When Do We Impeach Fredo?
 

so what?
and I just went and searched "McNulty" and none of you have ever mentioned him before. Did some blog tell you this was important or are you taking a shot in the dark that maybe it meant something?

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Are there any woman Colonels? Cause if there aren't, that might be unconstitutional. Assuming of coourse one could find a woman in Kentucky who would want to parade around in that silly white suit.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

I think this hypothetical proves too much. Clearly a law against grafitti would not be improper. However, a law that criminalized defacing a government building in the absence of laws protecting private property is a horse of a different color.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Really?

The criminal laws (and sentencing guidelines) reflect all kinds of policy judgments. I think that is inevitable.

S_A_M

First Amendment, anyone?
 

I can. Though I don't think this is really relevant to the discussion.

I have to pay part of the cost of cleaning up the government building -- as does your widowed Aunt Minnie. Also -- that money could otherwise have gone to buy body armor for our troops in Iraq or to help spy on Iran's nuclear program.

So, bastards like "Cool Disco Dan" are putting American soldiers at risk when they deface American government buildings.

The societal harm is (even) more attenuated when he defaces private property.

The degree of punishment is just a value judgment -- like the different punishments for 1 oz of pot vs. powder cocaine vs. crack.

S_A_M

[eta: dammit Burger!]

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Oooh! Burger was whipping out the "Schechter Poultry?" wpp

S_A_M

First Amendment, anyone?
 

I'm not persuaded. In fact, it seems to me my tax dollars would be better spent buying the body armor than prosecuting some little gutter-rat for tagging the local Social Security office. Plus, it creates more job security for the GSA guy who paints it.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

You and Greedy are killing me here...

I was fucking around, addressing in the voice of an absurd moralist your argument that we should not waste time on silly laws like the medal act when our law enforcement instrumentality should be out chasing serious crimes like child molestation.

The sort of moralists who love those medal laws love them because they give them a wedge issue or pedestal from which to spew their judgments about others...

hatch act
 

(1) That doesn't follow, as Burger pointed out.

(2) When the government gives you a medal, it gives you a medal. You can then sell it to someone else, who can use it as they like. Unlike the Hatch Act.

hatch act
 

Microsoft can sell you software and say you can't let anyone else use it. The government gives it that right. If the government can give others the right to limit use, why can't it have the right to limit it itself?

Oh, and how come the statute has stood for 80 years and the ACLU has been around too?

hatch act
 

When you find someone who was awarded a medal by the government and who received a license with it that limited subsequent uses, you just let me know. And even so, the license wouldn't be binding on an unwitting bona fide purchaser, right? So how could that be the basis for criminal liability?

Maybe because it applied only to the Medal of Honor? Or maybe it was never enforced? I dunno.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

What color is that horse? Why couldn't the government pass a law that protected only government property? You can't kill animals in Yellowstone that you can kill on your ranch.

hatch act
 

On 1. Huh? It's not all about IP law here. The government is limiting fake medals, not real ones.

On 2. Isn't slavery still legal in Mississippi? Or miscegination illegal? Or something like that? The fact that a law hasn't been challenged could mean only that it hasn't been enforced. I don't think anyone here has argued the law is facially unconstitutional--that is, there are circumstances in which it could be constitutionally enforced.

hatch act
 

Say I'm the King: and i give you a medal (suspend disbelief here), AND I've enacted a law that says "only the people I give the medals to can wear them outside," that's very much like a use based license.

oh, and bona fide purchasers are still infringers, and the guy who buys the medal and wears it? are you making like a "mistake of law is okay" argument?

First Amendment, anyone?
 

I have no dog in this fight, but what makes you think there are "many, many cases?"

hatch act
 

I'm talking about the power to limit use. of course the g can limit fakes- or is counterfeiting "free speech?"-

again, google and read. it was being enforced. I don't think Ms. is still holding slave auctions even if the law still exists.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

GOOGLE

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Again, I really don't care about this discussion, but yes, I think nearly every law that passes Congress gets through without much (credible) constitutional analysis.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

I think that in the absence of general laws governing the defacement of property, a law that applied only to governmental property might change the applicable test from rational basis, with the focus being the protection of property generally, to strict scrutiny, if the government is seen as only restricting the political or artistic expression of citizens with respect to the seats of power.

I'm not saying this is the right answer, but the restriction of protection to governmental property does change one's point of view.

hatch act
 

You don't think the status of employees as employees might have something to do with it?

When Do We Impeach Fredo?
 

you sure you are a lawyer? And you have never heard of McNulty? Perhaps a certain memo with his name on it?

Not that this explains why his resignation is news, you have to look a tad harder for that.

When Do We Impeach Fredo?
 

Compared to Comey's testimony, this seems like a blip.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Let me guess, you think there is an epidemic of shark attacks too, don't you?

hatch act
 

It would be. Now if you just pretend that that's what the government has always been doing, you're closer to reality.

You're also erring by analogizing criminal prosecution to IP. Throwing someone in prison demands more.

An Audie Murphy Halloween costume -- should that be a criminal offense?

hatch act
 

there are criminal sanctions in the copyright law. go on ebay and offer to sell bootleg copies of Spiderman 3, then let us know if the FBI or Jones Day kicks in your front door.

is it the really expensive one, with real life medals? either way, talk about nerd alert, unless it's at the nursing home party.

hatch act
 

As I said, the remedy to speech you don't like is more speech.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

and Islamic fundamentalism is puffed up as a danger. Kum-BA- yaaaaa!

hatch act
 

word to the wise: if you end up with your kids sticking you in a nursing home do not be the one putting out "more speech". at the end of the day that's the sucker who gets the left over meds.

hatch act
 

Put another way, if I, as a non-employee, happen upon a pretty piece of brass, can I not wear it in my hair? And, if not, explain to me why the Feds are not somehow making a content-based distinction about my poor fashion sense?

First Amendment, anyone?
 

OK -- a competing value judgment leading to a different policy decision.

I say we should punish them both severely under your Administration, and have the cops yelling "Its Taxwonk time" during their restroom interrogations. Zero tolerance, bitches.

S_A_M

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Geez, Hank, that's gotta hurt.

Actually, I don't think this one qualifies as a wedge issue. I did a (very) quick Westlaw search and found no evidence that this law or its predecessor has ever been challenged.

That may mean that, until this week on a chat board populated by bored, overpaid lawyers raised in a society grown soft and self-centered, no one ever felt the need to defend the rights of those who would falsely claim entitlement to wear our nation's highest military honors.

[Sniff] How have we come to this? Oh, the humanity! America haters. [/Sniff]

(So, I guess I'm in category 2 -- spewing my judgments.)

S_A_M

First Amendment, anyone?
 

By many, many I mean thousands, four figures.

Seems like a reasonable estimate given the number of medals floating around and the number of cases I've heard about (which must be a very tiny fraction of the total).

S_A_M

First Amendment, anyone?
 

2.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

I feel we need a military. Maybe you disagree.

Traditionally, militaries have given medals to guys who have done special things. there are many reasons for this, but one might be so that the awardee's countrymen can recognize the guy did something for them that was, you know, special.

There are estimates that of the people claiming to have been Navy Seals, actually 50% are frauds. the same is true for Medal of Honor winners. maybe the frauds use the lie for somewhat innocent purposes, getting laid maybe, but some have fooled their hometowns and use the status to get free things, to get honored status, etc.

I think letting them get away with that takes away from the actual guys who did the special things. You seem like you don't mind people lying to gain some unwarrented status. I bet you think it's okay when Flower or Thurgreed lie about their height on the internet. I think that detracts from the actually tall.

And this law has been passed by Congress. Maybe you think it shouldn't have been, but that isn't the same as being unconstitutional.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

You see, this is the problem. Your parody read just like many a right winger poster's posts. We just thought you'd joined the Hank/Slave crowd, since, after all, you do vote the same way as they do. We all love Spanky because of his wide-eyed surprise every single time he discovers that the nut-jobs he hangs out with are nut-jobs.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

Once again, right on all counts. They should extend the law to also cover those who claim to have performed national guard service without having actually done so. These people are lower than low, and the idea that we have people in government, dealing with military issues, who have shamed themselves by such valor theft needs to be dealt with, quickly and harshly.

First Amendment, anyone?
 

How about if you mock up some memos to prove your point, and we'll get right on it.

When Do We Impeach Fredo?
 

You should try reading the news some time.

AP Hearts CAIR
 

When Do We Impeach Fredo?
 

i do. just not the gossip columns or other mean spirited nonsense.