Yearly Archives: 2009

We Have Interesting Alumni (CIA ed.)

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

CIA unmasks officer killed in 2003: The CIA revealed the identity of a clandestine officer killed six years ago and dedicated the 90th star on its memorial wall.

CIA Director Leon Panetta on Monday identified the officer killed in Ethiopia in 2003 as Gregg Wenzel, 33.

According to public accounts, Wenzel was a foreign service officer at the State Department. He was killed by a drunk driver in Addis Ababa who was convicted but as of 2008, had not been caught.

Wenzel was a member of the first clandestine service training class to graduate after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was a former public defender in Florida and an Ironman triathlete.

Wenzel grew up in Monroe, N.Y., and earned a law degree from the University of Miami law school.

There used to be a very large CIA presence on campus, but it was, we thought, aimed at Latin America. Then the funding stopped, and (AFAIK) they mostly went away.

Posted in U.Miami | 2 Comments

This Is Funny

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

This is funny.

Warning: Some viewers may find this oleaginous.

Posted in Completely Different, Law: Trademark Law | Comments Off on This Is Funny

Good Question(s) About GM

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Gerard Magliocca asks a good question,

Now we own 60% of GM. Does that make GM a state actor until those shares are sold?

Under our deeply twisted and narrow state action jurisprudence, I think the answer will be no, so long as the government is not actually controlling a majority of the Board.

Similarly, no sovereign immunity abroad, in nations that use rules like our Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FISA). And, of course, none here, since its not federally chartered.

[I am just waiting for someone to make the — losing — argument that nationalizations violate the Government Corporation Control Act, 31 U.S.C. § 9102 which states,

An agency may establish or acquire a corporation to act as an agency only by or under a law of the United States specifically authorizing the action.

GM isn't being (partly) acquired “to act as an agency,” so the GCCA won't apply.]

Posted in Law: Federal Govt Corps | 4 Comments

Negative Results Advance Science Too

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

2849348027_b80224aae2_m.jpgI have just completed a multi-day experiment whose results I wish to report here for the first time, since I understand that negative results are not normally considered publishable in peer-reviewed journals.

A large pile of exams, closely observed over a period of days, will not grade themselves. These results are reproducible. Furthermore, altering the test protocol to pay no attention to the exams does not appear to alter the outcome in a measurable way.

This result is discouraging, but I thought I should report it anyway. Now I'm going into seclusion to grade them manually.

(Pix Copyright by Arbitrary.Marks, licensed via Creative Commons)

Posted in Law School | 3 Comments

SD Fla US Attorney’s Office Circumventing Court Order

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

David O. Marcus writes in Southern District of Florida Blog: U.S. Attorney's Office still keeping cooperation secret from public,

Although Chief Judge Moreno and the rest of the SDFLA court have made plea agreements public again by allowing them to be accessed by PACER, the government is still attempting to keep cooperation agreements secret and off-line.

A number of AUSAs and AFPDs have emailed me the new government policy when a defendant is cooperating: Just delete those sections* from the plea agreement and include them in a letter agreement, NOT FILED WITH THE COURT. This new policy certainly circumvents the spirit of making deals open to the public. From what I understand, the prosecutors ask the court to go over the cooperation letter agreement with the defendant, but then ask for the letter not to be filed in the court record. I suspect that most judges will not abide by this request, especially because technically the letter is a matter of public record if reviewed in open court — so why not file it…

I might add that the proprietor of the shop engaged in this behavior is about to become the Dean of a law school. I wonder if this is what they will teach in their Legal Profession course?

Posted in Law: Criminal Law, Miami | 1 Comment

Stark Foreclosure Data for 2009

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Via EYE ON MIAMI, some stark numbers on foreclosures in Miami-Dade county:

In the first 4 months of this year we have had 25,577 foreclosures in Miami Dade County. That is almost as many as we had the entire year in 2007 (26,391) and more than 3 times as many as we had the entire year in 2005 (7,829). During the same 4 months in 2008 we had 16,248 foreclosures, and ended 2008 with 56,656 total. If we keep up with the current trend, we will close 2009 with more than 75,000 foreclosures. If you add all the foreclosures between 2002 and 2007 (6 years) the total is 79,812. We could possibly reach that mark in one year!

Which is why doing something is so important….

Posted in Econ & Money: Mortgage Mess | 7 Comments