Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with public and legal

How to become a civil liberties crusader

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:58:42 -0800

Public interest law transition-filter: I am a lawyer in a private-sector transactional practice. I would like to be a public interest lawyer doing litigation or policy in national security, civil liberties, surveillance or drug liberalization. My orientation on all these issues is civil-libertarian, pro-transparency and disclosure, etc. Groups whose work I tend to admire include the ACLU, EFF, EPIC, Government Accountability Project, CCR, etc.

I'm a few years out of law school and I have decent credentials: I graduated from a top school with good grades, and I work for one of the most distinguished "BigLaw" firms. The group I practice in is routinely recognized as the best, or among the best, in the business.

My big weakness is that I have no litigation experience and little public interest history. I haven't clerked. I haven't worked on any of the causes I'm interested in. I have been a member of a civil liberties group, but not a terribly active one. I have done some public interest pro bono projects as a practicing lawyer, but nothing really relevant to what I want to get into.

I understand that this is "bad" -- the question is, what do I do about it? What is the quickest and most efficient way I can get out of what I'm doing and into one of the things I'm interested in? Part-time, volunteer, unpaid internship and similar possibilities are all possible if I need to do them. Should I try to clerk? Who to talk to about this?

(I am of course prepared to accept a vastly diminished wage rate in exchange for work that I will find meaningful.)

All advice is welcome. Thanks.

If there is important information missing let me know in the thread and I will try to follow up.

A New Old Book?

The Whelk — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:56:19 -0800

CopyrightFilter: Lets say I wanted to take a book in the public domain, illustrate it, set it, and design it as a kind of portfolio project that shows I can do all these things - could I then sell the book legally via print on demand or running my own press?

Hosting a public LAN Party; What legal issues should I be aware of?

ilumos — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:53:31 -0800

Hosting a public LAN Party; What legal issues should I be aware of? Hi MeFi,

Myself and friends have been hosting private LAN parties for the past 3 years and with 20 or so atendees we've outgrown our normal venue.

What do we need to be aware of when hiring out a new venue with regard to public liability, insurance and the legality of sleeping overnight in the (public) venue?

I've done some research into other LAN parties, most of which have both rules and legal waivers, and some with insurance.

We hope it to be a successful event, but before we start approaching prospective venues we want to have an idea of the legal implications.

This is for a 48 hour UK based LAN on the south coast with hopefully 30+ attendees, and we'll be charging for entry to cover our costs.

Any information is greatly appreciated,

Many thanks!

Is a public library film festival via YouTube legal?

Knicke — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:40:11 -0800

I would like to put together a playlist of short films posted to YouTube and show them for a group of kids at my public library. Legally, can I do this? I am planning to use only original films that have not a whiff of copyright infringement about them and that are content-appropriate. However, I'm having trouble figuring out whether this is OK according to YouTube's Terms of Service. Lots of info about the API and the actual content of the videos...nothing about public performance/showing as far as I can tell.

Normally I'd just go ahead and do it, but I'm new to this job, my information law class was several years ago, and I really don't want something (even a minor something) to bite me in the butt after the fact!

Thanks in advance for your help.

legal advice for a boston city ordinance violation please, details within

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:37:41 -0800

What are my next moves? This past marathon monday, a couple buddies and I were drinking out of solo cups on private property, adjacent to a side street. A group of policemen came around and asked us to move to the street for a "lecture." We put down our drinking cups and move out for said lecture. Turns out the lecture is just a pretense for them to hand out citations for alcohol in public. (200 dollars) The policeman apologizes for doing this, but says that hes under orders to hand out citations. He says that this ticket will be easy to appeal, because he messes up some of the details on the ticket, and he won't show up to the appeal.

I'm having trouble finding resources online regarding how to appeal this citation. (Boston, MA) Links to any resources will be appreciated.

The directions on the backside of the citation says to make a written request to the clerk magistrate of the court. Are there any formal conventions for this letter?

Any anecdotes in a similar situation will also be helpful. I know you are not a lawyer, but given the background, general advice will also be appreciated.

Is leaning trespassing?

youthenrage — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:29:26 -0800

Am I trespassing if I am standing on a public sidewalk, leaning against a wall that directly abuts the sidewalk? Me and a friend were just stopped by a police officer who accused us of trespassing. He made us show him our ID, ran our information and threatened to arrest us for trespassing. Our crime? Stopping on a public sidewalk and leaning against a wall that directly abuts the sidewalk for about 15 minutes.

Quick Summary - Me and a friend were walking around, we stopped on the sidewalk and wait around for some friends. We both stood on the sidewalk and leaned up against the wall. We were not obstructing anybody else on the sidewalk, it is wide enough for people to walk by unhindered by us. After about 15 minutes we decided not to wait any longer and left. A police officer stopped us about 100 ft. away and asked to see our IDs. I asked him if we were being detained, and if so, what we were being detained for. He said that we were being detained, for trespassing. I asked where we were trespassing and he said we were sitting on "his wall". I said that we weren't on the wall, but standing on the sidewalk. He said that this was still trespassing, and demanded our IDs. We provided them, he ran our information and when it came up that we didn't have any warrants, he let us go warning that we could be arrested for trespassing if we came back.

To be totally clear, this is DEFINITELY a public sidewalk, and a public street. There are no "No Trespassing" or "Private Property" signs anywhere in the immediate area. The wall starts immediately where the sidewalk stops (it's not like sidewalk, strip of grass, wall - just sidewalk, wall). The street/sidewalk runs through a public university and the officer worked for that university - not the city.

I think this cop was being ridiculous, the wall physically prevented us from trespassing, the definition of trespassing says that you must enter the property and it's pretty clear that we didn't enter it.

Can anybody confirm or deny whether leaning on or touching a wall/building is trespassing? The only source I could find was this "Sitting against a building is not trespassing
This is one we hear about a lot. People leaning up against a building are told they are trespassing and are asked to move along. Nothing could be further from the truth; it is a physiological impossibility to be "on" or "in" a building that one is leaning against, even if there is some commingling of subatomic particles. " which I got from The Street Spirit. This happened in Richmond, VA.

Is it illegal to enter the restroom of the opposite sex?

rorycberger — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 14:03:54 -0800

So apparently it's legal to have sex in a bar bathroom in Italy, but what about the U.S.? Related question: is it illegal for a woman to go in the men's room (or vice versa)? Anybody ever gotten in trouble (beyond just embarrasment) for something like this?