On the night of the arrest—without an arrest warrant—Serge waived his right to call a lawyer. He phoned his wife and told her what had happened and that a bunch of F.B.I. agents were on the way to their home to seize their computers, and to please let them in—though they had no search warrant, either. Then he sat down and politely tried to clear up the F.B.I. agent's confusion.
"He was completely not interested in the content of what I am saying. He just kept saying to me, 'If you tell me everything, I'll talk to the judge, and he'll go easy on you.' It appeared they had a very strong bias from the very beginning. They had goals they wanted to fulfill. The goal was to obtain an immediate confession."
None of those articles promote surreptitious recording. You tell them you will only speak while being recorded (with a lawyer, natch), then they go away.
Tell that to all the Zynga employees who made 83(b) elections and are now underwater! 83(b) entails being taxed on the value of stock/options when purchased/received (i.e., as compensation), rather than when vested or when exercised. It's great if the value of the stock increases, but you're substantially worse off economically (taking the time value of money into account) if the value of the stock decreases.
Unless the total price of the stock grant is financially negligible at the point of hire, the %5 tax difference isn't that great of an advantage compared to the risk since most startups fail.
I think vested stock options not expiring a few months after leaving the company is far more valuable, but no one does that. It would allow you to put no money down and only exercise when the options are actually liquid without being forced to purchase the stock at some point due to circumstances not under your control.
If I ever get "fuck you" money, I am going to entertain myself by renting billboard space around courtrooms urging jurors to Google "jury nullification". I figure there would probably be some entertaining fallout of some sort.
Given how jury nullification was traditionally used, that fallout will probably also include accusations of virulent racism.
I'm not sure a lot of more libertarian types who advocate for jury-nullification are fully aware that the reason it was suppressed was that it was for decades a mechanism to basically let white guys kills black guys consequence-free.
This is one of the reasons "fuck you" money is necessary.
Jury nullification is a tool, it is not itself racist, though those who have other reasons to oppose it of course paint it as such. With "fuck you" money, much of that sort of slander loses its teeth.
I did not know that. I still stand by nullification as a possible solution to marijuana possession charges or the more egregious "excessive downloading" felonies. But it would be horrific to watch it used by twelve racists to free actual murderers :(
I'm familiar with that man. That more or less is my definition of entertainment. I think somebody with money and who did it right (billboards on major roads surrounding but not necessarily in front of the court house, never approaching individuals in any way) could get into some interesting legal battles.
Do it right and it is plainly free speech; if I were to write/publish a book instead of design/rent billboards it would be very unambiguously legal. The entertainment comes in the form of seeing how they would try to stop me.
Are you sure about that? Do non-Americans have the same rights as Americans? Can they refuse to talk to the police, refuse to let the police into their home without a warrant, have an attorney present, ...?
Yes, all persons on US soil are to be protected by the constitution. (Not withstanding specific incidents of abuse, the fact that one is, or isn't a citizen is not intended to have any effect on the constitutional rights available.)
Is it really as simple as this in practice? Does anyone have any experience with this? As a foreigner, I have huge respect for the amount of trouble that the immigration authorities can cause for you if they figure they don't like your face.
The law is that simple. Actual practice may not be -- but talking to the cops sure didn't help the guy in this story, did it? It made things worse. A lot worse.
But yeah, if the government wants to fuck with you, they can surely fuck with you. Your best defense is getting a lawyer asap and not talking to the cops without a lawyer.
He would have been quite lucky to be deported. It's also sadly a much different game when you have access to funds--most people don't call a lawyer because it's expensive.
Miranda Rights. Even foreigners are entitled to a public defender. Prosecutors aren't allowed to even talk to you without giving you your Miranda Rights first (except in very very limited situations)
EDIT: It seems like Immigration is treated differently from other criminal cases. But it seems like if you're arrested by the typical FBI agent (ie: some sort of crime), you're gonna get Miranda Rights read to you, and the option for a free public lawyer.
In general, I'm more worried about not being arrested - i.e. when I'm on the freeway, police stops me, they ask me what I have in my trunk or where am I going, can I say "I don't want to talk to you" and call a lawyer?
Long story short, yes. 5th Amendment means that you have the right to remain silent, 4th Amendment means that you have the right to refuse searches until the cop provides the necessary documentation. Both of these rights apply to foreigners.
All the lawyer probably will say is refuse entry until the cop shows a search warrant, and speak as little as possible.
There are some abusive states out there when it comes to foreigners. Arizona for instance is famous for having abusive laws / cops towards foreigners. (Arizona SB 1070, part of which was struck down as Unconstitutional however). So its important to remember that the law changes from State to State (its only natural in a country that is ~3000 miles wide).
I don't know anyone in my circles who "has" a lawyer. So what to do when you encounter a situation with law enforcement officials? If I am at home, sure, I can search for a nearby lawyer's contact information. But what if I am at airport or some place where I cannot search for one? How do I find a lawyer in that case?
"If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning, if you wish."
it is when you're arrested. Until arrested - my understanding that one don't have to answer questions. Though personally i found it is really impossible to insist on your rights, i basically just chicken under stress : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6142434
"He was completely not interested in the content of what I am saying. He just kept saying to me, 'If you tell me everything, I'll talk to the judge, and he'll go easy on you.' It appeared they had a very strong bias from the very beginning. They had goals they wanted to fulfill. The goal was to obtain an immediate confession."
Don't talk to police! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc