Politically Correct Government Runs Amok... Unclean Hands?

UPDATE: 03-17-08 CRAIGSLIST IS EXONERATED

A Three-judge panel sitting for the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has decided that the online classified site known as craigslist is just a "messenger" and is not liable for discriminatory ads posted on the site by its users. This also eliminates the large deep-pocket source of attorney's fees in the matter.

From the ruling... the judges note:

"Using the remarkably candid postings on craigslist, the Lawyers’ Committee can identify many targets to investigate. It can dispatch testers and collect damages from any landlord or owner who engages in discrimination."

"It can assemble a list of names to send to the Attorney
General for prosecution. But given §230(c)(1) it cannot
sue the messenger just because the message reveals a
third party’s plan to engage in unlawful discrimination."

The Court Decision may be obtained here.

UPDATE: School clears kids in contraband candy caper

UPDATE: HUD Questions Go Unanswered.

According to the Washington Post....

"Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson twice last week declined to directly answer senators' questions about allegations that he and his agency sought to punish a housing authority for refusing to help one of Jackson's friends."

"Senators were focused on a January 2007 e-mail exchange, first reported by The Washington Post on Wednesday, in which two of Jackson's assistant secretaries discussed how they could make the Philadelphia Housing Authority director's life "less happy" by taking away the authority's federal funds."

"In a recent lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development, authority director Carl R. Greene accused the agency of moving to strip his office of about $50 million based on exaggerated claims that the authority was not providing enough accessible housing. He asserts that it was retaliation for rebuffing Jackson's earlier demands that Greene give a $2 million vacant authority property to developer Kenny Gamble, a friend of Jackson's."

"Jackson, when asked about retaliation accusations by Senate banking committee members Wednesday, said he could not discuss the matter because it is the subject of a lawsuit against his agency. He said a gag order prevented him from commenting."

"But when Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he had learned that the judge's gag order did not prohibit Jackson from answering senators' questions, Jackson acknowledged Thursday at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that he had learned he could discuss the matter. Reading from a written statement, however, Jackson said he did not have any firsthand information about the e-mails and learned of them the day before they were published. He later sidestepped several questions about any personal role he played in the dispute with the Philadelphia agency."

"'Am I concerned? Yes,' Jackson told Specter. 'But I don't know all the intricacies of what occurred. . . . I'm making every effort to get to the bottom of it.'"

Lying or stone-walling Congress is never a good idea. Will this blow up in the media to be an Administration scandal affecting the 2008 election cycle is anybody's guess.

Original Blog Entry...

Is this a case of an ordinary citizen Set up by predatory lawyers acting in their own self-interests?

Landlord fingered by nonprofit that sued craigslist

"A Chicago landlord who ran an advertisement on craigslist seeking 'young college students or single females' faces charges that he violated the Fair Housing Act."

"The Department of Housing and Urban Development claims the ad posted by the landlord, Cesar A. Lopez, discriminates against men and families with children."

"The Fair Housing Act prohibits advertisements that state a preference based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability."

"Lopez's January 2006 ad -- which advertised an apartment in an owner-occupied, three-story building -- allegedly promised a 'great apartment for a single person.'"

Enter the lawyers...

"The ad was flagged by a nonprofit group, the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc., which monitors craigslist."

According to HUD, Lopez told the group that he believed the ad was just 'being honest' and that 'girls really are cleaner.'

with a not-so-hidden agenda of making new case law

"The Chicago Lawyers Committee sued craigslist in February 2006, saying it was responsible for the content of similar ads published by the online classified service."

Ads cited by the group in that lawsuit included statements such as "Requirements: Clean Godly Christian Male," "Non-Women of Color NEED NOT APPLY," and "No children."

"In a November 2006 ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted craigslist's motion to dismiss the suit, saying Web sites that serve as intermediaries and allow users to post ads or commentary enjoy protections under the Communications Decency Act not afforded to print publications such as newspapers."

"The Chicago Lawyers Committee appealed the decision to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments in the case last month."

"HUD said a hearing on the charges against Lopez is scheduled for May 20 before a U.S. administrative law judge, unless any of the parties in the case elect to have the case heard in U.S. District Court."

Lawyers acting in their own self-interest?

"Discrimination charges heard before an administrative law judge carry a maximum civil penalty of $16,000 for a first offense, in addition to actual damages for each complainant, injunctive or other equitable relief, and attorney's fees."

So while a group of zealot lawyers use HUD rules and regulations as a weapon against an ordinary, otherwise law-abiding property owner -- maybe they should be watching HUD...

HAS HUD VIOLATED RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act)?

Some mortgage originators believe that HUD may have violated RESPA’s Section 8 prohibition against kickbacks when implementing a now-defunct program to boost FHA origination volume. The program paid brokers $500 to “steer” HUD-eligible buyers into FHA-insured loans.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is fighting accusations Thursday from some in the mortgage banking industry that claim it engaged in “illegal kickbacks” to brokers as part of an incentive program designed to boost FHA origination volume. HUD fails the “magic test” as no services were provided to the borrower or performed by the originator.

The now-defunct pilot program paid brokers $500 dollars to steer HUD-eligible buyers into FHA-insured loans, a paid incentive that the Michigan Mortgage Brokers Association said Thursday violated the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act. The story is covered here.

HUD SECRETARY UNDER INVESTIGATION?

Al Kamen, the famed columnist who writes the “In the Loop” column for the Washington Post wryly notes how HUD has created a “photo homage” to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.

“The exhibit includes photos of an empathetic Jackson talking with a disabled child in a wheelchair, chatting with three women and giving a speech. And there is another of him at a construction site, the only one that might help visitors connect Jackson to his job here.”

“Best to go soon as possible. Jackson is under investigation by HUD's inspector general and the Justice Department for various alleged acts of favoritism in awarding HUD contracts. It's been reported that investigators are looking into whether he helped steer no-bid and inflated contracts for New Orleans and the Virgin Islands to friends and whether he lied when he told authorities he had not.”

“And investigators are looking into his alleged role in arranging a contract for a golfing pal who allegedly did repairs and remodeling on Jackson's South Carolina vacation home.”

“Should Jackson be indicted, he may well have to step down from his job, which could place the exhibit in jeopardy. And even if his term is not shortened, he and this example of Americana will most surely be gone early next year.”

More on the story can be found here.

And on the local scene... Zero Tolerance for Candy?

Conn. Student Suspended For Buying Candy In School

According to the Associated Press...

"An eighth-grade honors student at a New Haven school has been suspended for buying a bag of candy at school."

"Michael Sheridan, a student at Sheridan Middle School, was suspended from school for one day, barred from attending an honors student dinner and stripped of his title as class vice president. "

"Officials say he was punished because he bought a bag of Skittles from another student.
A school spokeswoman says the New Haven school system banned candy sales and fundraisers in 2003 as part of the district-wide school wellness policy."

"Spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo says there are no candy sales allowed in schools, period."

"The student who sold the candy also was suspended."

Politicians engaging in political correctness and social engineering are promoting laws, rules and regulations which are slowly eroding the freedom of America's citizens to live out their dream -- denying them the "pursuit of happiness, while bankrupting them in defense of their rights to live the way they want.

What can YOU do?

Do not elect or re-elect politicians whose agenda is based on forcing people to adhere to their code of political correctness and support further experiments in social engineering.

Recognize that laws should protect us all from egregious circumstances, but I see no harm in exerting control over who lives in your house and on your property. In fact, politicians in Long Beach, California are going the other way: trying to make the housing of previously convicted sex offenders (even though they have paid their so-called debt to society) illegal near schools, beaches and parks. According to the fair housing rules and regulations, this is probably discriminatory and any issues of "public safety" could possibly be overridden.  But it does illustrate that elected officials do respond to the public -- especially when the media takes an interest and provides in-depth coverage of the event and the politicians.

We need to ratchet our sensitivity down a few notches. And not run to court every time a someone thinks they have been slighted. Perhaps a good start would be to limit attorney's fees to $100 for any case that is handled in the public interest.

-- steve

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

HUD: Ad seeking single female tenant discriminatory | Inman News

Conn. Student Suspended For Buying Candy In School|WCBSTV

Justice and ommon sense prevails. According to the Associated Press ...

"School officials have decided to go light on an eighth-grader caught with contraband candy in New Haven, Connecticut. Michael Sheridan originally was suspended and loss his class vice president post after buying a bag of candy. Michael Sheridan, an eighth-grade honors student who was suspended for a day, barred from attending an honors dinner and stripped of his title as class vice president after he was caught with a bag of Skittles candy in school will get his student council post back, school officials said. Superintendent Reginald Mayo said in a statement late Wednesday that he and principal Eleanor Turner met with student Michael's parents and that Turner decided to clear the boy's record and restore him to his student council post."