Has a Muncie musician/bar owner been unfairly Snoped?

I’m not sure I’ve ever before personally known someone who has been the subject of a Snopes item.  (Snopes.com purports to arbitrate the truth or falsity of various rumors, theories and urban legends.)

Mike Martin, owner of Muncie’s FOLLY MOON bar and grill, has discontinued live music because of a dispute with the state fire marshal’s office.  He has been led to believe that the state agency is acting on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security in regulating, and charging fees to, venues that offer live music “from a stage.”  The qualifier is significant, sense Folly Moon has no stage (despite a reported finding to the contrary by an administrative law judge).

Snopes has pronounced “false” the idea that Homeland Security has banned live music:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/arts/livemusic.asp  

Here’s a contrary take on the issue:  http://www.infowars.com/homeland-security-is-now-regulating-live-entertainment/

So…are you feeling lucky? Want to make a little wager about what I’ll find once I delve into this thing? Let’s bet one of Folly Moon’s delicious burgers (and let’s limit this wager to the first three people to take me up on it).  I will bet — without yet having done an ounce of research — that the legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security empowers state agencies to require permits of the sort that they are trying to impose on Mr Martin. And if that proves to be the case, it illustrates just have a tricky it is for the Snopeses of this world.

Even if Folly Moon’s owner has mischaracterized the issue, it’s clear that there is AN issue.  It’s one that will likely be addressed by Indiana’s court of appeals, in which case you will be sable to read more about it on this blog.

Indiana’s Son of Sam law.

A newspaper article recently made reference to a civil case I’m handling.  I won’t discuss details of the case here beyond mentioning the fact that I invoked Indiana’s “Son of Sam” law.

“Son of Sam” laws were adopted by numerous states after serial killer David Berkowitz was feared to be in line for another killing: the one he theoretically could have made by selling his story to a book publisher or movie producer.

Indiana’s version of the law,  Ind. Code § 5-2-6.3, requires that 90% of the proceeds from the story rights be made available to the victim (assuming that the perp is convicted of the crime that made the rights valuable).

The phrase “Son of Sam”, by the way, is something that Berkowitz heard, or thought he heard, in the Jimi Hendrix song “Purple Haze” around the time that a voice from his neighbor’s dog was instructing him to kill.

Multitasking Lawyer of the Week

Nelson Mandela, the ailing human rights activist, had a career as an attorney.  Let’s keep him in our prayers.

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