After a recent episode of Raising the Bar, I've been wondering if some do-gooder could go around bailing indigent people out of jail so they can go home to their families even though they don't have $500. Not that I could afford to do that, but how would that work? I know it only takes a fraction of the bail amount to get them out, but would I be on the hook for the whole … [Read more...] about Adventures In Avvo – Take 1
Customs Agents Beat You Back
In response to my recent missive ("Beating Customs Agents With Your Laptop") about the fourth-amendment-free zone overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Lawrence Friedman at Customs Law sent an email explaining some of what can really happen when you try to apply technogeek law to the real world: In response to your encryption-deleted key suggestion, you might think … [Read more...] about Customs Agents Beat You Back
The Minimum Wage and Unemployment
Columnist Steve Chapman has a piece today complaining that the coming increase in the minimum wage will cause unemployment: Come Friday, the federally mandated minimum wage will jump to $7.25 an hour from $6.55 -- an 11 percent increase. At a time when employers are laying off workers, Washington is going to make it more expensive to keep them. If you're a minimum wage … [Read more...] about The Minimum Wage and Unemployment
The Blogger Identity: Claims
One of the recent kerfuffles in the legal blogosphere (or, if you must, the blawgosphere) is about anonymity. On blogs. Yeah! I know! But they all sound so serious! Dan Hull started it (this time) with his declaration that What About Clients was now a "Wuss-Free Zone." Effective July 1, 2009, and absent compelling reasons, this blog will no longer print any comments of … [Read more...] about The Blogger Identity: Claims
Beating Customs Agents With Your Laptop
[Excuse me while I rant...] I've never been out of the country, so I've never had to deal with the U.S. Customs Service (or whatever self-important name these tax collectors are using lately), but I hate the whole organization on principle anyway because they're a bunch of weasels who insist on conducting unjustified searches of United States citizens. Police need a … [Read more...] about Beating Customs Agents With Your Laptop