Comments on: Open link thread

By: Dr. White Coat on the pink-panties case - Overlawyered

Dr. White Coat on the pink-panties case - Overlawyered — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 14:15:09 +0000

[…] Emergency Physicians Monthly columnist, often linked in this space, on a case noted in our open thread last […]

By: Federal judge all but nukes the DOJ » Musings of the Angry Webmaster

Federal judge all but nukes the DOJ » Musings of the Angry Webmaster — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 20:14:10 +0000

[…] Open link thread – Overlawyered […]

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 20:17:33 +0000

And from reader Max M.: “A New York fashion photographer is suing a cyclist she rear-ended for the damage her Infiniti sustained while it was dragging his destroyed bike along the street.”

http://www.vocativ.com/culture/society/bike-vs-car-accidents/

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 16:20:25 +0000

Same with Sidney Powell’s coverage of developments in the Department of Justice’s litigation against Sierra Pacific in the so-called Moonlight Fire case:

In an extraordinary development, Judge England, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, ordered the recusal of all the Eastern District judges from the case because of serious allegations that the Court itself was defrauded by the government in the original prosecution. To avoid any appearance of partiality, he has referred the case to Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski to appoint a judge from outside the Eastern District to handle the case going forward. Judge Kozinski has excoriated prosecutors for failing to meet their legal and ethical obligations.

http://observer.com/2014/10/fed-up-with-govt-misconduct-federal-judge-takes-nuclear-option/

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 15:01:14 +0000

Speaking of pants, several readers nominated the “awoke from surgery with pink panties” story from Delaware:

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2014/10/17/Lawsuit-Man-awoke-from-surgery-in-pink-panties/4271413554893/?spt=sec&or=on

By: David

David — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 12:49:13 +0000

What you did may not be illegal, but we don’t like it so we will find something to charge you with.

“Uxbridge PD: Stop Pooping on Trains From Overpass” (link at bottom)

Quote from police: “If we catch you with your pants down [defecating] on the train you will be charged with everything we can find that fits the elements to the crime.”

link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/07/10/uxbridge-stop-pooping-trains-from-overpass/xOGaDzLW51OgPpeiGVbtfL/story.html

By: mx

mx — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:55:51 +0000

See also this recent story where a man was literally arrested over a declined credit card at a Florida nightclub. If people are going to get arrested when payments don't go through, then expecting credit card companies to provide 24/7 customer service isn't remotely unreasonable. Asking customers to choose who to do business with is tricky in this scenario: nobody knows there's a problem until they have one, and credit card companies can change their hours and policies at any time.

By: ras

ras — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:15:57 +0000

If credit card companies are going to impose limits on charges (and, thereby limit their exposure to having to write-off unauthorized charges due to identity theft), shouldn’t they have an obligation to have people available 24/7 to authorize charges over the normal limits when such has been previously requested?

I would not recommend that we go down such a slippery slope. Let each of us choose with whom we do business and leave it at that. If my local deli sells lox, must it by law also remain open 24×7 to supply me w/fresh bagels, too?

By: wfjag

wfjag — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 17:27:55 +0000

Should credit card companies be required to have 24-hour staffing to deal with requests to lift credit limits:

“REJECT: Obama’s credit card denied at restaurant on New York City trip”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/17/obamas-credit-card-rejected-new-york-trip/

The Pres has my sympathy on this. Recently, for the Rehearsal Dinner for my son’s wedding, my credit card was declined. Both my spouse and I had separately told the credit card company that a large charge from that restaurant could be expected on that Friday night, and requested a waiver of the limit for that charge. I made the request the day after my spouse did, and confirmed that there was a notation in the account file authorizing the charge over the normal anti-fraud limit on the card for that restaurant on that date. There was at least 3x deposited in the account connected to the card, so there was no risk of an overage on the account limit. However, the charge was declined and, being late on a Friday night, there was no one to contact. Fortunately, I had a very large amount of cash (to pay for other expenses) and other cards, and the restaurant split the charges over several other cards. So, we looked like dead-beats to our son’s soon-to-be father & mother-in-law.