Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Sharpton Rejects Detailed Story About FBI Informant Role

The Rev. Al Sharpton says he isn't a former FBI asset who informed on Mafia figures to a special task force in New York City during the 1980s, despite a recent report by The Smoking Gun.

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Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/08/300521384/sharpton-rejects-detailed-story-about-fbi-informant-role?ft=1&f=1070

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The Fracas Over Fracking

As energy companies push to expand extraction of oil and natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, we consider some of the legal angles in this special section.

Source: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202649717175?rss=rss_nlj

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The Obama-Ortiz ‘Selfie’: Could the President Make a Legal Case Against Samsung?

Were President Barack Obama to sue over the "selfie" photo taken last week by Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, would he have a case?
He might, say legal experts, while conceding that it's highly unlikely that the president would take such a step.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/07/the-obama-ortiz-selfie-could-the-president-make-a-legal-case-against-samsung/?mod=WSJBlog

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NLRB "recess" appointments were unconstitutional; Board lacked a quorum

Noel Canning v. NLRB (DC Cir 01/25/2013)

The DC Circuit this morning held that the President's attempt to make "recess" appointments of three NLRB Members was invalid under the constitution.

On February 8, 2012 the Board issued its decision finding that the employer violated the NLRA by refusing to reduce to writing and execute a collective bargaining agreement reached with Teamsters Local 760. At that time the Board purportedly had five members. Two of these had been confirmed by the Senate. Three of these were appointed on January 4, 2012, purportedly pursuant to the constitution's recess clause.

At the time of the President’s purported recess appointments, the Senate was operating pursuant to a unanimous consent agreement, which provided that the Senate would meet in pro forma sessions every three business days from December 20, 2011, through January 23, 2012. The DC Circuit held that "recess" appointments must occur during an "intersession" recess of the Senate, that is to say, the period between sessions of the Senate when the Senate is by definition not in session and therefore unavailable to receive and act upon nominations from the President.

Because the appointments were invalid, the Board lacked a quorum (three Members) and its order was "void."

Lots of chatter from all over:

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Source: http://www.lawmemo.com/blog/2013/01/nlrb_recess_app_1.html

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The Best of the Plaintiffs Bar

These 19 firms are at the cutting edge of plaintiffs' work -- and are giving defense players a run for their money.

Source: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202624154645?rss=rss_nlj

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SCOTUS to rule on cell phone privacy

The United States Supreme Court has accepted for review a state case and a federal case dealing with cell phone privacy. The question is whether the use of evidence taken from a cell phone incident to arrest violates the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights.  According to SCOTUSblog, they were not consolidated for review but likely will be heard one after the other, sometime in April.  The cases are Riley v. California (the state case) and United States v. Wurie.

 

 

 

 

Source: http://minnlawyer.com/minnlawyerblog/2014/01/20/scotus-to-rule-on-cell-phone-privacy/

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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Sound The Retreat (Update)

Remember when the word "wilding" was introduced into the general lexicon so that we would have a word to capture the "super-predator" gangs of youths who were intent on destroying society?  It came out of the Central Park Five case, and produced a huge shift in our approach to juvenile prosecution and punishment. 

"Justice," people cried. They demanded justice. Don't let these super-predator kids destroy our world with wilding. 

Except it didn't happen. The kids never beat and raped a woman in Central Park, and were coerced into false confessions.  Of course, we didn't learn that until much later, after the wilding scare had done its damage to our laws, procedures and psyches, to save us from the super-predators and give us justice.

The New York Times has a post-Zimmerman-verdict editorial today that threatens to do the same. It's titled "Trayvon Martin's Legacy," a blatant appeal to emotion. Invoking the name of a dead child has proven one of the most utilitarian methods of manipulation available, and the Times unabashedly uses it to further its point.
But the point of the editorial is just plain wrong:
The jury reached its verdict after having been asked to consider Mr. Zimmerman’s actions in light of Florida’s now-notorious Stand Your Ground statute. Under that law, versions of which are on the books in two dozen states, a person may use deadly force if he or she “reasonably believes” it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm — a low bar that the prosecutors in this case fought in vain to overcome.

These laws sound intuitive: who would argue that you may not protect yourself against great harm? But of course, the concept of “reasonable belief” is transformed into something deadly dangerous when firearms are involved. And when the Stand Your Ground laws intersect with lax concealed-carry laws, it works essentially to self-deputize anyone with a Kel-Tec 9 millimeter and a grudge.

It's been explained, calmly and rationally, over and over. It's impossible to believe that the editorial board of the Times, a smart bunch of folks, didn't hear it or grasp it. If so, then what's written here can only be attributed to disingenuousness and a deliberate effort to deceive.

Stand Your Ground laws apply to one aspect of the larger concept of self-defense, and only one: they eliminate the requirement that a person retreat if he can safely do so. To be clear, I believe that Stand Your Ground laws are fundamentally wrong. The balance is a human life, on the one hand, and some machismo principle that a person should not have to endure the humiliation of retreat on the other.

The argument is that they have a right to stand their ground and fight rather than be forced to run away in the face of an attack, even if they can safely do so. Life is not so cheap that it should be taken to protect ego. Many disagree with me, and they're allowed. This isn't a legal judgment, but a moral balance. I come out in favor of life, and have no plans to change.

But that's not how the Times plays the game in its editorial. While blaming Stand Your Ground, they are attacking the basic concept of self-defense having absolutely nothing to do with Stand Your Ground. It's not merely intuitive, which is used to suggest the inherent fight or flight instinct in human beings, but characterized by the Times as some unnatural shift imposed by law to empower "self-deputized" gun nuts with "a grudge."

This is an artfully crafted diversion from the law that existed long before anybody came up with the cool phrase, Stand Your Ground. We always had the right to defend our lives when threatened with death or serious physical injury. If we could safely retreat, then that was the best option and we were required to do so. If not, then we defended our lives.

The underlying gripe is twofold, neither of which have anything to do with Stand Your Ground. The first is playing the race card.  Like most people, I can't let go of the assumption that race influenced perceptions here, even though I have no basis for the assumption. But there is no law, nor can there be, that requires us to behave one way when the interaction is black and white versus white and black, or people of the same race. Does the Times suggest we start writing two sets of laws, maybe more, to accommodate the races of participants?

The second is the gun card, as reflected in the "Kel-Tec 9 millimeter" language. New York, not being at all gun-friendly, is easily shaken by words that make guns sound particularly vicious and high tech. And again, I'm no personal fan of guns, having no interest in strapping one on. But a great many other people are fans, and the Second Amendment protects their right to be fans. It's irrelevant whether that's my favorite amendment, just as it's irrelevant whether cops like the Fourth.

The same Constitution we invoke to protect the rights we favor protects some things that we don't. Either we honor the Constitution or not, and that includes all the parts, even the ones that aren't as dear to us as others.

A guy is cornered, there is no escape. The other guy is big. Huge. Strong. And is about to bash his head in. The cornered guy has a gun (give it whatever nasty gun-type name you want). Should the law prohibit him from using it to save his life? But that's not the facts in Zimmerman, you say. True, but laws don't exist for every conceivable set of facts and circumstances people can come up with, and the law of self-defense applies to this scenario the same as it did in Zimmerman. Would it make you feel better to have the cornered guy die because the law prohibited him from using his gun to save his life?

While the New York Times editorial may fairly argue for racial tolerance and the evils of guns, Second Amendment be damned, what it cannot do is lie to people by claiming that Trayvon Martin would not be dead but for Stand Your Ground laws, and then call for the evisceration of our basic, age-old right to self-defense. The alternative to self-defense when one cannot safely retreat is to die. 

While it's painfully hard to know whether a person's fear of harm was "reasonable," especially when there is only one side to the confrontation who is alive to tell the story, it's a necessary evil in distinguishing whether force can be lawfully used. The choice was made hundreds of years before anyone ever heard of Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman, and it's been the right choice for all those years since.

As much as many feel that it played out poorly here, it was always understood that some variations in fact on the same theme would touch our sensibilities differently than others. But the flaw was never with the law. The flaw is that we're human and subject to feelings that may defy reason, and not every application of sound and neutral law will make us feel good about what happened.  It's what we must suffer in a society of laws. And the New York Times should know this and be ashamed of itself for engaging in this deception.

Update:  In an interview on Anderson Cooper 360, one of the jurors spoke:

COOPER: Because of the only, the two options you had, second degree murder or manslaughter, you felt neither applied?

JUROR: Right. Well, because of the heat of the moment and the stand your ground. He had a right to defend himself. If he felt threatened that his life was going to be taken away from him or he was going to have bodily harm, he had a right.

This mention of stand your ground gave rise to an apology from Eugene Volokh, who had also written about this Times editorial subsequent to this post.

It thus appears that at least one of the jurors did “consider Mr. Zimmerman’s actions in light of the ... Stand Your Ground provision in Florida’s self-defense law,” and on that the Times editorial was right, and I was wrong to criticize it; my apologies to the editorialists, and to our readers.

While there is no issue that stand your ground had no legal bearing on the case, Eugene apologized for arguing that the aspect of the editorial suggesting that the jury somehow relied on it in reaching its verdict. My view is that these were empty words to the juror, having been uttered too many time in the media before trial, and she offered them in the interview either without any grasp of what they meant or inadvertently.

It was a loose phrase, not a reflection that an unrelated legal concept, mentioned in passing as part of pattern jury instructions, and never argued to the jury, played a role. Loose language shouldn't be taken too seriously and serve as a basis for assuming scholar-like attention to something that scholars universally agree had no place in the case. 

While it was gracious of Eugene to apologize, it was both unnecessary and, perhaps, a mistake to feed misguided understandings about a law which is being blamed for a role it never played.



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Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/15/sound-the-retreat.aspx?ref=rss

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SEC to Boost Award to First Whistleblower to Recover Under Dodd-Frank

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower office announced Friday that it plans to make another payout on the first-ever whistleblower award the agency initially handed out in 2012.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/08/sec-to-boost-award-to-first-whistleblower-to-recover-under-dodd-frank/?mod=WSJBlog

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Project Aims To Attract, Train Public Defenders

Atlanta-based nonprofit Gideon's Promise has launched a new program called the Law School Partnership Project, aimed at making it easier for Southern public defenders to hire talented new law graduates.

Source: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202631276654?rss=rss_nlj

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Roberta Gelb on Technology Training

Roberta Gelb, president of Chelsea Office Systems, talks about how trends such as cloud computing and bring your own device (BYOD) have law firms realizing the importance of training in the adoption of new technologies.

Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sign_me_in.jsp?article=http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202597117056&rss=newswire

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Pharma sales reps are FLSA exempt as outside salesmen (5-4)

This morning the US Supreme Court decided - on a 5-4 vote - that pharmaceutical sales representatives are "outside salesmen" and therefore exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Court also unanimously held that the Department of Labor's recently-announced contrary interpretation was entitled to exactly zero deference.

Christopher v. SmithKline Beacham (US Supreme Ct 06/18/2012)

Christopher, a pharmaceutical sales representative, sued the employer for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) alleging failure to pay overtime. The trial court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment and denied Christopher's motion to amend the judgment based on the trial court's failure to consider an amicus brief filed by the Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL). The 9th Circuit affirmed. The US Supreme Court affirmed (5-4).

The job of a pharmaceutical sales representative is to try to persuade physicians to write prescriptions for products in appropriate cases. For over 70 years DOL acquiesced in an interpretation that they were "outside salesmen" who are exempt from FLSA overtime requirements. In amicus briefs filed in Circuit courts DOL took the position that a "sale" requires a "consummated transaction." In Supreme Court briefing DOL's position was that there is no "sale" unless the employee "actually transfers title."

The Court said that the DOL's new interpretation is entitled to no deference at all because it would impose massive liability for conduct that occurred before the interpretation was announced, there had been no enforcement actions suggesting the industry was acting unlawfully, DOL gave no opportunity for public comment, and the interpretation is "flatly inconsistent" with the FLSA.

The FLSA definition of "sale" includes consignments, which do not involve a transfer of title. Although DOL regulations say that sales include the transfer of title, that does not mean a sale must include a transfer of title. The regulations also use the phrase "other disposition" which - in this unique regulatory environment - includes the work of pharmaceutical sales representatives. The representatives also bear all the exterior indicia of salesmen (average salaries exceeding $70,000, work that is difficult to standardize to a particular time frame, etc.)

The DISSENT reasoned that sales of drugs are made by pharmacists, not pharmaceutical sales representatives. The pharmaceutical sales representative neither make sales nor promote "their own sales." (The dissent agreed that the DOL's current views expressed in briefs are not entitled to any weight.)

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Source: http://www.lawmemo.com/blog/2012/06/pharma_sales_re.html

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Xbox One external game storage 'coming soon' (Albuquerque Journal)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/law/video/368675695?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Justice Department’s Two-Step Needs Work, Two Judges Say

The Justice Department's practice of making bulk requests for email in criminal investigations has come under fire from a pair of federal judges who say the volume of irrelevant information swept up poses an intrusion into Americans' privacy.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/07/justice-departments-two-step-needs-work-two-judges-say/?mod=WSJBlog

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France police arrest Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect

[JURIST] French police on Friday arrested Radomir Susnjar [Bosnia Times backgrounder], a Bosnian Serb paramilitary soldier suspected of killing 59 Muslim civilians during the Bosnian Civil War [JURIST news archive]. Susnjar is suspected of involvement in the July 1992 killings in the town of Visegrad, where 59 civilians were locked in a building that was set on fire. Susnjar was arrested [AP report] in France at the request of Bosnian authorities and will soon face extradition to Bosnia to stand...

Source: http://jurist.org/paperchase/2014/04/french-police-arrest-bosnian-serb-war-crimes-suspect.php

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Privacy Fence Violates Injunction 

A defendant who erected a privacy fence along a concrete alleyway, with a gate, has violated a court injunction against unreasonable interference with plaintiff’s easement in the concrete alleyway, and the Richmond Circuit Court orders the privacy fence removed The Supreme Court of Virginia in Hartsock v. Powell, 199 Va. 320 (1957), has said that ...

Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/2014/01/02/privacy-fence-violates-injunction/

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Welcome To Voting Rights Boot Camp

In the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling last year, advocates worry that jurisdictions are quietly making changes to disenfranchise minorities. A training program is designed to counter that.

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Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/04/07/299074730/welcome-to-voting-rights-boot-camp?ft=1&f=1070

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Monday, April 7, 2014

Oscar Pistorius Takes The Stand, Opening With Apology

In court Monday, Olympian Oscar Pistorius spoke publicly for the first time of the night he shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. David Smith, the Africa correspondent for The Guardian, offers more detail.

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Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/04/07/300282837/oscar-pistorius-takes-the-stand-opening-with-apology?ft=1&f=1070

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The Obama-Ortiz ‘Selfie’: Could the President Make a Legal Case Against Samsung?

Were President Barack Obama to sue over the "selfie" photo taken last week by Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, would he have a case?
He might, say legal experts, while conceding that it's highly unlikely that the president would take such a step.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/07/the-obama-ortiz-selfie-could-the-president-make-a-legal-case-against-samsung/?mod=WSJBlog

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Threatening Statements? Me? Hey, It’s My Word Against His.

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If it’s a “he said/she said” occurrence, the party who has the burden of proof is usually going to lose, even more so in a criminal case because of the higher burden of proof. So if a person alleges that another person threatened him, that will be a tough case to prosecute, right? Generally, yes. But what if, oh, say the threat was made to a police officer? Doh! As reported by The Times And Democrat (Orangeburg, South Carolina):

“On Wednesday, March 26, a deputy sheriff responded to Gregory Complete Auto where Randall Dale Gregory indicated batteries and tires had been stolen from vehicles at his auto shop. While the deputy sheriff was taking the report, Gregory began making statements that ‘the OCSO is going to catch hell from him’ and that ‘he is going to drive a tank up the Sheriff (sic) Office and blow it up,’” Williams said. “Gregory continued making threats including against Chief Kinsey and saying that he would go to his home and steal all of his things. Gregory told the responding deputy sheriff ‘that if he observes any deputy sheriff or Sheriff Leroy Ravenell on his property if he is there ‘he will shoot them,’” Williams said.

Talk about stepping on your, er, that is, shooting yourself in the foot.

Gregory, 54, of 2045 Indigo Drive, was arrested Friday without incident and charged with threatening a public official and threatening public property.

You can find the source, and a mug shot, here.

 

Source: http://rss.justia.com/~r/LegalJuiceCom/~3/9k4R9RPYSXM/asdf-16.html

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Plaintiffs Seek to Consolidate Target Data Breach Suits

Attorneys who filed class actions against Target Corp. over its security breach last month have moved to coordinate the swelling tide of litigation, estimated at nearly 50 lawsuits.

Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202637342683&rss=rss_nlj

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Washington's sexual orientation discrimination amendment is not retroactive

The Washington State Supreme Court held today that a sexual orientation discrimination amendment adopted in 2006 is not retroactive.

The court also concluded that conduct that took place prior to the amendment is admissible background evidence to prove the discriminatory nature of certain conduct occurring after the amendment.

Loeffelholz v. Univ of Washington (Washington 09/13/2012)

Loeffelholz sued under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) claiming discrimination based on sexual orientation. WLAD was amended in 2006 to include sexual orientation as a protected class, and Loeffelholz alleged several pre-amendment acts and one post-amendment act.

The Washington Supreme Court held that (1) the WLAD amendment is not retroactive and the pre-amendment conduct is not actionable as it was not unlawful when it occurred, and (2) the post-amendment allegedly discriminatory comment is arguably similar enough to the pre-amendment conduct to survive summary judgment.

Loeffelholz alleged that her supervisor between 2003 and June 2006 maintained a hostile work environment based on sexual orientation. This was prior to the WLAD amendment. Loeffelholz also alleged a single act of discrimination by this supervisor after the WLAD amendment.

The court's findings:

(1) Pre-amendment conduct is not actionable. Retroactive application of the amendment would violate the employer's due process rights. The plain language of the amendment and its legislative history indicate only prospective application.

(2) Pre-amendment conduct is admissible as background evidence to prove why the post-amendment conduct is discriminatory.

(3) The post-amendment conduct was a single statement by Loeffelholz's supervisor, who was about to be deployed to Iraq, that he was "going to come back a very angry man." The court found that a reasonable jury could infer that this comment was a natural extension of pre-amendment conduct - the supervisor's dislike of lesbians and his anger management problems as illustrated by his comments that he had a volatile temper and kept a gun. This is enough to preclude summary judgment.

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Source: http://www.lawmemo.com/blog/2012/09/washingtons_sex.html

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Mark Woods: My VAM is much less exact but far more accurate (Florida Times-Union)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/law/video/368822788?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Privacy Fence Violates Injunction 

A defendant who erected a privacy fence along a concrete alleyway, with a gate, has violated a court injunction against unreasonable interference with plaintiff’s easement in the concrete alleyway, and the Richmond Circuit Court orders the privacy fence removed The Supreme Court of Virginia in Hartsock v. Powell, 199 Va. 320 (1957), has said that ...

Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/2014/01/02/privacy-fence-violates-injunction/

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Kansas' Unauthorized LL.M. Program Draws ABA Censure

The University of Kansas School of Law must pay a $50,000 fine for admitting two foreign attorneys into a new LL.M. program that the American Bar Association had not approved.

Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202634055202&rss=rss_nlj

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Contractor Can’t Sue City on Bid 

In this suit arising out of a city procurement bid process, won by a third party, plaintiff’s complaint identifies plaintiff and defendant as a joint venture but the attached bid proposal describes them as “two primary subcontractors,” and the Richmond Circuit Court grants the city’s demurrer but overrules the demurrer on plaintiff’s breach of contract ...

Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/2014/01/02/contractor-cant-sue-city-on-bid/

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Federal Appeals Court Throws out Ruling on Lethal Execution Drugs

A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a ruling requiring the Texas prison system to make public more information about where it gets lethal-injection drugs, the Associated Press reports. The appellate court reversed a judge who had hours earlier put on hold the executions of two Texas death-row inmates, saying the state has improperly withheld from them information about the source of the lethal-injection drugs it planned to use. The lower-court ruling, by U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore, had been the latest setback for states which refuse to disclose the provenance of their lethal-injection drugs.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/02/federal-judge-in-houston-stays-executions-of-2-inmates/?mod=smallbusiness

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Sunday, April 6, 2014

Supreme Court Tosses Lawsuit by Disgruntled Frequent Flier

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday handed a victory to the airline industry, ruling a disgruntled airline passenger couldn't sue Delta Air Lines Inc. on allegations he was unfairly removed from a frequent-flier program.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/04/02/supreme-court-tosses-lawsuit-by-disgruntled-frequent-flier/?mod=WSJBlog

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Wisconsin public employee collective bargaining statute amendments declared unconstitutional

A teachers' union sought declarative and injunctive relief against the governor, claiming that statutory amendments dealing with municipal employees' collective bargaining rights and payroll deductions of dues and pension contributions were unconstitutional.

The trial court declared the statute unconstitutional. Madison Teachers v. Walker (Wisconsin Circuit Ct 09/14/2012)

(1) Certain portions of the statute violated the free speech clauses of the Wisconsin and US constitutions. Although there is no constitutional right to collective bargaining, the statute imposes burdens on the speech and associational rights of employees represented by unions which burdens are not imposed on other employees. They cannot negotiate wage increases greater than the cost of living, they cannot pay dues by payroll deductions solely because the dues go to labor organizations. A ban on fair share agreements means that union members bear the cost of bargaining for non-members who receive the befits of bargaining. Requiring unions to be recertified annually burdens members with the full costs of the election.

(2) The trial court applied strict scrutiny to the equal protection claims because of the infringement on speech rights. The statute creates two classes of employees (represented and non-represented), and the defendants "offer no defense of the statute that would survive strict scrutiny."

(3) Certain portions of the statute violated the Wisconsin constitution's home rule amendment, violated the constitutional bar on impairment of contracts, and deprived employees of property without due process.

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Source: http://www.lawmemo.com/blog/2012/09/wisconsin_publi.html

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2013 Year in Review: E-discovery Embraces its Roots

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Although the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr certainly didn’t have legal technologies in mind when he wrote this famous epigram, his sentiments ring true to the current state of e-discovery. While 2012 was the battle ground in which the “disruptive” technology-assisted review and its early adopters emerged victorious, 2013 provided something of a “back to basics” approach as courts applied the fundamental tenets of e-discovery to the newer, more efficient technologies and methodologies that are revolutionizing e-discovery. In this edition of ESI Report, host and Director of Thought Leadership for Kroll Ontrack Michele Lange invites e-discovery expert Phil Favro to highlight this year’s key e-discovery cases, analyze key trends, and explore the predictions for the e-discovery realm of 2014.

Currently providing independent litigation counsel, Favro is a recognized expert in e-discovery, information governance, and data protection. He has advised technology companies and other enterprises regarding complex business disputes, and he has written over 50 byline articles and several law review pieces that have appeared in reputable publications such as the ACC Docket, Law Technology News, and the Michigan State Law Review.

Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/esi-report/2013/12/2013-year-in-review-e-discovery-embraces-its-roots

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Officer Safety and Second Hand Smoke

Via John Wesley Hall at Fourth Amendment, a decision out of the 10th Circuit that puts an end to the pressing question of whether second hand smoke presents a sufficient justification to circumvent the 4th Amendment and enter a home without a warrant.  Lest you think this is too ridiculous to be worthy of consideration, bear in mind this is on appeal, the district court having denied suppression.

In United States v. Mongold, Special Agent Ashley Stephens (who apparently is male) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“ATF”) was investigating Claudia Moore, whom she knew to be a felon from prior dealings, for drug dealing. After conducting observations, she, together with three other agents, went to Moore's apartment to conduct a "knock and talk," since she lacked probable cause to get a warrant.

Aside: For those unaware, a "knock and talk" is a means of circumventing the warrant requirement by relying on submission to the shield, lies, fear and the possibility that the agents might either see or cause something to happen to give rise to an exception to the warrant requirement that would allow them to enter a home. And yes, it's been held to be perfectly lawful since anyone, cop or Fuller Brush salesman, can knock on your door and say "hi." Or scream "police", as the case may be.
According to the testimony, Stephens heard "scurrying and shuffling" inside the apartment upon her knocking on the door, "which immediately caused us concern." A male voice asked who it was, and after he responded "police," there were "loud movements" and a "short delay" before Mongold opened the door. That's when the bad stuff happened.

After the delay, Mr. Mongold, who had been living in the home for several months, opened the door. Agent Stephens smelled marijuana and recognized what he believed were prison tattoos on Mr. Mongold. Agent Stephens asked for Ms. Moore. Mr. Mongold told him that he would go get her and turned to walk to the back of the house to find her. The officers followed him inside even though they did not have permission to enter the house.

Once inside, they saw ammunition. Knowing that Moore was a prior felon, possession of ammunition was a crime, and it went downhill from there. Mongold, Moore and her two adult children subsequently consented to a search of the place, which found drugs and guns. 

The defendant moved to suppress before the district court, based on the initial warrantless entry. The government's argument below was that the smell of marijuana, combined with the "prison tats" on Mongold's arm, suggesting that he too was a felon, created a justifiable fear of officer safety, which allowed for Stephens to enter for a protective sweep. The court below also held the entry justified under exigent circumstances to preserve evidence.

The Circuit wasn't as impressed.  While the court acknowledged that the smell of marijuana is accepted as a basis to believe there is pot inside, it merely gives rise to a belief that it's basic possession of marijuana.

Based on the foregoing, if marijuana possession is the only crime for which the officers in this case had probable cause, the exigency exception for destruction of evidence should not apply because marijuana possession is not a serious crime.

But that wasn't the only argument.  There remained their deep concern for the safety from the smell (yes, I'm being facetious calling it "second hand smoke," because it's unclear whether the smell is smoke or fresh pot, and the opinion really has nothing to do with the second-hand smoke aspect in any event).

At the suppression hearing, Agent Stephens argued that he feared for his and the other officers' safety because the home's owner, Ms. Moore, was a known felon, and he suspected Mr. Mongold was a felon as well, based on his "prison tattoos."

Officer safety is not an alternative ground to affirm because the first element of the test is dispositive. The Government presented no evidence that the officers had "reasonable grounds to believe that there [was] immediate need to protect their lives or others." Before entering the home, the officers had not seen a weapon or any other indication of heightened danger.

Even the use of cool active verbs ("scurrying"), curious descriptors ("loud movements") and expressions of deep concern reflecting both the terrible, life-and-death dangers of conducting a "knock and talk" to circumvent the Constitution, didn't sway the court.  Instead, the court reached the conclusion of remarkably wisdom:

They could most easily have protected the officers' safety by leaving Ms. Moore's home, not by entering it.

An idea so radical, so outlandish, that it never occurred to either the agents or the prosecutors: walk away. While this might make for good fodder to be chiseled into the lintels over courthouses everywhere, the bad news is that the opinion, while persuasive, is not precedential:

This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value.

This, of course, means that the next time a second-hand smoke case arises, the district judge may not be willing to adopt such a radical concept as expecting the agents to walk away rather than conduct a warrantless search of a home after smelling marijuana or seeing prison tats, because they're very scary to agents.

And don't discount the possibility that if the odor was of burning pot, the agents would be authorized to break down the door to protect themselves from the second hand smoke. Truth is, this opinion doesn't preclude such a holding at all. It could still happen.

 

 

 

 



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Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/13/officer-safety-and-second-hand-smoke.aspx?ref=rss

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Revenge Porn: Societal Costs and Legislative Solutions

The non-consensual posting of nude or sexual media by one person of another is known as Revenge Porn. Many victims report that this practice has had detrimental effects on their lives. Of those surveyed, 90 percent are women and 49 percent say they've been stalked or harassed. Despite the growing number of reports, most states' laws do not address the issue. On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview victim-advocate Dr. Holly Jacobs, a victim of revenge porn herself, and Professor Mary Anne Franks, both of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Together, they discuss the technical aspects of various states' laws that allow some types of posts while forbidding others. Many factors and technicalities, including who took the picture, how the image or video was obtained, and who posted it, can dictate whether posting the item was illegal. Tune in to this very special episode to learn what individual states and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative are doing to combat Revenge Porn. A follow up episode with guest Lee Rowland from the American Civil Liberties Union will examine other legal issues regarding Revenge Porn. It will be released on April 8th.
Dr. Holly Jacobs is the Founder, President, and Executive Director of Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, which is the parent organization for the End Revenge Porn Campaign. She is a national commentator and writer on the subject and holds a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. While pursuing her graduate degrees, Jacobs became a victim of revenge porn and has since dedicated her life towards providing resources and advocacy to victims of online harassment.
Professor Mary Anne Franks is the Vice President of Cyber Civil Rights Initiative and an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law. She holds a JD from Harvard Law School and prior to her teaching career, obtained both her Masters and PhD in Modern Languages and Literature as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. As part of her continuing efforts with the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, she works with state legislatures to draft legislation against non-consensual pornography.

Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/2014/03/revenge-porn-societal-costs-legislative-solutions

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What Should Lawyers Know About Information Governance?

In this edition of Digital Detectives hosts Sharon D. Nelson and John W. Simek invite Jason R. Baron, former director of litigation at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to discuss Information Governance as it relates to e-discovery, privacy, record keeping and security. Baron connects the dots between all these areas and helps lawyers understand they need to know about information governance and the current trends he is see in this area. Baron serves as counsel to the Information Governance and E-Discovery Practice Group at the law firm of Drinker Biddle and Reath, in Washington, DC. His prior career in the federal service included acting as trial lawyer and senior counsel at the Department of Justice, and for the past 13 years as director of litigation at the US National Archives and Records Administration. He is an internationally recognized speaker on the subject of electronic records.

Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/digital-detectives/2014/01/lawyers-know-information-governance

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Legal demographics are changing

An ABA task force recently found that  only 56% of recent law school graduates achieve full-time employment as an attorney within twelve months of graduation, over the last five years, applicants to law schools have declined by roughly 50% from approximately 100,000 to approximately 50,000 per year.

This will have a dramatic impact on the availability of lawyers for the American public. And couple this statistic with the more than 400,000 lawyers who will retire in the next 10 years, and you will see a dramatic change in the legal landscape.

For those who complain that there are too many lawyers, this should satisfy their desire to thin the ranks of lawyers. For those who want to better serve those currently under-served Americans, this will add yet another challenge to the system. And for lawyers, the likelihood increases that the Bar will add yet another requirement of pro bono service and added cost to doing business as a lawyer.

Source: http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/LawBizBlog/~3/0jN9qNjPgRk/

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The Post-'McCutcheon' World

Campaign reform advocates grappled with the possibility that a constitutional amendment might be their only remaining option to limit the power of money in politics in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark April 2 ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission.

Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sign_me_in.jsp?article=http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202649627595&rss=newswire

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Living in Multiple Tech Worlds: Windows, Mac, and Android

The rise of cloud computing has made it easier for lawyers to live in multiple tech worlds, whether it's Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android. This phenomenon is becoming a trend that affects many people and is changing how we think about, talk about, and use technology. On this episode of the Kennedy-Mighell Report, hosts Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss living in multiple tech worlds simultaneously, how this changes our experience of technology, and practical ways to prepare and adjust to this growing trend.

Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/kennedy-mighell-report/2014/02/living-multiple-tech-worlds-windows-mac-android

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Saturday, April 5, 2014

Delaware Court of Chancery Grants Summary Judgment Dismissing Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims In Absence of Evidence of Directors’ “Conscious Disregard” of Fiduciary Duties

In In re Answers Corp. Shareholders Litigation, C.A. No. 6170-VCN, 2014 WL 463163 (Del. Ch. Feb. 3, 2014), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Noble, V.C.) granted summary judgment in favor of defendants in a stockholder class action for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of the merger of Answers Corporation (“Answers” or the “Company”) with AFCV Holdings, LLC (“AFCV”).  Because the undisputed material facts showed that a disinterested majority of the Board of Directors approved the transaction, plaintiffs were required to offer evidence that the Board consciously acted in bad faith or was controlled by an interested party to survive summary judgment.  Plaintiffs were unable to do so.  The Answers decision highlights the high burden stockholder plaintiffs face to proceed with breach of fiduciary duty claims where a merger is approved by an independent/non-controlled board, even where the sale process may have been flawed.  As the court explained, there is a vast difference between “a flawed inadequate effort to carry out fiduciary duties and a conscious disregard for them.”

Answers was a publicly traded Delaware corporation focused on the questions and answers space online.  Approximately 90% of the website’s traffic and 75% of its revenue came from Google.  In March 2010, AFCV, a portfolio company of a private equity firm with a focus on social media and online information resources, submitted an expression of interest to members of the Answers board concerning a possible business combination.  In September 2010, AFCV sent Robert Rosenschein, the Company’s CEO, a letter of intent proposing to acquire Answers for between $7.50 and $8.25 per share.  The Board eventually obtained an offer of $10.25 per share, but refused to grant AFCV exclusivity while it continued to evaluate other alternatives and strategic buyers.

While negotiations were proceeding, the Company’s financial conditions improved significantly when Answers announced its fourth quarter results for 2010.  In January 2011, the financing committee of the Board recommended attempting to increase the offer price beyond the pending $10.25 per share, but to accept that amount if no further concessions on price were obtained.  AFCV responded with its best and final offer at $10.50 per share.  After noting that there were no other offers of the table and recognizing that Google continued to significantly threaten the Company’s core business, the Board unanimously approved the proposed transaction.

Shortly after the announcement of the merger agreement, several stockholder plaintiffs filed complaints in the Delaware Court of Chancery challenging the transaction.  Plaintiffs alleged that Rosenschein (and two other directors) were conflicted and controlled the negotiation process.  Plaintiffs also alleged that the members of the Board breached its fiduciary duties by acting in bad faith to sell Answers before its rising stock price would exceed AFCV’s offer by (1) purposefully engaging in a limited shopping process, (2) failing to act in the interest of the Company’s public stockholders after circumstances had changed to indicate the offer price was too low and (3) exerting willful blindness by ignoring alternatives to the AFCV transaction.

The court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment.  The court recognized that a disinterested majority of the Board approved the transaction.  Thus, to survive summary judgment, plaintiffs were required to show that the Board consciously acted in bad faith or that it was controlled by an interested party.  Plaintiffs failed to do so.  The directors submitted evidence that they fielded a variety of unsolicited offers and participated in numerous meetings where they discussed transaction alternatives.  Despite discussions with at least seven other possible acquirers, nobody else made a credible offer to acquire Answers.  The directors also caused the Company’s financial advisor to perform a market check.  Moreover, the directors actively negotiated with AFCV on price.  This evidence undermined any assertion of bad faith.

The court discounted plaintiffs’ contention than an email where a director stated that the value of Answers could be as much as $1.50 higher than AFCV’s $10.25 offer price showed “bad-faith” by recognizing that the Board had plausible business concerns regarding the stability and future success of the Company tied to its reliance upon Google for traffic and revenues.  Plaintiffs also ignored the fact that the Board secured additional merger consideration as a result of the Company’s improving financial condition.  As the court explained:

Plaintiffs’ proffered evidence does not create a genuine issue of material fact.  Evidence based upon a few isolated quotes stating the deal was accelerated or reflecting one director’s belief, or perhaps mere bargaining position, of the Company’s value does not state a claim for bad faith in this context.  Such considerations are within the purview of a disinterested Board . . . .  [N]o allegations have been made concerning the Board’s motives for favoring AFCV as a bidder or presenting some other motive for failing to maximize shareholder value.

Ultimately, although plaintiffs argued a “variety of ways in which they believe the process could have been better conducted, they offer no evidence of that extreme set of facts required to show that the board utterly failed to comply with its duties.”

The court also rejected plaintiffs’ claim that Rosenschein and two other directors dominated and controlled the Board to such a degree as to render it not independent.

The decision in Answers confirms that stockholders bear a high burden when challenging a disinterested/non-controlled board’s decision to approve a strategic transaction.  When faced with non-exculpated duty of loyalty claims, Delaware courts will accept a less-than-optimal shop process as long as the directors did not act with a “conscious disregard” of their duty under Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, 506 A.2d 173 (Del. 1986) [see generally here] to maximize stockholder value in a change-in-control transaction.

Source: http://www.corporatesecuritieslawblog.com/2014/03/delaware-court-of-chancery-grants-summary-judgment-dismissing-breach-of-fiduciary-duty-claims-in-absence-of-evidence-of-directors-conscious-disregard-of-fiduciary-duties/

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Townhome Neighbors Can’t Challenge Access 

Plaintiff townhome owners do not have standing to challenge defendant developer’s use of a 50-foot easement that runs between a church and the townhome community for access and a connection to a proposed development with seven new homes; the Fairfax Circuit Court says plaintiffs have not shown they would suffer any particularized harm from installation ...

Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/2014/01/02/townhome-neighbors-cant-challenge-access/

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Legal demographics are changing

An ABA task force recently found that  only 56% of recent law school graduates achieve full-time employment as an attorney within twelve months of graduation, over the last five years, applicants to law schools have declined by roughly 50% from approximately 100,000 to approximately 50,000 per year.

This will have a dramatic impact on the availability of lawyers for the American public. And couple this statistic with the more than 400,000 lawyers who will retire in the next 10 years, and you will see a dramatic change in the legal landscape.

For those who complain that there are too many lawyers, this should satisfy their desire to thin the ranks of lawyers. For those who want to better serve those currently under-served Americans, this will add yet another challenge to the system. And for lawyers, the likelihood increases that the Bar will add yet another requirement of pro bono service and added cost to doing business as a lawyer.

Source: http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/LawBizBlog/~3/0jN9qNjPgRk/

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Target Security Breach: Litigation and Impact

We now know that 70 million shoppers were impacted by a major security breach involving Target during the height of the holiday shopping season. Ringler Radio host, Larry Cohen joins colleague Heather Anderson and special guest Attorney Larry Golston, from the Beasley Allen Law Firm, as they discuss the current litigation following the security breach, the impact, and what lies ahead to protect their customers' private information.

Source: http://ringlerradio.com/podcasts/ringler-radio/2014/01/target-security-breach-litigation-and-impact/

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Entropy: It's Not What It Used To Be*

In thermodynamics, entropy is the measure of how things go from order to disorder. Its application is far broader, however, applying to life in general. For those of us, like me, who strive to maintain order, it is the enemy.

My ability to do what I do, to function, depends on my maintaining order. In a world of chaos, it's a constant battle. No man is an island, and so almost every function relies to some greater or lesser extent on interactions with others. In order to prepare an affidavit, a person must take or return my phone call, do so in time for me to get their words on paper in both an accurate and comprehensible manner, make sure I've captured their thoughts properly, get it executed and file and serve the document.  If the person decides that he would rather go to the beach than speak with me, but will get back to me later, the entire scheme can fall apart. A call back on Monday at 11 doesn't help when the papers are due Monday at 9.

When I explain how their conduct affected my ability to do my job, the response is one of two things: "Oh, I didn't realize," or "you should have told me that before."  Of course, I can't tell you anything if you don't take or return my call. "Oh."

It's a fragile set up at best. Some people are reliable in a way that allows other to count on them, to plan ahead and not find themselves in a quagmire from which they can't emerge.  These are people who make other people's lives go smoothly. They tend to be somewhere along the anal compulsive spectrum, which sounds pretty nasty but is actually a really good thing for organized people, especially lawyers.

Others are chaos personified, off in the thousand directions without any thought whatsoever to the consequences for themselves or those who rely on them. Their alternative to order is their tolerance of disorder. It's not that they don't eventually come to realize what they failed to accomplish because of their chaotic approach to responsibility, but that they can live with themselves that way.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Then again, it has nothing to do with God. It has to do with us. We make choices. If you're inclined to believe in a deity, then know that the deity imbued you with the power to make wise or foolish choices, and left it to you to decide which.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear-
I will choose Free Will.
When I'm asked how I manage to get as much done in a day as I do, the answer is order. I organize. I plan ahead. I try to anticipate the chaos I will confront in the course of trying to get things done so that I can accommodate it as much as possible, and will give myself enough room so that someone else's choice of disorder won't completely undermine what I need to accomplish.

The other day, a massive failure to accomplish a task upon which I relied was explained to me as the result of unforeseen circumstances. It wasn't quite true. Getting hit by a truck is an unforeseen circumstances. Making overly optimistic promises which you chose not to keep when time or interest gets tight is not an unforeseen circumstances. It's life.

There is a difference between explanations and excuses.  When something doesn't go as intended, which happens despite best efforts and planning, there is either an explanation or it was just a screw-up. If the former, then there is a reason. If there is no reason, then it's a screw-up.  Yes, screw-ups happen. No, they don't have to. Are they your fault? Yes. That's why we call them screw-ups.

Excuses are a different animal. Excuses are explanations that shift the fault onto the party who caused the problem.  Most are imperfect, in that fault is born by more than one party, often all parties, who either failed to do what they should have, or said they would, as well as parties who failed to anticipate or accommodate the chaos wrought by others involved. See how that works?  We knew that other people screw-up, and so we assume the responsibility of inserting that potential in our equation of order. When we organize our world, we do so in anticipation of entropy.

It's all a choice. Frankly, the failure to realize this, to conduct oneself as an island of order in a world tending toward chaos, to both live an ordered life and recognize that others don't or won't, is a choice. If you want to do what you can to do better, be more responsible, keep your promises to others despite reliance on those who infuse their chaos into your world, you can. But you must make the choice.

It's hard to fight entropy, but those who do keep the world running.

* The title is brazenly stolen from Buzzfeed's 21 Jokes Only Nerds Will Understand.


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Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/14/entropy-its-not-what-it-used-to-be.aspx?ref=rss

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Zimmerman: No Appeal From The Court of Public Opinion (Update)

George Zimmerman was acquitted on a Saturday night. Keyboards were pounded. Reporters reported. Pundits opined. And the jury in the court of public opinion rendered its verdict.

Almost no criminal lawyer, prosecution or defense, saw a second degree murder conviction coming. Education and experience condemns us to view evidence and law with detached logic, so there is no emotionalism, no reliance on "common sense," to fudge the proof.

While juries regularly reach verdicts that bear little relation to the facts, evidence and applicable law, mostly because it's a deeply flawed system, that didn't happen here. The best discussion of what happened that has been produced thus far comes from the Unwashed Advocate, Eric Mayer, who succinctly lays it out.

Acquittal was the right verdict in this case, no matter how much you feel Zimmerman acted out of prejudice, or how terrible it is that a young man was killed.

But the court of public opinion rendered its opinion on twitter following the verdict. For those who embrace the "wisdom of crowds," consider its holding:

1. Trayvon Martin's family should appeal the verdict, up to the Supreme Court if necessary.
2. On appeal, they can make George Zimmerman testify.
3. Then, George Zimmerman will be convicted because a young man is dead.

It's not that people intentionally determined that the Constitution should be ignored. It's that the crowds have no clue.  Maybe they slept through civics class. Maybe they don't remember. Maybe they don't care. But less than ten days after we celebrated the independence of this nation, the court of public opinion has decided they don't like them.

There will be no appeal because of the double jeopardy clause, which precludes it. Zimmerman did not have to testify, and will never have to testify in a criminal prosecution, because he has the right not to testify. And most sadly, the fact that a young man is dead does not compel the conclusion that someone be convicted of a crime.

So much for the adoration of crowdsourcing, or the desiderata that the public can be entrusted with the handling of the law.  In the court of public opinion, assumption runs rampant, as people get their own "feel" for right and wrong, and then become so entrenched in their own bias that they refuse to consider the hard details of evidence and proof.  People need no trial to tell them what happened. They hear a story and whatever gut reaction they have to it becomes their reality.

As it turns out, much of what was told about the death of Trayvon Martin is either false or mired in mystery. When left with the proposition that we will never know what "really" happened, the significance is that the prosecution then lacks evidence to prove its case.  But Trayvon is dead, so it's unfair since he can't tell his side of the story?  True, but that doesn't change the requirement that a defendant be proven guilty. The rule is not proof if its available, assumption if it's not. Except in the court of public opinion.

Is there nothing left to do? There is the possibility of a civil suit for wrongful death by Trayvon Martin's family, just as Nicole Brown Simpson's family sued O.J. The standard of proof is lower, "preponderance of the evidence" rather than "beyond a reasonable doubt," but the outcome will be money damages at worst, not conviction of a crime and imprisonment.

There is also the possibility of a prosecution in federal court for violating Trayvon Martin's civil right to live by shooting him, under the dreaded dual sovereignty that allows the feds a shot if the state fails to convict. That's what happened to LAPD Sgt. Stacey Koon in the Rodney King beating. 

Will either of these happen? Time will tell. The former seems far more likely than the latter, but Trayvon's family may be more legally sophisticated by this point, such that they realize the difficulty that exists with providing evidence to prove their claim.  It's not that they can't believe, but they can't prove.

As show trials go, this one has generated plenty of fodder for television heads to fill the empty minutes between commercials.  But it has also shown that the court of public opinion can't be trusted. Americans still don't understand their own system. They don't get that the rights they want for themselves have to be given to people they despise as well. They refuse to accept that someone they feel with absolute certainty is guilty can be properly acquitted.

Did George Zimmerman have hate in his heart? Who knows. I don't. Neither do you, no matter how strongly you believe you do. But he wasn't proven to have killed Trayvon Martin because of his ill will toward a young black man, and when that happens under our system, acquittal must follow. Yet the court of public opinion refused to accept the verdict, instead pushing its million member jury deeper into ignorance.

There is one truth that neither conviction nor acquittal can change:

 A young man named Trayvon died. He didn’t need to die. That is both tragic and sad.
And there is another truth that twitter cannot change. For all the vast information that has become available to us by virtue of the internet, there is no wisdom of the crowds.

Update: Already this morning, television news has broadcast the twits of New York City politicians and candidates following the verdict. They have the potential to enlighten, to calm, to inform. Instead, they are pandering and inflaming the passions and ignorance of the public, playing the confirmation bias card.

Whether they too lack a working grasp of our legal system, or know better and just don't care, is unclear. Either way, a million people could end the day stupider than it began. Is it worth a vote? Don't answer.


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Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/14/zimmerman-no-appeal-from-the-court-of-public-opinion.aspx?ref=rss

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Diploma Privilege: Why Some Believe Bar Exams Should be Eliminated

Are Bar Exams really necessary? The Iowa State Bar Association isn't so sure. In this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Iowa State Bar Association President Guy Cook and Clinical Professor of Law John Whiston to learn why Iowa could soon offer Diploma Privilege for its law graduates. Cook is the current president of the Iowa State Bar Association. He is an Iowa native who has been practicing law for over 30 years. Guy is a board certified trial attorney, former federal prosecutor, and senior partner for Grefe and Sidney, P.L.C. where he practices exclusively in litigation. He also serves on the Board of Counselors of Drake University Law School. Whiston is a clinical professor of law at The University of Iowa College of Law. He teaches in the Clinical Legal Programs as well as courses in Evidence, Deposition Practice, Worker's Compensation, and Trial Advocacy. John is a former partner with Rossbach and Whiston, P.C. and has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/2014/01/diploma-privilege-believe-bar-exams-eliminated/

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