Monday, November 17, 2014

WHAT'S 25 YEARS WORTH?

Ken Anderson was a prosecutor in Texas (motto: "execute em all and let the good lord sort it out") who intentionally withheld exculpatory evidence and sent Michael Morton to jail in 1987 for a murder he didn't commit. 

In 2011 Morton was freed and exonerated after DNA conclusively proved he didn't beat his wife to death. In the same courthouse where Anderson wrecked Morton's life, and the life of Morton's young son who saw his father wrongfully convicted for killing his mom, Anderson accepted a plea offer to ten days jail and a $500.00 fine. 

That's what sending a man to prison for twenty-five years for a crime he didn't commit is worth in Texas. Not even one day for every agonizing year Morton served.  And a fine of twenty bucks a year. That's it. Yes Anderson was disbarred, but the price he paid for his criminal conduct is outrageously beyond the pale. Not even a year of probation. Anderson will be done with his sentence before Thanksgiving. 

In a state that likes, no make that loves, to send a message about getting tough on crime, what message does this send to lawyers who believe they are above the law? 

Don't mess with Texas? Ha! Go right ahead and mess with Texas, as long as you are a lawyer sending criminals- real or imagined- to prison. 

AN APOLOGY TO OUR CIVIL COLLEAGUES:
Longtime and careful readers of our blog know that in our view, it's hard to distinguish who we have less respect for: the hardworking jurist who puts in three tough hours denying motions before getting some lunch, hitting the golf course or the nail salon (or both) or the civil suits, creeping around, filing summary judgment motions, billing by the second,  and generally being a pimple on the butt of a civilized society. 
We were wrong. 
Civil lawyers can do some good. They can see a problem, a group of poor and innocent individuals being taken advantage of by a large and unfeeling corporation, and they can swoop in and put an end to this injustice. 

Like the class action case against RCI Hospitality Holdings, which happens to own Rick's Cabaret in NYC. The dancer/entertainers were not being paid as employees, but as independent contractors, who were forced to split their tips with the house, and other employees of the house, and after a hard night of dancing and being leered at by unattractive and impaired middle-aged men caught in a mid-life crisis, sometimes actually owed the house money. 

Good for them! RCI got hit with a sweet ten million for the dancers. 
Admittedly, we are not entirely familiar with this premise of an establishment where nubile young women dance for men. Must be a NYC thing. We are not as worldly as we sometimes appear to be. 

But this seems like the type of case, purely because of the underdog nature of the plaintiffs, that given the opportunity, we might have enjoyed working on, despite the civil nature of the proceedings. 

There's aways next time. 

Enjoy the week. See You In Court. 

11 comments:

  1. Rick's owns Tootsies also

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  2. Thousands of construction companies in Florida violate this law daily because the legislature is owned by the insurance companies and few can obey the law and stay in business or compete against those who flout the law. Situation is a mess and everyone keeps their heads in the sand. Independentc contractors, workers comp all frauds to benefit big companies and insurance companies,

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  3. Yeah, class action. The dancers get a few bucks; the lawyers get millions of dollars. Good for the lawyers!!

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  4. Saw a kenny and Colby at east side pizza on 79th street causeway today. Colby had a cannoli.

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  5. Wealthy lawyers are the main support of strippers. Especially class action lawyers.

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  6. No way. I saw kenny and Colby at dogma on Biscayne at like 130 eating some hot dogs and fries.

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  7. Liars. Kenny and Colby were in mediation all day on that class action where that plane depressurized on a flight to Brazil and half the women who had butt implants had them explode. Suing the airline because it was foreseeable that Brazilian women would have implants and the implant manufacturer. Big $$$$

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  8. I hate to judge without knowing all of the facts, but, if they are as you say they are, Anderson got off way too easily.

    BTDT

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  9. Kenny and Colby went to Burger King #1 at the corner of NW 27th Ave. and 36 St. after they called the Shumie.

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  10. Can you change the cpatcha? It took me like 20 tries to figure out the illegible word.

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  11. The prosecutor should've been forced to serve the same amount of time that Morton did.

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