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Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: Law Page 10 of 27

Thank You, Sir, May I Have Another?

By

On March 16, 2009

In Law, Policy, Politics

Josh Marshall’s analysis here gets at why the situation with AIG bonuses is appalling:

We’re collectively taking our country’s future in our hands, spending vast sums of money to keep these companies from suffering the consequences of their own folly and (in many cases) criminality. And in return we’re receiving cavalier dictates about pay-outs and bonuses from executives who by any reasonable measure work for us — dictates we promptly accede to. There’s a beggars can’t be choosers problem there. And the disconnect is so mighty that it fuels the impression that the whole enterprise is not what it seems, not what we’ve been told, that in addition to picking up the tab we’re being played for fools.

Obviously, AIG and its ilk can’t be shamed, and aren’t at all worried about public perception or pressure.  You know who should be more worried than they seem to be?  The Obama Administration.   Their willingness to eat the shit sandwiches AIG keeps feeding them is nauseating.

Criminals at the CIA?

By

On March 2, 2009

In Law, Policy, Society

Well, of course there are.  Just ask ex Executive Director Dusty Foggo, soon to be settling down for a 37 month stint.  Plenty more there, though, if this is any indication:

New documents show the CIA destroyed nearly 100 tapes of terror interrogations, far more than has previously been acknowledged.

[ . . . ]

“The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed,” said the letter by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin. “Ninety two videotapes were destroyed.”

This isn’t something we ought just pass over.

(A Step Away From) Marijuana Madness

By

On February 27, 2009

In Law, Policy, Society

A not insignificant step forward to a more intelligent approach to drugs in the US:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama – who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana – will end raids on pot dispensaries in California.

Asked at a Washington news conference Wednesday about Drug Enforcement Administration raids in California since Obama took office last month, Holder said the administration has changed its policy.

“What the president said during the campaign, you’ll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we’ll be doing here in law enforcement,” he said. “What he said during the campaign is now American policy.”

Not a bad path towards budget cuts, either.

Bob Mionske: The State of Cycling and the Law

By

On February 6, 2009

In Cycling, Law, Policy

Bob Mionske, lawyer and long time cyclist, uses the occasion of his last Legally Speaking column at Velonews to give us a broad overview of the state of cycling and the law.  I recommend it to both cyclists and drivers.

Del. Mark Obenshain’s Sad and Sorry Excuse

By

On January 23, 2009

In Law, Policy, Virginia

Yesterday, I was asking for bets on when Del. Mark Obenshain was going to trot out the same ridiculous excuse Del. John Cosgrove did when he tried to criminalize miscarriages with an almost identical bill.   In an email to me in January 2005, Del. Cosgrove claimed:

This bill, which was requested by the Chesapeake Police Department, is an attempt to reduce the number of “trashcan” babies that are born and then abandoned in trashcans, toilets, or elsewhere to die from exposure or worse. There are numerous examples of these tragic deaths in Virginia, many in Northern Virginia and also in Hampton Roads. Once the body of a child is found, if the death of that child is undetermined by a coroner, the person abandoning that child can only be charged with “the improper disposal of a human body.

And yep, that’s exactly Del. Obenshain’s story, as he left it in comments at Waldo Jaquith’s site:

I have heard from people across the Commonwealth about S.B. 962, and I appreciate the comments of those who have weighed in here and elsewhere. This legislation was drafted at the request of the Commonwealth Attorney for Rockingham County in response to a specific law enforcement issue.

[ . . . ]

Let me tell you what motivated the bill. In the autumn of 2007, a student at Bridgewater College admitted to giving birth and subsequently disposing of the child’s remains in a trash bin. The body was then transported to the landfill and never recovered, so it is impossible to know whether the child was stillborn or born alive. In the course of the investigation that followed, the Commonwealth Attorney’s office discovered that, under current law, there are no direct prohibitions on disposing of fetal remains. Had the student in question not disposed of the remains on private property not her own, no charges whatsoever would have been possible.

Del. Obenshain then claims that he never intended that the bill would have such a wide reach, and pledges to fix it (remember, this is almost the exact same bill that brought national ridicule on Del. Cosgrove).  Frankly, I don’t believe Obenshain at all.  This is akin to drafting a bill outlawing the driving of any car you didn’t buy yourself, and claiming that it is aimed at reducing car theft.  This was a political stunt, and a pretty appalling one, at that.

Friday Notes: Breaking the Ice Edition

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On January 23, 2009

In DC, Law, Policy, Politics, Society, Tech

Frozen Potomac

I understand that we’re getting alll the way into the 40s today, before plunging back into the frozen winter.  Sounds like a good time for my annual solicitation for employment near the Equator.  I mix an excellent martini.

~

Matt Cooper thinks that if we really want to change government, we should get serious about improving defense procurement.  I think that the public appetite for this is fairly thin, but if it were done right, it could bring massive returns.

~

Getty Images goes looking for content at Flickr.  Interesting.   There are loads and loads of phenomenally skilled photographers on Flickr, but I can’t help but feel like this is just one more step in the direction of making it harder to make a living as a professional photographer.

~

Apple, making sure your kids sell candy instead of dope.  Or something like that.  (DopeWars has been on every handheld I’ve had since 1998).

~

Thomas Fuchs and Felix Sockwell ofter some branding help to the GOP.  Some of them are actually quite thoughtful.

~

I’d really like to see some follow-up on, and independent confirmation of, NSA whistleblower Russell Tice’s claims aired on Wednesday night:

TICE: Well, I don’t know what our former president knew or didn’t know. I’m sort of down in the weeds. But the National Security Agency had access to all Americans’ communications, faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications. And that doesn’t — it didn’t matter whether you were in Kansas, you know, in the middle of the country, and you never made a communication — foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications. (emphasis supplied)

He goes on to explain how the NSA, under the guise of trying to ensure that they weren’t reaching into communications they shouldn’t, were doing exactly that.   Now, I do tend to believe that the NSA has done that (see, e.g., statements that some NSA employees were listening in on intimate conversations between deployed soldiers and their wives).  A systematic wholesale monitoring on the scale of what Tice is talking about, however, goes well beyond my original suspicions.  But not beyond possibility.  I’d like to see his claims taken seriously and investigated.

Here We Go Again: Virginia Delegate Wants to Make Your Miscarriage Public

By

On January 22, 2009

In Law, Politics, Virginia

Waldo Jaquith notes that Del. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) is taking up the cause of criminalizing miscarriages in Virginia.  Waldo also mentions that Del. Cosgrove tried this stunt in 2005.  This was Cosgrove’s excuse that he put in an email to me:

“This bill, which was requested by the Chesapeake Police Department, is an attempt to reduce the number of “trashcan” babies that are born and then abandoned in trashcans, toilets, or elsewhere to die from exposure or worse. There are numerous examples of these tragic deaths in Virginia, many in Northern Virginia and also in Hampton Roads. Once the body of a child is found, if the death of that child is undetermined by a coroner, the person abandoning that child can only be charged with “the improper disposal of a human body”.

This was, of course, utter bullshit.  Any bets on Obenshain trotting out the same line?

Things That Matter

By

On January 21, 2009

In Law, Personal, Policy

I am still skeptical (to put it generously) of Obama’s commitment to the LGBT community.  Putting that briefly aside, however, I invite you to consider what he’s posted on Whitehouse.gov:

  • Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
  • Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
  • Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
  • Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
  • Repeal Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
  • Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
  • Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma — too often tied to homophobia — that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
  • Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.

This isn’t enough.  Hell, I even oppose some of the stuff above.  But that it’s even in the conversation is (sadly) a big step forward.  It’s not a pass, but I don’t think we should let our desire for the perfect stand in the way of the good.

COPA Dead: And It Only Took Ten Years!

By

On January 21, 2009

In Distribution, Law, Policy, Society

I remember arguing about this in law school, over a decade ago:

A federal law intended to restrict children’s access to Internet pornography died quietly Wednesday at the Supreme Court, more than 10 years after Congress overwhelmingly approved it.

The Child Online Protection Act would have barred Web sites from making harmful content available to minors over the Internet. The law had been embroiled in challenges to its constitutionality since it passed in 1998 and never took effect.

COPA was a patently ridiculous law, the product of populist grandstanding more than anything else.  It put the onus on me, as publisher of this site, to make sure your little precious was unable to see something that you didn’t want her to see.   The law was challenged virtually the moment it was signed, and it’s amazing that it took 10 years to finally be done with it.   I do fear that now that it’s off the table, some enterprising congressman or senator is going to take up the cause of government content regulation (probably some young and ambitious Republican congressman plus Lieberman).

Well Look At That

By

On January 20, 2009

In Law, Politics, Society

Damn.

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