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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Paul Hagen's "My Word" in TS today

worth reading - Why DA's Palco suit was ill-advised

Former environmental prosecutor Paul Hagen explains the flaws in Gallegos' Palco suit, the reason why it failed to make it into court, what was wrong with the reasoning behind Gallegos' Appeal of that rejection, the subsequent rejection of his Appeal (made a published Opinion), and the CA Supreme Court's final nail in the Palco suit coffin, a final rejection.

The Appeals Court found that the state has failed to prove, on its third try, a reasonable possibility that the (complaint)'s defect can be cured by amendment.”

Hagen's own credentials dwarf Gallegos' - and he notes: I would like to make it clear that I in no way approve of Palco's behavior. I personally prosecuted them twice criminally (obtaining literally every last penny available as penalties under the 15 counts I charged collectively) and once civilly (against Scopac, actually), receiving $80,000 in a settlement, $35,000 of which I sent to schools in the Van Duzen watershed.

And I found Palco's behavior in the recall election astounding and shameful, an incredibly bad set of decisions to fund petition signers and more in an effort to drive out an elected official.

That said, Gallegos' decision to prosecute Palco was a political one, make no mistake. Political prosecutions are never a good idea.

Within days of taking office, Gallegos directed his chief investigator to conduct an investigation. When his investigators reported they could not find evidence of a crime, the suit was filed civilly instead. The day before it was filed, a member of a local watchdog organization sat in the DA's library and read the complaint.


Paul Hagen is one of the rare few with the courage to speak out. It cost him his job.

ER Failed Gallegos lawsuit one more obstacle for community to overcome 5/3/08

17 comments:

  1. Hagen's piece is online and was very good. However, I don't see anything insane about Cobb's piece on May Day. Do you just have a hysterical reaction everytime you see Cobb's name? If so, you would be the insane one.

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  2. I still don't see it online - if you have a link, post it. Otherwise as soon as it is up, I will ink to it.

    And, Cobb? Insane. Not the only word that describes him though :).

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  3. It is hard to navigate the site. You have to go to the opinion page. Here is the link.

    http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/ci_9116254

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  4. Not the only word to describe you either, Rose. But it is the most polite word I can think of.

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  5. SANITY, IS FOR THE WEAK!

    Really, David Cobb isn't liked on any side other than his own and his young supporters. Still, having him move here to Humboldt County does prove my theory of a Giant Left-Wing Wackaloon Magnet® placed deep below Humboldt County.

    Right under the Power Plant. It's a government thing, I'm sure of it. :)

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  6. It also has to do with the humanities/social science departments at HSU. Davis, Santa Cruz, Irvine etc. have similar problems but in the smaller communities there is more impact.

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  7. Funny, most people think having a college and an educated populace is a good thing. Only an uneducated slob considers their influence a "problem."

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  8. Anonymous said...

    Funny, most people think having a college and an educated populace is a good thing. Only an uneducated slob considers their influence a "problem."

    5/01/2008 3:49 PM


    Oh? A educated populace could be a good thing, if they weren't being taught things like only white people can be racist and communism is the best thing ever and Che and Castro were great men.

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  9. How would you know what they are taught? I doubt you have seen the inside of a college classroom.

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  10. "Educated" is good. Indoctrinated is something else.

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  11. Did you ever think that maybe you are the one who was indoctrinated? There are different levels of "truth." For instance all the legends you learned in school about the founding fathers. In college you learn the facts about them, not the "George Washington chopped down the cherry tree" and "Abe Lincoln waged the civil war to free slaves," type of myths but the facts about the deliberations and machinations that went into writing a constitution that all the states would ratify and the real reason for the civil war. Learning to think critically and find the answers to your questions is one of the most valuable gifts a college education gives you. It isn't just about learning a job skill, you know?

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  12. People who have read Che Guevara's writings or understand what Cuba was like under Batista might have a different understanding of those men than you have. People who just take on faith that they were evil killers and dictators because someone in authority said they were is more likely the indoctrinated one.

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  13. Well said 8:07

    Somewhere in the middle of all of the hyperbole is the truth that individual responsibility and rational judgment counts for something. That's what we tell our children.

    With some hope that gets our society somewhere beyond the wisdom of push polls and 30 second spots.

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  14. Just because we have HSU doesn't mean we have an educated populace.

    The populace is educated in how to grow marijuana. Does that count.

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  15. Blogger 5:19,I'm a recently retired college proff and am glad to be out. What blogger 4:55 states is all to true. The last 10 plus years were the worst for me. The lack of civility,open discussion,intelectual curiosity and profesorial integrity has make the university campus simply a mill.

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  16. Sounds like a case of burn out. You should have retired 10 years earlier.

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  17. That's the view the prof was talking about. Smart ass self rightousness without an open all sides equal search ends up with closed minds like you 11:38

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