texts: How to protect assets from being passed to a beneficiary in a will when they are likely to die soon also

texts:
I'm going through the process of creating a simple (my first) last will and testament.

I'm young with modest assets. I'm married with no children and live in the United States. I'd like to have something in place to make things as seamless as possible in the case of my death.

My spouse will be my first beneficiary, but I will also have other family as secondary beneficiaries in the case my spouse and I die at the same time.

While creating the will, I was considering the following scenario: my spouse and I are in an accident together. I die immediately, yet they live for some longer period of time (days/months). They eventually die as well.

I think the question boils down to: at what point does my will go into effect and pass my assets to them? Does it have to do with their condition (conscious/unconscious, mentally competent/incompetent)? Does this change based on who is the executor of the will?

It would seem a bit contrary to my wishes if I were to pass, my assets pass to my spouse, and then shortly to their second beneficiaries instead of mine, especially if it was always unlikely they'd recover. How do wills typically handle this edge case?


texts: What does the 9/11 bill mean for foreign governments?

texts: Congress is about to pass a 9/11 that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi Government. Does this open a 'Pandora's box' where other foreign governments like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc..can sue the US government? Very interesting bill.


texts: Is there any legal precedent for copyright to one's image when digitally recreated?

texts:
Note: This question includes slight spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

In the recent addition to the Star Wars franchise Rogue One, there is a scene depicting Princess Leia as she appears in Episodes IV, V and VI. Rather than hiring a look-alike, the studio opted instead to digitally recreate actress Carrie Fisher's face circa 1977 when Episode IV was filmed.

The actress presumably consented to this, but say she hadn't? Now that Carrie Fisher is no longer able to play the part for Episode IX, there is a good chance this technique will be used again to recreate her older face. A similar process was used in The Fast and the Furious 7 for the final scene, which hadn't yet been filmed upon the death of actor Paul Walker.

Is there legal precedent over one's rights to one's digital image? If a talented animator were to create, say, a music video featuring the digital image of a dancer who wasn't present to film the video, could he or she be sued for infringing upon the natural copyright of the dancer? Would this right pass to the estate upon death, so could Carrie Fisher's estate legally consent to her digital reproduction?


texts: Can an employer be forced to allow an employee to bring a gun to work?

texts:
Imagine a person who feels compelled to buy a handgun and get a carry permit (permission to carry a handgun on their person) after receiving death threats. He wants to carry it on him to and from work, storing it in his locker while working.

However, management won't allow employees to bring firearms onto the premises. An employee could easily bring a firearm to work without being detected. However, employees are required to pass through a metal detector when leaving the building.

So, is there a law that requires an employer to make an exception for an employee who has to carry a firearm for self-defense?

EDIT: Someone pointed out that the words "has to carry" may be a source of confusion. I'm not sure if I should reword that or not. I don't think many CEO's would let an employee bring a gun to work just for the fun of it. Therefore, my question probably should focus on someone who can demonstrate a legitimate need for carrying a handgun. Of course, what constitutes a legitimate need - and how one would prove such a need exists - is a topic for another discussion.

Also, my original question specified Washington State, but I accepted an suggested edit to remove "Washington State" from the title.


texts: Can a contractor refuse to pay a subcontractor if he doesn't get paid?

texts:
Can a contractor refuse to pay a subcontractor until the contractor receives his payment from the company/client? Does it matter if it's in a written contract? Can the buck be passed like that?

"Payment is contingent on when Client pay Contractor. In the case where a Client uses net-30 payment schedules, the Contractor can expect to be paid up to 30 days after the first day of the month after Subcontractor submitted invoice." They slipped this one by me. Hypothetically if the Client doesn't pay Contractor does that mean I wouldn't get paid and there would be nothing I could do about it? Is there even a deadline?


texts: Promotion of illegal activity on social media platforms

texts:
Even though Tesla vehicles manufactured today have the internal hardware to be fully self-driving, they still need to undergo software upgrades before self-driving becomes fully functional. Furthermore, no state, as far as I know, allows autonomous vehicles to operate without a driver.
Nevertheless, videos are circulating on TikTok showing Tesla vehicles on the road with no driver and passengers in the back seat. Isn't TikTok legally required to remove these videos? I reported one and was notified that it didn't violate their community standards. I'm not trying to be a Karen, but I think they give people the wrong message and are dangerous.


texts: Partial rental days at end of a long-term lease

texts:
I started a small real estate rental business by renting out a property for residential tenants. At the end of a 4.5 month lease, then tenant and I came into a dispute about paying for a partial day on the final day of the lease.

The contract says the lease ends on Sunday, August 14th. The tenant wants to vacate the morning of Aug 14th but not pay for Aug 14th because he will not stay a full day on Aug 14th. I offered him a partial day, so that he would only pay half of the day if he leaves before noon. But he rejected my proposal. The tenant wants to stay the night Saturday night and depart Sunday morning without paying for Sunday.  The tenant refuses to pay for even a partial day on Sunday, even though he will occupy the unit until departing Sunday morning.

Who is right, the tenant or me, the landlord?


texts: Can I get in trouble for not paying HOA fees if the HOA has not yet been 'set up'?

texts:
I own a condo which is part of a 3-condo building. I purchased this condo September, 2019. The HOA (or rather, the Condo Owner's Association, I guess) is compromised of the owners of the 3 condos (unsurprisingly). The builder, lets call him Jeff, sold 2 of the 3 units (to myself and the other owner, lets call her Sarah) and maintains the third as a rental property. I have not yet had to pay HOA fees because Jeff 'has not set up the HOA' (his words) and neither has Sarah. He informed me and Sarah that he had intended to do so in March of this year, but covid hit and blah blah blah. Since there is no HOA currently set up, there is no entity for me to pay the fees to. I certainly don't mind not paying HOA fees right now; yes they will be due later retroactively, but time value of money basically means I am saving money by not paying them now. I have asked Jeff several times regarding the set up of the HOA and have the texts saved with him saying he would get to it. My question is, is there some legal issue with me not paying these fees yet? Is there some way Jeff could try to litigate me for not paying in the future? I checked the condo docs and there is no mention of the fees or legal recourse for not paying them. My mortgage documents also do not mention them. Just making sure I am not somehow setting myself up for an expensive lawsuit if Jeff is somehow trying to screw me over. He certainly doesn't seem the type to do so, but I just want to understand the legal situation I am in.
Another related issue is the water bill. The 3 units share one meter and this is supposed to be covered by the HOA fees. I have never seen a water bill and the water still flows, so I imagine it is being paid. I just don't get how.


texts: Legal liability of a developer employed by a company

texts:
The title says it: I am a full-time employee working as an ordinary developer at a company settled in Sweden. I am working on a number of different projects within the company but spend 80+% of my time on one particular project.

This project is an agile project where we develop closely with the customer who is participating in it. Work is done more or less by acclamation, although we have a somewhat rough plan. However, I always enforce that all work done is tracked using Youtrack so that we can agree on estimates, do moderations and that the customer can verify work that we marked as fixed and all this works well. All the work is also based separate specifications that we or they draft in the first place, then agree on and derive features and tasks from it. So far so good.

Now however we're at a situation where the customer is a single person and therefore has to take the roles of the product owner as well as the project manager, as the customer only booked/pays for development time (they book a budget of hours and my company can "throw work" at this and since a couple of months it's only me). The problem is that the customer only knows what they want not how to achieve it. In other words, no customer has no appropriate technical background to be in the role of the product owner.

So the development process works in a way that the developers (mostly me) make suggestions on how to approach new features technically and the customer agrees so that we can move forward. The customer, due to their lack of technical knowledge, virtually cannot disagree mostly. Sometimes they have their own ideas that we discuss but the work that we start is always agreed on and all arguments and concerns have been voiced; all future implications (complexity, needed time etc.) were also voiced.

So recently we finished integrating a huge component into the project, according to the tasks. However, this component is highly complex and does not align with their former component as they had envisioned. The customer even called it a nightmare, as it costed already much more time than planned and during our daily scrum I hinted that, should we continue the integration, it will cost much more time and increase the complexity even further.

Now to get to the point of my question: Do I as a developer in my current position have any additional legal liabilities should this project fail or should the customer claim for recourse? With additional I mean other liabilities that are not covered through the company I am working for. I should note that I made the CEO already aware of this project and that it might back-fire. We also agreed that there has been at least one other red flag regarding this project.

What should I do?


texts:
I was always under the impression that Bodily Injury Liability  pays out to to other driver, other driver's passengers, and your own passengers.

After reading the below, "your own passengers" actually means your own passengers except your spouse. Is this interpretation correct? In order for a spouse to be paid under Bodily Injury Liability, Supplemental Spousal Liabilty must be requested and added as a rider? Or, as a passenger, she would still be covered for bodily injury as long as one carriers Bodily Injury Liability?

"Bars coverage under a liability policy for claims brought by a spouse against the other spouse unless the policy expressly provides coverage for such claims."

Would anyone be able to elaborate?


texts: Is it illegal to steal someone's illegal drugs?

texts: If I break into someone's house to steal their drugs is it burglary? Or  is it ok? Or would it depend on the judge?


texts: Dual sovereignty: Which sentence takes precedence?

texts:
If one is tried for the same offense in both state and federal court, and is convicted in both cases, then which sentence is enacted first?

For example, Dylann Roof got multiple life sentences at the state level, but the death penalty at the federal level. Obviously if the state sentence is enacted first, the death penalty would never be enacted, since he would first spend all his time in a state prison until he dies of natural causes.


texts: Is it legal to host a free movie website in the US?

texts: I was thinking of starting a website where you can watch free movies. Now I know it's illegal to host movies, but what if my site just embeds a movie from another site who is hosting it? BTW, if it is legal, can I charge users a small fee just to access my site?


texts:
I live in Pennsylvania. Recently the counties of Lancaster, Dauphin, and I believe Schuylkill and Cumberland have expressed that they are going to violate the state supreme court and governor by moving to the next level of re-opening despite COVID-19 (i.e. transitioning from red to yellow).

Is this legal? What are the repercussions of doing so?

I've seen some cite the "doctrine of lesser magistrates" as a defense for this. The only information I could find about this practice was from Wikipedia. According to the wiki page this movement originated as a way for a lesser magistrate to overturn the decision of a higher court. It appeared that the direct reference was to something akin to feudalism. I read elsewhere (I forget where exactly) that this practice used to be use in times of violence and war, often citing tyranny as the reason for doing so.

To me this all sounds like the vote of "no confidence" in Chancellor Valorum from Star Wars Episode I.

Thoughts? I'm not a lawyer but merely a legal enthusiast. Thanks!


texts: Customer feedback gathering in Australia

texts:
Is it legal to provide an independent platform/system to the public, so that they can write feedback directly on different companies/products in the market?

Example:

Is it legal for company ABC to make a public bulletin board about BMW and invite all people to write their feedback/comments?


texts: What should an asylee do when a Green Card comes NOT "1 year backdated"?

texts:
Based on USCIS regulation "The date of adjustment for approved applications filed by asylees shall be one year prior to the date of being approved for permanent residence"
Here is the link to that regulation https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/Print/PolicyManual-Volume7-PartM.html#S-G

I became a permanent resident based on being an asylee. But my green card came with the "Resident Since" date equaling to my "Permanent Residence Application Approval" date, i.e. not "1 year backdated". What should I do? I have two options:

1) File form I90. Apply for a new card, and request the "Resident Since" date to be backdated

2) Do nothing. Wait. Four years from now, apply for naturalization and attach an explanation of why I'm applying after 4 years and not 5 years.

Which option is the best?

Note: It is important to have the "Resident Since" date backdated because this allows for an earlier Naturalization


texts: Does the obligation to go to school during the pandemic violate my right to life?

texts:
I am a student in a country which was hit quite hard by the pandemic. Currently, we are attending the lessons distantly, yet more and more people reckon it to be a high time to return to school. Let us not get caught up in politics and other off-topic stuff, so my question is: if there is "right to life" in my Motherland's Constitution, does the obligation to attend school during the pandemic violate it?
Note: I am from Russia, yet I would love to hear a story about any country.


texts: International law: Could this kik sexting interaction bring legal trouble?

texts:
One of my friends is freaking out completely over this. Right off the bat, yes its stupid and this was her first time, she wasnt thinking.

So, my bi friend( lets call her liv) who is 20, found a girl on omegle who said she is 25. They started talking on kik and Liv sent some explicit photos and videos. When she asked the other girl to send something, she did, but then later Liv realizes that those photos are actually screenshots and the pictures arent of the person she is speaking to. She asked her about it and the person bolted. Stopped replying to her texts. Ghosted her for a week. Liv finally deactivated her account permanently. Now her worst worry is that this other person is much younger or something. They are also from different countries( continents) . Liv is from India. The other person is from Missouri, USA. So,
 1) could Liv get into legal trouble if the person is, say young? To what extent is it likely to go? ( The other person said she was 25. Nowhere did she say any other age. And she did not send pics of herself. The ones she sent were screenshots of pics of someone else)


texts: What are the "default rights" for the source code on the Internet without license shown?

texts:
Suppose that one finds programming code from a web-page without any license. How a reader of the web page can use it? Can she copy it to own computer, compile it, run it, do some statistical analysis of the code without reading it? Or do I always ask a permission what are the licences before using it to anything? I think I already made a copy of it if to my web-browser's cache if I can read it.

I live in Finland if it matters anything.


texts: Is it forbidden to fire a gun in self-defense in a national park?

texts:
According to Yellowstones official website:

Hunting is strictly forbidden in Yellowstone, as is target practice. And visitors should not use guns as self-defense against large wildlife, but rather carry bear spray and take other safety precautions.

They don't quote any regulations or court cases which raises the question: is it actually illegal to use a gun in self-defense within a National Park? Are there any court cases discussing this, if the question is ambiguous?
P.S. Lets avoid discussing whether or not guns are superior to bear spray for self-defense purposes. See this answer on Outdoors.SE for a good overview of the subject.


texts: One principal cancelling a jointly granted power of attorney

texts:
This question pertains to Indian Law. However, the Law in this area is similar to British Law, so I would appreciate answers pertaining to British Law too.

Suppose a group of people (the principals) who jointly own land (say, the Trustees of a Trust which owns land) have jointly given power of attorney to someone to act for them (the agent).

I was told that if one of those persons chooses to cancel the power of
attorney, because of fraud or whatever reason (let's say it is fraud),
then the power of attorney needs to be remade/recreated by the remaining principals. Is this true? I have been unable to find any information about this online.


texts:
I've created a company, and I am using unregistered trademarks in my documentation (and soon, products). I've already checked the USPTO and these words are not already trademarked. I am using the (tm) mark after them.

Q: How should I document that I am using these, and when I started using them?


texts: Late fees stacked up over more than a year without notification

texts:
I leased a car in May 2019 and I did setup auto payment from my bank account every month. Recently, I moved to different state and in order to get driver's license, I needed to get some information from the lease company's website and figured I had outstanding balance $750. I called the customer service and found out that my auto payment have been paying for previous month for my car and late fee was kept charged every month for 16 months since last year WITHOUT any outstanding balance notification.
I did pay it in full amount yesterday just to avoid more late fees but I want to know if the car leasing company has any responsibility on notifying customer on outstanding balance.
The total breakdown of charge is $430 (monthly payment) + $320 (late fees for 16 months period).
Thanks.


texts: Are defense attorneys allowed to display the law to the jury?

texts:
This may sound kind of crazy, but I think in many cases things go against defendants because the jury simply does not know what the law is. A judge's instruction is not the same as a juror actually READING the law.
So, this brings up an interesting question: can a defense attorney make a poster that has the text of the law in question (in other words the law under which the defendant is charged) and set up that poster on an easel in the courtroom for the jury to read, or to use it as an exhibit as the attorney makes his case?
Pursuant to this question, in New Hampshire law, the following statute is current:

519:23-a Right of Accused. – In all criminal proceedings the court
shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the
facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in
controversy.

This statute could be interpreted as allowing the defense to inform the jury of the text of the law.


texts:
Is mere dancing in public prohibited in D.C.?

I.e. is there any statute or by-law that makes dancing in public per se illegal in D.C.?

If not, why were these people arrested at the Jefferson Memorial and what is the ruling that "denounced dancing on the site" (from the video's description)?


texts: What's the difference between a "representation" and a "representation and warranty?"

texts:
From what I understand, a "representation" is a statement of fact that underpins e.g., a contract.

My understanding is that a "warranty" is a promise that if something isn't true, it will be "made true" during the course of the warranty's life. E.g. "If your widget doesn't work within the first year of sale, we'll give you another one that works."

Within the above context, I am confused by the dual term "representation and warranty" or "represents and warrants" in a contract. What exactly does it mean? Put another way, how can something be both a statement of fact and a promise? Or does a term that draws on two other terms have a "third" meaning?


texts: Agreeing to only do "academic research", doing academic research, but then spinning off a startup based on academic research

texts:
If I sign a material transfer agreement (MTA) to use a material only for "academic research", do legitimate academic research, but then spin off a startup based on that academic research, does this violate the terms of the MTA?

Specifically, I'm currently deciding whether to sign an MTA that states:

  You may use this Material (including the viral based vectors
  referenced in #1 above) only for the specific research project
  described in the MTA, which is: "academic research."

I intend to only use the material (viral vectors) for scientific research, but I don't want to be constrained in the future if I want to start a startup based on my research - this is the end goal of my PhD. My instincts tell me that these agreements fully handle and allow that case, but I just want to be sure.


texts: How does the prohibition on late rent fees work in MA?

texts:
In Massachusetts, USA,

  a landlord cannot charge interest or a penalty on late rent until 30
  days after the due date. However, the landlord can begin the eviction
  process immediately, even if the rent is only one day overdue. The
  landlord also cannot use a reverse penalty clause to encourage you to
  pay early. For example, it is illegal for a landlord to reduce the
  rent by 10% if the rent is paid within the first five days of the
  month.

Citation

Does this mean that if you pay rent say, five (5) days late, the landlord may charge a late fee as long as it is not actually charged until 30 days after the original due date?

Or must the payment be 30 days overdue to charge a late fee at all?

The wording to me seems to put a restriction on what time the landlord can charge a fee, not what circumstances they may charge under.


texts:
In the movie Knives Out (2019) there is a specific type of inheritance.

 The old milionare bequeathed all of his property to his nurse, instead of giving it to his family.

Could he really do it like this ? Could he omit all of his descendants and bequest his property to a non-family member ? (According to US Law).
Do the descendants have any right to get some money or property from the inheritance even when they were purposely omited from the passed one's will ?
Edit: The movie took place in America, not in Great Britain as I found out.


texts: How risky is modifying the logos of social media sites?

texts:
A lot of websites have social media buttons, which allows users to share the page on various sites. These buttons use the logos of these sites.

Most social media sites don't allow third parties to use altered logo designs, for example Facebook. But even so, I've seen many websites that use slightly modified social media logos, for example IMDb's circular Facebook "f" logo, when the original is a rounded square. I've even seen some more artistic ones, like these or even these.

Is this technically copyright infringement? How risky is it to do this? I've seen some very prominent websites use slightly altered logos. Have any ever been sued?


texts:
The UK's Investigatory Powers Act 2000 can force suspects to decrypt encrypted data or face two years in prison.

What happens if an individual's private encryption key is managed by someone else across the world?
Would this individual still be in legal trouble for being unable to decrypt the data?
What if the third-party refuses to hand over the keys?


texts: In Victoria Australia can you travel more than 5km to inspect a property under stage 4 restrictions?

texts:
Under the stage 4 restrictions as of 01 - October - 2020 can you travel more than the 5km boundary to inspect a property either to potentially buy or rent?
This question applies to Victoria Australia in the Melbourne area and not regional Victoria.


texts: UK Citizenship in 3 years possible by 10 Million Investor Tier 1 route?

texts:
I have plans of applying for the Tier 1 Investor visa UK. I am going to make significant investments amounting to no less than 10M GBP. This makes me eligible to apply for ILR after 2 years.
For those who don't know, the investor can:

apply to settle after 2 years if you invest £10 million
apply to settle after 3 years if you invest £5 million
apply to settle after 5 years if you invest £2 million

I qualify for ILR after 2 years of my investment and Tier 1 Visa.
Does this mean that I can apply for citizenship after 3 years (that is 12 months after receiving ILR) of receiving Tier 1 Visa?
There is a requirement that the applicant must be in the UK exactly 5 years before the date of application of citizenship, but I am afraid I do not fit here as I am not working for a company on Tier 2 work visa since 5 years (the traditional immigration route), instead I am on the fastest route to ILR hence I could become eligible for ILR after 2 years. So I will definitely not be in the UK exactly 5 years before the date of application.
What do you think? Can I get British citizenship after 3 years since my Tier 1 visa and my investments in the UK begin? All UK Gov. documents assume that the citizenship applicant must have been in the UK for at least 5 years (as is the case for the majority of the times) but does this rule apply for fast-track route applicants who have invested more than 5M or 10M GBP? Notice that the Investor who invests 2M or more falls in the category of "ILR after 5 years" so there's no problem for them as well, just these 2 categories fall in a different situation.
Or is it the case that British citizenship can be applied for, in all cases including the 5 M and 10 M investment cases, only after 5 years in the UK with no absences of more than 450 days in those 5 years? This implies that investors who receive ILR after 2 and 3 years, respectively, have to wait for 3 and 2 years before they can apply for citizenship.
Thanks.


texts: Neighbor trees' shade impact solar panel production?

texts: Is there any case law or precedent or? regarding a neighbor's trees whose shadow covers another's roof for a good part of the day and thus block solar panels from working as efficiently as they might. The trees were there first if that makes a difference.


texts: If A fails to pay C under a contract between A and B to do so, can C sue A?

texts:
A promises B to pay C a sum of money, say Rs.500. However, A does not pay the amount to C.

Can C take legal action against A for non-performance?


texts: Why can multiple companies make wind turbines? Why don't they run into patent violations?

texts:
I am curious to know that how it can be that so many companies can build wind turbines.
Did these companies buy the patent from the inventor of wind turbine? Or is this technology not patentable? Or did no one bother to patent this technology?
Suppose, hypothetically, that I am the inventor of the wind turbine. How can I protect my idea to prevent it from being duplicated?


texts: Are decided legal cases reviewed when precedent cases are overturned?

texts: When the outcome of a case is largely decided by a precedent case, what happens to the cases citing it?


texts: Is it legal for the USPS to forward a ballot in Washington state?

texts:
I live in King County in Washington state, where my son (who is temporarily away at college in another state) is registered to vote in the 2020 election. My address is his permanent residence.  Despite my prompting earlier this year for him to update his mailing address, he failed to do so, so I now have his ballot.
I have seen differing accounts online regarding the legality of the USPS forwarding mail. Many news reports specifically say that the USPS won't forward election-related mail, but I cannot find an official citation of the relevant law.
Further, Washington has long had 100% vote-by-mail, where ballots are sent to all registered voters, so it's not like a typical absentee ballot request in other states.  The Washington Secretary of State website FAQ indicates forwarding mail is a county-level decision:

Some counties may allow ballots to be forwarded. However, the best thing to do is contact your county elections department and ask for a temporary change in your mailing address.

I looked up WAC 434-250-070 which confuses me as it seems to provide for mail to be forwarded, with the voter placed inactive after the election:

Forwarding ballots.

(1) The county auditor must utilize postal service endorsements that allow ballots to be forwarded, allow the county auditor to receive the updated address information for forwarded ballots, and allow the return of ballots not capable of being forwarded. A voter may only vote a ballot specific to the address where he or she is currently registered to vote, rather than a ballot specific to a new address.
(2) If a ballot is returned or forwarded, the county auditor must, following certification of the election, either:

(a) Transfer the voter registration and send the voter an acknowledgment notice, if the updated address is within the county; or
(b) Place the voter on inactive status and send the voter a confirmation notice to all known addresses, if no updated address information was received or the updated address is outside the county.

Since this will be my son's first presidential election it's important for me to give him this opportunity to vote. I can obviously enclose his ballot in another envelope, pay the correct postage, and forward it myself, but if it's illegal for the USPS to forward it, I'm concerned whether I could do so either.  I would prefer to simply change the address on the envelope I've received -- if I can be certain it will actually be forwarded.


texts:
I am in an HOA.  We have a shared water system.  It is considered common property of HOA and there is a water assessment that is assigned by the board for the cost of operating the well.  There is a separate accrual account for capital projects.

I served on the board and saw at least 10 purchase agreements and a tap fee was not mentioned.

Initially there was no water system.  After the initial build out it was discovered permitting individual wells was going to be difficult.  By the time you honored size / spacing on septic and the well there was not much room for a house.

The builder put in a well and ran a water line. Again it is common property of the HOA. Some lots were already sold so he could not just add to the selling price. Builder imposed a tap fee of $1000 paid to him personally. I have been through the CCR and bylaws and there is nothing about a tap fee. I have seen no document that mentions a tap fee.

Can the builder legally enforce this tap fee paid directly to him?

It is not worth fighting over $1000 fee but I was curious.  What if he changed that number to be $10,000.  He has first ROR.  He could exercise it then waive the tap fee on himself.

The plot thickens.  The title company is enforcing a tap fee must be collected at closing.  I asked where is a tap fee documented.  They said we have an email from this individual.

Now the HOA is saying we are not enforcing the tap fee only collecting.  I told that is money laundering.


texts: Liability of non-fault driver after impact

texts:
I have seen many dash cam videos that show cars impacting then just rolling on without driver input until they roll into something solid.
It seems that after impact some drivers just take their hands and feet off the controls.
If a car collided with another and is not at fault in that collision, but after impact does not control their car, specifically apply the brakes firmly to stop quickly and/or steer away from assets (like other cars, buildings, traffic and electricity poles, etc), and the car is mechanically still able to steer and/or brake, and the driver is physically and mentally able to control the car but just “lets nature take its course” by opting not to control the car, can they be held liable for any damage caused by subsequent impacts that could easily and simply have been avoided had they controlled the car properly?
Note: I am not suggesting stunt driving skills here. I have seen many cases where the not at fault vehicle keeps rolling some 100ft/30m after impact due to momentum it retained through the collision without braking or steering at all and rolls into a building or other cars causing a lot more damage than the initial collision. There was plenty of time and almost no skill required to gently apply brakes to avoid further damage.


texts: Why do some properties appear in public records, but others don't?

texts:
I know a woman who owns multiple properties; interestingly, only one is searchable in public record.

Is there some sort of law that all the names of people who buy property can or must go into public records unless asked otherwise? I wonder because it seems weird that her name appears as the owner of property 'X' though not searchable for property 'Y' or 'Z,' and she owns all three properties.

I asked and she never even knew any of this was in public record and thus never asked for any of it to be removed. Is there are any reason why one of her owned properties is listed in public records under her name, but the other two aren't? What laws dictate this kind of stuff/how does this work?

Public records property owner info vs. real property owned that doesn't appear in public records, such as people search sites/etc. I'd imagine that, if she didn't explicitly state to be removed from listing, any property under her name would be found. I tried reverse property search and found nothing either.

What kind of law, premise, or arrangements dictate this kind of info and its publicly accessible nature?


texts:
My employer has several health ins plans. My employer is required to provide Cobra coverage as it has several dozen employees.

If I were to choose one during open-enrollment, then get laid-off, the layoff, from my understanding, would be consider a life event thereby allowing me to pick a different plan if I choose to continue to use my employers health-plans?

General QLE question


texts: Explanation of the key elements of the Supreme Court "Pretty Woman" Parody Case?

texts:
Both the original (Roy Orbison) version and the Two Live Crew version began, "Pretty woman walking down the street..." Was this seen as copying under the "five word" plagiarism rule?

According to the Supreme Court, the Two Live Crew version veered sharply away from the original, to the point of being "opposite." That is, the original celebrated a white woman, while the Two Live Crew version mocked a black woman. Was this what made it was parody,  and after the appeals court decision was overturned, could therefore possibly make it fair use?

In the end, there was a settlement, under which Acuff-Rose, the owner of the original, received no damages, but did receive licensing fees. Two Live Crew had earlier sought (and been refused) such a licensing arrangement, meaning that it got to its starting point. Apparently this was an equitable result given the hazards of further litigation. But was it possible that Two Live Crew could have performed its version "for free" if the appeals court had later found that "parody" made it fair use?


texts: Let's imagine consultancy A develops a code for client B that use some free available code from a website so it's a derivative work from the free code (MIT license). Can consultancy A re-use the same derivative work in for client C without copyright infringement due to client B?


texts: In the US, can telephone service providers ban people for using their services for primarily illegal activities?

texts:
Telecommunications providers, such as phone companies, are subject to universal service obligations by the Communications Act of 1934. Section 201(a) provides that:

It shall be the duty of every common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio to furnish such communication service upon reasonable request therefor ...

Section 202(a) further provides:

It shall be unlawful for any common carrier to make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services for or in connection with like communication service, directly or indirectly, by any means or device, or to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, class of persons, or locality, or to subject any particular person, class of persons, or locality to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage.

However, this seems to leave open the possibility that customers could be banned if they are using the phone service primarily to engage in illegal activities such as prostitution, as the phone company could argue that the customer's request for service is not "reasonable", and  that the discrimination against them is "just" and "reasonable". However, I've never heard of something like this happening before, which leads me to suspect that it's not allowed. I suspect that the actual legal situation is that phone companies can only ban people in cases where providing service to them would enable them to abuse the infrastructure itself.
Is it true that phone companies cannot ban potential customers or terminate service even when said customers engage in primarily illegal activities? And if so, then what specific law or laws prevent this?


texts:
What is strict liability in US law? Is it really possible for a person to be held liable who did not intend to do harm or violate a law, and who was not negligent?

(This question is in response to issues raised in answers to the question "Is there a legal principle regarding laws that cannot reasonably be complied with?"


texts: What explains the contradictions among English accomplice and inchoate offences?

texts:
What's the intuition why some conspiracies and attempts are offences, but not others? I'll just list 2 incongruities.
I.   Why it's "possible to convict someone of conspiring to commit a statutory offence whose actus reus involves aiding or abetting something", but "conspiracy to aid, abet, counsel, or procure an offence is not itself a crime"?
II. Why are "conspire to attempt" and "conspire to conspire" offences, but not "to attempt [or to conspire] to aid, abet, counsel, or procure"?

The conspirators must agree on a course of conduct which constitutes the actus reus
of a crime. It is possible to conspire to attempt or to conspire to conspire. However, a
conspiracy to aid, abet, counsel, or procure an offence is not itself a crime according to
Kenning.82

82 [2008] EWCA Crim 1534. It is, however, possible to convict someone of conspiring to commit a statutory
offence whose actus reus involves aiding or abetting something (e.g. aiding and abetting another’s suicide
(Reed [1982] Crim LR 819)).

Herring, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (2020 9 ed). p 812.

The following statements summarize the interrelation of accomplice and inchoate
offences:

(1) It is an offence to conspire or attempt to commit an offence.
(2) It is not an offence to attempt to aid, abet, counsel, or procure.99
(3) It is not an offence to conspire to aid, abet, counsel, or procure.100
(4) It is an offence to aid, abet, counsel, or procure an attempt to commit an offence.101

99  Criminal Attempts Act 1981, s. 1(4)(b).
100  Hollinshead [1985] 1 All ER 850, 857– 8 (CA). The case was considered by the House of Lords ([1985]
AC 975), which did not express a view on Hapgood and Wyatt (1870) LR 1 CCR 221 (CCR) and whether such
an offence existed.
101 Hapgood and Wyatt (1870) LR 1 CCR 221 (CCR).

Op cit. p 872.


texts: Does a destroyed file allow for an expungement?

texts:
A person goes to the courts to requests a record of their criminal misdemeanor court case from over 15 years ago that ended in a Nolle Prosse. The courts respond that they destroyed "the file". But the docket is partially visible online.

If the courts can not produce the record of a case, does that allow for an expungement of the record?
What situations allow for a case/arrest to be expunged?


texts: landlord suing me for $5k damage to property. How to prepare (small claims court, White Plains, NY)

texts:
The dispute: mold and crack in a common bath tub shared by multiple users. Landlord refuses to return deposit until tenant pay for a replacement of bath tub including professional installation.
Signed lease agreement: none. Only some emails.
Venue is White Plains, NY, US

I moved in 21 Apr and moved out 18 Nov 2017. Until now landlord has not returned my $750 deposit.

According to landlord, the bath tub was spotless when I moved in, but I could see it had been in use for at least 5 years. There was already another tenant in the other guest room when I moved in. My room had been used by Landlord's son. All of these occupants have only one bath tub to share.

A few months later we noticed minor mold in the bathtub. Landlord insisted (by email) that the other current tenant (Zuhur) and I restore it to the original condition, using our own money to pay for two thirds of the total cost.

There’s no ventilation to prevent mold, but there are many wet objects in the bath room creating moisture.

The crack became visible to everyone a few days after I moved in, when there was another short-term tenant + me sharing the common bathtub. No idea who caused it, but there's a clue -- the plastic (not ceramic) bathtub lacked solid support underneath, so much so that any adult standing on it would notice the base sinking down. This was noticed by all tenants I have spoken to. The wife of the landlord confirmed that the installation was not perfect and missed the support beneath the tub. Unfortunately no one is willing to provide written witness. This crack is probably the main reason for the replacement, even though the landlord has always mentioned it as a second "problem" to be fixed -- his emails always singles out the mold as the primary problem.

In Dec 2017, landlord finally fixed the bathtub. He didn't treat the mold but instead replaced the entire bathtub and sent me a bill over $3000. I replied to say let court decided how much I should pay. Landlord then counter-sued me for $5000 damage to his property.

As to the "ordinary cost of repairs", for mold it should be a few hundred dollars. Total area of mold added up to less than my thumb fingernail. For the crack, total cost is the replacement cost, probably $1000+ rather than the $3000 bill he sent me.


texts: Can law enforcement legally force someone to unlock a device themselves in the US?

texts:
We're all likely aware of the big Apple vs FBI case where the FBI wants to force Apple to open a back door in its encryption on iPhones, and we'll soon discover what the law will decide on that, but it got me thinking:

Obviously a subject could claim that he forgot his password, so that's a dead end, but with fingerprint scanners on new iPhones that leads to a few possibilities. Could the FBI legally do any / all of the following? Why or why not:

Retrieve fingerprints from a surface the subject makes contact with while in custody to artificially pass the fingerprint scan on an iPhone.
Force the subject to place his finger on the fingerprint scanner.


texts: Am I Explaining Implied Consent Correctly?

texts:
Okay, so I'm trying to start a series of articles explaining how the city government of Fort Worth, Texas operates – mostly as a writing exercise. I do however want to ensure I'm factually correct.

The first article focuses on the basis of government – the Constitution, specifically exploring its power. In attempting to explain its legitimacy, I use the doctrine of implied consent to classify all U.S. citizens under the "consent of the governed".

Is my explanation legally sound? Here is the Article

This is the gist of it:

  Each State gained the right to make decisions on behalf of its citizens through the chartering of its land. When the United States ratified the Constitution, in accordance with Article 4, the States ceded all legal jurisdiction of the land to the newly created Federal Government. A government composed solely of members sworn by the Oath of Office to affirm the supremacy of the Constitution, therein confering upon it the full authority of the United States governement and military, both on the State, and Federal level.


texts: Calif Small claims - HOA approved work that caused water damage to my condo

texts:
I believe it is reasonable to place responsibility for a busted waterline with the HOA and roofing contractor. Can I get thoughts from this forum on responsibility? ...or, Where can I research this?

The HOA scheduled roof work on the building of my rental unit. I live out of the country and have a property manager. Notice of the work may have been in the form of a poster somewhere on the property, so I was not aware.

Two years ago, when there was discussion about future roof work, I voiced concern about the solar heating unit that is on the roof.  In April 2018 work started. and without my knowledge or permission the waterline, (my property), to the solar panels was cut.   The HOA assumed the solar panels were not working.

To do the work, the water main was turned off without notifying anyone. My tenant  may have turned it back on to use water(unaware,). The cut lines, the water pressure, and/or the heavy jolting from the roof removal caused the waterline to bust. Although it is not 100% certain, the plumber who came to do repairs, said the type of leak was consistent with a sudden break, not a slow leak which would have indicated there was a problem before.


texts: Reproduce some website ideas on my own opensource project

texts:
I am a developer and I recently came accross a website to practice my development environment skills. This website has a premium access policy and rather than paying, I would like to develop my own project to reproduce some of their ideas, to practise on my own.

I think that I can legally do that at home without risking any kind of legal attacks.

However, I would also like to share my code on GitHub, to make it available for other people, and have a bit more visibility for future potential employers.

Since I won't be using any of the code of the proprietary website, Is opensourcing my code illegal ? I won't copying the website exactly but take some of its ideas.

Thanks in advance for your help.


texts: Public domain English translation of Mein Kampf

texts:
As I understand it, Hitler's book Mein Kampf was originally copyrighted by Hitler, but, after the war, the Allies gave the copyright to Bavaria. (Was this legal? I guess I should post that as a separate question.)

I just learned that Bavaria's copyright expired in 2016. I'd like to learn if there are any English translations that are also in the public domain.

In particular, I suspect an English version published by the Germans in 1940 for the planned invasion of England might be in the public domain.

A copy is available online here. It is described as open source, contributed by the community, suggesting it's in the public domain. However, I wondered if the government of Bavaria could claim ownership of this work as a derivative of the original, German language edition.

So my specific question is this: Is the English-version edition of Mein Kampf linked to in the paragraph above in the public domain?


texts: Is There a Default Position on Beverage Refills?

texts:
This question was inspired by a 2014 case in South Carolina, where a man named Christopher Lewis was given a $525 ticket (later reduced to a warning) for refilling a drink at a VA Medical Center.

In Mr. Lewis' case, supposedly there were signs prominently displayed saying "No Free Refills." But the problem is that, in the vast majority of restaurants with self-serve drink fountains, there is no signage whatsoever about refills.

I know that normally you can't just take whatever you want for free, but I also feel like enough restaurants are fine with free refills that this could be considered standard practice in the industry.

Is there a default position on drink refills? Could you get in trouble for refilling if there is no signage?


texts: Can a programmer be liable if a customer commits a crime using their software?

texts: Is it true that if a programmer writes a program, sells the program to a customer and customer commits a crime with this program, the programmer might be found liable by the court? I was wondering as there are many Turing complete languages that allow one to make something illegal. Also, there are some robot cars, and if one calibrates them incorrectly, those can commit crimes. So can a programmer ever be liable if they have not done anything illegal with software, but the customer does?


texts: Can I seek English court action against a debt that was created in the US?

texts:
I made an agreement with a friend to share a house while visiting the Massachusetts with said friend.
Now we are both back in the UK and he is refusing to pay. Does the debt exist in a country or can an English court order him to pay?

The agreement was made while we were both in Massachusetts.


texts: What is it called when a petitioner in a civil case asks for ruling on a point of law?

texts:
In civil court cases, the main focus of the plaintiff is usually some specific remedy like receiving money from the defendant, or the receipt of a court order. However, the plaintiff may also want the court to rule on a point of law because such a ruling might be relevant to an appeal or to a different court case to which the plaintiff is a party.

For example, imagine that a plaintiff sues an auto dealership for installing a part during a repair that the plaintiff claims the dealership knew was defective. Imagine the dealership claims immunity because of a state law that makes dealers immune from claims due to defective parts. In this case the plaintiff might ask the court for two things: (1) monetary damages from the dealership, and (2) an opinion from the court that the state law giving immunity is void because of some reason (incompatible with the state's constitution or whatever).

What is the request for the court's opinion (2) called?


texts: I know that the employer of an independent contractor cannot be held liable for negligence of the contractor under vicarious liability, but are there any other such situations where the employer would not be liable for the negligent acts of the employee done within the course of employment?


texts: Which legal specialty covers the sale of potentially profitable information?

texts:
In There Will Be Blood (2007), there is a scene where Paul Sunday sells information about there being oil where he grew up.

This struck me as something very difficult to negotiate, because, while this information is very valuable, it's not a patent. Until the buyer investigates it, he does not know how valuable it is. But after the buyer knows the details, he has no incentive to pay for it.

If you were in Paul Sunday's shoes, and wanted a lawyer to represent you in the negotiation, which legal specialty would you go with?


texts: When can someone be charged with theft in Canada?

texts:
I mentioned in a previous question, when I moved out I accidentally took something that wasn't mine and returned it. Out of curiosity could this be considered theft? What if someone returns something before the owner even realizes it's gone? What if the owner never even realizes it's gone?

In Canada, theft requires "A person commits theft when, with intent to steal anything, he moves it or causes it to move or to be moved, or begins to cause it to become movable." (source) so does that mean if the defendant claimed it was an accident the plaintiff would have to prove otherwise?

In practice, do thefts smaller than a certain amount usually not go to court? For example if someone steals a coke can from a store, would they really get sued in court?

Also what if someone accidentally steals something consumable. For example you rent a house with a garage and filled up your car with a tank of gas but realized the landlord had an identical one to your own. Would this be an offence, and could you actually be taken to court?


texts: Can a Work For Hire agreement be made without compensation?

texts:
I'm working on a musical recording that will be owned by my LLC and released for free under a Creative Commons license. I would like to include a few friends as session musicians who would like to donate their time.

To make sure that the copyright is owned entirely by my LLC (which they okay with) I would like to have them sign session musician contracts, which in my understanding, are specialized Work For Hire contracts. Is it possible under US law to have a Work For Hire agreement with no compensation in return, since my friends would like to contribute for free?


texts:
Do toll fees have to be indicated ahead of time in the United States to be enforceable?

By indication, I mean some type of road sign. By "ahead of time," I mean early enough on the road to allow drivers to choose an alternative route.

If the answer is state specific, I am mostly interested for in the states of California, Florida, and Massachusetts.


texts: Parsing definition of "urgent concern" under 50 U.S.C 3033?

texts:
Can someone help validating my parsing of a legal definition of "urgent concern" in the cited section. If a complaint is not related to a intelligence activity, does it qualify as an intelligence whistleblower report?

In the news are "whistleblower" allegations claiming to be an "urgent matter" under 50 U.S.C. 3033 (k) (5).   Included in that section is the following definition appears:

  (G) In this paragraph, the term “urgent concern” means any of the
  following:

    (i) A serious or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law
    or Executive order, or deficiency relating to the funding,
    administration, or operation of an intelligence activity within the
    responsibility and authority of the Director of National Intelligence
    involving classified information, but does not include differences of
    opinions concerning public policy matters.

    (ii) A false statement to
    Congress, or a willful withholding from Congress, on an issue of
    material fact relating to the funding, administration, or operation of
    an intelligence activity.

    (iii)An action, including a personnel action
    described in section 2302(a)(2)(A) of title 5, constituting reprisal
    or threat of reprisal prohibited under subsection (g)(3)(B) of this
    section in response to an employee’s reporting an urgent concern in
    accordance with this paragraph.

The whistle-blower quotes the above definition incompletely.  After reading the now-released complaint and related MEMCON, I can't see how it relates to an intelligence activity within the responsibility and authority of the DNI.  In fact it seems to me a difference of opinions concerning public policy matters.

I have to wonder if the whistle-blower, ICIG and Speaker of the House misjudged the legal protections applicable to this report.


texts: What evidence to I need to win a case against a man who spiked my drink?

texts:
Last week I went to dinner with friends where I met a guy (a friend of a friend). After dinner he offered to come up for a drink to his place, he made me a cocktail, I had two sips then my other friend called me and I decided to go meet her. I got up to leave, he grabbed my arms, pulled on him and started choking me. Next thing I remember, I woke up 30 min later face down on the floor. He acted like nothing happened. When I opened my eye all I wanted to do was crying, I left immediately and call the cops. I submitted all my bloodwork and other evidence.
The guy is coming from a very well know and powerful family. At this point I'm convinced that it's not his first time doing something like that.
My question is, if I decide to take him to court what are my chances to win the case, and what evidence do I need to win it?


texts: Is storing business data considered personal data?

texts:
I want to create an online application. The visitor could enter his website URL then the application will make some analysis. The application asks the visitor if he wants a regular website report on e-mail. I don't want to store personal data as I don't want to write a consent or something else. So I will request the visitor to enter a (non personal e-mail address) business e-mail address like "admin@example.com" or "mywebsite@yahoo.com" to send the report to.

This should not be considered personal data, right? Some tips?

Thank you so much!


texts:
Recently, I got hold of a contract with a rather strange term:

  I understand that this document is written to be as broad and inclusive as legally permitted by the State of California. I agree that if any portion is held invalid or unenforceable, I will continue to be bound by the remaining terms.

How is this actually possible? How can I be bound by a contract that's been found to be invalid? And, by proxy, how can I actually escape a contract like this?

For reference, this is a version very similar to the contract that I have a copy of.


texts: Ambiguous legislation and government advice

texts:
When legislation wording is ambiguous enough to potentially conflict with government advice interpreting that legislation elsewhere, how do the courts resolve the ambiguity?

For example, in New Zealand, holiday pay is dealt with under the Holidays Act 2003, and as an example, the legislation has this clause in it:

  An employer must pay the employee 8% of the employee’s gross earnings
  since the commencement of employment, less any amount—

  (a) paid to the employee for annual holidays taken in advance; or

  (b) paid in accordance with section 28.

  Section 23(2): amended, on 1 April 2007, by section 42.

However, the New Zealand governments employment website offers the following interpretation of that legislation:

  These employees get an annual holiday payment of 8% of their gross
  earnings. Gross earnings:

  is calculated from the start of employment, and
  include any other
  payments made in the employee’s final pay.

  If the employee has taken
  annual holidays in advance or has been paid for annual holidays on a
  pay-as-you-go basis, the amount paid is deducted from gross earnings.

This means there are two ways to formulate this calculation:

(gross pay - advance leave) * 0.08
(gross pay * 0.08) - advance leave

These two approaches differ wildly in the outcome - the first is in the employee's favour, the second in the employer's favour.  On gross earnings of $100k, the difference can be several thousand dollars.

When the advice given is a government website specifically intended to give advice in this area, how are differences in interpretation generally handled?

The second website does contain a disclaimer about not being legal advice, but that seems pretty weak when the entire website is intended to guide employers and employees in their requirements and obligations.

The examples are from NZ, so an NZ specific answer would be nice, but I'd also like to hear what other countries and jurisdictions do as well.


texts: Legality of employment contract clause - Training reimbursement

texts:
I have a German employment contract which stipulates that if I was to leave the company before a certain time, I would have to pay back (some of) the cost of training to the employer.
In this case, there was not really any "training" provided, apart from some online course material that I can complete in my own time. My working time was spent actively contributing to the company, and not "training" per-se.

My question is this, what is the actual legality of such as clause in the first place? Would the clause be invalidated if I was to make a legal case that there was no actual training provided apart from what is mentioned above?


texts: Handling a GDPR subject access request when using google analytics?

texts: When using Google Analytics and receiving a GDPR subject access request does the party receiving the request also have to send all data collected by Google Analytics?


texts:
Some time ago I've downloaded the Demo for the game "Observer" on the Steam platform. I didn't play it immediately though. A few weeks ago I wanted to give it a try and was shocked to find a Purchase button instead of a Play button. The support from Steam explained to me that the demo was removed by the publisher. I understand that the demo therefore is no longer available in the Steam store. However, the demo was already downloaded to my PC and was in a playable state at some point. Is it legal for Steam to disable content on my PC?
I should point out that this question is not about the legality of the publisher removing their content from the Steam platform. But the publisher would technically not be able to disable the demo without the help from Steam.
Another pecularity I don't want to withhold is that the support from Steam insists, that nothing has been disabled on my PC! That the demo is no longer playable seems not to constitute a disablement in the eyes of the Steam support. But hey, maybe this wordgame has legal consequences I don't understand.


texts: Resources for assigning employee intellectual property back?

texts:
As an employee of a software company they own my personal time projects, this is not in question. That said, my employer is quite reasonable about said things and at least verbally quite willing to review something and say "this isn't related to our work, you can have it."

It being a small shop, verbal acknowledgement has been all they used before; they have no form for assigning a particular projects IP back to an employee. For a project I want to make and open source I would like something in writing. My employer is receptive to that but they want me to provide the form.

I have been looking for either a template or some resource to help me write a little thing that they can sign that says something like: "The company transfers back all rights related to this project to employee, and we cannot take this back later."

I suspect I don't know the correct terms to search because all I find are templates for employers to have new hires sign that assign their IP to the employer or articles talking about how really the employer owns all IP anyways.

Is there a particular term I can search for this? Do such templates exist?


texts: Why was Wouter Basson never charged with crimes against humanity for Project Coast?

texts:
Project Coast was a biological weapons program that the South African government developed in the 1970's and 1980's. The leading scientist and administrator of Project Coast was a cardiologist called Wouter Basson This was a massive, ambitious weapons program that created both lethal and non-lethal weapons for strategic purposes, such as making black people sterile, and for tactical purposes such as assassinating political opponents.

Throughout Project Coast Wouter Basson was, allegedly, responsible for numerous murders by supplying biological weapons; in Operation Duel [1982] Basson allegedly supplied lethal pills that killed 200 members of The South West Africa People's Organization.

Why wasn't Wouter Basson charged with crimes against humanity? From my research he is still free, is alive, and has never been found guilty of anything. The United Nations or The Hague have never attempted to charge Basson with crimes against humanity. Why?


texts: How absolute is the advice, 'never talk to the police'?

texts:
[EDIT: Please assume U.S. jurisdiction, since that's what relevant to me.]

I was recently reminded of this interesting talk, 'Don't Talk To The Police' by Regent Law Professor James Duane.  Therein, he says (at 0:20) that he will "never talk to any police officer under any circumstances," and the bulk of his half of the video is him explaining why we should all resolve to do the same.

His 8 reasons are very compelling, but I can't seem to get over the utter absoluteness of the "never ... under any circumstances" bit.

What about these manufactured examples:

Suppose I come to discover physical evidence that an adult has been sexting a minor.  In such a case I believe the law compels me to report my discovery to law enforcement.   Not only must I talk to them to convey the problem, but I'm certain they will have followup questions for me.
Suppose my epileptic spouse has a seizure in our residence directly behind a locked bathroom door that swings inward-- hinges are on on her side-- and I call 911 after I tear out the door to aid her.  A police officer shows up along with EMS, sees the broken door & blood from a chewed up tongue and gets suspicious.  Let's say my spouse is still unconscious & can't corroborate.  I'd need to communicate with EMS about my wife's condition & what happened, but the officer is standing right there listening.  If I take the 5th, not only might my wife's medical care be impacted, but I will likely be arrested by default on suspicion of battery. (As defaults go, this would actually be prudent on the officer's part, but would completely suck for me.)
Suppose a police officer shows up at my house to investigate a burglary a few houses down the street, and is just knocking on doors asking neighbors if they saw or heard anything.

In which of those circumstances should I say "sorry officer, I'm not going to speak with you," and at what point?


texts: Settleing a lawsuit filed in Texas bust is governed by NJ law

texts: We are based in NJ and are in dispute file by in Texas by a licensee. The agreement states that the dispute is to be governed by NJ law. After months of court action and discovery, the plaintiff's attorney sent a settlement offer to our Texas attorney. We sent a counter-offer. It does not appear that our attorney sent the counter-offer, and he is still asking for us to provide additional documents. We need to pursue the failure of our attorney no presenting the counter-offer and would like confirmation that the matter can be settled between the parties with providing further discovery.


texts: How to challenge a DMCA takedown without putting yourself at risk?

texts:
I'm an open-source contributor trying to share a repository that a company claims they own. They claim that parts of the project include information (let's call them magic numbers) that were reverse-engineered from their product and therefore the project is in violation of DMCA. The company sending the takedown notice is very large with lots of money, therefore, they have a very strong legal team on retainer. The reason the project is not in violation of DMCA is because the reverse-engineered "magic numbers" were only reversed for interoperability purposes, the project cannot work with the target product without these magic numbers.

Usually, I'd just send a counter-notice, however, this company has a very high reputation of just serving a civil lawsuit against anyone who counter-claims them, even if they're wrong. By wrong, I mean if we both had the same legal resources, you would most likely win the case. I'm in no position to challenge a multi-billion dollar company, but I feel as my code is being censored by a big corporation. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to release my code without getting sued.


texts: Is it legal to import a whip to England for use as decoration?

texts:
I would like to know if it is legal to import a whip to England, for use as decoration.

According to a UK Government Webpage

  Offensive weapons which are designed to kill or inflict serious injury and do not have a legitimate use are banned or restricted from being imported into the UK.

However, the C2-26 Offensive Weapons Guidance Document states that

  The prohibition on the importation of offensive weapons is established
  by the following legislation:

  -Restriction of Offensive Weapons Acts 1959 to 1961; (the importation of any such knife as described is hereby prohibited)

  -Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)
  - Order 1988, 2002 and 2004; Section 141(4) states: “The importation of
  a weapon to which this section applies is hereby prohibited.”

The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Orders 1988,
2002 and 2004 prohibit the possession and importation of a number of weapons (knives, etc) which are all listed in the document, but whips are not on the list.

The document proceeds to state:

  There is no across the board prohibition on the importation of
  straight bladed swords, bayonets, machetes, axes, hatchets, tomahawks,
  throwing knives or replica medieval weaponry such as spears, lances,
  pikes, maces, caltrops, and halberds. These weapons would, however, be
  regulated under the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 and the Criminal
  Justice Act 1988 which prohibit the carrying of such weapons in a
  public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

This seemingly implies that weapons which are not explicitly listed are legal to import.

Furthermore, another webpage concerning customs has a customs code for whips under the tax guidance for importing leather:

  whips, riding-crops, walking sticks and similar items covered in
  chapter 66 under heading code 6602

Thus, I would like to know:

1) Does the law only restrict the importation of weapons which are specifically designated by the above-cited laws and which are contained on that specific list?

2) If the law does not merely restrict the importation of those specific weapons, but rather restricts all offensive weapons like the Government webpage claims, is a whip considered to be an "offensive weapon designed to [...] inflict serious injury" and which does not have "legitimate use", if I wish to use it for decoration?


texts: I want to translate some poems, when does the original copyright expire?

texts:
Some poems were first published in South Korea in an anthology alongside the work of two other poets. This particular collection was released in 1946 (72 years ago) and the poet I am interested in translating died in 1968 (50 years ago as of May 2018).

If it only comes down to the publication, I believe it should have entered the public domain by now. If it's up to the author's death, do I need to wait until their deathday, did it enter the public domain at the beginning of this year or will it enter at the beginning of next year?

Does the fact that it was originally published alongside the work of two other poets change anything?


texts: If someone reviews my software program, when do they share its copyright?

texts:
Suppose I refactor my program based on its reviews on codereview.SE. (Or someone reviews my pull request on GitHub.) Presumably, if I include the reviewer's code, they share copyright to my new program, unless their code is trivial.

But what about the following cases:

I use the reviewer's code as a starting point and change it for my program. (I guess this depends on the  changes.)
The reviewer suggests detailed solutions in English, e.g., bug fixes or software designs. Then I translate these solutions into code.

(I'm based in the UK, if this matters.)

Note: A good concrete example is the following question (which I'm not involved in): validating-credit-card-numbers.


texts: I committed a crime against the Weapons Act in Germany - Can I travel there?

texts:
I bought a butterfly knife in Poland (where it is legal) and had an overnight stop in Germany. I checked my bags out from the airport that night, then checked them back in the morning.

The knife was confiscated, and I had to sign papers, make a statement, etc.
I am currently pending investigation.

I have a business trip in Germany in a few months, which I am certain is sooner than my sentencing. Can I fly to Germany before my sentencing? USA citizen, if it matters.

https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/waffg_2002/BJNR397010002.html


texts: Planning on signing a new apartment lease - can I get back a nonrefundable holding deposit due to natural disaster (i.e. COVID-19)?

texts:
Recently I put down a holding deposit for an apartment I intend to move into next month (April 1). However, with the spread of COVID-19, moving in 2 weeks' time could be risky, or potentially impossible if I am quarantined. And, I don't know how many months I could be quarantined for.

Regarding the holding deposit, I was told:

it's nonrefundable if we are approved (we were)
this deposit would be treated as part of our security deposit

Unfortunately I did not think to get a receipt or any of this in writing. I was clear that my move-in date would be April 1, and may have included this in my application. If they refuse to push forward my move-in date due to COVID-19, do I have grounds to receive my deposit back?

I haven't signed a lease yet. So perhaps when I receive the lease for review, it would be a good time to talk about flexibility for the move-in date.

I live in California.


texts: Am I obligated to chase after someone to pay them?

texts:
We hired a tree removal service to remove some trees from our property. The bill was paid for by the solar company that installed our solar service. The solar company sent us a check for the tree service to use.
I signed the check and handed it over to the tree service promptly. Apparently they couldn't cash the check even though I signed it. They needed me physically there at the bank so that they could cash the check.
Busy schedules would not allow for that. They were too busy and so was I. So I told them to return the check to me and I would cash it and give them the money in cash (with receipt).
They took SIX MONTHS to return the check to me. By that time the check was stale and the bank wouldn't honor it.
So I had the solar company cancel that check, and issue a new one. I got the new check and and deposited into my account. Soon as it cleared I took out the cash.
Now I've been calling and texting the owner of the tree service to come get his money. He keeps texting he will call back, but he never does. It's been weeks of this!
So from an ethical standpoint, how much do I have to bug him to come get his money? If this goes on for another 6 months or however long, how much effort do I put into giving him his money?
It's $3,000 and I know the money isn't mine. But it will be sitting in a drawer in limbo forever if he doesn't come and get his money. He does not want a check he wants cash.
The owner from the tree server is driving the fact that I pay him in cash and meet him in person.


texts: Searching New York civil litigation case law

texts:
Are civil cases litigated in the state of New York between private businesses back in the 1980s accessible to the general public somewhere somehow, either free or behind a paywall?
Say I know that a certain music producer and a certain artist had their time in a New York courtroom in 198x. How do I find the decision?


texts: Title deeds in England often stipulate a list of restrictions and obligations. I am unclear though who can enforce them and how. My current title prevents me interfering with people trying to attend a nearby church. Previous ones prevented me storing a boat on my drive or participating in immoral acts. Others prevented me from operating a tannery. My question is — what happens if I do?


texts: Need Renters Advice For Mouse Infestation

texts: If a renter is in a unit where there are rodents in a common area such as the dumpster and the landlord fails to take action on the issue (after being notified). Can the renter mitigate the issue themselves? Will they be held liable for any damage that their mitigation may cause?


texts: Can I use real life brand names in a computer game?

texts:
I'm working on a computer game, where the player will be controlling a fictional country in the 1950s.

I want to make it possible for the player to purchase products with real life brand names. For instance, the player should be able to equip his transport company with Ford trucks, his air force with Grumman air planes, his army with Browning rifles etc.

I have absolutely no intent to defame any of these brands. However, for the purpose of making the game interesting I really need to give different properties for products from different brands. A North American F-86 Sabre fighter would be a faster airplane than a Bell P-39 Airacobra, for instance.

If I show good faith by using a documented approach, like sourcing all product specifications from wikipedia, and not inventing any of my own, would it be reasonable to say no defamation/tarnishing would be happening?

I could of course invent my own brand names, but that would diminish the sense of realism in the game. I'd like to be able to sell the game in the EU and USA at least.

Can I use trademarked brand names in my game?

Edit: Having researched this a bit more, I've found that the original Transport Tycoon game had to invent fictional trains, buses, airplanes etc because of trademark-issues. Doesn't bode well for my idea ...


texts: Is there a mutually beneficial reason why a property owner should hire tree trimming service vs the neighbor requesting it?

texts:
Several large tree limbs from our neighbor's tree are hanging over our property line. We're open to help pay for a service to trim it but have heard that it's generally better for the property owner of the tree to choose the trimming service and have paperwork in their name.
Is that true?
Would we negate/forfeit some legal rights or insurance by hiring the tree trimmers even though the tree is in our neighbor's yard (and they verbally consent to having the offending limbs cut down)?


texts: University preventing staff from taking trips with students?

texts:
My university recently put a staff member on leave of absence after the staffer took a weekend kayaking trip with several students, citing "unprofessional conduct".  The staffer is a kayaking instructor for the university, and the students were all experienced kayakers and not (to my knowledge) his students.

This seems to me to be effectively a prohibition on staffers being friends with students.  Is there a precedent for this?  What business is it of the university to police what staff and students do in their own free time?


texts: What are the rules for selling my own software that includes other GPLv2 software

texts:
I've programmed some software that i wish to sell. BUT i want to sell it "complete" by which i mean as a complete image to be written onto a SD Card (for Raspberry Pi). This means that with my software i will provide a Linux distro, and some software packages along with that distro. That Linux runs under the GPLv2 license and so does the software and this is where i get confused.

As from what i can tell in the GPLv2 License it is written that i will have to provide the source code to the software that is under the GPLv2 license. But what does this mean exactly? Do i not already do this by providing the software with my own? Or is it something I'll have to find on a Gitpage or so, and basically zip down and like place in the root of the file system in the image it self?


texts: Can Canadian judges set aside a jury's verdict of acquittal?

texts:
Not long ago I learned that the Crown can appeal from verdicts of acquittal in Canada, unlike prosecutors in the U.S.

I once thought that the reason why U.S. judges cannot set aside a jury's verdict of acquittal is that it would violate a right to trial by jury, but law.stackexchange.com told me that that is not the reason; rather the reason was that double jeopardy is not allowed. If the U.S. sees an impermissible double jeopardy in the prosecution's appeal from a verdict of acquittal or in
a judge's setting aside such a verdict, and Canada sees no impermissble double jeopardy in an appeal by the Crown, might Canada also see nothing impermissible in a judge's setting aside the acquittal verdict?


texts: What types of "discrimination" are illegal?

texts:
I once took a psychology course where the professor pointed out that the word "discrimination" can be more broad than the way it is generally used. For example, it can be considered discrimination that only people above a certain height are hired as firefighters. Athletes may not make the team because they can't lift a certain amount etc.

What exactly counts as illegal discrimination? For example, I know a person can't be refused service due to their race or skin color.

In particular, I'm wondering about discrimination against students. There was a sign posted on a store saying, "only 3 students allowed in at a time". I've heard that was illegal as it presupposes students are thieves.


texts: Can I use my browser to change the prices of things I buy online?

texts:
I can use Chrome's inspector tools to modify my local copy of the html on websites I visit. After changing the prices on a page in this way, for some websites I believe I can actually proceed through a checkout process, and buy items at whatever new altered price I want.

What kind of trouble can I get into for this - if any?


texts: Multiple choice questions Copyright laws

texts:
Is it possible to copy Multiple choice questions from different sources to make a compiled book without violating copyright laws. If one modify few options, in that case still copyright law violated? For example here is a question

1) Which country to host the 2017 Arctic Energy Summit (AES)? [A] Uruguay [B] Finland [C] Ireland [D] Zambia

Now if one changed it to

1) Which country to host the 2017 Arctic Energy Summit (AES)? [A] Uruguay [B] Finland [C] Ireland [D] USA

Still it is under copyright? Please let me know


texts: What weapons can I legally carry for self-defence in New York City?

texts:
I've been on the receiving end of racist verbal attacks regarding COVID-19.

I've already reported this to the police; they advise me not to engage with the offenders.

However, I suspect that things might escalate, I feel physically threatened in my own neighborhood at this point.

What weapons could I carry on my person, in New York City, in the event that I had to protect myself?

Do I have a right to buy a gun? Carry a baseball bat? A knife? Brass knuckles?


texts: Can previous homeowner file a claim for hidden damage on their old property?

texts:
We purchased a house in Texas 5 months ago. 3 months ago we discovered hidden water damage from a roof leak within exterior walls.

Our insurance hired a third party engineering firm who concluded the damage had been happening long before we bought the house. The previous owner is trying to make things right, and filed a claim with their insurance.

The damage and problem was completely hidden within the walls with nothing visible that could be noticed during the home inspection. But the previous owner's insurance is trying to deny the claim, claiming it's not their problem since the issue was not noted at the time of sale.

Is this a legit reason to deny a claim? Or is the previous owner's insurance company responsible (assuming no other reason for exclusion) for hidden damage that occurred prior to the sale while they were the insurer?


texts: What determines whether a mistake is fundamental and ownership passes?

texts:
This textbook doesn't expound how to determine whether a mistake is fundamental enough. Assume that A and D mightn't have contracted.

Under section 5(4) of the Theft Act 1968:

Where a person gets property by another’s mistake, and is under an obligation to make
restoration (in whole or in part) of the property or its proceeds or of the value thereof, then
to the extent of that obligation the property or its proceeds shall be regarded (as against
him) as belonging to the person entitled to restoration, and an intention not to make restoration
shall be regarded accordingly as an intention to deprive that person of the property
or proceeds.

This subsection deals with the situation where the defendant has received property as a result
of another’s mistake and is under an obligation to restore the proceeds or their value.
A good example of where section 5(4) operates is Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 1 of
1983),39 where a police officer was overpaid her salary by the police force. She was under an
obligation to return the money (once she was aware of the overpayment) and therefore the
money could be treated as belonging to another (the police force).

DEFINITION

Where A hands to D property on the basis of a mistake, four situations need to be
distinguished:

(1) The mistake is so fundamental that ownership does not pass. So although D possesses
the property, in fact it is still owned by A. There is therefore no difficulty
in establishing the ‘property belonging to another’ requirement if D is charged
with theft.

(2) The mistake is not so fundamental that ownership does not pass and so D owns
the property. But the mistake is sufficient to mean that D is under an obligation
to return the money or its proceeds. This means that, relying on section 5(4),
the property belongs to A for the purposes of the law of theft and so D can be
convicted.

(3) The mistake is one that means that D holds the property on trust for A. In such
a case A has an equitable interest in the property and the property belongs to
A under section 5(1) of the Theft Act, so D can be convicted of theft (see e.g.
Shadrokh-Cigari [1988] Crim LR 465 (CA); Hallam and Blackburn [1995] Crim
LR 323 (CA)).

(4) The mistake is not significant enough to give rise either to a claim that ownership
did not pass, or to a claim that there is a legal obligation to make restoration. In that
case the property will belong to D and no theft charge can lie, unless the transfer
from A itself can be regarded as dishonest. In that case, after Hinks [2000] 3 WLR
1590 (HL), a charge of theft could be brought.

Herring, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (2020 9 ed). p 525.


texts: Do I have to provide proof of citizenship - GDPR

texts:
Recently, I've been going through some old accounts of mine (on online websites) and I started deleting them. Thanks to GDPR, this is now much easier.

Most companies' customer services have no problems with this; but I have encountered one where they were rather less cooperative. First they said that I can only deactivate my account, but I want to delete it (and Article 17 of the GDPR gives me this right).

Therefore, I further emphasised that my wish is for them to completely delete my account. To this they responded that I have to send them my passport and ID to prove that I am an EU citizen. I understand that they may have this right - but do they actually? I cannot find anywhere online that I have to do so - and actually, sending in photos of my documents seems a bit iffy to me, at the very least.


texts: Defamation due to breach of confidentiality

texts:
Hypothetical: I say negative stuff about John Doe to my psychologist, stuff which isn't defamation per se.  My psychologist doesn't directly act on my statements, but does share my statements with third parties.  Due to those statements those third parties cancel contracts with John Doe, stop buying products from John Doe, etc.

Could I use as a defense against defamation the fact that I thought my statements to John Doe wouldn't be shared with anyone?


texts: Enforcement of programing tools licenses

texts:
Some time ago I became a university student and with that I got an access to serveral programming tools, such as Jetbrains' products, for free. The licences I got are of course only for academic purposes, which got me wondering: How do they enforce these types of licenses? When you load a .cpp/.h/etc files in for example notepad you can't tell in which program they were typed before, so how do they know if that commercial code was written in a program with non-suited license for a such usage?

Another thing I thought about is: How do you "free" your code from the license of the program you wrote it in? For example, if I copy the contents of my file written in editor XYZ (with license only for academic purposes) to an open source editor, can I still not distribute it? What if I wrote my source code in XYZ program, but futher changes occured in the open source program? Is that "old" part of the code is still under that program license?


texts: Legalities of using Trademarked Fictional Names for products

texts:
What is the legality of naming a product or service after a fictional name, object or character from a book or other creative material (movie, video game, etc)?

In each of these examples below, the question is:
If the owners of the trademark were to pursue charges for trademark infringement, would their allegations stand in court?

Star Trek has trademarked Q. Q is a fictional character in the Star Trek world, a sort of demi-God. Could we publish a children's "ABC"-type book entitled "Q"?
Deadlock (an old school favorite PC game of mine,) contains a fictional resource called Triidium. As far as I am aware, it has not been trademarked. Could we publish a programming BLOG under this name?
Starcraft (another video game,) units of a particular class say the word "Aiur" (pronounced "Ire"), which I assume is their home world or something. :) Could I create line of hair Gel named Aiur?


texts: Does a remodel affect grandfathered-in electrical systems?

texts:
We are renting a home that has an older outdated electrical system. The main issue we are having is the 240v plug for the dryer isn't grounded, which is a building code violation.

From another question I determined that the home is most likely grandfathered in to older building codes, however, the kitchen and other areas of the house have been recently remodeled.

This may be incorrect, but as I understand it, if you remodel a home, you must bring the relevant areas up to code in the process.

This may be completely incorrect, but at the moment my dryer isnt usable due to this flaw, and my family doesn't feel safe with the potential fire hazard


texts: Can a person benefit from damaging terrorists?

texts: A few months ago Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepaah Pasdaran) of Iran was designated as a terrorist organization by USA. As a person who lives in Iran I was wondering if I damage Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in anyway, say damaging their personnel or their properties, can I be protected by USA? For example can I come to USA as a refugee.


texts: Are NDAs enforceable if they require violating copyright?

texts:
As NDAs and copyright violation usually do not go together, I'll provide some background:

Suppose that a company, we'll call them Olio, created a smartwatch that uses publicly available computer code from the Linux project. Under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Linux's copyright license, it is fine for Olio to use Linux in their smartwatch, under the condition that, if Olio makes any changes to Linux's code before putting it on their watch, they make their edited code publicly available. Well, Olio uses Linux, with changes to its code, in their watch, but they never released this edited code. A few years later, Olio goes bankrupt and is bought by another company, we'll call this company Flex. As part of the acquisition, Flex requires that all of Olio's employees sign NDAs barring them from disclosing just about any information about the Olio watch, including the edited Linux code, which, under Linux's copyright license, has to be publicly available until 2020 (three years after Olio's last official use of their modified Linux code).

If one of Olio's former employees with a copy of this edited Linux code were to release it, as required by Linux's copyright license, would they be punishable for violating the NDA?


texts: Do I need to advertise an application for listed building consent?

texts:
Jurisdiction: England.
My house is a Grade II listed building.  I am planning to make some alterations to the house, most significantly, removing an internal wall and replacing the main entrance door.  If the house weren’t listed, planning consent would not be required.  But as it is listed, I need to obtain listed buildings consent and have been advised (in a pre-application advice meeting) that it will be forthcoming.
I am aware that planning applications need to be advertised, and it is the applicant’s responsibility to do so.  My reading of the application advice is that I do not need to advertise the fact that I have made an application for listed buildings consent, but the status report for the application on the local council’s planning portal has entries relating to advertising the application.
So I am now confused.  Do I need to advertise the application or not?
I have separately applied for building regs approval and have told the neighbours informally about my intentions.  They have no issues.


texts: What crime could occur while processing non-fungible tokens without copyright?

texts:
Alice creates a non-fungible token (NFT) of a digital file that they do not own copyright of.  She adds the token to the ethereum blockchain, and creates a transaction that transfers it to a wallet controlled by Bob.  Bob does not download the blockchain, but keeps his keys safe.  Charlie knows nothing about this exchange, but downloads the blockchain and mines the block that represents the transaction.  Dawn also has the blockchain, and downloads the newly mined block and adds it to her copy (as does everyone else in the world with a copy of the blockchain).
It seems to me that the NFT is a derivative work of the original file, and therefore if Alice was located in the US she would be breaching copyright in creating the NFT, and in distributing it by adding it to the blockchain.  Bob has never seen the NFT and has never created a copy of it, but has the theoretical ability to create transactions involving it that would be recognised as valid by others.  Charlie has created a copy of the NFT (by downloading the blockchain) and distributed a derivative (by publishing the mined block) but has no knowledge of any infringing activity. Dawn has created a copy of the NFT.
If Alice was in the US, and therefore breaching copyright law in creating the NFT, are Bob, Charlie and/or Dawn either committing any crimes, or exposing themselves to potential civil charges?
If Alice was in a jurisdiction which did not recognise the copyright on the original work (perhaps Iran?) does this change the situation?  What about if Charlie is?


texts: File a patent disclosure after paper publication

texts:
We were trying to file a patent, but unfortunately delayed the submission of the disclosure. Now the paper is accepted by the conference, not yet published. However, we uploaded the paper in advanced to arxiv.org which is public domain.

Is there any problems to file our disclosure now? We are in an urgent situation and need to file the patent on behalf of our company.

I'm in the US.


texts: When a police officer is knocking at your door, do they have to tell you or introduce themselves as police officers??


texts: Can I give money to another to give to charity, so she gets a deduction?

texts:
This is a question about Step Transactions.  IRS, USA.

Suppose I am retired and of limited income, so my tax bracket is about 10% and I don't itemize.

I want to give $10,000 to a 501(c)(3) charity.   But I won't get any tax benefits if I do, because that won't overcome the new itemization threshold of $12,000.

My plan is to give the money to Judy, who will then give it to the Nature Conservancy.  Judy is in a 32% tax bracket, so will get back $3200 of net tax benefits.  My gift isn't taxable income to Judy, since it's under the $15,000 gift tax exclusion.

Judy's onward gift is not optional. She must agree to donate it or no deal.

Does this violate the "Step Transaction Doctrine"? Effectively Judy is getting $3200 knocked off her taxes that I am not eligible to take.

Second scenario.  Suppose I am an old-school conservative and believe in conservation, but the new conservatives would be gravely offended to see me donating to the Nature Conservancy.  That would hurt my planned State Senate run.  This motivation is entirely innocent, and the tax benefit is an unexpected side-effect.  Does that change the picture?