Archive for 2011
March 9, 2011
NEIL MUNRO: White House To Liberal-Minded Muslims: Drop Dead. “White House officials are boosting the visibility and clout of Islamic revivalist groups in the United States, and are sidelining the growing network of liberal-minded, modern American Muslims.”
NEW FROM GALLUP: Obama Job Approval Starts Down Again.
A NATIONAL TRAGEDY FOR EGYPT: Meltdown: Women harassed, attacked in Tahrir Square during International Women’s Day protests. “And in case you’re wondering, no, there’s no coverage of this yet at Al Jazeera’s website that I’ve been able to find. There is, to their credit, this overview of sexual harassment and women’s rights in Egypt but nothing about the ugliness in Tahrir Square. That’s not the first time they’ve quietly overlooked a story about an attack on women that would reflect badly on the revolution. Probably won’t be the last.”
Too bad there’s not an international charity that gives women guns. That’s an NGO I’d support. . . .
KEVIN WILLIAMSON: Gangster Government, Pinocchio Government, Whatever. “At issue are Democratic claims that they are offering the Republicans a meaningful compromise on spending cuts, that they are meeting them ‘halfway.’ Which, as the Post points out, is true, if your baseline is an imaginary budget that was never enacted.”
THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF LAW PRACTICE: “First, routine legal work is likely to be responsible for a dwindling proportion of a lawyer’s fees. Wealthy, sophisticated clients will outsource their routine work and less wealthy, unsophisticated clients will turn to the Internet. Second, mere knowledge of the law is unlikely to command high fees, except perhaps in very technical, specialized areas. Lay people will no longer need lawyers to tell them what the basic legal rules are.”
UPDATE: Reader Jim Oz writes:
Several years ago, I found myself accused of a crime. I couldn’t afford a lawyer, so against the advice of the Judge, I defended myself. Prior to the trial I spent 4 weekends at Stanford Law Library, focusing on 1) Rules of Evidence; and 2) Courtroom procedure. I figured those topics would be most relevant. I was able to get the police report (I was never arrested) and obtain subpoenas from the clerk for my investigation.
The day of the trial, the ADA told me that he was an experienced proscecutor for 7 years, and if I did not reach an agreement with him before the Judge arrived, he would see me in jail for as long as possible. I thanked him for his offer of 10 days in jail, but declined.
The ADA kept trying to introduce evidence that was ‘hearsay’. I objected. The sweetest sound is to hear a Judge say, “SUSTAINED”! This went on and on. Objection!, Hearsay, I said. “Sustained.”, the Judge responded. Finally, the ‘experienced’ ADA started whining to the judge that he thought he could introduce evidence from a police officer, who did not in fact witness the alleged crime. Pitiful.
On cross examination of a witness, I tried to go beyond the scope of the direct, and the ADA objected. I pointed out to the Judge that it was within his discretion to allow the question, so that I did not have to recall the witness during my defense. He looked at me wide eyed and agreed, allowing the question
I destroyed the ‘star witness’, by proving she never witnessed the ‘crime’. She perjured herself, but I didn’t know how to press that, so nothing happened to her.
The Judge asked me if I was a lawyer, or had gone to law school. Fact is, I dropped out of High School, but I did not find the process all that difficult. It’s pretty logical if you think about it.
I tried to make a motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution, but I did it wrong, or at the wrong time, so the case went to the jury.
I was acquitted. The ADA had to go back and explain how he lost a case to a high school dropout pro per. (or is it pro se? I don’t have my Black’s Law Dictionary anymore)It seems to me, that lawyers try to make the law seem very complicated and difficult, when it really isn’t. Although politics will screw it up quite a bit, I suppose.
Well, yes. (And it’s pro se.) The thing is — and I’ve experienced this in some pro bono cases over the years — there are plenty of smart people who nonetheless don’t have a knack for the law. While there are some great pro se litigants, it’s a risky move.
MARCO RUBIO calls for a Balanced Budget Amendment.
DAVID KIRKHAM SENDS A REPORT FROM UTAH:
Oh the power of an Army of Davids with access to the internet! The Utah Legislature tried to sneak through an amnesty bill in the dark of night over the weekend. The bill, HB116, passed the house and the senate on Friday and was sent to the Governor’s desk yesterday. Today the Utah Tea Party arranged a meeting with Governor Herbert at 12:30 pm. We met with Governor Herbert and Lt. Governor Bell to urge Herbert to veto the bill. We brought up our strenuous objections to the bill as it is unconstitutional on its face. The bill grants amnesty and work permits to anyone illegally in the state before May 2011. Immigration is a federal issue and a state can’t grant amnesty or issue work visas. This would, of course, cause havoc with employers who had to face ICE. The most unbelievable line spoken in the meeting came from Lt. Governor Bell, (an attorney), when we raised the bill’s unconstitutional provisions, “Everyone concedes it [HB116] isn’t legal as it is.” You could have heard a pin drop…we were dumbfounded. Why on earth are our representatives even considering a bill that in their own words “isn’t legal?”
We continued flanking maneuvers even as we were in the first meeting. We sent a call out on Facebook and emails for any Republican state delegate to immediately come to the capitol to meet with the Governor at 4:00 pm. This was headed up by Brandon Beckham (who did a fantastic job). The media was called. Within 5 hours we had 100 Republican state delegates show up at the Capitol! A representative told me he had never seen 100 state delegates in one place at one time for any reason (besides committee meetings or convention). State delegates are extremely powerful in Utah. They each represent (very roughly) 500 people in their neighborhood. (We organized the state delegates last year to defeat Senator Bennett in convention.)
In the attached photo we asked everyone who is a state delegate to raise their hand before we went into the meeting (delegates were still arriving when we took this photo). We wanted the media to know we are all state delegates. The meeting with the Governor was standing room only. Unfortunately, the Governor’s staff asked the media to leave (why do they always want to conduct business in the shadows?) We apologized to the media and told them we weren’t the ones asking them to leave. One camera man replied, “We know. We KNOW who asked us to leave.” The meeting was tense and emotional, but polite. If Governor Herbert signs the bill, he will pay a heavy price at convention. We told him, “The moment the ink dries, the 2012 elections are on.”
The photo in the Salt Lake Tribune was taken as everyone was arriving, right before they asked the media to leave.
Here’s the story and photo.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Recession Pushed State and Local Higher-Ed Spending to 25-Year Low in 2010.
Related: University of Nevada at Reno to cut 225 positions. 150 of them currently filled.
SHOCKER: Rep. Alcee Hastings Sued for Sexual Harassment of Former Aide. “The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also accuses Hastings of retaliating against Packer after she rebuffed him — threatening her job with the panel and marginalizing her.”
Who’d have expected anything like that from a former federal judge who was impeached for corruption? Sadly, he fits right in in Congress . . .
LAW SCHOOLS RANKED by hiring partners and recruiters.
CANTOR TO WHITE HOUSE: Where’s The President’s Proposal? He’ll be voting “present.” Or absent, whatever.
MILITARY TOO WHITE AND MALE? “The top ranks of the military are whiter and decidedly more male than the country as a whole. Should that change?” Is it a problem with the military? Or with the country?
March 8, 2011
CHANGE: Pensions: Anger Brews Over Government Benefits. “At its heart, the issue is this: Some public workers get a sweet deal compared to other workers. And it’s taxpayers who pay for it.”
ED DRISCOLL ON NPR: And thus the MSM goes into Nixonian Stonewall Mode. Actually, they do that more than Nixon ever did. Plus, taking Dave Weigel down memory lane.
THE UNDER-REPORTED war in Mexico.
FUNNY, but not funny.
THEY DON’T WANT MY LEGAL TENDER, THEY CAN LET ME THROUGH FOR FREE: Motorists illegally detained at Florida tolls – for using large bills! “When Chandler called and e-mailed the Florida Department of Transportation to complain about the policy, he was told there is no policy to detain people who give large bills. He says that made him more concerned, because that meant there were individual rogue toll takers detaining people. . . . According to Chandler, not only was the D.O.T. not being truthful about the policy existing, but he also says they made a concerted effort to cover it up.”
UH, thanks!
HERE, HOLD MY BEER and watch this!
KHADAFFY’S Tuareg mercenaries.
YEAH, RIGHT, BUDDY: One Wisconsin Democrat says…if people don’t like paying union dues that are used to support Dem candidates, they can always get another job. And yet they’re shocked when people call them crooks and thugs.
BLACKFIVE ON LIBYA: Now Would Be A Good Time To Quit Screwing Around. We have not yet begun to screw around.
THIS SEEMS UNWISE: Hacker group vows ‘cyberwar’ on US government, business.