Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin Doesn’t Kill People. Guns, On the Other Hand…

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Something that kills people.

I’m on record as thinking that it’s inappropriate to blame Sarah Palin or any other source of fiery political rhetoric for the horrific shooting that took place in Tucson on Saturday. I said it in real time as facts were coming to light; I said it on Twitter.

There are any number of reasons why psychos like Jared Lee Loughner try to kill people. I don’t think political rhetoric is a useful reason to focus on. The long view of history shows that crazy people will twist any number of words into an excuse for violence.

You can’t talk to crazy. You can’t reason with crazy. You can’t know what crazy will do to your words. I mean, people have used the words of Jesus Christ (a hippie pacifist who hung out with prostitutes and lepers) as a call to violence, bigotry, and hate. If Jesus can’t craft an ironclad message that defies misinterpretation, how can we say that Sarah Palin somehow created a culture of violence? Sorry, but I refuse to live in a world where the rhetorical skills of Sarah Palin explain anything.

Instead, I’d like to blame a much more obvious culprit…

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Quote of the Day: Actually, Doesn’t HLS Have a Shooting Club?

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Sarah’s view of America is primitive. You’re either a pointy-headed graduate of Harvard Law School or you’re eviscerating animals for fun, which she presents as somehow more authentic.

— Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, discussing Sarah Palin.

Non-Sequiturs: 11.23.10

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Elizabeth Wurtzel hearts Sarah Palin.

* Wachtell pwns Cravath — not just in bonuses, but also in the Delaware Supreme Court. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Crowell & Moring is partnering with UDC Law to help at-risk youth. Like UDC Law students? [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]

* Law students: when filling out end-of-semester course evaluations, refrain from telling the professor that she “is kinda hot” but needs to “[l]ose a few pounds.” [PrawfsBlawg]

* Speaking of hotties, Elizabeth Wurtzel actually likes Sarah Palin, and (accurately) observes: “The Democrats are total morons for not finding their own hot mama before the Republicans.” [The Atlantic]

* Five Michigan Supreme Court benchslap their former colleague, Elizabeth Weaver — who secretly recorded private court deliberations and is now releasing transcripts. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Advice from Asian-American attorneys: a report on the recent NAPABA convention. [Law Riot]

Morning Docket: 11.22.10

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A frenchman cheated on his wife? Sacré bleu!

* It would be much easier more entertaining if Eva Longoria and Tony Parker had to settle their dueling divorce filings with a jump ball. [New York Daily News]

* Duquesne’s law student clothing drive was pathetic, but this just takes the cake. Would you pay an ASU law student’s tuition? [ABA Journal]

* After laying off lawyers, foreclosure supervillain David J. Stern had quit his own company. We sure know how to pick ‘em. [Businessweek; Daily Business Review]

* Personal responsibility fail. Getting lok’d up probably won’t make you insane enough to kill yourself, but this lawsuit says otherwise. [TIME]

* The publisher for America’s Mom dragged Gawker into federal court on a Saturday for a proper spanking over copyright infringement. [Media Coder / New York Times]

* Jimmy McMillan’s $350M lawsuit: the font used by the NY Board of Elections was too damn big to write his full party name on the ballot. [New York Post]

A Guide to Internet Slang, Courtesy of the Sarah Palin Email Hacker Trial

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Earlier this year, David Kernell, 22, was found guilty of hacking into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! account and posting some of her emails on the Internetz. The Palins were pleased by his conviction.

One of the places where Palin’s correspondence wound up was the (enter-at-your-own-risk) message forum 4chan.org. During the course of the April felony trial, 4chan founder Christopher “Moot” Poole was called to testify. The Smoking Gun dug up and posted the transcript from the testimony yesterday. Federal prosecutor Mark Krotoski asked Poole to explain how 4chan operates and how it keeps track of its users. He also asked him to explain some “Internet speak.”

The testimony is a handy guide for those of you who get confused by the slang used in online comments sections. How does one define a “lurker,” “troll,” or a “b-tard”?

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How Did Levi Johnston Respond to the Gay Porn Offer Letter?

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Levi Johnston Playgirl pose nude naked porn pornography.jpgLast week, we wrote about how Levi Johnston, the hunky dad of Sarah Palin’s grandson, received an offer to perform on camera for a gay adult entertainment company, [Not Safe for Work (NSFW)] Corbin Fisher [NSFW].
We showed you the offer letter from Corbin Fisher. Then we asked you to advise Johnston about it, in the comments.
Today we bring you (1) a round-up of our favorite comments on the thread, and (2) how Levi Johnston responded to the offer in real life (through his counsel, high-profile Alaska attorney Rex Butler).
Check it all out, after the jump.

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A Contracts Exam Hypothetical: Review Levi Johnston’s Gay Porn Offer Letter

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Levi Johnston Playgirl pose nude naked porn pornography.jpgAs tout le monde knows, Levi Johnston — the Alaskan hunk who fathered Sarah Palin’s grandchild, and who came thisclose to becoming the Republican VP nominee’s son-in-law — recently posed for Playgirl. To the disappointment of many, he refrained from full-frontal nudity (but did bare his bum for the cameras).
To check out the pics, visit [Not Safe for Work (NSFW)] Playgirl.com [NSFW]. For collected expert evaluations of the photos — Levi got some flak for overly hairy armpits, among other shortcomings — check out Us Weekly.
Not surprisingly, given his good looks and celebrity, Levi Johnston has received a number of other business propositions as well. He was recently offered a six-figure sum to appear in erotic videos by [NSFW] Corbin Fisher [NSFW], one of the world’s premier gay pornography companies.
No, dear ATL readers, this is not an excuse for your above-signed writer to offer you his personal gay porn recommendations. There is actually a legal connection.
Here’s your assignment. Read over the actual offer letter that Corbin Fisher sent to Levi Johnston (after the jump).
Pretend that Johnston is your client. How would you advise him? Review and flyspeck the offer letter. Do you see any terms in it that might be problematic for your client?
Should Johnston accept the Corbin Fisher offer, reject it, or make a counteroffer? If he makes a counteroffer, what should he include as the proposed terms? What considerations should he keep in mind in negotiating towards a more complete contract?
Okay, enough teasing; let’s see the goods. Check out the Corbin Fisher offer letter, after the jump.

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Sarah Palin To Resign as Alaska Governor

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Sarah Palin Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hottie.jpgGovernor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, announced today that she is resigning as governor of Alaska on July 25.
“We know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities,” said Palin. Check out her full statement here (PDF).
Palin may not be a lawyer, but she’s definitely a client. She owes more than $500,000 to the Alaska law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness, which has defended her against various ethics complaints. Paying off her debt shouldn’t be a problem, thanks to the (surely lucrative) book deal negotiated for her by Williams & Connolly super-agent Robert Barnett (who spoke to ATL last September, when his firm hired appellate superstar Kannon Shanmugam).
We wish Governor Palin the best of luck in her future endeavors. Hopefully she will remain on the national stage for years to come.
Update: According to the New York Times, legal bills played a significant role in Palin’s decision to step down.
Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor on July 25 [Washington Post]
Palin to Resign as Governor of Alaska [The Caucus / New York Times]

Morning Docket 3.27.09

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superbis.jpg* The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that hundreds of juvenile court cases in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania will soon be overturned. After former judge Mark Ciavarella pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from juvenile prisons in exchange for more convictions, the state hired a “Special Master” to investigate. He is not a Malasian Martial Arts expert or the Commander of a space shuttle. [WNEP news]

* Cuomo is still running around in his superhero cape putting out bonus fires. He has expanded his investigation into credit derivatives to see whether banks like Goldman Sachs received taxpayer funds. Do I smell a presidential run in 2012? [Bloomberg]

* In a stunning act of self parody, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has picked a Director for the NRA for the state’s new Attorney General. Check out this sweet picture of him sitting on a hummer. [Anchorage Daily News]

* Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has joined Covington & Burling. [Covington & Burling LLP]

* Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has a different response to executive compensation than Cuomo and Blumenthal. He says “..there is no law in Wisconsin making a contract illegal simply because someone is well compensated.” [The Wall Street Journal]

* In case you missed it, ATL got a shout out in the New York Times and Time Magazine.

Lawsuit of the Day: Stop Trying To Hurt Obama

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Palin Vogue.JPGA Kansas City woman has sued Sarah Palin, John McCain, and other members of the McCain-Palin campaign in Federal Court. She alleges the Republican ticket has caused her “terror of the heart” over the safety of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.

According to the complaint:

Plaintiff Mary Kay Green, pro se, suffered profound despair at the assassinations of her beloved leaders President John. F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy and her hero the Reverend Martin Luther King, and suffers terror of the heart, anxiety and grave fear for the life of Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Barack Obama, and her candidate for President, due to the reckless, intentional and irresponsible speeches, ads and conduct of Governor Sarah Palin, Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator John McCain and his campaign manager Richard “Rick” Davis to which she has been subjected to here in Kansas City, Missouri, and which are beyond “shouting fire in a public theater.

One blogger gives us some backstory on Ms. Mary Kay Green:

According to her personal web site, when not standing up to bullies, Mary Kay Green is “an attorney who — from her senior year in law school — has handled civil rights cases.” She is also the author of several books, including the soon to be released Sundance and Cherokee Moon: A Book about Robert Redford, Movies, Miracles, and Mania, and the appropriately titled Women of Courage. which chronicles the struggles of such women as Joan of Arc, Carrie Nation, and Rosa Parks.

But is this really necessary? I thought Obama was bulletproof. Check out the complaint below.

Mary Kay Green v. McCain-Palin.pdf

Lawsuit says supporter fears for Obama’s life [Kansas City Star]

A Woman Of Courage [Social Services for Feral Children]

Indictment For Palin Email Hacker

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Sarah Palin Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hottie.jpgDavid Kernell, the now infamous 20-year-old hacker who got access into Sarah Palin’s private email account, has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Kernell is the son of the Democratic chairperson of Tennessee’s House Government Operations Committee.

The A.P. reports:

Kernell, an economics major at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release.

What kind of emails is David Kernell sending around that made him think that a 44-year old woman would have anything newsworthy in her email account? She’s a grandmother. Did he really think that Palin would use email to send around scandalous photos?

Five years and $250,000 seems like the right price to pay for such rank stupidity.

Lawmaker’s son indicted in Palin e-mail hacking [A.P.]

Sarah Palin: The Case of the Unreported Income

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Palin Vogue.JPGLate Friday night, we reported that Sarah Palin’s tax returns failed to report the per diem reimbursements she received as governor of Alaska. Over the weekend our commenters weighed in:

This is an easy income tax question. Any 1L/2L taking an income tax class could have answered this problem. Yes, the IRS usually relies on employer’s W2 forms. That’s for administrative convenience. For the most part, the IRS doesn’t want to audit every employee’s fringe benefits, which would be an incredible waste of tax dollars. That being said, the governor, with all her qualifications and knowledge regarding the U.S. system of governance, should have known that a per diem (worth how much over the last 18 months?) should be included in her tax return. If my employer reimbursed me for tens of thousands of dollars (for what expenses?), I would at least think about whether this was income.

But ATL weekend readers concluded that Palin will likely face no criminal liability:

The answer is probably that Palin is civilly responsible for underreporting income and underpaying taxes, but is not criminally responsible.

Criminal tax violations require “willfulness”. In the criminal tax arena, the Supreme Court has interpreted that as a pretty tough standard — approaching actual intent to violate a known obligation. See Cheek v. United States (1991). But a taxpayer is civilly liable for taxes whether or not she knew or had reason to know of the liability. (You’re still liable even if you relied in good faith on your accountant; even if you thought you didn’t have to pay; even if you made just a math error). And the IRS can require payment of back-taxes for whatever years are still within the statute of limitations, which almost certainly would include Palin’s limited time as governor.

So to the extent [Roger] Olsen [Palin's tax lawyer] is simply saying that Palin won’t be criminally prosecuted, he’s right. To the extent he’s saying that the IRS would believe Palin current on her obligations, he’s wrong — she’s going to have to file amended returns and send in a check.

Tax professors comment after the jump.

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