You know you want to discuss it, so go ahead (news reference).
Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
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Point of Law- State of play on Alien Tort litigationLee G. Dunst of Gibson Dunn, writing in the New York Law Journal (PDF), reviews recent cases and concludes that the courts are tending to dismiss most actions filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act (also known as the Alien... […]Walter Olson
- Higher punitives for wealthier malefactorsIra Stoll at Future of Capitalism has some doubts about that new $300 million tobacco verdict.... […]Walter Olson
- The price of New York ethics, cont'dIra Stoll, Future of Capitalism: The New York state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, won't accept campaign contributions from people with matters before his office. Conveniently enough, however, he will, and does, accept such contributions from their lawyers, Bloomberg News reports.... […]Walter Olson
- USDC: Corrupt PA Judges Have Civil ImmunityA federal district court judge has just ruled that two disgraced Pennsylvania state court judges, Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., are protected by immunity from facing legal action for courtroom acts that consisted of over 6000 corrupt... […]Michael Krauss
- Around the web, November 23Tide turning against drug-pricing suits? Glaxo SmithKline beats back Kentucky case [Longstreth, AmLaw Daily] Court in Australia deems litigation funding pact improper as "unregistered managed investment scheme" [New Lawyer] Should docs be careful what they ask for? Michelle Mello... […]Walter Olson
- State of play on Alien Tort litigation
- Volokh
- NYT Policy on Illegally Acquired DocumentsThe NYT’s environmental blog, Dot Earth, covered the disclosure of e-mails and other files from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, noted that the files are available on various other website, but did not reproduce any files on its site. As Andrew Revkin explained in the post: The documents appear to have been acquired [...] […]Jonathan H. Adler
- Cato brief in McDonald v. ChicagoAvailable here. An outstanding brief, as one might expect. The bulk of the brief (21 pages, comprising Part I) shows that from the Founding Era into through the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment, national citizenship was paramount to state citizenship. Part II briefly argues that Slaughterhouse violated canons of constitutional construction–such as by in […]David Kopel
- NYT: “Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government”Wait, you mean we’re expected to pay all that money back? Copyright © 2009 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement of the copyright. (Digital Fingerprint: [...] […]Orin Kerr
- Puffery PlaintiffsThe NYT reports that more companies are challenging claims made in competitors’ ads. Companies that were once content to fight in grocery-store aisles and on television commercials are now choosing a different route — filing lawsuits and other formal grievances challenging their competitors’ claims. Longtime foes like Pantene and Dove, Science Diet and […]Jonathan H. Adler
- WaPo on Climate E-mails (and More)The Washington Post covers the disclosure of e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit — e-mails that appear to have been subject to an FOI request and that were either hacked by an outsider or stolen and released by an insider. In one e-mail, the center’s director, Phil Jones, writes Pennsylvania State University’s [...] […]Jonathan H. Adler
- NYT Policy on Illegally Acquired Documents
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Best line heard so far, adapted from comment at Reason “Hit and Run”: “Hooker admits Spitzer link, quits escort service in disgrace”.
Daddy, that pretty lady isn’t Mrs. Spitzer.
I’ve been watching this from the beginning and I can’t find anyone who knows for sure that Spitzer is “Client #9.” They asked Greta Van Sustren how she knew this and her response was “I don’t. I only know that because that’s what our network has been reporting”
At first he was being indicted, then it turns out it was only a complaint and the governor’s name wasn’t even named. Then he had resigned, then they decided he hadn’t resigned. Then we find out rather than running the prostitution ring, he was a customer, merely a misdemeanor offense that typically carries a mere fine. After all this uncertainly, I don’t necessarily believe the news organizations reporting that he is “Customer #9″
I know no one ever accuses the NYT of media bias; they’ve cemented their reputation in objective journalism and live as standard bearer for future generations of reporters. But I found it odd that it was not until the last few paragraphs in which his party affiliation is presented, and it requires an inference (albeit a small one) to determine his line. Maybe it’s just me being hyper-vigilant. Yes, I believe that must be the case.
Jim, while he may not be Customer #9, he apparently was involved enough in some misdeeds to schedule a teary eyed new conference. I suggest you read the NYT article, it points out that co-ordinating prostitution across state lines carries some heavier fines.
What I’m hearing is that he thought he was going to be attending a small, exclusive seminar about effective campaigning techniques in the face of complete local media buy-in, and the associated ethical boundaries, but realized too late that what sounded like “snow job” was actually something else.
Either that, or his aides did it.
The taller you stand, the harder you fall.
Todd you piqued my curiosity and I checked the NY Times archives to see how they reported the Senator Craig incident and found they didn’t mention his party affiliation until the last paragraph as well – just kidding!! It is in the first line
“Senator Larry E. Craig, Republican of Idaho, was arrested…”
August 28, 2007 – By THE NEW YORK TIMES – U.S. – 465 words
For Reason H&R comments, I’m partial to “The only thing that could make this more scandalous would be if it was revealed that he enjoyed a cigarette afterwards.”
I’m also wondering what a $1300/hour prostitute would consider to be so sexually dangerous that she needed to be warned beforehand, but that’s just prurience.
Inasmuch as President Bush has been blamed for 9/11, Al Qaida in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Global Warming and virtually every other ill in our world; doubtless the NYTimes will soon feature an article about the hazards of dispensing Viagra to seniors under the Bush-proposed prescription assistance plan – thereby linking President Bush to Spitzer’s urge to seek the company of prostitutes.
It’s the week of prostitution stings:
Former Judge Tills resigns amid FBI prostitution investigation.
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/294809.html
Not to mention the reported investigation of federal judge Nottingham, nicknamed “Naughty”, in Colorado.
Wish he had put some of that energy into getting more high tech jobs for the Capitol District Area. We should all sue for our lack of jobs up here… At least the hookers get paid…
Imagine that…. who can he find to blame – that’s the american way, isn’t it?
It will be amusing to watch which politicians call for his immediate resignation and which ones bite their tongue to avoid claims of future hypocrisy if they ever find themselves in the same position. It has been well-chronicled that prostitution is far more prevalent in Washington than one might be led to believe by the public outcry we will certainly see over the next few days.
My favorite line was “Spitzer vows not to rest until he puts self behind bars.”
Dealbreaker is running good stuff.
And on another blog, a commenter imagines the phone call Spitzer must have made to Hillary Clinton at 3 a.m.
Ironically, it appears that the feds found the prostitution service because they were suspicious of Spitzer’s large payments to their front.
I object to this trivial lawyer gotcha. This illegality where no harm occurs may even violate Lawrence v Texas.
He will not get charged for the damage done to the economy by his unjust attacks on productive sectors of the economy, as NY Attorney General.
This gotcha approach represents lawyer bad faith. The infraction is a pretext, a false use of a trivial infraction.
I suggest ending all immunities for the huge damage done in litigation.
On the other hand, he used pretextual gotchas. He deserves this fate.
It reminds me of Clinton. He was hated for raising taxes, but had immunity for that giant theft. His pals, the trial lawyers, hounded him on a trivial deposition misleading statement.
The public always pays. In the case of Clinton, gotcha consumed 100’s of hours of his time for his defense. The result? 9/11.
One wonders how the public will pay for this small minded lawyer persecution of Spitzer.
For the last 6 months, out of annoyance and distaste at his antics, I’ve been referring to him as “the one-term Governor of NY”…..but DAMN !!!…he’s not even going to make a full term !
Goodbye, Eliot. Go bully your dog, or browbeat the gardener. New York won’t miss you.
Rule #1 in Life:
Don’t have huge amounts of mysterious cash payments flowing interstate hither and yon from your financial accounts. The Feds pick up on this immediately, and you suddenly have a giant bullseye painted on your back for the FBI and IRS.
Spitzer is going to be living from this point forwsrd in a World of Pain.
America likes to build up its heroes so they can then tear them down. Such a pathetic fall from grace
You guys have all missed the positive side of this. You should note that Spitzer supported his state by importing a NY girl to Washington rather than using a local girl. Hence, he was able to support the NYS economy while out of state. Now, that certainly is commendable.
Rick
Stephen Colbert notifies the New York Post that he has dibs on “Elliot Mess.”
“…but political pundits who took to heart Spitzer’s promise that he’d keep corruption and scandal out of Albany were stunned to learn of the news.”
Maybe his high priced attorneys can spin this to show how dedicated he was to his duties as governor. He was so dedicated to the cause of removing prostitution from NY that he arranged to have a prostitute leave NY and come to Washington, thereby decreasing the number of prostitutes in NY by one. If only all politicians would show this level of dedication!!
Ara,
Elliot Mess is good.
The actual New York Post headline is good, too:
“Ho No”
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