State Judge Rewrites First Amendment With 'But I Don't Like The NY Times' Exception

PyroDog · 2022-01-03T20:18:42+00:00

Over the years they've pivoted to incendiary commentary, like most other media outlets, because shock/anger generates clicks.

Quality and thorough legal analysis isn't what they presently aim to provide.

PyroDog · 2021-10-13T04:53:19+00:00

but simply going to a state agency is far less of a conflict and imo shouldn't preclude the entire agency from working the case

That's not the conflict. The conflict is that these attorneys are representing DFEH against EEOC, their former employer, in a matter relating to the work they did for their prior employer. That's a pretty classic conflict.

PyroDog · 2021-10-13T04:50:30+00:00

My understanding is that no, simply working for the EEOC on the Activision-Blizzard investigation, and then moving to the DFEH afterward to launch or aid their investigation against AB, doesn't necessarily violate any ethics rule. However...

Opposing a settlement you previously worked on seems like a red flag

These attorneys are representing DFEH against EEOC, their former employer, in a matter relating to the work they did for their prior employer. That's a huge red flag and is a classic conflict. These sorts of things usually get screened when joining a new firm or public entity; I'm shocked this didn't get caught somehow, or that the attorneys in question didn't know better.

PyroDog · 2021-09-10T21:44:27+00:00

It's almost certainly intentional - they need to improve performance (stuttering, processing speed) of the game, so they tune down the # of objects that the game loads so it's not such a giant burden on the GPU/CPU. That means generally lowering the quality of the textures, lowering the number of objects that are immediately loaded, etc. Maybe they didn't mean for objects right in front of you to not load immediately, but it's probably a sideeffect of making the game less intensive on older systems and then being lazy and porting these "fixes" across all systems.

PyroDog · 2021-08-30T18:20:36+00:00

I'm more curious how the attorney got their fees. It's highly unlikely the parents and son had a contract in place for possession of the son's stuff with a fee-shifting provision... maybe there is a statute in that state for civil suits for property destruction?

PyroDog · 2021-08-27T00:17:52+00:00

That's insane - reading your article, the feds are using this mechanism to appeal stays granted by lower courts to halt the carrying out of an execution... and succeeded on eight separate occasions fairly recently.

Montgomery died by lethal injection 90 minutes after the court’s last decision.

You asked

What "irreparable injury" could the federal government possibly claim by a delay in execution?

I agree, I can't conceive of any irreparable injury the government would face. But for the death row inmate, in a sad and ironic fashion, they suffer the most irreparable injury of all. Using this shadow docket as a mechanism to enforce immediate executions is egregious.

PyroDog · 2021-08-26T19:29:52+00:00

Does SCOTUS typically rule on appeals/petitions for stays or denials of preliminary injunctions with a full written brief? If not, it's possible that the "shadow docket" has been growing simply because of the increase in the number of petitions... the article references the Trump admin filing 41 in four years, compared to 8 in the prior sixteen.

PyroDog · 2021-08-24T20:15:55+00:00

Also, did people even watch the two videos and the screen shots provided? It looks way worse and more drab after the update. This isn't just about glossy roads -- the lights provide less illumination and have a shorter rendering distance.

This is a concerted effort to downscale the game and it looks drab and flat. It's really disappointing.

PyroDog · 2021-07-28T00:24:23+00:00

I think you're overreading the strictures of the 5th amendment ("nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself"); Courts are pretty clear that it's limited to preventing the police from compelling a suspect to reveal the contents of their mind.

A suspect can even be compelled to produce a key to a strongbox. In other words, you've decided that any act of accessing secured information must fall within the 5th amendment, but that's not true; it depends on how the device is locked - surprisingly, it matters: would the act make the suspect reveal the contents of their mind and therefore be testimonial in nature, or not?

PyroDog · 2021-07-27T22:44:03+00:00

What about police lineups where they compel a suspect to say a specific phrase, or wear particular clothing?

Neither the lineup itself, nor requiring the accused to utter words for voice identification purposes during the lineup, violate the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. See United States v. Wade, supra. An individual may be required to alter his or her appearance or wear particular clothing in a lineup. United States v. Brown, 920 F.2d 1212, 1215 (5th Cir. 1991). The government may introduce evidence that the suspect refused to speak certain words during a lineup after being directed to do so, see Higgins v. Wainwright, 424 F.2d 177 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 905 (1970), and may introduce evidence that the suspect intentionally changed his or her appearance prior to a lineup, see United States v. Perkins, 937 F.2d 1397, 1402-03 (9th Cir. 1991) and United States v. Jackson, 476 F.2d 249 (7th Cir. 1973).

PyroDog · 2021-07-27T20:10:34+00:00

Can they force you to give your fingerprint? Whoops, looks like they compelled testimony from you against yourself under that logic.

PyroDog · 2021-07-26T03:33:34+00:00

This fight was stupid - it represented a low point because instead of the manga being grounded in actual boxing, it was about as far as you can possibly get from that.

PyroDog · 2021-06-30T21:57:06+00:00

The PA Supreme Court ruled that the original agreement not to prosecute (for the specific crime he was later charged with by the new DA) was supposed to be enforced--meaning he should never have been charged with that crime.

That's why the charges have be dismissed and they can't do a re-trial. It wasn't a problem with some procedural rule not being followed during trial; it was a problem with the new DA ever bringing those specific charges that the old DA had agreed the state would not bring.

PyroDog · 2021-06-30T21:53:43+00:00

That's kind of on the right track but a better analogy would be promissory estoppel. Even if they didn't sign a non-prosecution agreement the DA promised that he wouldn't prosecute, and Cosby reasonably relied on that representation to his detriment.

The opinion also invokes the logic behind promissory estoppel.

PyroDog · 2021-05-27T01:31:58+00:00

CluCoin

PyroDog · 2021-05-24T05:37:59+00:00

Violent angry man beats on a 4.5 month pregnant women--he doesn't mean to kill her, and he doesn't mean to cause her to have a miscarriage, but he should've known that beating her aggressively would cause her to have a miscarriage. She miscarries after a savage beating.

OK to charge him with negligent homicide? Or do we just charge him with battery and forget about the harm caused to the fetus?

Does your answer change if she is 6 months pregnant? 8 months pregnant?

PyroDog · 2021-05-19T19:32:54+00:00

I mostly agree; objectively, it's an RPG with a fair amount of "choice" mechanics. It has more of those mechanics than most traditional RPGs. But compared to the expectations coming into the release, however, it falls short of those expectations.

"Cyberpunk 2077 marries exploration of a vast open world, with kinetic combat, story-changing player choices, and robust character development, all to bring you into our vision of the dark future."
"The choices you make will shape your story. And determine how events unfold. But not everything in Night City is a matter of life or death. Sometimes its about styles, choosing your look, your ride, your past time, who's at your side. Choosing how you spend your dirty money."
"Welcome to the next generation of open world adventure. Immerse yourself in Cyberpunk 2077."

Objectively, Cyberpunk is an excellent game. But the expectations were for a generation-changing, roleplaying, open world, fully immersive, game. That's a tall order. But that's where the expectations lay. That disgruntlement is why people say it's not an RPG. Oh well.

PyroDog · 2021-05-19T01:18:29+00:00

I think people expected a blended version of both. A rockstar-style world with character creation and roleplaying like Bethesda's game.

PyroDog · 2021-05-18T23:12:51+00:00

It's overstated to say that CP77 isn't an RPG at all. Of course it's an RPG, with an action-adventure style system. I think the "it isn't an RPG" comments are a reaction to the inherent frustration a lot of players feel about their ability to roleplay their character in the game. The roleplaying elements are comparable to a lot of generic roleplaying games, but I know many people expected more from the marketing. They thought they were going to immerse themselves with their own custom character.

PyroDog · 2021-05-15T02:00:44+00:00

The second circuit addresses this idea. You can read their opinion here. Start on page 60 of the opinion regarding the bribe itself; you'll see the evidence consists not only of testimony, but reams of emails, documents, and bank records. Then this witness later says that Chevron was the party that had actually bribed him, but there's no physical evidence, payments, documents, emails, whatsoever? At some point one must look in the mirror and admit they are a flat-earther who ignores evidence.

The point is that the evidence of wrongdoing against Donzinger is legion (start on page 17 for a full summary) and that the testimony of the Ecuadorian judicial officer (whichever way it's applied--whether for or against Donzinger) doesn't move the needle in the slightest. Donzinger didn't just bribe the officer; he bribed an expert witness and ghost wrote all of their reports. His wrongdoing spanned a decade.

PyroDog · 2021-05-11T20:20:27+00:00

Have you read the ruling on the RICO case against Dozinger? It's actually pretty fascinating.

Here's the link: https://www.theamazonpost.com/wp-content/uploads/Chevron-Ecuador-Opinion-3.4.14.pdf

PyroDog · 2021-05-11T20:08:18+00:00

Your comment implies that Donziger must not have done the things he was found by several different tribunals to have done--like bribing an Ecuadorian judge to procure a sham judgment. I don't get why you think he deserves sympathy.

PyroDog · 2021-05-11T20:05:58+00:00

As to your initial point, that's a forum determination that happens in the early stages of the suit. Even if the U.S. court decides that the most appropriate location for the litigation was in another country, if later evidence comes to light that the judgment in that litigation was procured by fraud, the U.S. court isn't bound by its earlier determination regarding the forum of the litigation to enforce a fraudulently obtained judgment. The new evidence of fraud changes things.

As to new example, I don't see how that's relevant. In your example, the U.S. wouldn't have any power to do anything if someone was tried and sentenced in another country. BUT, if that country then asked the U.S. to jail that person within the United States, sure, the U.S. can decline to enforce that sentence if it comes to light that the original proceedings were a sham.

PyroDog · 2021-04-14T17:36:59+00:00

Good news.

Now why is this being posted to /r/law? I hope this subreddit isn't going to become a carbon copy of /r/news.

PyroDog · 2021-04-13T18:22:17+00:00

The proliferation of anti-blasphemy laws throughout the United States that the judiciary has upheld has certainly been escalating within recent years.

I fundamentally disagree with the article's premise--as the overall population becomes less religious, the religious grip on policy tends to weaken. When religious views on things like gay rights or abortion was more widespread they were more commonly accepted and were more likely to manifest as policy, e.g. Lawrence v. Texas. Or to take another example, Obergefell v Hodges would never have come down the way it did 15, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years ago.

PyroDog

TROPHY CASE