7 ms·

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the tit

by geuis 13y ago

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the title "judge" doesn't give them untouchable super powers. There's a giant reek of illegality coming from that area and someone needs to look under the covers. My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. This is Texas. These people don't have some sense that big bad companies are beating up on little old inventors trying to protect themselves with patents as has been portrayed in the media. These people are generally small minded Jesus followers who can't name 20 states outside of Texas and would be hard pressed to remember the name of the Vice President. I'm not speaking out of my ass either. I've lived in Texas. I have family there now. There's some serious corruption going on and it needs looking into.

efa 13y ago
Just because you lived in Texas doesn't give you a pass in saying such a hateful thing. This is the most ignorant thing I've seen on HN in a long time.
- geuis 13y ago
  You're partly right. I'm not particularly happy that a) I expressed myself this way and b) its the top voted comment on this article. There's a deeper message that I was trying to get across but this came out pretty badly.
benologist 13y ago
That seems highly unlikely given that Apple etc aren't retarded and would have pursued that theory if they thought it was possible.
- andybak 13y ago
  This is the worst quality top comment I've seen on HN in a while. I hope it doesn't stay top.
  - andybak 13y ago
    Just to clarify I was talking about the grandfather comment, not the parent. Too late to edit my comment now.
k-mcgrady 13y ago
>> "This is Texas. These people don't have some sense that big bad companies are beating up on little old inventors trying to protect themselves with patents as has been portrayed in the media. These people are generally small minded Jesus followers who can't name 20 states outside of Texas and would be hard pressed to remember the name of the Vice President." Grow up. There's no need to insult over 25m people based only on your personal experience and conspiracy theory.
dctoedt 13y ago
> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a federal district judge would deign to notice. The judges are public figures, so you have enhanced protection under the First Amendment, but making a statement like this, without evidence to support it, might qualify as the type of "malice" that can pierce the First Amendment protection.) The judge is constrained by long-established rules. Article III of the U.S. Constitution limits the power of the federal courts to actual cases and controversies. If the parties to a lawsuit settle the case, then that case is moot, and with very limited exceptions, the judge is automatically stripped of pretty much all authority in the matter. (You wouldn't want it any other way, given that Article III judges are appointed, not elected, and for life.) The battle isn't necessarily over. Apple might well be able to make a case on appeal that it should be allowed to continue to litigate against Lodsys, on grounds that the same issue is likely to come up again and be settled again, thereby evading judicial review. That's a standard exception to the mootness doctrine [0], and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is likely to give it serious consideration. Disclosure: I'm a Texan; a lawyer, also admitted in California; and a patent litigator in a previous life. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness#Capable_of_repetition.2C_yet_evading_review http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness#Capable_of_repetition....
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  This is the definition of "What the fuck." Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum, just because he's talking about a judge? He didn't threaten anybody.
  - dctoedt 13y ago
    > Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum? He didn't threaten anybody. Like it or not, libel laws apply on-line as much as anywhere. As just one example, in 2006 a Florida woman won an $11 million verdict against a Louisiana woman who had called her a crook, a con artist, and a fraud in an on-line forum [1]. Do a Google search for "libel on-line" and you'll see lots of ads for lawyers hoping to be hired to bring a lawsuit for libel. Incidentally, accusations like those of the GP are known as "libel per se." [2] Another thing to consider: If you make an arguably-libelous statement on-line about a foreign citizen, that person might sue you in a "libel tourism" destination such as the UK, which until earlier this year was (and to a certain extent still is) much more friendly to libel plaintiffs than is the U.S. (Fortunately for U.S. citizens, U.S. law severely limits the enforceability in U.S. courts of a foreign libel-tourism judgment [3].) [1] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-intern... [2] http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/libel+per+se http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/libel+per+se [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_tourism#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_tourism#United_States
drone 13y ago
> I'm not speaking out of my ass either. I've lived in Texas. I have family there now. Yes, you are. And you're a bigot to boot.
- efa 13y ago
  Everyone knows you are allowed to be bigoted when it's white southerners or Christians. duh!
nsxwolf 13y ago
Religious bigotry == instant downvote. Go back to Slashdot.
ktr100 13y ago
Foresee successfully moved to have the venue changed to Northern Illinois and still settled... I think it's more than the location. It's the system that's broken! http://www.research-live.com/news/legal/foresee-settles-lodsys-patent-dispute/4006463.article http://www.research-live.com/news/legal/foresee-settles-lods...
aspensmonster 13y ago
It's Texas. With its Republican judiciary and Republican legislature and Republican executive branch, you'd think that things like cronyism and corruption and rackets and other forms of meddling with the Invisible Hand of the Free Market would be frowned upon. You'd think Texas would be a paragon of Free Market economic ideology. But who am I kidding, you've lived here too. Minus a short stint in Denver, I've lived here my whole life. People can say you're speaking out your ass and call it bigotry all they want --and demand you return to Slashdot; it seems Hacker News considers itself above such lowly forums as Slashdot and Reddit-- but it doesn't change the truth of the matter. A majority of the citizenry of this state make their opinions on such matters perfectly clear with every vote in every election they participate in. Hell, there's a significant contingent belonging to the Tea Party who think the Republicans don't go far enough. They were significant enough to elect a Tea Party representative to the U.S. Senate. That's mental. The only real hope Texas has is that eventually the Hispanic block grows to eclipse the Republican block without falling prey to the Catholic priests who say in so many words that Jesus wanted you to vote Republican.
- wakkalakka 13y ago
  This is not about red vs. blue, Republican vs. Democrat, liberal vs. conservative, or anything else like it. Everyone tries to get their patent cases heard in this particular district in Texas the same way that everyone incorporates in Delaware. It's one particular legal venue that just happens to be friendly to certain vested interests. The reason to seek out this venue is because of nothing more than apolitical favoritism towards patent holders. That's all. Don't make this into something it's not.
  - moocowduckquack 13y ago
    I see, so they are all pure I.P. idealogues who just happen to think in this way and are in no way influenced by the massive sums of money involved in that area of law, all in one particular district in Texas that has loads of sham company fronts incorporated there, but from the judges side there is nothing dodgy going on and definitely no politics. I mean, you could be right, but it doesn't seem terribly likely when you look at it.
randomfool 13y ago
It's not so much corrupt judges as the local economy has found a niche with patent lawsuits. All these lawsuits bring in lots of big-spending lawyers and various support staff. Patent lawsuit litigation brings a major influx of money here- everyone knows it and no one wants to rock the boat.
geuis 13y ago
It's too late for me to edit my comment. If you read through some of the subsequent discussion you can see where a couple of helpful people cleared up some misconceptions I had when posting initially. I still think there's something shady going on in that district but I don't want to put forward any specific assertions about criminal activity. Don't upvote my comment if it sounds like righteous fervor and you agree with it because of that.
clavalle 13y ago
I don't think it is as clear cut as flat out bribery but these judges know what side their bread is buttered. They live there. They are friends with hotel and restaurant owners. Their family members are local patent attorneys. They have relatives that own 'commercial office buildings' that are nothing more than empty offices for a convenient mailing address for shell companies. If they started looking less friendly to plaintiffs they know all of that out-of-town cash would dry up to a great extent. They would become a pariah, which, in a small town is not something you can easily hide from. *Edit: The same can be said for the juries as well.
- rayiner 13y ago
  These are federal judges. They have life tenure. Fewer patent cases just means more time for golf.
  - Iftheshoefits 13y ago
    I think the commenter's point was that simply having life tenure as a judge isn't the only potential motivation for their alleged bias toward patent trolls. That, in fact, their friends' and families' stakes in local businesses (e.g. the shell 'office' suites these patent trolls incorporate in) provide additional indirect motivation for the judges to keep the patent troll gravy train rolling. Peer pressure, especially from close friends and family, and doubly in small towns, is incredibly motivating for most people.
    - harryh 13y ago
      Patent troll companies spend a lot of money for shell 'office' suites? I don't think that's actually true.
      - clavalle 13y ago
        http://www.marshallofficespace.com/ http://www.marshallofficespace.com/ First thing that popped up when Googling 'tyler texas federal court office suites' I was not saying these offices are some kind of grift, just that these cases are a big part of the local economy. The backbone of related local cottage industry. And these types of offices are just one example of that industry that is so important to these judge's and jury's community.
giardini 13y ago
Please do not make angry and spiteful accusations without presenting any supporting evidence whatsoever. If you have evidence then please present it either here or to the proper authorities. You should be more careful about what you say. I am surprised that HN doesn't mark these posts down. Less foolish statements have been censured by the powers that be on this forum.
joe_the_user 13y ago
The system is transparently corrupt in the larger, common sense of the word. The corrupt players, unfortunately, may have enough false-Chinese walls and connections that they cannot be brought up for the violation of any particular laws. The situation, in fact, is one that has become standard in the US. We can see as a broader example the "revolving door" where ex-government officials join industry and vice-versa. As long as particular, explicit payoffs can be avoided, the overall process of favoring certain players and approaches and having a strong expectation of a payoff in the end is basically legal. Edit: at end of article - Lodsys can be sure it will continue to draw Judge Gilstrap as long as it files its cases in Marshall, Texas. The other judge who considers patent cases filed there is US District Judge Leonard Davis; but since Judge Davis' son William "Bo" Davis is Lodsys' lawyer, the company's cases will all be redirected to Gilstrap. That this kind of essentially incestuous relationship is allowed should say a lot.
- pyre 13y ago
  > That this kind of essentially incestuous relationship is allowed should say a lot How so? Would you rather that the judge be related to the plaintiff's lawyer? Would you not be crying "Conspiracy! Corruption! Favouritism!" then? Should the judge's son be disallowed from practicing law?
saryant 13y ago
You do realize that Texas doesn't appoint or elect these judges, the President does, right?

by geuis 13y ago

efa 13y ago

Just because you lived in Texas doesn't give you a pass in saying such a hateful thing. This is the most ignorant thing I've seen on HN in a long time.

geuis 13y ago
You're partly right. I'm not particularly happy that a) I expressed myself this way and b) its the top voted comment on this article. There's a deeper message that I was trying to get across but this came out pretty badly.

benologist 13y ago

That seems highly unlikely given that Apple etc aren't retarded and would have pursued that theory if they thought it was possible.

andybak 13y ago
This is the worst quality top comment I've seen on HN in a while. I hope it doesn't stay top.
- andybak 13y ago
  Just to clarify I was talking about the grandfather comment, not the parent. Too late to edit my comment now.

k-mcgrady 13y ago

>> "This is Texas. These people don't have some sense that big bad companies are beating up on little old inventors trying to protect themselves with patents as has been portrayed in the media. These people are generally small minded Jesus followers who can't name 20 states outside of Texas and would be hard pressed to remember the name of the Vice President." Grow up. There's no need to insult over 25m people based only on your personal experience and conspiracy theory.

dctoedt 13y ago

> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a federal district judge would deign to notice. The judges are public figures, so you have enhanced protection under the First Amendment, but making a statement like this, without evidence to support it, might qualify as the type of "malice" that can pierce the First Amendment protection.) The judge is constrained by long-established rules. Article III of the U.S. Constitution limits the power of the federal courts to actual cases and controversies. If the parties to a lawsuit settle the case, then that case is moot, and with very limited exceptions, the judge is automatically stripped of pretty much all authority in the matter. (You wouldn't want it any other way, given that Article III judges are appointed, not elected, and for life.) The battle isn't necessarily over. Apple might well be able to make a case on appeal that it should be allowed to continue to litigate against Lodsys, on grounds that the same issue is likely to come up again and be settled again, thereby evading judicial review. That's a standard exception to the mootness doctrine [0], and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is likely to give it serious consideration. Disclosure: I'm a Texan; a lawyer, also admitted in California; and a patent litigator in a previous life. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness#Capable_of_repetition.2C_yet_evading_review http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness#Capable_of_repetition....

sillysaurus2 13y ago
This is the definition of "What the fuck." Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum, just because he's talking about a judge? He didn't threaten anybody.
- dctoedt 13y ago
  > Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum? He didn't threaten anybody. Like it or not, libel laws apply on-line as much as anywhere. As just one example, in 2006 a Florida woman won an $11 million verdict against a Louisiana woman who had called her a crook, a con artist, and a fraud in an on-line forum [1]. Do a Google search for "libel on-line" and you'll see lots of ads for lawyers hoping to be hired to bring a lawsuit for libel. Incidentally, accusations like those of the GP are known as "libel per se." [2] Another thing to consider: If you make an arguably-libelous statement on-line about a foreign citizen, that person might sue you in a "libel tourism" destination such as the UK, which until earlier this year was (and to a certain extent still is) much more friendly to libel plaintiffs than is the U.S. (Fortunately for U.S. citizens, U.S. law severely limits the enforceability in U.S. courts of a foreign libel-tourism judgment [3].) [1] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-intern... [2] http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/libel+per+se http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/libel+per+se [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_tourism#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_tourism#United_States

drone 13y ago

> I'm not speaking out of my ass either. I've lived in Texas. I have family there now. Yes, you are. And you're a bigot to boot.

efa 13y ago
Everyone knows you are allowed to be bigoted when it's white southerners or Christians. duh!

nsxwolf 13y ago

Religious bigotry == instant downvote. Go back to Slashdot.

ktr100 13y ago

Foresee successfully moved to have the venue changed to Northern Illinois and still settled... I think it's more than the location. It's the system that's broken! http://www.research-live.com/news/legal/foresee-settles-lodsys-patent-dispute/4006463.article http://www.research-live.com/news/legal/foresee-settles-lods...

aspensmonster 13y ago

It's Texas. With its Republican judiciary and Republican legislature and Republican executive branch, you'd think that things like cronyism and corruption and rackets and other forms of meddling with the Invisible Hand of the Free Market would be frowned upon. You'd think Texas would be a paragon of Free Market economic ideology. But who am I kidding, you've lived here too. Minus a short stint in Denver, I've lived here my whole life. People can say you're speaking out your ass and call it bigotry all they want --and demand you return to Slashdot; it seems Hacker News considers itself above such lowly forums as Slashdot and Reddit-- but it doesn't change the truth of the matter. A majority of the citizenry of this state make their opinions on such matters perfectly clear with every vote in every election they participate in. Hell, there's a significant contingent belonging to the Tea Party who think the Republicans don't go far enough. They were significant enough to elect a Tea Party representative to the U.S. Senate. That's mental. The only real hope Texas has is that eventually the Hispanic block grows to eclipse the Republican block without falling prey to the Catholic priests who say in so many words that Jesus wanted you to vote Republican.

wakkalakka 13y ago
This is not about red vs. blue, Republican vs. Democrat, liberal vs. conservative, or anything else like it. Everyone tries to get their patent cases heard in this particular district in Texas the same way that everyone incorporates in Delaware. It's one particular legal venue that just happens to be friendly to certain vested interests. The reason to seek out this venue is because of nothing more than apolitical favoritism towards patent holders. That's all. Don't make this into something it's not.
- moocowduckquack 13y ago
  I see, so they are all pure I.P. idealogues who just happen to think in this way and are in no way influenced by the massive sums of money involved in that area of law, all in one particular district in Texas that has loads of sham company fronts incorporated there, but from the judges side there is nothing dodgy going on and definitely no politics. I mean, you could be right, but it doesn't seem terribly likely when you look at it.

randomfool 13y ago

It's not so much corrupt judges as the local economy has found a niche with patent lawsuits. All these lawsuits bring in lots of big-spending lawyers and various support staff. Patent lawsuit litigation brings a major influx of money here- everyone knows it and no one wants to rock the boat.

geuis 13y ago

It's too late for me to edit my comment. If you read through some of the subsequent discussion you can see where a couple of helpful people cleared up some misconceptions I had when posting initially. I still think there's something shady going on in that district but I don't want to put forward any specific assertions about criminal activity. Don't upvote my comment if it sounds like righteous fervor and you agree with it because of that.

clavalle 13y ago

I don't think it is as clear cut as flat out bribery but these judges know what side their bread is buttered. They live there. They are friends with hotel and restaurant owners. Their family members are local patent attorneys. They have relatives that own 'commercial office buildings' that are nothing more than empty offices for a convenient mailing address for shell companies. If they started looking less friendly to plaintiffs they know all of that out-of-town cash would dry up to a great extent. They would become a pariah, which, in a small town is not something you can easily hide from. *Edit: The same can be said for the juries as well.

rayiner 13y ago
These are federal judges. They have life tenure. Fewer patent cases just means more time for golf.
- Iftheshoefits 13y ago
  I think the commenter's point was that simply having life tenure as a judge isn't the only potential motivation for their alleged bias toward patent trolls. That, in fact, their friends' and families' stakes in local businesses (e.g. the shell 'office' suites these patent trolls incorporate in) provide additional indirect motivation for the judges to keep the patent troll gravy train rolling. Peer pressure, especially from close friends and family, and doubly in small towns, is incredibly motivating for most people.
  - harryh 13y ago
    Patent troll companies spend a lot of money for shell 'office' suites? I don't think that's actually true.
    - clavalle 13y ago
      http://www.marshallofficespace.com/ http://www.marshallofficespace.com/ First thing that popped up when Googling 'tyler texas federal court office suites' I was not saying these offices are some kind of grift, just that these cases are a big part of the local economy. The backbone of related local cottage industry. And these types of offices are just one example of that industry that is so important to these judge's and jury's community.

giardini 13y ago

Please do not make angry and spiteful accusations without presenting any supporting evidence whatsoever. If you have evidence then please present it either here or to the proper authorities. You should be more careful about what you say. I am surprised that HN doesn't mark these posts down. Less foolish statements have been censured by the powers that be on this forum.

joe_the_user 13y ago

The system is transparently corrupt in the larger, common sense of the word. The corrupt players, unfortunately, may have enough false-Chinese walls and connections that they cannot be brought up for the violation of any particular laws. The situation, in fact, is one that has become standard in the US. We can see as a broader example the "revolving door" where ex-government officials join industry and vice-versa. As long as particular, explicit payoffs can be avoided, the overall process of favoring certain players and approaches and having a strong expectation of a payoff in the end is basically legal. Edit: at end of article - Lodsys can be sure it will continue to draw Judge Gilstrap as long as it files its cases in Marshall, Texas. The other judge who considers patent cases filed there is US District Judge Leonard Davis; but since Judge Davis' son William "Bo" Davis is Lodsys' lawyer, the company's cases will all be redirected to Gilstrap. That this kind of essentially incestuous relationship is allowed should say a lot.

pyre 13y ago
> That this kind of essentially incestuous relationship is allowed should say a lot How so? Would you rather that the judge be related to the plaintiff's lawyer? Would you not be crying "Conspiracy! Corruption! Favouritism!" then? Should the judge's son be disallowed from practicing law?

saryant 13y ago

You do realize that Texas doesn't appoint or elect these judges, the President does, right?