Author: TSA Press

People mean a lot of different things when they say “criminal justice reform.” Some people are talking about “prison” reform; some people are talking about “police” reform; you could be talking about the courts, or innocence, or really any host of things.

Some of those criminal justice issues break down along traditional left/right lines. But when it comes to overincarceration, it really does feel like we are nearing some kind of bipartisan consensus.

President Barack Obama got the ball rolling: He ended up commuting or granting clemency to over 1,700 prisoners during his terms in office, the most commutations in American history. Most of these commutations were of low-level drug offenders sentenced under outdated mandatory minimums.

Shockingly, Donald Trump continued the push, enacting the First Step Act. I’d rather give Kim Kardashian the credit for this, but hey, Trump signed it. That makes one Republican president and one Democratic one doing something about overincarceration in the last few years.

Ideologically, there’s always been an opportunity for the left and right to agree on this issue. Draconian sentencing for non-violent offenders is an issue that both ACLU-style civil libertarians and Ayn Rand-style civil libertarians care about.

That alliance seems now to be filtering down to the states. Oklahoma, which has the highest percentage of incarceration of any state in the Union, commuted the sentences of hundreds of people this week. From NBC News:

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board approved the commutations Friday and forwarded them to Gov. Kevin Stitt, a former mortgage company CEO who was elected in 2018. The board voted unanimously to recommend that the sentences of 527 state inmates be commuted, with 462 of those inmates slated to walk out of prison Monday and 65 others being held on detainer.

“With this vote, we are fulfilling the will of Oklahomans,” Steve Bickley, executive director of the board, said in a statement Friday. “However, from Day One, the goal of this project has been more than just the release of low-level, nonviolent offenders, but the successful re-entry of these individuals back into society.”

Stitt, a Republican, has advocated for criminal justice reform, pledging to move away from policies that have made Oklahoma the state with the highest incarceration rate in the country. At a news conference Friday, Stitt hailed the decision to give hundreds of Oklahomans “a second chance.”

The move marked the largest mass commutations in U.S. history.

I tend not to praise bipartisanship for bipartisanship’s sake. I see no great virtue in “working across the aisle” when the Republican side has abandoned facts and reason in favor of craven, bigoted, or sexist positions.

But, here, the bipartisanship is an unqualified good. This is the example of the Republican party working as a partner in government as opposed to abdicating its responsibilities. The fight against overincarceration is strengthened if you have Republicans willing to at least acknowledge the problem and operate from the same base of facts as the rest of us.

More like this, please.

Hundreds of Oklahoma inmates being released Monday in largest commutation in U.S. history [NBC News]

Zimbabwe’s month-on-month inflation stood at 17.7% in September 2019 while year-on-year inflation, which is no longer officially published, is estimated to have reached 353% in the same month.

At the last official count, year-on-year inflation stood at 175.6%, before Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube banned publication of annual inflation figures saying they were not a true reflection of prices on the ground.

The Zimbabwean government abandoned the currency peg of the local currency to the US dollar, a move that has seen the Zimbabwean dollar lose 85% of its value in 9 months.

Retailers and service providers are however resisting the move away from the multi-currency system and when they are not charging in US dollars, they are pegging their prices at the unofficial, going exchange rate.

As prices continue to skyrocket, government workers recently gave notice to go on strike.

In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the public sector union Apex Council chairperson, Cecilia Alexander and organising secretary Charles Chinosengwa, the union said government had “brought nothing” to a “fruitless” meeting between the two parties earlier in the day.

“The employer brought nothing on the table. It was a zero offer, zero cushion and no interbank rate being applied. To add insult to injury, government has gone back on its earlier offer to pay all bonuses in November, confirming instead that they will pay over two months, meaning some civil servants will get inflation blighted bonuses,” according to the statement.

During a post cabinet briefing held on Tuesday, Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa said government does not dispute the need to give a cost-of-living adjustment to workers but it was faced with various competing national demands which include payment of annual bonuses that will take a significant portion of resources.

In addition, said Mutsvangwa, government is putting measures to “contain loss of the workers purchasing power and request worker representatives to provide three nominees to attend a Tripartite Negotiating Forum Technical Committee workshop.”

“The workshop is aimed at coming up with a Social Contract that is aimed at bringing the parties to a common position.

“This may result in the freeze of incomes and prices,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

Post published in: Business

When attorneys at larger law firms work on legal matters, there is much rigidity in how they approach the representation. For instance, the bigger the firm, the larger the fees that are charged, and there is oftentimes less flexibility with fee arrangements at bigger shops. In addition, since larger firms usually assign associates to work on many of the tasks involved with a matter, there may be some separation between clients and the attorneys working on legal matters at bigger firms. On the other hand, attorneys who work at smaller shops are much more flexible with how they can structure a representation, and this can psyche out adversaries who aren’t used to doing business this way.

I have worked at firms of all sizes throughout my career, and I opened my own shop in March. I partnered up with my brother a few months ago, but I’m still basically able to call all of the shots related to the matters I handle. This includes not only legal strategies and the legal work completed on my matters, but all of the administrative issues that involve my clients as well. I have much flexibility about how to structure fee arrangements, how much work to devote to a matter, and pretty much everything about how our firm provides legal representation. This flexibility can be used to great effect when negotiating settlements and dealing with adversaries.

For instance, shortly after starting my firm, I represented a client who I had known for years. I knew that extended litigation would not benefit any of the parties, since many smaller disputes are best resolved without running the meter on attorneys’ fees. For many matters, the only people who benefit from extended litigation are the lawyers who can run up their legal bills.

My adversary tried to use the threat of legal fees to his advantage when negotiating a settlement. He asserted that since my client was a smaller fish than his, my client would be hurt more by paying the additional legal fees that came with extended litigation. The threat of legal fees piling up is a common tactic used to convince lawyers and their clients that it is better to settle now than extensively litigate a case.

However, I told my adversary that I had complete control of the amount of legal fees charged in a matter, and I could agree to any fee arrangement with my client. Indeed, this client was very close to me, and if I wanted to, I could propose a fee cap, a flat fee arrangement, or otherwise make it practical for my client to go the distance in the litigation. My adversary was extremely freaked out by this proposition, since I was breaking the cardinal rule of litigation that more time spent litigating a case meant more legal costs and hardship. We ended up settling the matter on pretty favorable terms for my client shortly thereafter, and my flexibility with fee arrangements took some of the wind out of my adversary’s sails.

Of course, every attorney has to earn a living, and I’m not suggesting that attorneys do work pro bono to get an edge over their adversaries. However, attorneys who work at smaller firms have the flexibility to structure fee arrangements to make it easier for their clients to go the distance in litigation. This can really psyche out adversaries who are charging hourly rates to their own clients.

Recently, I had another matter where small-firm flexibility helped me counter the threats made by an adversary. While engaging in settlement discussions, my adversary kept talking about the trial in the action and what types of evidence he hoped to introduce at trial. My adversary told me about all of the trial experience he had, and suggested that if this case went to trial, not only would he win, but my client would have to spend significant amounts of money on attorneys’ fees and costs. This attorney was evidently trying to scare me about taking the case to trial, since he rightly assumed that I had less trial experience than him.

However, I told my adversary that I would be thrilled if the case went to trial, since it would be a great learning experience. I even told my adversary that he could “take me to school” during trial, and maybe he could show me a few things that could be useful to me in future trials. I said offhand that maybe I would do the trial for a capped rate just for the experience, and since I was running my own shop, I had the flexibility to make such a statement. My adversary seemed freaked out by my statements, and backed off his aggressive position immediately. By using small-firm flexibility, I was able to psyche out my adversary by breaking another cardinal rule of litigation that trials are costly and should be avoided whenever necessary.

In the end, larger law firms are often rigid with how they structure representations, since they are usually limited in the fee arrangements they offer and how they approach legal services. However, the flexibility available at smaller law firms can often make the difference in resolving a case in a client’s favor.

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

* Roger Stone left early from his trial yesterday because he complained of food poisoning. At least this is better than R. Kelly’s infected toenail excuse… [CNN]

* An attorney alleged to have smuggled a hit list out of jail has been denied the reinstatement of her law license. [East Bay Times]

* Attorneys for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes have filed a motion to withdraw from the case, stating that they haven’t been paid for more than a year. Holmes has come a long way from paying numerous attorneys hefty fees to go after Theranos whistleblowers. [CNBC]

* The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda has asked that Harvard Law make reparations to that country for the impact Antiguan slave labor had on the creation of Harvard Law School. [Toronto Star]

* A celebrated cellist has won $11M in a slip and fall lawsuit against an upscale food market. That’s a lot of cheddar. [New York Post]

* Kentucky elected its first African American attorney general last night. [The Hill]

* The Supreme Court yesterday seemed to frown upon North Carolina’s use of copyrighted images of a pirate ship that sunk off its shores. If you want to see good images of a pirate ship, there’s a ride you should check out… [USA Today]

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

Poor facilities threaten the push up the maternal mortality rate in Zimbabwe, which is already high at an estimated 651 deaths per 100,000 live births [Farai Shawn Matiashe/Al Jazeera]

Harare, Zimbabwe – In September, Mitchell Matarause delivered her baby boy by candlelight at a clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.

It was after sunset and the electricity supply had been cut.

“Midwives were using candles and torches for lighting,” said the 26 year old, holding her second-born. “I delivered in the evening, there was no electricity.

“There was a candle on the table. I heard the midwives say that they could not see properly, so they had to use torches as additional light sources. As one midwife assisted me, the others held the torches.

“I was just praying I deliver well, without complications. I feared the worst and sighed with relief when it was over.”

High-quality maternal healthcare is difficult to access and provide in Zimbabwe, a country struggling with regular power outages – sophisticated equipment relies on electricity.

Women across the country have reported similar experiences to Matarause, relying on a small flame or a cellphone to provide enough light to give birth safely during power blackouts.

Earlier this year, the state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) introduced 18-hour load shedding after reducing electricity generation due to low water levels in Lake Kariba, its main source of power.

While the power is not switched off at large referral hospitals in Harare, such as Harare Central Hospital and Parirenyatwa Hospital, it is cut at most facilities in residential suburbs and rural areas. 

A midwife at Mufakose Polyclinic, where Matarause welcomed her child, said the team usually asks pregnant mothers to provide their own lighting.

“[We] ask them to bring bulbs with batteries as it is difficult to see when using candle lights,” she told Al Jazeera.

Most women in Zimbabwe deliver at state-run hospitals, which charge a small fee, about 200 Zimbabwean dollars, that goes towards basic equipment.

The cost of giving birth at private hospitals is about 5,000 Zimbabwean dollars, a sum that is out of reach for most – civil servants earn just 500 Zimbabwean dollars on average each month.

Because of power outages, some hospitals purchase fuel at cost price from service stations for generators [Farai Shawn Matiashe/Al Jazeera]

Power blackouts threaten to worsen maternal mortality rates, which the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey estimates at 651 deaths per 100,000 live births.

According to UNICEF, two regions, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, account for 86 percent of maternal deaths worldwide.

The United Nations Population Fund describes Zimbabwe’s rate as “unacceptably high”, even as the last five to 10 years show a decline.

Some hospitals and clinics, including private facilities, use fuel generators, but this option is out of reach for many – diesel and petrol are expensive with a 300-percent inflation rate as of August 2019, according to the IMF.

The fuel price is determined by the Zimbabwean dollar and US dollar interbank exchange rate.

At the time of writing, petrol was trading at around 16.6 Zimbabwean dollars a litre, while diesel was up at 17.43 Zimbabwean dollars.

At Chiredzi Hospital, a government-run facility almost 500km southeast of Harare, when authorities fail to purchase fuel for generators, midwives do whatever it takes to save lives.

“Hospitals need to provide comprehensive obstetric [and newborn care], among other things such as responding to emergencies and doing surgery. 

“That’s where the power issues come in. With the current cost of diesel to run generators, the situation is dire,” said Chiredzi district acting medical officer, Dr David Tarumbwa.

“We buy fuel straight from service stations at cost price, no subsidies. It’s not sustainable. You can’t run a generator for 12 hours daily. The next thing is, it breaks down.”

When they do not have generators, the doctors and nurses “explore whatever options will be available”.

Emmanuel Mahlangu, president of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Midwives, explained: “It is important to differentiate between normal pregnancy and childbirth with complicated pregnancy and childbirth. Eighty-seven percent of pregnancies and childbirths are normal.

“A normal childbirth occurring during the day may actually go through without much use of electricity. However, if it were to occur in the night, the priority is lighting. 

“A complicated delivery may require electricity for resuscitation of the baby, warmth from radiant heaters, lights and operative delivery.”

Against this backdrop, new technology that does not rely on fuel is being tried out.

Solar panels have been installed at several health facilities across the country in an attempt to overcome the negative impact of power shortages [Farai Shawn Matiashe/Al Jazeera]

We Care Solar, a California-based NGO, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are working with the government to install solar power systems in clinics and hospitals nationwide. 

We Care Solar has struck a partnership with local NGO ZimEnergy Eco Foundation, providing compact rugged solar electric systems called solar suitcases.

Designed in 2010, these “suitcases” provide bright lights and foetal heart monitoring.

More than 4,000 health centres in Africa and Asia have been equipped with this technology. 

Since 2016, We Care Solar has supported 136 maternal health facilities with reliable lighting and electricity in Zimbabwe, in the provinces of Matabeleland South, Mashonaland East and Masvingo, and aims to extend its project to other clinics across the country. 

“Before year-end, we aim to officially launch the Light Every Birth campaign in collaboration with the health ministry,” said We Care Solar Zimbabwe programme manager Shamiso Moyo. “We aim to install the solar system at a total of 1,000 clinics.”

UNDP also partnered with the health ministry on a Solar For Health Project and installed solar systems at 405 institutions across the country to ensure uninterrupted power, including at maternity wards.

“They are now primarily running on solar and only using the mains electricity grid as backup. The systems vary in capacity, depending on the size of the medical facility. Smaller clinics are now running on 5kW or 7kW, while larger clinics and district hospitals run on 10kW, 15kW or even 40kW systems,” said UNDP Zimbabwe resident representative Georges van Montfort.

He hoped that eventually, no woman would ever have to deliver by candlelight again.

As the rest of the country waits, however, Mahlangu said that while the use of candle and cellphone lights during delivery is not recommended, midwives will continue to use whatever means they have to offer women support during their critical hours in labour.

“Midwives cannot leave a woman unattended because of lack of electricity,” he said, “and childbirth will not stop because there is no electricity.”

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza told reporters ahead of a continental conference on intellectual property (IP) that although Zimbabwe has legal frameworks that cater for inventions, it was high time the country simplified them for the benefit of inventors.

“What we also need to do is to raise awareness on those laws that exist. We all know there is a value chain in order for one to benefit from intellectual property,” she said.

Zimbabwe recently acceded to the Beijing Treaty (for audio- visual performances) and the Marrakesh Treaty (to do with print for the visually impaired).

Mabhiza said some of the existing statutes need to be amended, state news agency New Ziana reported.

“Yes we have a legal framework that caters for our IP systems here in Zimbabwe. Perhaps what we have to look at is on the amendment of some of the existing statutes that govern intellectual property.

“There are so many other treaties that we have to ratify and domesticate in order to bring ourselves as a country up to standard with modern IP practices,” she said.

Zimbabwe is set to host a continental conference on intellectual property from Nov. 6-8.

She said Zimbabwe was privileged to host the conference on intellectual property, innovation and value addition for business competitiveness and sustainable development in Africa for the first time.

“As Zimbabwe, we are looking forward to this conference for it encourages a pro-intellectual property attitude which will help in building IP respect in all spheres of business and research,” she said.

She hoped that the conference will provide an ideal platform for sharing views and ideas as well as improving the understanding of the importance of intellectual property for sustainable development.

The conference is organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization in collaboration with the Africa Regional Property Organization.

Post published in: Featured

Cramming for the CCPA

Cramming for the CCPA

Axiom & Above the Law

Back in December of last year, the Justice Department’s Inspector General announced that they’d substantiated allegations that a senior official was a repeated sexual harasser. The official had retired at that point, and the allegations grew to include one of rape, and another woman reported she was pressured to have sex with the official to advance her career.

Now BuzzFeed News has obtained a (redacted) copy of the IG’s report and it reveals shocking details about what’s alleged to have gone on at Main Justice.

BuzzFeed had previously identified the senior official as Edison Aponte, and wouldn’t you know it, his job is very much at odds with an alleged repeated sexual harasser:

Aponte’s most recent title was associate deputy director in the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a section within the Office of Justice Programs that provides law enforcement training and grants — including, several sources noted, on issues related to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

“It boggles the mind,” said Jon Adler, who took over as the head of the Bureau of Justice Assistance in late 2017. By then, the inspector general’s investigation was underway and Aponte had been placed on leave.

Multiple women are cited in the IG’s report as complaining about Aponte’s behavior. One woman said Aponte engaged in sexually charged conversations with her, including asking about her favorite sexual position. She says she was pressured by Aponte to have sex with him to secure a promotion. Aponte denies this relationship. Another woman says she had a consensual relationship with Aponte, which the IG report still classifies as harassment as he was her supervisor. Two other women complained of inappropriate comments.

But the most shocking allegations come from a woman only identified as S.C. by BuzzFeed News. She said Aponte began harassing her with inappropriate comments and unwanted touching, including backrubs. She even says she put a mirror at her desk so he would be unable to sneak up on her and touch her. S.C. also alleges that Aponte raped her:

S.C. also told investigators that Aponte once sexually assaulted her. She said that Aponte followed her home after they had gone as part of a group to an unspecified sports event, and asked to come inside to use the bathroom and for a tour. According to the report, she said that when she rejected his attempts to touch her, he became “forceful” and “sexually assaulted her by having sexual intercourse with her.”

According to the report, Aponte denies he assaulted her, but instead says it was a consensual sexual relationship.

The BuzzFeed article also details the torturous process of trying to get the DOJ to do something about Aponte, and harassment in general. A process that was stymied by Aponte’s retirement. But for S.C., she told BuzzFeed she was unimpressed by the efforts:

She said she felt ignored and abandoned by department officials after she first reported being harassed by him in 2012. She’s still angry about how the department handled her situation, and said the fact that Aponte is gone and the inspector general made a public finding of wrongdoing wasn’t a satisfying resolution.

“What he did to those other people, management allowed to have happened — because they didn’t do anything when I went to them. They allowed that. They protected him and they allowed it,” she said.

In January, the DOJ announced a new “mandatory” sexual harassment training for all employees and plans on developing a more robust policy. To date, that has not happened.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).