Author: Fritz Pettyjohn

Criminal lawyers defend those charged with crimes, while lawyer criminals are people with law degrees who commit crimes.  People often confuse the two, understandably so.   After all, what kind of a man would use all his skills defending people who are guilty of the most disgusting, repulsive crimes imaginable?  I’ve never understood that myself.

Starting my law practice, I not only was a public defender in the federal court in Alaska, a little later I was also appointed to represent defendants in state court as well.  This was when the state Public Defender’s Office had a conflict of interest, and I made $35 an hour doing state work.  That was close to a fair rate of $50 an hour, and when I kept track of the time I spent on a case I was reasonably generous to myself.  As long as I wasn’t a pig about it no one really cared, so I liked getting these appointments.   Even a lawyer has to make a living to support his family, for Pete’s sake.

Some of these defendants were truly despicable, but I never had to take any of those cases to trial.  The evidence was so overwhelming that I always convinced them to plead guilty and throw themselves on the mercy of the court.

That meant I had to argue for leniency in the sentence, and even that was sometimes difficult to do.  One miserable little bastard was guilty of first degree arson, and, try as I might, I couldn’t think of one reason why the judge shouldn’t throw the book at him.  The judge asked me if there was any reason whatsoever for a reduced sentence, and all I could say was , “Well, your honor, he is young.”

The most appalling criminal I was appointed to defend was a young Alaska Native from Valdez charged with kidnapping.  The young gal who worked alone at night at the Valdez Police station, dispatching officers in the field, was forced at knife point by this kid into his car.  He drove off with her, and, fearing for her life, she jumped out of the speeding vehicle, tearing off both of her knee caps.

The first time I appeared in court to represent this kid the family of the victim was there, and to this day I can remember the look of contempt in their eyes as they looked at me.  I didn’t blame them one bit.

I’d read somewhere that if a criminal defendant wrote out their life story, there might be something in there which could be used at sentencing.

So this kid went to work, and wrote out an account of his life.  I could barely read it, it was so disgusting.  This kid had the most evil, twisted mind I’d ever seen.

The judge gave him 30 years, a very heavy sentence.  As his lawyer, I could have appealed this as excessive, and I may have had a legal duty to do so.

But I couldn’t do it.  The way that girl’s family looked at me made me too ashamed.

 

 

 

I’m still stewing about that Breibart Tech article saying that 80% of undecided voters can be swayed by Google search manipulation.    Since I’m a lawyer, I’m naturally trying to think of some way to sue the bastards.  It’s what we do.

I’ll need to allege a tort as a cause of action, and after a quick review of the Restatement of Torts, Second, I came up empty.  There are familiar common law torts, like battery, but there can also be statutory torts, created by Acts of Congress.  I don’t there’s anything right now that quite fits the bill on this set of facts.

So we need to get a bill introduced to create this new, internet tort.  The committee assigned the bill will need to conduct hearings and call witnesses.  First up should be Dr. Robert Epstein, whose research has revealed what he calls the Search Engine Manipulation Effect, or SEME.

We’ll all be interested in Google’s testimony in opposition.  Will they try to deny that they engage in SEME?  Or will they try to justify it on First Amendment grounds?  They should be put under oath, and sworn to tell us all the truth.  These hearings alone justify the introduction of the bill.  The Congressmen serving on this committee are going to have a ball, watching these smug Silicon People squirm.

Any individual, or class of individuals, would be authorized to file suit in federal court for harm caused by SEME.  The burden of proof should be low enough to allow anyone with a good faith claim to make a prima facie case justifying discovery.  All commissions of SEME, whether negligent, reckless or intentional should be covered.  Treble damages would be authorized, to provide an incentive for plaintiffs attorneys to take cases on a contingency fee basis.

This would be a bonanza to the of trial lawyers and wannabe trial lawyers all over the country.  Google would be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the litigation.

Let these snarling, greedy locusts come after Google in  swarms, so much so that, as the Bible says, “They will cover the ground so that it cannot be seen.”

If you like this idea, call your Congressman, and see if he’s bright enough to even understand what you’re asking.  A few will, and the scent of publicity will give them all the motivation they need.

All across the country, thousands of ambitious politicians are trying to win a seat in Congress,  Do any of them have the wit to see the possibilities here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burden of proof low.  A prima facie case can be made merely by showing an internet search provider has used an algorithm which adversely affects plaintiff’s internet presence

 

Hate speech exception —   Nazis (?) can be crippled?  NOOOO!  Full free first  amendment rights

 

 

Discovery!!!!!

When I graduated from Cal in 1967 I decided I wanted to see some of the world, and in September I flew on a special student charter from Oakland to London.  I think it cost about $120.  The next day I took a ferry to France and hitchhiked down to Munich for the Oktoberfest.

I met some Englishmen there, drinking beer at the Hofbrauhaus, and they told me about a trip they were going to take to Tehran.  It was a caravan of used Mercedes’ that some Iranian smugglers were shipping there by road.  If you drove one of these cars from Munich to Tehran you could make $100, plus a bus ticket back to Istanbul or on to Kabul, Afghanistan.  They said these Iranians were just businessmen avoiding import duties.  I would be the registered owner of my Mercedes, and once in Tehran I’d transfer title to an Iranian.

It all made a certain amount of sense, and after asking about it at the American embassy I decided to go.  There seven cars in all, and we drove through southern Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria to Turkey.

Bulgaria was just as backward as Turkey, but there was a definite difference between them.  In Bulgaria, even though it was a communist dictatorship, it seemed familiar somehow, like you were still in part of Europe.  Once we got into Turkey, I felt like I was in an alien culture, something completely different.

We had to kill some time in Tehran while the title was being transferred, and we stayed in some youth hostel in the Shoosh.  This was in the southern, low rent part of the city, where you had to watch your step.

I went to the Grand Bazaar in the middle of town to see what I could see.  It was all new to me, and I liked just wandering around.  I guess I stood out, wearing a nice Pendleton wool shirt, which a couple merchants offered to buy from me.

A young Iranian guy introduced himself to me, and offered to show me around town.  He spoke good English, and worked as a translator of foreign films which were shown in Iran.  We went up to the northern, more prosperous part of the city, and he showed me the American embassy, among other things.

We went into a little beer hall of some sort, and had a couple beers.  They were playing popular Iranian music, and I was surprised how good it was. One song, in particular, I remember.  It was some sort of love song, sung my a woman with a beautiful, exotic voice.

There were a couple of young women at a table across the room, and one of them was very attractive.  We started looking at each other, and my Iranian friend said that was very unusual.  Iranian girls weren’t easy.

He explained the native religion of Iran, which was Zoroastrianism.  It was sort of an ecological religion, in which there was a natural balance between water, fire, earth and air.  It sounded like a reasonable way to look at the world.

Twelve years later the Shah was overthrown, and Iran hasn’t been the same.  Sometimes I wonder what happened to my Iranian friend, and that beautiful girl.

Iranians aren’t Arabs, and the Moslem religion was imposed on them by the sword.  Not everyone in the Middle East is either fanatical Shia or Sunni.  There is a civilized underground in Iran even today, and we should give it all the encouragement we can.

Michael Ledeen knows a lot more about Iran than I do, and in this article he gives reason for hope.  If the Iranian people ever returned to their real native culture, it would be truly revolutionary.

 

 

I learned about the 40 minute hour as soon as I began practicing law.  In 1974 Alaska was booming with the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline, and the law firms were hiring, but I wasn’t able to get work with anyone.

So I began my legal career as a public defender in the United States District Court for the State of Alaska.  I billed for my services at the set rate of $20 an hour.  I was new to the law, but I realized you weren’t really supposed to work that cheaply as a lawyer.  The rate was kept artificially low to minimize the cost in the Federal Court System budget.  So I began with my 40 minute hours, and was actually making $30 an hour, which I could live on.  I didn’t have an office or a secretary, so I had no overhead at all.

The thing about lawyers, is that if I had really billed at the $20 per hour  —  which was what was the legal rate  —  they would have thought there was something wrong with me.  Maybe I was someone that really couldn’t be trusted.

After a few months of this, one the Assistant United States Attorneys who prosecuted these cases asked me if I wanted to be his law partner.  I said my name would have to go first, and he agreed, and resigned the U. S. Attorney’s Office and became my law partner.  He had all kinds of connections and clients, and we did well.  I practiced that miserable profession for about five years, and got out as quick as I could.

I bought a bar and got into politics.  The bar was Swiftwater Bill’s Dance Hall and Saloon, and it was a much more honorable way to earn a living.  And you didn’t have to put up the prattling of all those lawyers.

I have resolved my problems with the Alaska Bar Association, and will escape disbarment.  I still have a little unfinished business up there, and a law license can be a handy thing to have.

When people ask me what I did for a living, I have to tell them that I was a politician or a lawyer.  People can’t stand either one of them, and I say I was a lawyer.  Lawyers are like wannabe politicians.  But people really don’t like voting for them.

If you get a chance to talk to your Congressmen as the seek your vote for his reelection, ask them if they would agree to co-sponsor the Privacy Protection Act.  This federal statute wold require that all internet search services, such a Google, prominently disclose on its home page the following information:

“If you avail yourself of the internet search service hereafter provided, we (Google, or whoever) will retain this data in the file we keep on all users of our service, and we will sell this data to others for their use.  We will also use this information to predict your future commercial transactions, in order to profit from it.  If you accept these terms and conditions, please so indicate by signing the waiver of your right to personal privacy set out below.”

This is a rough draft, and can be expanded and refined by legislative draftsmen.  It should be prominently displayed, like the warning labels on tobacco products.

If your Congressman refuses, ask him why?  If you don’t like his answer, tell him you will not vote for him, and will encourage your friends, neighbors and family to do likewise.

Since its so late in the year, we can’t expect anything from this Congress.  It’s only six months from now to the election, and their time will be fully consumed with raising money for their campaigns.  Next year, the time will be ripe for comprehensive federal legislation.

Full disclosure is all the Privacy Protection Act involves.  Most Americans are unaware of the way Google and others profit from their service.  This can be seen as an exercise in public education.

The light of day can be a valuable disinfectant.  Expose Google for what it is  —  a business based on the invasion of privacy of the American people.