Slashdot Mirror
Lawyers Using Databases To Grab Clients
bc90021 writes "It seems that lawyers are using jail-house email lists to send potential clients letters offering their services. One couple, on finding their son who'd been missing for two days, '...was astonished that deputies failed to call them when their son was arrested -- though contact and medical information was in the young man's wallet -- yet managed to inform people who wanted his business.'"
No, that's the wonderful thing about being arrested. Even though you haven't been convicted of any crime you can bet your ass that every local newspaper will carry it in the blotter.
When the charges are subsequently dropped or dismissed chances are they won't pick up on it unless you call them and tell them. Even then they will carry it in the smallest possible font nowhere near the normal police blotter.
Is it just me or should this type of information be private until you are actually convicted of something?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
If you RTA, you would have understood that they are not giving email addresses out. The list is an email list sent to the lawyers by the sheriff. The lawyers then send junk mail via SNAIL mail.
IIRC... the first spam was from a law firm...
Medical records, bank records, and military records are not covered by the Sixth Amendment. That is the reason for the difference, since the Sixth requires public trail for the accused. I'd rather have arrest records public so no one accidently disappears after being arrested.
Contact your local bar association. Ask for their lawyer referral service.
This gets you lawyers that are reasonably reputable, and often the referral service will have a deal worked out so that the initial consultation isn't going to empty your bank account.
after all, spam WAS started by a couple of them...
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according to this wired article anyway:
www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,19098
Did you RTFA? Guess not. He needs daily medication for his MENTAL ILLNESS. While I don't want my family informed if I am arrested by defacto, if you have a mental illness that requires daily medication and have medical information on you at the time of your arrest someone should be notified so you can continue to be properly medicated. It is also possible for someone with a mental illness to be over 21 and NOT their own guardian due to said mental illness. While I don't know what went on hear exactly, in this situation it would seem like the police had a responsiblity to keep him properly medicated and inform his doctors.
Just my 2 cents.
In California, statute 5150 enables them to put anybody into a mental facilty against their will for 72 hours for observation. This is NOT the same as an arrest. Arrested people go to jail. Committed people go to mental institutions. This kid was in a mental institution. Unfortunately, I beleive the legal requirements for locking somebody up for mental illness are much less stringent then for being criminals -- pretty much just the cop's judgement. They don't have a case for "false arrest" unless he was actually charged with a crime.
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
It was slashdotted on 9/11 as I recall. But I do see your point. He was modded down to -1 at one point. I wonder who the heck modded him back up? What a waste of disk space.
I call troll on the grandparent.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Yeah, and you apparently missed the part of the article that said the whole reason why he was picked up by the County Mounty was because he was behaving erratically.
Personally, this frightens me. As someone who is diabetic, I sure as hell would WANT my loved ones to be contacted if I was sitting in jail without insulin or my other meds. If I'm in diabetic ketoacidosis, I may be unable to think clearly and not communicate properly, and I certainly would look and act fall-down "drunk". I certainly would be in need of medical attention, and the sooner the better.
Two lessons need to be learned here. First, the Sheriff probably needs to send some of their officers to school and teach them that not everybody who acts drunk belongs in a detox cell -- there are serious, life-threatening medical conditions that can cause a person to act oddly. This having taken place at an Indian casino in "hick" Riverside County dosen't shock me at all.
Secondly, and this is a lesson everybody who has a medical condition that can result in this sort of thing needs to know: THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A MEDICALERT BRACELET OR NECKLACE. Carrying a card in your wallet with your information on it IS NO HELP, because law enforcement and/or paramedics will often not look in a wallet.. hell, in some places, they are specifically instructed NOT TO because if money is missing the agency may be held liable. But, even a back-country sheriff is going to know enough about that little silver bracelet to at least call the number on it. I highly suspect that if this kid had a MedicAlert necklace or bracelet, he would have been transported to the hospital in the back of an ambulance, not to jail in the back of a squad car.
For me, just having the necklace that said "Diabetic" on the back has already resulted in my life being saved once. And the paramedics who found me didn't even have to call a phone number: they knew the second they found me and my MedicAlert necklace exactly what needed to be done. That's not "rooting around in your medical file".. that's telling emergency personell what they need to know to save your life.
I have no problem whatsoever with meth. Contrary to popular belief it doesn't make you want to drink the blood of Christian babies, nor is it made from the remains of the WTC by Osama Bin Ladens evil goons. An sober arsehole will be an arsehole on meth, a nice guy on meth will most likely by a nice guy.
Remember kids, alcohol causes violence, stupidity and is highly addictive. Drink as much as you can, it's good for the ecconomy.
Could be illegal to do this....In a number of state, i.e. South Carolina and New York, it is illegal to use any public records (such as arrest records, property titles, mortgage records, etc.) for the purpose of solicitation.
Someone should check the states where these sharks are swimming to see if those states have such restrictions.... then the will need their own lawyers.
IAA Cop, and work at a jail. When people call, we give them the name, charges, bonds, of whoever they ask about. Why? Well, if Joe Blow is arrested, Joe's mom might call to bond him out, Joe's girlfriend (no legal relationship) might call, a bondsmen (never met Joe before) might call. His buddy might call. His long lost dad might call. You get the idea. How do we know who you WANT us to tell, and who you don't? We want people to bond out. We don't have space to hold them all. The more of your people that have the info, the better shot you have of havinmg someone bond you out.
Besides, once you're booked (first step upon entering jail), you have 24/7 access to a phone in holding. You can call and tell Mom, girlfriend, whomever. We have no legal responsibility to inform your parents/guardians, etc. Now, remember, we (my jail) doesn't deal with juveniles. Everybody who walks in is an adult, responsible for him/her self. en
Computer Geek Turned Cop, Oh, the irony.
When you type a backspace in a terminal that doesn't have the backspace operation defined to, well, backspace, it will sometimes insert a control-character representation of the backspace, in this case, control-h, or just ^H
I had a similar situation, and the amount of mail I got afterwards was staggering. I didn't bother counting the letters (since I was innocent, and didn't need a lawyer), but the stack was about 5 inches high.
And I wasn't allowed to make a phone call b/c cellphones don't take collect calls, and I didn't know anybody local's number (was arrested out of town). And, yes, there are very few cops who are doing the job right.
-bZj
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They are slowly being sorted and distributed either back to their country or origin/capture after no longer being deemed a direct threat.
Unfortunately, that was not the case with Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian descent. After being arrested (but not charged) while changing planes at JFK, US officials deported him to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured for over a year. It is not unreasonable to hold the US government complicit in this torture.
Not true either. John Walker Lindh never went to Guantanamo.
I was actually thinking of Jose Padilla, who was held without trial or charge in a military brig for over a year, after being arrested at Chicago O'Hare. What happened to his due process?
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Yes, try telling that to Australian born David Hicks and his family. After been captured in northern Afghanistan, he had to wait 2 years before receiving legal representation at Guantanamo.
More info here
To the best of my knowledge, there has been absolutely no progress here and he is still being detained.
Don't attempt to claim that an Australian doesn't have a "governmental umbrella" that can be negotiated with, this is just a single example of many that the US is a law unto itself and is routinely allowed to detain people of any nation for extended lengths of time without trial. I suspect that the US media doesn't report many of them. I know I certainly don't see much mention of the major cases we hear on local new broadcasts vs re-broadcasts of major US news stations
Glenn
The Smrt way to trade CFDs on the ASX