"Erect a statute to him in Boston Common "

Elie, you're a retard.

way to be objective elie

this cop is acting stupidly

I hope your prediction of this low-life's incipient termination from the police force comes to pass. There is simply NO place in this world for this sort of childish bigotry and name-calling. It belongs on FOX "News"....hahahahaha...seewutIdidthere?

3,

The fact you expect objectivity from a site devoted to commentary makes you a bigger idiot than Elie.

Boston is such a TTT city.

I hope your prediction of this low-life's incipient termination from the police force comes to pass. There is simply NO place in this world for this sort of childish bigotry and name-calling. It belongs on FOX "News"....hahahahaha...seewutIdidthere? BTW, is "Dr." Orly Taitz his counsel??

3,

Give me a break, the cop should absolutely be fired.

3 - being objective does not require showing respect to a moron's stupid lawsuit.

Anyways, despite Elie's flipping out, the real sad part about this lawsuit is some idiot plaintiff's lawyer is even willing to take this "case."

1 for the win!

Elie is a FAT TURD!

"erect a statute" lol

Wow, Elie's decrying racist speech? Did we just forget the entire Gatesgate "OMG, that woman must have been a racist because she's *gasp* white, must have thought the black guys were burglarizing the house when she called, and let's charge her under the Good Samaritan statute" rush to judgment?

Yes, Elie's condemnation of the woman probably wasn't deliberate and malicious like the officer's comments, but perhaps those who aren't themselves so innocent of racist / quasi-racist behavior shouldn't take such a high and mighty position about condemning others for their racist actions.

This is the happiest moment of Elie's life.

I don't know if this is the right place, but I had a legal question -- I saw some legal commentary on this story, and I know that this site often discusses section 90 of the Restatement, so I 'd thought I'd give it a try.

I am an elected official (male) in a regional state office -- recently I met a girl from Ireland playing Castle Age on Facebook. She wants to talk with me on something called a "webcam" -- she does not know who I am exactly, and I am afraid of where this might lead.

Is there any kind of legal protection I could seek, or have her sign before I move forward?

(PS I'm married with several kids)

Thanks for any help!!

Elie,

You should heed the cops advice and eat more bananas. Bananas have postassium which will help sustain your already skyrocketing blood pressure.

In addition to what #2 said (before it gets stealth-edited by mystAAl): "All speech is not protected, all speech by state actors is certainly not protected. "

What you're saying here is that there's no such thing as protected speech, especially not by state actors. What you MEAN to say is something like, "Not all speech is protected, and certainly not all speech by state actors is protected." Through incredibly sloppy wording, you said something completely wrong and absurd.

I like my bananas dipped in chocolate. I also enjoy women who have no control over their bowels.

This sh&*t is bananas! B-a-n-a-n-as!

Where's the story about suing the person who turned in the email? WHERE?!

Elie,

"All speech is not protected, all speech by state actors is certainly not protected. "

Very awkward construction.

How about: "Not all speech, particularly by state actors, is protected."

Or get specific: "Hate speech, particularly by state actors, is not protected."

Edit, edit, edit! You should go through 3 drafts before posting. I don't care about timeliness factors - quality should be a priority.

Never knew you could be a Boston cop with an IQ of 79 and a personality disorder.

A blog that tells "dumb Polack" jokes chastises discriminatory speech. Funny world we live in. LOL

Comment removed by moderator.

So is ATL just going to be a permanent soap box for an angry black man, or are you going to go back to covering stuff we care about? I mean it is fun to find a racist white guy EVERY FRICKIN DAY and badger the point of "racism exists" ad naseum, but if this is going to become a full time civil rights blog from a bunch of minorities who became HARVARD GRADS, maybe I will find a blog that posts things I care about, like the law.

23, have a nice BANNING!!!

20. That is actually a very useful substantive edit. Thank you. I'll make that change.
--Elie

Guess what? I don't care.

I would have cared if:

1. Prof. Gates had not called the white cop racist,
2. Elie had not called the neighbor racist,
3. Obama had not called the police stupid.

But since name calling seems to be in fashion, I do not care if this person calls Gates a monkey, etc.

Back when Lat wrote, people might actually come here to read his writing. This is awful. Keep it on Truth/Suck or whatever.

14 - you are disguisting, unfaithful pig and clearly are too dumb to realize that this is not even close to the right forum to ask such a question

Enough already with the anti-racism diatribes. It's getting old.

Well, Sotomayor would let you fire the guy. 290 F.3d 143.

Elie what about Lisa Ling's sister's pardon in N. Korea. C'mon get on it!

14 = EPIC FAIL

"you still have to agree that the officer showed extremely poor judgment by emailing the newspaper his thoughts about a case that was outside his jurisdiction."

Okay, but you must also agree that Obama showed extremely poor judgment by commenting (saying the officer acted stupidly) about a case that was outside HIS jurisdiction. Right, Elie?

The strongest legal argument against the city is the due process argument, not the first amendment argument. Also, another racist cop in Boston? My guess is that blacks in other cities (NYC, LA, NYC, MIA, NYC) would be willing to put their discrimination up against the Mickey Mouse stuff that happens in Boston any day of the week.

Elie, y

ou'd do a lot more to support your cause if you just kept your mouth shut. This guy will be scorned and ridiculed in the court of public opinion without you calling an entire city racist. Believe it or not, there are quite a few tolerant white people in Boston and elsewhere, but you plant seeds of resentment in them when you preemptively and vocally judge them as racists.

God damn it, I hate law students. If I read one more pussy post about a fucking spelling error, I'm going to give all of you nerds a wedgie.

Stop being a nerd, nerd.

Dear ATL,

I love your site, but you easily have the lamest, most bat-shit retarded commenters on the webs (myself excluded, of course).

I had this debate with a friend who called Pres George W. Bush a monkey in his waning days. I asked him what would happen if someone called Obama a monkey. His response was that's totally different because Obama is Black. My response is give me deragatory terms I can use against a Black and not be considered a racist.

Not only is this clown an obvious bigot, but he's also a total idiot. Even someone whose heart is full of hate should have enough sense not to send out a mass e-mail filled with hatespeak. He deserves to get fired for sheer stupidity, let alone bigotry.

Does this make the U.S. a Banana Republic ?

Elie, "inflection" of emotional distress?

15 wins.

34 - Brilliant.

Also, the "I. Just. Love. America." crap is a little pathetic. "There are racists in America?! GASP! That's it! I'm packing my things and moving to Utopia tomorrow!" Get over it. How you manage to equate some dumbass cop's racist phrase to a broad representation of America just shows your overtly biasied "black man" complex. You think ALL of America is out to get you, no matter what.

lol at idiots who think the arresting officer in Gatesgate didn't act stupidly....

What you say cracker?

Wait,

How did Laurie Lin to the "Legal Eagle Wedding Watch" from North Korea?

ELIE YOU ARE A GARBAGE NO TALEN WRITER AND A DISGRACE TO HARVARD...racism exists get over it...

*STATUE

/fixed. Elie, learn to spell.

Where are all the idiots who were defending the right of that gay guy to sing "I hate cops." Since this comment was not made as part of the cop's official duties, why should he be fired? Isn't this protected? -Granted, I think it is morally outrageous, but the inconsistencies among liberals is laughable.

It's not just the racism. He also condoned use of nonlethal force for belligerence, even in the absense of a physical threat or risk of flight.

Elie,

Are you suggesting he deserves jail time? Are you serious?

50,

I believe your employer has the right to check any e-mail account ever used at work. Not sure however.

Cops - liars with tasers and itchy trigger fingers.

The next time your jurisdiction has a ballot issue re: increasing taxes to fund the police, do yourself and your wallet a favor and VOTE NO.

Cops are LIARS.

Not to be a wet blanket, but...

A sworn police officer has a constitutionally protected property interest in his job. He is entitled to notice and a hearing. Judging him in the media before the hearing doesn't help the City's case--especially when they say "he's G-O-N-E".

Not saying it's right, but it's the law.

Elie: erect a statute
Jerry: statue
Elie: what?
Jerry: statue on the commons
Elie: No, statute
Jerry: fine, its a formal written law on the commons
Elie: Just wait a minute...Commenters, Now you're smart, is it statute or statue on the commons?
Commenters: Statue
Elie: Oh, I really think you're wrong.

Elie: erect a statute
Jerry: statue
Elie: what?
Jerry: statue on the commons
Elie: No, statute
Jerry: fine, its a formal written law on the commons
Elie: Just wait a minute...Commenters, Now you're smart, is it statute or statue on the commons?
Commenters: Statue
Elie: Oh, I really think you're wrong.

"One more racist jackass living in Boston is going to unduly add to the lack of racial tolerance up there."

"One more incompetent editor is going to unduly detract from the quality of this site."

Both should be prefaced with, "It's not like..."

How did it take until 42 for "inflection" to be caught? 1-41=have never practiced law

Elie: Statuate his honky ass!

"Hate speech, particularly by state actors, is not protected."

What? There is no First Amendment exception for hate speech.

Textbook.
Chapter one
Sec. 1983 lawsuits and abuse thereof

Mystal, you are fat, black, and stupid.

Boom. Done.

Vin Dizzle

61 is right, and that's the edited version. The edit introduced a new mistake, this time a substantive one. Incredible.

20 = LAT

I'll defend Elie a little: after you are a lawyer for a while, the word "statue" starts to look really weird.

24, STFU and get a life

Somewhere PE is dreaming of receiving a beating from a large black rubber dildo.

66, today Elie has written about bloggers vs MSM, Bill Clinton "sealing the deal" and Justice Souter's new hizzy. I don't think Elie's mistakes are because he's been hard at work writing briefs and motions.

I don't see anything wrong here. The cop described Gates perfectly. President Jug Ears too for that matter.

37 - ding ding ding!!! Yes, 90% of these ubernerd law students should be wedgied and tossed in garbage cans. Their big law dreams have disappeared, and they are taking it out on the rest of us. In the immortal words of Stan Gable, "What are you lookin at nerds!?!"

37 - ding ding ding!!! Yes, 90% of these ubernerd law students should be wedgied and tossed in garbage cans. Their big law dreams have disappeared, and they are taking it out on the rest of us. In the immortal words of Stan Gable, "What are you lookin at nerds!?!"

A cop using a racial slur and then claiming emotional distress after his name is leaked is about as believable as a guy breaking into a house and then claiming racism after a cop has the audacity to ask what said guy is doing. I think the distressed cop could possibly have a cause of action under the good samaritan laws as well. I'd love to take the deposition of the reporter who broke this story to see if he could reasonably foresee the emotional impact.

Elie- where's the consistency in your approach? Please dazzle us with some more of that intellect that got you into harvard. You clearly got in on your merits.

Elie, how did you get out of law school spouting such drivel? "Hate speech?" "State actors?" Really?

We can stipulate the cop is a POS. Even so, he may in fact have a valid First Amendment claim.

Mystikal,

If its perfectly fine for unqualified students to get into elite school spurely because of their skin color, then its okay for racist cops to call overpaid pompous jackoff black proffessors any name he likes.

Thats the world you want to live in.

You're completely justified in feeling angry toward the officer. That being said, you might want to do a little more legal research. This is a much closer case than you think.

That's nice, 73. Way to turn a disagreement with her argument into a race-charged personal attack. Very lawyerly.

75 = total moron. Attempting to hurl invectives that are misspelled is like a clown trying to spray you with flat seltzer water from a bottle with a broken nozzle. You sir are that clown.

I don't know all the facts of Gates's interaction with the Cambridge cop...but that certainly hasn't slowed down the media or commentators, so here goes:

Gates: Sounds like he acted like a complete cretin to the cop. He has parlayed this into a complete "pity me" victimization and is totally using it like a tool. On the other hand, there is no requirement for him to be nice to a cop in his own home. Probably technically in the right, but still a dick.

Cambridge Cop: Sounds like he let his frustration at dealing with a cretin goad him into doing something retarded. Should never have booked Gates. Once he verified that Gates was a lawful resident of the home, he should have said "Thanks for your time, sir" and walked out the door. He pulled a stupid boner, but probably not the racist jerk that the media originally potrayed him.

Obama: Politically, he should not have lept in with his opinion that the cop acted stupidly. It left him vulnerable to a flap. I agree that the cop acted stupidly, but he didn't know the facts and we all hold Obama to a higher standard of fairness than we do our buddies at the bar. Mistake.

Boston Cop: Complete and utter jackass on many levels. Level 1: What cop thinks he should be sharing his thoughts with the Boston Globe on cop matters without vetting by his department? His PR department could not be pleased no matter what he said. Level 2: "Bannana-eating jungle monkey?" Seriously? You thought you could refer to a black man that way in this era and keep your publicly-funded job? This was not a slip of the tongue in an interview, he wrote a letter to a newspaper and used the term four different times. No excuse. I want the racist jackass out of uniform.

Due process? Yeah, he should have due process. Last I heard, he was suspended and was being investigated. That is his due process. That process will likely end with him unemployed. Where is the tort?

As for the unfairness of the "PC Police" - he could have used many other demeaning, derogatory, and insulting terms to refer to Gates that would not have gotten him tagged a racist. (Fired, but not tagged racist) Under any circumstances could you see him referring to a white man as a "Banana-eating jungle monkey?" A hispanic man? An Asian man? No, me neither. Once you are insulting someone with terms based on race, you are in deep water. Call him an asshole. Call him a jerk. Call him a douche-bag. I am sure the other commentators can come up with more terms to insult the man. (Note, my preferred term for Gates is "cretin" - it seems to fit so well) Just don't use a term that everyone and their dog recognizes as a racial slur!

P.S. Elie, please read over your stuff quick before posting. I like your writing voice, but typos and grammar mistakes distract from that voice.

He has no case; he wasn't fired, only suspended pending further investigation. Thus, his due process claim isn't ripe unless he's actually fired. Though the comments were made while off duty, he can still be fired if defendants can show such activities could affect his ability to perform. I am sure there is some built in "upstanding member of the community " ethics code (especially since its a government job) that's similar to how one cannot have past due child support, or large debt, etc. Most likely he's just looking for a settlement (ie. gets to keep pension).

79--Elie cares more about free McCafe than this blog.

39 - I'm with you on this one.

79 - I could not agree with you more.

75- "Spurely" because of their skin color. LOL! I take it you didn't get into Harvard.

84, clearly you didn't gather that the errant "s" in 75's post relates to the prior word which was intended to be plural. Oh, and you're an idiot.

79
wholeheartedly agree.

these comments are such a waste of time, you all are petty d-bags!

Elie bitches about race, must be a Tuesday.

Maybe the cop can be found guilty of some good samaritan law out there.

THE COP WOULD have been more accurate if he added "white-hating racist" to the end of his description of the "scholar."

Wow this post really brought out the retards. (Other than the editing suggestions for Elie, which were obviously needed.)

39,
What are you...like 82? WTF is "a black?"

Since you're looking to ATL for some education, here goes. I think you can hurl pretty much any derogatory term at a black person, so long as it is not one that has been historically used by overt racists, slavemasters, or the KKK to debase black people.

It's my understanding that those terms are relatively well known, particularly among the educated masses.

I feel for you and those editors at theNY Post if you have led such an insulated life such that those words aren't readily apparent.

When Gates moved into that Cambridge neighborhood, somebody should have said to the good white people:

"Don't trust that new nigger over there. Leavin' his nigger essence in the air. Don't trust them big nostrils over yonder. They'll breathe up so much air it'll make you wonder."

Ellie,
At least he didn't put a picture of the president's face on the kool-aid guy...
now that would be REALLY racist.

Ellie's a racist.

I'm wondering how there is a legitimate 1st Amendment claim here. Isn't it settled law that government employers can restrict employees' speech if it interferes with their ability to perform their jobs?

Dear Elie,

I'm guessing it your please-spoon-feed-me-everything-in-life attitude which made people dislike you. Or perhaps it was the fact that you were at Harvard and didn't earn the right to be there. But Boston generally is one of the most socially liberal cities in the United States. Speaking as a black attorney in Boston, I can say that it is an extremely tolerant city.

The police officer should absolutely be fired for publicly writing to a newspaper and calling HLG a "banana eating jungle monkey" but I don't know where you get off going on this rant about this being the typical racist intolerance exhibited by Bostonians every day. YOU HAVE DEEPER ISSUES!

Get over it.

-Black Boston Attorney Who Earned It And Gets Treated Just Like Everybody Else

Elie, the Good Samaritan post was a little too recent for you to be criticizing other people's legal arguments. Wait another month or so.

And yes, this guy sucks, deserves to lose his job, and can't claim that the First Amendment protects what he did. See San Diego v. Roe, 543 U.S. 77 (2004) (per curiam).

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&invol=03-1669&vol=000

Elie's attitude of victimization is a byproduct of a purportedly corrective system like AA where clearly underqualified individuals are advanced based on racial rather than intellectual precepts.

Thos who are advanced understand that they were given undue favorable treatment and have self-destructive tendencies based thereon. Psychologically, they perceive any slight, however, small, as a racial villification. A system where people are advanced based on AA leads to social dysfunction. The intent of the system was to promote EQUALLY qualified minority candidates. Until, that is, is soon became evident that there were not enough numbers of EQUALLY qualified candidates.

AA as it is currently practiced, is inherently evil and racist and will never lead to equality. Only a system based heavily on economic need will lead to true equality. Blacks mistake classism for racism far too easily.

Evaluate the argument, not the source. While Elie has been battered a bit re: his stupid argument about the white lady...let's get real, people. Elie's a black man that has probably felt a bit of the sting of racism in his life. It's not unexpected that he would be angry about it when he sees it happen to others. No big deal.

His argument about this retard cop is right. That guy is a moron, and probably deserves a few rotten bananas sent by snail-mail to his home address. Should be fired. Should not win his dumbass lawsuit.

Lay off Elie until he actually says some more stupid stuff...be patient--it shouldn't take too long.

LOL!!!! 85=75
So does the errant "f" in "proffessors" relate to "fucking retard" or to "fAIL." It's like the Da Vinci Code.

People officers have killed people (under circumstances that justify the killing and otherwise) and have not been fired or prosecuted. Lon Horiuchi murdered Randy Weaver's family at Ruby Ridge and still served in the FBI afterwards. But offend black people and your job in jeopardy, apparently? But blacks are a subjugated minority that deserve special protections other social groups aren't entitled to. Right.