As if we needed more proof municipal court is a joke

A municipal judge who fed questions to the prosecutor during an ex parte chat in a drunken-driving case was publicly reprimanded on Feb. 24.

The accused was convicted on the DWI and refusal charges, and the ex parte conversation came to light in reviewing the transcript for appeal.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202543663821&et=editorial&bu=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal&cn=NJLJ%20Daily%20News%20Alert%3A%20February%2028%2C%202012&src=EMC-Email&pt=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal%20Daily%20News%20Alert&kw=JUDGE%20IS%20REPRIMANDED%20FOR%20COACHING%20PROSECUTOR%20IN%20DRUNKEN-DRIVING%20TRIAL%20&slreturn=1

rock on

all girl punk bad in russia breaking all the rules.

Pussy Riot Strikes Again

impotent big government

FTC can't seem to bring itself to get demand deceptive businessmen admit wrongdoing as part of its settlements.

Judge Mulls Public-Interest Review of FTC Settlement in Acai Berry Litigation

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202543356651&et=editorial&bu=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal&cn=NJLJ%20Daily%20News%20Alert%3A%20February%2024%2C%202012&src=EMC-Email&pt=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal%20Daily%20News%20Alert&kw=JUDGE%20MULLS%20PUBLIC-INTEREST%20REVIEW%20OF%20FTC%20SETTLEMENT%20IN%20ACAI%20BERRY%20LITIGATION

does anyone remember the consequences faced by the attorneys robo-signing foreclosure papers?

i don't recall it including jail time. those types of penalties are reserved for attorneys that cost billionaire bankers some chump change, not attorneys that ruin people's live by helping those bankers steal homes.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202543368555&et=editorial&bu=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal&cn=NJLJ%20Daily%20News%20Alert%3A%20February%2024%2C%202012&src=EMC-Email&pt=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal%20Daily%20News%20Alert&kw=ATTORNEY%20PLEADS%20GUILTY%20TO%20%242.6%20MILLION%20IN%20MORTGAGE%20FRAUD

thoughts on lawsuit against West over publishing legal briefs

on the one hand, I hate to see West making money off work I put time and effort into but for which West paid nothing. on the other, i feel like once you file a paper with the court, you've set it free to be copied by anyone, for any reason. its part of the public domain. besides, knowing the arguments a party made can help you understand a decision. i hate having to worry about another thing to search through as anyone - except maybe a big firm slave trying to meet their billable requirement - but it ought to be available to the extent its feasible. besides, West should get a benefit from my work - but why should I get paid again for work my client theoretically already paid me for? I say set it free, and it will eventually become irrelevant as more courts follow the federal lead and make everything not under seal available online.

the cost of fighting mariage equality is money spent to please a special interest group

There is no denying that litigation is an expensive proposition - and doubly expensive for the state when it loses civil rights cases because the tax payer has to pay for the prevailing party's attorney's fees. Proponents of "civil unions" over true marriage equality claim one is just as good as the other. But if that's the case, why fight the issue?

The answer is obvious: a legal acknowledgement that two people of the same sex can love each other with the same amount of commitment as members of the opposite the sex can is offensive to various types of bigots that the Republican party needs to get elected. Anti-gay bigots are a Republican special interest group. And money spent keeping gay people in a second class citizen status - whether symbolic or substantive - is money spent to keep this special interest happy.

You rarely hear it framed this way by our damn liberal media, but that's exactly what's happening here in New Jersey.

Big government too feeble to regulate abusive business practices

White House Pushing For Companies To Adopt Online Privacy Bill Of Rights - The Consumerist

Don't steal a loaf a bread. Steal somebody's home and destroy their life instead.

If you steal a loaf of bread, you'll get arrested for shoplifting. If you steal somebody's house through a sham foreclosure process, you may have wrecked somebody's life - but the worst that will come of it is slap on the risk and a warning not to do it again.

Foreclosure errors continue - latimes.com

I hope hope hope Santorum gets the nomination

because I just don't think a bigot like him can win an election.

Santorum not letting new strength in GOP race temper his words

rock on

New Jersey Assembly joins Senate in passing marriage equality. Sad Christie will veto it, but a sign of progress nonetheless.

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202542610966&et=editorial&bu=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal&cn=NJLJ%20Daily%20News%20Alert%3A%20February%2017%2C%202012&src=EMC-Email&pt=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal%20Daily%20News%20Alert&kw=STATE%20ASSEMBLY%20GIVES%20SAME-SEX%20MARRIAGE%20FINAL%20APPROVAL%2C%20BUT%20VETO%20LIES%20AHEAD%20&slreturn=1

ugly

hospitals are hoarding tax payer money given to them to help the uninsured - while using debt collectors to harass the intended beneficiaries of the money

NY Hospitals Saddle Uninsured Patients with Massive Debt Despite $100s of Millions in Gov’t Aid

I like the anti-corporate sentiment

but the pigs they killed "sustain-ably" were still just as scared as we will be when we're dying.

Factory-Farming Exposed in Prime-Time Grammy Commercial | Rodale News

Just end it

North Carolina evidently perceived a racial bias in its death penalty convictions. In response, they passed a law that would require the sentence be commuted if race played a part in the jury or prosecutor's decisions. If we've got to this point, why not just end it already? We can all admit the criminal justice system is rife with imperfections. North Carolina is at least frank enough about the racial element that they tried to address it. But racial bias isn't the only problem. In fact, it could easily be argued that one reason the imposition of the death penalty and minority status have a correlation is because there is also a correlation between minority status and the ability to fund a vigorous defence. Such an imperfect system has no business putting anyone to death.

What, Exactly, Does NC's 'Racial Justice Act' Mean? We'll Know Soon - Law Blog - WSJ

rock on

New Jersey Senate Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill But Votes Short of Veto-Proof Majority

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202542169486&et=editorial&bu=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal&cn=NJLJ%20Daily%20News%20Alert%3A%20February%2013%2C%202012&src=EMC-Email&pt=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal%20Daily%20News%20Alert&kw=JUDGE%27S%20DEFENSE%20TO%20GROPING%20CHARGE%3A%20CAN%27T%20RECALL%2C%20MUST%20HAVE%20BEEN%20DRUNK

party guy

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202542169486&et=editorial&bu=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal&cn=NJLJ%20Daily%20News%20Alert%3A%20February%2013%2C%202012&src=EMC-Email&pt=New%20Jersey%20Law%20Journal%20Daily%20News%20Alert&kw=JUDGE%27S%20DEFENSE%20TO%20GROPING%20CHARGE%3A%20CAN%27T%20RECALL%2C%20MUST%20HAVE%20BEEN%20DRUNK

the gun industry, and the politicians they own, are willfully blind to the illegal market

If I know that the legal gun market is x but maufacture and sell x+n guns, i am completely complicit in the illegal gun trade - particularly when n is a substantial number. The gun industry knows its making money from the illegal market (convicts, the insane), and is having its hired politicians protect that market. I'm all for the right to bear arms, but profiteering from the illegitimate sale of deadly weapons to criminals is a disgrace.

Inquirer Editorial: Towns need their gun laws - Philly.com

Do as we say, not as we do

A Tale of Two Repressions: Bahrain and Syria - Forbes