Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Teacher and Student Dead After San Bernardino School Shooting

Yesterday, a teacher and an eight-year-old student at a San Bernardino elementary school died. They were murdered by the teacher’s estranged husband, who shot her before killing himself. Another student was seriously injured. The children are believed to have been caught in the crossfire, as Cedric Anderson’s target was his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith. This tragedy happened just a little over a year after a radicalized Muslim couple shot and killed 14 people at San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center.

Smith’s son described Anderson as “paranoid and possessive.” He managed to enter the school after telling staff he was just going to drop something off for Smith. San Bernardino schools increased security after the 2015 terrorist attack, but it’s hard to believe they could have stopped Anderson. “[It] is not uncommon for a spouse to be able to gain access to a school campus to meet with their other spouse,” said Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.

Police are investigating San Bernardino shooting as domestic violence incident. There’s much more that can be done to keep guns from abusers pic.twitter.com/aT6v0kj7Ds

— CAP Action Guns (@CAPActionGuns) April 10, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: April 11, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Remember hoverboards? They were briefly popular a couple years ago, until it was discovered that they sometimes caught on fire and were also really hard to ride without falling all over yourself. But hoverboards aren’t totally out of the mainstream yet (although I suppose that depends on how you define mainstream.) One hoverboard manufacturer, Sidekick Group, is suing Jennifer Lopez, claiming that she didn’t follow through on her obligation to promote the company on her social media platforms.

According to the company, Sidekick Group, Lopez signed a contract in 2015. The company provided JLo with 42 custom hoverboards to be used in her Las Vegas Show at Planet Hollywood. In return, Lopez was supposed to promote the company on her social media platforms–specifically Instagram and Twitter–at least once every three months. That would be a big boost for the company, given that Lopez has over 100 million followers between the two social media platforms. But the company claims that Lopez didn’t follow through on her obligation. The company is now suing Lopez for roughly $55,000, which it claims is what the customized hoverboards are worth.

That relatively low ask has raised some eyebrows. Forbes has Lopez’s net wealth for 2016 listed at almost $40 million. It seems as though Lopez, or the producers of her show, could have purchased the hoverboards without needing to come to any sort of agreement for promotion.

Media outlets have pointed out that Lopez did follow through on the promise at least once, when she tweeted footage from her show, complete with background dancers on the hoverboards.

The #AllIHave dancers killing it on their @SideKickWheels. Check them out at https://t.co/fkGTynZmrz #JLoVegas pic.twitter.com/1hHOAtuTmn

— Jennifer Lopez (@JLo) May 26, 2016

J-Lo’s team doesn’t appear to have responded to any requests for comment about the lawsuit, and it’s unclear why she may not have posted about the hoverboards. But, we’ll see if she has to pay up, or if this lawsuit just rolls off of her (pun intended.)

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post A Hoverboard Manufacturer is Suing Jennifer Lopez appeared first on Law Street.

Hey y’all!

Greetings from Las Vegas! As I mentioned last week, last week was my birthday so I decided to celebrate it the right way and am spending a few days in Vegas with friends. It’s been a blast so far!

I am a creature of habit and no matter how late I stay up my body and mind are still ready to get the day started at 9am despite any time zone. Part of my morning ritual is to watch Fox News just to see what’s going on in the world. Monday morning I stuck with my routine, flipped on the television and watched whatever program was being aired. In this case it was the afternoon (on the East Coast) show, Outnumbered. This show has a rotating group of hosts but the only consistent thing is that there are four women and a man sitting on a couch talking about topics of the day and not all of it is political, which I kind of enjoyed!

After a couple of segments the host for the day, Pete Hegseth, brought up the new racist claims on a fraternity at the University of California at Irvine. So the story goes that the fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, recently had a Fiji-themed party at the end of its charity week that has offended certain people. The theme seems reasonable because apparently this particular fraternity has been called “FIJI” since the 1800s. So what’s the problem? Apparently grass skirts and coconut bras are racist in the context of a party. Yep. You can read that again but it is still going to be the same: grass skirts plus coconut bras equal RACISM!

Just hearing about this even being an issue has blown my mind. If anything Phi Gamma Delta is celebrating its nickname and a culture all at once.

I am no stranger to throwing a Hawaiian- or Fiji-themed party from time to time and have never felt like I was doing it in the context of being racist toward a specific group of people. Grass skirts and coconut bras are a certain way for the rest of the world to pay homage to that culture. Let us remember that grass skirts are a part of that culture, coconut bras are not. In fact, Western civilization added the coconut bra because we are too prudish to celebrate our bodies the way that they do. And who doesn’t love the idea of escaping to a paradise where the native people get to walk around in linen clothing by day and celebrate their heritage by night for tourists?

The claim to racism goes beyond grass skirts, coconut bras, UC Irvine, and college campuses. Racism has been a hot topic over the last few weeks. It has been shoved down our throats because of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling and all of the comments that the sports community has contributed to the issue. Even this week Donald Sterling has been labeled a racist and a sexist by another ex-girlfriend. I’m sick of hearing about it and I am sick of thinking that everything has to be connected with race. Now, on the Donald Sterling front, that is absolutely all about race and the NBA will handle it the best way that it knows how, but to go from Donald Sterling and his extremely racial remarks to a fraternity simply throwing a party with props is ridiculous. Not everything has an ulterior motive. College is a place to celebrate and learn more about other cultures.

We have turned into a culture of political correctness and even the slightest mention of anything about another culture has become some sort of racism. The self-absorbed “everyone is out to get me because I am this” attitude needs to stop! No one is out to get you; no one is bashing your culture just because of grass skirts and coconut bras. We have been celebrating this culture for decades and never has it been an issue until today. It’s sad and it sickens me that we have to walk on eggshells for every little thing. We need stronger backbones again and to realize that not everyone is the same, not everyone is going to agree, not everyone is going to like everyone else. Not everyone is out to get you.

Maybe we should all put on our grass skirts, coconut bras, grab a Mai Tai and chill out!

—

Allison Dawson (@AllyD528) Born in Germany, raised in Mississippi and Texas. Graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University. Currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative.

Featured image courtesy of [1950sUnlimited via Flickr]

Allison Dawson

Allison Dawson was born in Germany and raised in Mississippi and Texas. A graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University, she’s currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative. Get in touch with Allison at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Chill Out, America! Everything Isn’t a Race Issue appeared first on Law Street.