Below is my column this morning in The Los Angeles Times on the increasing number of cases where teachers are punished for comments or activities in their private lives — often under nebulous disruption or moral turpitude grounds. While the recent case of a teacher moonlighting as a porn star in California raises understandable concerns for school officials, most of these cases involve either past conduct or clearly protected speech. This is part of a broader number of cases that we have been following dealing with public employees ranging from city managers to police officers to firefighters. The question is how much our public employees must confirm their political and social activities to satisfy members of the public.
Category: Society
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
On Friday, a small victory was had against the ever encroaching corporatism threatening our democracy. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D – MD) brought suit against the FEC last year. In his suit, Van Hollen charges that in 2007 the FEC created a loophole allowing undisclosed donors to contribute money for “electioneering communications” to organizations like Karl Rove’s 501(c)(4) advocacy group Crossroads GPS and to 501(c)(6) business associations like the Chamber of Commerce for the purposes of by willfully misinterpreting disclosure requirements in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (a.k.a. McCain-Feingold). “Electioneering communications” are broadcast ads that refer to a federal candidate in the period 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary election. These ads may call for either the election or defeat of a specific candidates.
In 2007, the FEC added a regulation that complicated the situation. The rule in question – C.F.R. Title 11 § 104.20 (c)(9) – (found at 2 U.S.C. 434(f)) – says “If the disbursements were made by a corporation or labor organization pursuant to 11 CFR 114.15, the name and address of each person who made a donation aggregating $1,000 or more to the corporation or labor organization, aggregating since the first day of the preceding calendar year, which was made for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications.” Clearly the FEC is saying that disclosure is only required if a donation is explicitly made “for the purpose of electioneering communication.” Being that few, if any, donors to these groups ever earmark their donation for a specific election expense there has been little or no disclosure of the donors to these groups.
There is a problem with that regulation though.
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
The chair emeritus for the American Board of Recorded Evidence, Tom Owen, and Ed Primeau, a Michigan-based audio engineer and forensics expert, have independently concluded that the furtive pleas for help clearly heard on the 911 tapes are not George Zimmerman’s. Both acknowledged experts used voice enhancing software, but different techniques, to rate the probability of the voice being Zimmerman’s at no more than 48%. A 90% match is considered scientifically reliable.
Continue reading “Audio Experts: Cries For “Help” On 911 Tapes Not Zimmerman’s”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger
A recurring meme used in American society by leaders and politicians is that certain acts must be done to “Defend Our Freedoms”. The use of this meme has occurred repeatedly in our history as a justification for certain governmental actions, particularly in defense of war. In some cases like our Revolution, or World War II its usage has been right on point, in others like Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan it’s been used as untruthful propaganda. On national and local levels the meme has also had a mixed history. It has been used to persecute radicals, as a States Rights justification of “Jim Crow” and post 9/11 to enact “security” legislation that many of us think actually diminishes freedom in the name of saving it. Continue reading “Defending Our Freedoms?”
Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, gave the world a measure of the bravery and humanity of our soldiers serving abroad this week. Weichel, a father of three from Rhode Island, gave his life to save an Afghan girl from being run over by a 16-ton armored fighting vehicle this week. While Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called all Americans “Demons” , Weichel did not hesitate to give his life for a little girl in danger.
In Florida, two Coral Springs police officers — Nicole Stasnek and Derek Fernandes — have been accused of false statements against a woman after an audio recording surfaced contradicting their claims about a roadside arrest of Susan Mait, 60.
Last night, the police released this video showing George Zimmerman shortly after he killed an unarmed Florida teen. I discussed the legal significance of the video on Countdown last night.
Continue reading “The Immaculate Assault? Police Video Shows Zimmerman Without Obvious Injuries”
Some of the Supreme Court appear skeptical of the claim that, if they strike down the individual mandate provision, they must strike down the entirety of the Act. Early accounts of the justices from the courtroom appeared to be favoring severability but new reports have cast doubt — yet another example how artificial the denial of cameras and live coverage has become. As the argument unfolded, conservative justices appear to suggest that it really is an all-or-nothing proposition.
A new report is out that the average education debt for law graduates at private schools last year was nearly $125,000. The list of the top schools in the debt competition may surprise you.
Continue reading “Debt U: Study Ranks Law Schools With Greatest Debt Load For Students”
Well, it is official. Yesterday we passed the 11 million mark for “hits”. We continue to be ranked in the top ten most visited legal blogs in the world by AVVO. We are also just short of 5000 followers on Twitter.
An elderly Florida couple in Sanford, Florida is living through a nightmare after director Spike Lee sent their address to his 250,000 followers on Twitter — wrongly stating that this was the address of George Zimmerman, the man who killed an unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, in Florida. It was a uniquely stupid act by Lee and invited the very type of vigilante response that Zimmerman has been accused of. The question is whether there is liability for such negligence as David McClain, 72, and his wife Elaine, 70, live in fear of threats and packages arriving at their home.
It appears that the Supreme Court justices did not hear about the results of the GW Supreme Court deliberations. Key conservative justices expressed notably skepticism about the constitutionality of the health care law. The statements of Roberts and Kennedy are particularly interesting. I will also note that the continued refusal of these justices to allow cameras into the courtroom is indefensible and insulting. The fact that millions of Americans have to wait for individuals to offer second-hand accounts is a ridiculous exercise that, I believe, would have been viewed as positively moronic by the Framers.
There is a new report that the mother of Trayvon Martin is seeking trademark ownership for the phrases like “I Am Trayvon” and “Justice for Trayvon.” I have long been a critic of scope of claims under our trademark and copyright laws. Despite my sympathy for the family, I fail to see why anyone should have trademark ownership over “Justice for Trayvon.” Moreover, I would think that there would be a preference for unlimited and widespread use of such terms.
Continue reading “Trayvon Martin’s Mother Reportedly Moves To Trademark Son’s Name and Phrases”
The great American selloff continues with cities and states selling parks, government buildings, and other sites (here and here and here and here and here) to raise money — as we continue spend billions in Iraq and Afghanistan where our allies have called us “demons” and sought to create governments that deny basic rights to citizens. Even national parks are being pushed on the chopping block. The latest such example is Baltimore which is preparing to selloff over a dozen historic sites.
Continue reading “Baltimore Moves To Sell Off Historic Sites”
This story is so bizarre that I had to check it twice to make sure it was not an early April Fool’s joke. The New York City Department of Education has barred the use of “Dinosaur” on tests to avoid upsetting people who believe creationism. Putting aside the fact that creationists do not deny that dinosaurs existed, the decision is to bar the use of a reference to an entire species because a fact might insult religious sensibilities.