Breaking Legal News....

(Apologies if these stories have already been discussed...my ISP is making
changes to the system, and outages have ensued...)

First, the Ruby Ridge killer Lon Horiuchi will have to leave his protective
WitSec  program to stand trial for the murder of Vicki Weaver, who was
unarmed and whom he fired at recklessly. The charges: manslaughter.

(I don't defend the bounty being placed on Horiuchi's head, which I
understand is up to $125,000. Them danged militias are practicing AP. My
hunch is that old Lon is gonna get shivved one way or another.)

Second, charges have also been filed against Kevin Harris, who was tried in
a Federal court, and acquitted. Now the state is repeating the trial. (And
the litigation was extensive in the Harris case, and Harris was acquitted
based on a self-defense argument--for those who didn't follow it, the Feds
were lying in camouflage, shot the dog, then the son of Randy Weaver fired
at the Feds, the Feds killed the son, then Kevin Harris fired back, killing
a Fed. In other words, a classic close quarters fire fight, initiated by
the Feds without warning.)

As with the Rodney King Four, this is not being called a case of "double
jeopardy." If the state charges don't stick, try again in a different
jurisdiction, Federal. If the Federal charges don't stick, file in a
different jurisdiction, the state. I call this double jeopardy, and I don't
see how a reasonable person cannot call it this. Perhaps the Feds can have
a victim persecuted (er, prosecuted) first at the local level. If that
fails, the state level. If that fails, the Federal level. And should that
fail, the World Court in the Hague could take over the case and put
Interpol onto the persecuted.

Third, the Disneyland case is proceeding. The children "traumatized" by
seeing the actor playing Mickey remove his mouse head in front of them. Oh,
the horrors! And this is set to be a _jury_ trial. If I were called in and
forced to sit on this jury, collecting my oh-so-generous $5 or $10 a day,
I'd pull out my H & K and blow someone away. (The hysterical grandmother,
acting out her inner demons, deserves a Hasty Pudding prize for overacting
and absurdity. You have to see it yourself.)

Fourth, and then there's the Florida case of the woman who claimed a CAT
machine took away her psychic powers and collected a million dollars  in a
jury trial. (I lied about this one being "breaking" news...it's actually
from Peter Huber's excellent book about frivolous lawsuits and science on
trial...I think that was the name of it, "Galileo's Revenge: Science on
Trial," or similar.)

And the taxpayers gets to pay for most of this shit.

--Tim May

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In <v03102800b022a095d611@[207.167.93.63]>, on 08/21/97 
   at 07:11 PM, Tim May <tcmay@got.net> said:

>(I don't defend the bounty being placed on Horiuchi's head, which I
>understand is up to $125,000. Them danged militias are practicing AP. My
>hunch is that old Lon is gonna get shivved one way or another.)

Well I do. :)

The day that Brown Shirt gets his we will be having a large party to
celebrate. :)

- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
- ---------------------------------------------------------------

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At 07:11 PM 8/21/97 -0700, Tim May wrote:

>Third, the Disneyland case is proceeding. The children "traumatized" by
>seeing the actor playing Mickey remove his mouse head in front of them. Oh,
>the horrors! And this is set to be a _jury_ trial. If I were called in and
>forced to sit on this jury, collecting my oh-so-generous $5 or $10 a day,
>I'd pull out my H & K and blow someone away. (The hysterical grandmother,
>acting out her inner demons, deserves a Hasty Pudding prize for overacting
>and absurdity. You have to see it yourself.)

The children being "tramatized" is only a small part of this case.  If you
look at _WHY_ the kids were there in the first place, the lawsuit makes a
whole lot more sense.  (The family was being held against their will by
overreacting security guards after the family had been robbed in the
parking lot.)  But when you are an ex-mouseketeer, you can screw over the
security guards in court. (Unlike the usual "man-on-the-street" that gets
abuse by the mickey mouse guards.) 

I suggest reading what the real incident involves
<http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9708/19/mouseketeer.ap/index.html> instead of
relying on second hand reports.

If you want to make claims that the court system is screwed up, this is not
the best example.  You are ignoring the fact that the grandmother and her
grandchildren were held against their will.  But that does not make for
good rant, does it?

---
|              "That'll make it hot for them!" - Guy Grand               |
|"The moral PGP Diffie taught Zimmermann unites all| Disclaimer:         |
| mankind free in one-key-steganography-privacy!"  | Ignore the man      |
|`finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key  | behind the keyboard.|
|         http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com/~alan/       |alan@ctrl-alt-del.com|

At 12:37 PM -0700 8/22/97, Alan wrote:

>The children being "tramatized" is only a small part of this case.  If you
>look at _WHY_ the kids were there in the first place, the lawsuit makes a
>whole lot more sense.  (The family was being held against their will by
>overreacting security guards after the family had been robbed in the
>parking lot.)  But when you are an ex-mouseketeer, you can screw over the
....

>I suggest reading what the real incident involves
><http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9708/19/mouseketeer.ap/index.html> instead of
>relying on second hand reports.
>

I'm quite familiar with the case. My post was brief, meant as a pointer.
Your stooping to insults, by implying I am unfamiliar with the case and
have gotten my news from "second hand reports" is a cheap shot. As a matter
of fact, I saw more of the actual trial coverage on _video_ than I cared to
(CNN, CNBC, MSNBC)...still think my knowledge is based on "second hand
reports"?

Face it, the family filed the suit, and threw in the nonsense about the
children being traumatized by seeing the cartoon characters exposed as
human beings, because of the high publicity value, and because they figured
Disney would settle out of court. (In fact, there are now reports that an
almost identical suit was filed some years ago by a mother claiming her
child was traumatized by a similar sighting...Disney settled that one on
undisclosed terms. The lawyer in this case no doubt learned of this
previous case, and threw this claim in as well.)

I completely disagree with the main basis of the lawsuit, and I hope the
hysterical Granma and her nitwit daughter are countersued and lose their
little bungalow in the burbs.

The Disneyland parking lot is huge, essentially a city unto itself. This is
the first reported armed robbery in 42 years. Considering what happens
around it, a remarkable statistic.

The notion that a corporation is responsible for the actions of others is
absurd. Check your tort law. Disney was responsible for moderate steps, and
is no guarantor of absolute safety. In fact, the family has admitted that
the Disney security staff was quick to respond. Her apparent complaint
seems to be that they weren't present at the time the alleged robbery
allegedly occurred.

The claim that the party was held against their will depends on a loose
interpretation of the terms. Did the guards physically restrain her when
she tried to leave? No. Or at least there have been no such claims
presented to date. What she has said in her press conferences is that she
was "forced to wait" for papers to be filled out, etc. Hardly the same as
being locked in a jail cell, or handcuffed, or held down by guards, or even
threatened with shooting if she tried to leave.

And think of the implications if Disney loses. Television cameras will be
placed widely in public areas, citizen-units will likely face frisking at
entry points, movements will be restricted, and privacy will vanish. A
rather high price to pay because of one armed robbery in 42 years. Or even
one per month.

And if Disney loses, expect a flood of such lawsuits against
municipalities. Then these municipalities will erect their own surveillance
cameras, restrict movements, establish curfews, etc.

The American legal system has spun out of control. I don't argue that she
should not have the right to sue...everybody does. But a judge can quickly
dismiss a case on a matter of law. And in a "loser pays" situation, which
many thoughtful people advocate, frivolous or unfounded lawsuits would
carry a penalty. (And if the lawsuit filer has no assets, put them in a
work party until their debt is paid.)

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

--Tim May


There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."