Illegal Wins $145,000 from State of NY

[Darunia]

Illegal Wins Settlement

This is ridiculous.

Why doesn't NY state sue the state of Barbados for having a trespassing illegal commit crimes on their soil? He's an illegal--this is going to set a bad precedent.

[Weltall]

Dude.

The state of New York has paid illegal immigrant Cecil Harvey $145,000

He should have gotten ten times the amount, and been paid in GP!

[EdenMaster]

I had to do the same double take when I read that article

[Fittisize]

$145k, niiiiiiiiiiiiiice

[A Black Falcon]

Held for 35 days when the law says two? Sounds like he had a case to me...

[Darunia]

Regardless, ABF. That's like the story of the burglar who tripped inside someone's house he'd broken into, and won a lawsuit against the person.

[Dark Jaguar]

Not exactly. That WOULD be a terrible case of justice gone bad (though it honestly sounds like a legal urban legend). A burglar held in someone's personal prison for a week before being turned in to authorities is more like it.

Darunia, I agree that this guy, as an illegal immigrant, is already committing a crime, but criminals are still allowed to seek damages when wronged. Even a robber can sue someone if they themselves later get robbed.

Think of it this way. What is the purpose of being able to sue for failure of due process? The damages are meant to serve as, if nothing else, a reminder to the court system that someone's rights can't be violated, regardless of personal bias. In this case, the illegal immigrant IS illegal, but the point must be made to the courts that regardless of their personal feelings, they can't ignore the law to punish law breakers.

The ones who dropped the ball are those that didn't heed due process in regards to this guy. THEY and they alone must explain to the people of New York why an illegal immigrant now has their tax money.

And yes, the issue of this person being deported or forced to pay back taxes so they can become a legitimate citizen does need to be addressed. It has, ht was deported (if they allowed him to become a citizen on the grounds he paid all the back taxes as well as some additional penalties, they just made that a LOT easier for him to do). That still does not excuse poor handling of their case.

...So let me ask this. Did this guy happen to break into New York a few months back and kill a bunch of mages to steal a crystal for another country? Did they agree to forgive him if he went to Mt Rushmore and completed some trial? He casts off the role of Dark Foreigner and becomes an Ameridin.

(Oh Weltall, it's Gil now, and no I have no idea how to pronounce that. Really not sure which one sounds better to me, but Gil is more imaginative so I'm probably going to go with that. That and that's what the original Japanese games going back to FF1 apparently always used.)

[Weltall]

What is Gil? Is it fiat currency? Is it based upon a precious metals standard?

I'd rather be paid off in pieces of gold. There's much less confusion as to their value.

[A Black Falcon]

Why should people have no rights just because they're here illegally? Criminals have rights too! So we should just ignore it if people in jail are mistreated by the staff just because they're prisoners? We should allow the law to not matter, and just hold people indefinitely? That's the Bush "antiterrorism" program, and it's a terrible one... in this country we have laws, and they must apply equally.

[Weltall]

I suppose they should have jailed him the customary two days, and then immediately shipped his ass back to his island.

[etoven]

Ow, shit...
145K is like 50Bil in Illegal Mexican dollars.

[A Black Falcon]

I suppose they should have jailed him the customary two days, and then immediately shipped his ass back to his island.

Yeah, pretty much.

[Dark Jaguar]

Why should people have no rights just because they're here illegally? Criminals have rights too! So we should just ignore it if people in jail are mistreated by the staff just because they're prisoners? We should allow the law to not matter, and just hold people indefinitely? That's the Bush "antiterrorism" program, and it's a terrible one... in this country we have laws, and they must apply equally.

Dangit ABF I was trying to speak Darunia's language and you had to hippy it all up. Not that I disagree with you but still, go after it the right way.

End result, they COULD have handled it all properly and done whatever they generally do (deportation), but because they held him for over a month, they ended up losing a lot of money. Those guys running the case screwed up by lazily or perhaps intentionally stepping on prisoner's rights.

You see? THAT'S how you do it. Whew, saved it again. C'mon down to DJ's, we're always awesome!

In other news, Korean Dictator recently declares new general, says he found her as an infant and raised her as a killing machine.

[Dark Jaguar]

What is Gil? Is it fiat currency? Is it based upon a precious metals standard?

I'd rather be paid off in pieces of gold. There's much less confusion as to their value.

Neither, it's based on perceived value, the only reasonable basis for a currency standard since "precious metals" aren't inherently valuable.

Er, actually it IS fiat currency, fiat of the programmers...

What the heck is a "GP" anyway? I suppose "gold piece", but how big a piece, and isn't the gold market flooded now?

[Darunia]

And just WHAT, pray tell, is MY thread doing in THIS FORUM?

[Weltall]

It's where it belongs. Den of the Philociraptor is our traditional staging ground for political and social debate.

[Darunia]

Let's face it: threads come here to die.

[Weltall]

I just search for new posts anyway.

Actually, threads in the Den tend to last far longer than anywhere else on TC. This one would have stayed live if there were anything else to say.

[Unreadphilosophy]

What is Gil? Is it fiat currency? Is it based upon a precious metals standard?

I'd rather be paid off in pieces of gold. There's much less confusion as to their value.

I don't think Gil is fiat currency, Ryan. he fact that you generally find it in treasure chests seems to solidify its position as a precious metal.