Below is today’s brief essay in the Los Angeles Times that is part of a series called Reflections on 9/11. I was asked that day after the attacks to write a column for the newspaper, which ran on September 13, 2001. As I wrote the piece, I could still see smoke rising from the Pentagon. The plane in Washington hit just behind my car a minute or so after I passed the Pentagon on my way to work from Alexandria. On that day, my greatest concerns were two-fold: a change in the definition of war and the expanded use of assassination. Unfortunately, my worst predictions were exceeded by the Bush Administration and later the Obama Administration. It is shocking to think that this was ten years ago. The images and feelings remain so vivid. My car was forced into a curb by a careening car that morning and I had to replace my tire as the smoke bellowed from the Pentagon. The thought of all the innocent people lost in Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania remains an open wound for so many of us. The sheer savagery and inhumanity of the attacks shocked the conscience — a feeling only magnified later when Bin Laden was shown gloating over how he personally advised the terrorists on the best place to hit the buildings. The cautionary piece on September 13th was not meant to take away from the legitimate and collective anger that we felt — and still feel. However, it was already clear within two days of the attacks that Bush officials were going to seek the radical expansion of presidential powers and were already referencing our civil liberties as an impediment to our safety. My heartfelt sympathy to all who lost friends and family on that day.
Category: Lawyering
Magistrate Judge Anthony Peters of Catoosa County has been removed from office for misconduct. For our regulars on the bench, fear out. Peters, a non-lawyer, set the standard pretty high after smoking pot, kicking in doors, and pointing a gun at his own head.
Continue reading “Georgia Magistrate Tossed Off Bench After Record of Pot-Smoking and Bizarre Conduct”
It may be true that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon,” but Jay Sekulow, the advocate for conservative religious causes, seems to have found a way. A new report alleges that Sekulow and his family have reaped millions in defending religious organizations and fighting the separation of church and state. What is clear is that his decision to fight for religious groups did not involve a vow of poverty.
Continue reading “Making Millions From Mammon? Jay Sekulow Accused Of Funneling Millions To Family”
With the approach of the ten-year anniversary of September 11th, this chapter of a new book may be of interest. I agreed to join authors from both sides of the debate in a discussion of the legacy of the attacks, though the book is heavily weighted with conservatives ranging from John Ashcroft to Michael Mukasey to John Yoo. I was not aware when I agreed to do the chapter that Yoo would join Dean Reuter as an editor on the book. Despite my strong feelings about Yoo’s infamous role in the torture program, I felt that I had to fulfill my promise so I wrote a chapter on torture and the torture lawyers, including Yoo. The book is entitled Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security.
Continue reading “Nuremburg Revisited and Revised: The Legitimation of Torture in the United States”
Darren Morris, 27, a parolee accused of trying to kill a police officer, has hit the jackpot. Morris will walk after Bronx prosecutor Christine Scaccia missed a series of court dates that resulted in the judge eventually forcing all charges to be dropped for lack of prosecution.
Continue reading “Perp Walks: Bronx Man Accused of Attempted Murder of Police Officer Allowed to Walk Due to Mishandling of Case By Prosecutor”
While Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continues to spend money on such things as giving Steven Seagal a tank and army to raid homes for his reality television program, county lawyers are trying to settle one of the many lawsuits over his abuse of his office. The latest payment of tax dollars went to retired county Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields. We previously detailed the disgraceful actions taken by former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Arpaio against judges who did not bend to their will.
Continue reading “Maricopa County Settles First Case Over Abuses By Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas”
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is being sued for age discrimination by tax professor William J. Brown. Brown, 73, first began at Pitt in 1968 and earned tenure at that institution. After 30 years, he left to accept a post as director of the Graduate Tax Program at Duquesne’s business school. When he returned in 2006, he alleged was blocked to returning as a full-time faculty member by a decision of the law school to seek younger faculty members.
Continue reading “Law Professor Sues Pitt For Age Discrimination”
I was honored recently to be selected as the Appellate Lawyer of the Week featured in the National Law Journal. Here is the interview. The interview was a chance to speak with one of the great legal journalists, Tony Mauro, whom I have long admired.
We have another rather bizarre infringement action based on a fairly common symbol. The State Bar of Wisconsin has sued LexisNexis over its use of an online logo that looks like its own symbol. Once again, as with prior lawsuits by Apple and other organizations, I fail to understand the tightening stranglehold of infringement actions over the use of common symbols and terms. The column is a standard symbol for lawyers and schools. In my view, the Wisconsin Bar is showing poor judgment in litigating such an issue — particularly when there is little danger of confusion for observers.
Continue reading “Pillar Envy: Wisconsin Bar Sued LexisNexis Over Use of Column Symbol”
Former McDermott Will & Emery partner Bruce Paul Golden is facing disbarment in Illinois after officials learned that he had allegedly lied about his income on a financial aid form for a private school. The school is Francis W. Parker, one of the most affluent schools in Chicago. I graduated from Parker’s traditional rival, Latin School of Chicago. Both are ridiculously expensive, but Golden is accused of actually altering his tax forms to establish a base for support.
It is often said that “academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”[FN1] Some may view the recent dust up between University of Colorado Paul Campos (left) and University of Chicago law professor Brian Leiter as such an example. However, there are some important issues raised in the controversy over the writings of “ScamProf.” Campos recently admitted that he is the anonymous law professor who created such a stir with a criticism of law teaching and law schools. Critics say that Campos only came forward after various bloggers had deduced his identity. However, Leiter and others went further and challenged Campos personally and professionally.
Continue reading “Lawyers and Law Professors Erupt in Bitter Debate After Identification of “ScamProf””
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
With the end of summer comes the beginning of the fall ritual that is college football. You know, where men of strength and character mold the minds and bodies of our youth into men of strength and character. There are plenty of good examples and one particularly curious one. Oklahoma State FB coach Mike Gundy is a world-wide phenom for his 2007 YouTube meltdown in which he attempted to deflect criticism from a OSU football player with his famous, “I’m a Man. I’m 40!” tirade against the local newspaper reporter, Jenni Carlson, for printing, well, the truth. You can re-live that moment here.
Continue reading “Boys of Fall: Coach Orders Carpenter Off Job For Wearing Wrong Tee Shirt”
Now this could make for an interesting challenge. Brian Pollard was arrested for DUI in an accident that led to the death of Peggy Williamson. He received only four days in jail after pleading guilty. When the family cried foul, District Judge Rebecca Phelps and prosecutors insisted that they had no idea someone died. They are now moving to charge him again — after he was sentenced on the crime for DUI.
Continue reading “Kentucky Man Kills Woman in DUI — and Receives Four Days In Jail”
The United Stats Olympic Committee has issued a formal letter stating its intent to sue the “Redneck Olympics” over the use of the word “Olympic.” The Committee insists that it owns the word Olympic — despite the fact that it refers to an ancient sporting event from Greece that preceded both the United States and copyright/trademark laws. (It turns out that this early depiction of the Greek Olympics had been long misinterpreted as a race. It is actually early Greek lawyers serving an organizer with a complaint over the use of the word Olympic in 776 BC).
Continue reading “United States Olympic Committee Threatens To Sue The Redneck Olympics”
Illinois divorce attorney Jason W. Smiekel, 29, has been charged with trying to hire someone to kill his girlfriend’s ex-husband. Smiekel represented his girlfriend in the divorce. The undercover ATF officer claimed that Smiekel said the man had knowledge of possible criminal conduct and would soon give that evidence in a hearing.