enough_Already: almost kind of a sex-based "Fear Factor" episode

LOL

Control_this: A lawyer Maxim reader.

guilty on two counts of being an asshole.

I wonder if he showed up in court with guido hair and a pink polo shirt with a popped collar too.

Did he ask for a "bad court thingy?"

/That's why he's the judge and you're the law-talking dude.

The gravamen of the contempt charge wasn't that the material was pornographic. It's that the lawyer wasn't being attentive to the proceedings and was engaging in conduct that could distract others.

Even though he wasn't handling a case at the time, he was taking up space that others could use for sitting there and paying attention.

Besides, the magazine could be distracting to others (both participants and observers), whether pornographic or not. The fact that it was sexually suggestive might make it more distracting, but the attorney was being punished for creating the possibility of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of a distraction.

This was content-neutral -- anything with the same potential for distraction, whether pornographic, sexually suggestive, or not, could be grounds for a contempt charge.

Lionel Mandrake: Yeah, not "Maxim" but I never could tell the difference.

My all-time favorite FHM feature article was "What to do when you shiat your drawers." They phrased it a little better than that, but that was the gist of it. The article started out with "It happens to all of us sooner or later...," and was complete with personal testimonies. ("What did you do?" "Oh, I wiped my ass with my boxers and left them in the bathroom.") I skimmed the article out of sheer disbelief.

/porn is far less offensive

Agreed. If only because it isn't pretending to be something other than what it really is. I've got no problem with stroke material that knows it's stroke material.

skinink: Shoot, compared to the UK version of Maxim, or Loaded, the US Maxim is basically Highlights for Kids. Besides, didn't his Maxim mag have a feature this month to tell him how to escape contempt from a judge?
Example of what the average lad magazine cover looks like in the UK (Kinda NSFW?)

Giggety

once again, there is plenty of stupid to go around

Or at least that's what the judge could have ruled. He did label the magazine "offensive," which is probably content-related to some degree.

However, since the purpose of the contempt statute/common law rule is to maintain courtroom order and ensure that the venue is used for its intended purpose, anything distracting could be deemed offensive vis-a-vis that purpose.

How to tell if it's porn.

Magazine has more words than pictures..................................not porn
Magazine has pictures of women, but clothed..........................not porn
Magazine has pictures of women with cleavage, but no nipple...not porn
Magazine has some Boobies in it....................................slightly porny
Magazine features startlingly close-up views of female bits and pieces that could be used to teach gynecology....................................................PORN!

Eddinger fined Paris $300, gave him a 15 day suspended jail and placed him on unsupervised probation... Eddinger wrote in the order that "The contemnor's (Paris) conduct interrupted the proceedings of the court and impaired the respect due its authority."

(Possible) jail time for reading Maxim? Wow. If you dare disrespect the court system, it will disrespect you. If only somebody else named Paris had realized that.

I think Fark could file an amicus curiae to the effect that Maxim is not, and should not be considered, porn.

If anyone has spent any time in a courtroom they must know that reading any kind of material not pertaining to the court case can be seen as contempt of court. I've seen a person removed from a courtroom for reading a newspaper.

From the comments page:

The judge was correct and the lawyer was, at the very least, impolitic (or maybe just stupid) to press the court's buttons like this. Hell I can't read my Playboy College Girls issue when I go to court, I even have to share it with the judge over the restroom stall.
Comment by Legal Beagle - January 25, 2008 at 7:40 pm


Classic.

I can't define it, but I know it when I see it!

Did the judge later order a negro jailed for the offense of whistling at white lady. Jesus your honor get with the times.

What MickDuffy said (grounds: a) taking up space other citizens could be using properly and b) creating potential for distraction).

Cyborg77: Love the Potter Stewart ref -- too bad it makes for terrible law.

Prank Call of Cthulhu: How to tell if it's porn.

Magazine has more words than pictures..................................not porn
Magazine has pictures of women, but clothed..........................not porn
Magazine has pictures of women with cleavage, but no nipple...not porn
Magazine has some Boobies in it....................................slightly porny
Magazine features startlingly close-up views of female bits and pieces that could be used to teach gynecology....................................................PORN!

Pretty much

Reading Gay Boys in Bondage is OK in this courtroom?

This Judge, Does he prefer the Company of Men?

/Maybe he's a ghey
//Just sayin.

JuicyJ:
That biatch is smoking airbrushed.

FTFY

I made this for a photoshop contest once. I think the topic was if there was a maxim for women or something. I cant really remember.

During jury selection the judge stops the proceedings,looks at someone in the jury pool reading a magazine and says "if you want to read, how about that sign on the wall?"

Maybe this judge thought the lawyer should know better, and slapped him harder than anyone else.

After all,a police officer can give a warning instead of a ticket but doesn't have to.

/should say the first sentence refers to my jury duty in an Oakland, California court.

While I don't think that Maxim is porn, I do think that it was rude of the lawyer to read while in court. I know that he was only sitting in the audience benches, but you'd think that he'd at least go one more bench back or something. That's sort of like having the teacher catch you reading in class.

skinink: Shoot, compared to the UK version of Maxim, or Loaded, the US Maxim is basically Highlights for Kids. Besides, didn't his Maxim mag have a feature this month to tell him how to escape contempt from a judge?
Example of what the average lad magazine cover looks like in the UK (Kinda NSFW?)

Definitely not safe for work. Keep 'em coming!

/fap
/fap fap

Maybe the lawyer should be paying attention to court and not reading magazines. It's completely rude to sit there and read a magazine, or take a phone call (yeah, I've heard of that too). If a lawyer isn't going to take the proceedings seriously (even if his or her case hasn't been called yet) why should anyone else?

Maybe I'm just jaded or in need or something more exciting, but I yearn for the day when broadcast television sinks to point where newscasters sounds like they're reading my spam. I want to be watching some sitcom on NBC and literally throw up because of some extra-vulgar joke. Imagine how much funnier Home Improvement would have been if Al asked Tim for some sex advice. I mean, Home Improvement was not funny at all, so anything would have made it more watchable. But you get my point.

/Is wanting TV to talk like spam strange?

Partisan: Maxim? How old was the lawyer? 12?

Lol. I always thought Maxim was a 19 year old's view of how life is as a mature adult.

Hey, I'm studying to be a lawyer in NC right now, AND I'm in the middle of Professional Responsibility, so this is highly relevant to my interests ("getting a kick out of," etc). Good to know I shouldn't bring that into court with me!

If it wasn't for Maxim I don't know what I would have done the last 8 years while taking a dump

Vurmontr: If it wasn't for Maxim I don't know what I would have done the last 8 years while taking a dump

Man, that's a long time to sit on the shiatter. Hopefully you had someone to bring you new reading material every now and again.

Yea, the same douche's that read maxim think Hooters is awesome too.

/not 14
//doesn't read maxim

BitwiseShift: Reading Gay Boys in Bondage is OK in this courtroom?

I thought they would draw the line at "Bum Biters"

I think we all know what happened here. He didn't share his cupcakes during recess and now he's getting shaken for his lunch money.

BitwiseShift: Reading Gay Boys in Bondage is OK in this courtroom?

Only with a penis pump.

I love that people here think that nobody should be doing anything but paying attention to what the judge is doing.
How many people have waited an entire day in court before having their case called? It is very boring to sit there and listen to the same drabble over and over again.