Bill Day: Law, Liberty and Justice

On the move again . . .

Sat, 04 Jan 2003 04:21:01 GMT

A Web Undone 2 is moving again, but will hopefully stay put for a while in its new home at http://www.williamsonday.com.

First USA Reaches 28 State Settlement

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 16:07:05 GMT

"ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - First USA Bank, the nation's largest issuer of Visa credit cards, has agreed to pay $1.3 million as part of a settlement with 28 states over the way telemarketing firms sold products and services to the banking company's customers.

"First USA, now doing business as Bank One Card Services, also agreed to police its third-party vendors to prevent deceptive telemarketing aimed at its more than 53 million credit card holders, according to New York state's Attorney General's office."

How long before Spitzer runs for President?

Sun, 22 Dec 2002 04:10:38 GMT

"Critics Weigh In on Copyright Act. The U.S. Copyright Office asked for public comment on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and it got it. Critics worry about everything from losing great art to restricting blind people's access to information. By Joanna Glasner." [Wired News]

No surprises here.

Free Speech and Satan's Web Page (washingtonpost.com)

Sat, 21 Dec 2002 14:21:13 GMT

"The Supreme Court has held that students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate," U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan said. "There is no evidence that the Web site interfered with the work of the school or that any other student's rights were impinged.

" . . . Plaintiff's listing of names under the heading 'people I wish would die' did not constitute a threat to the people listed therein, any more than plaintiff's listing of names under the heading 'people that are cool' make those listed therein 'cool.' "

TSA Issues Tips For Checked Bags (washingtonpost.com)

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 12:55:50 GMT

"Packing a suitcase for travel around the holidays has never been easy, with extra care needed for things like gifts, chocolates and fragile items. But yesterday airport regulators made things even more complicated."

Among the recommendations: don't lock bags because the locks will be cut off; pack toiletries in plastic bags so inspectors can see them easily; don't pack film in checked luggage because it will be ruined, and avoid carrying dense foods like peanut butter, which might be mistaken for plastic explosives!

Free Speech -- Virtually (TechNews.com)

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 13:15:40 GMT

"The same law that relates to publishing in the offline world, generally speaking, applies to material posted publicly on a Web log, legal and human resources experts said. Posting information or opinions on the Internet is not much different from publishing in a newspaper, and if the information is defamatory, compromises trade secrets, or violates copyright or trademark regulations, the publisher could face legal claims and monetary damages."

The Most Interesting Site I Have Seen in a Long Time

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 03:39:17 GMT

Russian Company Acquitted of Digital Piracy

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 03:17:38 GMT

"In the first test of a digital piracy law, a jury acquitted a Russian company accused of selling software that allowed users to circumvent security features in an electronic book."

The jury did not like the idea that purchasers of digital content had no rights to manipulate it. Score one for the common sense of the jurors.

Of Ghosts and Mississippi (New York Times)

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 02:51:15 GMT

"Karl Rove came back to his West Wing office after yet another fruitless meeting on the topic of "How to pry the Senate gavel from Trent Lott's cold, dead hands while pretending to be mildly supportive," to find his desk occupied. Lee Atwater was spinning around in Karl's chair like a little kid."

Nickles Seeks Lott's Ouster (washingtonpost.com)

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 04:51:55 GMT

"Sen. Don Nickles (Okla.), the second-ranking Senate Republican, yesterday said his party should consider ousting "weakened" Sen. Trent Lott as its leader or risk a backlash from voters."

Another nail in the coffin. How long must we wait before Lott is buried?

Gore Rules Out Running in '04

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 04:39:50 GMT

"Mr. Gore, the former vice president, said in an interview on the CBS News program "60 Minutes" that he was intent on seeing Mr. Bush unseated, and believed he could be defeated. But Mr. Gore suggested that he might not be the strongest challenger in what early polls show would be a difficult task for the Democratic Party, because of the way he lost to Mr. Bush in 2000."

Mr. Gore shows more grace in defeat than he did on the campaign trail. It is very poignant that a man of his talent should have come so close to the presidency and lost it. The cockeyed Florida election notwithstanding, I believe that the last race was Gore's to lose, and that he bears responsibility for losing it. If he had run a better campaign, George Bush would never have been able to come close enough for Florida to make a difference. Nevertheless, I wish Al Gore well and look forward to hearing from him in the years to come.

Who's Sorry Now? (washingtonpost.com)

Sat, 14 Dec 2002 22:46:52 GMT

"Let's be clear: Trent Lott is not a New South Republican born in the post-segregation era. He came to Washington in 1968 as a Democrat and worked as the right-hand man of one Capitol Hill's chief executioners of civil rights legislation, Mississippi's rabidly segregationist Democratic congressman William Colmer. And when Colmer retired, Lott joined the flight of other race-conscious white southerners to the Republican Party and won Colmer's seat."

Colbert King lays out Trent Lott's past, and it is not a pretty sight.

Lott's Words Repellent but Not Surprising (washingtonpost.com)

Sat, 14 Dec 2002 14:05:09 GMT

"A poor choice of words? What better ones would describe pride in having supported a platform based on race-based hatred and division? Discarded policies? As if Jim Crow wasn't a deadly, wrongheaded affront but an abandoned fashion choice, like last season's bell-bottoms."

I do not usually follow Donna Britt's column, but I think she is right on in her analysis of Trent Lott's statement in support of Strom Thurmond's segregationist presidential bid in 1948.

Powell Unveils U.S.-Arab Initiative (washingtonpost.com)

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 13:00:20 GMT

"In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Powell outlined what he called a U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative that he said would attempt to move Arab societies out of their current state of economic stagnation, closed and rigid political systems and severely limited educational opportunities, especially for women."

This sounds like it might be a small step in the right direction. With a budget of only $29 million, emphasis on small?

Lott Has Moved Little On Civil Rights Issues (washingtonpost.com)

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 12:57:44 GMT

"The controversy over incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's praise last week for Strom Thurmond's segregationist 1948 presidential campaign has focused attention on the Mississippi Republican's record on racial issues. An examination of his record shows that over the past 40 years, he has consistently taken positions at odds with those of the traditional civil rights community."

www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish - Lott must go

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 03:36:40 GMT

"CHARLES CUTS THROUGH THE CLUTTER: Krauthammer comes through again: What is so appalling about Lott's remarks is not the bigotry but the blindness. One should be very hesitant about ascribing bigotry. It is hard to discern what someone feels in his heart of hearts. It is less hard to discern what someone sees, particularly if he tells you. Lott sees the civil rights movement and "all these problems over all these years." He missed the whole story. Backbenchers might be permitted such a lack of vision. Leaders are not. Lott must step down. Exactly right. "

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 03:22:56 GMT

What Strom said. Listen to this NPR report to hear Sen. Strom Thurmond's comments during his 1948 presidential run. A transcript of what this dirty, old racist said:"What I want to tell you ... Ladies and Gentlemen ... That there's not enough troops in the Army . [Idle Type]

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 03:17:04 GMT

Fire Trent Lott [New York Times: Opinion] Amen.

OpenP2P.com: Piracy is Progressive Taxation, and Other Thoughts on the Evolution of Online Distribution [Dec. 11, 2002]

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 01:45:01 GMT

"And that's the ultimate lesson. "Give the wookie what he wants!" as Han Solo said so memorably in the first Star Wars movie. Give it to him in as many ways as you can find, at a fair price, and let him choose which works best for him."

Tim O'Reilly argues persuasively that exposure is more important to artists than copy protection, that customers are eager to pay for access to large collections of books and music, and that they will pay extra for premium services. Tha nation's increasingly restrictive copyright laws and their increasingly draconian penalties benefit only a small group of oligopolistic companies with an outdated business model.

Morocco promises open media policy

Sat, 07 Dec 2002 16:05:33 GMT

"The Moroccan government has promised to communication and media professionals an open policy, marked by efficiency and heedful to citizens' expectations and concerns. "In light of the guidelines made by King Mohammed VI to give a new impetus to the dynamic of change, the government decided to adopt an efficient and open media and communication policy, a policy heedful to citizens with a view to promoting their enthusiasm to contribute to Morocco's development process," Moroccan Communication Minister, Nabil Benabdallah said in a letter to media professionals. "The Communication department will see to it that the information sector remain open to freedom of speech, respectful to the profession's code of ethics and built on two major principles: freedom and accountability," the official said."

At first blush, it looks as theough the Moroccan government is at least saying the right things, which is perhaps more than one can say for our own. However, the troubling phrase about accountability and the "code of ethics" -- in the context of ending a government monopoly -- may suggest that there will still be sharp limits on any government tolerance of dissent.

Lott Decried For Part Of Salute to Thurmond (washingtonpost.com)

Sat, 07 Dec 2002 14:36:43 GMT

"Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has provoked criticism by saying the United States would have been better off if then-segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948.

"Speaking Thursday at a 100th birthday party and retirement celebration for Sen. Thurmond (R-S.C.) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Lott said, "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.""

I am appalled. Lott should step down as Majority Leader, and probably resign. At the very least, he needs to make a public apology and explain what exactly he meant by "all these problems." Perhaps it would have been more convenient for Mississippi's system of racial oppression and the whites who perpetrated it if the Civil Rights movement had never happened, but it is rare even for a Senator from Dixie to suggest it.

Thought:

Wed, 04 Dec 2002 03:49:20 GMT

Criticism of a "chicken hawk" -- a vociferous proponent of military action who went out of his way to avoid military service in time of war -- is not based on the premise that no one who has not served can voice an opinion on whether the country should go to war. People, like myself, who have not served should, however, be very conscious of the heavy consequences of a decision to go to war. Chicken hawks all too often gloss over these consequences, which they themselves strenuously avoided when they were confronted with them. If we must ask others to suffer for us, perhaps even die, then we should at least do so with humility, after careful deliberation, concious of the magnitude of what we are asking. These qualities are nowhere more evident than in the great speeches of Abraham Lincoln -- not a combatant, but not a chicken hawk.

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 11:59:18 GMT

"The McDonald's case

"Jeff Cooper returns unprompted to the bete noire of those who decry "out of control jury verdicts" -- the verdict for the plaintiff in the case of Liebeck v. McDonald's. He observes: "There are some examples of outrageous jury decisions out there. This is not one."

"I agree. I am, I suppose, one of the few defense attorneys who is willing to defend the jury's decision in that case -- against overwhelming opinion to the contrary, it often seems. In addition to the several factors that Cooper recounts, we should recall that:

There was some suggestion that McDonald's had consciously developed the policy of overheating its coffee as a strategy aimed at making sure that the patrons would have to sip it slowly and therefore would not finish the cup and return to the counter to ask for a refill before finishing their breakfasts. (This may well have been someone's gloss on the facts, however.)
The punitive damages award of $2.7 million (later substantially reduced by the trial judge) was calculated by the jury based on the evidence that disclosed that that figure represented one day's coffee sales. In other words, there was a rational basis for the calculation, and it was intended to sting but not cripple the defendant. The jury, in making this calculation, did precisely what we expect it to do in coming to a figure on punitive damages."

[The LitiGator]

Homeland Security Bill Passes Senate (washingtonpost.com)

Wed, 20 Nov 2002 03:10:46 GMT

"President Bush won congressional approval for his proposal to create a Department of Homeland Security as the Senate last night joined the House in launching the largest government reorganization since the Defense Department was created in 1947."

At least Senators Paul Sarbanes and Carl Levin showed some spine and integrity.

Wed, 20 Nov 2002 03:02:55 GMT

Court Overturns Limits on Wiretaps to Combat Terror [New York Times: Politics]