Category: Politics & Law

It’s not poetryIt’s not poetry

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 5:51 am

“Do not start writing your brief or memo until you have a succinct statement of what the case is about. And you must do this in 50-75 words. If you can’t explain the case in 75 words, you do not understand it very well, and neither will your reader. Too often I have seen cases go all the way to appeal and still the lawyers haven’t figured out what the case is about.” – Judge Mark P. Painter, “Legal Writing 201”

No citations to brickbatsNo citations to brickbats

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 5:36 am

“Self-help may be resorted to, not only to reveal the falsity of the defamatory statement and to vindicate the reputation, but also to punish the defamer and retaliate against him. In earlier times the principal method of this type of self-help was the clan or blood feud. It was supplanted for a time by the challenge to a duel or the horsewhip. One of the primary reasons for developing the tort law of defamation was to induce the defamed person to resort to the courts for relief instead of wreaking his own vengeance.” – Kenneth S. Abraham and Albert Clark Tate, Jr., compilers, A Concise Restatement of Torts

In my profession, we call it ‘extortion by lawsuit’In my profession, we call it ‘extortion by lawsuit’

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 5:39 am

“Defamation actions have not infrequently been brought—or jury verdicts have been rendered, irrespective of the plaintiff’s motivation in bringing the action—not to compensate for actual pecuniary loss or to vindicate the plaintiff, but instead to cudgel the defendant and to mulct him for substantial damages that may be like a windfall to the plaintiff.” – Kenneth S. Abraham and Albert Clark Tate, Jr., compilers, A Concise Restatement of Torts

My enemy’s enemy is not my friend, but can be quite usefulMy enemy’s enemy is not my friend, but can be quite useful

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:42 am

“For many years after 1945, the democracies found it gratifying to perceive the Second World War in Europe as a struggle for survival between themselves and Nazi tyranny. Yet the military outcome of the contest was overwhelmingly decided by the forces of Soviet tyranny, rather than by Anglo-American armies.” – Max Hastings, Winston’s War

We’re all queerWe’re all queer

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 5:32 am

“I believe in aristocracy, though—if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power, based upon rank and influence, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the considerate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They represent the true human tradition, the one permanent victory of our queer race over cruelty and chaos. Thousands of them perish in obscurity, a few are great names. They are sensitive for others as well as for themselves, they are considerate without being fussy, their pluck is not swankiness but the power to endure, and they can take a joke.” – E. M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy

Call me luckyCall me lucky

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 5:33 am

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” – Ecclesiastes 9:11

Probable cause? We don’t need no stinkin’ probable causeProbable cause? We don’t need no stinkin’ probable cause

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 5:13 am

“An officer’s use of deadly force is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. In determining whether an officer’s use of deadly force is objectively reasonable, a court must determine what was reasonable under the circumstances, considering the totality of the circumstances, including the severity of crime at issue, whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether the suspect resisted arrest or attempted to evade arrest by flight. It is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment for police officer to seize an unarmed, nondangerous suspect by shooting him dead, or to use a choke hold to restrain an individual when he or she poses no harm. It is also unreasonable for an officer to use deadly force on a suspect walking towards the police if the suspect’s hands are at his or her sides. Although the initial use of force may be reasonable, the continued use of deadly force in attempting to arrest a suspect may become unreasonable when such force is no longer necessary. An officer must warn a suspect that he or she might shoot, if feasible under the circumstances. The officer may be criminally responsible or civilly liable if the officer uses more force than is necessary to effect the arrest.” – Michele Hughes and Eric C. Surette, American Jurisprudence, Second Edition

What’s a word that will make this interesting?What’s a word that will make this interesting?

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:38 am

“A common criticism of legal writing is that those in the legal profession are enamored of redundancy. They cannot merely say null. They must say null and void and of no legal force or effect. Is all this needed? If something is null, isn’t it void? If it is void, can it have legal effect? The reason legal writing is so prone to word doubling (and tripling) lies in the history of our language. English has its roots in Latin and French as well as in the language of the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. Often word pairings were used to ensure that readers would understand phrases regardless of their background or station in life. Thus, the French word peace joined with the Latin word quiet. These redundant doublings have persisted long after any need for them. Their use today is often the result of habit rather than necessity.” – Deborah E. Bouchoux, Aspen Handbook for Legal Writers (emphases in original)

How tall towers can be brought downHow tall towers can be brought down

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:48 am

“Bending and buckling (deformation) of steel beams and columns occurs when the steel temperature exceeds approximately 538 degrees C (1000 degrees F). At elevated temperatures, steel exhibits a progressive loss of strength. When there is a greater fire exposure, the load required to cause deformation is reduced. Deformation is not the result of melting. A deformed element is not one that has melted during the fire, and therefore the occurrence of such deformation does not indicate that the material was heated above its melting temperature.” – Technical Committee on Fire Investigations, Sec. 6.2.9.1, NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (2011 Edition)

It’s not just who you know, it’s also when and where you know themIt’s not just who you know, it’s also when and where you know them

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 10:51 am

U.S.S. PT-109, commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, was sunk after it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer in Blackett Strait in the Solomons. Eleven of the 13 crewmen survived and a week later were returned to their base and Rendova after harrowing and heroic efforts to elude the Japanese. (The official report on PT-109‘s loss was cowritten by the flotilla’s intelligence officer, Lieutenant (j.g.) Byron R. White, a 1962 appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court by President John F. Kennedy.) – Robert Goralski, “August 2, 1943,” World War II Almanac: 1931-1945

DE-678DE-678

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:32 am

“The American destroyer escort Harmon was launched. It was the first U.S. Navy ship ever named for a black, Leonard Roy Harmon, a mess attendant killed while saving a shipmate’s life during the fight for Guadalcanal. He received the Navy Cross posthumously. The ship was christened by his mother.” – Robert Goralski, “July 25, 1943,” World War II Almanac: 1931-1945

Breathe deep and clear your mindBreathe deep and clear your mind

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:41 am

“Expectation bias is a well-established phenomenon that occurs in scientific analysis when investigator(s) reach a premature conclusion without having examined or considered all of the relevant data. Instead of collecting and examining all of the data in a logical and unbiased manner to reach a scientifically reliable conclusion, the investigator(s) uses the premature determination to dictate investigative processes, analyses, and, ultimately, conclusions, in a way that is not scientifically valid. The introduction of expectation bias into the investigation results in the use of only that data that supports this previously formed conclusion and often results in the misinterpretation and/or the discarding of data that does not support the original opinion. Investigators are strongly cautioned to avoid expectation bias.” – Technical Committee on Fire Investigations, Sec. 4.3.8, NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (2011 Edition)

Wrangling unicornsWrangling unicorns

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:41 am

“Any hypothesis that is incapable of being tested is an invalid hypothesis. A hypothesis developed based on the absence of data is an example of a hypothesis that is incapable of being tested. The inability to refute a hypothesis does not mean that the hypothesis is true.” – Technical Committee on Fire Investigations, Sec. 4.3.6.1, NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (2011 Edition)

Pin a tail on that donkeyPin a tail on that donkey

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 6:32 am

“As some historians have contended, [British Prime Minister] Chamberlain in the end saw himself as a practical businessman willing to deal with the world as it was, engage in hardheaded negotiation with others, and strike a mutually beneficial bargain on the assumption that all parties would honor their parts of the deal. Like the vast majority of his countrymen, he had vivid and terrible memories of the [First] World War and felt revulsion at the thought of a new generation dying on the killing fields of Western Europe. In both instances, he was a liberal—a man of humane sentiments and reasoned intellect. The Realpolitik he tried to practice was itself largely a creation of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment in reaction to previous catastrophic wars of religion; it thought of states and their leaders as rational actors seeking to maximize advantage but pursuing limited aims. Chamberlain expressed the most important weakness of his superficially tough-minded realism when he declared his determination to deal with the grievances of adversaries through the application of ‘our common sense, our common humanity” in seeking the solution to outstanding problems. Realpolitik in the age of Hitler and Stalin required an understanding of the darker angels of human nature. Businessman in background, Unitarian in religious training, liberal politician in vocation, Chamberlain had scant conception of the phenomenon of evil.” – Alonzo L. Hamby, For the Survival of Democracy

It was near to time for torches and pitchforksIt was near to time for torches and pitchforks

Tetman Callis 0 Comments 7:01 am

“ ‘We are at the end of our rope,’ Hoover remarked to an aide late on the evening of March 3 [1932]. And so it seemed might also be the country. Here and there in the midwestern farm regions, armed groups effectively prevented foreclosure sales. In Iowa, the Farmers’ Holiday Association sporadically blocked shipments of produce to market. In some cities, laid-off utility workers tapped electric lines to restore power to homes that had failed to pay their bills. There were scattered reports of groups invading supermarkets and appropriating supplies of food without paying.” – Alonzo L. Hamby, For the Survival of Democracy