Day: December 31, 2009

Last post of the old year before we ring in the new: Giving thanks, various news, a poem and a Slabbed musical repeat

We’re supposed to be thankful at Thanksgiving and though I was, I didn’t post Thanksgiving wishes. So before we ring out the old year let me start by saying thanks to Nowdy for sticking around for our second year online into our third. She is truly an angel to the people of the Gulf Coast. I’d also like to thank our commenters especially all our regulars and Sup who I’m certain at times just wants to pull his hair out trying to “reason” with us but who remains incredibly kind to us in spite of that. Next up are the lawyers that make sure we keep our I’s dotted and T’s crossed.  The dedication of the trial bar to seeing justice done for ordinary people is truly inspiring. I’d also like to express our gratitude to Congressman Gene Taylor and his staff, especially Brian, Ana Maria and Stephen who are our tireless advocates for the coast, both here and in DC. Without Gene holding the insurance industry’s feet to the fire, what happened here after Katrina would certainly have been swept under the carpet.

I’d also like to think the journalists that read us along with the folks at WLOX.  I don’t cut poor ol’ Dave Vincent much slack but whenever I’ve been in the mood to kick a member of the media in the kiester Dave has always been most accommodating offering up his hiney with a big target on it. (Sponsored by the Mississippi Coast State Farm agents no less!)

I thank our many readers that literally hail from across the world for coming back again and again reading our posts, even Amy and Robert Bullstroke.

I’d also like to thank Editilla over at the Ladder who always gives us too much credit. Brother, folks like you are the reason we do this. Finally I’d like to thank former Louisiana Insurance Commission Jim Brown for his support and encouragement in this endeavor called Slabbed.  Jim gives us his column to publish weekly and does many things behind the scenes such making sure we had an evalutaion copy of the now sold out Edwin Edwards Biography.  Jim is strictly first class.  Now for some news stories I’ve accumulated over the past few days for your enjoyment. Continue reading “Last post of the old year before we ring in the new: Giving thanks, various news, a poem and a Slabbed musical repeat”

Judge Vance denies Defendants Motion for Interlocutory Appeal and Branch qui tam rings in the new with Motion to amend complaint adding Allstate and Pilot Catastrophe Service

Defendants contend that a specific question of law controls this matter: “whether a ‘sleuth’ like Branch, without first-hand involvement in an alleged fraud, can qualify as an ‘original source’ by providing additional examples of a publicly disclosed, alleged fraudulent scheme.”

…The Court need not resolve this question because district courts do not certify “questions” for the court of appeals upon the grant of a § 1292(b) motion.

The eleven-page Order and Reasons s is classic Vance – another pick ’em up, put ’em down tutorial on qui tam law!

Defendants’ primary argument is this: the Supreme Court, in Rockwell International Corp. v. United States, 549 U.S. 457, 470- 71 (2007), abrogated the Fifth Circuit’s “original source”decision in United States ex rel. Laird v. Lockheed Martin Eng’g & Sci. Servs. Co., 336 F.3d 346, 356 (5th Cir. 2003)…Defendants contend that the Court’s Order “diverges from Fried based on pre-Rockwell, out-of-circuit decisions,” R. Doc. 237 at 1, and that there is substantial ground for difference of opinion as to whether a relator who initiates an investigation after an alleged fraud can be considered an original source…

Initially, although defendants make repeated use of the term “pre-Rockwell,” they point to nothing in Rockwell itself that makes it a watershed decision as to the specific issue they identify. Continue reading “Judge Vance denies Defendants Motion for Interlocutory Appeal and Branch qui tam rings in the new with Motion to amend complaint adding Allstate and Pilot Catastrophe Service”

Why do people confess to crimes they didn’t commit? (a repost from SLABBED archives)

Prosecutors wield tremendous power, which is kept in check by a set of unique ethical obligations. In explaining why prosecutors sometimes fail to honor these multiple and arguably divergent obligations, scholars tend to fall into two schools of thought.

The first school focuses upon institutional incentives that promote abuses of power. These scholars implicitly treat the prosecutor as a rational actor who decides whether to comply with a rule based on an assessment of the expected costs and benefits of doing so.

The second school focuses upon bounded human rationality, drawing on the teachings of cognitive science to argue that prosecutors transgress not because of sinister motives, but because they labor under the same cognitive limitations that all humans do.

… Research on the psychological effects of accountability demonstrates that when people are judged primarily for their ability to persuade others of their position, they are susceptible to defensive bolstering at the expense of objectivity.

With these thoughts from A Situationist View of Criminal Prosecutors in mind, we turn to  The Situation of False Confessions: Continue reading “Why do people confess to crimes they didn’t commit? (a repost from SLABBED archives)”