D.C. Wire is reporting that MPD Chief Cathy Lanier's controversial "Neighborhood Safety Zone" checkpoint tactic has passed its first test in federal court. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon today denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the checkpoints filed by a group of District residents. In the ruling, Leon found that the checkpoints are not unconstitutional and are a reasonable crime prevention tactic to use against a specific kind of vehicle-related violent crime. This......

Marc Fisher has the best summary of today's arguments at the D.C. Court of Appeals. The good news for former administrative law judge Roy Pearson's epic, seemingly unending $54 million pants lawsuit, writes Fisher, is that the three judges hearing the appeal were "not buying Pearson's notion that a shop sign that promises 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' means that a merchant must honor any cockamamie demand that an unhappy customer might make." We probably won't have a......

Remember when we told you that Roy Pearson, he of the $54 million missing pants lawsuit, was refusing to fade away quietly and heading back to court to press his appeal? Well today's the big day! Looks like the AP has a reporter at the D.C. Court of Appeals, so we'll be waiting patiently to find out whether the three-judge appellate court panel could possibly agree to overturn the lower court ruling and order a......

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) thinks that "ex-gay" is its own sexual orientation. To make their point, they are suing D.C.'s Office of Human Rights. Regina Griggs, the group's executive director, claimed in a statement that, "The ex-gay community is the most bullied and maligned group in America, yet they are not protected by sexual orientation non-discrimination laws." Certainly some would beg to differ on their claims that ex-gays are the "most......

That's right, kiddos. International superstar and former administrative law judge Roy Pearson is back! Last night WJLA reported that the infamous $54 million missing pants lawsuit has actually been granted an appeals hearing by a three-judge appellate court panel. Faithful readers must realize what a thrill it was for DCist to once again set our Google image search function to "pants" upon hearing the news. It's been more than a year since we last heard......

Dick Heller, the man who sued to overturn D.C.'s handgun ban, arrives by bicycle to pick up his gun registration today. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Post caught Dick Heller, original plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court court case that eventually made it legal for D.C. residents to own handguns for personal security, picking up his handgun registration certificate this morning. Heller, a security guard, may now legally keep the gun he registered in his......

Credit City Desk for the best news of the morning -- the lawsuit between the District's two main kickball leagues has finally come to an end. Quick recap: In 2006, the World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA) sued upstart DC Kickball, claiming that founder and former WAKA officer Carter Rabasa had stolen the association's proprietary rules and then defamed WAKA by calling it "the Microsoft of kickball." Offended and pouting, WAKA demanded $356,000 in damages. Had......

Today Eater reported on a rumor about a possible lawsuit brought against Spike Mendelsohn-owned Good Stuff Eatery in Capitol Hill by D.C. area-based burger chain Five Guys, as discussed on the blog Amuse-Biatch. Here's what they wrote:Spike’s dad stands at the door and loves to make conversation... He likes to talk to everyone and told me and my friends that the restaurant is being sued by DC chain Five Guys since the burger “Spike’s Five......

We first learned about it via Twitter this morning: "Scrabulous is disabled for US and Canadian users until further notice," one friend updated, and then another, and another, each expressing escalating amounts of dread. Now, The New York Times tech blog Bits confirms it: Facebook has had to shut down Scrabulous, the Scrabble-like game that's become wildly popular over the last couple of years. Scrabble maker Hasbro filed suit against the makers of Scrabulous in......

Dick Heller's quick to the draw with his legal filings. While his original complaint against the city -- the handgun ban -- took years to work its way through the courts and resulted in the recent historic Supreme Court ruling against the restrictions, Heller is moving much more quickly these days to make sure that he can exercise his Second Amendment rights. According to City Desk, Heller has filed a lawsuit against the city challenging......

Does Roy Pearson not have anyone in his life, say a family member or a friend, to smack him upside the head and tell him to stop being so crazy? The Examiner and the Associated Press are both reporting this morning that Pearson, the man who sued the owners of Custom Cleaners for $54 million over a misplaced pair of pants and then subsequently lost his job as an administrative law judge, has filed suit......

Those of you who've had April 6 circled on your calendars as the first day you can expect all D.C. cabs will be outfitted with time and distance meters, time to make a little adjustment: the deadline has been pushed back to May 1. The Post reports that a judge made the ruling because the District published two different timetables for the public comment period on the final meter regulations, which the city is blaming......

Here's a type of lawsuit-related news you certainly don't see every day: The Post reports that the family of slain retired New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum has said they will drop their $20 million civil suit against the District over the negligent care two emergency medical technicians provided after Rosenbaum was hit on the head during a mugging near his home in D.C. in 2006. Rosenbaum, as you'll recall, did not receive adequate treatment......

Good morning, Washington. Supporters of Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Barack Obama are riding high off their caucus victories in Iowa last night, but locally, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty continues to suffer some bumps in the road after one year in office. Just weeks after the resignation of Attorney General Linda Singer, Fenty's former deputy chief of staff, Neil Richardson, has also resigned. Richardson, who was a key Fenty aide during his mayoral campaign, had......

Commenter Lionel M. Hutz linked to a video yesterday in our post about the 1-year jail sentence handed down to the former Metrobus driver who struck and killed two women in February. Rusty over at why.i.hate.dc also linked to it this morning, and since then, the DCist Staff email list has been filled with a lot of phrases like "Wow", "Holy crap!" and "That's the single most horrific piece of video I've seen in a......

WJLA brings word that Victor Kolako, the former Metrobus driver who was convicted of striking and killing two pedestrians on February 14, has been sentenced to one year in jail. Kolako was found guilty on two felony counts of negligent homicide in the Pennsylvania Ave. accident. The widower of one of the victims, Greg Schoenborn, has also filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Metro in U.S. District Court. The sentencing decision is potentially......

Earlier this season, the Caps ranked first in the entire NHL - for about an hour, before the Ottawa Senators reclaimed the lead. Yesterday the Caps were tied for last place overall, and had spent two whole days in sole possession of last place in the Eastern Conference. The Senators, meanwhile, remained on top of the league with thirteen wins and one loss. Last night, with three of their top five wingers out injured, the......

Good morning, Washington. Can you feel the excitement in the air? That's right: it's Taxi Decision Day. Will District residents get a shiny new meter system, or have to make our peace with zones for the foreseeable future? Or will we be treated to a metered zone hybrid/abomination? It'll be just a few hours until we find out. Immigration Measures Elicit Passion, Lawsuits: The Post reports on the scene in Prince William County, where......

>> "Monument Realty filed a federal lawsuit today against Metro to stop the sale of the transit agency's land near the Washington Nationals' new baseball stadium, escalating a dispute that threatens to disrupt the opening of the ballpark next spring." [WaPo] >> Check your old Mega Millions tickets. [WJLA] >> "Well, then you can't have the apples." [why.i.hate.dc] >> Carroll Co. school lockdown lifted, two males being questioned after student threatened to 'shoot up'......

Car-sharing services Zipcar and Flexcar have gained a large customer base in Washington over the last two years, ever since the city agreed to give the companies more spaces to park their vehicles. The extra vehicles have led to more carless city dwellers taking advantage of the competing services' short-term car rentals to get their errands done -- something the city was happy to help facilitate, in the hopes of encouraging more residents to give......

The Chung family, owners of the dry cleaners at the center of the infamous $54 million pants lawsuit, has been forced to close their business. Northeast's Custom Cleaners was shuttered by the family as a result of revenue losses and the emotional toll exacted during the grueling 2-plus year lawsuit the family has endured at the hands of administrative law judge Roy Pearson. Chris Manning, the Chung's attorney, said in an emailed statement that the......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

Via Gothamist, the New York Post reports on what looks to be a prank involving the American University alumni magazine, American Magazine, on two graduates of the D.C. school who later lived together in New York. In the spring edition of the magazine, it was apparently falsely reported that Ross Weil, 29, and Brett Royce, 28 were "life partners" who had been gay married, adding that they were leaders of a fake group called the......

Roy Pearson, the famed Pants Judge, has just under a week to respond to the letter he received from his employers earlier this month informing him that his job was in jeopardy. Knowing Pearson as we now do, it seems likely the Office of Administrative Hearings, which has employed him as an administrative law judge for the District (Pearson is currently serving as an attorney adviser to the OAH while his contract is under review,......

Good morning, Washington. An estimated 10,000 people attended the dedication Sunday of the official memorial for the 32 victims killed at Virginia Tech on April 16. Students at the university, about four hours outside D.C., begin classes for the fall semester today. On the same day as the dedication, about 23 Virginia Tech students living in an off-campus apartment building were taken to hospitals after showing signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. Several of the......

FRIDAY: >> In case you missed Chapel Hill's The Old Ceremony (pictured) last time they were in town, they'll be at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight with Junior League, Unwed Sailor and John Pringle. We've raved in the past about lead singer Django Haskins' Nick Cave-meets-Ben Folds stage presence, and since then we've picked up their 2006 release Our One Mistake. If you can't make the show, we highly suggest giving them a listen......

In case you missed the update in the post from earlier today, Roy Pearson has this afternoon filed paperwork to the D.C. Court of Appeals indicating he intends to appeal the judge's decision in his $54 million civil lawsuit against Custom Cleaners. In June, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled in favor of the defendants, the Chung family, owners of Custom Cleaners, finding that "nothing in the law supports (the) position" that Pearson, an......

Ah, the Pearson Pants Saga. It's a story that will forever be inextricably linked with our memories of the summer of '07, and is, much like the season, thankfully not over yet. Administrative law judge Roy Pearson, who still has his job but has been officially notified by the panel that will decide his fate that he may soon be fired, has until Wednesday to file his notice of appeal in the $54 million law......

That's the question a lot of outraged taxpayers in the District of Columbia have been wondering ever since we first heard about administrative law judge Roy Pearson's outrageous $54 million (then $65 million) law suit against the owners of Custom Cleaners for misplacing his favorite pair of pants. Just before his law suit became pun fodder for headline writers all over the world, the city's chief administrative law judge, Tyrone Butler, recommended approval of Pearson's......

Happy Friday the 13th, Washington. We do hope none of you are suffering too much from paraskavedekatriaphobia or had bad dreams last night about a psychopathic killer in a hockey mask. We're sure there's nothing to worry about, but just in case we're wrong, why don't we all leave early for the weekend today? Surely having some extra time to make our way to the beach will ward off any potential bad luck heading......