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Phone Call from a Slave Ship
Phone Call from a Slave Ship
Rupert File
Why worry over frail Josie not knowing where I am
When I don't even know where I am, but
Judging through steel mesh, we're headed downtown
Me and Major, just met, cuffed-up.
"Got DAMN," Major goes, knee-pounding the DAMN,
my left hand helping his right, having to.
Me with problems too – frail Josie not knowing
Where I am one. Last night another –
Josie breathing, "I love you."
"Me too," somebody mean went.
"Can't you say it?"
"IT. How's that. It, it, it," me so slick.
Now in this place, pocket-emptied,
Crack-searched, plastic-glove patted, shoe-shook
Nothing mean or slick left.
In the bench soon we get our call –
Mostly whines to bosses, lawyers.
Everybody listening, nobody guilty.
Mine though finds a soft voice across town – Josie's.
IT gets whispered, her going, "what?"
I cup the phone. The benches lean forward.
More on Boucher
Scott Greenfield writes to "deconstruct" (whatever that means) the Boucher confusion on password and privilege.
Scott and Orin Kerr and Gideon all presumed that Mr. Boucher had input the password at the border when agents asked to see what was on the computer. But the Boucher opinion doesn't actually say that Mr. Boucher input his password at the border. In fact, "Agent Curtis did not see Boucher enter a password to access drive Z."
Scott's reasoning, given in a comment to the "deconstructing" post, for his assumption that Mr. Boucher had input the password at the border is this: "It strikes me as hard to figure out how the border guards found the original kiddie porn file if he hadn't input the password in the first instance."
My PGP Public Key
-–BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-–Version: 9.7.1.1503
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UVwX-–END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-–
You Can Always Say No
Gideon brings us news of a federal case in Vermont in which the judge has refused to force the accused to reveal the password that he used to PGP-encrypt the kiddie porn on his computer, even though the accused had already used the password to show agents what was on the computer.
This is, of course, a good ruling for liberty. In a world of sneak-and-peaks and warrantless wiretaps, it allows us to maintain a preserve of privacy into which the government cannot force its way. Apparently the USCBP doesn't yet have the quantum computers that would be needed to crack the RSA algorithm. If NSA's got that technology, they're not sharing. Download PGP today, and start using it.
According to the Washington Post article,
Orin S. Kerr, an expert in computer crime law at George Washington University, said that Boucher lost his Fifth Amendment privilege when he admitted that it was his computer and that he stored images in the encrypted part of the hard drive. "If you admit something to the government, you give up the right against self-incrimination later on," said Kerr, a former federal prosecutor.
Why Chuck Won't Leave — Another Data Point
Apparently Allegedly the difference in Chuck Rosenthal's pension if he leaves now and if he leaves after completing his second term is something on the order of $90,000. A year.
[Update: So far I have been unable to confirm the truth of this allegation.]
Why Chuck Won't Leave
Hypothetical question:
If Chuck Rosenthal resigns, who is in charge of the DA's office?
Answer: First Assistant Bert Graham.
For how long?
Until governor Rick Perry appoints a new DA.
Well, who does he appoint?
Maybe Pat Lykos.
So?
So whoever Perry appoints goes into the primary with an advantage.
Again: so?
So the general feeling among prosecutors is that Lykos would be a disaster as a DA.
Why?
Well, first, they're concerned that she'll come in looking to prove that she'll change the office, and will gut it. Second, Lykos has a bad reputation for dishonesty from when she was a felony court judge.
How so?
Here's an anecdote: Judge Lykos took long lunches. After at least one such lunch during a jury trial she came back late, keeping the jury waiting. Judge Lykos told the jury that she had admonished the lawyers for coming back from lunch late and keeping the jury waiting.
Is that anecdote true?
Who Am I Not?
It's been pointed out to me by anonymous commenters at Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center that I'm no Dan Cogdell, I'm no Racehorse Haynes, I'm no Gerald Goldstein, and I'm no Pat McCann. Because, of course, I used to believe that I was - and hold myself out as - Dan, Race, Gerry, and Pat. So I'm glad AHCL's kind anonymous commenters have cleared up some of my identity issues.
Once it was explained to me that I'm not any of those fine lawyers, I started thinking about who else I might not be. To begin with, I suspected that I might be no Stan Schneider, Michael Pham, Mike Ramsey, Walter Boyd, Norm Silverman, or any other Houston criminal-defense lawyer.
It didn't take much investigation to confirm this suspicion.
More than that, though, I guessed that I'm no Chuck Rosenthal, Kelly Siegler, Rob Freyer, Mike Trent, Murray Newman... hell, I realized, it's pretty safe to say that if there is a criminal lawyer in Houston with a name other than Mark Bennett, I'm not he or she.
Judiciary Public Information
In Open Records 102- Attorney General Edition Robert Guest republishes a FAQ from the Texas Attorney General about the Texas Public Information Act. The AG notes, correctly that "records of the judiciary do not fall under the Public Information Act."
For Open Records Week last week I sent public information requests to all of Harris County's 37 criminal-court judges. To get public information (not Public Information) from the judiciary, you must comply with Rule 12 of the Texas Rules of Judicial Administration. Here's a brief rundown of how it works.
A request to inspect or copy a judicial record must be in writing and must include sufficient information to reasonably identify the record requested. The request must be sent to the records custodian and not to a court clerk or other agent for the records custodian.
The 174th District Court
George Godwin, the longtime judge of the 174th District Court, is not running for reelection. Four prosecutors are running for that bench. Per AHCL, "Look for the A.D.A.'s to remain awkwardly quiet about this race until after the primary has settled the issue for them." How is the general public to choose among four prosecutors running for the bench?
One factor that helps make a good prosecutor is life experience. Many (most?) Harris County prosecutors go from high school to college to law school to the Office with no intervening time in the real world. Those who have had to exist outside the cloistered worlds of academia and government generally have a broader worldview, more of a sense of perspective, and more empathy than those who haven't.
In other words, they are more grown-up, more human. It may be that people who have had their butts kicked by the world a few times can more easily relate to the people caught up in the system than can those whose adult lives have been lives of extreme privilege. (Prosecutors will say, "hey, this isn't a life of extreme privilege. Look at how little money we make": privilege is like the water in the fishbowl; only by existing outside of it do the fish become aware of it.)
Is there a Prosecutor Missing?
I was driving down 19th Street in the pouring rain this evening when I saw a young man in a flannel shirt crossing the street - about a block up. He had the sort of odd gait that I associate, for some reason, with brain damage. He started giving the finger to passing cars. As I got closer, I waved to him. He started angrily giving me both fingers. I waved some more, and we slowly passed each other by, he emphatically flipping me off and I smiling like a friendly idiot and waving.
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