talkpolitics | Entries tagged with law

Surprising in this day and age to find any contract between independent and client/employer that does not contain some resolution of conflict clause. I thought deciding on state and county of jurisdiction is almost assumed when signing up a new client. I wonder if any of the judges was asked why such a clause was absent in the agreement. An answer one way or another could go a long way in determining what both parties believed at the time of signing.

Supreme Court, missing a justice, considers a trucking case that could rattle the economy

- A closely watched case could saddle the industry with higher costs that could hit consumers and ripple throughout the economy.
- The case, New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, No. 17-340, pits business interests against labor groups in the first major case of the term that could have consequences for hundreds of thousands of American workers and potentially millions of consumers.
- It comes amid a bruising confirmation battle for Brett Kavanaugh, whom President Donald Trump nominated in July to succeed Anthony Kennedy, long considered the court's swing vote.

This may become a landmark case in employment law. I don't think Congress is likely to repeal the exemption for contracts of employment to the Federal Arbitration Act. It will be interesting how SCOTUS addresses the misclassification issue.

( Just an opinion )

mahnmut

Supreme Court upholds arbitration that bans workers from joining forces over lost wages

The Supreme Court Just Made It A Lot Harder For You To Sue Your Employer

"Employees' rights to band together to meet their employers' superior strength would be worth precious little if employers could condition employment on workers signing away those rights," Ginsburg wrote. "The Supreme Court ruling will have long-lasting implications for workers. Class-action lawsuits are often the most powerful way for employees to secure back pay when their minimum wage or overtime rights have been violated or to secure damages when their bosses run afoul of discrimination laws". What you're seeing here is once again the American taxpayers getting screwed.

( Read more... )

luvdovz.livejournal.com

Julian Assange is mean and egocentric, there's no doubt about it. Years ago, he betrayed the trust of his British supporters. And he was suspected to be behind the publication of Hillary Clinton's private emails, which sank her campaign - which in turn destroyed the last remnants of his aura of fighter for transparency. Some of his critics believe he's Putin's toy and a closet Trumpist. He keeps denying this, but you know we can't trust him.

However, the case against him has nothing to do with law. The way he was attacked reeks very strongly of political witch-hunt. It was clear from day one that the Swedish case rested on very questionable foundations. He was accused if rape and sexual harassment of two women who he claims consented to have sex with him. Nothing of what happened behind closed doors could be proven fully. In any case, there was no violence involved.

( Read more... )

debunkgpolitics.livejournal.com

This is what I meant to post.

Over the last eight years, immigrants seeking to destroy America penetrated U.S. borders. Unlike the immigrants who people claim built this country, they do not want to assimilate into American culture. Another threat is the descendants of immigrants from certain countries. Part of protecting U.S. borders involves banning immigration from countries in which terrorists thrive. Otherwise, Americans will lose cherished liberties, if the United States of America is destroyed.

The only immigrants complaining about deportation and more border controls are those who entered into this country illegally. Legal immigrants have nothing to fear. After coming into this country legally, they received the same rights and protections as other U.S. citizens.

Also, federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities cannot handle the tide of illegal immigration. Many illegal immigrants are discovered after they commit a crime, besides entering the United States illegally. Then, more tax dollars are expended to try the illegal immigrants and detain them in overcrowded prisons or jails.

ddstory.livejournal.com

The lower chamber of the German parliament is expected to vote on a new bill that would expand the legal definition of what constitutes rape, to make it include cases of just saying "No", like it is in most of the rest of the developed world.

It has become patently obvious in recent months that this is urgently necessary, because the wave of rapes that had been swept under the rug for a while, has surfaced in its full horrific picture now in Germany. The conlusion sticks out that there must be some deeper problem there that must have a lot to do with the very definition of rape in Germany.

Many believe Germany has lagged way behind other developed countries in this respect. Still, simply re-defining the definition might not even remotely begin to solve the problem, because the authorities were obviously involved in a systematic cover-up of those cases, for the sake of not offending the currently dominant Multi-culti agenda. But that may change soon.

( Read more... )

luzribeiro.livejournal.com

This election is getting crazier by the day...

Newt Gingrich wants new House Un-American Activities Committee

Coming from the party of Freedom, this is rather rich.

I know, I know. The pretext here is: who wouldn't want to track down ISIS supporters and members? That'd be so un-American!

Except, it's a double-edged sword. Today it's ISIS. Tomorrow? Some America-based "patriotic" organization. The day after? Anyone who opposes the Party line? Haven't we watched this play before? Guilt by innuendo. Where have I heard this? Oh wait, yes. McCarthyism.

Such a step would set the stage for arbitrarily violating individual rights absent due process of law. It'd be unconstitutional. It'd be un-American, which is ironic, since the pretext here is to keep America safe.

Learning from history doesn't seem to be GOP's strong suit. Or at least Newt's. Which, given his training in his youth, is rather ironic.

He may've been instrumental to making Bill Clinton tougher, as one commenter recently said around here - but he sure has had those moments when he says something with the intent of sounding like a big thinker and being innovative, only to turn out he hasn't thought it through too well. He's not helping his party, either.

dreamville-bg.livejournal.com

Iran Told to Pay $10.5 Billion to Sept. 11 Kin, Insurers

"Iran was ordered by a U.S. judge to pay more than $10.5 billion in damages to families of people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to a group of insurers. ... U.S. District Judge George Daniels in New York issued a default judgment Wednesday against Iran for $7.5 billion to the estates and families of people who died at the World Trade Center and Pentagon. It includes $2 million to each estate for the victims’ pain and suffering plus $6.88 million in punitive damages. ... Daniels also awarded $3 billion to insurers including Chubb Ltd. that paid property damage, business interruption and other claims. ... Earlier in the case, Daniels found that Iran had failed to defend claims that it aided the Sept. 11 hijackers and was therefore liable for damages tied to the attacks. Daniels’s ruling Wednesday adopts damages findings by a U.S. magistrate judge in December. While it is difficult to collect damages from an unwilling foreign nation, the plaintiffs may try to collect part of the judgments using a law that permits parties to tap terrorists’ assets frozen by the government."

I say good luck with that, bro. Perhaps Mexico will pay the bill. After all, it was Kenya that conducted the attacks, and Brazil that gave the go-ahead, after Spain said "do it", with Mongolia egging them on while the Koreans tricked them into doing so, all while Uganda organized everything behind the scenes, in the back of a van on a Moscow street at 12am on a moonlit New Zealand winter's night.

( A bit more seriously, though. )

luzribeiro.livejournal.com

Supreme Court says Kentucky clerk can't deny same-sex marriage licenses...

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis in Custody for Contempt of Court Over Same-Sex Marriage Licenses...

Wow, this has escalated quickly.

Obviously, one side says, well done Kim! You're a hero for standing up to those deviate dopes! Civil disobedience is the way! A point should be made to those 3% of the population that they must stop bullying and coercing the other 97%! She believes God's law comes before man's, and she's entitled to her beliefs! Besides, the Constitution was founded on Christian principles! This is a Christian nation! Glory to the Lord!

The other side says, why ain't we surprised at all? Nobody honest and objective would actually buy her dishonest claims and excuses! It's good the courts are still doing their job properly and upholding the law! That's what happens when there's no real precedence for her to be crying about! She should be facing both fines and jail time for official misconduct! Such hate and fear and bigotry! She's on the wrong side of history! This hateful homophobe and her ilk will be left at the dustbin of history!

I may or may not know in advance where most of you stand on this issue, but still, I'd appreciate if you elaborate your preferred position.

mahnmut.livejournal.com

Hello again, fellow political junkies! It's time for our new installment of ridiculously over-simplified hypothetical situations that you, being the benevolent ruler of your fictional state as per the NationStates model, would have to collide with. You know, your extremist decisions are somehow supposed to shape up your country in the way you deem most suitable. The last time when we had one of these polls, the overwhelming majority of the participants decided that Sen. Clintson, who argued that the political establishment better find ways to take off the public attention of the scandals marring the political careers of politicians, perhaps, by giving them a tax cut or two, did have a point. But now the issue is a bit different, namely:

The Issue

Following the passage of a well-supported bill that contained half a dozen riders, corruption watchdog groups are lobbying the government to take action against the use of these unrelated addenda in lawmaking.

( The debate & a poll )

conrad p. straw

The technology of so-called information age is rather a pretext to restrict freedom of expression than a mean to develop and enhance it.

How much freedom of access and getting substantial information and of forming related independent individual opinions one enjoys, depends from resources, potentials and means of enforcement of the own opinion and of repression of free intellectual competition, independent from any sway from finance or else, of unlimited variety of different opinions and views, in such high a degree that reality is rather a feudal system of propitiously tolerated expression (resp. a kind of licenced privilege of uncensored expression) than a democratic system of free expression.

The feudal character and state of conditioning collective habits of determination of the content of communication and the manners, means and ways of expression manifests already just by reference to clauses and provisions of Terms of Service which absolutely do not care about principles of civil law, forget bill of rights, and by the totally partial manner the user regularly gets shanghaied, euchred resp. compelled to "accept".
Major portion of those Terms of Service are regularly unintelligible if not even absurd to the average user, the user normally having no funds to pay for defense of his rights in case of dissent about the absurdity of the clause in case.
Just appointing a lawyer to review the content of such ToS simply cost several hundred USD, forget the costs of a lawsuit.
The average user is compelled to comply with the contempt of his basic rights by the author of the ToS, he is totally at the mercy of the provider.

What else than feudalism is this?

And You know what? The authors of the ToS justify the bias and incomprehensibility of their texts with technical difficulties and marketing requirements.
The former feudal masters referred to divine necessities as described in the bible, which was not understandable to illiterates, even was forbidden to subjects to read by themselves, under penalty of death.

Feudal systems always and mainly are based on advance in - real or just pretended - knowledge of the masters as against the subjects (common people).
And it still works - not only and mainly but even in ToS as well, what samples and reveals how much modern societies are controlled, on many levels and in many ways, by feudal systems rather than democracy.

Mood: calm
Location: Reussgau
Music: Arcangelo Vivaldi - Orlando Furioso

paft.livejournal.com

I felt like I was cleaning up a mess. Not like spilled food, not like vomit, not even like…not even like diarrhea. The worst mess possible. And I was stuck with it…They weren’t human. I don’t see them as human. I see them as vermin. Social mistakes, social problems.

These are the words of a killer shortly after he committed his crime. His victims were two unarmed teenagers who broke into his house when the man set up what prosecutors compared to a deer stand. After some burglaries in his neighborhood, Byron Smith moved his car to make his house appear unoccupied, then waited in his basement with his gun.

He first killed 17-year-old Nick Brady, shooting him three times, the last in the face. Eleven minutes later, he killed Haile Kifer, apparently after she came downstairs looking for Brady. The audio recording system Smith had set up captured what happened.

Here is a description from the Washington Post.

Kifer’s footsteps are heard on the stairs and she calls out quietly, “Nick?”

Then comes the sound of more shots. She falls down the stairs. “Oh, sorry about that,” Smith tells her. She screams, “Oh my God!”

Then more shots. Smith tells her, “You’re dying,” and calls her a “bitch,” the AP reported.

After more labored breathing and another dragging sound, Smith calls her “bitch” again. He told authorities that after he moved her, he noticed she was still gasping and didn’t want her to suffer, so he fired under her chin with a 22.-caliber handgun, according to a report in the Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune reported Smith told investigators the last time he fired was “a good clean finishing shot” and “she gave out the death twitch.”

Haile Kifer was eighteen years old.

Smith’s actions are not those of someone shooting in self-defense. They indicate someone who wanted to kill, set up the opportunity, and indulged himself to the utmost. It’s a relief that the jury saw him for the cold-blooded murderer that he is.

Too bad not everyone sees it that way.

( Read more )

htpcl.livejournal.com

Hello, fellow ~~cringing sissies~~ brave vigilantes! When most Americans think of the volunteer ~~vigilante~~ security neighborhood groups, probably the first name that comes to mind is George Zimmerman. No matter that his actions in that rainy evening in 2012 that led to the death of 17 y.o. Trayvon Martin may have little to do with the established practices and rules of action in those groups. Just on the contrary actually, it's exactly because in Zimmerman's case the circumstances and the mix of prejudices led to a tragic outcome, the case has turned into a symbol for the uncomfortable grey area between noble civic vigilance and taking the law in one's own hands.

The ensuing debate that grew like avalanche and the whole palette of controversial arguments somehow obscures the fact that the general tendency in the US has been going in the exact opposite direction. Due to the shrunken municipal budgets and the growing social and economic stratification in the American society, the civic watch groups have been going through a revival in recent years, their number steadily growing.

The parallels with the current situation in my country Bulgaria are rubbing themselves in our face, especially in recent days, when the problem with (mostly Roma) burglaries that has plagued huge chunks of the countryside, has reached a point where some voices have started insisting for starting a neighborhood patrol program similar to the US one. New "watch groups" are being formed by volunteers, especially in areas bordering on minority ghettos, and the situation may've started looking very similar to that in the US. But there are some significant differences. Like the fact that guns are almost absent from the Bulgarian populace, and the chance of a Zimmerman scenario is rather slim. Still, the enormous US experience in that area, and the ongoing debate in the US can't help but give a lot of food for thought to our people too, as well as some reasons for asking the question when are volunteer security groups efficient, and when the negative effects tend to outweigh the positive ones.

Because, outside the issue of Zimmerman's controversial motivations and the US gun laws which are generally seen as rather loose by most people at my side of the Big Water, there's also the issue of the thin line between civic vigilance and arbitrary overreach of power, which is actually pretty universal. It's a line that every volunteer group should be treading very carefully, wheter it's in Texas or, say, Plovdiv.

( There sure are plenty of lessons we could be taking from the US )

a-new-machine.livejournal.com

That's the headline I'd have chosen for this month's big criminal law case out of the Supreme Court, Salinas v. Texas. The result is a bit fragmented, with the "majority" opinion being just 3 justices, but the long and short of it is that, in a non-custodial interview with the police, if you want to invoke your right to remain silent, you have to tell the police that you're doing so. Otherwise, they can describe your physical, non-verbal reactions to questions -- like, as was the case in Salinas, looking nervous and being silent after being asked whether shells found at the scene of a murder would match your gun. This is not, according to the Justices, a violation of the privilege against self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.

( Now, many contrast this with Miranda v. Arizona... )This is why the best possible advice you can get on police interrogations is this: never, ever talk to the police.

gunslnger.livejournal.com

http://reason.com/archives/2013/06/12/three-reasons-the-nothing-to-hide-crowd
http://www.cato.org/blog/why-nsa-collecting-phone-records-problem
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110524/00084614407/privacy-is-not-secrecy-debunking-if-youve-got-nothing-to-hide-argument.shtml
http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/the-data-trust-blog/2009/02/debunking-a-myth-if-you-have-n.html

There are a significant number of people who respond to any revelation that government is violating the law (yes, the Constitution is part of the law) with a shrug and "I've got nothing to hide". These people are selfish fools at best. They are not looking at the bigger picture and/or aren't considering other people. Plus, they probably aren't paying attention to the fact that everyone in America is currently a criminal, that everyone violates a law with serious penalties at some point, whether you know it or not. (And the fact that that is the case is another problem, but that's outside the scope of my point here.)

Even Biden and Obama railed against what they are themselves supporting now, before they were in power. That alone should be enough to make you stop and think about what having that kind of power available can do to people.

telemann.livejournal.com

Comic Dave Chappelle's sketch on pleading the 5th before Congress is a classic, and it's a timely one too, because this week IRS official Lois Lerner (or as Colbert described her, Superman's former girlfriend) gave an opening statement to Congress, and refused to participate in the House investigation, and pleaded the fifth.

Personally, the only time I have ever seen someone plead the 5th was usually old footage of mobsters testifying before Congress (and duplicated in some of the Godfather movies), and usually the connotation always was "someone is obviously so guilty, who are they kidding, so that's the real reason they're going silent." And some of that was already kicking in when I initially saw Ms. Lerner's statement on the news, my heart sank and I thought "Wait, so what's she hiding!?"

We all hear a lot in the news and discussions about the really 3rd rail issues with the 1st and 2nd amendment, but the 5th certainly isn't considered a red button issue for many. And it's certainly not one a polarizing one. Yesterday on MSNBC The Spin Cycle's guest spot, Prof. James Duane from Regent University (a private conservative university / law school operated by Pat Robertson in Virginia Beach, Virginia) had a pretty interesting collequim on explaining what the 5th is, and how its one of the most misunderstood but in today's "over-criminalized" society, one of the most vitally important for a citizen because there are tens of thousands of statues and federal regulations that a person can break and not even know it.

Ms. Lerner's refusal to co-operate certainly raised the ire of Darryl Issa (the chairman of the House Committee, and a guy who knows the very important difference between acts of terror and terrorist attacks) believes that because Ms. Lerner gave an opening statement, she's lost her immunity to testify (i.e. plead the 5th). While Rep. Issa is a strong defender of the Bill of Rights and (every car owner to own one of his car alarms), he has no training in the law and apparently doesn't know how the 5th works, or Supreme Court decisions about what the 5th means for all of us.

Prof Duane explains all of this quite elegantly and isn't dry-as-toast-boring as you would expect any explanation of the law; and thought Ms. Lerner's example provided a great learning opportunity for most Americans. For my part, I learned that the 5th isn't limited to just criminal trials or Congressional hearings, but can be used at any level, even one on one with a police officer or any government official. And as Prof. Duane points out, seeing an official of the IRS invoke the 5th is richly ironic, considering the grief and fear they've caused ordinary citizens all the time. When conservative S.E. Cupp asked about a charge of perjury being brought against Ms. Lerner, Prof. Duane's answer may surprise you.

The video is behind this cut. And if it doesn't embed properly, click here for a direct link.

paft.livejournal.com

I love the dewey-eyed romanticism affected by so many libertarians, anarchists, and other limited government types who think we don’t need any of those pesky government funded emergency services. Why, everybody will band together under the unquestionably benevolent protection of whoever has accumulated the most money and/or guns and/or thugs. People will wear lots of leather or feathers or maybe fatigues, and Mel Gibson will play the grizzled old warrior advising the young hotshot who plays by his own rules. It’ll be so kewel!

Or… sheer force of peer pressure will prompt, say, fee-based firefighters to do the right thing and put out fires without demanding payment up front. Cause, golly geewhillikers. those firefighters won’t want to be embarrassed when they walk into church and face the family whose home was burned down while they stood by and watched. It’d make them feel all icky and stuff.

In Josephine County Oregon, voters like Les Monk decided that they didn’t need to pay a little more in taxes to hire more deputies and fund the jail. Why Monk isn’t one bit scared! He carries a knife and everything.

Last year, 23 deputies were laid off from the Josephine County Sheriff’s department. Those who are left are only available between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm. Monday through Friday.

So a lady who called 911 in the wee hours of Saturday morning because her abusive ex-boyfriend was trying to break in was, well, just plumb out of luck. I believe the term that gets bandied around a lot in the following 911 recording is “unfortunate,” a word I would love to see expunged from the English language. Like “regrettable” and “deplorable” it’s almost always invoked these days to refer to something that’s not “unfortunate” but horrible, indefensible, damning, etc.

( Read more )

rick-day.livejournal.com

A ruling by a 3 judge panel in CO has tremendous potential impact on the politics of prohibition as well as the upheaval of the entire justice system.

The case centered on Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical-marijuana patient who was fired in 2010 from his job as a telephone operator for Dish Network after testing positive for the drug. Lawyers for Coats argued he was protected under a Colorado law that states it is illegal for workers to be terminated for participating in lawful activities off the clock.
But a trial court dismissed the claim in 2011, siding with Dish Network that medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by the termination law.
Now, even though the law has changed, the outcome for Coats has not. In its ruling, the Colorado Court of Appeals sought to define the word "lawful," ultimately concluding that for something to be lawful it "must be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law."

Oh no they didn't...

Of course, I am not a lawyer, but my opinion is if this ruling were upheld, a state's rights to enact their own Code (of laws) would be nullified if they did not mirror the Federal Code. Because if something is not directly codified as 'illegal' then it is assumed to be legal (please don't make me look up the code for that statute, it does exist).

This means all State laws contrary to Federal law are not "Lawful" laws. So all this abortion stuff from the states; now nullified if this ruling is upheld by SCOTUS? It does not even mention local and county/parish laws.

Working the logic backwards, since the word "both" was used, does this piss not run upstream; that for any federal law contrary to any state law, removes the federal statute's "lawfulness"?

meus-ovatio.livejournal.com

Attorney General Eric Holder admitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that banks are simply too big to prosecute.

As our esteemed lead attorney and prosecutor notes here, banks are just too powerful for the government to do anything about it. To me, the only conclusion to be made here is that the social contract is now null and void. Any and all moral obligation I felt to this nation and this society is hereby revoked. Sorry. I'm done playing this game.

How do you guys feel about this? This is tantamount to a bloodless coup, except it already happened a long time ago, and now all we get is this shoulder-shrugging admission. Well, whatever. The only thing left for us is a pragmatic compliance with an unjust power structure. The only thing left to us is our families and our day-by-day decisions to make it by in this corrupt and invalid structure.

Of course, this applies more to white males I suppose. The social contract was hardly ever valid for minorities, women or black folk.

So long America. Go suck a dick.

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Entries tagged with law

This is potentially huge

Workers get screwed yet again

The Assange case

Enforcing Immigration Laws and Controlling U.S. Borders is Imperative

Rape, German style

Meet Newt McCarthy

Sheesh, good luck with that, bro!

That damned pro-gay law just got shoved down her throat (pun totally intended)

Ghost Riders on the Sly

Freedom of communication and information?

"The guy should get a medal for what he did."

My neighbor, my savior

"The Right to Remain Silent Requires You To Speak"

(no subject)

I plead the Fif! I plead the Fif!

This is What Happens

A question for the armchair constitutionalists.

RIP Social Contract: July 4, 1776- March 7, 2013.

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June 2025

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