Merry Generic Winter Day-Off With No Religious Content

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Weren't similar steps argued regarding firms who represented clients who opposed the affirmative action programs at Michigan before the Supreme Court?

Were those steps argued by lawyers who have the special ethical duties that prosecutors have?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Were those steps argued by lawyers who have the special ethical duties that prosecutors have?

Are you saying it's acceptable if they weren't?

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Are you saying it's acceptable if they weren't?

Can you move this to the PB???

Someone at my local patisserie/cafe is really, really into Songs from the Big Chair. Have not heard that in a long time, and now, all the songs are running through my head. Pale Shelter. Mad World. What a freaking (self-indulgently) depressing album.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Are you saying it's acceptable if they weren't?

Actually, yes.

It's not a violation of a specific ethical duty.

It's not a government official trying to prevent criminal defendants from getting competent representation.

It's not a government official making the false (and, I would argue, knowingly false) suggestion that the law firms involved are being paid by questionable sources (i.e., on the al Qaeda payroll), when in fact they are usually working for free.

I wouldn't be particularly offended if a private company made the decision, on its own, to stop doing business with a law firm that represented prisoners at Guantanamo. (Though, personally, I would like to know the name of that company and I would consider not doing business with someone who tries to interfere with another person's representation.) Clients are entitled to make that choice. But I am offended by a government lawyer, particularly one in a prosecutorial role, advocating for this.

In contrast -- and more similar to the situation you identified (which I don't agree with, btw; while I did not support the position of the plaintiffs in that case I think it is a complex issue and one that merits court attention) -- if a group of law firms were bringing a civil case on behalf of al Qaeda or Hamas to, say, challenge the freezing of bank assets, I would have no problem at all with a call to boycott those firms. In fact, I would fully agree with it.

So, yes: a prosecutor trying to separate defendants from lawyers is a particularly bad thing.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Can you move this to the PB???

Point well taken. Unfortunately, I didn't see your post before I responded. I won't discuss this item on the FB anymore.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
You mean just as the people most ardently in favor of using government for the redistribution of wealth are often those least likely to be significantly affected by that redistribution?

I'm not sure who you're talking about here. Is it Bono, Warren Buffet, or Bill Gates? It obviously can't be directed at me , since I have frequently and consistently suggested that the social security system, which I have paid tens of thousand so of dollars into, should e abolished and replaced with a purely need-based transfer payment.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by taxwonk
those who claim to be most ardently in favor of limiting government

Maybe Bush really is so dumb that he thinks people believe this.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
this got me to thinking........ can Fugee's second cousin stay at your house for awhile? The kid is in college and I bet being around a real brain like you will up the old GPA.

I'm pretty sure Flower isn't the role model my cousin wants for his son (who BTW is a first cousin once removed, not a second cousin). He might start wearing pansy pants.

[Paisley]

I was in a small library in my area this afternoon, and needed to take a pee break. They had a one-serves-all kind of bathroom - a single room for both men and women to use. I open the door, start to notice (appreciatively) the old-school tile on the floor, when all of a sudden I see, out of the corner of my eye, a man sitting on the can. Who the hell doesn't lock the door!? Esp while taking a crap (!), but whatever . . . I apologize, quickly exit, and wait my turn (back to the door, looking at the historical prints on the wall, until he has exited). I go in and see that he has peed all over the toilet seat. WTF! This man was neither decrepit nor young enough to excuse this. Think this was retribution for walking in on him?*


* He was standing outside of the bathroom when I left. Not sure which way this cuts in the analysis, but I think I would have hightailed it out of there if walked in on in the bathroom by random stranger of the opposite sex.

[pony_trekker]

The original Star Trek is on Itunes. I may buy that appleTV shit.

[Adder]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
While I agree that there is something different about the government doing it, I'm not sure the difference is that significant. The power of the private sector, one way or the other, is often more substantial than the government (who's been more succesful censoring media--the government or advertisers who boycott certain shows?). Bear in mind that the list of firms became public because of a FOIA request (albeit from a conservative commentator), not because the government was "outing" these firms.

Check out the articles I posted to the politics board. They featured a senior government official not only outing firms, but suggesting that maybe they are really being paid by the terrorists, instead of doing pro bono work.

This crap is indefensible. The only way one can reasonable come around to questions the law firms is if one actually believes that everyone at Gitmo is a terrorist. That belief might have been plausible four years ago, but history has not been kind to it.

[Tables R Us]

Originally posted by Anne Elk
Don't you attorney folk have to submit resumes and transcripts and certified bar results and such before you can practice?

If you para folks can find forgers, so can us attorney folks.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Paigow's blog?

And flogging it on cars:

[Tables R Us]

Test

[Tables R Us]

Burger said the story on strippers fighting an Alabama ban on nudity by using latex body paint was worthless without pictures. Here's for Burger.