This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Legal

  • Another NY Weapon Seizure

    Well, it seems as if NY authorities are at it again.  They’ve confiscated yet another weapon from a state citizen.

    This case was a bit different than the norm, though.

    Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office officials confiscated the weapon from Brian Malta.  Seems as if he’d fired it, albeit while loaded with blank charges, towards neighboring homes during a dispute with neighbors.

    The weapon confiscated was a Civil War cannon.  Seems Malta had aimed it in the direction of his neighbors’ homes and fired it (with powder charge and wadding only) during his dispute with his neighbors.

    Yeah, firing a freaking cannon towards someone’s house – even if only powder and wadding – is likely to get you a visit from the police, as well as an escorted ride to the station.  Dumbass.

    Malta was charged with 3 counts of harassment and 3 counts of menacing.  He was arrested and later released on bail.

    No, the amount of his bail wasn’t set at $5150.  Though that might have been apropos.  (smile)

  • T-Shirt of the Month

    We’re all familiar with the recent brouhaha about NSA telephone/internet monitoring.  We also all know about any number of instances where our “illustrious” Federal government seems to ignore the public and do what it pleases, consequences be damned.  (No, I didn’t say a damn thing about the AHCA.  But if the shoe fits . . . . )

    Well, it seems like one enterprising artist in Minnesota decided to use those things to his advantage commercially – and IMO, hilariously.  Here’s the design on one of his t-shirts.  The image is rather smallish, but expands nicely.

    Predictably, some of our American Royalty apparently “were not amused”. NSA reportedly sent the guy a “cease and desist” letter claiming “violation of intellectual property” in parodying the NSA seal.

    Sheesh.  It’s called parody, guys.  Seems to me what little I remember of the law says that parody generally is considered “fair use” of intellectual property.  And that’s clearly a parody of the actual NSA seal – check out the text used in lieu of the original text along the bottom border of the joke seal. (smile)

    Besides – last time I checked, documents/images/photographs produced by the Federal government cannot be copyrighted.  They can be protected against illicit use by Federal law, but this doesn’t seem to be such a case.  This is an altered version that is obviously a parody of the original vice deceptive use.

    To his credit, the guy didn’t back down. He’s partnered with Public Citizen and plans on taking NSA to court for violating his First Amendment right to free speech.

    I’m guessing this one ends up settled out-of-court pretty soon.

    Given how well the rest of our “esteemed” Federal government listens these days, I’m seriously considering ordering one of those shirts.  If you’re interested in doing so, a link where you can do that is is in the linked article (2nd link).

  • About That Proposed National Cemetery Law . . . .

    Burial in a National Cemetery is a benefit accorded to most veterans.  However, as is the case with most government benefits, it’s not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.  Congress created the benefit, and Congress can set the rules as it sees fit.

    Congress occasionally does change the rules about burial in National Cemeteries, or allow the VA to do so.*  Today, those rules are considerably more lenient than I’d personally prefer.  A veteran with a Dishonorable Discharge is banned by law from burial in a National Cemetery; all others who qualify legally as veterans – including those who accepted discharge in lieu of court-martial or received a Bad Conduct Discharge – can be.  (Those with less than an honorable discharge are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and can be buried in National Cemeteries if the VA approves.)

    Congress has placed a number of legal restrictions on burial in National Cemeteries.  The aforementioned ban on those with a DD being buried therein is one such legal restriction.  Another is the fact that even an honorably discharged veteran loses the benefit if he or she (1) is convicted of a capital crime, (2) dies before they can be tried for a capital crime, or (3) if clear and convincing evidence exists that the individual committed a capital crime.

    However, there is presently no legal authority for the VA to order the removal remains once interred.  And that apparent omission in the law has led to the following conundrum.

    (more…)

  • About That Little “IRS Thing” . . . .

    Well, things sometimes move slowly in an investigation.  That’s especially true when those in charge seem to be “slow-rolling” things or ignoring blatant wrongdoing.

    But not everybody is “marking time”.  It seems that we have two different media organizations who are continuing to investigate this possible criminal conspiracy issue.  They’ve identified at least one – and likely two – IRS insiders who leaked confidential IRS information about conservative groups to the Administration’s political allies and/or other unauthorized persons.  And they’ve also identified at least one of the recipients of this unlawfully disclosed information – who later made it public.

    One of these organizations, National Review Online, has identified the individual who unlawfully leaked donor list information for the National Organization for Marriage.  This information was used by Romney’s political enemies during the 2012 Presidential campaign.

    National Review has not yet publicly disclosed the identity of the IRS source for the leak.  However, they have identified the recipient:  Matthew Meisel, a former associate of Romney at Bain & Company, who presumably has an axe to grind.  Meisel in turn passed this information along to others who were not authorized to receive it – specifically, to the “Human Rights Campaign” – thus making the information public.

    The second media organization, the Washington Examiner, has obtained e-mails identifying the individual who leaked tax return information about multiple conservative groups (including the American Future Fund and the American Issues Project) to the Federal Election Commission.  This information does not appear to have been used during the 2012 Presidential campaign; however, the disclosure of this information was nonetheless unlawful.   And it also raises an interesting question:  why would the FEC ask for information regarding groups that had applied for, but not yet received, tax-exempt status?

    The Washington Examiner has not publicly identified the specific individuals who received this information.  However, they have identified the leak’s source:  one each Ms. Lois Lehrner.

    If you’re thinking that name rings a bell – you’re right.  Lois Lehrner is indeed the former senior official at the IRS who was at or near the center of this controversy from day one.

    It’s unclear if the two leaks had the same source.  The articles seem to indicate they likely don’t, but until National Review Online identifies the source of the leaks to Meisel, we won’t know that for certain.

    If I were Lerner and Meisel – and anyone else directly involved – I think I’d consult with legal counsel pronto.  If what’s alleged is correct, they may have some ‘splainin’ to do in court.  Unauthorized public disclosure of confidential IRS tax information by anyone appears to be a Federal crime under 26 USC 6103(a).  And doing so apparently is a Federal felony.

    Stay tuned.

  • In Case You’re Wondering Why the “Obamacare” Web Site Was So AFU* . . .

    . . .perhaps this article might help explain things:

    Feds reviewed only one bid for Obamacare website design

    Single-bid, no-bid, and sole-source contracts all have their place.  But I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a $670+ million dollar contract being awarded on that basis before – and certainly not to the US subsidiary of a foreign firm with a spotty track record.  Hell, even the Angel and Oxcart programs evaluated multiple proposals initially (though Angel was eventually pursued sole-source by another Agency after the USAF rejected it).

    However, I also found this:

    Michelle Obama’s Princeton classmate is executive at company that built Obamacare website

    Interesting.  Dunno if there’s a connection, but . . . .

     

    Note:  AFU = “All Fouled Up”.  But there may be other definitions for the acronym, too.  (smile)

  • A Fine Example of Government Promoting the Public Good

    Yeah, well, maybe not so much.  This one pretty much leaves me speechless.

    Privately-Owned Parking Lot Seized By City So it Can be Used for . . . A Parking Lot

  • Uh Oh . . .

    Hope I’m wrong, but it looks like there might be something seriously bad going on regarding the Arizona Air National Guard:


    A formal announcement by the Arizona Attorney General is due at 10PM MST/PDT. I don’t know how long it will be afterwards before details might be available.

    I’ll try to post an update later today if/as more info is released.

  • 2012 FBI Data Says: More BS from the Brady Bunch

    In a previous article, I published an analysis of the apparent linkage between a state’s Brady Score on that state’s overall and firearms murder rates.   Essentially, that analysis showed that BS is indeed an apt abbreviation for the Brady Score – at least regarding the thesis that a higher Brady Score leads to lower murder rates.

    The modern-day “Brady Bunch” (AKA the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence) has released a new version of it’s Brady Score metric (2011).  The FBI has released 2012 crime data.  So it seems to me that it’s time for a re-look.

    Obligatory warning:  the article’s a bit longish.  And yeah, there’s math involved.  (smile)

    (more…)