Kenneth Starr 1391





  • Interesting article…thanks for sharing.
    If a formal Corporate Governance review was conducted to evaluate the control environment that was created or intended to be created by passage of SOX, I wonder what the results would be?
    Seems an honest and objective assessment would fail the Act and its governance structure due to the SECs inability to remove accounting board members and because specific language does not eppear to have been written in the Act to control actions of the board members of the PCAOB.
    History and recent experience has demonstrated at significant cost borne by shareholders that the Act is far too broad, onerous for most companies, nearly impossible to interpret and implement, and clear that the Act’s language and compliance requirements is quite unclear.



  • And Ken’s team goes so far as calling Sarbannes-Oxley ‘Stalinist?’
    US AK: ‘Bong Hits’ to Supreme Court?
    URL: mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n562.a09.html
    Newshawk: Award Winning Service drugsense.org/awards/ssdp.htm
    Votes: 0
    Pubdate: Thu, 04 May 2006
    Source: Juneau Empire (AK)
    Copyright: 2006 Southeastern Newspaper Corp
    Contact: letterstotheeditor_at_juneauempire.com
    Website: juneauempire.com/
    Details: mapinc.org/media/549
    Author: Eric Morrison, Juneau Empire
    Bookmark: mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
    Bookmark: mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
    ‘BONG HITS’ TO SUPREME COURT?
    School Board Secures Former Clinton Investigator Kenneth Starr As Pro Bono Attorney in Attempt to Reverse Ruling in First Amendment Banner Case
    The Juneau School Board is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a court ruling that supported a former student’s right to display a banner that read ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus.’
    The Juneau School District has enlisted some big-name help in hopes of overturning the ruling that could potentially cost it money. Los Angeles attorney Kenneth Starr, who served as the independent counsel investigating former president Bill Clinton, has agreed to represent the School Board and former Juneau-Douglas High School Principal Deb Morse on a pro bono basis to appeal an April decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The San Francisco-based court reversed a lower federal court decision when it ruled Morse and the School Board violated JDHS student Joseph Frederick’s First Amendment rights in January 2002.
    ‘The 9th Circuit’s decision has left the Board and school administrators with no guidance as to where and when we can enforce our policy against messages promoting illegal drug use,’ said Phyllis Carlson, president of the School Board. ‘Federal law requires us to maintain a consistent message that use of drugs like marijuana is harmful and illegal. Yet, when we try to enforce our policies, our administrators are sued and exposed to damage awards.’
    Frederick was suspended after he was observed with a sign that read ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ during the visit of the 2002 Winter Olympic Torch to Juneau. Frederick was off school grounds but it was during school hours.
    ‘How foolish,’ said Juneau-based lawyer Douglas Mertz, who has been representing Frederick. ‘How much money are they going to waste trying to deprive someone of their Constitutional rights?’
    Mertz, who has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court before, said it is very unlikely the nation’s highest court will hear the case.
    ‘Number one, they take very few cases anyway,’ he said. ‘And the cases they usually take are issues where there is some issue of national importance and significant disagreement between lower courts, and this case fits neither category.’
    Carlson said Starr, whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Clinton by the U.S. House of Representatives, has the reputation and qualifications to take the case.
    ‘He is absolutely the best attorney we could have for this case,’ she said. ‘The fact that he is willing to waive his fee confirms our belief in the importance of this case to school districts throughout the country.’
    Mertz said he is not intimidated by Starr’s star-power.
    ‘In the Supreme Court, it’s the merit of the cases that count,’ he said.



  • Last updated 2:48AM ET
    December 14, 2006

    KTOO Local News  
    

    U.S. Supreme Court to hear high school free speech case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (2006-12-01) The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a dispute over free speech rights involving a suspended high school student in Juneau and his banner that proclaimed ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus.’ Oral arguments are planned for as early as February 27th.
    Justices agreed to hear the appeal by the Juneau school board and principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student’s civil rights lawsuit to proceed.
    Morse suspended Frederick after he displayed the banner, with its reference to marijuana use, when the Olympic torch passed through Juneau in 2002 on its way to the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
    Frederick, then a senior, was off school property when he hoisted the banner but was suspended for violating the school’s policy of promoting illegal substances at a school-sanctioned event.
    Former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr will argue the school board’s case to the high court. Frederick will be represented by Juneau attorney Douglas Mertz and attornies from the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
    The school board upheld the suspension and a federal judge initially dismissed Frederick’s lawsuit. The Ninth Circuit U-S Court of Appeals later called the banner vague and nonsensical, but said that Frederick’s civil rights had been violated.
    The appeals court said that even if the banner could be construed as a positive message about marijuana use, the school could not punish or censor a student’s speech because it promotes a social message contrary to one the school favors.
    Frederick said his motivation for unfurling the banner was simple: He wanted it seen on television.
    © Copyright 2006, CCBI

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