Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

I Predict this Bill Will Be Really Popular

Posted on December 26, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Bill would lower volume of loud TV commercials.

Do commercials get louder in recessions? In any case, while there are undoubtedly bigger fish for Congress to fry, this is a good idea for those not fast-forwarding on a DVR.

Posted in Law: Everything Else | 2 Comments

Nation Mag Claims ICE has Network of Secret Detention Faciilities — in the USA

Posted on December 25, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

In America's Secret ICE Castles, the Nation magazine claims that our immigration police has 186 secret detention facilities scattered around the country.

Among the more hair-raising allegations:

  • A year ago, a top ICE official boasted, “If you don't have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he's illegal, we can make him disappear.”
  • The 186 are mostly unmarked, and locals don't know about them.
  • People sent to these offices are kept off ICE's registry system so that people looking for them cannot find them.
  • Although ICE is not supposed to incarcerate US citizens, it has; they (like the immigrants ICE processes) are denied access to counsel.
  • At least one US citizen was deported as a result of this system.
  • One purpose of the system is to make it more difficult for lawyers to find prisoners before they are deported.

Much of the info concerns activities of the Bush admin; some of it clearly is still happening. The article is maddeningly unclear about how many.

Glenn Beck got a lot of ink a while back for claiming that Obama planned to build a network of secret detention centers in the US in order to lock up Republicans. Who knew that they already existed and were used to deny process of law to suspected undocumented foreigners? Add these to the secret camps in Afghanistan, Lithuania and elsewhere.

Posted in Civil Liberties | 9 Comments

Bah Humbug

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

papers.jpgI am celebrating the holiday season in the traditional manner for legal academics: grading exams.

And my oh my there are a lot of them this year.

I had thought originally I would tie myself to the mast of public humiliation by posting daily updates about my progress, thinking this would give me an incentive not to slack off, but that plan ran into two snags.

First, it seems that a few people haven't taken the exam yet, for medical reasons. Since I didn't tell the class in advance how many questions were on the exam, and I grade question-by-question rather than an exam at a time, there's too much risk that someone might figure out the number of questions from my postings, and that might somehow be seen as unfair by someone.

Second, the numbers are too humiliating.

Happy holidays.

Posted in Law School | Comments Off on Bah Humbug

Stopping the Rot in the US Justice System

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Via TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime, a pointer to an inspiring judicial decision to dismiss a criminal case in light of systematic long-running proprietorial misconduct. (I have not followed the case, so I'm taking the judge's decision at face value. For what it's worth, Judge Carney was appointed by George W. Bush in 2003, so he's unlikely to be a flaming liberal.)

It's increasingly clear that something very very bad happened to the US Justice system during the Bush administration. We've known about the guys in DC for some time, but it's gradually becoming clearer just how much it also happened in the hinterland. To its discredit, the Obama administration has been too slow about cleaning up the distributed rot.

As of this writing, a significant minority of the US Attorney positions remain in the hands of Bush holdover appointees:. A few do deserve to keep their jobs; for the rest it is long past time to go.

In this particular case, though, the man at the top is gone: In the Central District of California, the holdover resigned Sept. 1; no replacement has yet been named, much less confirmed, and the office is run by an Acting US Attorney. New leadership is needed; then we can see if that's enough or if we need further housecleaning.

(For a local example of a similar problem with proprietorial ethics, see this.)

Posted in Law: Criminal Law | 7 Comments

Spengler Meets AT&T

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Via the horrifically erudite and urbane Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Making Light: The Swindle, a link to the must-read faux Steve Jobs's blog rant, A not-so-brief chat with Randall Stephenson of AT&T.

I loved it and I don't even have an iPhone…

Posted in Sufficiently Advanced Technology | Comments Off on Spengler Meets AT&T

It Could Be So Much Worse

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

I am not real thrilled with the Obama administration this week month semester, but it's good to be reminded just how much worse it could be.

Suppose that a man with a failing, or perhaps cynically selective, memory was President?

Posted in Politics: McCain | 4 Comments