Check this out
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjTN3OSjQsU&feature=player_embedded]
Most bar associations are state-imposed cartels. Undisputed fact. In order to practice law in the courts of a state, you must play by the cartel’s rules. Go to the right school, pass their entrance exam, pay fees, partake in continuing education, maintain good moral character, and other costs.
But what if you practice law without the Cartel’s permission? In Kansas, you go to jail, indefinitely. From the Topeka Capital Journal (H/T @KULawSchool):
Shawnee County Jail inmate David Price claims he has been unjustly locked away by the Kansas judicial system, but the state’s highest court insists he holds the key to his freedom.
“They are holding me here as hostage until I sign my paperwork,” Price, 48, of Topeka, said during an interview at the jail.
Nearly three months after being sent to jail for contempt of court, Price continues to spend his days and nights behind bars. He will stay there until he agrees he won’t offer legal advice and signs a Kansas Supreme Court consent order enjoining him of the unauthorized practice of law.
Mr. Price is being held in indefinite captivity unless he signs a waiver that he will never practice law again without a license.
The crux of the case hinges over whether the services Mr. Price provided, were in fact “legal.”
“What (the Supreme Court) is saying, what I do in helping people draft documents the way the court requires so it don’t get thrown out on technicality, then putting case law behind it to back it up — they’re saying I’m practicing law without a license,” Price said. “I’m saying it doesn’t.”
And the members of this Cartel certainly protect themselves. Why would they assist someone who can take away their monopoly:
Yet, no attorney in Kansas will touch the case, Rosemary Price said. Two federal courts have rejected Price’s motions to consider hearing or dismissing his contempt case.
I’m not really so much interested in whether he was providing legal services. What troubles me more, is how the Supreme Court, as king of the Cartel, can imprison a man indefinitely for engaging in an occupation of his choice.
From DC Dicta, here are the standings of the Justices and how many laughs they got this past week:
Justice Antonin Scalia: 19
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.: 10
Justice Stephen Breyer: 6 (Handicapped by laryngitis)
Justice Anthony Kennedy: 3
Justice John Paul Stevens: 2
Justice Samuel Alito: 1
Justice Clarence Thomas (Thomas has remained silent during oral arguments since Feb. 22, 2006): 0
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: 0
Justice Sonia Sotomayor: 0
Check out the running tally in the Funniest Justice Contest here.
For someone who asks a lot of questions, Justice Sotomayor does not get many laughs.
Check this article out. When using Firefox, now, you can actually “DISLIKE” a facebook post. H/T @TweetMeme.
So everyone, stop carping about wanting a DISLIKE feature and download this!
From NoMoreGitmos.org, H/T @NanAron:
Location:Amherst, MAAnd BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be sent to the President and Attorney General of the United States, the United States Senators for Massachusetts, and the United States Representative for Massachusetts’ First District.
WHEREAS, President Obama has vowed to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base by January 2010; and
WHEREAS, many detainees at Guantánamo have been cleared by our government of wrongdoing and have been determined to pose no threat to the United States; and
WHEREAS, many of these detainees cannot be repatriated because they are either stateless or fear the harm awaiting them if returned to their home country; and
WHEREAS, our government has asked other countries to accept cleared detainees but has banned their settlement in the United States; and
WHEREAS, these detainees have suffered unjust imprisonment for many years; and
WHEREAS, the Pioneer Valley has many resources to help such detainees with trauma from their imprisonment;and
WHEREAS, the Pioneer Valley has welcomed in the past many refugees from a variety of traumatic experiences in other countries,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Amherst Special Town Meeting 2009:
1) Urges Congress to repeal the ban on releasing cleared detainees into the United States and
2) Welcomes such cleared detainees into our community as soon as the ban is lifted.
Let’s just hope the Detainees know better, and root for the greatest team in the world, and not some inferior Boston team. Rooting for the Red Sox, even according to John Yoo, may be considered torture.
