Following up on your entry here: Wikipedia:Editor_assistance/Requests#Request_for_advice, I read your dialogue at User talk:Enigmaman. As to the main bone of contention, namely, whether the article properly starts straight in with a hypothetical (well, case summary), I agree with him. It may be kind of a nice literary device and a refreshing departure too, but finally I think when someone comes to the article Tort, they want to know first of all, "what's a tort?" Your lead paragraph forces them to take in an example of something - they don't know what - before they get to the answer. They aren't law students used to extracting principles from stories; they don't even understand that that's what law students *do*. So while that lead may make a better essay, it does not make a better Wikipedia article.
More generally I find that wholesale edits are better achieved by either raising them first on the page's discussion page, or by making them incrementally, maybe over a period of days, so that other editors can more easily see how each one in fact improves the article. It is quite an imposition to implicitly require other editors to make those comparisons all at once, and then edit afresh a substantially new page. (It's also good practice, I think, to explain one's reversions of good faith and competent edits that plainly reflect a lot of work, but that doesn't always happen either. ) The incremental approach is also a good way of figuring out where any true disagreements may lie. Baby and the bathwater and all that.
I hope this helps. JohnInDC (talk) 12:18, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There's no rule. It just makes things go down more easily. I agree too that your other changes (judging by my quick look) were not controversial. I am sure there is middle ground between you and Enigmaman and perhaps it would be worth your time to try to re-engage on your changes that don't affect the introduction. I have seen a lot of initially contentious relationships become very productive once the hackles are down on both sides, and perhaps this would be one of them. I agree too that reverting good faith edits is not the best approach, but in the defense of editors who do that occasionally (myself included), it is sometimes exasperating to be confronted with big changes by an editor who is saying, in effect, "if you don't like what I did, then *you* can find and fix the errors and fill in whatever gaps I may have left". (Please forgive my hyperbolic characterization there - this is written slightly in haste.) Let's see if anyone else wades in. Meantime good luck with it. JohnInDC (talk) 19:39, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
John - thank you for the advice and the support. I am trying to follow WP:DR and negotiate to a compromise with Enigmaman, however, his latest post is that he is "done" talking about. Because I do not want to do anything unilateral and controversial, I am going to try taking it to the talk page and get the matter some attention from others at WP:LAW, if possible. Non Curat Lex (talk) 20:13, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, Lex - if this has all been sorted out to your satisfaction (that's my sense judging from further entries on Tort and elsewhere) then how about dropping a followup here - Wikipedia:Editor_assistance/Requests#Request_for_advice - so the thing can be archived on the next go-round? JohnInDC (talk) 17:16, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Non Curat Lex, I've followed your disagreement with User:Enigmaman vaguely. I've also taken a look at the edits to the said article in question. At Wikipedia we try and keep everything neutrally worded. Your additions simply jump straight into a, possibly, original researched hypothetical example.Although much appreciated, we have to keep to things that we can source and back up. We can quote examples of Tort Law (within reason) if they're supported by reliable sources. If you believe that an example of the said law would be appropriate in the article please feel free to propose it in the article's talk page. If you have any questions or queries on how to use Wikipedia, please don't hesitate to ask me. Take care! (P.S. I see no one has left you a welcome page, I'll leave one as soon as I post this.) ScarianCall me Pat 20:43, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Pat: the "informal rhetorical question," however, is according to many anglo-american authors, the only meaning of tort law. What is "a civil wrong not a crime and not arising out of contract?" It is what a governmental authority of suitable jurisdiction says it is. According to White, Tort law in England and America was nothing more than a collection of miscellaneous writs that could not properly be categorized as property, or contractual. Holmes, who himself quipped that tort law was not a proper subject for a legal test, was largely responsible for the defining notions - the first principles - of the field that persist to this day. Is that just my opinion? Well it could be, but it isn't. And no one has to take my word for it, either. Other people have a chance to edit anything said. Hopefully, those people will know what they're talking about. I am convinced however, that what I've written reflects the consensus. The decision, however, should be made by someone who is familiar with the content, not someone who is making a content-blind judgment about the form, rather than the substance. Plus, I can add plenty of 3rd party published citation - but not if I have to work with an introduction like that. Non Curat Lex (talk) 21:22, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed - I would call Scarian "Pat," but I wouldn't call him involved. He gave disinterested advice, which I've basically followed - I wasn't planning to revert the revert, but I have made a few edits to give a better idea of what I really want to change in the article. If it's still too controversial, I wouldn't complain about it being reverted.
This topic has generated an impressive volume of discussion, perhaps for the wrong reasons, but I think everyone is committed to acting reasonably and getting things right. I hope hard feelings will not persist. However, I don't know if I've adequately explained myself to Enigma on the subject of personal attacks - I have no personal problem with him, but it's hard to state my objection without making it seem like I do. For that I really must apologize. Non Curat Lex (talk) 01:04, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Cheers, Basketball110 Go Longhorns! 15:29, 18 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you check Enigmaman's user talk page I've had to block him. I don't think he'll make admin now. My apologies. ScarianCall me Pat 00:59, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's so nice to wake up to such a message! I just go about it all quite casually, and think that law is way to boring for anyone to really notice... until one day the law pages are so good that we make text books and Westlaw redundant! But I expect that will be a while yet. :) Thanks again. Wikidea 07:54, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you Non Curat Lex for the recognition. I'm just making sure Wikipedia can be considered a reliable source --SMP0328. (talk) 01:46, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I've responded to your comment at my talk page.Ferrylodge (talk) 16:26, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This conversation continued @ (talk).
I think if you have another look at that article, it is per year, they say 'for each of the years 2000, 2001, 2002...' But I think that you're right in that this is a bit of an iffy statistic. Perhaps you could replace that citation with the CDC webpage you found? You're also right that it was probably unhelpful to editorialise. And the more I think about it, even if you go: 98,000 deaths in the States, 13,500 in the UK (which was a 1998 stat, before all the extra money we've had put into the NHS - I've also got one senior doctor in a newspaper called The Independent saying it "could be" 30,000 a year, in 2001) and then compare by dividing the numbers according to respective populations, it's still not necessarily right. Because if 40m odd Americans are without insurance, then you have to deduct that. And even then, the real comparison could only work if you knew the hospital operation numbers: so you'd have to have a statistic that was something like: 4 deaths from negligence per 100,000 operations, or something. And then, what do you count as 'negligence', etc, etc. I'm actually just pretty glad that people are reading this page at all! I banged it off one night, after thinking "cripes the US page was bad". The funny thing is, you say you're not a supporter of tort reform. But I am! Just a different kind of "tort reform", which is what I was trying to get the page to show: the word "reform" has taken on very different meanings between the Commonwealth and the States. Wikidea 13:47, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I read your note concerning the 4th Amendment - it seems that illegal search and seizures are very much in the scope of subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum. For that matter, so are Anti Trust actions. If the links somehow offend your sence of propriety, then take them down. But I don't agree with your logic. I see you say you are a 25 year old California lawyer. Nice to meet you. I have a JD and an LLD (which is a Phd in the law), so I am not just some hack out here writing about things I don't know about. In fact that is what I do for a living: write advisory reports for federal judges. Many are in your neck of the woods: The Ninth Circuit. Your concerns are ones reasonable minds can disagree about. I think the goal is to have as many links as possible. I just don't see the links concerning a subpoena and the 4th, 5th or 14th Amendments as all that tenuous. But that is just my opinion. To be honest, if you want to take them down, it won't ruin my day one bit. A E Francis (talk) 02:07, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Did you read the article on subpoena duces tecum? It specifically mentions the Robinson-Patman Act and Clayton Act. I know. I wrote both "subpoena duces tecum" and "subpoena ad testificandum", in their entirety just last week. It seems the duces tecum link is warranted under the circumstances. A E Francis (talk) 03:25, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You're welcome. If you want, I'll correct spelling errors on this page. --SMP0328. (talk) 23:49, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Per WP:DR, don't respond to him. Daniel Case (talk) 20:37, 9 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
My bad ... that was WP:DENY. Daniel Case (talk) 20:42, 9 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Take a look at wht i just wrote, could you plz. give me some advice? Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York. JeanLatore (talk) 01:58, 16 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Matt,
You asked me "By the way, what was the "misguided reference to "crimes" in tort? Non Curat Lex (talk) 09:19, 10 May 2008 (UTC)" when I edited the torts article.
By that I meant I deleted one of the sentence from the article ("Deliberate torts causing bodily harm, property harm, business, are ruled as crimes in the court system.") I deleted it because, to the extent it made sense despite the grammar, it is wrong. Intentional torts, even if committed deliberately, aren't necessarily crimes, and even where the alleged tort might also be criminal a decision in a civil case isn't a "ruling" that something was a crime.
-Nathan
...for your comments at my RfA. Enigma message 23:39, 4 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just dropping a note to let you know that we miss you. :) Enigma message 01:24, 27 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, that cleared things up some. --Random832 (contribs) 04:22, 6 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
request for arbitration
Current requests
'Initiated by Self-represented access to courts is vital for democracy (talk)atSelf-represented access to courts is vital for democracy (talk) 16:30, 8 September 2008 (UTC) [edit]Involved parties Kay Sieverding (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log), filing party Arthur Rubin (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log) Famspear (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log) Non Curat Lex (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log) When I found the "pro se" page, it contained statements that were contrary to the U.S. code and Supreme Court statements. No sources were cited for the misrepresentations. I pasted in the U.S. code and Supreme Court cases concerning the subject both with footnotes and they were repeatedly deleted by "Non Curat Lex", "Famspear" and/or "Arthur Rubin". One of them also deleted a quotation, with references, from the ABA journal interviewing Justice Scalia. They appear to have an agenda of wanting Wikipedia to keep these Supreme Court decisions, the U.S. code, and Justice Scalia's statements secret. They keep calling Supreme Court decisions "primary sources" and "case dumps". In other articles on legal issues, Supreme Court decisions are simply summarized or quoted with footnotes. One of them deleted a Supreme Court discussion of William Penn. It does not appear that they have posted anything with any footnotes. I deleted only a few unsupported sentences that were contrary to the Supreme Court and the U.S. Code. My character is being attacked for adding quotations of the U.S. code, Supreme Court and various constitutions. I don't know what to do but I hate to see Wikipedia spreading misinformation. I don't have a problem with them posting laws, cases, quotations etc. but they are not posting verifiable authorities, they are just deleting my verifiable major authorities and criticizing me personally. They also deleted a scholarly U.S. 2nd circuit decision that quoted 2 law review articles and 4 history books. Much of what they deleted they removed to "sub pages". I don't have all the Wikipedia formatting figured out and I tried to post a request for style. I guess I did that wrong somehow because it didn't appear but they wouldn't help me do that right. All that I want to do is make sure that the U.S. code and relevant Supreme Court decisions are posted so that Wikipedia users see them. I thought the Justice Scalia interview was relevant and that the deleted 2nd Circuit discussion of history was much better than the postings without footnotes that it supplemented. There is extensive discussion on the article discussion board. Some of it they removed to subpages
A request for arbitration involving you has been filed. Please see this page and add any statements or comments that you consider necessary. Stifle (talk) 17:17, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hahah, it took me a while to figure out what exactly you were referring to [referencing the ABA discussion page]. I appreciate the compliment and I'd like to return it. I look forward to more in the future. LH (talk) 22:37, 9 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Non Curat Lex. I've reopened the assessment department. Can you help by further providing your opinion on the assessment matter on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Law/Assessment. The editor who opposed is not a participant of WP Law but a while back this editor removed from WP Law the links to the assessment department and made a couple of changes, but refused to make enough changes to open the assessment department and refused anyone else from making changes. What we have is a non-WPLaw editor who removed the assessment department from the view of WP Law participants and who refused to make changes to bring it back to the view of WP Law participants. I returned the assessment department links to WP Law and cleaned up the dep't. Now, the editor who opposed the C class is reverting my edits on several articles based on the argument that the C class has not yet been adopted (but it has not yet been rejected which is an argument that continues in the talk page). Can you provide some input as a participant of WP Law? Thank. EECavazos (talk) 20:11, 12 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
OK, good, I think that's a good start. I am glad you are willing to work collaboratively. I hope EEC will also. I think this work. Non Curat Lex (talk) 11:57, 13 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've moved my comments to the end of the section, as you requested. Let me note that it was not you who misrepresented what I wrote; it was Evenin' Scrot/Supervox2113. He's the one who claimed I had expressed a belief that "good behavior should be in the article" when I said nothing of the sort, and the one who erected the strawman of me claiming recess appointments were not subject to the good behavior clause (so he could then proceed to savage that strawman). To be honest, I find his entire tone more than mildly distasteful, and have for a while (I've crossed paths with him before). He seems to think he is in a talk.* group in Usenet, not Wikipedia. I have absolutely no problem with either your tone or the content or substance of your comments, to me or to others. Cheers. Magidin (talk) 18:44, 13 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ta! It does mean something to me, when someone says thank you that way :) Gwen Gale (talk) 02:34, 15 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Lar & Non Curat Lex
Self-Represented Litigation is a subject that I have collected references on and am familiar with. When I started contributing to this article it said 8/26/08 "there is no fundamental right to self-representation." No citation was given for that at all. I posted various quotations of the U.S. Supreme Court, which were deleted on the grounds that you can't quote the Supreme Court. However, another user has more recently quoted the Supreme Court in a different case and there has been no objection to that. I went to the U.W. law library, a 5 floor library, and used their computerized search on both "pro se" and "self-represented". There were only two books and I checked out both of them. One was on reserve. After posting my intention on the comments page, I spent all day Monday typing in the table quoting the various state constitutions, which Non Curat Lex "disagrees" with. That was from the AJS book that I checked out from the library reserve for 24 hours. I posted the American Jurisprudence Society quoting the U.S. Supreme Court, which was deleted I think by "Non Curat Lex". I posted an ABA article I found on the Internet and that was deleted I think by "Non Curat Lex". I am having problems finding the exact wording but on Wed night it was changed to something to the effect that there is a constitutional right to self-representation in a criminal proceeding but not in a civil matter. A 1964 S.C. case concerning the right to a government paid defense lawyer in a criminal prosecution was cited as a reference. I changed that to say that there is a constitutional right in both civl and criminal matters. I emailed to the ABA and asked them for their input and they emailed to me a location on their web site. I quoted that and it was deleted. Here is another ABA publication, which says that there is a "constitutional right".
"Constitution v Ethics There is little disagreement that individuals have a right, rooted in the U.S. Constitution, to represent themselves in a court of law. The exact source of that right has been debated and at various times attributed to the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution, the First Amendment Right to petition the government for redress of grievances, the equal protection clause, and the due process clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments requiring a meaningful hearing. The Supreme Court, on many occasions, has found self-representation to be a constitutional right. It is, therefore, a long-held belief that the courthouse door should be open to everyone. The practical application, however, is not clear. Exactly how far must courts and judges and lawyers go to assure that access is truly equal? The problems with that issue lie in the ethical dilemnas faced by those charged with carrying out this mandate." Source: Patricia A. Garcia for the American Bar Association "Litigants Without Lawyers. Courts and Lawyers Meeting the Challenges of Self-Representation." 2002, p. 11. ISBN 1-59031-061-6
My quotations of the New York Times were also removed.
It seems to me that "Non Curat Lex" has a POV that the article should say that there is no right to represent oneself even though the ABA, the American Judicature Society, and other "legal authorities" disagree. I have absolutely no problem with anyone adding any references to the article but I am bothered by the idea that the article will again be incorrect and convey that there is no right to self-representation. Kay Sieverding Self-represented access to courts is vital for democracy (talk) 18:56, 19 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Non Curat Lex. I can't answer your question on my talk page about this play without breaking WP:NPOV. Which, of course, I am happy to do and say YES I DID. Sorry for the shouting. I do want to add one thing that you may or may not agree with. Being almost twice your age I am lucky enough to be able to say that I have grown up with Jim Henson (I go all the way back to seeing Rowlf on the Jimmy Dean Show) as an entertainer/guru. I told my date, and everybody that I talked to for the last day and a half, that I thought that Jim would have been proud of this show. The songs were both instructive about the diffs of us as humans and were fun. That was why I felt that he was always trying to give to me no matter what venue, (film or TV) something fun and something that I could learn from. MarnetteD | Talk 19:53, 20 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Matt, I was just wondering if you'd like to comment on the Law page's featured article review? Wikidea 13:46, 21 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for alerting me to my error. Sorry, I did edit the bracket right before that and I think it someone got stuck on. There were some problems loading content and I might have had more than one page open. I would really appreciate it if you would stick to using the article commentary page solely for a discussion of source verification per the guidelines. We should have a communal page. I think if we just follow the Wiki policies we will get a better article.kay sieverding (talk) 00:06, 24 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thankyou. I don't understand your comment, though, about leaving messages on the article discussion though since the guidelines to the talk pages say they are not supposed to be used to discuss the subject only to discuss sources. I think the idea is that as a group we aren't supposed to pre agree on how we want to present the subject because that will result in a biased article. kay sieverding (talk) 11:54, 24 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I understand your position is that this is a fringe theory: "self-representation in a civil matter is a fundamental right". Do you have any references to support the position that this is a "fringe theory"? Thank you. kay sieverding (talk) 11:59, 24 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You wrote above
"Wikipedia clearly has no rule that requires any editor to get "approval" on the talk page before making an edit… wikipedia policy suggests against using reversion for good faith edits…I don't have a problem with speed; I have a problem with your edit, because it's an improper reversion. You are making the style the focus here, when it should be the substance. Reverting a GFE creates a dispute. Insisting on reverting again even after you realized it was a sincere edit was plenty of escalation for that dispute."
It is difficult for me to respond to your extensive deletions--because of my time limits, my newness to using the Wikipedia advanced features, and because I don't want a controversy. I believe I am 100% totally sincere in my contributions and that they are all valid even if it sometimes takes more than one attempt to write succinctly. I think you are wrong to delete them. For instance, in discussion of the history of the right of self-representation, I think the Bible is a valid source both because it is a historical document and because it is a document of great influence. I think the "blogs" are evidence of informal publishing and many of what are called blogs--which you have been deleting--are in fact articles inviting comment. Examples of those are the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the ABA Journal, and the American Constitutional Society blog. Since self-representation is a rapidly changing field, these publications are more up to date and the actual blog postings show experiences that are not filtered thru organizations with a POV (that litigation procedures should be structured so that lawyers can make money). kay sieverding (talk) 12:20, 24 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The information below appears to be a message directed at you personally and does not appear to relate to discussion of the article, so I am moving it to your talk page. I will reinforce appropriate talk page editing with Kay. Risker (talk) 17:13, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to add that Non Curat Lex has stated his interest in the subject of prisoner litigation and his intention to contribute on that section next month. According to his bio, he is a 26 year old lawyer in Southern California. I would like to make him aware that there was an article on the ABA web site about the U.S. Attorney in Southern California. I will try to find the link later. The article said that they used their computers to match all the DNA in their files against each other and found 125 pairs of people for whom they had matching DNA on file. This included unrelated people of different races. Apparently, their previous procedure had involved preselecting characteristics such as race before running the DNA match tests. Since this is right in his geographic area, he might see other articles on this. Since he is a lawyer and interested in the subject of prisoner litigation, maybe he could offer some pro bono assistance to prisoners convicted on the basis of DNA evidence that is now in dispute. kay sieverding (talk) 15:27, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
OK. It does however have relevance to pro se litigation since 92% of all prisoner appeals are pro se and the fact that such a scientific challenge has emerged to DNA evidence will give basis to many prisoner appeals, if they are aware of the evidence. It really is pretty shocking. To me it is just horrifying that innocent people are in jail. I was completely unsympathetic to prisoners until I was jailed for engaging in pro se litigation. There I was curious about other prisoners. I had very little contact with male prisoners but I felt terrible for the women I met. I probably heard the stories of at least 75 prisoners. Of those, only four involved violence. One was a woman who seemed to be retarded who watched while one of her boyfriends beat up and robbed another. A second was a woman who told me that when she was a young teen her parents friend had sex with her in their home while her parents were upstairs. She got pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption. The third was a woman who walked in on another woman giving her husband a BJ. She weighed about 100 lbs. but she said she put the other woman in the hospital. However, wouldn't most men get off in such a situation? The 4th was a 100 lb. woman who slapped her 250 lb boyfriend's face. The neighbors called the cops because they heard shouting and asked why his face was red. She was a graduate from a college where admission requires straight A's. She went to jail because she missed a couple of parole meetings. She was afraid to miss work to go to the meetings which were only available M-F 9 - 5. I met a woman who was jailed because she was late paying her car registration because her daughter had cancer. I met a woman who was jailed for living with her husband and their new baby because he had 5 years earlier got a restraining order against her and never canceled it. I met a woman who did almost 6 months without trial because she was accused of not turning in her son for dealing drugs. I met a woman who pled guilty to a theft she didn't do that they had no evidence that she did or that even happened because they offered to let her out on time served. She served 5 months because she couldn't raise bail. kay sieverding (talk) 18:31, 12 October 2008 (UTC)kay sieverding (talk) 18:32, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
I also met a graduate of law school who said she wasn't admitted to the bar because she defended a man while she was still in law school and she was black. She had no criminal record. She was jailed because her mother had owned an unregistered gun. It was in a locked safe. Her mother died and two months later all her mother's stuff was in her garage including the safe. Her daughter's boyfriend used pot and a search warrant was issued against her residence because of the daughter's boyfriend. But she had no criminal intent.
I met a woman who had been employed and was a college grad. She never got a DUI except once, on New Year's Eve, when she killed someone. She got 30 years for vehicular homicide. Her sentence could have been shortened if she got alcoholism treatment but that was only available at Max. She was in a minimum security facility and she said she couldn't cope with Max even to get out a few years earlier. She would have agreed to never drive again, to give speeches about drinking and driving, and to pay restitution. I didn't see how putting her away for 30 years benefited anyone. kay sieverding (talk) 18:40, 12 October 2008 (UTC) kay sieverding (talk) 18:42, 12 October 2008 (UTC)kay sieverding (talk) 18:42, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I merely suggested that because you said you planned to write an article about prisoner litigation.
What does this mean "rv gf/u edit [user ordered to stop experimenting on m.a.]) ? kay sieverding (talk) 01:35, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Non Curat Lex
According to Wikipedia " The criterion for validity of a legal rule in such a society is that it bears the warrant of the sovereign and will be enforced by the sovereign power and its agents." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_positivism
You are using the term "legal rule" to describe "Laws and organizations charged with regulating judicial conduct may also impact pro se litigants. For example, The State of California Judicial Counsel has, through published materials addressed the need of the Judiciary to act in the interests of fairness to self-represented litigants. [5] The California rules express a preference for resolution of every case on the merits, even if it requires excusing inadvertance by a pro se litigant that would otherwise result in a dismissal. (While this creates double standard--your unsupported unflagged statement), The Judicial Counsel justifies it based on the idea that "Judges are charged with ascertaining the truth, not just playing referree... A lawsuit is not a game, where the party with the cleverest lawyer prevails regardless of the merits."[6] It suggests "the court should take whatever measures may be reasonable and necessary to insure a fair trial" and says "There is only one reported case in the U.S. finding a judge's specific accommodations have gone too far".
Do you mean that "the court should take whatever measures may be reasonable and necessary to insure a fair trial" "will be enforced by the sovereign power and its agents."?
Why are you describing my insertion of the following 13 citations as "controversial edits" and what difference does it make that it is controversial? Wikipedia is supposed to be able to deal with controversial subjects such as presidential elections. Did you find the references to be inaccurate? Why exactly did you delete the following?
"The wording " which requires a judge to “accord to every person who has a legal interest in a proceeding . . . the right to be heard according to law.” is used in many state codes including Alabama, [1] Idaho,[2] Indiana,[3] Kentucky, [4] New Jersey,[5], Nevada[6] Wisconsin [7]Pennyslvania, [8] Virgina, [9] Rhode Island, [10] Washington State,[11] West Virginia[12]Utah, [13]
Why did you insert the qualifier "while this creates a double standard" and not flag it? My understanding is that all a court will do is make sure the rules are understood. As clear in the reference, if a complaint should be dismissed because of statute of limitations, for instance, there is no difference between the results based on whether it is filed by a lawyer or not.
I see no Wikipedia justification for your choice to delete the state judicial canons, even if Risker and Arthur Ruben also want them deleted.
By saying that the state judicial canons are "controversial edits" you are admitting that they are "relevant".
Just what are you threatening to do "as appropriate action" because I flagged your unsupported statements and reinserted the 13 references to the state judicial codes? kay sieverding (talk) 14:20, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
State judicial canons saying “A judge should accord to every person who is legally interested in a proceeding, or the person's lawyer, full right to be heard according to law”. supplement state laws. I haven't done anything against Wiki policy. kay sieverding (talk) 01:52, 14 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
All editors to this section, with the exception of me, and Non Curat Lex were found to be Sock Puppet Vandals CTJF83Talk 04:10, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your assistance in taking care of the uncivil and PA on my talk page! It is appreciated!! :) CTJF83Talk 02:16, 22 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
[-unindent-] Most of your above comments here are more argument, rather than fact, so I can't really understand what the dispute is. If you want my help resolving an editing dispute, you'll have to explain the underlying dispute (preferably with diffs) instead of just giving an explanation, and labeling editors or edits.
As for your feelings about CTJF, I'm really sorry you feel that way about a fellow editor. My brief experience with him, her, or it has been completely different. He, she or it seems like a 100% goodnatured, upstanding, and rule-abiding wiki. You, on the other hand, have been very negative in your comments. Maybe there is a reason that few people are taking your side. If you treat wikipedia as a "me against the world" proposition, you're not going to get what you want, because it just doesn't work that way here. Non Curat Lex (talk) 20:40, 24 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think we agree on that judge but come across on the talkpage as disagreeing. I don't think Esox needs to keep on going there, the article is fairly negative as it is - but rightly so. I don't think that the middle section needs to be there - it's just negative on top of negative and not well referenced. The underlying issue, which the RMN spells out (within a word or two, at least) and makes their own reliable ref to (a TV interview I think) is Ob of Ju (delete this if you want). I don't think that should go in - but, given that, I think that it should be made clear that a whitewash should not be allowed and Esox should be dealt with fairly gently (but asked to avoid a COI). Smallbones (talk) 18:57, 3 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Federal_Trade_Commission&diff=next&oldid=247063702 St. Puid, Head of Assisi 00:15, 6 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, "anon" adieu, here I am, and meeting a hale fellow well met. So, for you, a fellow attorney from Los Angeles (well, moi non plus) who could be dating my daughter (please don't, I've always hoped better for her), I'll argue with you about the .01 of doubt, not so much for Kay's sake (heaven forbid that rough draft) but for the good of the institution that we love (as does Kay). Oh, and also because at this point in my life, I've realized that no one listens to me except other attorneys.
Again, my friend, the problem with "Self Representation" begins with its title. The true subject is "Popular Access to the Courts" or some flowery legal language to that effect, describing the political principle long identified and claimed by the US, which I could only hope to pull out of my dusty hornbooks (if I had the inclination) at this late hour.
Following up on the issue I noted as "anon" in the article talk page, it seems to me that many courts have recently done at least basic (if localized) studies and surveys exploring the extent to which they provide access to citizens in their jurisdiction. Many have created "pro-per clinics" or somesuch to try to bridge the gap between the pros and the pers.
Yet, it seems that most jurisdictions (US, I know, I know) seem to frequently cite the usual decisions that seem to require "pro pers" to diligently conform to those procedural rules that professionals must observe, on pain of humiliation if not disbarment. Some courts even seem (OR) to hoist pro pers on their own petard as a means to dispose of a matter that otherwise might deserve some attention, apparently only because the focused legal analysis necessary to resolve an important issue is missing due to the appellant's inexperience and the Court's disinclination to lift weights due to limited resources, overwork, or disinterest. POV and OR prevent me from pointing out that most courts would not likely treat a new and inexperienced attorney in quite the same manner.
Should not an objective article discussing the important theoretical democratic principle of access to the courts and other instruments of governance note the practical difficulties many citizens encounter in exercising this important right? Indulge me, my friend, I think you're seeing the glimmer of truth that I'm seeing in the mess that the article in question raised.Steveozone (talk) 08:07, 6 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I guess you don't have access to this information from the {{user5}} template and didn't see it in the discussion, but the current block is the 4th for this type of behavior since Sept 12, 2008. Don't know if that will change your opinion. Toddst1 (talk) 17:20, 6 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi there, for some reason the Thomas M. Cooley article is on my watchlist, and it has undergone a dramatic rewrite today. I wonder if you could take a look at it and tell me if it has become quite POV; it seems to be almost entirely focused on one aspect of Cooley's work, but I don't have the background to know if that was his main claim to notability, or if there is something else that is missing. Much appreciated if you have a chance. Risker (talk) 20:55, 8 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The evidence here is overwhelming that these are all the same person. I'm unblocking User:Del arte, which seems to be the real master, to time served with a warning not to sock again. I advise interested parties to watch the IP range and articles related to this case. I am also renaming Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/PrimeFan to Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/Del arte and retagging the socks. This decision was made in consultation with other checkusers and a member of the arbcom. — Rlevse • Talk • 17:12, 9 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
just overhauled the whole article... could you review it for errors, please? Foofighter20x (talk) 06:30, 30 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for making 2008 an interesting and enlightening year for me; at some point, our paths have crossed and I've found your comments amusing, helpful or thought-provoking—I'll let you guess which!
Thanks for the talk page note. The answer is that it's a fringe viewpoint which doesn't have any acceptance among mainstream historians. The "human rights charter" claim was essentially a propaganda claim made by the late Shah of Iran back in 1970 to promote his regime - see Cyrus cylinder#As a charter of human rights. The specific claim that I deleted is actually sourced to a fake translation that has been circulating for some years - the text of the cylinder actually says nothing about the "recognition and protection of the freedom of movement". Robertson and Merrills, the author of the cited book, aren't historians and they certainly aren't scholars of the ancient Akkadian language in which the cylinder is written. When you have non-experts contradicting the experts (and especially when you have experts specifically rejecting the claims of the non-experts), I think you have to go with the experts - there's no point in perpetuating errors. -- ChrisO (talk) 23:31, 30 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Matt, I wondered if you might like to comment on the conflict of interest I just reported for User:THF and the tort reform article, here? Wikidea 21:14, 9 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well, most references in .uk domains seem to be about the U.S. tort reform, and the same seems to be true of British law journal references. From this I infer that it usually goes under different name. The article as written doesn't summarize U.S. tort reform aims at all, even though "tort reform" in general is supposed to be the subject of the article.
In this case, there does seem to be insufficient weight on U.S. tort reform. Cool Hand Luke 23:29, 9 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hi there, if you're still about and might be interested in editing on a notable lawyer, could you ping me please? The article needs the perspective of someone who understands legal scholarship (i.e., more than I do!), but has the potential to be quite interesting. Hope you're well! Risker (talk) 16:32, 19 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Ironically, on the talk page of someone who was be rather unsuitable for the task force. Enigmamsg 04:02, 6 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
You expressed an interest in the Bivens article, specifically its analysis section, and seem to have relevant knowledge. I am posting this note to inform you that that section of the Bivens article will be removed in two weeks for a number of reasons appearing on the face of the article. I'd love for you to improve the article before then, if you're capable of it. Agnosticaphid (talk) 21:38, 4 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:32, 23 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I was just thinking of you. You've been gone so long! Enigmamsg 03:57, 18 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]