Coruscation

Calabria, like other southern Italian regions rich in agriculture, has long benefited from hefty European Union agricultural subsidies. To prevent fraud in which small acreage yielded puzzlingly large harvests, in 2007 the European Union changed its rules to base subsidies on the number of hectares planted rather than the tons produced.

The result, some authorities hypothesize, is that it may be more lucrative for some Calabrian landowners to let their harvests rot on the tree and collect the subsidies than to pay pickers. In theory, the migrants may have become less useful and, possibly, less tolerated.

Still, the violence was dramatic. After immigrants struck residents and shops with sticks and burned and smashed cars, residents began responding with violence. By late Saturday night, most immigrants feared for their safety and voluntarily boarded buses and trains that took them to immigrant detention centers elsewhere in southern Italy, Rosarno authorities said.

Continue reading "To prevent fraud EU pays by planted rather than the tons produced. " »

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Under a new system set up by Sprint, law enforcement agencies have gotten GPS data from the company about its wireless customers 8 million times in about a year, raising a host of questions about consumer privacy, transparency, and oversight of how police obtain location data.

What this means -- and what many wireless customers no doubt do not realize -- is that with a few keystrokes, police can determine in real time the location of a cell phone user through automated systems set up by the phone companies.

And while a Sprint spokesman told us customers can shield themselves from surveillance by simply switching off the GPS function of their phones, one expert told TPM that the company and other carriers almost certainly have the power to remotely switch the function back on.

To be clear, you can think of there being two types of GPS (global positioning system). One is the handy software on your mobile device that tells you where you are and helps give driving directions. But there's also GPS capability in all cell phones sold today, required by a federal regulation so if you dial 911 from an unknown location, authorities can find you.

Continue reading "Police Tapped Sprint Customer GPS Data 8 Million Times In A Year" »

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Suspected of sending children to an out-of-distrct school, state collected a surveillance report and the family's telephone billing records.

"As far as I'm concerned, they're within their rights to scrutinize all applications, but the way they went about it was totally unwarranted.

Continue reading "Surveillance 'totally unwarranted'" »

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The shots heard 'round the web: Amazon.com has closed its internet associate programs in Hawaii, North Carolina and Rhode Island after the states enacted laws requiring out-of-state internet vendors to collect sales taxes.

-- By Jeff Segal, Considered view, 01 Jul 2009

Continue reading "Sales tax clampdown on internet merchant" »

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Deferring to people's own pronunciation of their names should obviously be our first inclination, but there ought to be limits. Putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English (which is why the president stopped doing it after the first time at his press conference), unlike my correspondent's simple preference for a monophthong over a diphthong, and insisting on an unnatural pronunciation is something we shouldn't be giving in to.

Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies blogs on the Corner

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Are in house counsels the miniballers of law ?

Many in-house attorneys that I have met lead nice little simple lives. They shop at discount outlets for clothes and drive Volvos or low end luxury cars. I wouldn't call that the life of a big dog. The simple truth is most in-house attorneys could not handle the demands of working at a peer firm. The ones that worked at peer firms, burned out easily and escaped to the havens of in-house counseldom. A low six figure salary and some stock options. Very pitiful indeed. You better pray that you don't fall victim to the economic tsunami as I see very limited future employment opportunities for you. As a tip, you better dip yourself in sour mustard so that the big rodents won't eat you first.

Continue reading "Big Law 1, vs in-house counsel 0 ?" »

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In one case last month, the reports say, 410 Rohingya migrants were taken out to sea on a Thai Navy vessel and forced onto an open barge with just four barrels of water and two sacks of rice.

Four people were thrown overboard with their hands and feet tied as a way to encourage the others to board the barge, according to the reports.

After drifting for two weeks, about 100 of the migrants were rescued on the Andaman Islands, which are administered by India. About 300 remain missing after trying to swim to shore, according to several reports from the news media and human rights groups.

In a second case soon afterward, 580 people were reportedly seized off the Thai coast on three overcrowded fishing boats. These were towed back out to sea after their engines were removed, said Chris Lewa, an expert on Rohingya issues who runs a private human rights group called the Arakan Project.

Continue reading "Thailand overcomes migrants" »

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Strange story planted in the NYT on the travesty of federal employees having to work on federal matters

Federal prosecutions of immigration crimes nearly doubled in the last fiscal year, reaching more than 70,000 immigration cases in the 2008 fiscal year, according to federal data compiled by a Syracuse University research group. The emphasis, many federal judges and prosecutors say, has siphoned resources from other crimes, eroded morale among federal lawyers and overloaded the federal court system. Many of those other crimes, including gun trafficking, organized crime and the increasingly violent drug trade, are now routinely referred to state and county officials, who say they often lack the finances or authority to prosecute them effectively.

Push on Immigration Crimes Is Said to Shift Focus
By SOLOMON MOORE
Published: January 12, 2009
Federal judges and prosecutors say immigration cases are overloading the court system and eroding morale.

Continue reading "Federal prosecutors, judges 'bored' by working on federal law" »

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Commenters propose a succession from Oakland to form the city of "Piedmontclairidge" consisting of Piedmont, Montclair, and Rockridge. We suggest a Liz Krueger style campaign.

Staff from the City Attorney's office then reiterated that the Committee was not being asked to adopt ordinances the homeless advocates were objecting to as unconstitutional, but rather to allow an option of a reduced charge for existing ordinances, and emphasized the broad community support for the program. Jean Quan asked a bunch of clarifying questions, in response to which we learned, again, that adopting the item in question would not introduce a new ordinance, nor would it necessarily change the level of citation for violating the ordinance, but would simply give the prosecutors discretion to charge these crimes either as a misdemeanor (which they are currently) or now as an infraction, as they deem appropriate.

Up to this point, the discussion was fine. Sure, we heard the same thing over and over again, and sometimes after a long day, that can get pretty tiring. But in general, I don't mind. I much prefer that the Council be extremely clear on what they're voting on than they just push things through in a hurry.

Then, the whole thing just collapsed. Jean Quan, totally randomly, started talking about the County's alcohol detention center. She's bothered that the Oakland police don't take more people there, and doesn't see how approving this would do anything to get more Oakland residents into the center. You know, I don't see how the Committee approving the ordinance is going to do anything to make the sidewalks downtown less treacherous to my heels, but I didn't feel the need to march down to City Hall and protest it because of that.

She received a very polite response explaining that first, someone passed out in the street from alcohol needs to go to a hospital, not a detention center, and that two, the center is for people who want to go there willingly for treatment, and it's not something you can force people to do.

Jean Quan then asked if the proposal had been presented to Project Reconnect, and got yet another response from the attorney's office explaining that the proposal was not about homelessness at all. Quan responded that in order for the misdemeanor prosecutions to be successful, we need cooperation of homeless advocacy organizations to create restorative justice programs for them. She suggested delaying the item for a month, and said they should, in the meantime, meet with a coalition of homeless advocates to give their input about how to craft a restorative justice program for homeless people who can't pay their tickets.

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Lessig argues for publicly funded election campaigns.

Without suspicion of lobbyists and campaign contributions motivating legislators,
the public would suspect stupidity, not corruption, as the causal mechanism in law.

Continue reading "Lessig for publicly funded election campaigns" »

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University of Illinois law professor Larry Ribstein has been a pioneer in the study of how private partnerships have been used as alternatives to solving sticky problems of corporate management.

Much of his work has centered on the problem of aligning managers' and owners' interests. He notes that the private partnership model popular in the private equity world might be very useful for Goldman here.

Continue reading "Larry Ribstein, private partnerships have been used as alternatives to solving sticky problems of corporate management" »

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The Dojinkai is one of the country's 22 crime syndicates, employing some 85,000 members and recognized by the government.

Traditionally, the yakuza have run protection rackets, as well as gambling, sex and other businesses that the authorities believed were a necessary part of any society. By letting the yakuza operate relatively freely, the authorities were able to keep an extremely close watch on them.

Continue reading "Traditionally, the yakuza have run protection rackets, as well as gambling, sex and other businesses" »

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It can be daunting for a first-timer. When a facilitator calls for consensus, members hold up cards to signify their positions on an issue. (1) Green means the holder agrees with the decision; (2) blue means he or she is neutral; (3) yellow, is unsure or unclear; orange, has serious reservations but will not block consensus; and (4) red, will block consensus. The group recently added a (5) white card to signify "I'm not up to speed on this issue because I didn't do my homework."

The revealing voting of co-housing in Brooklyn.

Continue reading "Voting: more than Yea or Nay" »

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Alert: The muchly annoying robo calls are under investigation.

This is the second warning that the factory warranty on your vehicle has expired.

ATTORNEYS GENERAL in several states are investigating what they suspect are telephone sales scams promoting extended car warranties, often by calling cellphones or numbers that are listed on do-not-call registries.

The Connecticut attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, said his office had received "a huge number of complaints -- hundreds of complaints." Connecticut is part of a large, multistate investigation into such calls, he said.

Another of those states is Iowa. "They are trying to trick you into believing that the communication is coming from the auto manufacturer and that your warranty is about to expire and you need to do something to extend that warranty," said William L. Brauch, a special assistant attorney general and director of the consumer protection division in Iowa.

But automakers are not behind the policies, Mr. Brauch said, and after purchasing such a policy it may be difficult if not impossible to get reimbursed for a repair.

"A number of these companies tend to routinely deny paying, they come up with various interpretations, shall we say, of the agreements, which they say justify them not covering whatever the ...

Fill story after the jump

See also: Amazon Prime $79 Refund class action suit.

Continue reading "Telephone sales scams promoting extended car warranties" »

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In the past, Igor Kenk has said that he was accumulating bicycles in preparation for a severe oil shortage. But in a somewhat disjointed interview in July for a radio documentary, portions of which were published by The Globe and Mail, a Toronto daily newspaper, Mr. Kenk portrayed himself as a crusader against theft and a protector of cast-off bicycles.

Mr. Kenk holds a passport from Slovenia and has claimed he was a police officer and a former K.G.B. agent. He has shed little light since his arrest. After one court session, he told reporters, "I'm a dead man."

Continue reading "Foreign oil speculator outrages Toronto cyclists" »

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One of this country's greatest achievements is its separation
of legality from morality, so that individuals can hold themselves
to a higher standard, as they see it, without forcing it on
everyone else.

-- Slate's William Saletan sets the bar higher than the NYT's 'ethicist'.

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What do you want out of law school ? Lawyers !
When do we want them ? Now !

A more refective take on the attorney factory.
[Via lawandletters]

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In 1970, Laud Humphreys published the groundbreaking dissertation
he wrote as a doctoral candidate at Washington University called
“Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places.” Because of his
unorthodox methods — he did not get his subjects’ consent, he
tracked down names and addresses through license plate numbers,
he interviewed the men in their homes in disguise and under false
pretenses — “Tearoom Trade” is now taught as a primary example
of unethical social research.

Continue reading "False pretenses of unethical social research" »

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temporaryattorney: life after graduating from a tier III law school.
Document Review rate sheet.

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Amazon Prime automatically charged customers $79
for Amazon Prime Club free shipping.

Stay tuned for the AMZ*Prime Club $79 Refund class action suit.

Continue reading "Amazon Prime $79 Refund class action suit" »

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Shareholders lack most of the incidents of ownership, which we might
define as the rights to possess, use, and manage corporate assets, and
the rights to corporate income and assets.

Stephen Bainbridge

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Freeper's homosexualagenda is a (inadvertently) great source for queer news.

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Many of the immigrants surveyed said they lacked the
identification papers needed to open bank accounts,
while others said they shunned banks because of
hidden fees and the large penalties for bounced
checks. Some immigrants said that banks’ hours
and locations were inconvenient and some said
they could not wait for a week for their paychecks
to clear.

...

Since November, New Labor has provided cards to
200 immigrant members, including some who are
here illegally. Three other centers — in Hempstead,
N.Y., Chicago and Los Angeles — have begun
offering the cards as well, and organizers say they
hope to make them available to tens of thousands
of immigrants at 140 worker centers nationwide
within the next few years.

-- STEVEN GREENHOUSE, NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.

Continue reading "Unbanked and illegal" »

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I was not speeding: traffic lawyers and ticket fixers in NY and NJ:

The National Motorists' Association NY referrals.
--------
Frank Desousa at ticketproblems.com
516-505-7715
also
--------
NotSpeeding.com
fax (877) 742-2268
ph (877)965-3237
Fax them your ticket, they phone back with a free consultation.
--------
NYTraffic Lawyer
A former NYC Traffic Court Judge
NYC speeding tickets a specialty
--------
traffic-summons.com aka Michael Spevack
recommended at SQC
---------

Speedlaw.net
Casey W. Raskob: has personally lobbied for the 65 mph limit in Albany
and at numerous Traffic Safety Conferences in New York State and
elsewhere. With the National Motorist’s Association he has testified
before the New Jersey State Senate and NY/NJ Port Authority on
motorist’s issues. Self-description; recommended on NE Mini.

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Before 1990, the court had generally held that any
government restriction on religion must serve a
compelling public interest in the least burdensome
way — a standard known as the “strict scrutiny” test.

But in one Oregon case dealing with two Native Americans’
sacramental use of peyote, an illegal drug, the majority
concluded that there was nothing unconstitutional
about states expecting citizens to comply with valid,
neutral and generally applicable laws — like those
criminalizing peyote — even if compliance conflicted
with religious beliefs.

Continue reading "Strict scrutiny test requires a compelling public interest " »

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Chicago Law faculty finds a link between executive compensation,
performance, governance and tax law.

The purported goal of section 162(m) of the IRC (the provision
that limits deductibility) was to reduce total amounts of
executive compensation.

The problem cases involve the managers deceiving the board,
not the company deceiving the government.

Continue reading "Law and tax: options dating" »

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Corporate law and governance are topics of Ideoblog Ribstein. Examples:
Gretchen Morgenson on corporate governance, the state's role in changing corporate contracts.

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Chicago personal injury lawyer or New York lasik laser eye surgery are
valuable search words.

So hire a Chicago personal injury lawyer if your New York lasik fails.

Continue reading "Chicago personal injury lawyer or New York lasik " »

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And if illegal aliens were jailed ...

Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, dismissed
arguments made by President Bush and business leaders who say the
United States needs a pool of foreign workers. He said businesses
should be more creative in their efforts to find help and suggested
that employers turn to the prison population to fill jobs in agriculture
and elsewhere.

"Let the prisoners pick the fruits," Mr. Rohrabacher said. "We can do
it without bringing in millions of foreigners."

via Reason Hit and Run.

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Defence attorney team for Scooter Libby has impressive advisors.

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Ranked by tax attorney or tax CPA ? No.
State by state federal taxing and spending ranked.

Income of out-of-state workers who work via email and
telephone and often have little or no physical contact
with the state.

“The growing practice of multiple states taxing the income
of telecommuters acts as a direct financial disincentive for
employers and employees to use telecommuting.”
-- Tax Attorney

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Undocumented physician, Stephen Brian Turner, doctors immigrants in California.

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it is now time for us as a nation to shift the emphasis away from
equality and toward liberty in our debates about identity politics.

Only through such freedom can we live our lives as works in
progress, which is to say, as the complex, changeful and
contradictory creatures that we are.

-- Kenji Yoshino.

Continue reading "Kenji Yoshino" »

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New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has been compared to Tony
Soprano in that, as Stephen W. Stanton has put it, "He breaks the law.
He lies. He intimidates. He makes his own rules, and he gets what
he wants. And yet he remains a very popular guy. "

Houston's Tom Kirkendall and Tech Central Station 1 2.

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New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law is previewed
(links to chapter PDFs) at the New Economist.

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* Any judicial ruling overturning a law is in wrong, that judges
can only decide what a law means not whether or not it is
Constitutional, so that any ruling overturning a previous ruling
that made new law is simply restoring order to the land. That
negating something doesn't bring anything else into existence.

* State legislatures and Congress are the only ones with the
authority to intepret the Constitution and that they also have the
power to change it whenever they choose, without having to resort
to a Constitutional amedment.

[*]

Continue reading "Legislating from the bench" »

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Dahlia Lithwick, Slate-based legal commentator, has her fans and
her detractors.

Posted by at 4:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beldar's legal review.

On Dahlia Lithwick.

On Eliot Spitzer:
Whose job, as he views it, is to use the power of the State of New
York to enforce not "the law per se," but ... well, whatever he
damn well pleases whatever he thinks will get him elected to his next
target office whatever his keen insight perceives as being
within that broader, unwritten social compact. (Or maybe its
penumbras and eminations.)

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Roberts purports to rock: offers lawyer jokes
and doubts Michael Jackson.

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findarticles is the poor man's Lexis/Nexis.
Can't find it there ? Try MozBot instead.

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June was Lane Courtesy month.
Keep right except to pass.
Slower traffic keep right.

It's the law.

Continue reading "June was Lane Courtesy month" »

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Eminent domain, condemnation, expropriation:

“Nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”
U.S. Constitution, Amendment V

Castle Coalition opposes taking, even with just compensation.

Peter Sprigg thinks marriage if more for public purpose than private purpose.
(Family Research Council at panel discussion at the University of Pennsylvania,
February 12, 2004).

Posted by at 9:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vancouver police and the RCMP are not rushing to enforce B.C.'s new
law outlawing aggressive panhandling and squeegeeing, saying it will
take them some time to figure out exactly how they're going to use
it.

"Will there likely be any tickets issued today? Probably not,"
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said Friday. "And it's
not because we don't like the act -- but it's growing pains with any
new legislation coming out. It was just released yesterday."

Chow said the department still needs time to get details about the
Safe Streets Act and its penalties out to its officers on the beat
and to resolve enforcement issues, such as how to issue tickets to
people without a fixed address.

Chad Skelton and Krisendra Bisetty
Vancouver Sun

2005 January 29

Continue reading "Police unsure how to enforce squeegee kids law" »

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Law professors' white collar crime covers the legal issues in business crime.

Continue reading "White Collar Crime" »

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Overlawyered chronicles the excesses of litigation, lawsuits,
and regulation. By Walter Olson, intellectual guru of tort reform,
and Ted Frank.

The ethics sections includes an even handed look at pro bono work.
Good to know, even if you don't need a lawyer.

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Talkleft / Jeralyn Merritt thoughtful leftish blog, sometimes about crime.

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