Word: lawsuit
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...seven states where judges declare a party affiliation, and judges in Texas may accept limited contributions to their campaigns. Curiously, however, Texas specifically allows its judges to solicit and receive campaign contributions from lawyers and parties in cases currently appearing before them. And according to a recently filed federal lawsuit by the consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen, Texas law has no requirement that judges recuse themselves when faced with such obvious conflicts of interest...
...lawsuit, which was filed April 3, charges that Texas' system violates the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of due process by giving clear legal advantages to parties and lawyers who can afford to contribute to judicial campaigns. It charges that the "inevitable result" of such a system is to deprive Texans of their right to have cases decided by courts impartial in fact as well as appearance. Someone has to pay for the television ads and political consultants vital to a successful race, and since judges must raise money to win their seats and to retain them, Public Citizen notes, "no judge...
Lessig's announcement comes less than a month after a ruling in the Microsoft antitrust lawsuit that found the software company guilty of anti-competitive behavior. In that case, Lessig had advised Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft's policy of "tying" its web browser with its Windows operating system may have given the company an unfair advantage over its competitors...
Fortunately for Gore, he was able to duck the question on the ground that he couldn't comment on an active lawsuit. If Gore had wanted to be mean, he might have asked how many stock options his interrogator had and whether that number had any impact on his decision to come to work every day. The human capacity for grievance is deep and universal. Even among these most rational members of the species, grievance seems immune to the reality that "unfair to Microsoft" is the world's least sympathetic cri de coeur, even if it's true...
...most recent lawsuit falls under the latter category, and that is a source of concern. The warnings, after all, are right there on the carton--they grace every cigarette billboard and magazine ad. If the company, and the government, can warn you and you are still not responsible, what gives? Are we not responsible for understanding to stop at red lights either...