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RIAA Wants Student Deposed On School Day
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In a Houston, Texas, case, UMG v. Hightower, the RIAA has served a subpoena on the defendant's son, a high school student, on one day's notice, telling him to be at a lawyer's office at 9:00 a.m. the next day, a school day, for a deposition. The defendant's lawyer objected (PDF)."
pray, verb, transitive:To make a devout, fervent, or earnest request for something. It's been used in secular contexts plenty in the past.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
The real kicker here is not that it is a school day, but it is during Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test week as well and the one day notice.
The day in question was one in which the student was required to show up to take the TAKS test, a state-wide standardized test that's required for graduation.
What kind of a moron sees this funny?
Remember, when you dislike something that 'RIAA' does, this is who RIAA is http://www.riaa.com/about/members/default.asp
Your money talks. Let them hear it.
I may not be a lawyer, but I know this to be false. Don't give the RIAA any more power of fear than they already enjoy. Deponents can object, if a witness refuses the moving party can ask for a motion to compel, there are lots of rememdies other than automatically losing. The biggest problem isn't that the kid is going to miss school, its that they are attempting to take his deposition with only 24 hours notice. In my experience as a paralegal, again- IANAL, that is simply poor if not abusive practice.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Well special provisions are afforded to minors as opposed to adults. Also one of the objections was that the deposition would be during school hours. Certainly the plaintiff could have done it on a weekend or after school hours, but didn't do so.
Reading the motion, it appears that the subpoena was done in a very sloppy manner which explains the short notice. It appears that the plaintiff tried to email the subpoena (not legal from what I recall) and to the wrong attorney at first. The plaintiff finally sent a subpoena to the defendants home with less than 24 hours. Now, if it is true that the plaintiff's attorney failed to deliver a subpoena in a timely manner, they should have moved back the deposition to accomodate. It appears that they didn't do that either.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
How about some time after 3 PM? That's when school lets out around here - most businesses are open until at least 5. The motion also specifically noted that the student was supposed to take the TAKS test today. TAKS is our statewide standardized test which must be passed for promotion to the next grade or for graduation at the end of high school. If he misses the TAKS test he'll have to make it up at some point, forcing him to miss another day of school. TAKS days are only ~5 days out of the school year depending on grade level. Asking for a deposition on a non-TAKS day would be much less of a burden.
Quoteth the the fifth: "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself".
The key is that this is not a criminal case, it is a civil case.
And while I'm not sure if that segment of the Texas con. has specifically been challeneged, but other states that have similar provisions have had them struck down unanimously by the USSC [Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)]. The Article VI language preventing religious tests or oaths for federal office was ruled to apply to the states.
All the techniques ever used to make men moral have been themselves thoroughly immoral... (Nietzsche)
4. to make earnest petition to (a person).
5. to make petition or entreaty for; crave
(See: dictionary.com)
The legal "pray" simply is a formal way to ask the Court for an action. You will find this phrase in many legal filings, not just in Texas courts.
Thanks for the slam, though; always good to see the myths and legends preserved.
Dispositions are required attendance, which is why a subpoena is generally issued to enforce them. If he blows off showing up, the consequences (if any) are entirely up to the judge who issued the subpoena.... who, if particularly pissed off that day, could find him in contempt of court and sentence him to jail time. Under the circumstances, though, I can't see any (reasonable) judge doing this.
On a similar note, McDonalds wanted the Coffe lady to pay $20,000 a day for their lawyer team while she sued over her 3rd degree burns. Surprisingly, thats not how the system works...
OK - I am posting anonymously because I am a lawyer. First - When you subpoena someone to appear for deposition, Rule 30(b)(1) says you must give them reasonable notice. The Court is very, very likely to say that 24 hours notice is not reasonable notice. Second - It is extremely bad form, though not actually improper, to just notice someone for deposition without talking to them first about the date. Just leads to exactly this kind of problem. Third - RIAA is represented by lawyers who know better. Gardere Wynn is a Really Big Firm. They know better than to behave this way in front of Judge Atlas. Shame on them. Federal Court practices demands a higher standard of behavior on the part of the lawyers. Fourth - You have to properly serve the witness. Emailing the mom's lawyer in an attempt to serve the kids is not proper service. However, it does make sense to email mom's lawyer and ASK whether he would accept service so that you don't have to send a process server out to serve the kids. All in all, I would not expect Judge Atlas to be pleased with Gardere, Wynn's behavior here. Judge Atlas is a good judge. I'd expect her to make RIAA play according to the rules here. One of the great things about federal court is that the judges are generally of very high caliber, are extremely/proudly independent, and don't take no shit off of nobody. As long as you play by the rules, are prepared and don't waste the judge's time the solo lawyer with a brand new law license will be treated the same as hordes of grey haired lawyers from a mega-firm.
high school student
Read that until you understand it.
Then never post again.
The Supreme Being of Cthulhuverse is Azathoth. Cthulhu is just a priest, and a slothful one at that :).
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Not accurate. "In God We Trust" was on many US coins well back into the 1800s. What happened in the 1950s was that it became mandatory on all US coins. In case you don't believe me, go look at old 1800s coins in any coin shop. You will see it. I have several in my collection.
If you are going to butcher history, do it elsewhere. McCarthyism and this phrase are just a coincidence. The movement for "In God We Trust" on coins was around much longer and only happened to be passed into law in the 1950s.
-rilian
...quicker, easier, more seductive the darkside is...but more powerful, it is not.
Using the word 'must' in the phrase "the government shall not tell the public what religion they MUST practice", does not mean the public must practice a religion, it is only there to emphasize that the government cannot command anyone in the practice of the religion of their choice: the 'must' is rhetorical flourish, not strict and overly logico-formal grammar (it is a text intended to be read and understood by all literate 18th century citizens, not logicians). The writers of the constitution were well aware of the atheistic beliefs of the times since they had contact with the Frenchmen who borne them. They even had contact with those who had a strict non-religious or irreligious views of the world (d'Holbach and co.). Saying that they intended for all humans to obligatorily adhere to some form of religion is idiotic. They were educated men of their time, and the constitution they crafted (with the first couple of amendments) reflects that fact.