Legal Decision Against Guam Cites ... John Oliver

Ninth Circuit judge cites comedian's HBO show in decision footnote
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2015 3:46 PM CDT
Legal Decision Against Guam Cites ... John Oliver
John Oliver, host of HBO's Last Week Tonight, was just cited in a decision by a Ninth Circuit Judge.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

There's a little-known axiom in Hollywood that says you've only truly made it when you've been cited by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. If that's true (it isn't), then welcome to the A-list, John Oliver. As Above the Law reports, a March 8 episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight With John Oliver regarding US territories was referenced Wednesday in the footnote of a decision written by Judge Marsha Berzon.

In the decision, in which Berzon ruled against Guam in a suit brought by residents over tax refunds, she references the "insular cases," which found residents of US territories don't have the same constitutional rights as US citizens. In the footnote, she writes those cases have been subjected to "extensive judicial, academic, and popular criticism," citing specifically a YouTube video of the March Last Week Tonight episode. Not bad for a show previously best known for taking up the cause of Russian space sex geckos. (More John Oliver stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X