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Clipping Internacional - Dia 12 a 18 de Abril

12/04/2012

Quinta-feira, 19 de Abril de 2012 

12/04/2012 

Corriere Della Será - Economia 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Corte Costituzionale 

Soldi ai partiti, ecco come saranno controllati ma l'emendamento è inammissibile, 5 

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Politik 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Internationale Strafgerichtshof 

Kabila fordert Festnahme von gesuchtem Kriegsherrn, 7 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Europäischen Gerichtshof 

Geschwister ohne Liebe , 8 

Reuters General - Article 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Supreme Court 

Iberdrola wants voting rights ruling annuled, 10 



Arizona governor signs law banning most late-term abortions, 11 



Workers' class action against Brinker can proceed, in part, 12 



Calif court allows part of lawsuit against Brinker , 13 



SEC commissioner urges U.S. investor-rights action, 14 



Sebelius seeks civil rights support for healthcare law, 15 



UPDATE 1-Telenor-Unitech dispute referred for intl arbitration, 16 



Mali's Traore sworn in as acting president, 17 

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Politik 


Das letzte Tabu , 18 



Deutsches Inzestverbot ist rechtens, 19 

The New York Times - N.Y./Region 


Cuomo Acts to Advance Health Law in New York, 20 

The New York Times - Politics 

3



Honoring O’Connor’s Legacy at the Supreme Court, 22 

The New York Times - Arts 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Civil Rights 

Jamaa Fanaka, Film Director, Dies at 69, 23 



Evicted From Park, Occupy Protesters Take to Sidewalks, 25 



Robert Caro’s Big Dig, 26 

4

Corriere Della Será/ - Economia, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Corte Costituzionale) 

Soldi ai partiti, ecco come saranno 

controllati ma l'emendamento è 

inammissibile 

Già presentato un disegno di legge a firma Alfano, 

Bersani, Casini. Per velocizzare l'iter andrà in 

commissione in sede legislativa, cioè senza passare 

dall'aula 

MILANO - «Allo scopo di garantire la trasparenza e la 

correttezza nella gestione contabile e finanziaria, i 

partiti e i movimenti politici» dovranno avere i loro 

bilanci certificati da «società di revisione iscritte all'albo 

speciale tenuto dalla Consob». Recita così il primo 

comma dell'emendamento al decreto legge fiscale 

depositato dal relatore Gianfranco Conte, ma subito 

giudicato inammissibile dal presidente della Camera 

Gianfranco Fini «vista l'estraneità di materia e preso 

atto della mancanza di consenso unanime dei gruppi 

-scrive Fini- sull'esistenza di aspetti problematici che 

rende inammissibile l'emendamento». A questo punto 

l'unica strada resta quella del disegno di legge che per 

molti vuol dire un rinvio a tempi più lunghi per 

intervenire su un tema tornato di grande attualità dopo 

lo scandalo che ha travolto la Lega. 

ITER RAPIDO - Ma i leader della maggioranza 

pensano ad un percorso a tappe forzate: un ddl che 

porta la firma dei leader di Pdl, Pd e Terzo Polo, 

Alfano, Bersani e Casini da approvare in commissione 

Affari Costituzionali in sede legislativa, ovvero senza 

passare dall'aula. Appunto un iter ultrarapido. Era 

questa l'ipotesi su cui si ragionava già nei giorni prima 

del tentativo, andato male, di inserire le nuove norme 

sui bilanci dei partiti nel decreto fiscale. Tuttavia anche 

il tentativo di approvazione lampo potrebbe saltare: per 

l'approvazione in sede legislativa occorre infatti il via 

libera all'unanimità della commissione. Bastano le 

firme di nove deputati per stoppare la «legislativa» e in 

commissione Affari Costituzionali Idv e Lega possono 

contare su sette deputati, l'ottavo no è gia arrivato dal 

radicale Maurizio Turco. A questo punto basterebbe un 

solo franco tiratore per far saltare tutto. 

TESTO IDENTICO - Spiega il capogruppo del Pdl alla 

Camera Fabrizio Cicchitto: «A questo punto l'unica 

strada è la presentazione di un disegno di legge alla 

Commissione Affari Costituzionali puntando a farlo 

approvare in via legislativa». «Prendiamo atto della 

valutazione di inammissibilità dell'emendamento al 

decreto fiscale che contiene le norme sulla 

trasparenza dei bilanci dei partiti -aggiunge il 

capogruppo del Pd Dario Franceschini- è una 

valutazione del presidente della Camera che 

rispettiamo. La volontà dei gruppi che sostengono quel 

testo era quella, attraverso l'emendamento al decreto, 

di fare entrare in vigore la norma in tempi brevissimi». 

«In nome di questo obiettivo -aggiunge- c'è già un 

accordo fra i gruppi che sostengono il governo per una 

proposta di legge con identico testo da approvare in 

commissione Affari Costituzionali in sede legislativa in 

tempi brevissimi». 

BUFERA IN COMMISSIONE - In commissione finanze 

la Lega e l'Idv di Di Pietro si erano opposte con forza 

alla strada dell'emendamento e lo stesso presidente 

della Commissione Finanze Gianfranco Conte aveva 

già ravvisato che l'emendamento era a forte rischio. 

«Allo stato è da ritenersi inammissibile» aveva 

spiegato al termine della seduta della commissione. 

«Lo sottoporremo al presidente della Camera -aveva 

aggiunto- ma credo che anche lui sarà d'accordo su 

questa posizione. In un primo momento sembrava ci 

fosse unanimità tra i gruppi poi questa unanimità è 

venuta meno». Anche un esponente del Pd, Salvatore 

Vassallo, seppur a titolo personale, aveva espresso 

perplessità sull'ammissibilità. «C'è stato un dibattito 

piuttosto animato -ha spiegato Vassallo- è discutibile 

che lo si possa fare alla luce della recente sentenza 

della Corte costituzionale sugli emendamenti estranei 

per materia ai decreti legge, come ha sottolineato 

anche il presidente della Repubblica Giorgio 

Napolitano. Non si può inserire nel decreto fiscale una 

norma che non riguarda il flusso delle risorse che 

vanno ai partiti ma sulla rendicontazione». 

DI PIETRO SU TWITTER - Antonio Di Piero si affida 

invece a Twiitter per criticare anche nel merito la 

riforma. «Incredibile: secondo la proposta ABC le 

multe ai partiti per irregolarità le decideranno 

presidenti di Camera e Senato». E ancora: «Il 

paradosso e la malattia antica della politica italiana: il 

controllato che nomina e controlla il controllore». Ma la 

maggioranza difendono sostanza e procedura seguita. 

Spiega il presidente dei deputati del Pd Fabrizio 

Cicchitto: «Abbiamo condiviso la presentazione di un 

emendamento al decreto sulla semplificazione 

tributaria che riproduce il testo riguardante la 

5

egolamentazione dei controlli sulle finanze dei partiti 

concordato fra il Pdl, il Pd, l'Udc e il Fli per l'urgenza 

che la questione presenta». Mentre da Monasterace 

era intervenuto anche il segretario del Pd Luigi 

Bersani: «Spero di mettere in un decreto queste prime 

norme sui contributi ai partiti, su cui abbiamo trovato 

l'accordo, se ce ne danno la possibilità i presidenti 

delle Camere. Questo per farle partire 

immediatamente». 

I PUNTI SALIENTI - Resta comunque l'intesa nel 

merito raggiunta da Pdl, Pd e Terzo Polo per 

controllare la gestione del finanziamento pubblico. 

Questi i punti qualificanti dell'emendamento giudicato 

inammissibile. Oltre al Controllo da parte di società di 

revisione era prevista l'istituzione di una Commissione 

per la Trasparenza «Avrà sede presso la Camera che 

provvederà, insieme al Senato, ad assicurarne 

l'operatività anche attraverso la dotazione di personale 

Corriere Della Será/ - Economia, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 


di segreteria -si legge nel testo- L'organismo sarà 

composto dal presidente della Corte dei Conti che 

coordina, da quello del Consiglio di Stato e dal primo 

presidente della Cassazione. Ciascuno di loro potrà 

avvalersi fino a un massimo di 2 magistrati 

appartenenti ai rispettivi ordini giurisdizionali». 

Nessuno di loro percepirà «alcun compenso». E 

ancora «sul sito internet di ogni partito e di quello della 

Camera, entro il 15 giugno di ogni anno, dovranno 

essere pubblicati il rendiconto di esercizio dei partiti; la 

relazione del collegio sindacale; quella della società di 

revisione; i bilanci delle imprese partecipate; il verbale 

di approvazione del rendiconto». Tra l'altro è poi 

previsto il divieto «di investire i soldi pubblici ricevuti in 

strumenti finanziari diversi dai titoli di Stato italiani». 

Redazione Online 

6

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/ - Politik, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Internationale Strafgerichtshof) 

Kabila fordert Festnahme von gesuchtem 

Kriegsherrn 

Kongos Präsident Kabila hat die Verhaftung des 

wegen Kriegsverbrechen gesuchten Milizenführers 

Ntaganda gefordert. Ntaganda müsse jedoch in Kongo 

vor Gericht kommen - nicht in Den Haag vor den 

Internationalen Strafgerichtshof. 

Der kongolesische Präsident Joseph Kabila hat zur 

Verhaftung des wegen mutmaßlicher 

Kriegsverbrechen gesuchten Armeegenerals und 

Milizenführers Bosco Ntaganda aufgerufen. 

Ntaganda wird vom Internationalen Strafgerichtshof 

(ICC) gesucht. Ihm wird vorgeworfen, zwischen 2002 

und 2003 bei Kämpfen im Nordosten Kongos Kinder 

als Soldaten missbraucht zu haben. Außerdem soll 

Ntaganda wegen Mordes und Vergewaltigung belangt 

werden. 

Nach Angaben des Senders BBC kam Kabila am 

Mittwoch im Osten des Landes zu einem 

Sicherheitstreffen mit der Armee zusammen, nachdem 

in der Region seit Anfang April hunderte 

Regierungssoldaten desertierten. Sie gehören zu den 

Truppen Ntagandas und wurden 2009 nach einem 

Friedensschluss offiziell in die Armee aufgenommen. 

Ntagandas Soldaten, die vornehmlich der Volksgruppe 

der Tutsi angehören, werden für andauernde 

Vergehen an der Bevölkerung im Osten Kongos 

verantwortlich gemacht. 

„Keine Anklage in Den Haag“ 

„Ich möchte die Verhaftung von Ntaganda, weil die 

ganze Bevölkerung Frieden will“, sagte Kabila nach 

Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters. Ntaganda 

solle vor einem Militärgericht in Kongo angeklagt 

werden. Der Aufenthaltsort Ntagandas, der bis dato 

offen und unbehelligt in Goma lebte, ist unklar. Nach 

Angaben des Senders BBC soll er die Gegend mit 

hunderten schwerbewaffneten Soldaten verlassen 

haben. 

Präsident Kabila hatte sich einen Appell zur 

Verhaftung Ntagandas zuvor bislang verweigert. Eine 

Auslieferung an den ICC in Den Haag lehnt Kabila ab, 

angeblich, um den Frieden in der Region zu erhalten, 

in der eine Vielzahl an lokalen Milizen operiert. 

Ntganda war einer der Stellvertreter in der Hema-Miliz 

von Thomas Lubanga, der vom ICC Mitte März 

schuldig gesprochen worden war und in Den Haag in 

Haft sitzt. 

Zur Zeit des Völkermords im Nachbarland Ruanda war 

Ntaganda Mitglied der ruandischen Tutsi-Armee 

Forces Rwandaises de Défense, die 1994 das 

Hutu-Regime in Kigali stürzte. 

7


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Europäischen Gerichtshof ) 

Geschwister ohne Liebe 

Das deutsche Inzestverbot ist rechtens. Der 

Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte sieht im 

Verbot der Geschwisterliebe keinen Verstoß gegen die 

Menschenrechtskonvention. 

Von Reinhard Müller 

Inzest bleibt strafbar. Der Europäische Gerichtshof für 

Menschenrechte sieht im deutschen Verbot der Verbot 

der Geschwisterliebe keinen Verstoß gegen die 

Menschenrechtskonvention. Die Straßburger Richter 

billigen den Staaten einen weiten 

Beurteilungsspielraum zu - schließlich gebe es unter 

den 47 Staaten des Europarats keinen Konsens über 

die Strafbarkeit des Inzests. Und: Die deutsche 

Gerichte hätten sorgfältig abgewogen. In der Tat hatte 

sich auch das Bundesverfassungsgericht mit dem Fall 

befasst - und hatte eine eindeutige, wenn auch nicht 

einstimmige Entscheidung getroffen. 

Nicht zuletzt im Blick auf den konkreten Fall: Nach der 

Scheidung der Eltern war der 1976 geborene Patrick 

S. von einer Pflegefamilie adoptiert worden. Seine acht 

Jahre jüngere Schwester, die in Leipzig aufwuchs, traf 

er zum ersten Mal im Jahr 2000. Nach dem Tod der 

Mutter begannen die Geschwister eine sexuelle 

Beziehung. Die Schwester ist geistig leicht behindert. 

2001, 2003, 2004 und 2005 brachte sie vier Kinder zur 

Welt, deren Vater ihr Bruder ist. Zwei der Kinder sind 

behindert. Als der Inzest bekannt wurde, musste sich 

der Vater mehrfach Strafprozessen stellen. Im vierten 

wurde er zu einer Freiheitsstrafe von insgesamt 

zweieinhalb Jahren verurteilt. Mittlerweile haben sich 

die beiden getrennt. 

Verbot schon im preußischen Strafgesetzbuch 

Es ist eine alte Norm, die den Beischlaf zwischen 

Geschwistern unter Strafe stellt. Das Verbot findet sich 

schon im preußischen Strafgesetzbuch von 1851 und 

dann auch im Reichsstrafgesetzbuch von 1871, das im 

Wesentlichen heute noch gilt. Damals sprach man 

noch von „Blutschande“. Schon zu Beginn des 20. 

Jahrhunderts gab es Bestrebungen, die Norm zu 

streichen, da sie lediglich unmoralisches Handeln 

bestrafe. Doch die Vorschrift des Paragraphen 173 

überdauerte eine Vielzahl von Reformen. Inzest stelle, 

so die Begründung, eine Gefahr für das sittliche 

Wesen der Familie und vor allem für die 

Nachkommenschaft dar. Die Nationalsozialisten 

entschärften die Vorschrift sogar: Sie sahen ihren 

Zweck vor allem in der Abwehr von „Erbgefahren“, 

erkannten aber darüber hinaus kein „völkisches 

Schutzbedürfnis“. 

Wie jetzt auch der Europäische Gerichtshof für 

Menschenrechte war schon das 

Bundesverfassungsgericht rechtsvergleichend tätig. Es 

holte ein Gutachten beim Max-Planck-Institut für 

ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht in 

Freiburg ein. Demnach ist Inzest in 13 von 20 

untersuchten Staaten verschiedener Rechtskreise 

strafbar, nicht aber etwa in Russland, China, 

Frankreich und den Niederlanden. 

Sorgfältiges Abwägen des 

Bundesverfassungsgerichts 

Die Straßburger Richter kamen jetzt zu dem Schluss, 

dass in der Mehrheit der Staaten des Europarats 

sexuelle Beziehung zwischen Geschwistern strafbar 

sind; alle untersuchten Länder verbieten allerdings die 

Ehe zwischen Geschwistern. Folglich gebe es einen 

breiten Konsens, dass sexuelle Beziehungen zwischen 

Geschwistern weder in der Rechtsordnung noch in der 

Gesellschaft anerkannt seien. Die Richter sehen auch 

keinen Trend für die Entkriminalisierung solcher 

Beziehungen. Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat aus 

Sicht der Straßburger Richter sorgfältig abgewogen, 

was sich auch in der „ausführlichen abweichenden 

Meinung eines Richters“ zeige. 

Hier handelte es sich um den Strafrechtslehrer 

Winfried Hassemer, der kurz vor seinem Ausscheiden 

aus dem Gericht gegen die Strafbarkeit des Inzest zu 

Felde zog: Es gebe mildere und besser geeignete 

Instrumente, die Ziele des Gesetzgebers zu erreichen. 

Wer eine „so verunglückte“ Strafdrohung passieren 

lasse, „segnet schwere Fehler und Versäumnisse des 

Gesetzgebers verfassungsrechtlich ab“, meinte 

Hassemer. 

Abschreckende Wirkung des Inzestverbots 

Die Senatsmehrheit dagegen sprach von 

nachvollziehbaren Strafzwecken „vor dem Hintergrund 

einer kulturhistorisch begründeten, nach wie vor 

wirkkräftigen gesellschaftlichen Überzeugung von der 

Strafwürdigkeit des Inzests, wie sie auch im 

internationalen Recht festzustellen ist“. Hassemer hielt 

das für nebulös. Ganz offenbar habe die Vorschrift nur 

überkommene oder vermutete Moralvorstellungen, 

nicht aber ein konkretes Rechtsgut im Auge. Die große 

Mehrheit der Richter des Zweiten Senats meinte 

dagegen trotz der nicht ganz klaren Begründung für 

die Inzeststrafbarkeit, dass es dem Gesetzgeber 

erlaubt sei, den Inzest in dieser Form unter Strafe zu 

stellen 

8

Der Gesetzgeber hat demnach seinen 

Entscheidungsspielraum nicht überschritten, indem er 

das Bewahren der familiären Ordnung vor 

schädigenden Wirkungen des Inzests, den Schutz des 

in einer solchen Beziehung „unterlegenen“ Partners 

und die Vermeidung schwerwiegender Erkrankungen 

als ausreichend erachtet hat, „das in der Gesellschaft 

verankerte Inzesttabu strafrechtlich zu sanktionieren“. 

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht setzt auf die 

abschreckende Funktion des Inzestverbots - und 

wollte sich auch nicht die Rolle des Gesetzegebers 

anmaßen. Straßburg gibt Karlsruhe nun Recht. 



Und wenn die Entscheidung anders ausgefallen wäre? 

Das hätte den schwelenden Streit über Stellung und 

Kompetenz des überlasteten 

Menschenrechtsgerichtshofs neu angefacht. Aber 

dieser Konflikt ist nicht aufgehoben: Großbritannien, 

das derzeit den Vorsitz im Ministerkomitee des 

Europarates innehat, will den 

Menschenrechtsgerichtshof effizienter machen, da 

man mit dem Straßburger System unzufrieden ist. 

Solche Stimmen gibt es auch im 

Bundesverfassungsgericht und im Europäischen 

Gerichtshof in Luxemburg. 

9

Reuters General/ - Article, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court) 

Iberdrola wants voting rights ruling 

annuled 

MADRID, April 13 | Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:50am EDT 

(Reuters) - Spanish energy firm Iberdrola will ask the 

Supreme Court to annul its decision to reject the 

company's motion against a new law on corporate 

shareholder voting rights, a spokesman said on Friday. 

Iberdrola had contested the law, which strips 

companies of the power to limit individual shareholder 

voting rights at 10 percent, as part of its long battle to 

keep builder ACS from gaining influence on its board. 

The Supreme Court's ruling on Iberdrola's motion was 

released earlier on Friday. (Reporting By Carlos 

Ruano, writing by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Julien 

Toyer) 

10



Arizona governor signs law banning most 

late-term abortions 

By David Schwartz PHOENIX | Thu Apr 12, 2012 

9:35pm EDT (Reuters) - Arizona Republican Governor 

Jan Brewer signed into law on Thursday a 

controversial bill that bans most abortions after 20 

weeks of pregnancy, giving Republicans a win in 

ongoing national efforts to impose greater restrictions 

on abortion. The measure, which state lawmakers 

gave a final nod to on Tuesday, would bar healthcare 

professionals from performing abortions after 20 

weeks of pregnancy, except in the case of a medical 

emergency. Only a small number of these abortions 

are performed in the state. "This legislation is 

consistent with my strong track record of supporting 

common sense measures to protect the health of 

women and safeguard our most vulnerable population 

- the unborn," Brewer said in a statement. "Knowing 

that abortions become riskier the later they are 

performed in pregnancy, it only makes sense to 

prohibit these procedures past 20 weeks," she added. 

With Brewer's signature, Arizona joins six other states 

that have put similar late-term abortion bans in place in 

the past two years based on hotly debated medical 

research suggesting that a fetus feels pain starting at 

20 weeks of gestation. Georgia lawmakers approved a 

similar bill in March that now awaits the signature of 

Republican Governor Nathan Deal. Cathi Herrod, 

president of the conservative Center for Arizona 

Policy, said the passage of the law, was a "momentous 

victory for pro-life advocates." "Abortion not only ends 

the life of a preborn child, but it also seriously 

endangers the health and safety of women," she said. 

'EXTREME ASSAULT ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS' 

Opponents of Arizona's new law, which will take effect 

this summer, said it set a "dangerous new standard for 

hostility to women, doctors and reproductive rights." 

"To call this an extreme assault on reproductive rights 

would be a massive understatement. In its cruelty and 

its callous disregard for women's lives, it is downright 

appalling," said Nancy Northup, president of the 

Center for Reproductive Rights. The U.S. Supreme 

Court legalized abortions nationwide in 1973 but 

allowed states to ban the procedure after the time 

when the fetus could potentially survive outside the 

womb, except where a woman's health was at risk. 

Late-term abortions will still be allowed in Arizona in 

situations where continuing a pregnancy risks death or 

would "create serious risk of substantial and 

irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." This 

is to be determined by a physician's "good faith clinical 

judgment." The law also requires a woman to have an 

ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to having an 

abortion, instead of the one hour previously mandated 

under state law. State officials are also required to 

create a website that details such items as the risks of 

the procedure and shows pictures of the fetus in 

various stages. Bryan Howard, president and CEO at 

Planned Parenthood Arizona, said the law was part of 

a "harmful" nationwide drive by conservatives to curb 

not only abortions but other services affecting women's 

health. "We're seeing the hubris overreach in states 

across the country, not just in the regulation of abortion 

but in mainstream Planned Parenthood services like 

birth control and cancer screening," he said. (Editing 

Tim Gaynor and Cynthia Johnston; desking by Cynthia 

Osterman and Lisa Shumaker) 

11



Workers' class action against Brinker can 

proceed, in part 

By Terry Baynes Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:33pm EDT 

(Reuters) - Part of a class-action lawsuit against 

Brinker International Inc can proceed, the California 

Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, in a closely 

watched case about employee meal and rest breaks at 

the company's restaurants. The California high court 

authorized a class of workers in the state to proceed 

with claims that they were denied proper rest breaks 

by Brinker. With respect to the meal break claims, the 

court ruled that employers only have to provide meal 

periods to workers, not make sure employees actually 

take them. "An employer must relieve the employee of 

all duty for the designated period, but need not ensure 

that the employee does no work," Associate Justice 

Kathryn Werdegar wrote for the unanimous court. 

Workers first sued Brinker, which owns Chili's and 

Romano's Macaroni Grills, in 2004 on behalf of a 

proposed class of around 60,000 non-unionized, 

hourly employees. They claimed that managers 

pressured them to skip their breaks by failing to 

adequately staff the restaurants or by threatening to 

cut or change their hours. Brinker's attorneys argued 

that employees should have flexibility in choosing 

whether to take their scheduled breaks. A California 

appeals court sided with Brinker in 2008, finding that 

the restaurant company only had to "make available" 

the meal and rest breaks, but not "ensure" they were 

taken. The state's Supreme Court agreed that 

employers do not have to police meal breaks but do 

need to relieve workers of duties at those times. The 

court also resolved uncertainty over whether 

employers need to enforce a "rolling five-hour" rule, 

which gives workers a right to an uninterrupted meal 

break after five consecutive hours of work. The first 

meal break must fall no later than five hours into an 

employee's shift, but employers do not have to 

schedule additional meal breaks every five hours, the 

court ruled. The court also set out clear guidelines for 

the number and timing of rest breaks, upholding a 

lower court's decision to authorize a class action on 

those claims. Tracee Lorens, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, 

welcomed the opinion as a win for low-wage workers 

across the state. "We never argued employers had to 

police breaks. We just argued that they had an 

affirmative obligation to relieve the employees of duty 

so that they could take their lunch break if they wanted 

to," she said. She said the case would now go back to 

the trial court to determine whether the meal break 

claims can remain part of the class action. A 

spokeswoman for Brinker said the company was still 

reviewing the ruling and could not immediately 

comment. California employers and labor lawyers have 

waited for three years for the high court to clarify 

ambiguities in the state's wage laws, which require 

extra pay for meal and rest break violations. "We had 

an epidemic of meal and rest-break cases where 

virtually every employer in the state was being sued," 

said Scott Witlin, a Los Angeles employment lawyer at 

Barnes & Thornburg who is not involved in the case. 

The lawsuits have continued to flow in, claiming 

millions in damages. Many have resulted seven-figure 

settlements due to uncertainty in the law, he said, 

adding that the ruling helps businesses by clarifying 

the law. Joseph Liburt, an employment lawyer at Orrick 

in Silicon Valley, said most businesses have been 

taking a conservative approach, paying the extra 

penalty whenever an employee's timecard shows a 

potential meal break issue. Many employers have also 

tried to make sure workers actually take their breaks, 

he said. The case is Brinker Restaurant Corp v. 

Superior Court (Hohnbaum), California Supreme 

Court, No. S166350. (Reporting By Terry Baynes; 

Editing by Steve Orlofsky) 

12



Calif court allows part of lawsuit against 

Brinker 

By Dan Levine and Terry Baynes SAN FRANCISCO, 

April 12 | Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:18pm EDT (Reuters) - 

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that 

part of a class action lawsuit can proceed against 

Brinker International Inc., in a closely watched case 

over employee breaks in the nation's most populous 

state. The court also ruled that employers are obliged 

to relieve employees of all duty during meal breaks, 

but need not ensure that no work is done. 

13



SEC commissioner urges U.S. 

investor-rights action 

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON | Thu Apr 12, 2012 

4:21pm EDT (Reuters) - A commissioner with the U.S. 

Securities and Exchange Commission is calling for 

Congress to take action to help investors after a 2010 

Supreme Court decision greatly restricted them from 

suing foreign companies for fraud. The comments by 

Luis Aguilar, a Democratic member of the SEC, came 

in response to a study released by the agency earlier 

this week. The SEC study was conducted in response 

to a June 2010 Supreme Court case, Morrison v. 

National Australia Bank Ltd. The ruling prevented 

investors from filing fraud claims against companies 

that are not traded on a U.S. exchange. Since that 

decision, the vast majority of securities fraud claims 

against foreign companies that had been filed in U.S. 

courts have been wiped out, leaving investors with one 

less tool to combat potential securities fraud. Aguilar 

said the ruling has had a very negative impact on 

investor protection, and that Congress should take 

action so that investors can once again have their day 

in court. "Properly functioning financial markets require 

the protection of investors' rights. U.S. investors expect 

to be protected by U.S. securities laws, regardless of 

where the securities transaction ultimately occurs," 

Aguilar wrote in a response to the SEC study. "It is my 

view that investors should have a private right of action 

under the antifraud provisions of the Exchange Act in 

transnational securities fraud cases." When the 

Morrison decision first came out, it not only affected 

investors, but it also hampered both the SEC and the 

U.S. Department of Justice's ability to sue for 

transnational fraud. Congress quickly righted this 

problem for the SEC and the DOJ just a month later 

with the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which 

restored the agencies' ability to bring cases with a 

more global reach as long as they met certain 

conditions. Congress stopped short, however, of 

extending that same privilege to investors. Instead, 

Congress directed the SEC to study the issue and 

provide any recommendations on whether to change 

the law. In order to release the study to Congress this 

week, all five commissioners at the SEC had to vote 

on it. Aguilar's 12-page statement gave a dissenting 

view on the study, which he said was disappointing 

because it failed to take a stand for investors or make 

any specific recommendations. He also said he was 

upset that at one point in the study, the SEC said a 

possible option for Congress would be to take no 

action in this area. "The study falls far short of 

providing Congress with an informed recommendation 

and falls far short in fulfilling the Commission's mission 

to protect investors," he said. A spokesman for the 

Senate Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction 

over the SEC, said the chairman is still reviewing the 

SEC's report. (Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; editing by 

Matthew Lewis) 

14



Sebelius seeks civil rights support for 

healthcare law 

By David Morgan WASHINGTON | Thu Apr 12, 2012 

6:50pm EDT (Reuters) - A top U.S. administration 

official asked civil rights activists on Thursday to help 

defend President Barack Obama's embattled 

healthcare law, saying the reform package faces an 

"enemy" determined to set American health policy 

back half a century. The remarks in a charged election 

year come two months before the Supreme Court is 

expected to issue a ruling that could make or break the 

law. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen 

Sebelius sought to cast the two-year-old reform law as 

a vital weapon against racial disparities that have long 

condemned U.S. minorities to higher infant mortality 

rates, shorter lifespans and limited access to medical 

services. "The enemy is at the door and we know that 

they would like to dismantle these initiatives," Sebelius 

told the annual convention of the National Action 

Network, a civil rights group led by the Rev. Al 

Sharpton. "Healthcare inequalities have been one of 

the most persistent forms of injustice," she said. "Now 

is not the time to turn back." Sebelius' remarks were 

part of an administration campaign to promote the 

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during a 

turbulent election year marked by repeated calls for its 

repeal and a Supreme Court ruling expected in June 

that could declare all or part of the law 

unconstitutional. Civil rights activists and the minority 

communities they represent are a key segment of 

Obama's Democratic base, whose support he could 

need in great numbers to stave off a Republican 

challenge in November, especially if the high court 

strikes down his signature domestic policy 

achievement. Research has long shown low-income 

Americans, including many minorities, have 

significantly less access to medical care and suffer 

disproportionate rates of childhood illnesses, 

hypertension, heart disease, AIDS and other diseases. 

HEALTHCARE FOR 30 MILLION UNINSURED 

Designed to extend health coverage to more than 30 

million uninsured Americans, Obama's healthcare 

reform law has become a favorite target for 

Republicans mainly because of an unpopular provision 

that requires most Americans to have private health 

insurance by 2014. "We've got folks who are 

committed to undoing ... the important initiatives that 

we've made in the last few years," Sebelius told her 

predominantly black audience without making a direct 

reference to Republicans or other opponents of reform. 

"Frankly, they want to go back and undo Medicare and 

Medicaid from the mid-1960s. They want to roll us 

back years and years," she added. Medicare and 

Medicaid, the national healthcare programs for the 

elderly and poor, respectively, were created in 1965 in 

a period of social and civil rights reforms aimed at 

ending racial segregation and protecting the voting 

rights of minorities. The civil rights movement of the 

1960s led to monumental changes in American race 

relations that allowed Obama to be elected as the first 

black U.S. president in 2008. The 

Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives 

voted last month to partially privatize Medicare and 

convert Medicaid to a block-grant program for states. 

Sebelius called on religious leaders, health advocates 

and other minority leaders to help the administration 

educate the public about the healthcare law's benefits. 

The law, which does not come into full force until 

January 1, 2014, has already benefited minorities by 

extending private insurance coverage to young adults, 

providing free preventive services for those with 

insurance and banning coverage denials for children 

with pre-existing conditions. "I'm here to ask you to 

help," Sebelius said. "If we can begin to close the 

disparities in health, we begin to close disparities in 

other areas, too." (Editing by Todd Eastham) 

15



UPDATE 1-Telenor-Unitech dispute 

referred for intl arbitration 

* India Company Law Board refers case for arbitration 

in Singapore * Telenor says to challenge order in a 

higher court (Adds details, background) (Reuters) - 

India's Company Law Board has allowed Unitech Ltd's 

plea to refer a dispute over its telecoms joint venture 

with Norway's Telenor for arbitration in Singapore, 

potentially delaying a resolution. Telenor said in a 

statement it was "surprised" by the Company Law 

Board's order and would challenge it in a higher court, 

adding its intention remained to establish a new 

venture in India. Telenor is seeking to scrap the joint 

venture and migrate its business to a new company to 

seek fresh operating licences, after the JV's telecoms 

permits were ordered to be revoked by India's 

Supreme Court, which in February declared all 

permits awarded in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale "illegal 

and quashed". Unitech has opposed Telenor's move 

and has said the Norwegian company cannot 

unilaterally scrap the joint venture agreement and that 

it had veto right to block any asset transfer. Both sides 

had separately approached the Company Law Board 

over the dispute. Unitech last month appealed to the 

quasi-judiciary body to refer the case for international 

arbitration in Singapore, citing provisions in their 

shareholder agreement. Unitech said in a separate 

statement on Thursday it was "pleased" by the 

Company Law Board's order and that their 

shareholders' agreement "clearly defines" a dispute 

resolution mechanism. Telenor owns 67.25 percent of 

the joint venture, which operates under the Uninor 

brand name, with Unitech holding the remainder. With 

41 million customers at end-February, the JV ranks 

eighth in a market of 15 mobile carriers. Shares in 

Unitech, a real estate company, rose as much as 6.3 

percent after the news. At 0828 GMT, the shares were 

trading 3.4 percent up at 29.30 rupees. (Reporting by 

Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan) 

16



Mali's Traore sworn in as acting president 

BAMAKO, April 12 | Thu Apr 12, 2012 5:49am EDT 

(Reuters) - Mali's Dioncounda Traore was sworn in as 

interim president of his West African country on 

Thursday after leaders of a March 22 coup agreed to 

hand back power to civilians. Traore, previously the 

speaker of the national parliament, was sworn in by 

Supreme Court President Nouhoum Tapily at a brief 

ceremony in the capital Bamako. He faces the uphill 

task of organising new elections in the mostly desert 

state, where Tuareg-led rebels and Islamist allies 

earlier this month seized the northern half of the 

country in a lightning advance made in the aftermath of 

the coup. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; editing by 

Mark John and Pascal Fletcher) 

17

Von Helmut Kerscher, Karlsruhe Sex zwischen Bruder 

und Schwester ist hierzulande verboten. Das hat das 

Bundesverfassungsgericht zuletzt vor vier Jahren 

bestätigt und mit seinem Urteil harsche Kritik auf sich 

gezogen. Nun muss der Europäische Gerichtshof für 

Menschenrechte über die Liebe eines deutschen 

Geschwisterpaares entscheiden - und die alte Debatte 

könnte wieder aufflammen. 

Tabus zu finden, die es noch zu brechen gilt, ist für 

Kunst und Medien schwierig geworden. Auf dem dafür 

besonders geeigneten Gebiet der Sexualität regiert 

längst die Parole "Erlaubt ist, was gefällt"; der Staat 

beschränkt seinen Strafanspruch auf das 

Notwendigste. Mit einer Ausnahme: Auch bei 

Einvernehmen ist der Beischlaf zwischen leiblichen, 

erwachsenen Geschwistern nach wie vor strafbar. 

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat diesen 

Paragraphen vor vier Jahren gebilligt. An diesem 

Donnerstag wird sich zeigen, was der Europäische 

Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte in Straßburg davon 

hält. 

Vom Straßburger Urteil wird es abhängen, ob die 

Diskussion über die Strafwürdigkeit dieser Form des 

Inzests wieder aufleben wird. Für den verurteilten, 

heute 35-jährigen Patrick S. kommt die Entscheidung 

so oder so zu spät: Seine Strafe hat er mehr als drei 

Jahre lang im Gefängnis abgesessen, und die 

Beziehung zu seiner jüngeren Schwester, mit der er 

vier Kinder gezeugt hat, ist im Lauf des Verfahrens in 

die Brüche gegangen. Der Inzest-Paragraph habe 

"nicht die Familie geschützt, sondern eine Familie 

zerstört", sagt der Dresdner Rechtsanwalt Endrik 

Wilhelm, der Patrick S. vertritt. 

Bruder und Schwester lernten sich erst als 

Erwachsene kennen 

Wilhelm meint damit nicht die Herkunftsfamilie der 

Geschwister, denn die war schon bei der Geburt der 

Schwester zerstört. Die Mutter hatte sich von ihrem 

Mann, einem Alkoholiker, scheiden lassen. Sohn 

Patrick, den der Vater misshandelt hatte, lebte seit 

seinem dritten Lebensjahr in Kinderheimen und 

Pflegefamilien. Er und seine Schwester lernten sich 

Das letzte Tabu 

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 


erst als Erwachsene kennen. 

Nach dem Tod der Mutter entwickelte sich eine 

Liebesbeziehung, aus der in den Jahren 2001 bis 2005 

vier Kinder hervorgingen; zwei von ihnen sind 

behindert. Für die Zerstörung dieser Familie macht der 

Anwalt das Strafrecht und die Gerichte verantwortlich. 

Denn Vater Patrick wurde gleich mehrmals wegen 

"Beischlafs zwischen Verwandten" zu Freiheitsstrafen 

verurteilt. Rechtsmittel und Verfassungsbeschwerde 

blieben erfolglos. 

Heftige Diskussion über Inzestverbot 

Das Karlsruher Gericht erklärte den zugrunde 

liegenden Paragraphen 2008 für verfassungsgemäß. 

Er diene dem Schutz von Ehe und Familie und der 

sexuellen Selbstbestimmung, außerdem verringere er 

die Gefahr von Erbschäden. Gerechtfertigt sei die 

Strafbarkeit auch wegen der in der Gesellschaft "nach 

wie vor wirkkräftigen Überzeugung von der 

Strafwürdigkeit des Inzests". Im Übrigen würden die 

"Möglichkeiten intimer Kommunikation nur punktuell 

verkürzt", das soll heißen: Bloß der Vaginalverkehr sei 

verboten, alles andere nicht. 

Der damalige Gerichtsvizepräsident Winfried 

Hassemer stemmte sich mit einem scharfen 

Sondervotum gegen die Meinung seiner sieben 

Kollegen. Diese hätten eine verunglückte 

Strafandrohung aufrechterhalten; die Begründung 

dafür laufe darauf hinaus, das Lebensrecht behinderter 

Kinder zu verhindern. 

Nach dem Urteil, das in der Wissenschaft recht 

einhellig kritisiert wurde, gab es eine heftige 

Diskussion über das Inzestverbot. Damals lobte die 

FDP-Abgeordnete Sabine 

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger Hassemer und kündigte 

eine "öffentliche Auseinandersetzung" an. Die Debatte 

erinnere sie an jene über die Strafbarkeit von 

homosexuellen Handlungen zwischen Männern, und 

der entsprechende Paragraph 175 sei auf Betreiben 

der FDP aufgehoben worden. An diesem Donnerstag 

kann sich Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger erneut zu 

einer "Inzestentscheidung" äußern, nun als 

Bundesjustizministerin. 

18

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 


Deutsches Inzestverbot ist rechtens 

Jahrelang führte Patrick S. eine sexuelle Beziehung 

mit seiner leiblichen Schwester - und kam dafür ins 

Gefängnis. Der Mann aus Leipzig setzte sich dagegen 

zur Wehr, zuletzt vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof 

für Menschenrechte. Der hat jetzt entschieden: Das 

Urteil gegen den Deutschen ist rechtens. 

Inzest darf in Deutschland weiter bestraft werden, ein 

Verbot der Geschwisterliebe verletzt nicht die 

Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention. Zu diesem 

Urteil kommt der Europäische Gerichtshof für 

Menschenrechte (EGMR) in Straßburg. Die sieben 

Richter einer kleinen Kammer des Gerichts wiesen 

damit einstimmig die Beschwerde eines Mannes aus 

Leipzig ab, der in Deutschland wegen einer sexuellen 

Beziehungen mit seiner leiblichen Schwester verurteilt 

worden war. 

Die Richter entschieden, dass die strafrechtliche 

Verurteilung das Recht von Patrick S. auf Achtung 

seines Privat- und Familienlebens nicht verletzt habe. 

Dieses Recht ist in Artikel 8 der Europäischen 

Menschenrechtskonvention verankert. Zuletzt war der 

Kläger 2008 vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht 

gescheitert. 

Der EGMR argumentiert, dass der Umgang mit Inzest 

in Europa nicht einheitlich geregelt sei, auch wenn die 

Geschwisterliebe in zahlreichen Staaten verboten ist. 

Somit stehe den deutschen Behörden ein "weiter 

Beurteilungsspielraum" zu. Außerdem habe das 

Bundesverfassungsgericht diesen speziellen Einzelfall 

sorgfältig geprüft, heißt es in der Urteilsbegründung. 

Verurteilungen wegen "Beischlafs zwischen 

Verwandten" 

Patrick S. und seine Schwester waren getrennt 

voneinander aufgewachsen und hatten sich erst im 

Jahr 2000 als Erwachsene kennengelernt. Aus der 

Liebesbeziehung der Geschwister gingen zwischen 

2001 und 2005 vier Kinder hervor, zwei kamen 

behindert zur Welt. Wegen "Beischlafs zwischen 

Verwandten" war der Mann mehrmals zu 

Freiheitsstrafen verurteilt worden. 

Auch wegen dieser Gefängnisaufenthalte sind die 

Geschwister mittlerweile kein Paar mehr, wie der 

Anwalt von Patrick S. kritisierte. Der deutsche 

Inzest-Paragraph habe "nicht die Familie geschützt, 

sondern eine Familie zerstört", sagte Endrik Wilhelm 

vor dem Urteil. Drei der Kinder leben heute in 

Pflegefamilien, die jüngste Tochter ist bei der Mutter. 

Gegen die Entscheidung der Straßburger Richter kann 

der Beschwerdeführer binnen drei Monaten 

Rechtsmittel einreichen. Der Gerichtshof kann die 

Klage dann zur Überprüfung an die Große Kammer mit 

17 Richtern verweisen. Er muss dies jedoch nicht tun. 

19

The New York Times/ - N.Y./Region, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 


Cuomo Acts to Advance Health Law in 

New York 

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, stepping into the 

national debate over President Obama’s health care 

law, used his executive power on Thursday to carry 

out one of its critical features in New York after the 

state’s Republican lawmakers blocked legislation to do 

so. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who has generally 

avoided national politics even as he is often mentioned 

as a potential candidate for president, offered an 

enthusiastic endorsement of the benefits of the health 

care measure, which is currently being litigated before 

the Supreme Court and contested in this year’s 

presidential campaign. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who 

has generally avoided national politics even as he is 

often mentioned as a potential candidate for president, 

offered an enthusiastic endorsement of the benefits of 

the health care measure, which is currently being 

litigated before the Supreme Court and contested in 

this year’s presidential campaign. As he issued an 

executive order to establish a health insurance 

exchange, an online marketplace where individuals 

and small businesses can choose among competing 

health insurance plans, Mr. Cuomo said it would drive 

down the cost of insurance while helping the 2.7 

million uninsured New Yorkers get affordable 

coverage. “The bottom line,” Mr. Cuomo said in a 

statement, “is that creating this health exchange will 

lower the cost of health insurance for small 

businesses, local governments and individual New 

Yorkers across the state.” For nearly a year, Mr. 

Cuomo asked the Legislature to set up the exchange. 

But the Republican majority in the State Senate 

refused to consider the measure, arguing that 

approving the exchange would amount to condoning 

the law, the Affordable Care Act, which they deride as 

Obamacare. The Senate Republicans also cited the 

uncertainty surrounding the health care law, given the 

Supreme Court challenge, and last month, they 

blocked Mr. Cuomo from including the exchange in the 

state budget for the fiscal year that began April 1. The 

health care law requires each state to put an insurance 

exchange in place by 2014, and gives the federal 

government the power to do so in states that do not 

act on their own. Mr. Cuomo, unable to win support for 

the exchange in the State Senate, vowed to move 

ahead unilaterally, and on Thursday, he signed the 

order to set up the exchange within the State Health 

Department, rather than as a separate state entity, as 

his original legislation had sought to do. Mr. Cuomo’s 

order drew praise on Thursday from Democratic 

lawmakers, health advocacy groups and leaders in the 

state’s health care industry. Kenneth E. Raske, the 

president of the Greater New York Hospital 

Association, called the move “a way of alleviating the 

current crisis facing those that don’t have access to 

care because of lack of insurance.” But Mr. Cuomo’s 

move irked some conservatives, who are determined 

to fight the health care law and view state capitals as 

important battlegrounds in which the law’s 

implementation can be contested. State Senator 

Gregory R. Ball, Republican of Putnam County, who 

has been one of the most vocal critics of the health 

exchange proposal, said Mr. Cuomo was acting 

prematurely, given the Supreme Court case. Mr. Ball 

also criticized the governor for “sidestepping the 

Legislature” to set up the exchange. “Enlisting our 

state in a program that may cease to exist on both 

constitutional and administrative grounds is, in my 

opinion, overly aggressive and fundamentally 

imprudent,” Mr. Ball said. Michael F. Cannon, the 

director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a 

libertarian research center in Washington, said that 

refusing to pass legislation to set up a health exchange 

was “the most powerful blow that a state can strike 

against Obamacare,” and questioned Mr. Cuomo’s use 

of an executive order. “King Andrew shouldn’t be out 

creating new bureaucracies on his own,” Mr. Cannon 

said. “If the people’s elected representatives say they 

don’t want to create a new government bureaucracy, 

then the government doesn’t have the power to create 

a new government bureaucracy.” Since the passage of 

the Affordable Care Act, 11 states have set up 

insurance exchanges, according to the National 

Conference of State Legislatures. Ten did so with 

legislation; only one — Rhode Island — used an 

executive order, and a lawsuit challenging the authority 

of that order is pending. Mr. Cuomo’s office defended 

the use of an executive order, noting that the state 

would rely on federal financing to set up the exchange, 

rather than any new state spending, and that it would 

not set up a new governmental body. New York has 

already received $88 million in federal grants to plan 

for its health exchange; setting up the exchange will 

allow the state to seek additional federal financing. 

“The activities that are necessary to implement the 

exchange are within the existing legal authority of the 

Department of Health, in which it will be based, and 

the other agencies with which it will work, including the 

Department of Financial Services,” Mr. Cuomo’s 

counsel, Mylan L. Denerstein, said in a statement. 

Peter J. Kiernan, who served as chief counsel for 

20

former Gov. David A. Paterson, a Democrat, said that 

although “legislation is always optimal,” he believed 

the executive order was legal. “In essence, he’s telling 

the Department of Health, which works for him, to get 

ready to do this, and to use federal money that has 

already come through,” Mr. Kiernan said. “There may 

be people that would complain about it, but I don’t 

think that anyone would be successful challenging the 

governor’s authority here.” A spokesman for the 

Senate Republicans declined to comment on the 



executive order. But after Mr. Cuomo said last month 

that he would set up the exchange using his own 

power, the Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, a 

Long Island Republican, said the Senate Republicans 

would not be interested in challenging such a move. 

“The governor has the right to issue executive orders,” 

Mr. Skelos said. Still, he added, “If somebody wants to 

sue him, fine.” 

21

The New York Times/ - Politics, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 


Honoring O’Connor’s Legacy at the 

Supreme Court 

The four women who have served on the Supreme 

Court appeared at the Newseum in Washington on 

Wednesday night to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 

the appointment of the first one, Justice Sandra Day 

O’Connor. It was the first joint appearance of the 

current and former female justices at a public forum. 

Justice O’Connor joined the court in 1981 and retired 

in 2006. The other three women — Justices Ruth 

Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan 

— are still on the court, and on Wednesday, they 

reflected Justice O’Connor’s legacy. The one aspect 

that got the most attention — one that continues to this 

day — was the morning exercise class Justice 

O’Connor founded. Justice Elena Kagan, who served 

as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall from 1987 

to 1988, recalled meeting and disappointing Justice 

O’Connor back then. “She was a formidable person,” 

Justice Kagan said. “Even a clerk knew how 

formidable a person Justice O’Connor was.” Justice 

O’Connor encouraged the female law clerks to attend 

the class, but the young Ms. Kagan preferred playing 

basketball. “I failed to come to the exercise group,” 

Justice Kagan recalled. Justice O’Connor said, a little 

sharply, “I noticed.” Later, Ms. Kagan injured herself on 

the court and, on crutches, encountered Justice 

O’Connor. “She sadly shook her head,” Justice Kagan 

recalled, “and she said, ‘It wouldn’t have happened in 

exercise class.’ ” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who 

joined the court in 1993, said she would have 

attended, but the class met too early. Justice 

O’Connor, 82, had no patience for that excuse, either. 

“I went this morning, as a matter of fact, at 8 a.m.,” she 

said. She added that her years on the court had not 

been without disappointments. One involved Justice 

Stephen G. Breyer. “I got Justice Breyer up there a few 

times,” she said of the exercise class, “but he didn’t 

want to be the only man.” The Supreme Court these 

days hears only about half as many cases as it did 

early in Justice O’Connor’s tenure. “Isn’t that 

amazing?” she said, to laughter. “It just shows they’re 

not working.” Justice Ginsburg said the current 

workload was plenty. “I’d like everyone to know I still 

work,” she said. Justice Sotomayor agreed. “I know I’m 

at the max where I am,” she said. Justice O’Connor 

was asked whether serving on the Supreme Court 

had been a goal of hers when President Ronald 

Reagan chose her, then a judge on a midlevel appeals 

court judge in Arizona. “Oh, heavens no,” she told the 

moderator, James Duff. In a way, she said, she was 

playing defense as the first woman on the court. “It’s 

all right to be the first to do something, but I certainly 

didn’t want to be the last,” she said. 

22

The New York Times/ - Arts, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Civil Rights) 

Jamaa Fanaka, Film Director, Dies at 69 

By PAUL VITELLO Jamaa Fanaka, a filmmaker who 

had considerable success in 1979 with “Penitentiary,” 

a feature-length movie he made while still in film 

school, but who claimed to have been blacklisted 

afterward for raising questions about a dearth of jobs 

for black directors in Hollywood, died on April 1 in Los 

Angeles. He was 69. The cause was complications of 

diabetes, his family said. Mr. Fanaka was part of what 

film scholars called the L.A. Rebellion, a small group of 

black U.C.L.A. film school graduates who came of age 

in the late 1970s, near the end of the so-called 

blaxploitation era. The group’s defining aesthetic was 

to move beyond pimp stereotypes and funk 

soundtracks in film portrayals of blacks. Unlike most of 

the others, including the avant-garde filmmakers 

Charles Burnett (“Killer of Sheep,” “My Brother’s 

Wedding”) and Julie Dash (“Daughters of the Dust”), 

Mr. Fanaka, a Billy Wilder fan, wanted to make movies 

that were both serious and popular. “Penitentiary,” 

starring Leon Isaac Kennedy as a wrongfully 

imprisoned man who finds redemption as a prison 

boxer, received mixed reviews but became the most 

financially successful independent movie of 1979. As 

luck would have it he released it during the first boom 

in affordable VCRs and movies on videocassette. He 

made sequels to “Penitentiary” in 1982 and 1987. The 

film was also considered an artistic breakthrough. 

Allyson Nadia Field, a professor of cinema studies at 

U.C.L.A. who last year helped organize a retrospective 

featuring the movies of the L.A. Rebellion, called 

“Penitentiary” “the transition moment between 

blaxploitation and independent black filmmaking.” 

“People think the beginning of independent black 

filmmaking was ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ ” she said, 

referring to Spike Lee’s 1986 watershed hit. “But really, 

it was Fanaka’s ‘Penitentiary.’ ” Mr. Fanaka became 

one of the few black members of the Directors Guild of 

America, but he found the guild to be insular — pretty 

much like the rest of the film industry, he told 

interviewers — saying it rarely acted on its promises to 

encourage studios to hire more women and members 

of minority groups. When his attempts to change that 

quietly were ignored, Mr. Fanaka became dogged. He 

brought a series of class-action lawsuits against the 

guild in the early 1990s, claiming that its 

word-of-mouth system of alerting directors about job 

opportunities was inherently discriminatory and a 

violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The suits 

sought a more transparent system of notification and 

the establishment of minority training programs. But a 

federal judge later threw them out on technicalities, 

and Mr. Fanaka was termed “a vexatious litigant.” (The 

directors guild declined to comment.) “He wrote the 

briefs himself; he paid the court costs; it became his 

mission for future filmmakers, was how he saw it,” said 

Jacqueline Stewart, a professor of radio, television and 

film and African-American studies at Northwestern 

University, who interviewed Mr. Fanaka for the L.A. 

Rebellion retrospective. “It was very upsetting for him 

to talk about it,” she added. “He said he felt like he had 

been erased from history. It’s hard to prove these 

things, but I think it’s safe to say at the very least that 

his career suffered.” Mr. Fanaka rejected some movie 

opportunities after “Penitentiary” because he 

considered them to be in the blaxploitation mold, Ms. 

Stewart said. Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the 

U.C.L.A. film and television archive, said of Mr. 

Fanaka: “In a way his major accomplishment was a 

kind of a failure — to have tried and failed to 

significantly change the racial politics of his profession. 

He was punished for it. The guild, the studios, they 

treated him like a crank. But he was not a crank. He 

was legitimately concerned about the future.” Mr. 

Fanaka was born Walter Gordon on Sept. 6, 1942, in 

Jackson, Miss., one of five children of Robert and 

Beatrice Gordon. His parents moved to the Los 

Angeles area when he was a boy. His father was an 

electrician. After serving in the Air Force, he told 

interviewers, he was adrift until he entered a 

community college film program, which led him to the 

U.C.L.A. film school. He made three commercial 

feature films before graduating: “Welcome Home, 

Brother Charles” (1975), “Emma Mae” (1976). and 

“Penitentiary.” He graduated summa cum laude and by 

then had changed his name to Jamaa Fanaka, derived 

from the Swahili for “together we will find success.” His 

survivors include three daughters, Tracey Gordon, 

Twyla Louis and Katina Scott; a son, Michael Gordon; 

his parents, Robert and Beatrice Gordon; two brothers, 

Joseph and Robert Gordon; a sister, Carmen Sanford; 

and nine grandchildren. At his death Mr. Fanaka was 

working on his eighth film, a documentary about 

hip-hop culture. He told the film blogger Jeff Brummett 

recently that he wished he had made more films, but 

that he was proud of what he had accomplished, both 

as a filmmaker and as an activist. “I exposed the 

Achilles’ heel of Hollywood,” he said. This article has 

been revised to reflect the following correction: 

Correction: April 13, 2012 An earlier version of this 

article misstated when Mr. Fanaka made the film 

23

“Penitentiary.” It was made while he attended film 

school and released after his graduation. 

The New York Times/ - Arts, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012 


24



Evicted From Park, Occupy Protesters 

Take to Sidewalks 

By COLIN MOYNIHAN The protesters arrived on Wall 

Street on Wednesday night carrying bedrolls, quilts 

and blankets. They spread pieces of cardboard on the 

sidewalks. Then, as several police officers stood 

nearby, the protesters made signs with anticorporate 

slogans. “It’s really exciting to see people actually 

occupying Wall Street,” said Embi Weitzel, 25, a nanny 

from Colorado, who came with earplugs, apples, a 

flashlight, a bottle of water and an orange sleeping 

bag. “Finally, here we are, in the belly of the beast.” 

For the third consecutive night, Occupy Wall Street 

protesters used a tactic that many of them hope will 

emerge as a replacement for their encampment at 

Zuccotti Park, which was disbanded by the police in 

November. Norman Siegel, a prominent civil-rights 

lawyer who visited the protesters on Wednesday night, 

said a decision by a federal court in Manhattan arising 

from a lawsuit in 2000 allowed the protesters to sleep 

on sidewalks as a form of political expression so long 

as they did not block doorways and took up no more 

than half the sidewalk. The protesters first cited that 

ruling last week while sleeping outside bank branches 

near Union Square, but said this week that they 

wanted so-called sleep-outs to occur nightly around 

the New York Stock Exchange. An organizer, Austin 

Guest, said protesters had scheduled such events for 

Friday night at four other spots, each related to the 

Occupy Wall Street message that the financial system 

benefits the rich and corporations at the expense of 

ordinary citizens. The protesters’ presence on and 

near Wall Street has drawn the attention of the police, 

but officers have not dislodged them. Dozens of 

Occupy encampments around the country were 

forcibly cleared months ago by police forces, and 

organizers in New York have acknowledged that it 

would be difficult to mount a new occupation of a park 

or plaza. Instead, many of them said, they would rather 

establish these sleeping spots. “It takes a tremendous 

amount of resources to maintain a camp,” Mr. Guest 

said Wednesday night. “But sidewalks are 

everywhere.” Another organizer, Jo Robin, said that by 

moving to Wall Street, the protesters hoped to address 

a new audience that would most likely not support the 

movement’s message. She added that over the past 

week, protesters in Boston, Philadelphia and 

Washington had begun sleeping near financial 

institutions. About 75 protesters gathered on 

Wednesday night in Lower Manhattan. About 15 slept 

on Wall Street. Most of them stretched out on Nassau 

Street, just north of Wall Street. Others unrolled their 

sleeping bags on Broad Street, across from the 

illuminated colonnade of the stock exchange. “The 

conversations that were happening in Zuccotti Park 

are happening again,” said Ray Leone, 26, from the 

Lower East Side. “We were separated for so long.” 

Around 2 a.m. on Thursday, several protesters kicked 

a soccer ball across the cobblestones of Nassau 

Street. A large dump truck lifted a metal container with 

a clang and emptied its contents. A couple of hours 

later, most protesters were asleep, curled under 

blankets, some wearing hats and scarves. Nearby, in 

Zuccotti Park, empty except for a security guard, there 

was the hiss of sprinklers watering tulips. By 5:30 a.m., 

the sound of stainless-steel coffee carts clattering over 

cobblestones could be heard. Workers began hosing 

the sidewalk across the street from Federal Hall. By 6 

a.m., protesters were waking up. As the sky 

brightened, workers in suits or high heels began 

walking down Wall Street, and a young protester 

offered them pamphlets. Many ignored the literature. 

Some accepted, leafing through the pamphlet as they 

walked or shoving it into their pockets as they hurried 

to their jobs. 

25

Robert Caro’s Big Dig 

Robert Caro probably knows more about power, 

political power especially, than anyone who has never 

had some. He has never run for any sort of office 

himself and would probably have lost if he had. He’s a 

shy, soft-spoken man with old–fashioned manners and 

an old-fashioned New York accent (he says “toime” 

instead of “time” and “foine” instead of fine), so 

self-conscious that talking about himself makes him 

squint a little. The idea of power, or of powerful people, 

seems to repel him as much as it fascinates. And yet 

Caro has spent virtually his whole adult life studying 

power and what can be done with it, first in the case of 

Robert Moses, the great developer and urban planner, 

and then in the case of Lyndon Johnson, whose 

biography he has been writing for close to 40 years. 

Caro can tell you exactly how Moses heedlessly 

rammed the Cross Bronx Expressway through a 

middle-class neighborhood, displacing thousands of 

families, and exactly how Johnson stole the Texas 

Senate election of 1948, winning by 87 spurious votes. 

These stories still fill him with outrage but also with 

something like wonder, the two emotions that sustain 

him in what amounts to a solitary, Dickensian 

occupation with long hours and few holidays. Caro is 

the last of the 19th-century biographers, the kind who 

believe that the life of a great or powerful man 

deserves not just a slim volume, or even a fat one, but 

a whole shelf full. He dresses every day in a jacket and 

tie and reports to a 22nd-floor office in a nondescript 

building near Columbus Circle, where his neighbors 

are lawyers or investment firms. His office looks as if it 

belongs to the kind of C.P.A. who still uses ledgers 

and a hand-cranked adding machine. There are an old 

wooden desk, wooden file cabinets and a maroon 

leather couch that never gets sat on. Here Caro writes 

the old-fashioned way: in longhand, on large legal 

pads. Caro began “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” his 

multivolume biography of the 36th president, in 1976, 

not long after finishing “The Power Broker,” his 

immense, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Moses, 

and figured he could do Johnson’s life in three 

volumes, which would take him six years or so. Next 

month, a fourth installment, “The Passage of Power,” 

will appear 10 years after the last, “Master of the 

Senate,” which came out 12 years after its 

predecessor, “Means of Ascent,” which in turn was 

published 8 years after the first book, “The Path to 

Power.” These are not ordinary-size volumes, either. 

“Means of Ascent,” at 500 pages or so, is the 

comparative shrimp of the bunch. “The Path to Power” 

is almost 900 pages long; “Master of the Senate” is 

close to 1,200, or nearly as long as the previous two 

combined. If you try to read or reread them all in just a 



couple weeks, as I foolishly did not long ago, you find 

yourself reluctant to put them down but also worried 

that your eyeballs may fall out. The new book, an 

excerpt of which recently ran in The New Yorker, is 

736 pages long and covers only about six years. It 

begins in 1958, with Johnson, so famously decisive 

and a man of action, dithering as he decides whether 

or not to run in the 1960 presidential election. The 

book then describes his loss to Kennedy on the first 

ballot at the Democratic convention and takes him 

through the miserable, humiliating years of his vice 

presidency before devoting almost half its length to the 

47 days between Kennedy’s assassination in 

November 1963 (Caro’s account, told from Johnson’s 

point of view, is the most riveting ever) and the State of 

the Union address the following January — a period 

during which Johnson seizes the reins of power and, in 

breathtakingly short order, sets in motion much of the 

Great Society legislation. In other words, Caro’s pace 

has slowed so that he is now spending more time 

writing the years of Lyndon Johnson than Johnson 

spent living them, and he isn’t close to being done yet. 

We have still to read about the election of 1964, the 

Bobby Baker and Walter Jenkins scandals, Vietnam 

and the decision not to run for a second term. The 

Johnson whom most of us remember (and many of us 

marched in the streets against) — the stubborn, 

scowling Johnson, with the big jowls, the drooping 

elephant ears and the gallbladder scar — is only just 

coming into view. Johnson, who all along predicted an 

early end for himself, died at 64. Caro is already 76, in 

excellent health after a scary bout with pancreatitis in 

2004. He says that the reason “The Passage of 

Power” took so long is that he was at the same time 

researching the rest of the story, and that he can wrap 

it all up, with reasonable dispatch, in just one more 

volume. That’s what he said the last time, after 

finishing “Master of the Senate.” (He also thought he 

could finish “The Power Broker” in nine months or so. It 

took him seven years, during which he and his wife, 

Ina, went broke.) Robert Gottlieb, who signed up Caro 

to do “The Years of Lyndon Johnson” when he was 

editor in chief of Knopf, has continued to edit all of 

Caro’s books, even after officially leaving the company 

(he also excerpted Volume 2 at The New Yorker when 

he was editor in chief there). Not long ago he said he 

told Caro: “Let’s look at this situation actuarially. I’m 

now 80, and you are 75. The actuarial odds are that if 

you take however many more years you’re going to 

take, I’m not going to be here.” Gottlieb added, “The 

truth is, Bob doesn’t really need me, but he thinks he 

does.” In his years of working on Johnson, Robert 

Caro has come to know him better — or to understand 

26

him better — than Johnson knew or understood 

himself. He knows Johnson’s good side and his bad: 

how he became the youngest Senate majority leader 

in history and how, by whispering one thing in the ears 

of the Southern senators and another in Northern ears, 

he got the Civil Rights Act of 1957 through a 

Congress that had squelched every civil rights bill 

since 1875; how he fudged his war record and earned 

himself a medal by doing nothing more than taking a 

single plane ride; how, while vice president during the 

Cuban missile crisis, his hawkishness scared the 

daylights out of President Kennedy and his brother 

Robert. Caro has learned about Johnson’s rages, his 

ruthlessness, his lies, his bribes, his insecurities, his 

wheedling, his groveling, his bluster, his sycophancy, 

his charm, his kindness, his streak of compassion, his 

friends, his enemies, his girlfriends, his gofers and 

bagmen, his table manners, his drinking habits, even 

his nickname for his penis: not Johnson, but Jumbo. 

This kind of knowledge does not come easily or 

cheaply. Caro has taken so long with Johnson that his 

agent, Lynn Nesbit, no longer remembers how many 

times she has renegotiated his contract; his publishing 

house has had two editors in chief, and no one there 

worries much about his deadlines any longer. The 

books come along when they come along. “I’m not a 

charity case,” Caro pointed out to me last month when 

I remarked on how Knopf had stuck by him all these 

years. It’s true that the Johnson volumes have been 

glowingly reviewed (“The Path to Power” and “Means 

of Ascent” both won the National Book Critics Circle 

Award and “Master of the Senate” won the Pulitzer 

Prize and the National Book Award) and that each of 

them has been a best seller, but it’s also true that they 

turn up so infrequently that Caro can hardly be thought 

of as a brand name. “Are the books profitable?” Sonny 

Mehta, Knopf’s current head, who took over the 

Johnson project — enthusiastically — after Gottlieb’s 

departure in 1987, said last month. He paused for a 

moment. “They will be,” he answered finally, “because 

there is nothing like them.” Gottlieb is more 

philosophical. “So what if at the end of 45 years it turns 

out we lost money by one kind of accounting?” he said. 

“Think of what he has given us, what he has added. 

How do you weigh that?” The two Bobs, Gottlieb and 

Caro, have an odd editorial relationship, almost as 

contentious as it is mutually admiring. They still 

debate, for example, or pretend to, how many words 

Gott-lieb cut from “The Power Broker.” It was 350,000 

— or the equivalent of two or three full-size books — 

and Caro still regrets nearly every one. “There were 

things cut out of ‘The Power Broker’ that should not 

have been cut out,” he said to me sadly one day, 

showing me his personal copy of the book, dog-eared 

and broken-backed, filled with underlining and 

corrections written in between the lines. Caro is a little 

like Balzac, who kept fussing over his books even after 



they were published. Gottlieb and Caro also have 

slightly different accounts of how the Johnson project 

came about in the first place. Caro’s original contract 

called for him to write a biography of Fiorello 

LaGuardia, the former New York City mayor, after 

finishing Moses. Gottlieb says that in 1974, when Caro 

came in to talk about that project, he told him: “It’s a 

mistake. There were two gods in my house in the ’30s 

and ’40s: F.D.R. and LaGuardia. But LaGuardia is a 

dead end, an anomaly. He doesn’t come from 

anything, and nothing followed from him. I think you 

should write about Lyndon Johnson.” Turning to me 

and shaking his head he added: “You have to 

understand, I knew nothing about Lyndon Johnson and 

didn’t care about Lyndon Johnson, and it never 

crossed my mind until that moment that was what Bob 

should do. It was one of the inexplicable great 

moments, because it came out of nowhere.” Caro says 

that he had already made up his mind that Johnson, 

who had only recently died, should be his next subject, 

partly because he didn’t want to write about New York 

again, but he listened quietly to Gottlieb. “I always felt 

that I increased my advance by a substantial amount 

by just sitting there not saying ‘That’s what I want to 

do,’ ” he told me. Gottlieb and Caro argue about 

length, but they also argue about prose, even about 

punctuation. “You know that insane old expression, 

‘The quality of his defect is the defect of his quality,’ or 

something like that?” Gottlieb asked me. “That’s really 

true of Bob. What makes him such a genius of 

research and reliability is that everything is of exactly 

the same importance to him. The smallest thing is as 

consequential as the biggest. A semicolon matters as 

much as, I don’t know, whether Johnson was gay. But 

unfortunately, when it comes to English, I have those 

tendencies, too, and we could go to war over a 

semicolon. That’s as important to me as who voted for 

what law.” Their worst battle was over the second 

Johnson volume, “Means of Ascent,” which is largely 

about the stolen Senate election of 1948. Gottlieb 

encouraged Caro to tell this story at length because he 

was fascinated by the details of local politics, but he 

objected, as some reviewers did, to Caro’s 

characterization of Johnson’s opponent in that 

election, Coke Stevenson, a former Texas governor, 

who is painted in almost heroic terms. “We went mano 

a mano, chin to chin, nose to nose, I so disapproved of 

his idealization of Coke Stevenson,” Gottlieb said. “We 

just about killed each other.” The editing of the most 

recent book went much more smoothly, Gottlieb said, 

explaining: “We both behaved better, and we really 

had a terrific time — maybe the first time we actually 

enjoyed the process. He could say, ‘I know you don’t 

want all this,’ and I could say, ‘How interesting that you 

know that!’ I think we have evolved, to the extent that 

we’re evolvable.” He laughed, and added: “How do 

these things happen? You just start in the belief that 

27

it’s all worth it, and before you know it, it’s 500 years 

later and you’re doing the notes on the 43rd volume.” 

There was never a plan,” Caro said to me, explaining 

how he had become a historian and biographer. 

“There was just a series of mistakes.” Caro was born in 

October 1935 and grew up on Central Park West at 

94th Street. His father, a businessman, spoke Yiddish 

as well as English, but he didn’t speak either very 

often. He was “very silent,” Caro said, and became 

more so after Caro’s mother died, after a long illness, 

when he was 12. “It was an unusual household in that I 

didn’t want to be there too much,” he said, adding that 

though he is fond of his younger sibling, Michael, now 

a retired real estate manager, they don’t have the kind 

of relationship that most brothers do. Caro spent as 

much time as he could at the Horace Mann School (it 

was his mother’s deathbed wish that he should go 

there) or else on a bench in Central Park with a book. 

He was always writing, and even then he wrote long. 

His sixth-grade essays dwarfed everyone else’s. His 

senior thesis at Princeton — on existentialism in 

Hemingway — was so long, he was told, that the 

college’s English department subsequently instituted a 

rule limiting the number of pages a senior could turn in. 

Caro said he now thinks that Princeton, which he 

chose because of its parties, was one of his mistakes, 

and that he should have gone to Harvard. Princeton in 

the mid-’50s was hardly known for being hospitable 

toward Jews, and though Caro says he did not 

personally suffer from anti-Semitism, he saw plenty of 

students who did. “The way I thought of it, I wasn’t at 

Princeton,” he said. “I was at the newspaper and the 

literary magazine.” He had a sports column, “Ivy 

Inklings,” at The Daily Prince-tonian, where he 

eventually became managing editor. (The top editor, 

until he flunked out, was R. W. Apple Jr., later to 

become a legendary New York Times reporter.) He 

also wrote short stories, or rather, not so short ones. 

One of them, about a boy who gets his girlfriend 

pregnant, took up almost an entire issue of The 

Princeton Tiger, a humor and literary magazine. It was 

also at Princeton that Caro met his wife, Ina, who 

would also become the only assistant and researcher 

he has ever trusted. She was 16 at the time, a 

high-school student from nearby Trenton, 

double-dating at a Hillel mixer. She spotted Caro, very 

good-looking to judge from photographs taken around 

that time, across the room and announced to her best 

friend, “That’s the boy I’m going to marry.” Three years 

later, she did, dropping out of college against her 

parents’ wishes, and though she went on to finish her 

degree, get another one (in medieval European 

history) and write a couple of books of her own, she 

has to an extent remarkable by today’s standards 

devoted her life to his. At the lowest point during the 

writing of “The Power Broker,” when Caro had run out 

of money and was close to despair about being able to 



finish, she sold their house in suburban Long Island, 

moved the family (the Caros have a son, Chase, who 

is now in the information-technology business) to an 

apartment in the Bronx and took a job teaching school 

to keep him going. “That was a bad time, a very bad 

time,” Caro recalled. “I always felt that the most 

important thing was for Bob to be able to write,” Ina 

said. “Things like houses and money never meant 

much to me. I think they meant more to our dog,” she 

told me one morning in their big Upper West Side 

apartment, adding: “But I never thought this would be 

all he’d write about. I’ve always wanted him to finish a 

novel.” Even now, she went on, it’s hard for her to 

accept that Johnson will probably turn out to be the 

great work of their lives together. “You never think 

about dying,” she said. “You always think there’s going 

to be time.” In order to marry, Caro needed a job. The 

Times offered him one as a copyboy for a salary that 

he now recalls as “something like $37.50 a week.” The 

New Brunswick Daily Home News and Sunday Times 

offered him $52 a week to be a reporter, and Caro took 

it. Another mistake, except that it led to an early lesson 

in power politics. The paper’s chief political writer was 

on leave to work for the Democratic Party in Middlesex 

County during an election. When he became ill, Caro 

took his place. He wrote speeches and did P.R. for 

one of the party bosses. On Election Day he rode 

around with this man to the polling places, and at one 

point they came upon the police loading some black 

people into a patrol wagon. “One of the cops explained 

that the black poll watchers had been giving them 

some trouble, but they had it under control,” Caro 

recalled. “I still think about it. It wasn’t the roughness of 

the police that made such an impression. It was the — 

meekness isn’t the right word — the acceptance of 

those people of what was happening. I just wanted to 

get out of that car, and as soon as he stopped, I did. 

He never called me again. He must have known how I 

felt.” Caro had a further epiphany about power in the 

early ’60s. He had moved on to Newsday by then, 

where he discovered that he had a knack for 

investigative reporting, and was assigned to look into a 

plan by Robert Moses to build a bridge from Rye, N.Y., 

across Long Island Sound to Oyster Bay. “This was 

the world’s worst idea,” he told me. “The piers would 

have had to be so big that they’d disrupt the tides.” 

Caro wrote a series exposing the folly of this scheme, 

and it seemed to have persuaded just about everyone, 

including the governor, Nelson Rockefeller. But then, 

he recalled, he got a call from a friend in Albany 

saying, “Bob, I think you need to come up here.” Caro 

said: “I got there in time for a vote in the Assembly 

authorizing some preliminary step toward the bridge, 

and it passed by something like 138-4. That was one 

of the transformational moments of my life. I got in the 

car and drove home to Long Island, and I kept thinking 

to myself: ‘Everything you’ve been doing is baloney. 

28

You’ve been writing under the belief that power in a 

democracy comes from the ballot box. But here’s a 

guy who has never been elected to anything, who has 

enough power to turn the entire state around, and you 

don’t have the slightest idea how he got it.’ ” The 

lesson was repeated in 1965, when Caro had a 

Nieman fellowship at Harvard and took a class in land 

use and urban planning. “They were talking one day 

about highways and where they got built,” he recalled, 

“and here were these mathematical formulas about 

traffic density and population density and so on, and all 

of a sudden I said to myself: ‘This is completely wrong. 

This isn’t why highways get built. Highways get built 

because Robert Moses wants them built there. If you 

don’t find out and explain to people where Robert 

Moses gets his power, then everything else you do is 

going to be dishonest.’ ” Caro’s obsession with power 

explains a great deal about the nature of his work. For 

one thing, it accounts in large part for the size and 

scope of all his books, which Caro thinks of not as 

conventional biographies but as studies in the working 

of political power and how it affects both those who 

have it and those who don’t. Power, or Caro’s 

understanding of it, also underlies his conception of 

character and structure. In “The Power Broker,” it’s a 

drug that an insatiable Moses comes to require in 

larger and larger doses until it transforms him from an 

idealist into a monster devoid of human feeling, tearing 

down neighborhoods, flinging out roadways and 

plopping down bridges just for their own sake. Running 

through the Johnson books are what Caro calls “two 

threads, bright and dark”: the first is his naked, ruthless 

hunger for power — “power not to improve the lives of 

others, but to manipulate and dominate them, to bend 

them to his will” — and the other is the often 

compassionate use he made of that power. If Caro’s 

Moses is an operatic character — a city-transforming 

Faust — his Johnson is a Shakespearean one: 

Richard III, Lear, Iago and Cassio all rolled into one. 

You practically feel Caro’s gorge rise when he 

describes how awful Johnson was in college, wheeling 

and dealing, blackmailing fellow students and sucking 

up to the faculty, or when he describes the vicious 

negative campaign Johnson waged against Coke 

Stevenson. But then a volume later, describing 

Johnson’s championing of civil rights legislation, he 

seems to warm to his subject all over again. In many 

ways, Caro’s notion of character is a romantic, 

idealistic one, and what fuels the books is 

disappointment and righteousness, almost like that of 

a lover betrayed. If there’s a downside to his method, 

it’s that anyone’s life, even yours or mine, described in 

Caro-esque detail, could take on epic, romantic 

proportions. The difference is that our lives would be 

epics of what it’s like not to have power, but the 

language would probably be the same. Caro has a 

bold, grand style — sometimes grandiose, his critics 



would say. It owes something to old-fashioned 

historians like Gibbon and Macaulay, even to Homer 

and Milton, and something to hard-hitting 

newspaperese. He loves epic catalogs (at the 

beginning of “The Power Broker” there is a long list of 

expressways that would not be out of place in the 

“Iliad” if only the Greeks and Trojans knew how to 

drive) and long, rolling periodic sentences, sometimes 

followed by emphatic, one-sentence paragraphs. He is 

not averse to repeating a theme or an image for 

dramatic effect. This is not a style ideally suited to the 

chaste, narrow paragraphs of The New Yorker, 

especially in 1974, when it serialized “The Power 

Broker” in four installments that were long even then, 

when the magazine was so flush with ads it sometimes 

had trouble filling all its columns. I was a proofreader 

at The New Yorker then, and my office was across 

from that of William Whitworth, the editor of the “Power 

Broker” excerpts. I remember him wearily shuttling 

back and forth, like some Balkan diplomat, between 

the office of William Shawn, the magazine’s editor in 

chief, and one that Caro was borrowing while its 

occupant, Howard Moss, the poetry editor, was away 

for the summer. Caro complained that the magazine 

had tampered with his prose, and he wasn’t wrong. 

Instead of merely lifting some excerpts from the book 

manuscript, as was usually done, Whitworth tried to 

condense the whole thing, and this entailed squeezing 

out great chunks of writing, running the beginning of 

one paragraph into the end of another, pages away. 

“They softened my style,” Caro says. Shawn, on the 

other hand, had the magazine’s standards to uphold: 

The New Yorker insisted on its own, sometimes fussy 

way of punctuating; it didn’t approve of passages that 

were too leggy and indirect; it didn’t approve of 

repetitions; and it especially didn’t approve of 

one--sentence paragraphs. A description of the 

situation in vigorous Caro-ese might read something 

like this: “In the editorial world, William Shawn was a 

man of immense power. He wielded it quietly, softly, 

almost in a whisper, but he wielded it nonetheless. Not 

for nothing did some of his staff members privately call 

him the Iron Mouse. For writers, Shawn’s long wooden 

desk was like a shrine, an altar, and in the passing of 

proofs across that brightly polished surface — pages 

and pages of proofs, stacks of proofs, sheaves and 

bundles of proofs, proofs from the fact-checkers, the 

lawyers, the grammarians, proofs marked with feathery 

hen-scratch and with bold red-pencilings — they 

discerned something like magic, the alchemy that 

renders ordinary, sublunary prose free of impurity and 

infuses it with an ineffable, entrancing glow, the sheen 

of true New Yorker style. “But that style was not for 

everyone. “It was not for Robert Caro.” The 

negotiations became so fraught that between the 

second and third installments there was a weeklong 

gap, unthinkable in those days, while the two sides 

29

stared each other down and it seemed that the next 

two parts might be scuttled. Everyone at the magazine 

was aghast. Caro, it turned out, was as stubborn as 

Shawn. Here was a 38-year-old unknown who hadn’t 

published a word except in newspapers. Moreover, he 

was broke, hardly in a position to turn his back on the 

biggest payday of his life so far, but alone among New 

Yorker contributors at the time, he dared to become a 

Bartleby and turn his powerlessness into a point of 

principle. Caro now says that Shawn agreed to restore 

all the changes he cared most deeply about, but the 

magazine version nevertheless differs from the original 

and changes Caro’s punctuation and paragraphing. 

The New Yorker series is a very readable redaction of 

the original — and without sacrificing much essential 

information, easier on the attention span than the 

book, which requires an immense time commitment — 

but for better or worse, it’s not as full-throated as the 

original. Whitworth, undaunted, excerpted the first 

volume of the Johnson biography in The Atlantic after 

he became editor there in 1980. It’s not writing that 

takes Caro so long but, rather, rewriting. In college he 

was such a quick and facile writer, and so speedy a 

typist, that one of his teachers, the critic R. P. 

Blackmur, once told him that he would never achieve 

anything until he learned to “stop thinking with his 

fingers,” and Caro actually tries to slow himself down 

these days. He doesn’t start typing — on an old Smith 

Corona Electra 210, not a computer — until he has 

finished four or five handwritten drafts. And then he 

rewrites the typescript. When I visited him one day in 

early December, he was correcting the page proofs of 

“The Passage of Power” the way Proust used to 

correct proofs: scratching out, writing in between the 

lines, pasting in additional sheets of inserts. Caro is an 

equally obsessive researcher. Gott-lieb likes to point to 

a passage fairly early in “The Power Broker” describing 

Moses’ parents one morning in their lodge at Camp 

Madison, a fresh-air charity they established for poor 

city kids, picking up The Times and reading that their 

son had been fined $22,000 for improprieties in a land 

takeover. “Oh, he never earned a dollar in his life, and 

now we’ll have to pay this,” Bella Moses says. “How do 

you know that?” Gottlieb asked Caro. Caro explained 

that he tried to talk to all of the social workers who had 

worked at Camp Madison, and in the process he found 

one who had delivered the Moseses’ paper. “It was as 

if I had asked him, ‘How do you know it’s raining out?’ ” 

Gottlieb told me, and he added: “When ‘The Power 

Broker’ came out, other writers were amazed. No one 

had ever seen anything like it. It was a monument not 

to industry, because lots of people have industry, but 

to something else. I don’t even know what to call it.” 

Caro once spent several nights alone in a sleeping bag 

in the Texas Hill Country so he could understand what 

rural isolation felt like there. For the Johnson books, he 

has conducted thousands of interviews, many with 



Johnson’s friends and contemporaries. (Lady Bird 

spoke to him several times and then abruptly stopped 

without giving a reason, and Bill Moyers, Johnson’s 

press secretary, has never consented to be 

interviewed, but most of Johnson’s closest cronies, 

including John Connally and George Christian, 

Johnson’s last press secretary, who spoke to Caro 

practically on his deathbed, have gone on the record.) 

He has spent literally several years at the Johnson 

Library, in Austin, Tex., painstakingly going through the 

red buckram boxes that contain Johnson’s papers, and 

he has been the first researcher to open some of the 

most revealing files there. “Over and over again, I’ve 

found crucial things that nobody knew about,” he said. 

“There’s always original stuff if you look hard enough.” 

He added that he tried to keep in mind something that 

his managing editor at Newsday, Alan Hathway, a 

crusty old newspaper-man once told him, after pointing 

out that Caro was the only Ivy Leaguer who ever 

amounted to anything: “Turn every goddamn page.” 

His notes, typed on long legal sheets, often with urgent 

directions to himself in capital letters, fill his cabinets, 

and before he begins writing, he indexes the relevant 

files in big loose-leaf notebooks that resemble the 

ones behind the counter at auto-parts stores. There is 

no computer, no Google, no Wikipedia. One reason 

Caro’s books are so long is that he does keep 

burrowing through the files, and he keeps finding out 

things he hadn’t anticipated. Before beginning the first 

volume, he thought he could wrap up Johnson’s early 

life in a couple of chapters, until he talked to some of 

Johnson’s college classmates and found out about his 

lying, conniving side, which no one had previously 

described. That volume also includes a mini-biography 

of Sam Rayburn, Johnson’s mentor in Congress, and a 

brilliantly evocative section about how electrification 

changed the lives of people in the Hill Country, much 

of it based on interviews conducted by Ina, who visited 

the women there with homemade preserves and 

eventually won them over, she says, because she was 

as shy and nervous as they were. Caro thought that 

the 1948 Senate election would take up a single 

chapter or so in his Senate volume. Instead, it takes up 

most of a book of its own, what is now Volume 2. 

Johnson advocates used to say that “no one will ever 

know” whether that election was stolen. Caro knows, 

because he uncovered a handwritten memoir by Luis 

Salas, an election boss and party henchman, giving 

the details of how he falsified the records. The Senate 

book, Volume 3, begins with a 100-page history of the 

Senate, starting with Calhoun and Webster, because 

Caro felt that to understand the Senate you needed to 

see it in its great period. It includes minibiographies of 

Hubert Humphrey and Richard Russell Jr., the 

longtime Senate leader of the South, and ends with a 

detailed, almost vote-by-vote account of the passage 

of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The first few weeks of 

30

the Johnson presidency, which take up so much of the 

new book, were originally imagined as just a chapter in 

what would be the final volume, and the new book also 

includes much more about the Kennedys than Caro 

anticipated. He goes into great detail, for example, 

about the feud between Johnson and Robert Kennedy, 

and the visits Bobby made to Johnson’s hotel room in 

Los Angeles after the Democratic convention in 1960, 

trying to talk Johnson into withdrawing from the 

vice-presidential nomination. The installments keep 

ballooning, in other words, developing subplots and 

stories-within-the-story, in a way that reflects Caro’s 

own process of discovery. He is looking ahead to 

Volume 5 and to Vietnam, which is foreshadowed in 

the new book by Johnson’s hawkish impatience during 

the Cuban missile crisis. One day when I was visiting 

he pulled out a thick file of notes he had written, 

including transcripts, about the weekly Tuesday 

cabinet meetings Johnson had with Dean Rusk, 

Robert McNamara, Earle Wheeler and Walt Rostow, at 

which the question of whether to escalate was 

frequently discussed. “Look at this stuff,” Caro said to 

me. “It’s unbelievable!” Caro now finds Johnson more 

fascinating than ever, he told me, and added: “It’s not 

a question of liking or disliking him. I’m trying to explain 

how political power worked in America in the second 

half of the 20th century, and here’s a guy who 

understood power and used it in a way that no one 

ever had. In the getting of that power he’s ruthless — 

ruthless to a degree that surprised even me, who 

thought he knew something about ruthlessness. But he 

also means it when he says that all his life he wanted 

to help poor people and people of color, and you see 

him using the ruthlessness, the savagery for wonderful 

ends. Does his character ever change? No. Are my 

feelings about Johnson mixed? They’ve always been 

mixed.” On a corkboard covering the wall beside 



Caro’s desk, he keeps an outline, pinned up on 

legal-size sheets, of “The Years of Lyndon Johnson.” 

It’s not a classic outline, with indentations and 

numbered headings and subheadings, but a maze of 

sentences and paragraphs and notes to himself. 

These days, part of the top row is gone: the empty 

spaces are where the pages mapping the new book 

used to be. But there are several rows left to go, and 

13 additional pages that won’t fit on the wall until yet 

more come down. Somewhere on those sheets, 

already written, is the very last line of “The Years of 

Lyndon Johnson,” whatever volume that turns out to 

be. I begged him more than once, but Caro wouldn’t 

tell me what that line says. Caro has no shortage of 

plans for what to do next, after he finishes with 

Johnson, and he has already picked out a topic, 

though he won’t reveal what it is. He also told me he 

could imagine writing a biography of Al Smith, the New 

York governor and 1928 presidential candidate. But it’s 

also possible that at some level he doesn’t really want 

to be done — that without entirely intending to, he’s 

eking Johnson out — because whenever a biographer 

finishes, burying his subject, he dies a little death, too. 

Caro is a great student of Gibbon, and he must be 

familiar with what Gibbon wrote in his house at 

Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1787, after completing his 

“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”: “I will not 

dissemble the first emotions of joy on the recovery of 

my freedom, and perhaps the establishment of my 

fame. But my pride was soon humbled, and a sober 

melancholy was spread over my mind by the idea that 

I had taken an everlasting leave of an old and 

agreeable companion, and that, whatsoever might be 

the future fate of my history, the life of the historian 

must be short and precarious.” 

31

13/04/2012


13/04/2012 

Diário de Notícias Lisboa - Globo 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Tribunal Constitucional 

PSD propõe nome de Paulo Saragoça da Matta , 35 

Expresso OnLine Lisboa - Atualidade 


AR: PS propõe Conde Rodrigues para o Tribunal Constitucional, 36 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Tribunal Penal Internacional (TPI) 

Guiné-Bissau: Presidência angolana da CPLP ameaça chefe das Forças Armadas com TPI , 37 

Le Figaro - International 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | La Cour Suprême 

Srebrenica/ONU: des victimes déboutées , 38 



U.N. can't be tried for Srebrenica massacre -Dutch court, 39 



Ex-Lehman Europe clients may get cash this year-PWC, 40 



Judge to review moving hundreds of Madoff cases, 41 



Facebook advertisers lose bid for class status, 42 



Tennessee teacher law could boost creationism, climate denial, 43 



"Ähnliche psychische Folgen wie durch Missbrauch", 44 



Warum das Inzestverbot widersinnig ist , 46 



Klage von Hinterbliebenen gegen UN abgelehnt, 47 

The New York Times - U.S. 


One Fate in Tulsa for 3 Strangers Familiar With Struggle, 48 

The New York Times - The Opinion Pages 


Justice for Trayvon, 50 


33



Mornings After, Many of Them, 51 



Romney vs. Romney, 52 

34

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Globo, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Tribunal Constitucional) 

PSD propõe nome de Paulo Saragoça da 

Matta 

O PSD vai propor o jurista Paulo Saragoça da Matta 

para o Tribunal Constitucional, disse à Lusa a 

vice-presidente da bancada social-democrata Teresa 

Leal Coelho. 

Também o PS já divulgou que propôs o nome do 

ex-secretário de Estado da Justiça Conde Rodrigues, 

faltando, assim, a indicação de um dos três nomes, 

que o CDS fará na próxima semana. 

A eleição está marcada para o dia de 20 de abril, a 

próxima sexta-feira, depois de sucessivos apelos da 

presidente da Assembleia, Assunção Esteves, para 

que os partidos, por consenso, indicassem os nomes. 

35

Expresso OnLine Lisboa / - Atualidade, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


AR: PS propõe Conde Rodrigues para o 

Tribunal Constitucional 

O PS propôs hoje o nome do ex-secretário de Estado 

da Justiça Conde Rodrigues para o Tribunal 

Constitucional, disse fonte oficial do grupo 

parlamentar, faltando a indicação dos outros dois 

juízes, que compete à maioria PSD/CDS-PP. 

Conde Rodrigues, que foi juiz dos Tribunais 

Administrativos e Fiscais, é atualmente membro do 

Conselho Superior do Ministério Público, foi secretário 

de Estado da Justiça, da Administração Interna e 

Cultura. 

De acordo com o PS, o nome de Conde Rodrigues 

tem já o acordo da maioria PSD/CDS, que também já 

propôs um nome que teve o acordo dos socialistas, 

faltando ainda um terceiro nome para a eleição dos 

três juízes conselheiros para o Tribunal 

Constitucional. 

36

Expresso OnLine Lisboa / - Atualidade, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Tribunal Penal Internacional (TPI)) 

Guiné-Bissau: Presidência angolana da 

CPLP ameaça chefe das Forças Armadas 

com TPI 

Cidade da Praia, 13 abr (Lusa) - A Presidência 

angolana da Comunidade dos Países de Língua 

Portuguesa (CPLP) advertiu hoje as autoridades 

militares guineenses, "em particular" o chefe das 

Forças Armadas, António Indjai, que a continuação 

das ações em curso poderá ter consequências no 

Tribunal Penal Internacional. 

A Presidência angolana da CPLP "adverte as 

entidades militares guineenses, em particular o Chefe 

de Estado Maior General das Forças Armadas, que a 

continuação da insubordinação militar bem como 

qualquer atentado à integridade física das entidades 

políticas sob custódia, implicará a responsabilização 

dos envolvidos junto do Tribunal Penal Internacional", 

diz em comunicado enviado à agência Lusa. 

JSD/HB. 

37

Le Figaro/ - International, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (La Cour Suprême) 

Srebrenica/ONU: des victimes déboutées 

La Cour suprême des Pays-Bas a débouté aujourd'hui 

des proches de victimes du massacre de Srebrenica 

en 1995 de leur plainte visant à obtenir devant la 

justice néerlandaise des indemnisations de la part de 

l'ONU. 

Le groupe des Mères de Srebrenica, qui dit 

représenter des milliers de proches des quelque 8000 

hommes et garçons musulmans assassinés dans cette 

enclave de Bosnie en 1995 et d'autres victimes tués 

pendant la guerre de 1992-95, s'était adressé à la 

Cour suprême pour tenter d'obtenir gain de cause. 

"Les Nations unies ne peuvent pas être poursuivies 

devant une juridiction aux Pays-Bas", a fait valoir la 

Cour installée à La Haye dans une déclaration sur 

internet, en "faisant sien le point de vue que ce qui est 

en jeu, c'est l'immunité totale de l'ONU", une 

organisation "qui ne peut être poursuivie devant 

aucune juridiction nationale". 

Les avocats des Mères de Srebrenica avaient déposé 

en juin 2007 une plainte contre l'ONU et l'Etat 

néerlandais pour leur rôle respectif dans le massacre 

de juillet 1995 à Srebrenica, enclave en principe 

protégée par des Casques bleus néerlandais mais où 

les forces serbes de Bosnie commandées par le 

général Ratko Mladic l'ont emporté et ont pu 

commettre leurs tueries. 

Dans les jours suivant, le départ des Casques bleus, 

les hommes et les garçons musulmans qui se sont 

rendus ou ont été arrêtés par les Serbes bosniaques, 

ont été systématiquement exécutés, ce qui représente 

le plus grand massacre sur le sol européen depuis la 

Deuxième Guerre mondiale. 

Les Mères de Srebrenica voulaient que la Cour 

suprême des Pays-Bas juge que les Nations unies 

avaient fait preuve de "négligence dans la prévention 

d'un génocide, la plus grave violation des droits de 

l'homme", note la Cour dans sa déclaration. 

Le groupe avait été débouté de sa plainte au Pays-Bas 

en première instance en 2008 puis en appel en 2010, 

avant que les avocats ne décident de s'adresser à la 

Cour suprême qui a jugé vendredi que l'immunité de 

l'ONU "est absolue". 

"Ceci est lié directement à son rôle de maintien de la 

paix et de la sécurité dans le monde, et pour cette 

raison il est important que son immunité reste aussi 

forte que possible", souligne la Cour. 

Elle ajoute cependant que la plainte visant l'Etat 

néerlandais "et ceux qui ont commis le génocide" 

pourra se poursuivre devant la justice néerlandaise. 

Axel Hagedorn, un des avocats du groupe de 

plaignants, a exprimé sa "déception", tout en 

annonçant qu'ils allaient porter l'affaire devant la Cour 

européenne des droits de l'homme. 

38

Reuters General/ - Article, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


U.N. can't be tried for Srebrenica 

massacre -Dutch court 

(Reuters) - The Dutch Supreme Court ruled on Friday 

that the United Nations cannot be prosecuted in the 

Netherlands for failing to prevent genocide against 

Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica near the end of 

Bosnia's war in 1995. The final ruling was the last legal 

option in the Netherlands for a group of survivors of 

the July 1995 massacre, when as many as 8,000 boys 

and men were killed by Serb forces in an area that the 

United Nations had declared a "safe haven". Lawyers 

representing a group of 6,000 survivors calling 

themselves the Mothers of Srebrenica said they would 

appeal against the decision at the European Court of 

Human Rights. "The U.N., as the international human 

rights champion, should not stand above the law but 

should take responsibility for its role in the Srebrenica 

genocide in 1995," a statement issued by the group 

said. "This is a violation of fundamental human rights 

and in contravention of the case law of the European 

Court for Human Rights (ECHR) and the European 

Court of Justice (ECJ)." In 2001 the International 

Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 

judged that the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre was an 

act of genocide. The fall of Srebrenica to Serb forces 

was the worst single atrocity during the 1992-95 war 

and the first act of genocide in Europe since the Nazi 

Holocaust against Jews. The Muslim enclave in 

eastern Bosnia near the border with Serbia was under 

the protection of Dutch peacekeeping troops deployed 

by the United Nations. "The Supreme Court upholds 

the opinion of the (lower) court that the U.N. has the 

most far-reaching form of immunity and cannot be 

prosecuted by any national court," a summary of the 

ruling said. Axel Hagedorn, an attorney at the Van 

Diepen Van der Kroef law firm representing families of 

the victims, said an appeal would be filed at the 

European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg within 

six months. "We will argue that the Dutch soldiers and 

the United nations violated human rights," he said. 

"Granting legal immunity to a group claiming to defend 

human rights is like turning things upside down." 

Inexperienced and outgunned Dutch soldiers were 

unable to prevent attacking Serb fighters from 

capturing Srebrenica, separating Bosnian Muslim men 

from women and busing them off to dozens of 

execution sites. Last year, a Dutch appeals court found 

the Dutch state responsible for the deaths of three 

victims, opening the way for compensation claims over 

the failed peacekeeping mission. Former Bosnian Serb 

military commander Ratko Mladic, indicted by the ICTY 

near the end of the war for genocide and war crimes 

over the Srebrenica killings and the 43-month siege of 

Sarajevo, was arrested a year ago after 16 years on 

the run. In December, the tribunal accepted a 

prosecutor's request to speed up the trial amid fears 

that Mladic, 69, who has suffered ill health, could die 

without facing justice as happened with former 

Yugoslav and Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. 

(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Mark 

Heinrich) 

39



Ex-Lehman Europe clients may get cash 

this year-PWC 

By Luke Jeffs LONDON, April 13 | Fri Apr 13, 2012 

12:46pm EDT (Reuters) - Former clients of the 

European arm of U.S. investment bank Lehman 

Brothers, which collapsed in September 2008, may get 

cash back this year for the first time, although 

admistrators warned legal struggles could still hold up 

the payment. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which 

is working to return as much as 13.4 billion pounds 

($21.3 billion) of cash and other assets to Lehman's 

European creditors and clients, said on Friday it hoped 

to make a first distribution to unsecured creditors this 

year. The firm has gradually been raising money from 

assets of Lehman Brothers International Europe 

(LBIE). But the administrator warned it could not 

guarantee the timing of the refund until it works 

through last month's High Court ruling on the rights of 

clients to claim monies. "The UK Supreme Court 

judgment has provided clarity with regard to the broad 

principles that are to be applied in determining client 

money entitlement and the constitution of the client 

money pool," PWC said in an emailed statement. But 

the administrator added: "It (the judgement) has not 

addressed the issues of detail and stated that such 

matters should be addressed by the UK High Court." 

Britain's Supreme Court said late last month Lehman 

clients whose cash the U.S. investment bank had 

mixed with its own have the same rights as clients 

whose cash was kept separately or "segregated." 

LOWER PAYOUT The Supreme Court ruling is good 

news for clients with their money in non-segregated 

accounts, but effectively means a lower payout for 

segregated account holders, for whom it had always 

been clear they could claim their money back. 

Financial firms are required to keep money they trade 

on clients' behalf separately from their own. Last 

month's court ruling said Lehman had failed to do this 

"on a spectacular scale." PWC warned on Friday: 

"Given the challenges that remain affecting 

distributions in both estates, we cannot guarantee 

though that a first interim distribution ... will be paid 

before the current year-end." The PWC caution will 

make grim reading for clients of MF Global, a smaller 

futures broker that collapsed at the end of October last 

year, as European adminstrator KPMG forges ahead 

with its efforts to return monies to MF Global clients. 

Richard Heis, special administrator to MF Global, told 

Reuters after the court ruling last month: "We now 

have a bit more certainty but there are still lots of grey 

areas and it looks likely a lot of the issues are going to 

need to be resolved by the court." London Stock 

Exchange Group Plc said on Friday it had acquired MF 

Global's 2.4 percent of LCH.Clearnet as part of the 

British exchange's takeover of the clearing house, 

netting a further 13.6 million pound for creditors. 

40



Judge to review moving hundreds of 

Madoff cases 

By Grant McCool NEW YORK | Fri Apr 13, 2012 

5:02pm EDT (Reuters) - In the sprawling litigation to 

recover money related to Bernard Madoff's fraud, a 

federal judge said he would decide whether a 2011 

U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevents a bankruptcy 

court from resolving hundreds of lawsuits brought by 

the Madoff firm's trustee. Defendants in those cases 

have sought to transfer their cases to district court from 

bankruptcy court, citing the U.S. Supreme Court 

decision involving the estate of former Playboy model 

Anna Nicole Smith that limited the power of bankruptcy 

judges to review claims. In an order published Friday, 

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said he will review how 

that decision affects cases brought by the trustee, 

Irving Picard, against people he believes benefited 

improperly from Madoff's fraud. Rakoff consolidated 

341 cases in his order and gave the defendants until 

June 11 to appoint lead counsel to argue on their 

behalf. He scheduled oral argument for June 18. 

Smith, who died of a drug overdose in 2007, had 

waged a long legal battle to get part of the fortune left 

by her late Texas oil baron husband, J. Howard 

Marshall, whom she had married in 1994 when she 

was 26 and he was 89. Picard was appointed in 

December 2008 to recover money for victims of 

Madoff, a financier who ran a multibillion-dollar 

investment fraud over several decades, swindling 

investors large and small across the globe. Madoff 

pleaded guilty in March 2009 to what prosecutors and 

the trustee have described as the biggest investment 

fraud in history. Madoff, 73, is serving a 150-year 

prison sentence. Picard, who filed his cases in 

bankruptcy court, says he has recoveries and 

settlement agreements totaling $9.068 billion, but $6.4 

billion of that is unavailable due to appeals and 

reserves. Picard says Madoff defrauded customers of 

about $20 billion. In the latest settlement last month, 

Rakoff oversaw a deal between Picard and the 

principal owners of the New York Mets Major League 

Baseball team, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, who were 

longtime friends with Madoff as well as investors. The 

case is Securities Investor Protection Corporation v 

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, U.S. 

District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 

12-mc-0115. (Reporting By Grant McCool; Editing by 

Dan Grebler) 

41



Facebook advertisers lose bid for class 

status 

By Jonathan Stempel Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:51pm EDT 

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc, which runs the world's 

largest social networking website, won a court ruling 

on Friday rejecting a bid by thousands of advertisers to 

sue the company as a group for overcharging them. 

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, 

California, denied the advertisers' request for 

class-action status, saying they failed to show they had 

enough in common to sue for breach of contract and 

violating California's unfair competition law. "The court 

is persuaded by Facebook's argument that plaintiffs 

have not shown that they have a viable method for 

proving each class member's recovery," Hamilton 

wrote. "The need to determine both liability and 

damages on an individualized basis makes this case 

inappropriate for class treatment." Jonathan Shub, a 

lawyer for the advertisers, declined to comment. 

Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the 

company is reviewing the decision. Class certification 

often leads to higher recoveries and allows plaintiffs to 

cut legal bills. Facebook is expected this year to 

conduct perhaps the most anticipated U.S. initial public 

offering ever. The Menlo Park, California-based 

company is valued at $95.8 billion, according to 

SharesPost Inc, which tracks valuations of private 

companies. In their 2009 lawsuit, the advertisers 

accused Facebook of overcharging them on their 

"cost-per-click" contracts, under which they paid fees 

each time users clicked their ads. According to the 

advertisers, Facebook improperly imposed charges for 

nonexistent clicks, for clicked ads that never opened, 

for clicks caused by server problems, and for 

accidental multiple clicks by individual users, among 

other types of clicks. But citing a 2011 U.S. Supreme 

Court decision involving Wal-Mart Stores Inc that 

limited class-action litigation, Hamilton said the 

advertisers showed neither a "systemic breach of 

contract" nor enough similarity among the claims 

raised. "There is no way to conduct this type of highly 

specialized and individualized analysis for each of the 

thousands of advertisers in the proposed class," she 

said. Hamilton scheduled a May 17 conference to 

discuss how best the case should proceed. The case 

is In re: Facebook Inc PPC Advertising Litigation, U.S. 

District Court, Northern District of California, No. 

09-3043. (Reporting By Jonathan Stempel in New 

York; Editing by Andre Grenon, Gary Hill) 

42



Tennessee teacher law could boost 

creationism, climate denial 

By Deborah Zabarenko Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:53pm EDT 

(Reuters) - A new Tennessee law protects teachers 

who explore the "scientific strengths and scientific 

weaknesses" of evolution and climate change, a move 

science education advocates say could make it easier 

for creationism and global warming denial to enter U.S. 

classrooms. The measure, which became law 

Tuesday, made Tennessee the second state, after 

Louisiana, to enable teachers to more easily teach 

alternative theories to the widely accepted scientific 

concepts of evolution and human-caused climate 

change. At least five other states considered similar 

legislation this year. The heart of the law is protection 

for teachers who "help students understand, analyze, 

critique, and review in an objective manner the 

scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of 

existing scientific theories covered in the course being 

taught." Science education advocates say this leaves 

latitude for teachers to bring in material on creationism 

or climate change denial, which they consider unsound 

science. The law was billed as a triumph of academic 

freedom by proponents of creationism or intelligent 

design, who reject the concept that human beings and 

other life forms evolved through random mutation and 

natural selection. The Tennessee measure "protects 

teachers when they promote critical thinking and 

objective discussion about controversial science 

issues such as biological evolution, climate change 

and human cloning," said a statement from the 

Seattle-based Discovery Institute, which promotes 

intelligent design. But Brenda Ekwurzel of the Union of 

Concerned Scientists saw a risk to education: "We 

need to keep kids' curiosity about science alive and not 

limit their ability to understand the world around them 

by exposing them to misinformation." Tennessee's 

action came 87 years after the 1925 "monkey trial" in 

which John Thomas Scopes was tried for teaching 

evolution in Tennessee. The state legislature 

overwhelmingly approved it, and Governor Bill Haslam 

let it become law without his signature, tacitly 

acknowledging that a veto would not be sustained. In a 

statement, Haslam said the legislation did not change 

the state's scientific standards or school curriculum, or 

do anything unacceptable in Tennessee schools. On 

such controversial subjects as "biological evolution, the 

chemical origins of life, global warming and human 

cloning," the law stipulates that teachers cannot be 

barred from helping students understand "the scientific 

strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing 

scientific theories." The law protects the teaching of 

scientific information, not religious or non-religious 

doctrine, which is important, since that could stray into 

unconstitutional territory. But science educators worry 

that teachers could offer unsound science, or 

non-science, and be protected by this legislation. 

CREATIONISM IN THE CLASSROOM Josh Rosenau 

of the National Center for Science Education said the 

law could easily come between administrators and 

teachers, if science teachers bring creationist or 

climate change denial ideas into their classes. The 

U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that requiring that 

creation science be taught in public schools alongside 

evolution is unconstitutional as a violation of the First 

Amendment right to freedom of religion. The 

Tennessee law might make it harder for administrators 

to prevent the introduction of creationism in the 

classroom, Rosenau said by telephone. And any legal 

challenge by parents or others would be "tricky," he 

said. He cited a survey of U.S. high school biology 

teachers published in the journal Science in 2011 that 

found about 13 percent of those surveyed "explicitly 

advocate creationism or intelligent design by spending 

at least one hour of class time presenting it in a 

positive light." The survey found only about 28 percent 

consistently followed National Research Council 

recommendations for introducing evidence that 

evolution occurred. The rest, about 60 percent, 

avoided controversy by limiting evolution instruction to 

molecular biology, telling students they need not 

believe in evolution to score well on tests, or exposing 

students to all positions, scientific and otherwise, to let 

them make up their own minds, the article said. ( here ) 

In teaching climate change, Ekwurzel said the U.S. 

National Academy of Sciences offered useful 

classroom information in a May 2010 report that 

affirmed the reality of climate change, its largely 

human cause and the significant risk posed to human 

and natural systems. But James Taylor of the 

Chicago-based free-market Heartland Institute, which 

plans to offer a global warming K-12 curriculum 

pointing up scientific disagreement about the impact of 

climate change, questioned the academy's 

assessment and those who advocate it. "To gloss that 

disagreement over, to pretend that it does not exist, is 

misrepresenting the science and doing a disservice to 

students and teachers alike," Taylor said by phone. 

(Reporting By Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Marilyn 

W. Thompson and Cynthia Osterman) 

43

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


"Ähnliche psychische Folgen wie durch 

Missbrauch" 

Interview: Lena Jakat 

Übersexualisiertes Umfeld, marode Familienstrukturen, 

unklare Rollenverteilung: Das sind alles Faktoren, die 

Inzest unter Geschwistern begünstigen können. Ein 

Gespräch mit dem Psychiater Peer Briken über 

sexuelle Grenzüberschreitungen. 

Das gesetzliche Verbot einer sexuellen Beziehung 

zwischen Geschwistern ist rechtens: Das hat der 

Europäische Gerichtshof in Straßburg entschieden. 

Ein Urteil, dass eine heftige Debatte in Gang gesetzt 

hat - auch unter den Lesern von Süddeutsche.de. Wie 

kommt es zu Inzest zwischen Bruder und Schwester? 

Welche Rolle spielen Erziehung und eine gemeinsam 

verbrachte Kindheit? Peer Briken ist Leiter des Instituts 

für Sexualforschung und Forensische Psychiatrie an 

der Universitätsklinik Hamburg-Eppendorf. Ein 

Gespräch über eines der letzten Tabus unserer 

Gesellschaft. 

Süddeutsche.de: Herr Briken, wie oft kommt es zu 

inzestuösen Beziehungen zwischen Geschwistern? 

Peer Briken: Es gibt Daten darüber, dass sexuelle 

Erfahrungen in einem weiteren Sinne zwischen 

Geschwistern gar nicht so selten sind. Eine Studie 

nannte in den 1980erJahren die Zahl von zehn 

Prozent aller Kinder. Da geht es aber in der Regel um 

Fummeleien oder Berühren. Tatsächliche sexuelle 

Grenzverletzungen sind - nach allem was wir darüber 

wissen - sehr viel seltener. 

Süddeutsche.de: Wie meinen Sie das? 

Briken: Bei Inzest zwischen Geschwistern, also 

Kindern, herrscht nur sehr selten ein Gleichgewicht. Es 

gibt Altersunterschiede und damit unter Umständen 

auch ein Machtgefälle. In solchen Fällen kann auch 

Zwang eine Rolle spielen, der manchmal auch subtil 

ausgeübt wird. Erfahrungen aus der Praxis zeigen: Die 

psychischen Folgen einer solchen 

Grenzüberschreitung unterscheiden sich manchmal 

nicht von denen sexuellen Missbrauchs durch den 

Vater oder Stiefvater. Es gibt auch Faktoren, die 

verschiedene Arten von Inzest begünstigen können. 

Süddeutsche.de: Welche Faktoren sind das? 

Briken: Eine übersexualisierte Atmosphäre kann eine 

Rolle spielen, das heißt, wenn zum Beispiel die Kinder 

gezwungen werden, sich Pornographie anzusehen. 

Wenn Kindern die Möglichkeit genommen wird, 

Schamgefühle zu entwickeln. Wenn in einer Familie 

Gewalt und Suchtmittel eine Rolle spielen. Wenn es an 

emotionalen Beziehungen fehlt, oder die Rollen der 

verschiedenen Generationen nicht klar verteilt sind. 

Auch Missbrauchserfahrungen der Eltern können da 

relevant sein. 

Süddeutsche.de: Macht es einen Unterschied, wenn 

der Inzest zwischen Geschwistern, also innerhalb 

einer Generation, stattfindet? 

Briken: Wissenschaftlich sind solche Fälle bislang nur 

wenig untersucht. Das liegt auch daran, dass von einer 

sehr großen Dunkelziffer auszugehen ist. Aber ich 

nehme an, dass durch die große Nähe zwischen 

Geschwistern Scham und Schuldgefühle auf andere 

Weise berührt werden. Außerdem sind die Grenzen 

dessen, was erlaubt ist und was nicht, unter 

Umständen weniger klar. 

Süddeutsche.de: Können sich Bruder und Schwester 

verlieben? 

Briken: Schwärmereien für die Geschwister sind an der 

Tagesordnung und gehören zur kindlichen 

Entwicklung. Eine Liebe über längere Zeit mit sexueller 

Beziehung ist eher die Ausnahme. 

Süddeutsche.de: Entwickelt sich bei Kindern, die 

gemeinsam aufwachsen, eine Art natürliche 

Inzest-Barriere? 

Briken: Es gibt Hinweise darauf, dass sich Grenzen im 

Kindesalter entwickeln, die so nicht vorliegen, wenn 

sich zum Beispiel Bruder und Schwester erst im 

Erwachsenenalter begegnen. Solche Grenzen werden 

durch gemeinsame Erfahrungen in der Kindheit 

gezogen, unter anderem durch die Erziehung und 

soziokulturelle Faktoren. Das Inzestverbot ist ja 

vielerorts in unserer Gesellschaft verankert. Dieses 

gesellschaftliche Tabu hat wahrscheinlich auch 

biologische Ursachen. 

Süddeutsche.de: Weiß man etwas über die Kinder, die 

aus solchen Beziehungen hervorgehen? 

Briken: Ich hatte mit einigen solcher Kinder Kontakt, 

44

die psychisch sehr angegriffen waren. Aber das muss 

nicht repräsentativ sein, sondern hat mit dem 

klinischen Umfeld zu tun, in dem ich tätig bin. 

Süddeutsche.de: Wie bewerten Sie die Entscheidung 

des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte, 

der das deutsche Inzest-Verbot für rechtens erklärt 

hat? 

Briken: Wie bei vielen normativen 



Entscheidungsprozessen gibt es hier wohl kein 

absolutes richtig oder falsch. Im Hintergrund gibt es da 

einfach eine Vielzahl von Schwierigkeiten, die 

Berücksichtigung finden müssten. Dass 

Geschwisterinzest mit Homosexualität und Ehebruch 

in eine Reihe gestellt wird, halte ich für fraglich. Denn 

zahlenmäßig ist Geschwisterinzest doch eher eine 

Randerscheinung. 

45



Warum das Inzestverbot widersinnig ist 

Ein Kommentar von Helmut Kerscher 

Mit der Billigung des deutschen Inzestverbots hat der 

europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte nicht 

gerade eine Ruhmestat vollbracht. Die Entscheidung 

hilft niemandem, weder Befürwortern, noch Gegnern, 

schon gar nicht den Klägern. Nun liegt es an der 

Politik, auch das letzte Tabu von der Strafbarkeit zu 

befreien - wie früher Ehebruch, Kuppelei und 

Homosexualität. 

Das Straßburger Urteil zur "Blutschande" ist gewiss 

kein Schandurteil. Es ist aber auch kein Ruhmesblatt 

für den Europäischen Gerichtshof für 

Menschenrechte. Die Entscheidung hilft weder den 

Befürwortern der Strafbarkeit "verbotener Liebe" unter 

erwachsenen Geschwistern noch den Gegnern und 

schon gar nicht dem Kläger. 

Im Kern begnügt sich das Gericht mit einer 

Zustandsbeschreibung - einerseits der 

unterschiedlichen Rechtslage in den 47 Ländern des 

Europarats, andererseits der eigenen Rolle. Die ist 

zunehmend von Zurückhaltung gegenüber den 

nationalen Gerichten und Rechtsordnungen geprägt, 

wozu die Kritik aus Deutschland und Großbritannien 

wesentlich beigetragen hat. Und wovon zuletzt 

insbesondere diese Länder profitiert haben. 

So akzeptierte Straßburg nun eine auf schwachen 

Füßen stehende Entscheidung des 

Bundesverfassungsgerichts vom März 2008 für die 

Strafbarkeit des Geschwister-Inzests. Alles, was 

dagegen an überzeugenden Gründen gesagt werden 

kann, ist bereits gesagt. Nicht bloß von Kritikern in der 

Wissenschaft und in den Medien, sondern am besten 

vom damaligen Gerichtsvizepräsidenten Winfried 

Hassemer. 

In seinem Sondervotum beschrieb er präzise den 

Unsinn einer Bestrafung des einvernehmlichen 

Beischlafs unter leiblichen Geschwistern: Die 

Strafdrohung sei unklar und widersprüchlich; sie sei 

nicht auf den Schutz von Ehe und Familie 

zugeschnitten, schütze nicht die sexuelle 

Selbstbestimmung und sie dürfe nicht auf die Gefahr 

von Erbschäden gestützt werden. Hassemer 

widerlegte das Argument, das Gesetz solle eine im 

Familienverband schwächere Person (im konkreten 

Fall die Schwester) schützen. Diesen Zweck habe die 

Senatsmehrheit dem Gesetz nachträglich unterlegt, 

der Gesetzgeber habe sich nicht darauf berufen. 

Die Angst vor genetischen Schäden 

Den unausgesprochen zentralen Grund sowohl des 

gesellschaftlichen Tabus als auch des daraus 

folgenden strafrechtlichen Inzest-Verbots - die 

möglichen Erbschäden - referiert Straßburg nur. Hinter 

der eugenischen Begründung steckt aber eine Absicht, 

die nicht nur in Deutschland mit seiner schrecklichen 

NS-Geschichte ethisch unhaltbar ist: Das erhöhte 

Risiko von Erbschäden rechtfertigt kein strafrechtliches 

Verbot. 

Oder will irgendjemand weiteren Risikogruppen, etwa 

Frauen über 40 oder Menschen mit Erbkrankheiten, 

die Fortpflanzung bei Strafe verbieten? Will jemand im 

Jahr 2012 erwartbare Behinderungen bei Strafe 

verhindern und damit behinderten Kindern das 

Lebensrecht absprechen? Absurd. Und doch prägt die 

Angst vor genetischen Schäden die Strafbarkeit des 

Beischlafs unter leiblichen, erwachsenen 

Geschwistern. 

Der Paragraph 173 richtet sich nämlich gerade nicht 

gegen Geschwister in den heute häufigen 

Patchwork-Familien, nicht gegen Adoptivfamilien, nicht 

gegen Verschwägerte, nicht gegen Cousin und 

Cousine. Und dieses Strafgesetz richtet sich auch 

nicht allgemein gegen sexuelle Handlungen zwischen 

leiblichen Geschwistern - die Möglichkeiten würden 

"nur punktuell verkürzt", hieß es geradezu zynisch in 

der jetzt von den Straßburger Richtern gebilligten 

Karlsruher Entscheidung. Gemeint ist das 

ausschließliche Verbot des Beischlafs, der zur 

Befruchtung führen könnte. Das Ziel des Verbots ist im 

Ergebnis, was die Nazis als "Verhütung erbkranken 

Nachwuchses" bezeichnet haben. 

46



Klage von Hinterbliebenen gegen UN 

abgelehnt 

Das Oberste Gericht der Niederlande hat einen 

Vorstoß abgelehnt, die Vereinten Nationen wegen des 

Versagens ihrer Friedenstruppen beim Massaker von 

Srebrenica zu verklagen. Hinterbliebene der Opfer 

wollten eine Klage anstrengen. Die UN genössen 

Straffreiheit, urteilten die Richter. 

Die "Mütter von Srebrenica" genannte Gruppe hatte 

sich dafür eingesetzt, die UN vor niederländischen 

Gerichten zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Die Anwälte 

der 6.000 Hinterbliebenen kündigten in einer 

Stellungnahme an, vor den Europäischen Gerichtshof 

für Menschenrechte zu ziehen. 

In der bosnischen Enklave Srebrenica wurden im Juli 

1995 mehr als 8.000 muslimische Jungen und Männer 

von serbischen Truppen getötet. Es war das 

schlimmste Massaker seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. 

47

The New York Times/ - U.S., Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


One Fate in Tulsa for 3 Strangers 

Familiar With Struggle 

By MANNY FERNANDEZ TULSA, Okla. — Shortly 

after midnight on Good Friday here, Bobby Clark was 

standing at the corner, waiting for his brother. Dannaer 

Fields was walking home after playing dominoes at a 

friend’s house. William Allen was walking, too, headed 

home after visiting his brother. In the close-knit world 

of north Tulsa, the three of them were strangers, two 

men and a woman who happened to be out on the 

streets late at night, in the middle of a mundane 

moment. But they had more in common than they 

could have imagined. The predominantly black 

neighborhoods where they lived — home to crime, 

poverty and hundreds of boarded-up homes and 

businesses — have known struggle, and so had they. 

Mr. Clark, 54, who as a teenager was given a 

diagnosis of schizophrenia, used to be homeless and 

had moved in with his brother after being evicted from 

the public-housing apartment where he lived. Ms. 

Fields, 49, overcame drug addiction; she, too, moved 

in with her brother after an eviction. In a 

three-square-mile area of north Tulsa in the span of 

one hour on April 6, the authorities say, two men drove 

up to Mr. Clark, Ms. Fields and Mr. Allen, asked them 

for directions and then fatally shot them, part of a 

series of attacks that left two others wounded and 

terrified the second-largest city in Oklahoma. The five 

victims were black. One of the suspects, Alvin L. 

Watts, 32, is white, and the other, Jacob C. England, 

19, is an American Indian who has also described 

himself as white. On Friday, prosecutors formally 

charged Mr. England and Mr. Watts with hate crimes. 

The two men were each charged with three counts of 

first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with intent 

to kill and five counts of malicious harassment, the 

equivalent of hate crimes under state law. The 

shootings unfolded the day after Mr. England used a 

racial slur on Facebook to describe the man he 

believed had killed his father, Carl, in April 2010. 

Prosecutors declined to file homicide charges against 

the man who was a person of interest in the case, 

Pernell Jefferson. They determined that Mr. Jefferson, 

who is black, was justified using deadly force in 

self-defense under Oklahoma law. In a statement on 

Friday, Doug Drummond, the first assistant district 

attorney for Tulsa County, said he would not comment 

about the specific evidence for any of the charges 

against Mr. England and Mr. Watts, both of whom the 

police said had confessed after their arrest on Sunday. 

“Filing charges is the first step to obtain justice for the 

victims and their families,” Mr. Drummond said. “This is 

a tragic and senseless crime. Our office is committed 

to holding those responsible accountable for their 

actions.” The potential punishment on each 

first-degree murder charge is life with parole, life 

without parole or the death penalty. Mr. Drummond 

said the decision whether to seek the death penalty 

against the two men would be determined later. The 

charges were announced the day of the first funeral, 

for Mr. Clark. At a chapel not far from the scenes of the 

shootings, Mr. Clark’s brothers and relatives and 

several black leaders and Tulsa officials, including the 

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., 

gathered before his coffin to sing and pray. In his 

remarks to mourners and in an interview after the 

service, Mr. Jackson likened Mr. Clark’s death to those 

of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old who was 

shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 

Florida, and Emmett Till, the 14-year-old whose 

murder in Mississippi in 1955 was a catalyst of the civil 

rights movement. “Emmett Till was not famous,” Mr. 

Jackson said outside the Crown Hill Chapel. “Trayvon 

Martin was not famous. And yet it is the power of the 

blood of the innocent that often is redeeming to us all.” 

Mr. Clark — who was the son of a school bus driver 

and who grew up in the Seminole Hills public-housing 

complex — walked around the city with his 

auburn-colored acoustic guitar slung across his back, 

and he would often play for friends at the downtown 

Tulsa homeless shelter where he once stayed, the 

Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless. He was 

unemployed, and had survived on his disability check. 

Every Tuesday morning, he would pick up a portion of 

his check from the homeless center’s executive 

director, Sandra Lewis, whom he had known for years. 

“He was not the stereotypical version of a 

schizophrenic man,” Ms. Lewis said. “Bobby didn’t 

have a mean bone in his body. He was a very kind and 

gentle man. Never cross. Never cranky. Never had a 

bad day that I ever saw.” On Friday at the chapel, Ms. 

Lewis and Mr. Clark’s relatives and friends reminisced 

about him, telling stories about the Kool-Aid that he 

made so sweet no one else could drink it, and about 

his love of Jimi Hendrix riffs. There was little anger 

displayed for Mr. England and Mr. Watts by relatives 

and friends, even after word spread that the two men 

were being charged with hate crimes. “Justice needs 

to be served,” said Donnie Clark, 56, one of Mr. Clark’s 

three brothers. “We didn’t know them. Maybe if they 

would have known us it wouldn’t have happened.” Ms. 

Fields’s funeral is Saturday. Services for Mr. Allen, 31, 

48

a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., will be Tuesday. Ms. 

Fields did not know Mr. Clark, but members of their 

families knew one another: one of Mr. Clark’s brothers 

was friends with one of Ms. Fields’s brothers, Kenneth 

Fields. Ms. Fields was known as Donna because 

people had trouble pronouncing her first name, 

Dannaer, which sounds like Danner. She was an 

active member of Rentie Grove Baptist Church, and 

after becoming seriously ill a few years ago, she 

The New York Times/ - U.S., Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


stopped abusing drugs and alcohol, turning more than 

ever to her faith, those close to her said. She often 

walked home late at night after playing dominoes at a 

friend’s house, and her brother would caution her. “I 

had been telling her, ‘You don’t need to walk that late 

in the morning,’ ” said Mr. Fields, 58. “But she said, ‘I 

got Jesus on my side.’ That’s what she would always 

say. ‘I got Jesus on my side.’ ” 

49

By CHARLES M. BLOW America has heard the calls 

for justice from a Florida family. A boy’s blood had 

been spilled on a rain-soaked patch of grass behind a 

row of mustard-colored condominiums by a man who 

had pursued him against the advice of 911 

dispatchers. That man carried a 9-millimeter handgun. 

The boy carried a bag of candy. Yet it seems, largely 

on the weight of his own word, the man who killed the 

boy was allowed to walk out of the police station that 

night without even a charge. The boy’s body was taken 

to the medical examiner’s office and kept in a morgue. 

The man who killed him was able to return home. The 

dead boy was Trayvon Martin. The man who killed him 

was George Zimmerman. The bullet that passed 

between them silenced a child but ignited a nation. 

Americans saw the anguish of the boy’s father and the 

tears of his mother. America saw a child who was its 

own. America saw its concept of basic fairness sinking 

in to the marsh of miscarried justice. So America rose 

up. Thousands marched in the streets. Millions signed 

petitions online. Hearts poured out for justice to rain 

down. With the force of public pressure at its back, the 

system kicked into gear. A state attorney in the Florida 

county where the shooting death occurred recused 

himself, and the local police chief stepped down — at 

least “temporarily.” The governor appointed a special 

prosecutor, Angela Corey, to lead the state’s 

investigation in the case, and the United States 

Department of Justice’s civil rights division and the 

F.B.I. opened their own investigations. On 

Wednesday, Corey charged Zimmerman with 

second-degree murder and he was taken into custody. 

On Thursday, Zimmerman appeared in a Florida 

courtroom, and Corey released a simple but chilling 

affidavit for probable cause that painted a disturbing 

portrait of Zimmerman as a man who “profiled,” 

“followed” and “confronted” the boy. This is a moment 

when America should be proud. The wheels of justice 

are finally turning. The State of Florida has taken up 

the cause of the dead boy. His life is no more, but his 

legacy will live forever. The state will vigorously 

prosecute, and Zimmerman will be vigorously 

defended as is his constitutional right. The facts should 

come out in court and under oath and not just over 

The New York Times/ - The Opinion Pages, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


Justice for Trayvon 

airwaves and in newspapers. Truth will be sought and, 

hopefully, found. And whatever the verdict, it will be 

based on the presentation of evidence and the 

interpretation of the law, as it should be. That is not to 

say that the quest for justice in this case has been 

without incident. Some have sought to demagogue the 

boy’s death and shroud his lifeless body in partisan 

politics. Some have pressed their passion for justice 

beyond the bounds of what is proper. Some have 

sought to besmirch the boy’s life to minimize the 

resonance of his death. But, in the end, all of this was 

just a diversion from the central issue, a noble good, a 

moral right: the quest for truth and justice for a child by 

the people who loved him and a nation who refused to 

forget him. None but those who themselves have lost a 

child can ever know his parents’ pain, but we can all 

sympathize with their sorrow. America doesn’t always 

get it right, but she is in her greatest glory when she 

turns her face toward righteousness. She is not 

perfect, but men and women of good will and good 

conscience toil endlessly to make her better. And, in 

this case, America seems to be finally getting it right 

because equal justice under the law is one of her 

greatest ideals. By the way, it is important to remember 

here that no one should take joy in any dark days that 

may come Zimmerman’s way, even as we take great 

joy in seeking justice for the child he killed. Crusading 

for justice is an act of love and honor, not of 

vengeance or spite or hatred. Justice is a high calling, 

not a low pursuit. And, because of Florida’s Stand 

Your Ground law and Zimmerman’s claim of 

self-defense, there is a possibility that the case may 

never go to trial or, even if it does, there will be no 

conviction. But whatever the outcome, satisfaction 

must be taken in the fact that the system recognized 

the value of Trayvon’s life and the tragic circumstances 

of his death. As his mother said after the charge was 

announced: “We simply wanted an arrest. We wanted 

nothing more, nothing less. We just wanted an arrest. 

And we got it. And I just want to say, ‘Thank you. 

Thank you, Lord. Thank You, Jesus.’ ” I invite you to 

join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, or 

e-mail me at chblow@nytimes.com. 

50

The New York Times/ - N.Y./Region, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


Mornings After, Many of Them 

A Review of ‘Carry It On,’ in Red Bank, N.J. By ANITA 

GATES Fairly early in “Carry It On,” Maureen 

McGovern imagines the tabloid headline when she 

dies: “Disaster-Theme Queen Bites the Dust” appears 

on a National Enquirer-like page on the wall-size video 

screen upstage. And that’s as good an introduction to 

Ms. McGovern as any. You know her name, of course, 

but it is understandable if all you can think of when you 

reflect on her voice is that plaintive song “The Morning 

After” from the movie “The Poseidon Adventure” 

(1972) or the equally poignant “We May Never Love 

Like This Again” from the equally disaster-filled 

“Towering Inferno” (1974). Ms. McGovern’s career took 

off with those recordings when she was in her early 

20s, and both won Oscars for best song. Then she sort 

of disappeared. At 62 — although she says she 

prefers to give her age “in Celsius: 17” — Ms. 

McGovern is sharing both her career 

rise-and-fall-and-rise story and a good bit about her 

personal life in this almost-solo show, Two River 

Theater Company’s latest main stage production. It’s 

an uneven but eventually satisfying mix of songs and 

anecdotes. The first full-length musical number is “The 

Times They Are a-Changin’,” and the jarring 

arrangement is enough to make Bob Dylan react the 

way Rick Santorum says he does to the separation of 

church and state. Jeffrey Harris, the show’s pianist, 

also did the show’s music direction and arrangements, 

and he has devised some irritatingly show-offy 

passages for himself. The second-worst example of his 

overwrought work is Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die” 

(“There’ll be one child born and a world to carry on”), 

and it happens to be the finale. Thank heaven there is 

a different encore. Ms. McGovern’s patter seems 

forced and artificial at first, too, going on about “The 

Wizard of Oz,” Emily Dickinson, her childhood home in 

Ohio and her musical idols, including Judy Collins and 

Mary Travers. It would have been nice if Philip 

Himberg, the director and the star’s co-author, could 

have forced a little more liveliness into those 

anecdotes. But Ms. McGovern either eases into them 

or becomes carried away with memories of social 

activism. “The 1960s sort of snuck up on me,” she 

says, and goes into Joni Mitchell’s classic “Circle 

Game” (“The seasons, they go round and round”). 

However, by the time she does the title number, a 

protest anthem by Joan Baez, with a backdrop of 

violent scenes from the civil rights movement, the 

audience is hers. In the best numbers, her voice is big, 

powerful and capable of crystal-clear notes with layers 

of emotion. Maya Ciarrocchi’s projection design is a 

significant part of the show. It’s not wildly innovative, 

but the images are well chosen and artistically edited. 

Ms. McGovern sings “The White Cliffs of Dover” to a 

portrait of her father in his World War II uniform. She 

sings “When I’m 64” and “Let It Be” in front of a 

changing collage of the Beatles in their youth. But it is 

annoying when the cover of Carole King’s “Tapestry” 

album (1971) fills the screen, followed by only a few 

lines of “You’ve Got a Friend.” An image like that 

seems to promise a medley. (Considerably later, she 

does “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”) The show also 

suffers from some common flaws of contemporary 

revues. Too many great songs are begun but cut off 

after a few bars. Whether it stems from rights and 

permissions problems or a desire for an extensive 

song list, the practice is just frustrating for audiences. 

Some numbers seem like time-fillers or attempts at 

Shakespearean-style comic relief, like the medley of 

funny sounds in 20th-century pop lyrics, from 

ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang to the 

nah-nah-nah-nah of “Hey Jude.” And aside from loving 

reminiscences of Ms. McGovern’s parents, her life 

story seems a dispiriting series of encounters with 

seemingly good people who went on to betray her. 

Don’t even ask how she feels about the man who 

directed her on Broadway in “The Threepenny Opera.” 

Mortality, loss and the passing of time are major 

themes in “Carry It On,” which should not be a surprise 

for a performer now in the fifth decade of her musical 

and acting career. And bittersweet is what Ms. 

McGovern does best. “Carry It On,” by Philip Himberg 

and Maureen McGovern, is at Two River Theater 

Company, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, through April 

22. Information: (732) 345-1400 or trtc.org. 

51

‘The Real Romney,’ by Michael Kranish and Scott 

Helman By GEOFFREY KABASERVICE It’s unlikely 

that Mitt Romney saw the film “The Graduate” when it 

appeared in 1967. He was a 20-year-old Mormon 

missionary in France at the time, isolated from the 

cultural influences that shaped most Americans of the 

baby-boom generation, and his taste in movies ran to 

more wholesome fare like “The Sound of Music.” If he 

had seen it, though, one doubts that he would have 

scoffed along with his contemporaries during the 

scene in which a smarmy businessman declares that 

the key to the future is “plastics.” He might have 

considered it useful career advice. Critics have noted 

Romney’s plastic qualities ever since he entered 

politics: the elasticity of his views, the android 

awkwardness of his interactions with voters, his slick 

evasions and platitudes, his sculptured features and 

molded hair, and his apparent lack of appetites and 

passions. But plastic is also durable and 

indispensable, and although a majority of Republican 

voters in the primaries so far have preferred Anyone 

but Romney, he appears poised to win the party’s 

presidential nomination. Despite the growing possibility 

that Romney may soon occupy the nation’s highest 

office, he remains an enigma to most Americans, and 

his campaign seems predicated on the hope that 

voters will see in his smooth surfaces whatever they 

want to see. The great service of this new biography 

by the Boston Globe journalists Michael Kranish and 

Scott Helman is that it humanizes Romney. The 

authors sniff over their subject with bloodhound 

thoroughness, dredging up old report cards, housing 

deeds, and family records and videos. They interview 

seemingly everyone who had contact with Romney in 

every phase of his life. They conclude that he is in 

many ways an admirable man, deeply devoted to his 

religion and family and possessing stellar qualities that 

made him a success in business and public service, 

including his leadership of the 2002 Winter Olympics 

and his governorship of Massachusetts from 2003 to 

2007. But “The Real Romney” leaves an unsettling 

impression. Romney’s peculiar misfortune is that the 

things that defined him have become liabilities in his 

presidential pursuit, leading him to minimize or 

repudiate his own beliefs, legacy and 

accomplishments. Even as he shifts into the 

front-runner’s role, he is running on who he is not — 

namely, Barack Obama — rather than on who he is, 

and cannot stand openly for the things that matter 

most to him. If Obama is our first post-racial president, 

Romney, with his strategy of absences and denials, 

bids to become our first postmodern president. 

Romney’s political problems begin, in a basic sense, 

Romney vs. Romney 

The New York Times/ - Politics, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


with his family history. The authors trace the 

intertwined histories of Romney’s ancestors and the 

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, beginning 

with his great-great-grandfather Miles Archibald 

Romney, who became an early convert to Mormonism 

in 1837. Mitt’s great-grandfather had undertaken the 

pioneer journey to the Utah Territory as a boy, and 

when he refused to abandon what Mormons 

considered the divinely ordained practice of “plural 

marriage” — he had three wives at that point — he fled 

federal agents to establish a colony in Mexico; the 

family remained there after the Mormon Church 

agreed to ban po-lygamy in 1890 as a condition of 

Utah’s gaining statehood. Mitt’s grandfather was not 

polygamous and returned destitute to the United 

States after Mexican rebels confiscated the colony’s 

property. Mitt’s father, George Romney, was elected 

governor of Michigan in 1962, ran unsuccessfully for 

president in 1968, and became a member of Richard 

Nixon’s cabinet as secretary of housing and urban 

-development. It’s an exotic but unquestionably 

American success story, even though the first 

generations of Mormon Romneys spent their lives in 

bitter conflict with the United States. Mitt Romney 

takes evident “pride in his standing” as a member of 

“one of Mormonism’s first families,” according to 

Kranish and Helman. He has given the church millions 

of dollars and has occupied high positions in its 

hierarchy. He abides by his faith’s prohibitions on 

alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and profanity. The authors 

portray him as an adoring husband, a devoted father 

and a doer of many unpublicized good deeds. 

Mormonism’s emphasis on family, patriotism, 

community and hard work explains much of Romney’s 

worldview. The church’s generous support of Mormons 

in need, financed by the 10 percent tithe on members 

like Romney, may give him the idea that the poor are 

well taken care of in America. And his criticism of “the 

bitter politics of envy” echoes his father’s complaint 

that his family was forced from his childhood home 

“because the Mexicans were envious of the fact that 

my people . . . became prosperous.” Romney’s plastic 

image to some extent stems from his difficulty in 

relating to people outside Mormon circles, though 

within those circles he is seen as warm, funny and 

charming. His upstanding life fails to win Romney the 

political credit that would normally extend to such a 

paragon, because many people do not understand or 

approve of the religion that inspires him. Over the last 

several years, about a quarter of Americans have told 

poll takers they would not vote for a Mormon. Liberals 

are skeptical of a religion that until 1978 refused to 

grant full membership to anybody with even one drop 

52

of African blood and still bars women from the 

priesthood. Mormon leaders have supported extreme 

right-wing organizations like the John Birch Society, 

denounced the theory of evolution, condemned much 

of American popular culture, and led the fights against 

the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and the gay 

marriage movement over the past decade. Christian 

conservatives might be expected to support 

Mormonism’s political agenda, but many believe that 

the religion is not Christian but a heretical and even 

satanic cult. Because of this opposition from both left 

and right, Romney is forced to play down his distinctive 

heritage, resorting instead to generalized expressions 

of faith and patriotism. A similar bipartisan mistrust 

extends to Romney’s accomplishments in business 

and politics. Kranish and Helman illuminate Romney’s 

work for Bain & Company and its private equity 

offshoot, Bain Capital. Prudence, aptitude for 

data-driven analysis and providence enabled Romney 

and his team to report what the authors call “the 

highest returns in the business in the 1990s” and gave 

Romney a fortune that they estimate as “at least $250 

million, and maybe much more.” But many Americans 

have reservations about leveraged-buyout firms like 

Bain that acquired struggling companies using 

borrowed money, saddled them with enormous debt, 

and often walked away with incredible profits no matter 

whether the companies prospered or went bust. Even 

many Tea Party conservatives resent the “creative 

destruction” that the financial industry brought to bear 

on companies and communities, and see the 

loopholes that allowed investors like Romney to pay 

taxes at lower rates than many working-class 

Americans as further evidence that the economic 

system is rigged in favor of the 1 percent. In 1994, 

when he was trying to displace the liberal icon Ted 

Kennedy from the Senate, Romney cast himself as 

what Kranish and Helman characterize as “a 

passionate supporter of abortion rights,” as well as a 

“socially innovative” advocate of gay rights (although 

not gay marriage), progressive taxation and gun 

control. He retained these positions as the Republican 

governor of a Democratic state. His signature political 

accomplishment was the bipartisan passage of 

breakthrough health care reform, which the authors 

deem an overall success, particularly in achieving 

near-universal insurance coverage for Massachusetts 

residents. Romney’s quest to become the presidential 

nominee of the conservative--dominated Republican 

Party, though, has required him to jettison his past 

positions as well as distance himself from his health 

care program, which was the model for President 

Obama’s. The authors manfully resist the urge to call 

Romney a hypocrite for these reversals. They suggest 

that he has been “applying a business model to 

politics,” and that in business, “changing positions in 

an evolving market can be the secret of survival.” 

Unfortunately, he has not so far succeeded in showing 

The New York Times/ - Politics, Sex, 13 de Abril de 2012 


that “his shifts were not expedient but reasoned and 

heartfelt.” As a result, Romney hasn’t convinced 

conservatives he has seen the light, while moderates 

and liberals hope he doesn’t really believe in the 

increasingly extreme positions he has espoused. The 

argument that Romney is not a moderate at heart 

emerges most clearly in the book’s comparisons 

between him and his father, who was a leader of the 

moderate wing of the Republican Party in the 1960s 

and ’70s. This is ironic, since Mitt has said he “grew up 

idolizing” his father, and the authors imply that his 

motivation for wanting to be president is “avenging his 

father’s loss” in 1968. But Romney appears to have 

little in common politically with his father, and his 

candidacy in no way aims to uphold the moderate 

legacy his father embodied. George Romney was born 

into exile and raised in poverty, and he worked his way 

to prosperity in the automobile industry. As chairman 

of the American Motors Corporation, he was wealthy 

but nowhere near as rich as his son became and, 

unlike his son, was known for refusing bonuses that 

would have made his income too many multiples of the 

average worker’s salary. Civil rights for 

African-Americans was George Romney’s lifelong, 

passionate cause, undertaken in defiance of his 

church as well as the conservative wing of his party; 

Mitt has shown scant inclination to follow his father’s 

example. Where George saw the dissent and protest 

of the 1960s as legitimate responses to real social and 

political problems, Mitt saw only inexplicable disorder 

and lack of proper deference toward authority. George 

Romney governed at a time when Republican 

moderation meant something. He stood not only for 

pro-business fiscal conservatism but for civil rights and 

civil liberties, Republican outreach to minorities and 

labor, an internationalist but noninterventionist foreign 

policy, wise public investments in infrastructure and 

education, and government programs to promote 

equal opportunities for all Americans. If his son has the 

courage to champion such positions in the face of 

conservative opposition within his party, he has given 

little indication of it in his campaign so far. On the 

evidence in this biography, Mitt Romney is not so 

much a plastic politician as a personally upstanding 

and generally conservative man who will do whatever 

it takes to be elected president. His idiosyncratic 

background and deliberate efforts to obscure his 

beliefs and accomplishments mean that his election 

would not represent a victory for the conservative 

movement, but most likely would significantly 

advantage the right nonetheless. The blurred outlines 

of “the real Romney” may come into focus only if and 

when he occupies the White House. Geoffrey 

Kabaservice’s latest book is “Rule and Ruin: The 

Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the 

Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party.” 

53

14/04/2012


14/04/2012 

ABC Digital - Nacionales 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Poder Judicial 

Magistrados latinoamericanos respaldan a la Corte, 57 

Business Line - Markets 


UP to take action against schools violating RTE Act, 58 

Correo Peru - Política 


Viceministro Figallo justidica que caso 'Madre Mía' se vea en fueros externos, 59 

Corriere Della Será - Cronaca 


L'inchiesta ancora aperta su un ragazzo all'epoca minorenne , 60 

Corriere Della Será - Economia 


Ha ragione la Fiat, respinto ricorso della Fiom diritti sindacali soli ai firmatari dell'accordo, 61 

Corriere Della Será - Politica 


De Lorenzo e i 5 milioni da risarcire «Vivrò da francescano per restituire tutto», 62 



Luanda divulga lema para eleições de setembro, 65 

El Peruano - Noticia 


Denuncien a corruptos, 66 



Sí habrá cambios, 67 



Erradicarán corrupción en PJ, 68 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | EuGH 

Inflation Kleingläubige EZB-Beamte, 69 



Vauzelle au Mexique: Juppé "scandalisé" , 70 



Democratic Super PACs off to modest 2012 start, 71 

The Economic Times - News 


Mayawati warns Akhilesh Yadav from making changes in parks, statues, 73 


55



UP government promises strict action against schools violating RTE, 74 



Why Medical Bills Are a Mystery, 75 



Working and Women, 77 



When Is a Flip Not a Flop?, 79 



Cotton Fields and Brownfields, 84 



The Provocateur, 85 



The Battle for a Comic-Book Empire That Archie Built, 89 

The New York Times - The Opinion Pages 


Should We End Life Tenure for Justices?, 93 

USA Today - News 


Trayvon's father says he warned son on stereotypes, 94 

56

ABC Digital/ - Nacionales, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Poder Judicial) 

Magistrados latinoamericanos respaldan a 

la Corte 

En conferencia de prensa, explicó que el viernes se 

enteró de la decisión de los senadores paraguayos e 

inmediatamente preparó su viaje al Paraguay. 

“Estamos preocupados por el futuro de la sociedad del 

Paraguay, porque cada vez que sucede esto, reciben 

el impacto los habitantes del Paraguay”, expresó el 

magistrado. 

Refirió que en varios países ya se intentó remover a 

magistrados, con el argumento de la corrupción. “En 

todos los países el argumento es el mismo: corrupción 

y se pretende solucionarlo debilitando al Poder 

Judicial, es muy fácil genéricamente”, refirió. 

“Todos queremos evitar que sea perseguido un juez 

por el contenido de la sentencia o de lo contrario se 

acabará la garantía de las personas”, manifestó. 

Indicó que este sábado dará aviso a la relatora 

especial de las Naciones Unidas, para que esté al 

tanto de lo que sucedió con los siete miembros de la 

Corte. 

“Desde afuera lo que percibo es un atentado a la 

institucionalidad del país, que luego no siempre 

desemboca bien”, señaló. 

El jueves el Senado paraguayo, con la disidencia de 

los colorados, declaró la vacancia de siete cargos de 

ministros de la Corte por fenecimiento del mandato. 

Afecta a los ministros Víctor Núñez, José Torres 

Kirmser, Alicia Pucheta, Sindulfo Blanco, César Gary, 

Miguel Bajac y Antonio Fretes. 

Los ministros de la corte sostienen que existe una 

resolución de la máxima instancia judicial, que los 

declara inamovibles en el cargo hasta los 75 años. 

Los senadores argumentan que para acceder a la 

inamovilidad, tiene que ser confirmados en el cargo 

luego de cinco años. 

57

Business Line/ - Markets, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


UP to take action against schools 

violating RTE Act 

The Uttar Pradesh Government has said that strict 

action would be taken against schools overlooking the 

order of the Supreme Court on Right to Education 

Act. 

The Basic Education Minister, Mr Ram Govind 

Chaudhary, said strict implementation of the Supreme 

Court order would be ensured in the state and 

recognition of schools violating it could be cancelled. 

He told reporters as per the order, the schools would 

not only be required to give admission to 25 per cent 

poor children, but also provide them facilities like other 

students. 

Mr Chaudhary said that emphasis would be given that 

schools run as per the schedule and an environment of 

education and discipline was created. 

58

Correo Peru/ - Política, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Viceministro Figallo justidica que caso 

'Madre Mía' se vea en fueros externos 

Lima - El viceministro de Derechos Humanos del 

Ministerio de Justicia, Daniel Figallo, señaló ayer que 

es válido el pedido que presentaron los familiares de 

las víctimas del caso Madre Mía ante la Comisión 

Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) para 

que el proceso sea reabierto. 

En entrevista con Radio San Borja, Figallo explicó que 

en el 2009 la Corte Suprema excluyó al presidente 

Ollanta Humala pero dejó abierto el tema de los 

responsables y las circunstancias en que se habrían 

cometido los crímenes. 

En ese sentido, consultado sobre si era "válido" el 

reclamo de los familiares, Figallo respondió: "Así es. El 

Poder Judicial ha establecido que se archive el tema 

de Humala en su momento, en que no era Presidente, 

y se reserva el fallo y se mantiene abierto lo relativo a 

determinar quién ha sido y cómo ha sido; ese es el 

punto y lo que falta", precisó. 

Remarcó que los deudos tienen derecho a saber lo 

que ocurrió y subrayó que el sistema interamericano 

no está hecho para condenar a una persona."No 

conozco la denuncia, pero estoy seguro de que los 

actores y abogados que han intervenido conocen el 

sistema. No es usado para condenar a alguien, sino 

para ver si es que se ha investigado adecuadamente", 

manifestó. 

En ese sentido, el funcionario informó que el Estado 

ha reconocido a las víctimas del caso Madre Mía y 

que estas se encuentran incluidas en el Registro único 

de Víctimas con el fin de que puedan acceder a una 

reparación. 

"He revisado las actuaciones judiciales internas. Hay 

una parte en que se involucra al actual Presidente, 

pero se llega a concluir que de todas maneras han 

habido desapariciones, tanto que el Estado lo ha 

reconocido a propósito del registro de personas. Las 

víctimas del caso Madre Mía están inscritas en el 

registro y (los familiares) van a ser reparados", 

puntualizó. Por Piero Llamo 

59

Corriere Della Será/ - Cronaca, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


L'inchiesta ancora aperta su un ragazzo 

all'epoca minorenne 

Sulla strage di Piazza della Loggia rimane aperto un 

altro procedimento diviso tra la Procura dei minori e la 

Procura di Brescia incentrato sulle dichiarazioni di 

Giampaolo Stimamiglio, legato a Ordine nuovo del 

Veneto e che aveva raccontato della partecipazione 

alla fase operativa dell'eccidio di un giovane di destra, 

sempre veneto, all'epoca diciassettenne. Anche il 

fascicolo aperto in Procura ha un nome iscritto nel 

registro degli indagati. Quello di competenza della 

Procura dei minori - viene spiegato in ambienti 

giudiziari - presenta non pochi problemi: una sentenza 

della Corte costituzionale ha infatti stabilito l'illegittimità 

dell'ergastolo per i minorenni e l'inchiesta che vede 

indagato l'allora diciassettenne potrebbe essere a 

rischio prescrizione. Nell'ambito del procedimento si sa 

che sono stati sentiti alcuni testimoni, in particolare 

veneti. 

60

Corriere Della Será/ - Economia, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Ha ragione la Fiat, respinto ricorso della 

Fiom diritti sindacali soli ai firmatari 

dell'accordo 

Respinto il ricorso dei metalmeccanici della Cgil che 

chiedevano rappresentanza pur non avendo siglato 

accordo col Lingotto 

MILANO - Il tribunale di Torino ha respinto 21 ricorsi 

della Fiom, con i quali il sindacato chiedeva di poter 

nominare propri rappresentanti sindacali in 15 società 

di Fiat e Fiat Industrial, confermando che le Rsa 

possono essere nominate solo dalle sigle che hanno 

firmato l'accordo con l'azienda. Di conseguenza viene 

riconosciuta la correttezza della Fiat e la chiarezza 

della norma: «la legittimazione e l'attribuzione dei diritti 

sindacali si applica unicamente ai firmatari degli 

accordi aziendali». 

IL LINGOTTO - Si trattava di ricorsi in 21 unità 

produttive del gruppo a Torino che il tribunale del 

capoluogo piemontese aveva deciso di unificare in un 

unico procedimento. La decisione conferma 

l'esclusione dei metalmeccanici della Cgil da circa il 

50% dei siti del gruppo guidato da Sergio Marchionne 

nell'area piemontese. Soddisfatta la Fiat: «Il giudice ha commentato il Lingotto in un una nota - ha 

riconosciuto la correttezza del comportamento tenuto 

dall'azienda nell'applicazione dell'articolo 19 dello 

Statuto dei lavoratori». «Viene così confermato - ha 

aggiunto - che la norma è assolutamente chiara e 

precisa: la legittimazione e l'attribuzione dei diritti 

sindacali si applica unicamente ai firmatari degli 

accordi aziendali». 

LA REAZIONE DELLA UILM - Si tratta, è stato il 

commento di Rocco Palombella, segretario generale 

della Uilm, di «una sentenza unica da parte del giudice 

del lavoro di Torino che dà ragione a Fiat rispetto a 21 

ricorsi presentati dalla Fiom che pretendeva la 

rappresentanza nei luoghi di lavoro pur non avendo 

firmato il contratto specifico di primo livello col gruppo 

automobilistico lo scorso 13 dicembre». Per 

Palombella la decisione «smentisce la vulgata diffusa 

dai metalmeccanici della Cgil secondo la quale 

aumentano i tribunali che condannano l'azienda». «Si 

tratta - gli fa eco il segretario generale della Fismic, 

Roberto Di Maulo - di un colpo importante, se non 

definitivo, alla strategia antagonista della Fiom che 

preferisce alla contrattazione sindacale il ricorso ai 

giudici». 

L'ALLARME DELLA FIOM - Immediata la reazione 

della Fiom che ha annunciato appello contro la 

decisione del Tribunale del lavoro di Torino che ha 

respinto 21 ricorsi presentati dalle tute blu in merito 

alla nomina dei propri rappresentanti sindacali in 

quindici società di Fiat e Fiat Industrial. Lo ha 

annunciato il segretario generale della Fiom, Maurizio 

Landini. Complessivamente «abbiamo presentato 61 

ricorsi. Nei prossimi giorni - ha spiegato Landini - ce ne 

saranno altri. Ci sono giudici che dicono che ciò che 

sta facendo la Fiat è antisindacale e giudici, con 

motivazioni diverse, che dicono altre cose. Siamo di 

fronte ad un problema aperto. Credo che noi, 

naturalmente, ricorreremo contro questa decisione 

perchè - ha continuato il leader della Fiom riferendosi 

alla sentenza del tribunale di Torino - dalla prima 

lettura che abbiamo fatto non ci sembra abbia 

argomenti forti. Consideriamo che il tema della libertà 

sindacale sia un tema aperto. Viene negata non solo la 

libertà della Fiom ma anche quella delle persone. Qui 

si nega il diritto di chi lavora di potersi scegliere il 

sindacato che ritiene più opportuno». Ha infine 

giudicato «anticostituzionale» negare la possibilità ai 

delegati Fiom di eleggere i propri rappresentanti nelle 

rsa. «Su questo punto - ha concluso il segretario delle 

tute blu - abbiamo intenzione di muoverci fino ad 

arrivare, se necessario, anche a chiedere un 

intervento della Corte Costituzionale». 

Redazione Online 

61

Corriere Della Será/ - Politica, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


De Lorenzo e i 5 milioni da risarcire 

«Vivrò da francescano per restituire 

tutto» 

[Esplora il significato del termine: L’ex ministro: «I soldi 

li ho presi, ma li davo al partito» L’allora ministro della 

Sanità Francesco De Lorenzo con don Verzé L’allora 

ministro della Sanità Francesco De Lorenzo con don 

Verzé ROMA - «Farò una vita da francescano». 

Addirittura. «Avevo già restituito quattro miliardi». 

Vecchie lirette. «Mica le prendevo per me». No? «No. 

Solo per il mio partito, il Pli». Non come questi di 

adesso, chessò, i Lusi e i Belsito, magari con qualche 

famigliola politica da sfamare... «Eh, ora c’è chi 

scambia il Parlamento per un benefit». Pure prima 

esageravate. «Lo ammetto, ma era diverso. Le 

spiegherò come». Sospira Francesco De Lorenzo, un 

tempo Sua Sanità, ed è difficile dire se per nostalgia 

d’una stagione morta o per il sollievo d’esserle 

sopravvissuto. Settantatré anni portati alla grande, 

come uno che prima è passato sotto le forche caudine 

di Tangentopoli, poi attraverso Poggioreale e un 

tumore con chemioterapia devastante, ed è infine 

risorto, lavorando coi drogati di don Gelmini (grande 

foto del controverso sacerdote dietro la scrivania), e 

inventandosi infine l’Aimac, che raccoglie cinquecento 

associazioni di volontari nella lotta contro il cancro: «E 

tutto senza un euro delle case farmaceutiche, lo 

scriva, lo scriva». Marmi, assistenti, gran sede in via 

Barberini, c’è chi resta in piedi anche quando cade... 

«Si chiudono dei cicli, io ho cambiato vita». Già, però il 

tarlo è quello vecchio. Averci marciato, sui malati, 

quand’era ministro della Salute, governo Amato, primi 

anni Novanta. «Non ho alterato i prezzi dei farmaci, i 

giudici me l’hanno riconosciuto infine! Non ho 

danneggiato l’erario, guardi qua». L’ex ministro in aula 

a MontecitorioL’ex ministro in aula a Montecitorio (Tira 

fuori faldoni, sentenze, pandette, carte da bollo in 

perenne lotta tra loro: come molti a lungo strizzati dai 

magistrati, è ormai il migliore avvocato di se stesso). 

Comunque sia, deve pagare cinque milioni di euro per 

danno all’immagine del nostro povero Stato, sentenza 

definitiva. Dove li trova? «Metà li restituii a suo tempo, 

gliel’ho detto prima. Per il resto, venderò la casa, ho 

qualche bene al sole. Potrei vendere anche i pastori». 

I famosi pastori del Settecento napoletano... «Quelli: 

una settantina, raccolti in trent’anni. Valgono 

duecentomila euro, ma non facciamolo sapere ai 

ladri». Ci mancherebbe. Parliamo di altri furti. Una sua 

foto sotto l’insegna del ristorante «Due Ladroni» è 

rimasta nella storia. «Mai intascato un soldo, per me». 

Dunque si dichiara innocente? «No. Il finanziamento 

illecito è stata la mia colpa. Mandavo dagli imprenditori 

il mio segretario, Marone, perché non si pensasse che 

me li tenevo io. Adesso lo fanno per loro tasche. Ma 

allora tutti sapevano. Anche Zanone che poi ha fatto 

tanto il moralista». Pochi sono stati tanto detestati 

dagli italiani quanto lei. «Colpa di una lunga campagna 

di stampa». Lei era uno dei viceré di Napoli, con 

Pomicino e Di Donato. «Un viceré senza truppe, mi 

creda. Napoli è una città plebea, mia moglie non 

poteva nemmeno più andare a giocare a bridge. I miei 

amici liberali si misero con Bassolino. Io per la sanità 

ho dato il sangue, l’ho detto varie volte». Sangue 

infetto, quello dello scandalo... «Non ero nemmeno 

testimone, in quell’inchiesta, sia serio. Mi hanno 

spedito all’inferno e non so perché. Ero benestante, 

ero un tecnico, avevo il settanta per cento di 

consensi». Meglio di Berlusconi... «Non scherzi. La 

gente si è sentita tradita. Ma io ho avuto giudici etici, 

mi hanno condannato per associazione per delinquere 

da solo, tutti i miei coimputati erano assolti. Il mio 

processo è stato ingiusto, l’ha detto la Corte 

costituzionale quattro mesi dopo la mia condanna 

definitiva. E mi hanno fatto andare in udienza mentre 

facevo la chemio!». Lei, nessuna colpa? «Non insista. 

Gliel’ho detto: avrei dovuto rinunciare alla poltrona di 

ministro, è vero. Se la volevi, dovevi finanziare il 

partito. Funzionava così. Per assicurare il quoziente al 

partito servivano consiglieri comunali, sezioni, giornali, 

cose che costavano». E nani, ballerine, terrazze... 

«Cose che ho letto, non c’ero su quelle terrazze». Mi 

dica dei finanziamenti. «Il finanziamento illecito c’è 

sempre stato. Malagodi prendeva soldi da 

Confindustria, Moro si alzò per difendere Gui. Solo che 

quelli avevano... gli attributi. Noi ci lasciammo 

sbranare, portare via l’immunità parlamentare». Molti 

imprenditori si sentirono sbranati, in verità. «Se agli 

imprenditori chiedevi di darti i soldi in chiaro, 

rifiutavano: avrebbero dovuto dare cento a noi liberali, 

ottocento ai socialisti, mille alla Dc». Ci furono ruberie 

grosse. «Ci furono. Ma io non appartenevo a quella 

classe politica. Comunque gente come Citaristi o 

Balzamo non prendeva soldi per sé. E, lo sa?, 

nemmeno Craxi, dico io». Dice lei. E di Tonino Di 

Pietro che mi dice? «Nulla. E’ stato mio pm, non 

sarebbe elegante». Di Berlusconi? «La magistratura 

ha abusato anche con lui. Poi lui avrebbe dovuto fare 

62

attenzione al suo ruolo, l’ultima variante non mi piace. 

Ma ha aiutato molto la nostra associazione contro il 

cancro, gli sono grato». Vent’anni dopo. Si ruba in 

proprio rispetto a ieri? «Oggi è tutto abnorme». Ormai 

è saltato anche lo schermo del partito, no? «Mi 

invitarono nel casertano all’ultima campagna 

elettorale. Non c’era un comizio, non c’era un 

manifesto. E allora dove stanno i costi della politica?». 

Già. E dove vanno i soldi della politica? «Questa legge 

elettorale è tremenda, tutti stanno appesi al leader». 

Pure Belsito e Lusi? «Cosa mi sta chiedendo?». Un 

leader può avere un tesoriere simile e non saperlo? 

«Ai miei tempi, no». E adesso? «E’ diverso. Non si 

coprono spese reali periferiche, il finanziamento viene 

dato al centro, il tesoriere ha un ruolo fondamentale. 

Certo, se poi un partito non ha nessuna attività...». 

Cosa fa, allude a un caso specifico? Manda 

messaggi? «Prossima domanda». Ultima. Cosa fa 

domani l’ex viceré di Napoli? «Cerca di salvare San 

Giuseppe». Chi? «Il mio pastore preferito, un viso 

splendido. Quello non lo vendo. A costo di smettere di 

mangiare». Goffredo Buccini] L'ex ministro: «I soldi li 

ho presi, ma li davo al partito» 

L'allora ministro della Sanità Francesco De Lorenzo 

con don Verzé L'allora ministro della Sanità Francesco 

De Lorenzo con don Verzé 

ROMA - «Farò una vita da francescano». 

Addirittura. 

«Avevo già restituito quattro miliardi». 

Vecchie lirette. 

«Mica le prendevo per me». 

No? 

«No. Solo per il mio partito, il Pli». 

Non come questi di adesso, chessò, i Lusi e i Belsito, 

magari con qualche famigliola politica da sfamare... 

«Eh, ora c'è chi scambia il Parlamento per un 

benefit». 

Pure prima esageravate. 

«Lo ammetto, ma era diverso. Le spiegherò come». 

Sospira Francesco De Lorenzo, un tempo Sua Sanità, 

ed è difficile dire se per nostalgia d'una stagione morta 

o per il sollievo d'esserle sopravvissuto. Settantatré 

anni portati alla grande, come uno che prima è 

passato sotto le forche caudine di Tangentopoli, poi 

attraverso Poggioreale e un tumore con chemioterapia 

devastante, ed è infine risorto, lavorando coi drogati di 

don Gelmini (grande foto del controverso sacerdote 

dietro la scrivania), e inventandosi infine l'Aimac, che 

raccoglie cinquecento associazioni di volontari nella 

lotta contro il cancro: «E tutto senza un euro delle case 

farmaceutiche, lo scriva, lo scriva». Marmi, assistenti, 

gran sede in via Barberini, c'è chi resta in piedi anche 

quando cade... 

«Si chiudono dei cicli, io ho cambiato vita». 

Già, però il tarlo è quello vecchio. Averci marciato, sui 



malati, quand'era ministro della Salute, governo 

Amato, primi anni Novanta. 

«Non ho alterato i prezzi dei farmaci, i giudici me 

l'hanno riconosciuto infine! Non ho danneggiato 

l'erario, guardi qua». 

L'ex ministro in aula a MontecitorioL'ex ministro in aula 

a Montecitorio 

(Tira fuori faldoni, sentenze, pandette, carte da bollo in 

perenne lotta tra loro: come molti a lungo strizzati dai 

magistrati, è ormai il migliore avvocato di se stesso). 

Comunque sia, deve pagare cinque milioni di euro per 

danno all'immagine del nostro povero Stato, sentenza 

definitiva. 

Dove li trova? 

«Metà li restituii a suo tempo, gliel'ho detto prima. Per 

il resto, venderò la casa, ho qualche bene al sole. 

Potrei vendere anche i pastori». 

I famosi pastori del Settecento napoletano... 

«Quelli: una settantina, raccolti in trent'anni. Valgono 

duecentomila euro, ma non facciamolo sapere ai 

ladri». 

Ci mancherebbe. Parliamo di altri furti. Una sua foto 

sotto l'insegna del ristorante «Due Ladroni» è rimasta 

nella storia. 

«Mai intascato un soldo, per me». 

Dunque si dichiara innocente? 

«No. Il finanziamento illecito è stata la mia colpa. 

Mandavo dagli imprenditori il mio segretario, Marone, 

perché non si pensasse che me li tenevo io. Adesso lo 

fanno per loro tasche. Ma allora tutti sapevano. Anche 

Zanone che poi ha fatto tanto il moralista». 

Pochi sono stati tanto detestati dagli italiani quanto lei. 

«Colpa di una lunga campagna di stampa». 

Lei era uno dei viceré di Napoli, con Pomicino e Di 

Donato. 

«Un viceré senza truppe, mi creda. Napoli è una città 

plebea, mia moglie non poteva nemmeno più andare a 

giocare a bridge. I miei amici liberali si misero con 

Bassolino. Io per la sanità ho dato il sangue, l'ho detto 

varie volte». 

Sangue infetto, quello dello scandalo... 

«Non ero nemmeno testimone, in quell'inchiesta, sia 

serio. Mi hanno spedito all'inferno e non so perché. 

Ero benestante, ero un tecnico, avevo il settanta per 

cento di consensi». 

Meglio di Berlusconi... 

«Non scherzi. La gente si è sentita tradita. Ma io ho 

avuto giudici etici, mi hanno condannato per 

associazione per delinquere da solo, tutti i miei 

coimputati erano assolti. Il mio processo è stato 

ingiusto, l'ha detto la Corte costituzionale quattro mesi 

dopo la mia condanna definitiva. E mi hanno fatto 

andare in udienza mentre facevo la chemio!». 

Lei, nessuna colpa? 

«Non insista. Gliel'ho detto: avrei dovuto rinunciare alla 

poltrona di ministro, è vero. Se la volevi, dovevi 

63

finanziare il partito. Funzionava così. Per assicurare il 

quoziente al partito servivano consiglieri comunali, 

sezioni, giornali, cose che costavano». 

E nani, ballerine, terrazze... 

«Cose che ho letto, non c'ero su quelle terrazze». 

Mi dica dei finanziamenti. 

«Il finanziamento illecito c'è sempre stato. Malagodi 

prendeva soldi da Confindustria, Moro si alzò per 

difendere Gui. Solo che quelli avevano... gli attributi. 

Noi ci lasciammo sbranare, portare via l'immunità 

parlamentare». 

Molti imprenditori si sentirono sbranati, in verità. 

«Se agli imprenditori chiedevi di darti i soldi in chiaro, 

rifiutavano: avrebbero dovuto dare cento a noi liberali, 

ottocento ai socialisti, mille alla Dc». 

Ci furono ruberie grosse. 

«Ci furono. Ma io non appartenevo a quella classe 

politica. Comunque gente come Citaristi o Balzamo 

non prendeva soldi per sé. E, lo sa?, nemmeno Craxi, 

dico io». 

Dice lei. E di Tonino Di Pietro che mi dice? 

«Nulla. E' stato mio pm, non sarebbe elegante». 

Di Berlusconi? 

«La magistratura ha abusato anche con lui. Poi lui 

avrebbe dovuto fare attenzione al suo ruolo, l'ultima 

variante non mi piace. Ma ha aiutato molto la nostra 

associazione contro il cancro, gli sono grato». 

Vent'anni dopo. Si ruba in proprio rispetto a ieri? 

«Oggi è tutto abnorme». 



Ormai è saltato anche lo schermo del partito, no? 

«Mi invitarono nel casertano all'ultima campagna 

elettorale. Non c'era un comizio, non c'era un 

manifesto. E allora dove stanno i costi della politica?». 

Già. E dove vanno i soldi della politica? 

«Questa legge elettorale è tremenda, tutti stanno 

appesi al leader». 

Pure Belsito e Lusi? 

«Cosa mi sta chiedendo?». 

Un leader può avere un tesoriere simile e non 

saperlo? 

«Ai miei tempi, no». 

E adesso? 

«E' diverso. Non si coprono spese reali periferiche, il 

finanziamento viene dato al centro, il tesoriere ha un 

ruolo fondamentale. Certo, se poi un partito non ha 

nessuna attività...». 

Cosa fa, allude a un caso specifico? Manda 

messaggi? 

«Prossima domanda». 

Ultima. Cosa fa domani l'ex viceré di Napoli? 

«Cerca di salvare San Giuseppe». 

Chi? 

«Il mio pastore preferito, un viso splendido. Quello non 

lo vendo. A costo di smettere di mangiare». 

Goffredo Buccini 

64

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Globo, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Luanda divulga lema para eleições de 

setembro 

Candidaturas devem ser apresentadas até 20 dias 

antes da data do escrutínio, que não se encontra 

ainda marcado. 

As próximas eleições gerais em Angola, a realizar em 

setembro, terão como lema "Vota pela paz e pela 

democracia", após reunião da Comissão Nacional de 

Eleições (CNE), destaca na sua edição de hoje o 

Jornal de Angola. 

Ainda sem data marcada, o escrutínio vai renovar o 

mandato dos 220 assentos da Assembleia Nacional e, 

pela primeira vez, designará, por via indireta, o 

próximo chefe de Estado. 

A nova modalidade de eleição do Presidente, e do 

vice-presidente da República, assenta no que está 

inscrito na nova Constituição angolana, que prevê o 

preenchimento dos dois cargos pelos candidatos que 

figurarem no primeiro e segundo lugar da lista do 

partido ou coligação mais votado. 

Os partidos e coligações concorrentes às eleições 

gerais de setembro terão obrigatoriamente de 

apresentar um mínimo de 15 mil assinaturas, incluindo 

500 por cada uma das 18 províncias. 

Segundo o Tribunal Constitucional, um total de 77 

partidos e seis coligações estão habilitados a 

concorrer, mas somente os que têm assento 

parlamentar - Movimento Popular de Libertação de 

Angola (MPLA), União Nacional para a Independência 

Total de Angola (UNITA), Partido da Renovação social 

(PRS), Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola 

(FNLA) e a coligação Nova Democracia - e o Partido 

Democrático para o Progresso de Aliança Nacional 

Angolana (PDP-ANA) e o Bloco Democrático estão 

isentos de apresentar as assinaturas exigidas. 

As candidaturas partidárias terão obrigatoriamente 

que ser apresentadas até 20 dias depois do anúncio 

da data pelo Presidente de Angola e deverão indicar 

claramente o candidato a Presidente, vice-presidente 

e os deputados. 

Atualmente está a decorrer a segunda fase de registo 

e atualização do recenseamento eleitoral, com as 

autoridades angolanas a preverem o anúncio do total 

de eleitores inscritos somente na próxima sessão 

plenária do parlamento, no dia 24 deste mês. 

Na primeira fase, que decorreu entre 29 de julho e 16 

de dezembro de 2011, foram registados 5 287 769 

eleitores em todo território nacional, dos quais 493 383 

se recensearam pela primeira vez. 

A segunda fase, iniciada no passado dia 5 de janeiro, 

termina domingo, e as autoridades angolanas 

esperam recensear mais de 9 milhões de eleitores. 

65

Denuncien a corruptos 

El Órgano de Control de la Magistratura (Ocma) 

exhortó a los ciudadanos que quejen los actos de 

corrupción de los que puedan ser víctimas por parte 

de algún juez y/o funcionario del Poder Judicial. 

Así, agrega, la ciudadanía debe comprometerse a 

seguir erradicando y sancionando estas conductas 

incompatibles con la recta administración de justicia. 

El Peruano/ - Noticia, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


66

A 24 horas de jugarse el clásico, Alianza Lima parece 

encontrar una salida a su profunda crisis económica. 

El Poder Judicial (PJ) declaró infundado el recurso 

de anulación del laudo arbitral que determinaba que 

Guillermo Alarcón no era más presidente de Alianza 

Lima. 

Con este fallo se confirma que Alarcón no es más el 

titular de la institución victoriana. El dirigente presentó 

un recurso para anular el laudo que lo suspende de 

sus funciones; sin embargo, el Poder Judicial lo 

declaró infundado, por lo que la sentencia arbitral se 

mantiene.El socio y exdirigente de Alianza Lima, 

Fernando Farah, señaló que "hace tiempo que Alarcón 

no es presidente y la nulidad que presentó le fue 

negada. La Federación reconoce a Julio Arango y los 

contactos que hacen son con él", enfatizó Farah."Los 

socios están contentos porque Alarcón ya no es 

presidente y hay más tranquilidad porque ya no 

maneja las cuentas del club", finalizó.La 

Superintendencia Nacional de Aduanas y de 

Administración Tributaria (Sunat) negó que haya 

Sí habrá cambios 



notificado el embargo de la taquilla del clásico del 

mañana entre Alianza Lima y Universitario. La Sunat 

señaló que los derechos laborales son irrenunciables y 

no pueden ser afectados por una medida de 

cobranza. 

ADFP asume los gastosEl presidente de la Asociación 

Deportiva del Fútbol Profesional (ADFP), Luis de 

Souza Ferreira, anunció que esta entidad se hará 

cargo de la deuda que le tiene el equipo íntimo al IPD 

y que suma 20 mil dólares por el alquiler del Estadio 

Nacional."La asociación pagará la deuda que tenía 

Alianza con el IPD para que se juegue ahí el clásico. 

Yo me voy a encargar de todos los compromisos, 

incluso de los jugadores, con lo que salga de la 

taquilla", anunció Luis de Souza Ferreira. El IPD 

reclamaba su dinero por el alquiler del coloso para el 

partido de Copa Libertadores. 

DatoPaolo Hurtado pidió a la CJ-FPF desvincularse 

del cuadro blanquiazul debido a las deudas. 

67



Erradicarán corrupción en PJ 

Facultades extraordinarias por 60 días con el fin de 

combatir las redes de corrupción que existirían en el 

Poder Judicial se otorgarán al presidente de la Corte 

Suprema, según proyecto de ley sustentado ayer por 

el titular de ese poder del Estado, César San Martín, 

ante la Comisión de Justicia. 

Dijo que en esa “corrupción colectiva, 

desafortunadamente, también pueden encontrarse 

jueces y juezas, así como auxiliares jurisdiccionales 

que por temor o por falta de compromiso con su 

delicada labor le hacen el juego a estas redes de 

corrupción”. 

Distrito judicialEl proyecto de ley tiene por objeto 

habilitar y regular las facultades extraordinarias al 

titular del Poder Judicial, las cuales deberá ejecutar 

previo informe del jefe de la Ocma y la autorización de 

la Sala Plena de la Corte Suprema.Actuará, frente a 

situaciones que revelen la existencia de graves casos 

de mala conducta funcional o crisis institucional o 

administrativa en algún distrito judicial, en los casos en 

que ponga en riesgo el normal y debido 

funcionamiento de las instituciones judiciales. 

68

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/ - Politik, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (EuGH) 

Inflation Kleingläubige EZB-Beamte 

Der Führung der Europäischen Zentralbank in 

Frankfurt ist das Thema spürbar unangenehm. Denn 

die Mitarbeiter der Institution machen mit einem 

Vorstoß deutlich, dass sie am Erfolg der Bewältigung 

ihrer Kernaufgabe zweifeln: Für Geldwertstabilität zu 

sorgen. Die Personalvertretung der Notenbank fordert 

jetzt, die Pensionen der Mitarbeiter müssten gegen die 

Inflation geschützt werden. Sie verlangt damit einen 

Versicherung gegen das eigene Versagen. 

„Unglücklicherweise sind die Pensionen der 

EZB-Beschäftigten nicht gegen Inflation geschützt“, 

sagte Carlos Bowles, ein Sprecher der 

Personalvertretung, der F.A.S. Die Altersvorsorge der 

EZB-Mitarbeiter sei über eine Art Pensionsfonds 

organisiert. „Deshalb sollte es normalerweise möglich 

sein, die Risiken über geeignete Finanzinstrumente 

abzusichern - etwa inflationsindexierte Anleihen.“ 

Solche geschützten Anleihen bringen zwar in der 

Regel etwas weniger Rendite als normale Anleihen. 

Aber selbst diesen Preis wären die EZB-Beschäftigten 

zu tragen bereit - so groß ist die Furcht der Eurohüter 

vor einem Geldwertverlust des Euro. 

„Wir verstehen nicht, warum die Führung der EZB es 

ablehnt, unsere Pensionen gegen die Inflation zu 

schützen“, schimpft die Personalvertretung. Sogar ein 

Verfahren vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof sei in 

dieser Sache anhängig: Ein Pensionär habe mit 

Unterstützung der Personalvertretung und der 

Notenbanker-Gewerkschaft IPSO geklagt. 

Der ganze Streit wäre vermutlich nicht weiter 

bemerkenswert, wäre die Inflation, vor der sich die 

Mitarbeiter der EZB so fürchten, nicht genau jene 

Erscheinung, die zu verhindern oder zumindest 

gehörig einzudämmen der Sinn der ganzen 

Einrichtung ist. 

Die Belegschaftsvertreter argumentieren, es dürfte für 

EZB-Präsident Mario Draghi und sein Direktorium doch 

kein Problem sein, einen wirksamen Inflationsschutz 

für die Pensionen einzuführen - weil sie die Inflation 

schließlich selbst beeinflussen könnten. Und wenn die 

Inflation niedrig bleibe, wie es der gesetzliche Auftrag 

ihrer Chefs doch vorsehe, dann dürfte der 

Inflationsschutz über geeignete Finanzinstrumente 

auch keine allzu teure Angelegenheit werden. 

Offiziell wollte die Europäische Zentralbank dazu nicht 

Stellung nehmen. Sie verwies auf ihre 

Anstellungsbedingungen, die eine regelmäßige 

Überprüfung und Anhebung der Pensionen vorsehen. 

Eine Sprecherin sagte, das laufende Verfahren vor 

dem EuGH kommentiere man nicht. 

Die Personalvertretung meint, die Notenbankchefs 

wollten sich nicht nach außen blamieren: Wie sähe 

das aus, wenn eine Institution antritt, Europa vor der 

Inflation zu schützen - auf die eigene Arbeit aber so 

wenig vertraut, dass sie für die Pensionen der eigenen 

Mitarbeiter lieber von Banken einen Inflationsschutz 

konstruieren lässt? 

Vertreter der Stabilitätslehre in der EZB 

argumentieren, es sei gut, wenn diejenigen, die über 

die Geldwertstabilität zu wachen hätten, die Folgen der 

Inflation am eigenen Leibe spürten. „Das setzt die 

richtigen Anreize.“ Ein Inflationsschutz für Pensionen 

gehe deshalb „genau in die falsche Richtung“. 

Auch über die Wirkung einer solchen Entscheidung auf 

einige Mitgliedsländer im Euroraum ist offenbar in der 

EZB diskutiert worden. In einige europäischen Ländern 

wie Belgien sind Löhne und Gehälter zum Teil 

inflationsindexiert - sie steigen also mit zunehmender 

Inflation. Mehrere frühere EZB-Präsidenten haben 

solche Regelungen kritisiert, weil sie die Inflation 

insgesamt hochtreiben können. Wie aber sollte die 

EZB ihren Mitgliedsländern die Inflationsindexierung 

austreiben, wenn sie genau das für die Pensionen der 

eigenen Mitarbeiter einführt? 

69

Le Figaro/ - International, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Vauzelle au Mexique: Juppé "scandalisé" 

Le ministre des Affaires étrangères Alain Juppé s'est 

dit aujourd'hui à Bordeaux "scandalisé" par le voyage 

de Michel Vauzelle (PS) au Mexique et dénonce "une 

instrumentalisation politique et électorale" de la 

situation de Florence Cassez a huit jours du premier 

tour de l'élection présidentielle. 

"Je suis scandalisé par cette initiative", a-t-il dit à des 

journalistes tout en se disant "préoccupé par cette 

instrumentalisation politique et électorale de la 

situation de notre compatriote", en référence à la 

française condamnée à 60 ans de prison au Mexique 

pour des enlèvements. "Il y a un processus judiciaire 

en cours, la Cour suprême du Mexique s'est 

prononcée et elle a constaté que Florence Cassez 

n'avait pas eu droit à un procès équitable. Donc il faut 

tout faire pour éviter une interférence politique dans ce 

processus et laisser fonctionner la justice mexicaine. 

C'est la position que la diplomatie française a prise", 

a-t-il dit. 

"Ce qui me préoccupe c'est que cette 

instrumentalisation politique et électorale de la 

situation de notre compatriote Florence Cassez risque 

d'être dangereuse", a-t-il ajouté, en référence au 

premier tour de l'élection présidentielle, le 22 avril, 

notant que "l'avocat de Florence Cassez et sa famille 

ont réagi exactement dans les mêmes termes". Alain 

Juppé a estimé "déplorable qu'à quelques jours du 

premier tour on essaie de récupérer cette situation 

personnelle extrêmement traumatisante pour Florence 

et sa famille". 

Le président PS de la région Paca et ancien garde des 

Sceaux, Michel Vauzelle, en partance aujourd'hui pour 

le Mexique, a déclaré qu'il y allait "pour des raisons 

diplomatiques" et non pas pour évoquer l'affaire 

Florence Cassez. L'équipe du candidat François 

Hollande a pour sa part démenti dans un communiqué 

toute "initiative parallèle politique ou diplomatique", 

expliquant qu'elle s'inscrivait dans le cadre de la 

préparation d'un sommet du G20 en juin. Si François 

Hollande est élu il devrait y participer en tant que chef 

d'Etat français. Arrêtée en novembre 2005, accusée 

d'enlèvements, de délinquance organisée et port 

d'armes prohibé, Florence Cassez, originaire du 

Nord/Pas-de-Calais, a été condamnée par la justice 

mexicaine à 60 ans de prison. 

70

Reuters General/ - Article, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Democratic Super PACs off to modest 

2012 start 

By Alina Selyukh and Alexander Cohen 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fundraising by Democratic 

"Super PACs" is off to a slow start for the 2012 

campaign season, compared with aggressive efforts 

by Republican groups that plan to spend hundreds of 

millions of dollars in fights for congressional seats and 

the White House. 

Three major Democratic groups said on Friday they 

raised a total of about $5.7 million in the first three 

months of the year, buoyed largely by donations from 

labor unions and hedge fund managers but far behind 

rival Republican groups. 

Majority PAC, focused on preserving Democratic 

control of the U.S. Senate, received $1.6 million in 

contributions in the first quarter of 2012, according to 

financial filings with the Federal Election Commission. 

House Majority PAC, which aims to help Democrats 

regain control of the House of Representatives that 

they lost in 2010, received $1.5 million. American 

Bridge, a group that does research on rival 

Republicans, raised $2.6 million together with its 

non-profit arm. 

The Democratic groups are working in tandem against 

several behemoth Republican groups such as 

American Crossroads, run by Karl Rove, a former top 

aide to President George W. Bush. 

American Crossroads alone plans to spend more than 

$250 million on congressional and presidential 

campaigns for the November 6 election. Such 

independent Super PACs - which unlike campaigns 

have no limits on individual donations - will allow very 

wealthy donors to have a big say in shaping this year's 

elections. 

Republican Super PACs, inspired by the emergence of 

the conservative Tea Party movement, led to painful 

losses for Democrats in 2010, when Republicans took 

control of the House. 

The American Crossroads Super PAC reported having 

$23.6 million on hand at the end of February, its FEC 

filings show. 

American Crossroads also has a non-profit arm that is 

not legally required to disclose its fundraising to the 

FEC. According to tax forms cited on Friday by The 

Washington Post, the non-profit group had raised more 

than $76 million by the end of 2011 after launching in 

May 2010. 

The three Democratic Super PACs had a total of $5.4 

million in cash on hand at the end of March, their FEC 

filings showed. 

"As the presidential primary and races up and down 

the ballot have unfolded, one thing is clear: 

Republicans and their outside groups are going to 

spend an unprecedented amount of money to advance 

their right wing ideology," the Democratic groups said 

in a joint statement on Friday. "We are confident we 

will provide a countervailing force to these extreme 

agendas." 

UNIONS, HEDGE FUNDS STEP UP 

The largest share of contributions to the three 

Democratic PACs in the first three months of this year about $1.4 million - came from labor unions, a 

traditional source of support for the party. 

The biggest union donation was $500,000 from the 

Committee on Letter Carriers, which represents Postal 

Service workers, to the House Majority PAC. The PAC 

also received $125,000 from the Laborers' 

International Union and $100,000 from the American 

Federation of Teachers. 

American Bridge received $100,000 each from the 

Service Employees International Union (SEIU); the 

National Education Association (NEA), the biggest 

educators' union; and public sector union the American 

Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 

(AFSCME). 

AFSCME and SEIU gave another $10,000 and 

$20,000 to House Majority, respectively. 

The biggest individual donor was James Simons, a 

billionaire hedge fund manager, who gave $1 million to 

Majority PAC. 

Another hedge fund manager, S. Donald Sussman, 

who is married to Democratic Representative Chellie 

Pingree of Maine, became the biggest donor to House 

Majority with his $250,000 donation. 

American Bridge's top contributor was Anne Earhart, 

who gave $400,000 to the Super PAC. Earhart is the 

granddaughter of J. Paul Getty, the oil baron and 

founder of Getty Oil. 

71

LAGGING BEHIND REPUBLICANS 

Many Democrats staunchly opposed the controversial 

2010 Supreme Court decision that paved the way for 

Super PACs by removing limits on how much 

corporations, unions and other outside groups could 

spend on helping politicians. 

Many Democrats' disdain for the court ruling - along 

with their dismay at the barrage of PAC-funded attack 

ads that fed into the bitter campaign for the Republican 

presidential nomination - put Democrats behind 

fundraising for PACs. 

Leaders of Democratic PACs say many potential 

donors have not yet realized the urgency being felt by 

groups that support Democratic candidates. 

That complacency has also haunted another major 

Democratic PAC - Priorities USA Action, which backs 

President Barack Obama - as Obama himself did not 

support Super PACs until February. 

Priorities had $2.8 million in the bank at the end of 

February, according to its latest filing. The group is due 

to report its March numbers on April 20. 

Priorities shares a fund with Majority PAC and House 

Majority PAC, called Unity 2012, giving donors a single 

place to send checks. At the end of March, this 

month-old PAC had just one donation, $100,000 from 

Reuters General/ - Article, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Florida-based law firm Morgan & Morgan, which was 

split between Priorities and Majority PAC. 

REPUBLICANS STEP UP 

The Republican National Committee, another engine 

of Republican Party fundraising for congressional 

races, on Friday marked its best fundraising month of 

the campaign season. 

The committee, which has been digging itself out of a 

multimillion-dollar debt, said it raised $13.7 million in 

March, with debts declining by $1 million from 

February to $9.9 million at the end of last month. 

The committee started fundraising jointly this month 

with Mitt Romney, the party's likely presidential 

nominee. It had $32.7 million in cash on hand at the 

end of March. 

Its counterpart across the party line, the Democratic 

National Committee, received $7.1 million in 

contributions in February, with $21.2 million left in cash 

on hand at the end of that month. The DNC had $5.8 

million in debt. 

The RNC and the DNC are also due to file their official 

March fundraising reports with the FEC on April 20. 

(Editing by David Lindsey, Peter Cooney and Eric 

Beech) 

72

The Economic Times/ - News, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Mayawati warns Akhilesh Yadav from 

making changes in parks, statues 

LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati, who had drawn flak 

from the Supreme Court for wasting taxpayers' money 

by building parks and installing her statues, today 

warned the ruling SP in Uttar Pradesh that any move 

to make changes in the memorials erected during her 

regime could create law and order problem. 

"The ruling SP should take a lesson from the BSP 

government which did not make any dent in the honour 

and prestige of the various parks and memorials set up 

by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in the name 

of its ideologues and great men," she said at a function 

after paying floral tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar here. 

The former chief minister warned against any move to 

make changes in the parks saying "it would create a 

law and order problem not only in the state but also in 

the country". 

"The SP government should not indulge in any act 

which could create a problem in the country and their 

government could also face serious problem," she 

said. 

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday had 

announced that while the previous regime had built 

parks and statues, his government will set up IT park 

in Lucknow to attract companies to the state capital. 

73

The Economic Times/ - News, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


UP government promises strict action 

against schools violating RTE 

Ballia: Uttar Pradesh Government today said strict 

action would be taken against schools overlooking the 

order of the Supreme Court on Right to Education. 

Basic Education Minister Ram Govind Chaudhary said 

strict implementation of the SC order would be 

ensured in the state and recognition of schools 

violating it could be cancelled. 

He told reporters as per the order, the schools would 

not only be required to give admission to 25 per cent 

poor children, but also provide them facilities like other 

students. 

Chaudhary said that emphasis would be given that 

schools run as per the schedule and an environment of 

education and discipline was created. 

74

The New York Times/ - Politics, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Why Medical Bills Are a Mystery 

RISING health care costs are busting the federal 

budget as well as those of states, counties and 

municipalities. Policy makers and health care leaders 

have spent decades trying to figure out what to do 

about this. 

Yet their solutions are failing because of a fundamental 

and largely unrecognized problem: We don’t know 

what it costs to deliver health care to individual 

patients, much less how those costs compare to the 

outcomes achieved. 

When insurance companies or government bodies try 

to control costs, they usually make across-the-board 

reimbursement cuts that ultimately are unsustainable 

because they have no connection to the true costs of 

delivering care. Providers themselves do not measure 

their costs correctly. They assign costs to patients 

based on what they charge, not on the actual costs of 

the resources, like personnel and equipment, used to 

care for the patient. The result is that attempts to cut 

costs fail, and total health care costs just keep rising. 

Regardless of what decision the Supreme Court 

reaches on the legality of the Affordable Care Act, 

measuring outcomes and costs is indispensable to 

driving improvements. 

Because health care charges and reimbursements 

have become disconnected from actual costs, some 

procedures are reimbursed very generously, while 

others are priced below their actual cost or not 

reimbursed at all. This leads many providers to expand 

into well-reimbursed procedures, like knee and hip 

replacements or high-end imaging, producing huge 

excess capacity for these at the same time that 

shortages persist in poorly reimbursed but critical 

services like primary and preventive care. 

The lack of cost and outcome information also 

prevents the forces of competition from working: 

Hospitals and doctors are reimbursed for performing 

lots of procedures and tests regardless of whether they 

are necessary to make their patients get better. 

Providers who excel and achieve better outcomes with 

fewer visits, procedures and complications are 

penalized by being paid less. 

Our research and executive workshops show that 

many sites are already improving their measurements 

of patient outcomes. But they have done little to 

measure the actual costs of achieving those outcomes. 

We are currently working with several health care 

organizations, including MD Anderson Cancer Center 

in Houston, Children’s Hospital Boston, Partners 

Healthcare in Boston and Schön Klinik in Germany, 

that are beginning to figure out how to measure costs. 

They use teams of clinicians and administrators to 

identify all the processes involved in care, from a 

patient’s first contact with a health care provider 

through his or her inpatient stay and outpatient 

follow-up care. The teams then identify the quantity 

and unit cost of each resource — clinical staff, 

equipment, supplies, devices and administrative 

support — used in each process and add these 

together to learn the total cost of a patient’s care. 

The information helps them discover immediate and 

significant opportunities for improvements in care and 

reduced spending. MD Anderson, for example, has 

studied its evaluation process for new head and neck 

cancer patients. By substituting trained staff members 

for physicians, standardizing processes and improving 

information technology, it has been able to make care 

more efficient without any adverse effect on patient 

outcomes. It has made changes that reduced total 

costs by 36 percent, and freed employees to serve 

more patients without adding to costs. 

A surgeon repairing cleft palates at Children’s Hospital 

Boston discovered that 40 percent of the total cost of 

an 18-month-care process was due to the time a child 

spent in the intensive care unit before and after 

surgery. By using a far less intensively staffed and 

equipped observation room, the hospital could achieve 

equivalent quality and safety at much lower costs. 

Most health care providers have hundreds of these 

opportunities to use time, equipment and facilities 

more intelligently. These opportunities have been 

obscured by existing costing systems that have little 

connection to the processes actually performed. 

With accurate information on outcomes and costs, 

providers can improve care and save money by 

eliminating things that don’t help the patient, like 

multiple check-ins and medical histories, tests that 

provide little new information and long waiting times. 

Many routine tasks are performed today by highly 

trained doctors and nurses. These tasks can be shifted 

to others, freeing the most skilled clinicians for far 

more productive work. 

Health care providers with expensive and poorly 

utilized equipment, space and staff can see the 

benefits of consolidating services to improve utilization 

75

and reduce some existing capacity. They can also 

perform routine services in lower-cost locations, 

reserving expensive medical centers for complex care. 

These opportunities will allow the health care needs of 

an aging population to be met with little need to 

increase spending. Understanding costs could be the 

single most powerful lever to transform the value of 

health care. 



This would give payers and providers the data they 

need to improve patient care, and to stop arbitrary cuts 

and counterproductive cost shifting. 

Robert S. Kaplan and Michael E. Porter are professors 

of accounting and strategy, respectively, at Harvard 

Business School. 

76

BY the standards of Hilary Rosen, whose name and 

swipe at Ann Romney just possibly crossed your radar 

last week, my mother also never worked a day in her 

life, at least not after she delivered the first of four 

epically needy, fiercely loved and ferociously grateful 

children.Like Romney, Mom didn’t punch a clock or get 

a paycheck or any of that. She might have endured 

less stress and finagled more sleep if she had. But her 

arrangement with Dad was traditional: he sweated the 

income, she sweated the rest. Actually, it wasn’t so 

traditional, because the rest included the bill paying, 

the checkbook balancing, the wrangling with the 

roofer, the wrangling with the electrician, the car 

selection, the school selection, you name it. 

The major decisions were all hers. While Dad 

playacted the part of president, Mom was both House 

and Senate, with supermajorities that could override all 

vetoes. She was also Supreme Court, poised to strike 

down any of his individual mandates. 

He had whole days off. She had the stray episode of 

“Mannix,” “Kojak” and — equal opportunist and Angie 

Dickinson aficionada that she was — “Police Woman.” 

Then it was back to the pinpoint management of six 

lives, only one of them her own. 

I don’t mean to romanticize her lot. Quite the opposite. 

And I worry to this day that she didn’t really choose it, 

inasmuch as she and Dad were products of a different 

generation, when too many women were prodded in 

too preordained a direction. 

But I know that she was proud of how she spent her 

time and chafed mightily at any career woman who in 

any way insinuated that she was performing a servile 

or trivial function. And since she’s no longer around, I’ll 

chafe for her. What Rosen said was inaccurate, 

gratuitous and a sad example of the way politics is 

practiced today. 

Has too much been made of it? That was Stage 2 or 3 

of the commentary, during which it was rightly noted 

that Rosen, a Democratic consultant, wasn’t speaking 

for the Obama administration or even the Democratic 

National Committee. In fact the president, his advisers 

and the D.N.C. quickly distanced themselves from her. 

Even Michelle Obama tweeted a tsk-tsk. 

It was also said that the news media was tumbling 

headlong into a noncontroversy and that we should all 

be talking instead about the economy, the debt and 

health care, as if those topics had gone unplumbed 

and Democrats and Republicans alike hadn’t turned 

Working and Women 



isolated outbursts or gaffes into major hullabaloos 

before. 

But Rosen’s words warrant attention for several 

reasons, the most significant of which I’ll save for last. 

She may not reflect the prevailing Democratic thinking, 

but she does reflect the way partisan sniping aims too 

broadly and claims needless casualties. These days 

it’s seldom enough to question the opposing side; you 

have to discredit anyone associated with it, even if that 

person has done little to draw such withering fire. 

In assessing Mitt Romney’s appeal to women, we 

should by all means look carefully at his hiring record 

at Bain Capital; at how well women were represented 

in Massachusetts government under his watch; at 

whether his current policy prescriptions square with 

many women’s needs; at his positions (they change) 

on reproductive choice. Relevant material, all of it. 

But Ann Romney? Rosen claimed that she was fair 

game because her husband had cited her as an 

adviser of sorts on women’s issues, but that doesn’t 

justify the personal nature of Rosen’s gibe. And 

tagging Ann Romney as sheltered and old-fashioned is 

such an obvious, facile and reductive putdown, just as 

the Catholic League’s subsequent derision of Rosen’s 

sexuality and family — she’s lesbian, with adopted kids 

— is cheap and gross. We have to be better than this. 

Rosen also said that she wasn’t critiquing Ann 

Romney’s role as a homemaker but, rather, her 

charmed isolation from — and thus presumed 

insensitivity to — the financial hardships of mothers 

who must work. 

WHEN did it become axiomatic that to care about 

people in economic distress you have to be personally 

familiar with it? This notion has been one of the most 

frequently used cudgels against Mitt Romney, who has 

abetted it with his near-pathological knack for awkward 

invocations of wealth. He has somehow managed to 

create such an easy-street image for himself that John 

Kerry’s breezy windsurfing seems, in retrospect, like a 

slog in a dinghy with one oar. 

But if privilege equals an inability to relate, then we 

apparently misjudged and must reappraise many 

politicians from the past, including the Roosevelts, the 

Kennedys and even George Washington. 

What’s most bothersome about Rosen’s comment, 

though, was its betrayal of what the Democratic Party 

77

and feminism at their best are supposed to be about: 

recognizing the full diversity of human experience and 

empowering everyone along that spectrum to walk 

successfully down the path of his or her choosing, so 

long as it poses no clear harm to anyone else. 

Does Ann Romney’s path make sense to me? 

Marriage at 19, with a special, separate Mormon 

ceremony the next day that excluded her non-Mormon 

parents? No. But I respect her right to it. I admire her 

resilience in the face of breast cancer and then 

multiple sclerosis. And I think that Rosen’s dig not only 

violated the very idea of inclusiveness but also had the 

sort of judgmental ring for which many of us justly 

excoriate certain institutions and figures on the right: 

the Catholic League, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh. 

That sort of censure used to make my mother livid. In 

1970 she wrote that some feminist rhetoric of that time 

“practically accuses you of criminal negligence 



because you have turned your back on your 

college-trained mind.” This was in an essay in the 

journal of the Woman’s Club of White Plains, N.Y. 

“I haven’t turned my back on my education,” she 

continued, adding that she used it daily “to make my 

home the center of learning it should be.” I indeed 

remember talking about fiction with her. About science. 

About current events, too. 

But mostly I remember her at her computer well past 

10 p.m., stealing the last hours of the day to do 

administrative work for some volunteer project she’d 

been drawn into or for the 60-member competitive 

swimming club that she and Dad had founded and that 

she ran largely by herself. 

I wish I knew how to work even half that hard. 

78



When Is a Flip Not a Flop? 

At the end of January, New York’s Conservative Party, 

the most influential of the minor parties that complicate 

the state’s politics, celebrated its 50th anniversary at a 

Holiday Inn near the Albany airport, a vast and dingy 

venue that reminded me of athlete housing left over 

from the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Politicians like 

former Gov. George Pataki, who owed his election to 

the Conservatives, came to pay homage to the party 

for its record of steering the state’s politics to the 

right.But one calamity darkened the mood of nostalgia 

and self-congratulation: the passage last summer of a 

law legalizing same-sex marriage. For many New 

Yorkers, the June 24 marriage vote was a rare 

moment of goosebump drama from a capital better 

known for tedious dysfunction. For the Conservatives, 

and in particular for Mike Long, the ex-marine who has 

been the party’s chairman for nearly half of its history, 

the vote was a triple humiliation. 

It was, first, a defining triumph for the state’s ambitious 

new Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo. Second, it 

was an abandonment by Republican leaders, who had 

invoked party discipline to kill similar legislation in 

2009. This time the Republican leaders publicly 

opposed gay marriage, but knowing that both public 

opinion and lobbying muscle were coalescing on the 

other side, they freed their members to vote as they 

wished. And that led to what was, for Mike Long, an 

unforgivable betrayal. All four of the Republican 

senators who voted for the bill and provided the 

necessary margin for it to pass had been elected with 

the Conservative endorsement, a prize for which 

opposition to gay marriage was an essential litmus 

test. Two of those wayward senators would not have 

won their seats without the Conservative boost. 

Try as they might to explain away the defections — 

perhaps it was the lure of money from gay hedge-fund 

billionaires, or some devilish deal with Cuomo — the 

Conservatives feared that this defeat, if not punished, 

could mean an ominous loss of influence. 

The four Republican apostates now had targets on 

their backs. 

It is difficult to construct an argument against marriage 

rights for gay people that doesn’t sound like an 

argument against gay people. Mike Long and his 

fellow partisans, like many conservatives nationwide, 

build their case on what they call “the defense of 

traditional marriage.” No society in history, they told me 

repeatedly, has extended marriage rights to 

homosexuals, and so we shouldn’t risk the unraveling 

of civilization by starting now. (Apparently they don’t 

count the 10 countries, from Canada to South Africa, 

where gays may legally marry and civilization 

endures.) I’ve had a few conversations with Long, 

trying to understand what harm they think they are 

defending marriage from. In one conversation I 

recounted my own classic wedding at the Holy Name 

of Jesus church, and wondered how somebody else’s 

less conventional marriage could diminish the joy of it. 

“Well, I don’t think it hurts anybody,” Long replied, “but 

I think a society has to have certain standards, and 

since the beginning of time, marriage has been 

between a man and a woman.” Marriage, he 

elaborated, is about children. “You’re not going to 

procreate children with same-sex couples.” 

I told him that would be news to my daughters’ school 

classmates, the ones with two moms or two dads. And 

by the way, we don’t prohibit elderly, infertile or just 

plain procreation-averse couples from marrying. 

“I know plenty of gay couples, O.K.?” he snapped 

back. “Some of them, if not all of them, are very good 

people, O.K.? I just don’t believe that society needs to 

change what the definition of marriage is to 

accommodate their lifestyle. That’s all. You know, that 

may be old-school. But I think Western civilization has 

done pretty good old-school.” 

The quartet of dissident Republicans are themselves 

fairly old-school, at least when it comes to the rest of 

their conservative credentials. They come not from 

liberal Manhattan or the upscale suburbs of 

Westchester County. They are upstate guys, from 

struggling former mill towns and diminished Rust Belt 

cities. So while the senators’ political calculus differs 

from district to district, their experiences give us a 

glimpse into how this issue is likely to play out in “real 

America,” as conservatives are fond of calling it, and 

not just in the coastal metropolises. Which is why the 

fates of these four are being watched intently by 

national lobbies and wavering politicians across the 

country. 

Bill Keller is a former executive editor of The Times. He 

writes a column for the Op-Ed page. 

EDITOR: Greg Veis 

The least vulnerable of the four is probably Stephen M. 

Saland, a patrician-looking lawyer whose 

Poughkeepsie district sits about a two-hour drive north 

of New York City. A Capitol fixture since 1980 and a 

conscientious legislative technician, Saland negotiated 

79

with Cuomo the details of a shrewd compromise that 

assured religious organizations that they would not be 

compelled to participate in gay marriages, giving a bit 

of shelter to lawmakers worried about religious 

blowback. Saland agonized over this issue with his 

gay-marriage-supporting wife, but one acquaintance 

said his decision seemed to grow out of his immersion 

in the legislative language. He refused to talk for this 

article because of an old grudge against The Times 

over what an aide described as “an out-of-context 

quote.”Roy J. McDonald, who represents former mill 

towns like Troy and Mechanicville, didn’t see much 

percentage in reminiscing about his vote, either. He 

literally backpedaled as I interviewed him in the Senate 

lobby. “I did what I thought was right,” he told me. The 

voters “understand that,” but now they want to talk 

about jobs and foreclosures, not marriage. “I can’t 

dwell on this stuff.” McDonald is a Vietnam veteran 

and former steelworker. Though he is now a banker, 

he retains a bluff manner, but with a compassionate 

streak when it comes to those born different. Friends 

say he has two autistic grandsons, and watching the 

insensitivity the boys endured gave him a kind of 

collateral distaste for those who would marginalize 

gays. McDonald, entirely in character, responded to 

criticism by announcing that if doing the right thing 

costs him his seat, “They can take the job and shove 

it.” That did not sit well with some local Republican 

leaders, but it’s the kind of directness his constituents 

seem to like. 

Jim Alesi, who formerly had a business operating 

laundry rooms in apartment buildings and dormitories, 

has been in politics for 23 years. He represents a 

swath of the Rochester area that’s more white-collar 

than blue-. When the Senate rejected gay marriage in 

2009, Alesi toed his party’s line, but he held his head 

in visible distress, in part because it felt like a betrayal 

of his friend Thomas Duane, the Senate’s only openly 

gay member. “I promised myself then that I would 

never vote no on this issue again,” he told me. And 

because his relatively affluent electorate leans 

moderate on social issues, the vote was not likely to 

fire up a huge reaction. Unfortunately for Alesi, he has 

other liabilities — more on those later — and he knows 

that some in his own party, not just the Conservatives, 

would like to throw him overboard. 

Mark Grisanti should be the most endangered 

Republican in the Senate. He is a freshman, an Italian 

Catholic Republican in a slice of the Buffalo region that 

is five-to-one Democratic and nearly 40 percent black. 

He won his seat by a mere 519 votes over an 

incumbent African-American Democrat, Antoine 

Thompson. Thompson supported gay marriage, not a 

popular view in the black churches of Buffalo. 



Grisanti didn’t make a big deal of marriage in his 

campaign, but he told people he was in the 

man-and-a-woman camp, which probably bought him 

a smattering of black support. Moreover, Grisanti was 

listed on the ballot as the candidate of the 

Conservative Party in addition to being the Republican 

nominee, and he reaped 4,368 votes on the 

Conservative line. 

So it is not a stretch to suggest that, between 

Conservative and black votes, Mark Grisanti owes his 

seat to the fact that he identified himself as a “no” vote 

on gay marriage. It is also not a stretch, as you will 

see, to say that if he wins re-election, it will be because 

he changed his mind. 

The choice of a gay rights tour guide in Buffalo was 

obvious. Kitty Lambert and her partner were the state’s 

first gay newlyweds. When the law went into effect, 

she and Cheryle Rudd — both longtime gay rights 

activists and, as Lambert likes to say, “two fat 

grandmothers” — drove from their home in Buffalo up 

to Niagara Falls for a midnight ceremony. Lambert 

grew up Mormon, endured a series of husbands in the 

effort to live up to her religion’s expectations and came 

out as a lesbian in her 30s. Between them, she and 

Rudd have five grown children and 15 grandchildren. 




Kitty Lambert, who now goes by Lambert-Rudd, got to 

know Grisanti pretty well during months of lobbying 

him on the marriage bill, as he struggled with the 

tension between his Catholic faith and his lawyer’s 

reverence for equality. The lawyer won. (“I swore with 

my hand on the Bible to uphold the Constitution,” he 

told me. “I didn’t swear with my hand on the 

Constitution to uphold the Bible.”) Lambert-Rudd 

became so protective of the senator that she began a 

campaign to register like-minded Buffalo residents as 

members of the Conservative Party, hoping they could 

fend off Mike Long’s reprisals. She signed up about 

300. This, someone joked, was like getting rabbis to 

enroll in Hamas to make it less hostile to Israel.I 

wondered how she felt about laboring to save the 

political skin of a conservative Republican who 

disagreed with her on abortion rights and a slew of 

other issues. 

“Mark’s politics,” she said. “Wow. But I made a 

commitment to support anyone who recognized my 

rights as a gay person. Because that is my calling right 

now, it tends to be my full focus.” 

Not surprisingly, gay marriage is more likely to be a 

decisive issue for gays than for opponents. But if you 

80

parse public opinion, you find the acceptance of gay 

marriage is not just growing; it is accelerating. This is 

driven, of course, by the overwhelming support of 

young voters, but also by white Catholics, who have 

grown more open-minded on gay rights as they have 

become more affluent and educated, and as their 

children return from college with more liberal attitudes. 

Adding to the inexorability is a factor pollsters refer to 

as “salience,” a measure of how much an issue means 

to you. It figures heavily in what politicians decide is 

safe to do. Most Americans favor restrictions on guns, 

for example, but gun control is stymied by salience: the 

people who want full gun rights care far more about 

the issue than those who oppose them. Opponents of 

gay marriage used to hold their opinion more 

passionately than supporters. But as more Americans 

have openly gay children, siblings, friends and 

neighbors, the supporters feel just as strongly. Another 

sign of seismic change: civil unions, once regarded by 

gay-marriage supporters as a best-we-can-hope-for 

compromise, have become a fallback position of the 

anti-marriage camp. 

African-American support for gay marriage has 

remained stubborn, hovering around 30 percent for 

years, for reasons of class and education and because 

of the centrality of church in their lives. According to 

internal memos of the National Organization for 

Marriage, the anti-gay-marriage lobby sees an 

opportunity to play on the fact that some blacks resent 

hearing gay marriage likened to their own civil rights 

struggle. 

Fortunately for Grisanti, black congregations will not 

have much of a chance to register their disapproval in 

November. The legislators who have designed a 

statewide redistricting plan took extraordinary pains to 

protect Grisanti by sculpturing him a friendlier district. 

The redrawn district cuts Grisanti’s black constituency 

to 5 percent from 37 percent and reduces the 

Democrat-to-Republican ratio to less than two to one. 

To accomplish this, the designers took two distant 

swatches of friendly territory and attached them by a 

long thin strand of Lake Erie shoreline where the only 

constituents are fish. 

Indeed, Grisanti and the other three are in the 

improbable position of having grateful support both 

from the state G.O.P. leaders and from the Democratic 

governor. Cuomo, whose popularity is high, has 

lavished praise on the Republican Four for their 

courage. And Republican leaders are delighted that 

gay donors — who might, in the wake of a defeat, 

have mounted jihad against the state’s Republicans — 

are instead contributing generously to save these four 

Republican seats. Each raised between $400,000 and 



$540,000 in the 10 months after the vote, mighty war 

chests for State Senate races. Discreetly, because 

local party officials resent being leaned on, state 

Republican leaders have tried to wave off strong 

challengers from filing in the Republican primaries of 

the four defectors. 




Daisies Cafe sits on a block of Lackawanna between 

the baroque immensity of Our Lady of Victory basilica 

and the storefront office of the Erie County 

Conservative Party. It is home to something called the 

“Lard-ass Omelet” (which contains “every single meat 

we serve,” a waitress explained) and to a Saturday 

political breakfast that has been going on for 13 years. 

It draws Buffalo pols from all parties but is long on 

Conservatives.The Saturday I arrived, the county 

Conservative Party had just voted to deny Grisanti the 

party’s ballot line this year in favor of a conservative 

(and anti-gay-marriage) Democrat. A month earlier the 

Erie County Conservative chairman, Ralph Lorigo, laid 

out for me a pretty convincing case for forgiving 

Grisanti. The senator is pro-gun, anti-abortion, 

pro-business on taxes and regulation, a champion of 

charter schools — a budding star by most 

Conservative measures. And importantly, Grisanti’s 

victory gave the Republicans their single-member 

margin of control in the Senate, making it a far more 

congenial environment for issues that matter to 

Conservatives. Why put that at risk for a little payback 

on gay marriage? 

Around the long table at Daisies, that sort of 

pragmatism could no longer be found. The 

gay-marriage issue had now been rebranded as an 

“integrity issue.” It wasn’t so much that Grisanti had 

voted for marriage, the breakfasting pols said. It’s that 

when he changed his mind he should have announced 

that to voters and then submitted himself to another 

election before casting such an important vote. 

The rebranding suggested to me that the anti-marriage 

camp is aware of its salience problem. Lashing 

Grisanti for a vote of conscience could be 

counterproductive, so the hunt is under way for 

nonmarriage reasons to dump him. One that may get 

some mileage is the senator’s recent involvement in a 

bar brawl at an Indian-owned casino in his district. 

According to Grisanti’s account, he went to watch his 

daughter fill in for the lead singer of a Rat Pack-era 

cover band called the Scintas. While waiting in the bar, 

he tried to verbally defuse an argument between two 

drinkers; before he knew it fists were flying, someone 

had knocked his wife to the floor and he was wading in 

to save her. The district attorney has chosen to close 

81

the case, but Grisanti’s opponents won’t. 

What it comes down to is that the Conservatives need 

to prove they can still flex their political muscles. I got a 

candid lesson in realpolitik from Jason J. McGuire, the 

acting Livingston County chairman: “You think we’re 

going to talk marriage, marriage, marriage all of the 

time? No. In any campaign you find the weakness, and 

you exploit that. These people betrayed their base.” 

Like New York’s Conservatives, the national lobbies 

for and against marriage equality see the fate of these 

four New York Republicans as bearing heavily on their 

future influence in states where marriage is still 

undecided. If marriage supporters can’t protect their 

friends, if opponents can’t mete out punishment to the 

defectors, who will pay attention to them next time? 

“The price is going to be paid by turncoats like Grisanti 

and the rest,” declared Brian Brown, president of the 

National Organization for Marriage, who claims to have 

$2 million earmarked for the defeat of the New York 

Four. 

So far, the most significant N.O.M. reprisals in New 

York have been billboards briefly erected in the four 

districts, with a menacing but oddly nonspecific 

message addressed to each senator: “You’re Next.” 

When I asked Conservative politicians in New York 

what part the national lobby would play, most tended 

to agree with Thomas D. Cook, chairman of the 

Monroe County party organization: “I think they’re full 

of smoke.” 

The Sunday morning after my breakfast at Daisies, I 

drove an hour past rolling dairy pastures to Rochester 

to attend church with Senator Alesi, the only one of the 

four who state Republican leaders believe is in real 

peril. A few days earlier, the Conservative Party 

announced that Alesi ranked lowest of all Senate 

Republicans (52 percent) on its key-vote scorecard; 

the Monroe County chairman declared that Alesi would 

not get the Conservative line this year. The county 

Republican chairman was meeting with local party 

leaders to discuss backing someone else. 




Alesi is enjoying the financial largess that has accrued 

to other gay-marriage supporters, but he has not been 

helped by redistricting. And where Grisanti is seen by 

party leaders as an up-and-comer, Alesi is considered 

unpredictable — as one prominent Republican put it, 

“a character.”When I met with the senator, his mood 

verged on fatalism. The club his enemies would use to 

pummel him, he surmised, would not be gay marriage 

but a loopy episode known in his district as “the 

lawsuit.” Back in 2008, Alesi was exploring houses for 



sale in a new development called Trolley Brook 

Estates. Finding one house locked, he went in the 

basement door. The house was still under 

construction, so he climbed up a ladder being used as 

a makeshift stairway, fell and injured his leg. It turned 

out this house had already been sold, but the owners 

agreed not to press trespassing charges. Then last 

year, a day before the statute of limitations was set to 

expire, Alesi sued the homeowners, a retired couple, 

for his injuries. A few days later, realizing that this was 

a boneheaded bit of public relations, he dropped the 

suit and apologized. I don’t think I encountered a voter 

in Rochester who hadn’t followed the story. 

Anyone who was surprised by Alesi’s vote for gay 

marriage has never been to services at Spiritus Christi 

Church, where Alesi has been a parishioner for a 

half-dozen years. The 9:30 Mass was offered at a 

former Presbyterian sanctuary, and the 850 seats were 

filled with a cheerful mix of multigenerational families 

and gay couples. The Mass featured a choir that could 

hold its own in a gospel sing-off (the associate pastor 

calls it “our mostly white black choir”) and a homily that 

turned Noah’s tale into a parable of inclusiveness and 

second chances. Alesi seemed to take real joy and 

comfort from the service, at one point leaning over to 

tell me: “This is a safe place. It feels so different from 

the world I work in.” 

Spiritus Christi bills itself as “a Catholic church, not a 

Roman Catholic church.” It was expelled by the 

Vatican for, among other deviations, favoring the 

ordination of women and an inclusive view of gay 

people. The clergy members began performing gay 

marriages long before the Legislature gave them legal 

status. Alesi has become something of a hero to the 

congregation. 

“When he voted against it the first time,” Jim Callan, 

the associate pastor, told me, “they grouped against 

him at the church.” Last year when he voted in favor, 

the Rev. Mary Ramerman announced it during Mass, 

and he got a standing ovation. 

After Mass I drove around Alesi’s district and was 

struck by two things: first, most people I spoke to knew 

the name of their state senator, which — trust me — is 

nowhere close to normal. And second, the prevailing 

popular view was admiration and shared pride that a 

politician had not followed the path of least resistance. 

I found people who disagreed with his vote, and a few 

who said they might hold it against him in November. 

But there was none of the vehemence I heard around 

the pols’ table at Daisies. 

Many gays still experience America as intolerant, even 

menacing. But if the experience of New York’s 

Republican dissenters teaches us anything, it is how 

82

quickly the political tide is turning, how quickly the 

“untraditional” is becoming normal. Is it moving quickly 

enough that the Supreme Court, where the issue may 

be headed via a California test case, will decide the 

country is ready to accept gay marriage as a 

constitutional right? Quickly enough that the issue 

could be an asset, or at least not a liability, if Cuomo 

runs for president in 2016? Neither would surprise me. 

At the very least, voting for gay marriage, even if you 

are a Republican politician from the heartland, is not 

the risk it would have been just a couple of years ago. 

The four defectors aren’t guaranteed re-election. But if 

they lose, it is likely to be in spite of their marriage 

vote, not because of it. 

“The earth didn’t stop spinning,” Alesi said. “The moon 

didn’t fall into the pond. The people who live across the 

street are still the same people, except that they’re 



married.” 

Alesi is not the type to echo McDonald’s chorus of 

“Take the job and shove it,” but he clings to something 

that lawmakers rarely get from working in Albany, a 

sense of having done something worthwhile and a little 

brave. 

“At the end of the day, wherever I end up, we’ll have 

marriage equality in New York State,” he told me. 

“There isn’t anything you can point to in a political 

career, if you’re just looking over the years you served, 

that you can say was as big as this.” 




83



Cotton Fields and Brownfields 

I’M the oldest of 12 children. My father emigrated from 

Mexico to the United States in the late 1930s as an 

undocumented worker. He joined the U.S. Army when 

the country needed soldiers for World War II but was 

quickly discharged for health reasons. We still have his 

discharge papers. He eventually became a naturalized 

citizen.My maternal grandfather fled the 1910 Mexican 

revolution and settled in Texas, where my mother was 

born and met and married my father. During the 

summers, my siblings and I worked in the fields. We 

picked tomatoes for 10 cents a crate in May and then 

cotton in July and August at $1.75 for every 100 

pounds. After high school, I paid for my college 

education by working a 16-hour shift during the 

summers at a processing plant for cotton, making 

$1.10 an hour. 

My friends and I car-pooled to the University of 

Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, and in 1965 I 

graduated with a B.A. in political science. The civil 

rights movement had reached our state, and 

Mexican-Americans were becoming more active in 

politics. Many of us had been motivated by the Viva 

Kennedy-Viva Johnson clubs that formed in Texas in 

support of John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. 

During my junior year in college, there was an open 

slot in the Democratic primary in my county for a 

justice of the peace. Several friends in the Political 

Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations said 

our community needed to field someone and urged me 

to run. I was still in school, but I jumped at the chance 

to get into politics. 

I won the November election and took office in January 

1965, just as I was starting my last semester of 

college. I juggled school and my judicial duties until I 

graduated. 

In the late 1960s, Raul Yzaguirre (now United States 

ambassador to the Dominican Republic), Rick Bela 

and I started the nonprofit Interstate Research 

Associates, which provided training and technical 

assistance to social service organizations. 

In 1971, with increased government support for 

minority enterprises, we changed our focus and started 

InterAmerica Research Associates, which contracted 

with various federal agencies. We worked on projects 

like bilingual education. Around 1987, we began 

providing I.T. services to Congress under the name 

Inter-America Technologies. 

In 1983, the president of Wapora, an environmental 

consulting firm owned by Kemron, approached my 

chief financial officer about my interest in buying 

Wapora from its parent. 

I discovered that both companies were in financial 

difficulty, but saw a great business opportunity. I took 

the risk and acquired Kemron, and with it Wapora. I 

placed the company into bankruptcy the next day and 

started rebuilding. 

Today, we have about 175 employees, five offices and 

various projects around the country and in Puerto 

Rico. Kemron cleans many types of contaminated 

sites. We helped clean the Hart Senate Office Building 

when anthrax was found there in 2001, and were 

involved in the cleanup of the BP oil spill in Louisiana 

and in the environmental cleanup in Mississippi after 

Hurricane Katrina. 

One of my sisters belongs to the Missionary Catechists 

of Divine Providence, a congregation of 

Mexican-American nuns in San Antonio. In the early 

1980s, the convent became too costly to maintain, so 

the group sold it and moved to surplus military 

barracks. Around 1990, I learned that the building was 

going into foreclosure, worked with the nuns to buy it 

back, and helped organize a fund-raiser. The Benitia 

Humanitarian Award Dinner, named for the 

congregation’s founder, has become an annual event 

for the convent. 

As told to Patricia R. Olsen. 

84

ON the last night of February, Arthur Sando was 

having a drink at the Brentwood Restaurant and 

Lounge in Los Angeles when a bearded silver-haired 

man took a seat next to him, ordered a glass of pinot 

noir and began typing into his BlackBerry.Mr. Sando 

quickly realized he was sitting next to Andrew 

Breitbart, the conservative blogger and author, and the 

two began to chat. As with almost any encounter with 

Mr. Breitbart, the next 90 minutes between the former 

strangers was punctuated by laughs, some outrageous 

political assertions and repeated interruptions as Mr. 

Breitbart checked his smartphone. 

“We talked politics, television, college and living in Los 

Angeles,” Mr. Sando said, adding that Mr. Breitbart 

had a single glass of wine during the conversation and 

seemed to be in both good spirits and good health. “He 

said that conversations like ours were why he liked to 

go to bars and talk with people who had different 

political beliefs.” 

Mr. Sando paid his tab and left. Not long after, Mr. 

Breitbart, 43, settled his own bill and apparently 

headed to the nearby home he shared with his wife, 

Susie Bean Breitbart, and their four young children. 

Minutes after exiting the bar, he collapsed in front of a 

Starbucks like a “sack of potatoes,” one witness said. 

Paramedics were unable to revive him. Later, his 

father-in-law, the actor Orson Bean, said that Mr. 

Breitbart had a history of heart ailments. (A final 

coroner’s report, with the official cause of death, is 

expected this month.) 

The following morning, Mr. Sando, a marketing 

executive from Los Angeles whose encounter with Mr. 

Breitbart was first reported in The Hollywood Reporter, 

grabbed his iPhone. The first thing he saw was a 

headline saying Mr. Breitbart had died. 

“I thought it was a prank,” he said in a recent 

telephone interview. “I thought he might have been in 

the habit of sending fake headlines to people he had 

encountered with different political opinions.” 

It was a common response, particularly among people 

who knew him well. After a lifetime of pranks, capers 

and so many people wishing him dead, it would have 

been just like Mr. Breitbart to stage his own demise. 

“I kept thinking, he is going to pull something off here,” 

said Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican of 

Texas, at a memorial held at the Newseum in 

Washington three weeks later. “He’s going to find out 

who hates his guts and who loved him, and I kept 

The Provocateur 



wanting to hear back, ‘O.K., the gag’s up.’ ” 

On the Web, there was a huge outpouring of both 

invective and grief. Dark, unsubstantiated theories that 

he was murdered mushroomed immediately, while 24 

of his friends used the hashtag DJBreitbart on Twitter 

to offer a playlist of his beloved ’80s music. His own 

Twitter account (which included more than 80 tweets 

sent on the day before his death) now sits as a frozen 

memorial. 

In the days following the death of Mr. Breitbart, many 

of his admirers adopted a meme of “I am Breitbart,” 

and vowed to continue his work. But even though his 

Web site, run by his business partner and lifelong 

friend Larry Solov, is fully staffed and unveiled a 

redesign after his death, there could be no real 

replacement.For good or ill (and most would say ill), no 

one did it like Mr. Breitbart. 

ANDREW BREITBART jacked into the Web early and 

never unplugged. As someone who worked on the 

Drudge Report and The Huffington Post in the early 

days and was busy building his own mini-empire of 

conservative opinion and infotainment at 

Breitbart.com, he understood in a fundamental way 

how discourse could be profoundly shaped by the 

pixels generated far outside the mainstream media he 

held in such low regard. 

Mr. Breitbart, as much as anyone, turned the Web into 

an assault rifle, helping to bring down Acorn, a 

community organizing group, with the strategic release 

of undercover videos made by James O’Keefe, a 

conservative activist; forcing Shirley Sherrod, an 

Agriculture Department official, out of her job with a 

misleadingly edited clip of a speech; and flushing out 

Representive Anthony D. Weiner, Democrat of New 

York, when he tried to lie about lewd pictures he had 

sent via Twitter. 

Less watchdog than pit bull (and one who, without the 

technology of the 21st century, might have been just 

one more angry man shouting from a street corner), 

Mr. Breitbart altered the rules of civil discourse.Mark 

Feldstein, a journalism professor at the University of 

Maryland, said that Mr. Breitbart “used the tools of 

invective and polemic to change the conversation, to 

try to turn it to his advantage.” 

Mr. Breitbart was a ubiquitous presence on and off the 

Web, though not one who ever managed to have 

significant business success there. His star rose along 

85

with the Tea Party, of which he was an early and 

frequent defender. 

But he cut an odd figure for a conservative, holding 

forth with lectures on political theory that 

name-dropped Michel Foucault and other leftist 

thinkers. He could also be mordantly funny. (His 

Twitter avatar was an echo of the apocryphal Jesus 

imprint on a piece of toast.) Matt Labash, senior editor 

at The Weekly Standard, described him as “half right 

wing Yippie, half Andy Kaufman,” in his column after 

Mr. Breitbart died. 

In 2011, while various religious groups boycotted the 

Conservative Political Action Conference because of 

the inclusion of gay Republican groups, he helped hold 

a party for the gay groups. 

He was conversant in pop culture — the Cure and 

New Order were particular musical favorites — and 

thought nothing of wearing in-line skates, his longish 

hair trailing behind him, as he confronted protesters at 

a rally outside a conservative event hosted by David 

and Charles Koch in Palm Springs, Calif., in 2011. 

Once he was done berating the protesters, he took 

some of them to dinner at Applebee’s. 

Mr. Breitbart took in life in big gulps, but he spat out 

even bigger portions of bile. The day that Senator 

Edward M. Kennedy died, he called him “a special pile 

of human excrement” and tweeted, “Rest in 

Chappaquiddick.” Matt Yglesias of Slate returned the 

favor after Mr. Breitbart died, tweeting: “Conventions 

around dead people are ridiculous. The world outlook 

is slightly improved with @AndrewBreitbart dead.” 

Many of his familiars called him a “happy warrior,” but 

worried about his health because he never seemed to 

unplug. 

“If Twitter ever killed anyone, it was Andrew,” said Mr. 

Labash of The Weekly Standard. “Andrew was a 

magnet for hatred, and he used Twitter for a full frontal 

assault, a tool of combat,” 

Friends and colleagues described Mr. Breitbart as both 

jester and provocateur, one who enjoyed soy lattes (a 

family friend sprinkled coffee grounds from Starbucks 

onto his grave) almost as much as waging war on what 

he saw as Democratic hypocrisy. 

“Andrew was a kind of human pinball, always doing 

something while doing something else, but he never 

took himself all that seriously,” said Greg Gutfeld, the 

host of “Red Eye” on Fox News, who frequently 

booked Mr. Breitbart as a guest. “He was the least 

serious, serious person I ever met.” 

A student of the tactics of the leftist organizer Saul 



Alinsky (if not his politics), Mr. Breitbart played defense 

by giving offense, subscribing to Alinsky’s theorem that 

“the real action is in the enemy’s reaction.” He wielded 

a network of conservative sources, including a number 

of members of Congress, four of whom spoke at his 

Washington memorial, to sow mayhem 

opportunistically. 

As is often the case, there is no more ferocious 

advocate than a convert. 

“He rejected the culture that produced him, and once 

that process began, it could not be reversed,” said 

Tucker Carlson, the founder of the Daily Caller, a 

conservative Web site. “My strong sense was that he 

loved the performance aspect, the drama of it all, and 

lived for those moments of provocation.” 

WITH piercing blue eyes and ruddily handsome Celtic 

features, Mr. Breitbart looked more like a 

fresh-off-the-boat Irish storyteller than the son of a 

banker mother and restaurateur father in Brentwood. 

Adopted (along with a sister of Mexican descent), he 

was raised Jewish, and went to college at Tulane in 

New Orleans. He majored in American studies, and 

began a period of heavy drinking and drug use that he 

described as “debauched” in his 2011 book, 

“Righteous Indignation.” 

After college, he bounced between Los Angeles and 

Austin, Tex., without much direction, but discovered a 

kind of religion and purpose after idly tuning in to talk 

radio and finding himself nodding in agreement to 

Rush Limbaugh and others.Mr. Breitbart was activated 

as a conservative for good by the 1991 Supreme 

Court confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas, a 

process he believed was filled with politically motivated 

innuendo. 

But his ferocious adoption of conservative values 

found real traction in his first true love, the early 

Internet. In a letter from his wife, Susie, that was read 

at his memorial by Mr. Solov, she suggested that her 

husband took one look at the Web and moved right in. 

It read: “To Andrew, the Internet was a portal into the 

future. It works the way his mind worked — go here, 

turn left, click on this, go right, over here, back here, 

back where you started. Like one of those ‘choose 

your own adventure’ books from childhood. It all just 

made sense to him.” 

After the Drudge Report all but tipped over President 

Clinton by pushing the Monica Lewinsky scandal into 

plain view, Mr. Breitbart realized that the Web had 

moved beyond a curio for techies. 

“Andrew recognized very early on, before many people 

did, that the conversation was moving onto the Web,” 

86

said Arianna Huffington, who saw him in the weeks 

before his death. In the late ’90s, when he was her 

research assistant in her home, he happily pretended 

to dine on the mud pies that Ms. Huffington’s 

daughters made for him, and after he began having 

children, the two families, who lived near each other, 

remained close. 

“He brought two things to the blog,” Ms. Huffington 

said of their early working relationship. “He knew when 

a big story was about to happen. But more important, 

he could find stories buried in the 13th paragraph, link 

them with other things and put a spotlight on them.” 

His expertise was less technical than intuitive, with a 

mad scientist’s touch for curating and packaging news 

that made it especially clickable. 

“He didn’t have a deep understanding of technology,” 

said Jonah Peretti, who also worked on the start-up 

and now runs BuzzFeed. “He was a Web news junkie 

from the very beginning, with a quickness and 

obsessiveness that kept him up all hours.” 

Although Mr. Breitbart helped start The Huffington 

Post, it became apparent within a month that the 

political chasm between him and Ms. Huffington was 

too great, and his attention span for office matters far 

too short. 

Mr. Breitbart saw infinite possibilities on the Web, 

starting a series of Web sites — Big Government, Big 

Hollywood, Big Journalism — under the banner of 

Breitbart.com. 

“I think that he took the guidelines and principles of talk 

radio, where you could say almost anything and get 

away with it, and applied it to the Internet,” said Eric 

Boehlert, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, 

a liberal research center on the media, who battled 

constantly with Mr. Breitbart. 

Mr. Breitbart specialized in teasing a small ember of a 

story, whether it was an inconsistency or a gaffe, and 

dumping gasoline on it until it blew up — sometimes 

on him, sometimes on others. “If you do a good 

enough job, you can force them to make a mistake,” 

he wrote in his book. “When they do, you must be 

ready to exploit it.” 

Through a carefully managed release of clips from Mr. 

O’Keefe, the undercover conservative operative, he 

brought down Acorn, a huge nonprofit that found itself 

summarily defunded by Congress after its 

representatives appeared to offer help to Mr. O’Keefe 

and a colleague when they showed up posing as a 

pimp and a prostitute. 



When there were rumors that Representative Weiner 

had sent sexually suggestive photos over his Twitter 

account, Mr. Breitbart pushed the story along with new 

revelations and eventually hijacked the podium at Mr. 

Weiner’s news conference to suggest that the 

congressman was lying. Mr. Weiner resigned soon 

after. 

Working with Mr. O’Keefe, he also used heavily edited 

video clips to savage Ms. Sherrod, an obscure official 

at the Agriculture Department, by giving the 

appearance that she had made racially motivated 

financing decisions, when actually she had done the 

opposite.At the Conservative Political Action 

Conference in Washington in 2011, Mr. Breitbart was 

served papers for a lawsuit alleging that he had 

recklessly destroyed her reputation. A representative 

for Ms. Sherrod said settlement negotiations were 

continuing despite Mr. Breitbart’s death. 

THREE weeks before he died, Mr. Breitbart took the 

stage at CPAC, the jagged tip of the spear on all things 

conservative. He entered to the refrains of “Guerrilla 

Radio” from the band Rage Against the Machine and 

implored the crowd, “You need to join me in my war 

against the institutional left!” 

He went on to accuse the mainstream media of 

demonizing the Tea Party. At the end of his 

stem-winding summation of the recent history of the 

Democratic Party, he suggested that the election of 

President Obama was part of a putsch by the 

Democrats (“The rest of us slept while they plotted and 

they plotted and they plotted”) to seize the presidency. 

“This is not your mother’s Democratic Party!” he 

thundered, and then later added, “Barack Obama is a 

radical, and we should not be afraid to say that.” 

But he was not done. Mr. Breitbart was never done. 

The following day, angered by the Occupy Wall Street 

protesters who circled the event at the Marriott 

Wardman Park in Washington, he stepped out of the 

hotel armed with nothing more than a wineglass and 

began bellowing at them while the cameras rolled. 

“Behave yourselves! Behave yourselves! Behave 

yourselves!,” he shouted, 20 times in a row for over a 

minute. And then he got a little more specific, alluding 

to a report that women had been assaulted in various 

Occupy encampments. “Stop raping people! Stop 

raping people! Stop raping people! Stop raping the 

people! You freaks! You filthy, filthy, raping, murdering 

freaks!” 

The protesters surrounded Mr. Breitbart and began 

chanting back at him, while he seemed to bask in their 

umbrage. His work done, he was led back inside by 

87

hotel security officers, having started yet another viral 

storm on the Web. It turned out to be his last. 

Following his memorial, his colleagues and friends 

gathered in a house behind the Capitol — Mr. Breitbart 

had rented a huge, ornate house he called “the 

Embassy” that served as both salon and a Washington 

base for his media company — to tell stories and 

reminisce. A family friend remembered watching 

Andrew, at age 2, bang his head on a concrete floor 

when he did not get his way, foretelling a life of 

stubborn conflict. 



At both the memorial and the after-party, stories about 

his relentlessness and love of argument were legion. 

In her note read at the memorial, his wife reminded the 

crowd that Mr. Breitbart was willing to engage and 

argue with anyone. “I came home one day to our first 

apartment to find a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses,” 

she wrote, “trying to wrap up the conversation and get 

out.” 

The people in the audience, many of whom had spent 

countless hours locked in conversational combat with 

Mr. Breitbart, laughed long and hard at that one. 

88



The Battle for a Comic-Book Empire 

That Archie Built 

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — The entry vestibule at Archie 

Comic Publications here is a glass portal to childhood 

innocence, sunny summer days and endless nostalgia: 

The back end of a vintage white Cadillac, circa 1948, 

with its killer shark-fin fenders and leather interior 

intact, has been retrofitted to function as a sofa. Two 

salvaged audio hookups from an extinct drive-in movie 

theater complete the Memory Lane montage. Framed 

posters of Archie, the gullible Riverdale High School 

redhead, and his equally colorful entourage invigorate 

the walls.But to gain access to the company’s 

administrative offices, you must pass through a 

reminder of its troubled present: double-locked doors 

and security cameras primarily installed to keep out a 

designated intruder, the company’s co-chief executive, 

Nancy Silberkleit, who since January has been under 

court order to stay away from Archie. 

At this, the last of the privately run Mom-and-Pop 

comic book dynasties, Ms. Silberkleit, 59, the 

daughter-in-law of a company founder, Louis H. 

Silberkleit, is deadlocked in a court battle for control of 

the company with Jonathan Goldwater, 52, a son of 

another founder, John L. Goldwater. Like Betty and 

Veronica, the two are feuding over Archie’s future, but 

there is nothing comic — or friendly — about their 

rivalry. Each accuses the other of endangering the 

family legacy, Mr. Goldwater by wanting to expand 

Archie into a megabrand with help from outside 

investors and the Hollywood uber-agent Ari Emanuel, 

Ms. Silberkleit by vowing to keep the company’s 

traditions intact and preserve family ownership, 

ostensibly leading to stagnation. 

The hostilities are withering. She says he defamed her 

and conspired with their employees against her in 

order to steal control of the company. He says she 

poisoned the workplace by threatening longtime 

employees with termination and spewing sexual 

insults. Meanwhile, they both claim to love Archie 

dearly, almost like a son — a son who is pushing 71 

yet retains a head of lush red hair, abundant freckles 

and the top spot in a famous love triangle. 

Competing lawsuits filed in State Supreme Court in 

Manhattan and State Supreme Court in Westchester 

County lay out a litany of bitter allegations. He 

punctured her car tires, destroyed her Web site and 

claimed that she sexually harassed employees. She 

ordered him to fire several longtime employees 

because they were too old, too fat or too buxom, and 

let her dog, Willow, roam the offices and defecate in 

the art department. 

In a suit where Archie Comic Publications was 

co-plaintiff, Mr. Goldwater sought and obtained a 

restraining order against Ms. Silberkleit in fall 2011 that 

limited her contact with Archie employees. When she 

failed to comply with its terms, the plaintiffs sought and 

obtained a preliminary injunction, and in January she 

was banned outright from her own memorabilia-filled 

office by Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich of State 

Supreme Court. 

At stake is the future of a company that was 

established in 1939 and became renowned for 

emphasizing family values and enduring friendships. 

Archie’s fan club was a parent-endorsed bastion for 

children: even a 9-year-old Amy Carter, then the first 

daughter, sent in her quarter to join, listing the White 

House as her address. Over the decades Archie 

expanded into an international teenage symbol: in 

2008, the company published 10 million Archie-related 

comics in 12 languages. Its app has been downloaded 

four million times, suggesting that Archie, besides 

inspiring nostalgia, has 21st-century cred. 

Last week, the two sides began court-approved 

mediation, but it seems unlikely they will resolve their 

differences quickly or easily — if at all. If mediation 

fails, Mr. Goldwater will resume his quest to make Ms. 

Silberkleit’s absence permanent; she will presumably 

continue to pursue a $100 million defamation lawsuit 

against him and the company. 

“I have to wonder how much of a succession plan was 

in place,” said Johanna Draper Carlson, a comic book 

critic and blogger. “Two C.E.O.’s can be a recipe for 

disaster. There are rumors circulating: everybody’s 

talking about it, especially since it’s happening at 

Archie, which is supposed to be so good and 

wholesome. Suddenly we’re hearing talk of liquidation 

coming out of the courtroom. It’s unfortunate because 

Archie really is a unique company.” 

Indeed, its historical peers, DC and Marvel, are now 

corporately owned: Warner Brothers Entertainment is 

the parent of DC and Marvel was acquired by Disney 

for $4 billion in 2008. 

89

Ms. Silberkleit’s lawyer, Howard Simmons, said the 

restraining order and injunction prohibited her from 

speaking publicly about Archie-related matters, but he 

emphasized that restoration of her reputation and 

preservation of the company was her only goal, not 

counting an apology from her co-chief.“I have to be her 

mouthpiece,” he said in a phone interview. “For the 

past three years, her co-C.E.O., Jon Goldwater, has 

done everything in his power to undermine her work. 

Slowly but surely she has been pushed out of the 

company: the bottom line is they want her out. She 

loves Archie Comic Publications, and she’s worried 

about Archie being forced to be sold if this dispute is 

not resolved. I’m glad it’s gone to mediation. She is in 

a desperate condition right now.” 

Mr. Goldwater had a different take. “I know she is 

trying to frame this as a power grab by Jon,” he said, 

as if distancing himself from an emotionally fraught 

situation by speaking of himself in the third person. 

“But for goodness sake, I didn’t go to this. This came 

to me.” 

Sketch of Childhood Friend 

In 1939, when John L. Goldwater, Louis H. Silberkleit 

and Maurice Coyne, Mr. Silberkleit’s accountant and 

partner in his pulp publishing business, Columbia 

Productions, decided to expand into comic books, their 

investment was $8,000 apiece. The company, called 

MLJ, was based in Lower Manhattan. 

Mr. Goldwater was the visionary who dreamed up 

superheroes like The Shield and The Wizard and 

decided, after a few years, that their Pep Comics 

series could use a few characters who were not 

superpowered or monsters. In 1941, he sketched the 

face of a childhood friend: it was Archie, a girl-crazy, 

pratfall-prone, boy-next-door type. 

The cartoonist Bob Montana inked the original 

likenesses of Archie and his pals and plopped them in 

an idyllic Midwestern community named Riverdale 

because Mr. Goldwater, a New Yorker, had fond 

memories of time spent in Hiawatha, Kan. The Archie 

love triangle was another novelty Mr. Goldwater 

borrowed from his own past. The brand took a few 

years to catch on, but by 1943 there was an Archie 

radio program and, by 1946, an Archie comic strip. 

That year, with Archie selling a million copies an issue, 

the partners changed the company’s name to Archie 

Comics in honor of their most popular creation, the 

gaptoothed teenager who made them all 

multimillionaires. 

After Mr. Coyne retired in 1967, Archie was in its 

heyday with a television cartoon and a No. 1 pop hit, 

“Sugar, Sugar,” by the Archies (the record has sold 15 



million copies since its release in 1969; alas, Mr. 

Goldwater notes, the copyright is Sony’s). 

The elder Mr. Goldwater and Mr. Silberkleit led the 

company until 1983, when they were succeeded by 

their oldest sons, Richard and Michael, both from first 

marriages. The two heirs apparent had been friends 

since childhood, working their way up the ladder at 

Archie. One of their first decisions, besides moving the 

company, now known as Archie Comic Publications, to 

Westchester County, where both lived, was to regain 

control of its stock, made available to investors with an 

initial public offering in the 1970s. They bought it all 

back, each controlling 50 percent. Richard H. 

Goldwater was president, Michael I. Silberkleit was 

chairman, and they shared the title of publisher. 

They presented a united front, and their 25-year grip 

on the company was well documented. When their 

chief artist, Dan DeCarlo, sued over the rights to Josie 

and the Pussycats royalties in 2001, he was fired. 

When Warner Music Group introduced an Australian 

girl band called the Veronicas in 2005 without 

obtaining licensing permission, Archie sued for $200 

million. Michael Silberkleit was clear about his reasons 

for protecting the clean-cut Archie aura: “Without that 

image, we’re nothing.” 

Then, in an odd twist, both men died of cancer within 

months of each other: Mr. Goldwater in October 2007 

and Mr. Silberkleit in August 2008. Victor Gorelick, who 

joined Archie in 1958 and is still the editor in chief, took 

over on an emergency basis. 

Jonathan Goldwater, a son of John Goldwater and his 

second wife, Gloria, acknowledged that he was not 

predestined to inherit an executive role, or stock, in 

Archie. “In a family business there are a lot of 

dynamics that aren’t on the surface,” he explained. 

He recalls working in the mailroom with “Uncle Louie” 

during summer vacations, but his involvement ended 

there.Instead, he worked as a concert promoter and 

music manager, and by 2007 was the chief executive 

of AFA Music Group, a talent development and 

management agency based in New York City. Shortly 

before his half-brother’s death, they had a reunion 

lunch: Richard revealed that his illness was terminal 

and told Jonathan the day might come when he would 

have an opportunity to buy into the company. Mr. 

Goldwater was unaware of Michael Silberkleit’s death 

until he received a call from his mother several weeks 

afterward; he then phoned Mr. Gorelick to find out how 

the company was faring without the families in charge. 

“It turned out Victor was running the show at that 

point,” he said. 

In 2009, after buying half of the stock held by his 

half-brother’s estate for $2.5 million, Mr. Goldwater left 

the music business for the family business. 

90

“Unintentionally, I wound up following in my dad’s 

footsteps,” he said. “But I have to admit I felt at first 

that Archie had become a little irrelevant and fallen off 

the radar of the national consciousness.” 

Mr. Goldwater and Ms. Silberkleit, Michael’s widow, 

had never met until, in a move intended to preserve 

family control, they became co-chief executives. They 

both signed contracts that would run through 2013, 

with Ms. Silberkleit, who at the time was a third-grade 

art teacher in New Jersey, responsible for scholastic 

and theatrical ventures and Mr. Goldwater in control of 

everything else. They were supposed to consult on 

major decisions. But in an affidavit filed in support of 

the preliminary injunction, Mr. Goldwater testified that 

their working relationship had soon atrophied: “All too 

often her reaction to any discussion at all which she 

does not understand or does not like is to become 

threatening and abusive.” 

New Directions, and Discord 

The company reported $40 million in sales for 2009 

but was, according to Mr. Goldwater, floundering 

financially and operationally. The overhead was too 

high, the morale was too low. By 2010, Ms. Silberkleit 

was, he said, exerting an increasingly “toxic” influence 

on the employees and refusing to hold meaningful 

discussions with him about crucial upgrades like 

digitization. 

Nor was she receptive to two creative diversifications 

of the Archie story line: adding a gay character, Kevin 

Keller, and moving forward with plans for a spinoff 

series that projected Archie into fantasy marriages with 

both of his long-term love interests, Betty and 

Veronica, according to affidavits filed by Mr. Goldwater 

and Mr. Gorelick in State Supreme Court in 

Manhattan. 

The hugely enthusiastic response to Kevin Keller’s 

September 2010 debut in Veronica No. 202 

(Veronica’s crush is unrequited because of his being 

gay) necessitated a second printing, unprecedented in 

Archie history, and the Keller mini-series for 2011 sold 

out. So did the “Just Married” edition in the Life With 

Archie magazine series that chronicled Archie’s two 

possible marital futures. Suddenly Archie was 

generating buzz and celebrity blurbs again, the subject 

of segments on “The Colbert Report” and “The Rachel 

Maddow Show” and the recipient of Glaad Media 

Awards nominations. 

In 2010, Ms. Silberkleit decided to leave teaching and 

join Archie full time. According to Mr. Goldwater, the 

complaints from the staff escalated; he said his 

attempts to mediate were futile and often ended up 

with them yelling at one another behind closed doors. 



Mr. Gorelick, 70, said the staff “walked on eggshells” 

when Ms. Silberkleit was around, fearful of being 

insulted or castigated. She testified in January that she 

felt ostracized and disrespected by Mr. Goldwater and 

the staff; she denied the allegations of directing sexual 

slurs at employees, though Mr. Gorelick and Mr. 

Goldwater both described an episode in 2011 where 

she walked into a meeting, pointed in turn at each of 

the male editors present and said, “Penis, penis, 

penis.” 

What Mr. Goldwater refers to as “the boiling point” was 

reached in May 2011 when a female employee 

threatened to file a harassment complaint against Ms. 

Silberkleit with the Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission. Mr. Goldwater hired a lawyer and 

commissioned a human resources consultant to 

investigate the accusations of workplace abuses; Ms. 

Silberkleit was the only member of the company who 

declined to be interviewed. The report, released in 

June 2011, concluded her absence or removal was 

advisable, and in July, Mr. Goldwater began legal 

action against her. According to Mr. Goldwater, all two 

dozen employees volunteered to supply affidavits 

bemoaning Ms. Silberkleit’s conduct; Ms. Silberkleit 

termed that proof of a Machiavellian palace coup 

engineered by Mr. Goldwater.After a series of court 

rulings against Ms. Silberkleit that included a $500 fine 

— for violating the temporary restraining order by twice 

showing up at the office in mid-December with a 

former football player in tow — and responsibility for 

$59,000 in legal expenses accrued by the company, 

last month the hostile parties agreed to take their 

problems to mediation. Ms. Silberkleit’s 50 percent 

share of the company is not in jeopardy, but her job 

may be. 

“The judge was very much against Nancy’s case,” Mr. 

Simmons, Ms. Silberkleit’s lawyer, said. “Mr. Goldwater 

defamed her, and Judge Kornreich has gone along 

with it. But the judge didn’t go to the length of removing 

Nancy as C.E.O., although that’s basically what 

Goldwater and his lawyer have been asking for.” 

Although Ms. Silberkleit testified that she brought the 

former football player, Howard Jordan, to the office to 

help her with an antibullying-themed comic book, the 

employees testified that he intimidated the accounting 

and art departments merely by his unsanctioned 

presence. It was the company’s position that Ms. 

Silberkleit was using the unsuspecting Mr. Jordan as 

“muscle.” 

In her testimony, Ms. Silberkleit denied ever 

mistreating her fellow Archie employees: “I’m the one 

being harassed and abused there.” 

Besides becoming what Mr. Simmons called “a 

persona non grata” in the industry, where she no 

91

longer speaks at conventions, schools and libraries, 

Ms. Silberkleit is enjoined from having contact with any 

of the company’s employees except Mr. Goldwater. 

Their exchanges are mostly conducted by e-mail and 

are, he said, “strictly formal.” 

Her $100 million defamation suit filed in Westchester in 

January by Mr. Simmons accuses Mr. Goldwater and 

the company of ruining her credibility and preventing 

her from doing the job she was hired for. She claims 

Mr. Goldwater not only pulled the plug on her comic 

book fair programs, but also destroyed her Web site 

and excised her files. 

Each side dismisses the complaints filed by the other 

as “frivolous.” 

Meanwhile, Mr. Goldwater, a married father of two, is 

running Archie solo. An “Occupy Riverdale” comic and 

an animated “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” series are 

imminent. 



“In spite of all this litigation, Archie, for fiscal 2011, is 

going to turn a profit,” Mr. Goldwater said last month in 

an interview at his office. “There is no financial 

jeopardy. We’re leaders in everything digital. I think 

we’re feeling unchained creatively. Nancy was very 

resistant to change, but I am fearless. That’s how 

confident I am in this brand.” 

His confidence is outwardly expressed by the vanity 

license plate on his black Mercedes sedan: ARCHIE1. 

As the court hearings leading to Ms. Silberkleit’s 

banishment were winding down this winter, Mr. 

Gorelick was cross-examined by Mr. Simmons. Just 

before releasing him from the witness stand, Justice 

Kornreich posed a question of her own. “O.K., another 

question,” she asked. “Why did Archie marry 

Veronica?” 

Mr. Gorelick’s response was swift and succinct: “It 

made better news than this.” 

92

The New York Times/ - The Opinion Pages, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Should We End Life Tenure for Justices? 

Re “Bring the Justices Back to Earth,” by Paul D. 

Carrington (Op-Ed, April 10), proposing new 

appointments to the Supreme Court every two years: 

The framers were well aware of the arguments for and 

against life tenure for judges because state practices 

offered a variety of approaches to structuring judicial 

power. They expressly and unequivocally chose the 

life tenure route. This decision did not mean that they 

felt judges should be unconstrained. Rather, they 

believed, as Alexander Hamilton wrote in “The 

Federalist,” that impeachment is a “complete security” 

against “deliberate usurpations” of power by federal 

judges. In short, the system proposed by Professor 

Carrington that, he claims, would “capture the benefits 

of term limits” without the need to amend the 

Constitution is both unnecessary and a threat to 

judicial independence. SCOTT DOUGLAS GERBER 

Ada, Ohio, April 10, 2012 The writer is a professor of 

law at Ohio Northern University and the author of “A 

Distinct Judicial Power: The Origins of an Independent 

Judiciary, 1606-1787.” To the Editor: The average life 

expectancy in this country is twice as long as when the 

first Supreme Court justices began their tenure in 

1789. Of those appointed to that first court, only one 

sat for a decade; the others served for nine years or 

less. Of today’s bench, Justices Antonin Scalia, 

Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas are into 

their third decade on the highest court. The four most 

recent appointees, Elena Kagan, John G. Roberts Jr., 

Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Sonia Sotomayor, were all 

born in the 1950s or 1960s. The tenure of some or all 

of this foursome may be in its infancy. Clearly, the term 

lengths contemplated by the framers of the 

Constitution were vastly different from the reality of 

the present world. If the reasonable expectation in the 

late 1700s was that the court sit unimpeded by political 

tensions, what we have witnessed in recent years, with 

Bush v. Gore and Citizens United, is very far from that 

ideal. With the pending ruling on the Affordable Care 

Act, I fear this trend will continue, with devastating 

results. It is past time that we reform this system, 

where justices rule as virtual dictators, year after year, 

free from oversight or ethical restraint. We should 

apply 21st-century reality to an 18th-century document 

and restrict how long any of these justices can reign. 

ROBERT S. NUSSBAUM Fort Lee, N.J., April 10, 2012 

To the Editor: Paul D. Carrington’s proposal to revise 

the membership of the Supreme Court smacks of 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to pack the 

court. If the court does uphold the Affordable Care Act, 

will Mr. Carrington continue to champion his plan? 

PETE JONES Wabash, Ind., April 10, 2012 

93

USA Today/ - News, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Trayvon's father says he warned son on 

stereotypes 

Years before the killing of Trayvon Martin grabbed the 

nation's attention, the teen's father warned him that his 

race could make him a target of violence. The advice 

Tracy Martin gave his black son, that people veiled by 

racism and prejudices might see him as suspicious or 

violent, is a common and continuous warning in many 

black families, parents and experts say. In the 

aftermath of Trayvon's death, more families are having 

"the talk," teaching sons to be aware of their race, 

avoid confrontations with authority figures, and to 

remain calm in situations even if their rights are 

violated. "I've always let him know we as African 

Americans get stereotyped," Tracy Martin, Trayvon's 

father told USA TODAY three weeks after his son's 

death. "I told him that society is cruel." Trayvon, 17, 

was shot and killed on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., as he 

was returning to a gated community after buying candy 

at a nearby store. The gunman, George Zimmerman, 

whose father is white and mother is Hispanic, now 

faces a charge of second-degree murder. Trayvon was 

"profiled" by Zimmerman, who "falsely assumed 

(Trayvon) was going to commit a crime" as the teen 

was trying to get back to the home of his father's 

girlfriend, according to public filings by Florida special 

prosecutor Angela Corey. 

The documents portray Zimmerman as the aggressor 

throughout the incident, remarking to police at one 

point that people like Trayvon were "punks" causing 

trouble in his neighborhood. Family photo Trayvon 

Martin was shot and killed in February. After spotting 

Trayvon, Zimmerman called 911, got out of his vehicle, 

and followed the teen. Zimmerman then "disregarded 

the police dispatcher" and chased Trayvon as he was 

trying to return home, the records say. Trayvon's family 

and their supporters maintain that Zimmerman 

deemed Trayvon "suspicious" because the teen was 

black and wearing a hoodie. 

George Zimmerman: Zimmerman could face life in 

prison if convicted. He maintains he shot the youth in 

self-defense after he was attacked. The killing sparked 

dozens of rallies across the country, largely fueled by 

the belief of many that the case is the tip of the iceberg 

of a glaring problem of racial injustice in the USA. 

Reggie Bridges, a father of two young black boys, 

sees the Trayvon Martin case as an example of the 

type of racial profiling he has warned his sons about 

for years. 

"You stand out from the norm," Bridges, of Silver 

Spring, Md., said he often tells his children. "I try to 

heighten their awareness of what's going on in the 

world." Bridges, 44, an insurance agent, often stresses 

dressing nicely and speaking articulately to dissuade 

potential perceptions that his boys are thugs or 

gangsters, he said. Similar lessons have been passed 

down since just after the Civil War to ward off danger 

in an America that has for centuries perceived black 

men as threats, said Mark Anthony Neal, an African 

and African-American studies professor at Duke 

University. 

"This kind of parenting goes back to the black codes," 

he said. "It's no different to the talk black parents had 

with black children, particularly black boys, prior to the 

civil rights movement, where the threat of real racial 

violence and lynching was always present. â¦ 

Ultimately, what you are trying to do is keep them 

alive." Discussing racism with a child while not instilling 

fear or paranoia can be a delicate task. Those 

delivering the message â parents, extended family 

members, mentors or other older figures in 

communities â must be careful to also affirm 

blackness, experts say. 

"Watch out should be accompanied with you're 

beautiful and here's why," said Howard Stevenson, a 

psychology and education professor at the University 

of Pennsylvania. It's not enough to tell stories about 

Emmett Till or Rodney King to youngsters, said 

Stevenson, who has studied the racial awareness of 

children of color for several years. Kids must deal with 

their racial stress by understanding their feelings and 

practicing positive responses to potential racist 

situations, he said. Dionne Bensonsmith, 40, of 

Claremont, Calif., started talking to her first son, Jonah, 

now 8, about race when he was 5 and 6. The 

youngster had already started saying "all police aren't 

your friends" and pointing out that officers stopped a 

lot of black people in their small Iowa city, she said. "I 

had the talk of how police target people around race," 

said Bensonsmith, a professor at Scripps College. "I 

said if that ever happens to you, you have to remain 

respectful, you have to remain very calm." 

She and many parents see "the talk" as evolving 

lessons on racial consciousness that will cover more 

topics as children grow. But there are challenges to 

teaching kids to live within racial injustices. "It's really 

heartbreaking," said Bensonsmith, who also has 

94

another son, Akim Shklyaro, 2. "Sometimes I get really 

pissed off. Sometimes I don't want to do it. I feel like 

I'm crushing some sort of potential in him." "The talk" is 

one of several tips parents of all races hope will 

prepare and protect their children from danger, 

according to Gerald Koocher, a psychology professor 

at Simmons College. " 

The talk is probably going to be surprising to white 

Americans," he said. "The one that most closely aligns 

is don't take candy from a stranger or don't go 

anywhere with a stranger." When Steve Baker, who is 

white, decided to talk to his two half-black sons, now 

25 and 20, he admits he struggled to understand their 

place in society. He relied on his black wife, Pamela, 

and friends he made through an interracial family 

group to learn about what his sons may encounter. 

"There are certainly instances where they were 

identified by simply what they look like and perceived 

as a threat and ran into negative behavior based on 

that," said Baker, a university administrator who lives 

in Minneapolis. " 

There's real danger for young men of color in our 

society. â¦ As a white person, I didn't grow up having to 

think about that." Others also struggled. Trayvon's 

case led Melinda Anderson to talk to her son Colin, 11. 

USA Today/ - News, Sáb, 14 de Abril de 2012 


Both are black. Anderson had focused on making sure 

her son was successful in school and exposed to 

various cultures. Race wasn't at the forefront of her 

mind until Trayvon's case made her see her son as a 

potential victim. She took Colin to a Trayvon rally in 

Washington, D.C., and explained how she believes 

race played a part in Trayvon being deemed 

"suspicious." 

But, she's not teaching him to fear the police or expect 

racism at every step in his life, said Anderson, 48, a 

writer who lives in Silver Spring, Md. "I don't want to 

raise him to feel like he has to get out his 20 item 

checklist on how to be a black teenager," she said. 

"That's not the way I want him to live." Still, she said, 

there is a sense of hopelessness as she learns more 

about Trayvon's death. "I don't think I could prevent 

him from being another Trayvon Martin," she said. 

Tracy Martin, who maintains that his son was targeted 

because of his race, said he told the teen prejudices 

could lead to danger. "He knew that this type of thing 

did happen," Martin said of his son. "He knew to be 

aware of this type of atmosphere and that this 

atmosphere did exist." 

95

15/04/2012


15/04/2012 

ABC Digital - Nacionales 


Decisión del Senado violenta la Constitución Nacional, dicen, 99 

Bloomberg - Politics 


Pakistan Spring Emerging From Winter of Discontent, 100 



History Won’t Help Pick Romney’s Running Mate, 102 

Business Insurance - Article 


COMMENTARY: Court"s ultimate health care reform ruling still unclear, 104 



Workers denied comp benefits can sue for RICO violations, 105 



‘Preventive properties of a product can qualify it as medicine', 107 

El País - España 


Un exjuez del Supremo propone querellas contra los jueces que no vayan a las fosas, 108 



CDS propõe Fátima Mata Mouros para Tribunal Constitucional , 109 



Tabu verträgt keine Begründung , 110 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Verfassungsgericht 

Locker bleiben, gut aussehen, 112 



Harte Bretter Irrweg in der Krise, 114 

La Nacion - noticia 


El engañoso fin que justifica los medios, 116 

Los Angeles Times - Politics 


When time allows, 1992 riots are poignant lesson in L.A. schools, 117 



At U.S. gun convention, many see rush to judgment in Trayvon Martin case, 119 


97



Wie man den Bundestag kaputtmacht, 120 



Abgeordnete wehren sich gegen Maulkorb , 121 



India won't be able to store another bumper crop, 122 



Number of African-American baseball players dips again, 123 



African Americans in MLB: 8%, lowest since integration era, 125 

98

ABC Digital/ - Nacionales, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Decisión del Senado violenta la 

Constitución Nacional, dicen 

“Si en contra el poder Judicial el Senado comete este 

atropello, la ciudadanía se encuentra totalmente 

indefensa y sin garantías”, dijo Llano.Añadió que no 

puede primar la decisión política por encima de la 

Constitución Nacional. Según Llano con esta 

determinación de la Cámara de Senadores atropelló a 

uno de los poderes del Estado como en este caso el 

poder judicial.Llano quien a su vez es uno de los 

postulantes a defensor del pueblo cuestionó al 

senador Tito Saguir por hacer un llamado a la 

violencia para remover a los ministros por medio de la 

fuerza pública.“De qué fuerza puede hablar si la fuerza 

pública está para proteger la Constitución Nacional”, 

dijo. Agregó que un político en nombre del pueblo 

hacer un llamado a la violencia, reiteró, al tiempo de 

señalar que los ministros afectados tienen que sentar 

postura y rechazar esta resolución que viola los 

preceptos constitucionales. 

99

Bloomberg/ - Politics, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Pakistan Spring Emerging From Winter 

of Discontent 

About Vali Nasr Vali Nasr is a professor of 

international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and 

Diplomacy of Tufts University. From 2009 to 2011, he 

was an advisor to the U.S. Special Representative for 

Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. More 

about Vali Nasr The snarling between the U.S. and 

Pakistan won’t let up. The battle began, of course, 

when U.S. forces sneaked into Pakistan to kill Osama 

bin Laden last May. Last week, the U.S. upped the 

ante, announcing a $10 million reward for information 

leading to the arrest of notorious terrorist Hafiz 

Muhammad Saeed, who is thought to be close to 

Pakistani intelligence. Things are so bad, Pakistani 

author Ahmed Rashid pronounced in his recently 

published book, “The United States and Pakistan are 

just short of going to war.” America’s greater fear is 

that Pakistan will get in the way of war. Pakistan’s 

Parliament last week unanimously voted to forbid the 

U.S. from conducting drone strikes inside Pakistani 

territory. If the measure is implemented, it will deny the 

U.S. its most effective weapon against al-Qaeda and 

other militant groups. Yet, as worrisome as the trend in 

bilateral relations is, other developments within 

Pakistan signal that the country may be changing for 

the better, in terms of the military’s role, democratic 

tendencies and relations with India. By focusing on the 

security dimension of its relationship with Pakistan, the 

U.S. risks missing these currents and thus the 

opportunity to engage with the country in fruitful new 

ways. Unexpected Turn One new twist that should be 

particularly gratifying to the U.S. is the Pakistani 

public’s unexpected turn against the military. Popular 

anger at the U.S. for swooping into the country to kill 

bin Laden was matched by outrage that the military 

was caught snoozing by U.S. commandos. Pakistanis 

asked: Why do we need such an expensive military if it 

can’t even protect the country’s borders and doesn’t 

know that the world’s most wanted man is hiding in a 

garrison town? If that weren’t enough, three weeks 

later, extremists attacked the naval base in Karachi, 

which houses nuclear warheads. They destroyed a 

helicopter and two advanced P-3C Orion patrol 

aircraft. Pakistani special forces lost 10 men and had 

to fight for 16 hours to end the siege. More 

embarrassments followed. Impassioned appeals to the 

Supreme Court to find President Asif Ali Zardari a 

traitor backfired on the army and intelligence chiefs 

when the credibility of their witness, who had claimed 

that Zardari was colluding with the U.S. against the 

military, dissolved amid the man’s ever-changing story 

and his cameo in a mud-wrestling video. Next, the 

Supreme Court opened hearings in a case alleging 

that the military bought votes in the 1990 election. The 

televised spectacle of generals hauled to court to 

answer judges has mesmerized Pakistanis. The 

humbling of the military is good news for democracy in 

Pakistan. National elections may take place as early 

as October and must occur by February. With the 

military restrained, there is hope that voting will be free 

and fair, and that the outcome may further strengthen 

civilian rule. There are signs that democracy already is 

budding in what may prove to be a Pakistani Spring. 

Amid widespread disenchantment with corruption and 

government mismanagement, the young and the 

middle class are restless. Many have flocked to 

anti-establishment politician Imran Khan, a former 

cricket hero, and his Movement for Justice. Khan isn’t 

friendly to the U.S.; he promises to stand up to 

America. But in other ways his campaign has 

enhanced the political debate. He regularly addresses 

the need to earnestly battle corruption and to reform 

the woefully inadequate tax system. Questioning the 

Rolls Also, at Imran’s request, the Supreme Court in 

February reviewed the electoral rolls and questioned 

the validity of 35 million names, about 44 percent of 

the 80 million registered. Given that 32 million new 

young voters will be added to the rolls, Pakistan may 

have its cleanest -- and most unpredictable -- election 

since the 1970s. At the same time, Pakistan’s relations 

with India have mellowed. With Pakistan’s economy in 

poor shape -- growth was 2.4 percent in 2011 and 

there is little foreign investment or aid -- its business 

community has convinced the military that expansion 

can come only through increased trade with India. 

Pakistan’s government has agreed to remove 

restrictions on the import of most goods from India by 

year’s end. Liberated from military pressure and eager 

to add momentum to the cross-border commerce, 

Zardari went to New Delhi on April 8, the first Pakistani 

head of state to visit in seven years. There is now talk 

of even more trade and greater cooperation on other 

fronts. A humbled military, a resurgent democracy and 

better ties with India are all things the U.S. wants to 

see in Pakistan. Together they present hope, however 

slight, for a more stable, constructive Pakistan. In 

responding to the Pakistani Parliament’s new security 

demands, the Obama administration should consider 

these developments rather than answering on purely 

military grounds. The U.S. should be careful not to 

derail these positive trends, for instance by provoking 

100

popular resentments about sovereignty breaches, and 

risk restoring credibility to the military. In the long run, 

these developments may matter more than drone 

attacks anyway. (Vali Nasr is a Bloomberg View 

columnist, a professor of international politics at the 

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts 

University and a senior fellow in foreign policy at the 

Brookings Institution. The opinions expressed are his 

own.) Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View. 

Today’s highlights: The View editors on signs Iraq is 

veering away from democracy and the National Rifle 

Association’s role in encouraging gun sales and use; 

William D. Cohan on restoring faith in Wall Street as 



the key to an economic recovery; Simon Johnson on 

why long-term budget projections get too much 

attention; Kellie McElhaney on how Apple should 

change its behavior; Albert R. Hunt on Mitt Romney’s 

potential vice presidential choices; and Iain Begg on 

redefining Europe’s social safety net. To contact the 

writer of this article: Vali Nasr at vali.nasr@tufts.edu. 

To contact the editor responsible for this article: Lisa 

Beyer at lbeyer3@bloomberg.net. Tweet LinkedIn 

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101



History Won’t Help Pick Romney’s 

Running Mate 

About Albert R Hunt Albert R. Hunt is the executive 

editor of Bloomberg News, directing coverage of the 

Washington bureau, which includes more than 250 

reporters and editors. He hosts the weekly television 

show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" and writes a 

weekly column for Bloomberg and the International 

Herald Tribune. More about Albert R Hunt The media 

is rife with speculation about Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, 

Chris Christie, Susana Martinez, Bob McDonnell or 

Rob Portman, as possible running mates for Mitt 

Romney. It’s the time of the political season when 

conjecture runs wild, much of it ill-informed. Romney’s 

choice of a vice- presidential candidate is likely to 

evolve, in ways unforeseeable today, over the next 

four months. In weighing the reliability of columns or 

stories that tell you Romney is most comfortable with 

Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman and budget policy 

wonk, or that Rubio, the young Cuban-American 

freshman senator from Florida, is the linchpin to the 

Latino vote, consider these examples from recent 

elections: In April 2000, the leading Democratic 

contenders were supposed to be Senators John Kerry 

of Massachusetts or John Edwards of North Carolina. 

The nominee, Vice President Al Gore did pick a 

Democratic senator: Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. 

There was a longer list of Republican contenders that 

year, though Pennsylvania’s popular governor, Tom 

Ridge, shot to the top after former Congressman and 

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney was tapped to head a 

search committee. Right before the summer 

convention, George W. Bush instead selected Cheney. 

Unknown Palin Four years ago, Senator Joe Biden of 

Delaware was considered one of the leading 

contenders. But on the Republican side, John McCain 

couldn’t have picked Sarah Palin out of a lineup in 

April 2008. He barely knew who she was when he 

selected her four months later. Then there’s the 

supposed electoral weight some candidates bring: 

Rubio in Florida or Portman in Ohio. Yet over the past 

40 years and 10 presidential elections, no running 

mate has made the difference in carrying a state. (Vice 

President Walter Mondale, running with President 

Jimmy Carter in 1980, is a debatable exception.) 

Devotees of the Electoral College love to point to 

Lyndon Johnson of Texas winning the presidency for 

John F. Kennedy in 1960. Johnson almost surely 

carried his home state for Kennedy, but JFK would 

have won in any case. And there have been highly 

praised vice presidential choices that couldn’t even 

make a difference even in their home states: Texas 

Democrat Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and New York 

Republican Jack Kemp in 1996. So much for that 

theory. That isn’t to say that Romney’s selection is 

unimportant. It will help shape what the campaign 

hopes is a reset -- or a shaking of the etch-a-sketch -of 

the nominee as he faces a different electorate. It 

can send a message. Both George W. Bush, with 

Cheney, and Barack Obama, by picking Biden, 

reassured voters about their relative inexperience. Bill 

Clinton and Gore symbolized a new generation ready 

to take charge after the fall of communism. Ronald 

Reagan made a bow to the center and governance by 

selecting George H.W. Bush, though he did so only 

after the dubious “co-presidency” dream ticket with 

Gerald Ford collapsed. The chief consideration, people 

who’ve been through the process agree, is do no 

harm. Running mates can help marginally; they can 

hurt substantially. Some previous exposure to the 

national limelight is helpful; it’s a tough vetting league 

for rookies. That’s why the Romney team needs to ask 

hard questions of the more appealing choices. Rubio’s 

telegenic youth and his ethnicity provide an attractive 

balance to Romney’s awkward, corporate persona. Yet 

the 40-year-old Florida lawmaker is inexperienced, 

hasn’t impressed Washington heavyweights with his 

substance or readiness to be president, and still faces 

some controversies in his home state. Fiscal 

Conservative Ryan, 42, is the poster child for the 

conservative economic establishment. He’s a policy 

expert who they see as the heir- apparent to the late 

Jack Kemp. He’s also never run outside his small 

congressional district and has never shown any of 

Kemp’s passion for equal opportunities and civil rights. 

The House Budget Committee chairman’s fiscal plan 

could be politically perilous and substantively 

questionable: He won’t say how he would pay for his 

$4.6 trillion tax cuts, which principally go to the 

wealthy. The economic-conservative wing has a big 

bullhorn in the party. That might deter Romney from 

considering Mike Huckabee, the ex-Arkansas governor 

and 2008 presidential aspirant with an 

economic-populist streak that appeals to evangelicals. 

Other candidates who might be acceptable to 

evangelicals and economic conservatives could 

complicate Romney’s problems with women voters; 

such is the case with former Pennsylvania Senator 

Rick Santorum, who has said he’d like contraception to 

be outlawed, or Virginia Governor McDonnell, who 

signed legislation requiring women to undergo an 

ultrasound before an abortion. Romney could turn to 

102

women such as Governors Martinez of New Mexico or 

Nikki Haley of South Carolina. They both have the 

same experience -- or lack thereof -- as then-Alaska 

Governor Palin did four years ago; that memory is too 

fresh and painful for most Republicans. Governors with 

a little more seasoning such as Louisiana’s Bobby 

Jindal or Brian Sandoval of Nevada have other 

problems. Sandoval favors abortion rights, a 

disqualifier for many Republicans; Jindal signed a 

measure encouraging the teaching of creationism in 

the Louisiana schools, which wouldn’t play well with 

independent suburbanites. Most important will be the 

conditions of the race. This summer, will Romney be 

10 points behind the president or a few points ahead? 

Will the economic recovery be stalled or taking root? 

Will the Republican Party conservative base’s hatred 

of Obama overcome weak enthusiasm for a Mormon 

nominee, who is suspected of moderate political 

tendencies? The most often-cited vice-presidential 

candidates are above. The odds are four-to-one that 

on Wednesday, Aug. 29, a person who isn’t on this list 

will be anointed at the Republican convention in 



Tampa. With the last two Republican running mates 

that would have been a winning bet. (Albert R. Hunt is 

the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg 

News. The opinions expressed are his own.) Read 

more online from Bloomberg View. Today’s highlights: 

The View editors on signs Iraq is veering away from 

democracy and the National Rifle Association’s role in 

encouraging gun sales and use; William D. Cohan on 

restoring faith in Wall Street as the key to an economic 

recovery; Simon Johnson on why long-term budget 

projections get too much attention; Kellie McElhaney 

on how Apple should change its behavior; Vali Nasr on 

positive developments in Pakistan; and Iain Begg on 

redefining Europe’s social safety net. To contact the 

writer of this column: Albert Hunt in Washington at 

ahunt1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor 

responsible for this column: Max Berley at 

mberley@bloomberg.net. Tweet LinkedIn Google +1 

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103

Business Insurance/ - Article, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


COMMENTARY: Court"s ultimate 

health care reform ruling still unclear 

Just before the Supreme Court began oral arguments 

on the health care reform law last month, I thought 

back to the last time I covered an oral argument before 

the high court. 

It was in February 1990. The issue before the 

Supreme Court was whether the Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corp. had the right to return to a company a 

pension plan the agency previously had taken over. 

The case involved several massively underfunded 

pension plans sponsored by LTV Corp., a financially 

distressed steel producer. In 1987, the PBGC took 

over three LTV plans and their $2 billion in unfunded 

liabilities after the company said it no longer could 

afford to make contributions. 

A few months later, LTV and the United Steelworkers 

union reached an agreement on a new low-cost 

pension program that would guarantee to pay most of 

the difference between benefits promised by LTV and 

those guaranteed by the PBGC. 

Soon thereafter, the PBGC returned the terminated 

plans to LTV, contending that the new LTV plans were 

an illegal continuation of the old plans with benefits 

now largely paid by the PBGC. In returning the plans 

to LTV, the PBGC said it would not pay benefits to 

plan participants. LTV immediately filed suit to stop the 

PBGC"s action. 

A multiyear court battle followed, with the case 

ultimately going to the Supreme Court. Twenty-two 

years have passed, but I still can vividly recall what 

then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist said as LTV"s 

attorney began his arguments. 

Justice Rehnquist cut off the attorney and suggested 

that LTV"s action"s were an attempt to “fob-off” the 

pension plan liabilities onto the PBGC. In a few words, 

Justice Rehnquist got to the heart of the issue and 

made a comment that indicated how he would later 

rule. A few months later, the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 

ruling, sided with the PBGC. 

But in the roughly six hours of oral arguments on the 

health care reform law, I didn"t hear any one-liners that 

definitively indicated how any justice will rule on two 

key issues before the court: Is the law"s individual 

mandate unconstitutional? And, if it is, is the mandate 

so intertwined with the broader law that the entire law 

would fall if the court rules the mandate is 

unconstitutional? 

The justices asked many tough questions, but I don"t 

have any more of a clue to what their ruling on those 

issues will be than I did before the arguments. 

The question I kept asking myself was why the law 

was before the Supreme Court. How was it the law 

was drafted in such a way that critical provisions were 

vulnerable to legal attack? 

The answer to that question is clear and it speaks to 

the breakdown of our political system. The legislation 

did not go through what was once the traditional 

extended review process. For the most part, committee 

consideration was hasty, and there wasn"t even a joint 

conference committee to resolve differences between 

House- and Senate-passed bills and pass a carefully 

reviewed and crafted final bill. 

Both parties share in the blame. Unless the two parties 

can once again try to work together, more of our 

laws—the few that are passed—will end up being 

challenged in court. 

104



Workers denied comp benefits can sue for 

RICO violations 

CINCINNATI—An appeals court ruling that allows 

injured workers to sue their former employer for 

alleged racketeering could have a chilling effect on 

how employers and third-party administrators decide 

workers compensation claims, observers say. 

A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 

2-1 in Paul Brown et al. vs. Cassens Transport Co. et 

al. that several Michigan transportation workers can 

sue Edwardsville, Ill.-based Cassens Transport Co. 

and Atlanta-based third-party administrator Crawford & 

Co. for allegedly violating the Racketeer Influenced 

and Corrupt Organizations Act after their workers 

comp claims were denied or settled. 

However, an attorney for the auto transportation 

company and the TPA said the defendants will seek a 

rehearing of the ruling by the full 6th Circuit. 

The workers allege that Cassens, which is self-insured, 

conspired with the TPA and Dr. Saul Margules, a 

Michigan physician who evaluated and often testified 

against injured Cassens workers. 

The plaintiffs allege that the defendants" 

communications among themselves constituted mail 

and wire fraud under RICO and furthered the 

conspiracy that included using “fraudulent medical 

reports” and ignoring medical evidence to deny or limit 

benefits. 

In its April 6 decision, the appeals court said 

Michigan"s exclusive remedy workers comp provisions 

do not bar the workers from alleging that Cassens and 

Crawford committed RICO violations—which are 

separate from the workers" injury claims. 

“A federal civil RICO claim and a state claim for 

workers compensation are legally distinct, even though 

they share factual underpinnings,” the majority ruled. 

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons 

said RICO laws shouldn"t apply because the workers 

didn"t suffer damage to “business or property” as 

required by RICO regulations. 

Marshall Lasser, a Southfield, Mich.-based attorney 

who represents the former Cassens workers and is 

litigating other similar cases, said such suits will help 

injured workers receive benefits that were unjustly 

denied. 

“I"ve alleged that these employers and the insurance 

companies or the third-party administrators know that 

these doctors lie,” Mr. Lasser said. 

In another suit he filed alleging RICO violations in 

Michigan workers comp decisions, Christine Jackson 

et al. vs. Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. 

et al., former employees of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola 

Enterprises Inc. allege that the company and TPA 

conspired with Dr. Paul Drouillard to deny or terminate 

their claims. Argued last summer in the 6th Circuit, the 

case still is awaiting a decision. 

Cases such as those filed by Mr. Lasser could 

undermine insurers" and employers" ability to 

effectively manage medical treatment and benefit 

payments for injured workers, said Bruce Wood, 

Washington-based associate general counsel and 

director of workers compensation for the American 

Insurance Assn. 

“What the cases essentially do is use the cover of 

RICO—a federal civil and criminal statute—to 

undermine and to subvert a state"s workers 

compensation system,” Mr. Wood said. 

Denis Juge, an insurance defense attorney in Metairie, 

La., contends that RICO litigation in workers comp 

cases could result in a flood of such suits and hurt 

employers" ability to defend themselves against 

disputed claims, because doctors could fear being 

named in RICO suits. 

“If you allow the suits in the other states, you"re going 

to find it very difficult as a defense attorney to get a 

physician willing to give a second medical opinion,” 

said Mr. Juge, a director at law firm Juge, Napolitano, 

Guilbeau, Ruli, Frieman & Whiteley L.L.C. 

Janet Lanyon, an attorney for Cassens and Crawford, 

said her clients later this month plan to seek an en 

banc rehearing of the Brown ruling. Cassens, Crawford 

and Dr. Margules deny the workers" claims, said Ms. 

Lanyon, a shareholder with Troy, Mich.-based Dean & 

Fulkerson P.C. 

Brown vs. Cassens has been in the courts for years. 

The 6th Circuit initially affirmed a federal judge"s 2005 

dismissal of the plaintiffs" RICO claims. But the U.S. 

Supreme Court vacated the 6th Circuit"s ruling in 

2008 and remanded the case, citing precedent in a 

separate RICO lawsuit. 

The 6th Circuit allowed the workers" RICO claims to 

move forward in a subsequent 2008 decision, but the 

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan 

dismissed it again in 2010 citing the state"s exclusive 

remedy provisions concerning workers comp. 

“I believe that the case presents novel issues of law,” 

Ms. Lanyon said. “So I think anytime a court is 

presented with something where there isn"t a lot of 

precedent, the possibility of having differing views is 

greater.” 

RICO lawsuits in workers comp could open the door 

for more litigation and delay injured workers receiving 

105

enefits, said Larry Holt, executive director of the 

National Council of Self-Insurers in New Providence, 

N.J. The organization filed a joint amicus brief in 

Brown with the AIA and the U.S. Chamber of 

Commerce. 

“Employees who say they"re injured at work will be 

able to prosecute RICO actions in state and federal 

courts, as well as workers compensation actions,” Mr. 

Holt said. 

While there have been a handful of RICO-related 



workers comp lawsuits in other federal courts, the 

AIA"s Mr. Wood said those cases were resolved 

without a decision on whether RICO law can trump the 

exclusive remedy of state workers comp laws. 

With the 6th Circuit set to determine legal precedent in 

Brown and Jackson, Mr. Wood said industry observers 

will watch the cases closely. 

“It"s a significant challenge, because it"s undermining 

state law,” he said. 

106

Business Line/ - Markets, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


‘Preventive properties of a product can 

qualify it as medicine' 

When a product in addition to having cleansing 

properties also keeps diseases and harmful bacteria at 

bay, it qualifies as medicine even if the medical 

component in the product is minuscule in terms of 

quantity or value or both, said the Supreme Court.In 

the case of Commissioner of Central Excise vs. 

Wockhardt Life Sciences Ltd, the issue was whether 

the product manufactured by the respondent was 

detergent or medicament.The Revenue's contention 

was that it was detergent on the basis of ?common 

parlance test' and ?commercial usage test' as 

bolstered by the fact that the medicinal properties in it 

were miniscule and incidental, with its predominant 

use being cleansing.Pigeonholing its product into 

ayurvedic begot the manufacturer nil tax status 

whereas as detergent, it attracted an 18 per cent 

excise duty.The Supreme Court, while holding the 

cleanser in question a medicament, pointed out that 

the common parlance test and commercial usage test 

are not sacrosanct and infallible.It was also not 

necessary, the Court added, that a product must have 

curative properties to be labelled a medicine; even 

preventive properties would do.(The author is a 

NewDelhi-based chartered accountant.) 

107

El País/ - España, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Un exjuez del Supremo propone querellas 

contra los jueces que no vayan a las fosas 

El magistrado retirado del Tribunal Supremo José 

Antonio Martín Pallín animó ayer a presentar querellas 

en cadena contra todos los jueces territoriales que no 

acudan a las fosas del franquismo durante las 

exhumaciones. “Cuando se le dice al juez ‘venga a ver 

este cráneo con un agujero de bala’ y no va, está 

prevaricando”, aseguró durante un acto de apoyo a 

Baltasar Garzón en el auditorio Marcelino Camacho, 

en Madrid. 

“Incluso los franquistas iban. Recuerdo que llamaban 

muchas veces desde la Casa de Campo de Madrid 

porque gente que había salido a buscar setas se 

encontraba restos humanos (de muertos durante la 

Guerra Civil). Y los jueces franquistas iban, al menos 

cumplían la ley. Los demócratas no lo están 

haciendo”, añadió. 

Un auto del Supremo del pasado 28 de marzo 

establece que la competencia sobre las fosas del 

franquismo es de los tribunales territoriales. Sin 

embargo, ningún juez ha acudido a las dos primeras 

exhumaciones realizadas en España tras ese auto: la 

primera, la pasada semana en Espinosa de los 

Monteros (Burgos), con 13 fusilados, y la última el 

pasado 9 de abril en Montenegro de Cameros (Soria), 

con nueve. Los 22 esqueletos recuperados tenían 

signos evidentes de muerte violenta, como cráneos 

agujerados por balas. 

En su intervención, Martín Pallín se refirió a la 

represión franquista como “el primer holocausto” y 

añadió que España “corre el riesgo de vivir en la 

amnesia democrática”. 

“Gremialismo” 

La abogada Cristina Almeida anunció el envío al 

Consejo General del Poder Judicial de dos escritos 

firmados por víctimas del franquismo solicitando una 

investigación de los magistrados que juzgaron a 

Garzón. “Viven de cursos pagados por bancos, 

empresas y grandes despachos de abogados”, dijo 

Almeida, quien se refirió al exjuez como “una oveja 

perdida en el gremialismo judicial”. 

Julián Rebollo, de la Plataforma contra la Impunidad 

del Franquismo, anunció que se concentrarán frente a 

la Delegación del Gobierno en Madrid para protestar 

por las multas (4.400 euros en total) que han impuesto 

a nueve miembros del colectivo por manifestarse 

frente al Supremo durante los juicios contra Garzón. 

“Ni acatamos ni respetamos al Supremo. Estamos en 

lucha. Y vamos a conseguir 500.000 firmas para pedir 

una comisión de la verdad de los crímenes del 

franquismo”. 

108

Expresso OnLine Lisboa / - Atualidade, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


CDS propõe Fátima Mata Mouros para 


CDS irá propor o nome da juíza Fátima Mata Mouros 

para uma das três vagas a preencher no Tribunal 


O líder parlamentar do CDS, Nuno Magalhães, 

afirmou hoje à agência Lusa que irá propor o nome de 

Fátima Mata Mouros para uma das três vagas a 

preencher no Tribunal Constitucional, cuja eleição 

se realizará na sexta-feira. 

Os nomes dos três juízes a indicar para o Tribunal 

Constitucional têm de ser eleitos com uma maioria 

de dois terços, o que obriga a um entendimento entre 

a maioria governamental PSD/CDS e PS. 

Na sexta-feira passada, o PSD propôs para o Tribunal 

Constitucional o nome de Paulo Saragoça da Matta, 

enquanto o PS escolheu o ex-secretário de Estado da 

Justiça Conde Rodrigues. 

Em declarações à agência Lusa, o líder da bancada 

do CDS referiu que o nome de Fátima Mata Mouros já 

tinha sido colocado de forma oficiosa. 

"Mas agora confirmamos a nossa escolha" de Fátima 

Mata Mouros, juíza "com um currículo sólido e 

significativo, com vasta experiência da magistratura e 

com grande prestígio", declarou Nuno Magalhães. 

Para o líder parlamentar do CDS, a juíza Fátima Mata 

Mouros representará uma escolha que "reunirá 

seguramente grande consenso". 

109

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/ - Politik, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Tabu verträgt keine Begründung 

Das Inzest-Urteil des Europäischen Gerichtshofes wirft 

mehr Probleme auf, als es zu lösen vorgibt. 

Deutschland muss zu einer eigenen Regelung im 

Umgang mit einem kaum mehr begründbaren Tabu 

finden. 

Von Oliver Tolmein 

Am leichtesten hatten es die Leser der „Bild“-Zeitung: 

In einer Blitzumfrage befanden 87 Prozent der 32.000 

Teilnehmer: „Ja, das Urteil ist richtig. Inzest soll tabu 

bleiben.“ Dass sie keine Argumente brauchten, 

sondern nur ein starkes Gefühl, war dem Thema 

angemessen. 

Eine der Besonderheiten des Tabus ist ja gerade, dass 

es keiner Begründung bedarf; für die, die unter seiner 

Herrschaft stehen, verbietet sich der Tabubruch von 

selbst. Der Tabubruch bedarf, zumindest ursprünglich, 

auch keiner gesellschaftlichen Sanktion, weil sich das 

verletzte Tabu selbst rächt. Reden und argumentieren 

darf nur, wer das Tabu brechen will. 

Wer das Tabu in eine strafrechtliche Vorschrift 

überführt, in der ein Verhalten überprüfbar unter 

Tatbestandsmerkmale subsumiert werden muss, hat 

damit das Seine dazu beigetragen, es zu zerstören und einer Entscheidung den Weg zu ebnen, wie der 4. 

Strafsenat des Bundesgerichtshofes sie vor anderthalb 

Jahren (richtigerweise) getroffen hat, als er einen 

Vater vom Vorwurf des Verstoßes gegen Paragraph 

173 Strafgesetzbuch freisprach, weil „der Angeklagte 

die Geschädigte ausschließlich gezwungen hat, an 

ihm Oralverkehr auszuüben; dies genügt für den 

Tatbestand des Beischlafs zwischen Verwandten aber 

nicht“. Mit einer mehrjährigen Freiheitstrafe bestraft 

wurde der Angeklagte damals selbstverständlich 

dennoch - aber eben wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs 

von Schutzbefohlenen und nicht wegen Verstoßes 

gegen das Inzestverbot. 

Strasburger Zurückhaltung 

Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte 

konnte es sich in seiner aktuellen Entscheidung in 

Sachen „Stübing gegen Deutschland“ nicht so einfach 

machen wie der Boulevard und seine Leser. Er musste 

Gründe dafür anführen, dass die Verurteilung des 

Klägers wegen des Verstoßes gegen Paragraph 173 

des deutschen Strafgesetzbuches einer drängenden 

gesellschaftlichen Notwendigkeit entsprach und 

deswegen keinen Verstoß gegen Artikel 8 der 

Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention darstellt. 

Wie zu erwarten, sind die Straßburger Richter bei 

ihrem Versuch gescheitert, eine Vorschrift zu 

begründen, die in erster Linie ein gesellschaftliches 

Tabu wahren soll. Also haben sie es sich so leicht wie 

möglich gemacht, indem sie sich auf die vier Jahre alte 

Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts im 

selben Fall gestützt und dessen These übernommen 

haben, dass die strafrechtliche Verfolgung des Inzests 

aus einer Reihe von Gründen angemessen sei: sie 

diene nämlich dem Schutz der Familie, des 

Selbstbestimmungsrechts und der öffentlichen 

Gesundheit. 

Tatsächlich ging es den Straßburger Richtern wohl 

auch weniger um die Aufrechterhaltung des Tabus als 

darum, sich in einem Konflikt, in dem es auch um 

grundlegende moralische und ethische Fragen geht, 

zurückzuhalten. In solchen Fällen, so argumentieren 

sie überzeugend, könnten nationale Autoritäten 

grundsätzlich besser als ein internationales Gericht 

beurteilen, was die jeweiligen moralischen 

Erfordernisse sind. Bemerkenswerterweise haben die 

Straßburger Richter sich in ihrer aktuellen 

Entscheidung über den deutschen Inzestfall daher 

gleich mehrfach auf ihr zehn Jahre zurückliegendes 

Urteil in der Sache Diane Pretty bezogen, eine 

Engländerin, die in Straßburg ebenfalls erfolglos 

gegen das in England geltende Verbot der Beihilfe 

zum Suizid stritt. 

Ein kaum begründbares Tabu 

Damit ist aber auch die Grenze der Straßburger 

Entscheidung markiert, die gerade nichts darüber 

besagt, ob Paragraph 173 des deutschen 

Strafgesetzbuches eine gute oder angemessene 

Regelung ist, die bestehen bleiben sollte. Festgestellt 

haben die von der Parlamentarischen Versammlung 

des Europarates gewählten Richter lediglich, dass die 

Regelung nicht gegen die Europäische 

Menschenrechtskonvention verstößt. 

Dem deutschen Gesetzgeber bleibt es dennoch 

unbenommen, wie jetzt der Grünen-Politiker Christian 

Ströbele vorgeschlagen hat, dem Beispiel Frankreichs, 

der Niederlande, Spaniens, der Türkei, Luxemburgs, 

Sloweniens oder der Ukraine zu folgen und das 

Inzestverbot aus dem Strafgesetzbuch zu streichen, 

da er rational so wenig begründbar wie angesichts der 

wenigen, zudem fast immer auch durch andere, 

erheblich besser zu begründende Vorschriften unter 

Strafe gestellten Fälle erforderlich ist: Wieso soll 

beispielsweise einem Mann in der Patchwork-Familie 

der Beischlaf mit der Stieftochter erlaubt, der Beischlaf 

110

mit der leiblichen Tochter aber verboten sein? Oder 

wie soll man begründen, dass der Kläger im aktuellen 

Verfahren straffrei geblieben wäre, wenn er die Kinder 



mit seiner Schwester in vitro gezeugt und statt mit ihr 

zu schlafen, mit ihr nur Oralverkehr gehabt hätte? 

111


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Verfassungsgericht) 

Locker bleiben, gut aussehen 

Unter allen Spitzenkandidaten in Schleswig-Holstein 

ist der Liberale der bekannteste: Wolfgang Kubicki soll 

nicht weniger als die ganze FDP retten. Vor zwölf 

Jahren gelang ihm das schon einmal. 

Von Frank Pergande, Norderstedt 

Wolfgang Kubicki gibt eine Currywurst aus für seine 

Wahlkampfbegleitung, auch ein paar Journalisten 

gehören zu den Glücklichen. Es ist - kaum zu glauben 

- fünf Minuten vor 12 Uhr. Der Magen dürfte dem 

FDP-Spitzenkandidaten im Landtagswahlkampf von 

Schleswig-Holstein zu dieser Uhrzeit noch nicht 

knurren, und erkennbar schmeckt ihm dann die rote 

Wurst auf dem Pappteller nicht. Auch muss er beim 

Essen auf Anzug und Krawatte aufpassen. Aber die 

Gelegenheit ist zu günstig. Er kann am Stehtisch ein 

paar Botschaften loswerden. Und dem Ort dafür 

mangelt es nicht an Symbolgehalt. „Franki’s 

Bratwurst“-Stand auf dem Wochenmarkt in Norderstedt 

erstreckt sich nämlich über zwei Bundesländer, halb 

Schleswig-Holstein, halb Hamburg, jedenfalls über 

Schleswig-Holstein hinaus. 

Der Wochenmarkt gilt als der einzige 

länderübergreifende. So erzählen es jedenfalls die 

Einheimischen. Kubicki also, zufällig dabei in Hamburg 

stehend, legt los über die schleswig-holsteinische 

Landespolitik. Die FDP habe die CDU in der Kieler 

Koalition zur Schuldenbremse und damit zu einer 

Umkehr in der Haushaltspolitik gedrängt. Die FDP 

wisse genau, was bis 2020 zu tun sei. Die anderen 

Parteien wüssten es nicht. Der öffentliche Dienst im 

Land begreife dank der FDP langsam, dass eine 

bessere Wirtschaftspolitik mehr Steuereinnahmen 

bringe und damit mehr berufliche Sicherheit auch für 

die Landesbediensteten. 

Drei Schwerpunkte müsse die künftige Landespolitik 

haben: die Bildungschancen der jungen Leute 

erhöhen, die „Energiewende“ vor allem als 

Netzausbau begreifen und der weitere Ausbau des 

Straßennetzes, vor allem der Weiterbau der Autobahn 

20: „Mecklenburg-Vorpommern hat seinen 

Autobahnteil bis fast nach Polen längst übergeben, wir 

haben in zwanzig Jahren gerade mal 27 Kilometer 

geschafft.“ Und wenn der Netzausbau nicht als 

Hauptaufgabe verstanden werde, könne 

Schleswig-Holstein zwar jede Menge Strom 

produzieren, werde ihn aber nicht los. „Den können wir 

dann in die Ostsee schicken.“ 

Dass die Partei im Überlebenskampf steckt, wird nicht 

erwähnt 

Wolfgang Kubicki liebt die Pointe. Und wenn sein 

Publikum lacht, freut er sich mit einem breiten Grinsen. 

Die Lachfältchen an seinen Augen sind dauernd in 

Bewegung. Mit Peer Steinbrück, erzählt er launig 

weiter, habe er studiert. „Aber der hat sein Leben 

verhauen und ist zur SPD gegangen.“ Das Publikum 

lacht, Kubicki grinst. Der Spitzenkandidat 

schwadroniert über seine Unabhängigkeit. Er habe 

seine Arbeit als Anwalt, die könne er nicht eben mal 

vier, fünf Jahre ruhen lassen. Deswegen sei er auch 

nicht Minister geworden, als 2009 CDU und FDP ein 

Bündnis eingingen. 

An dieser Currywurststelle angelangt, zielt denn doch 

mal eine Frage wie ein Pfeil auf ihn: „Aber Sie haben 

doch erklärt, nach der Wahl Finanzminister sein zu 

wollen?“ Kubicki braucht einen Augenblick, ehe auch 

da die Pointe aufleuchtet: „In fünf Jahren bin ich 65 

Jahre alt. Für einen Rentner spielt das alles keine 

Rolle mehr.“ 

Dieses Grinsen. Die Leute auf dem Markt erkennen 

ihn: „Das ist doch der Kubicki.“ Einer sagt: „Der macht 

doch nur Wahlpropaganda.“ Eine Frau tritt an ihn 

heran: „Sie sind doch der Beste.“ Kubicki verteilt 

Handküsse an die Damen. Er würde zwar nicht einfach 

so auf die Leute zugehen, aber wenn diese schon 

stehenbleiben, ist er sogleich bei ihnen - und bestens 

im Bilde, um ein Gespräch zu führen. Seine 

Parteifreunde haben ihn gut vorbereitet auf die 

Probleme, über die man sich im eigentlich so 

prosperierenden Norderstedt sehr erregt: dass durch 

die Baustelle mitten in der Stadt die Zufahrt zum 

Einkaufszentrum Schmuggelstieg immer schwieriger 

wird und dass der Ochsenzoll, die Hauptstraße, auf 

der Holsteiner Seite vierspurig ausgebaut wird, in 

Hamburg aber hinter der Kreuzung einspurig bleibt. 

Kubicki findet es witzig, dass ein Liberaler wie er 

ausgerechnet auf dem Schmuggelstieg Wahlkampf 

macht. Wieder sein Grinsen. 

Ob es am Wahltag, dem 6. Mai, zum Wiedereinzug in 

den Landtag reicht, ist ungewiss. Während er noch mit 

den Leuten parliert, kommt gerade die neue Umfrage 

auf die Mobiltelefone seiner Umgebung: vier Prozent 

für die FDP. Dabei hatte Kubicki bei seiner 

Spitzenkandidatenwahl im Januar versprochen, die 

Partei werde fortan Monat für Monat einen 

Prozentpunkt hinzugewinnen. Aber es ist wie immer: 

Der Spitzenkandidat verspricht viel, hat schon immer 

viel versprochen, muss aber kein Versprechen halten. 

Auch in Norderstedt verbreitet der blendend 

112

aussehende, perfekt gekleidete, amüsant erzählende 

Mann allein durch seine Aura Zuversicht. Über künftige 

Minister- und Ressortverteilung wird an diesem Tag 

gesprochen, über Koalitionen und die nächsten 

Aufgaben der Regierung. Dass die Partei, wie zuletzt 

im Saarland, untergehen könnte, dass sie im 

Überlebenskampf steckt und Kubicki vor der größten 

Herausforderung seiner politischen Laufbahn steht das alles wird auf dem Schmuggelstieg nicht einmal 

erwähnt. 

Kubicki ist jedes Mittel recht, um Stimmen zu holen 

Auch später nicht in einem Einkaufszentrum neben der 

Autobahn 7 bei Kaltenkirchen, das riesig ist und noch 

riesiger werden will, was bisher allerdings durch die 

Landesplanung verhindert wird. Hier hält Kubicki ein 

Plädoyer für mehr Liberalismus und mehr Wettbewerb. 

Diesmal findet er seine Pointe auf Kosten von 

CDU-Innenminister Klaus Schlie, weil Landesplanung 

Sache des Kieler Innenministeriums ist: „Nun, er ist 

Lehrer. Lehrer sind Besserwisser.“ Und damit es nicht 

ganz so scharf ankommt, setzt er hinzu: „Anwälte sind 

es auch.“ In den Koalitionsverhandlungen werde er 

darauf dringen, die Landesplanung dem 

Wirtschaftsministerium anzugliedern, verspricht er. 

Glaubt Wolfgang Kubicki ernsthaft daran, nach dem 6. 

Mai an Koalitionsverhandlungen teilzunehmen? Sagen 

darf er jedenfalls nichts anderes. Denn Kubicki ist die 

FDP in Schleswig-Holstein, obwohl er in seiner 

Laufbahn nur einmal eine kurze Zeit lang 

Parteivorsitzender war. Auch Minister ist er nie 

geworden, nicht nur wegen seiner oft beschworenen 

finanziellen Unabhängigkeit. Er hätte seine 

Pointenproduktion einschränken müssen und wäre 

auch mal in die Verantwortung genommen worden. So 

blieb er als ewiger Fraktionsvorsitzender im Landtag 

der glänzende Redner, dem alles zugetraut wird - auch 

mehr als fünf Prozent bei der Landtagswahl im Norden 

und damit gleich die Rettung der ganzen FDP. 

Kubicki ist indes nicht der heiter-ironische 

Wahlkämpfer mit Currywurst und Handkuss, als der er 

wirken will. Ihm ist vielmehr jedes Mittel recht, um 

Stimmen zu holen. Ein bewährtes ist es, über die 

Berliner Parteiführung herzuziehen. Schon immer galt 

er als der freie Radikale unter den Freien Demokraten. 

Erfolgreich war einst die Achse Kubicki-Möllemann, 



Schleswig-Holstein-Nordrhein-Westfalen. Da ging es 

2000 schon einmal um die Rettung der Partei. Sie 

gelang. Kubicki, gerade 60 Jahre alt geworden, ist 

noch immer da. In Nordrhein-Westfalen heißt sein 

Partner jetzt Christian Lindner. Der ist ein 

Vierteljahrhundert jünger als der Meister aus dem 

Norden und wurde deshalb von ihm früher „Bambi“ 

genannt. 

Er braucht den zweiten Blick 

Kubicki setzt sich in jedes Fernsehstudio und geht in 

jede Talkrunde. Er wird gern eingeladen, weil er so 

pointiert spricht und dabei gut aussieht. Er nutzt aus, 

dass er unter allen Spitzenkandidaten in 

Schleswig-Holstein der bekannteste ist, weit über das 

Land hinaus. Er ist - den Südschleswigschen 

Wählerverband einmal ausgenommen - der einzige 

Landespolitiker, der auch schon früher mehrmals 

Spitzenkandidat seiner Partei war. 

Er macht aus der verzweifelten Lage der Partei sogar 

noch ein Marketing-Ereignis. „Wählen Sie doch, was 

Sie wollen“ steht auf den FDP-Plakaten. Nämlich: 

Schuldenabbau, bessere Bildungschancen, eine 

bessere Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf. Zu 

diesem spielerischen Wörtlichnehmen gibt es Kubicki 

zu sehen mit grauem Haar und grauem Anzug vor 

grauer Wand. Auf den ersten Blick sieht so der 

Untergang aus, auf den zweiten ist es ein 

bemerkenswertes Design. Als zu intellektuell wurde 

der Wahlkampfauftritt schon kritisiert. Aber Kubicki 

muss auch nicht die Massen erreichen, ihm reichen 

fünf Prozent der Wählerstimmen, gern natürlich auch 

etwas mehr. 

Er braucht den zweiten Blick, er braucht die 

Zweitstimme der Schleswig-Holsteiner. Zweieinhalb 

Jahre lang saß die FDP in der Kieler Regierung - nach 

mehreren gescheiterten Anläufen zuvor, zuletzt 2005. 

Die Neuwahl schon nach der Hälfte der 

Legislaturperiode hatte das Verfassungsgericht 

angeordnet. 2009 erreichte die FDP fast 15 Prozent 

der Wählerstimmen. Diesmal wäre ein Drittel ein 

ungleich größerer Erfolg. Es sieht nicht gut aus für die 

Partei. Aber: Ist der Kieler Landtag ohne Kubicki 

überhaupt vorstellbar? 

113



Harte Bretter Irrweg in der Krise 

Ein Begriff geistert durch die Kritik der deutschen 

Euro-Krisenpolitik: die „marktkonforme Demokratie“. Er 

wird Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) 

zugeschrieben und brachte es 2011 fast zum „Unwort 

des Jahres“. Die bemerkenswerte Begründung dafür 

war, die Wortverbindung „marktkonforme Demokratie“ 

relativiere auf unzulässige Weise das Prinzip, dass 

Demokratie eine „absolute Norm“ sei. In diesem Sinne 

drehten die SPD und die Linkspartei die 

Wortverbindung einfach um und fordern seither flankiert durch Globalisierungskritiker und die 

„Occupy“-Bewegung - einen „demokratiekonformen 

Markt“.Den Ausdruck „marktkonforme Demokratie“ hat 

die Kanzlerin indessen nie benutzt. Anlässlich eines 

Besuchs des portugiesischen Ministerpräsidenten 

Pedro Passos Coelho im September 2011 sagte sie 

auf die Frage, ob sie um die Schlagkraft des 

Rettungsschirms fürchte, wenn der Bundestag und alle 

anderen nationalen Parlamente in Europa bei 

wichtigen Entscheidungen vorab mitbestimmen wollen: 

„Wir leben ja in einer Demokratie und sind auch froh 

darüber. Das ist eine parlamentarische Demokratie. 

Deshalb ist das Budgetrecht ein Kernrecht des 

Parlaments. Insofern werden wir Wege finden, die 

parlamentarische Mitbestimmung so zu gestalten, 

dass sie trotzdem auch marktkonform ist, also dass 

sich auf den Märkten die entsprechenden Signale 

ergeben.“Gemeint war also, dass sich der Bundestag 

mit Entscheidungen der Regierung, die den 

Rettungsschirm betreffen, so beschäftigt, dass die 

Absicht, nämlich eine Stabilisierung und Beruhigung 

der Märkte, nicht konterkariert wird. Das betraf und 

betrifft Schnelligkeit und Vertraulichkeit, also vor allem 

die Arbeit des dafür eingerichteten Ausschusses, der 

sich auf Rettungsmaßnahmen spezialisieren 

(“Neuner-Sondergremium“) und so schnell wie möglich 

- schneller und vertraulicher als das Plenum - 

Entscheidungen herbeiführen sollte, dann aber vom 

Bundesverfassungsgericht in seinem Urteil vom 28. 

Februar verworfen wurde.Mit „marktkonform“ war also 

nicht etwa gemeint, dass die Demokratie zum Spielball 

der Märkte wird, sondern im Gegenteil, dass die Arbeit 

des Parlaments so ausgerichtet wird, dass sie die 

Möglichkeit hat, die Märkte überhaupt zu beeinflussen. 

Alles andere wäre auch verwunderlich gewesen, da 

sich die CDU-Vorsitzende in einem großen Schwenk 

von ihrem Marktkonformismus zu Oppositionszeiten 

längst verabschiedet hatte.Im Oktober 2010 sagte die 

Kanzlerin etwa vor der IG Metall: „Ansonsten wird die 

Politik der Verantwortung nicht gerecht, den Märkten 

Leitplanken zu errichten. Das aber ist unser 

Verständnis von Sozialer Marktwirtschaft. Sonst 

beherrschen die Märkte uns; und das wird nicht 

gutgehen.“ Oder davor, im Juni auf einem Kongress 

zur Finanzmarktregulierung: „Als Politiker müssen wir 

den Anspruch haben, dass wir den 

Gestaltungsrahmen setzen und dass wir nicht immer 

Getriebene von irgendwelchen Marktkräften 

sind.“Gerade weil aber Regierung und Parlament nicht 

Getriebene sein sollen, müssen ihre Entscheidungen 

„marktkonform“ sein - im Sinne einer Regulierung, die 

tatsächlich greift. Die Sätze der Kanzlerin wurden aber 

stattdessen ins Gegenteil verkehrt und als Symptome 

der „Postdemokratie“ interpretiert. Auch das ist ein 

Begriff, der durch die Kritik der Finanzmarktkrise 

geistert. Der britische Sozialwissenschaftler Colin 

Crouch prägte ihn 2004 durch sein gleichnamiges 

Buch, dem er 2011 eine Fortsetzung widmete. Beide 

Bücher sind gegen den Neoliberalismus gerichtet, weil 

er den demokratischen Staat zum 

Selbstbedienungsladen von Wirtschafts- und 

Finanzeliten degradiere.Symbol dieses Niedergangs 

war für Crouch Silvio Berlusconi. Durch Politiker wie 

ihn droht Demokratie in Crouchs Szenario zur leeren 

Hülle zu degenerieren, in denen Berufspolitiker, 

Lobbyisten und Wirtschaftsverbände die Interessen 

von Konzernen bedienen, die Bürger hingegen durch 

Brot und Spiele abgespeist, die Ingredienzen der 

Volksherrschaft mithin nur noch vorgetäuscht werden. 

Die perfekte „marktkonforme Demokratie“? Crouch 

nennt die von ihm beschriebene Illusion von 

Demokratie gerade nicht „marktkonforme Demokratie“, 

weil sein Bild der Dekadenz auf eine Plutokratie 

hinausläuft, in der die Regeln der Demokratie vor 

allem deshalb ausgehöhlt werden, weil auch die 

Regeln der Marktwirtschaft zugunsten weniger 

mächtiger Akteure außer Kraft gesetzt werden.Doch in 

der Kritik an der „marktkonformen Demokratie“ ist das 

noch nicht das letzte Missverständnis und noch nicht 

das größte. Denn die Kritik richtet sich eigentlich 

dagegen, dass Demokratie überhaupt für irgendetwas 

„konform“ sein müsse, und sieht in ihr deshalb jene 

anfangs erwähnte „absolute Norm“, die nicht relativiert 

werden dürfe. Doch Demokratie als Selbstzweck ist 

schon deshalb fragwürdig, weil nicht alles, was sich 

Demokratie nennt (und was nennt sich heutzutage 

nicht alles Demokratie?), auch tatsächlich im 

freiheitlichen Sinne „demokratisch“ sein 

muss.Gehorcht eine Demokratie gleichsam nur sich 

selbst, also dem Mehrheitswillen des Volkes, ist sie auf 

dem Weg, totalitär zu werden - und deshalb von einer 

gelenkten „Postdemokratie“ so weit nicht entfernt. 

Denn sie setzt den Gemeinwillen mit Volkes Wille 

immer und unkontrolliert gleich. In einer heterogenen 

und pluralistischen Gesellschaft, die den „Markt der 

Möglichkeiten“ für die politische Willensbildung 

114

aucht, ist das der beste Weg in die 

Verknöcherung.Diesem Irrweg, der auf die 

Demokratietheorie Rousseaus zurückgeht, folgt das 

Grundgesetz deshalb ausdrücklich nicht. Dort wird 

Demokratie durch die Prinzipien des Rechtsstaats, des 

Sozialstaats und der Republik nicht nur ergänzt, 

sondern auch eingeschränkt. Die Marktwirtschaft 

gehört nicht zu diesen Prinzipien. Doch seit ihrer 

Einführung in Deutschland gilt die Marktwirtschaft 

wiederum als die am besten geeignete Vermittlerin 

zwischen den im Rechtsstaat garantierten 

Freiheitsrechten und dem sozialen Staatsziel des 



Grundgesetzes.Nur eine wettbewerbsgetriebene 

Marktwirtschaft, so die Lehre aus mehr als sechzig 

Jahren Bundesrepublik, sichert die Ressourcen des 

Sozialstaats. Eine Demokratie, die nicht 

„marktkonform“ ist, muss sich deshalb fragen lassen, 

woher sie die Kraft und die Mittel nehmen will, ihre 

Ziele zu erreichen. Da hat es der „demokratiekonforme 

Markt“ der SPD und der Linkspartei viel leichter. Denn 

dort bestimmt einfach Volkes Wille und die Mehrheit, 

was auf den Markt gehört und was nicht. Basta. 

115

La Nacion/ - noticia, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


El engañoso fin que justifica los medios 

Más notas para entender este temaAcoso estatal:la 

mano del Gobierno avanza sobre la economía y 

asfixia la libertad de las personas y de las 

empresas Gran parte de las medidas que conforman 

el acoso estatal no gozan de sustento constitucional, 

por lo que los ciudadanos podrían interponer amparos 

tendientes a hacer cesar sus efectos. Pero en la 

Argentina actual, eso no ocurre, un poco por 

desconocimiento y otro poco por la poca confianza 

que se tiene en un Poder Judicial, que también es 

acosado por el Ejecutivo. 

El constitucionalista Daniel Sabsay explica que las 

reglas de la Constitución Nacional se enmarcan en el 

principio de legalidad, sobre el que tiene que reposar 

todo acto gubernamental. "Además, toda decisión de 

autoridad debe ser razonable y tratarse de un medio 

que lleve a un fin justificado, si no, se entra en la 

arbitrariedad", comenta. 

Por ejemplo, señala el jurista, para el pago de 

impuestos, la privacidad sobre la propiedad, debe 

ceder, pero eso no debe implicar una irrupción abrupta 

en la vida privada de una persona. Ni tampoco debe 

significar, como expresa un reconocido tributarista, 

una invasión emocional. 

El politólogo Sergio Berenstein, de la consultora 

Poliarquía, dice que el problema es que se esgrime un 

fin que en su enunciado es loable, como el del reparto 

más equitativo de la riqueza o el desarrollo de la 

industria nacional, para lograr objetivos políticos de 

corto plazo. "El Estado se usa como un instrumento de 

todos, pero en el fondo lo que hay es un gobierno 

depredador", opina Berenstein. 

El politólogo dice que hacer esa distinción entre 

Estado y Gobierno es crucial, porque la Presidenta se 

sirve de esta confusión para sostener sus medidas y 

cualquiera que esté en contra queda tildado de 

antiestatista. "El Gobierno se cree el Estado y actúa 

desde el Estado. Cuando Cristina dice: «Me hacen 

esto» expresa esa simbiosis. Eso es un error", señala 

Berenstein.. 

116

Los Angeles Times/ - Politics, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


When time allows, 1992 riots are 

poignant lesson in L.A. schools 

They were not even born at the time their city erupted 

in flames, violence and rage against a system that 

would not convict Los Angeles police officers of 

brutally beating a black man.But high school students 

Jiaya Ingram, Ashley Torres and Jessica Maldonado 

have been gripped by accounts of the 1992 Los 

Angeles riots as they learn about them through poetry 

and plays, readings and recollections of their parents 

and others.They say they felt shock over police 

actions, horror over the mob violence and an uneasy 

feeling that it could happen again, particularly as 

unarmed African Americans are killed, most recently in 

Florida, Oklahoma and Pasadena. Yet these 

teenagers also express hope that they can make a 

difference through personal action - education about 

stereotypes, for instance, or peaceful protests. "I've 

learned that you have to be the change you want to 

see in the world," said Jessica, a junior at the Social 

Justice Leadership Academy, a small school at the 

Torres High School campus in East Los Angeles. 

"History is not wars and dates; it's about the choices 

you make."But two decades after the riots sparked 

massive violence that would leave dozens dead and 

thousands injured, lessons about them appear to be 

limited in Southern California classrooms. For many 

teachers, the pressure to teach content that will be 

tested in state standardized tests and Advanced 

Placement exams next month has crowded out time 

for the riots, however crucial they are to city history 

and the nation's larger civil rights struggle.The Los 

Angeles Unified School District has not formally 

included the riots in its history curriculum because it is 

not part of the California social studies standards. The 

district plans to post material on its website for optional 

teacher use, however.Michael Reed, the district's 

history specialist, said the push to raise test scores 

has made principals "hawkish" about directing 

teachers to focus on the areas that will be tested. Test 

questions from the state's eighth- and 11th-grade U.S. 

history exams released by state officials don't stretch 

beyond the 1960s, although Reed said the latest tests 

included a question from the Nixon era of the 1970s."If 

students are taught what they will be held responsible 

for on tests, they do much better," he said. "I 

remember teachers who would close their doors and 

teach whatever their pet era was. It's fine, but 

California test scores go down the drain."At King Drew 

Medical Magnet High School, teachers focus on the 

1965 Watts riots because the school was founded in 

part to prepare students for medical and scientific 

careers, a community need at the time. The school 

does not expect to cover the 1992 riots because of 

time constraints, according to Karl Graeber, the social 

studies department chairman.Carson High School 

teacher Merri Weir also feels those pressures. But she 

manages to squeeze the riots into her U.S. history 

section on the move to the suburbs, exploring how 

redlining created the kind of ethnic ghetto that 

exploded after Simi Valley jurors chose not to convict 

four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of 

Rodney King. Her students create a memorial about 

the riots - one pair of students, for instance, 

constructed one from burned plywood to symbolize the 

vast destruction the violence caused."The riots and 

1992 feel like a time period we can never get to 

because there are just not enough hours in the day," 

she said. "But it's really important for my students to 

learn about what happens when a community breaks 

down or has no hope and no sense of 

justice."Teachers who work at private, charter, magnet 

or other nontraditional campuses may have more 

flexibility.Dorsey High School teacher Donald 

Singleton, for instance, is able to cover the riots as part 

of the school's law magnet program. In his introduction 

to law class, he explores the King case as part of an 

examination of civil rights and related U.S. 

constitutional amendments.Ninth-graders at 

Gertz-Ressler High School, a charter campus, are 

creating multimedia poetry and photography 

presentations about the riots in Crystal Greene's 

elective English and math class.Greene, like many 

teachers, uses materials from Facing History and 

Ourselves, an international educational organization 

that has trained more than 1,700 Los Angeles-area 

teachers in the last 17 years on how to teach about 

tolerance through case studies of the Holocaust, the 

Armenian genocide, the L.A. riots and the eugenics 

movement. The group, started in 1976, aims to present 

history not as an inevitable chain of events but as a 

series of choices by ordinary people that can produce 

great evil or tremendous good, according to Mary 

Hendra, the associate program director.The group's 

curriculum is used at such schools as St. John 

Chrysostom School in Inglewood. Through an 

assignment to interview their parents about the event, 

13-year-old Nahom Seifu learned for the first time that 

his mother was caught in the streets with no 

transportation and survived the violence only because 

a stranger invited her to spend the night at her 

home.At Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in 

117

Santa Monica, seniors in Stephanie Carrillo's elective 

class on cultural diversity are embodying those who 

lived through the riots by acting out the roles of African 

American victim, white juror, police officer, Korean 

immigrant and others from the play "Twilight: Los 

Angeles." The play gives students multiple 

perspectives to help them understand the complex 

forces underlying the riots, Carrillo said.Carrillo 

teaches the riots every year because, she said, they 

marked a watershed moment in her life. Then a 

college student two weeks from graduation, she said 

the King verdict shattered her faith in the justice 

system. But they also impassioned her to become a 

teacher to arm her students with the education to 

Los Angeles Times/ - Politics, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


control their own lives, she said.One of them is Jiaya. 

The Crossroads senior, the daughter of musician 

James Ingram, was raised in tony Hancock Park, but 

she said she identified with her "Twilight" character, an 

impoverished pregnant mother who was shot in the 

riots. She said she remains troubled by racism 

today.To make change, she said she will push for 

educational seminars about stereotypes in her student 

leadership group in high school and, later, at 

college."I'm motivated to tell people how far we still 

need to go to live with true peace and no prejudice," 

she said.teresa.watanabe@latimes.com 

118

Reuters General/ - Article, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


At U.S. gun convention, many see rush to 

judgment in Trayvon Martin case 

By Greg McCune ST. LOUIS, Missouri | Sun Apr 15, 

2012 3:49am EDT ST. LOUIS, Missouri (Reuters) - 

Gun-rights activists at a National Rifle Association 

convention said on Friday that protesters who 

demanded the arrest of George Zimmerman for the 

shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin 

were ignoring the U.S. legal principle of innocent until 

proven guilty. They said the protesters and the media 

had rushed to judge Zimmerman, a white and Hispanic 

neighborhood watch volunteer, as guilty in the death of 

17-year-old Martin, who was black, without having 

been convicted."I wish all those folks demonstrating 

and making the inflammatory statements would keep 

their powder dry," said Owen Mills, an NRA board 

member, who runs a firearms training facility in 

Paulden, Arizona. Mills said he was not speaking for 

the NRA as an organization.Martin's shooting in 

February sparked a national debate about "Stand Your 

Ground" laws permitting the use of deadly force in 

self-defense. The laws, which have been enacted in 

more than 20 states, are strongly backed by the 

NRA.Authorities in Sanford, Florida, where the 

shooting took place, cited the state's Stand Your 

Ground law in deciding not to arrest 

Zimmerman.Protesters said local police failed to 

aggressively investigate the case and many accused 

authorities of racial bias. Tens of thousands of people 

around the country took to the streets to demand 

Zimmerman's arrest.After days of protests, a special 

prosecutor was appointed to take over the case. This 

week, she charged Zimmerman with second-degree 

murder.Many in the overwhelmingly white and 

conservative crowd at the NRA convention blamed the 

media for playing up the racial aspect of the case.Paul 

Hopkins, a retired computer engineer from Surfside 

Beach, South Carolina, said he was rankled by the 

media referring to Zimmerman as a white Hispanic, 

which he interpreted as blaming a white man for the 

shooting.Mary Ann Reisinger from Oakdale, 

Connecticut, was particularly critical of civil rights 

leader and TV show host Al Sharpton, who she said 

was exploiting the issue by joining the marches for 

justice."They should not be out in the streets 

demonstrating about it," she said.NRA board member 

Mills pointed to the statement by a group describing 

itself as the New Black Panther Party last month 

offering a bounty of $10,000 for anyone who made a 

"citizens arrest" of Zimmerman."That is not the 

American way to put a bounty on someone's head," 

Mills said.The bounty suggestion was roundly 

condemned by leaders of all political 

persuasions.(Editing by Eric Beech) 

119

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Wie man den Bundestag kaputtmacht 

Ein Kommentar von Heribert Prantl 

Das Parlament heißt Parlament, weil dort parliert, also 

geredet werden soll. So viel wie möglich. Doch der 

freien Rede des freien Abgeordneten soll mit einer 

neuen Geschäftsordnung der Garaus gemacht 

werden. Wenn die Abgeordneten das wirklich so 

beschließen - dann beschließen sie ihre 

Selbstentmündigung. 

Das Parlament heißt Parlament, weil dort parliert, weil 

dort geredet werden soll - so viel, so klug, so streitig 

und so überzeugend wie möglich. Das Parlament ist, 

der Idee und dem Papier des Grundgesetzes nach, 

der freieste Ort, den man sich vorstellen kann. 

Nirgendwo ist die freie Rede so geschützt wie dort wenn denn der Abgeordnete überhaupt zum Reden 

kommt. Künftig nicht mehr. Die geplante neue 

Geschäftsordnung ist die Gebrauchsanweisung dafür, 

wie man den Bundestag kaputtmacht. 

Der freien Rede des freien Abgeordneten soll der 

Garaus gemacht werden. Genau dies wollen die 

Fraktionsspitzen ihren Parlamentariern aufzwingen: 

Wer unbedingt erklären will, warum er wie abstimmt, 

der soll das künftig schriftlich tun - kurz vor der 

Abstimmung, und auf so wenigen Zeilen wie möglich. 

Und dem Bundestagspräsidenten soll es künftig 

praktisch unmöglich gemacht werden, einen 

Abgeordneten aufzurufen, der eine andere Meinung 

vertritt als seine Fraktion. 

Wenn die Abgeordneten das wirklich so beschließen dann beschließen sie ihre Selbstentmündigung, dann 

bestellen sie ihren jeweiligen Fraktionsgeschäftsführer 

zum Vormund. Man könnte das Parlament dann auch 

gleich viel einfacher und billiger organisieren - und den 

jeweiligen Fraktionschefs oder den parlamentarischen 

Geschäftsführern ein Depotstimmrecht geben. 

Das Rederecht ist Kern des verfassungsrechtlichen 

Status des Abgeordneten. Er darf, so hat es das 

Verfassungsgericht schon 1959 festgestellt, notfalls 

auch gegen den Willen seiner Fraktionsfreunde reden. 

Man sollte den Satz ganz groß über den Eingang des 

Bundestags schreiben: Parlamentarier heißen so, weil 

sie reden dürfen. 

120

Von Susanne Höll, Berlin 

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Abgeordnete wehren sich gegen 

Maulkorb 

In den Fraktionen regt sich Widerstand: Viele 

Bundestagsabgeordnete wollen die geplante 

Einschränkung des Rederechts im Plenum nicht 

akzeptieren. Union, FDP und SPD müssen mit 

Einsprüchen gegen die Novelle rechnen, die sie gegen 

den Willen von Grünen und Linkspartei durchsetzen 

wollen. Peter Gauweiler erwägt indes schon den Gang 

vor das Bundesverfassungsgericht. 

Die geplante Einschränkung des Rederechts von 

Bundestagsabgeordneten im Plenum gerät ins 

Wackeln. Union, FDP und SPD müssen schon in 

dieser Woche mit Widerstand in ihren Fraktionen 

gegen die Novelle rechnen, die sie gegen den Willen 

von Grünen und Linkspartei Ende April im Bundestag 

durchsetzen wollen. Insbesondere in der SPD rührt 

sich massive Kritik an der Neuregelung, die womöglich 

sogar vom Bundesverfassungsgericht in Karlsruhe 

entschieden werden muss. 

Bundestagsvizepräsident Wolfgang Thierse, 

Ex-Finanzminister Peer Steinbrück, aber auch andere 

namhafte Parlamentarier ließen erkennen, dass sie mit 

einer Einschränkung des Rederechts auch für 

sogenannte Abweichler nicht einverstanden sind. 

Thierse lehnte strikte Vorgaben für die Freiheiten des 

Bundestagspräsidenten bei der Vergabe von 

Redezeiten ab. Steinbrück sagte am Rande einer 

Parteiveranstaltung in Münster, man dürfe 

insbesondere mit Blick auf die Popularität der 

Piratenpartei nicht den Eindruck erwecken, "es solle 

das Rederecht im Bundestag für andere, unbequeme 

Meinungen eingeschränkt werden". 

Der Berliner SPD-Bundestagsabgeordnete Swen 

Schulz sagte der Süddeutschen Zeitung, er könne 

diese Einschränkungen nicht akzeptieren: "Ich werde 

diesem Vorschlag nicht zustimmen, und ich gehe 

davon aus, dass andere in der Fraktion es genauso 

sehen. Dieser Drops ist noch nicht gelutscht." 

Der SPD-Vizefraktionsvorsitzende Axel Schäfer 

brachte für den Fall größeren Widerstandes eine 

Verschiebung der Abstimmung ins Spiel, die bislang 

für den 26. April geplant ist. Zwar halte er die 

angestrebte Regelung nicht für "das Ende der 

Demokratie". Es handele sich im wesentlichen um eine 

Verkürzung des Rederechts bei persönlichen 

Erklärungen von bislang fünf auf drei Minuten. "Aber 

wir stehen nicht unter Zeitdruck", sagte Schäfer und 

fügte hinzu, eine Klage gegen diese Regelung in 

Karlsruhe müsse verhindert werden. 

Der CSU-Bundestagsabgeordnete Peter Gauweiler hat 

bereits angekündigt, bei einer Beschneidung der 

Rederechte vor das Verfassungsgericht zu ziehen. 

Auch Vizebundestagspräsidentin Petra Pau von der 

Linkspartei sprach sich dafür aus, eine solche 

Regelung in Karlsruhe prüfen zu lassen, falls der 

Bundestag die Novelle beschließen sollte. 

Neben Thierse und Pau lehnten auch zwei weitere 

Vizebundestagspräsidenten die Neuregelung ab, die 

Union, FDP und SPD im 

Geschäftsordnungsausschuss des Bundestages 

durchgesetzt hatten. Hermann Otto Solms von der 

FDP sagte, er sehe keine ausreichende Begründung 

für diese Einschränkung der Rechte von 

Abgeordneten, "die nach dem Grundgesetz nur ihrem 

Gewissen verpflichtet sind". 

Seine Kollegin Katrin Göring-Eckardt von den Grünen 

sagte, damit würden die Rechte von Abgeordneten 

beschnitten, aber auch alle Möglichkeiten, die 

Debatten im Bundestag lebhafter zu gestalten, indem 

man auch denen das Wort erteile, die anderer 

Meinung seien als die Fraktionsmehrheit. Das gelte 

insbesondere dann, "wenn man nicht will, dass Politik 

in Talk-Shows, sondern im Bundestag interessant 

debattiert wird", sagte die Grünen-Politikerin. Sie wies 

auch darauf hin, dass jeder Bundestagspräsident 

Redeerlaubnisse sorgsam handhabe. 

Auch Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert (CDU) 

gilt als Gegner einer Einschränkung. An seiner 

Entscheidung, zwei Kritikern aus CDU und FDP bei 

der Debatte über die Euro-Rettung das Wort zu 

erteilen, hatte die Fraktionsführungen verärgert und zu 

der Novelle veranlasst. Abgeordnete, die nicht als 

Redner von ihren Fraktionen aufgestellt sind, sollen 

künftig nur in Ausnahmefällen und nur nach 

Rücksprache mit den Fraktionen im Plenum für drei 

Minuten sprechen dürfen. Die Befürworter der 

Regelung argumentieren, das sei angesichts der 

knappen Zeit für Bundestagsberatungen notwendig. 

Auch dürften Abweichler nicht mit der Aussicht auf 

Sonderauftritte ermutigt werden. 

121

The Economic Times/ - News, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


India won't be able to store another 

bumper crop 

NEW DELHI: The problem of plenty is once again 

troubling the Indian government as it does not know 

where to store the bumper grains to be harvested for 

the third year in a row. Fears are rising that the grains 

would be out in the open, rot and be eaten by rodents 

even as millions go hungry in the country which is 

planning to enact a right to food law. 

The government's plans to create additional storage 

space have so far moved at a snail's pace. For 

instance, of the additional storage capacity of 19 

million tonnes (MT) planned by 2012-13 through 

public-private partnership (PPP), only 0.5 MT could be 

created till January 2012. 

"The states fail to provide land for the purpose," said a 

food ministry official, citing the reason for the tardy 

progress of the scheme. 

Experts say the government's move to attract private 

players to build warehouses and other infrastructure 

has not succeeded because it does not offer tax 

benefits to them. 

Biraj Patnaik, adviser to the Supreme Court-appointed 

food commissioners, told IANS: "The government 

should drop the idea of involving private players in 

building godowns and let the states do the job." 

With wheat procurement having started this month, the 

government is looking at a record crop over 90 MT this 

April-June season. 

But the total storage capacity available is 53.4 MT, 

including 33.4 MT with the Food Corporation of India 

functioning under the central government, and 20 MT 

with the states. 

Of this, ministry sources said, storage utilisation is 76 

percent, leaving around 24 per cent capacity unutilised 

due to lack of proper planning. 

According to one estimate, up to seven percent of the 

country's annual grain production goes waste due to 

insufficient storage space and inefficient transport and 

distribution networks. 

The lack of adequate storage capacity would bother 

authorities as procurement of wheat from major 

producing states like Punjab, Haryana and Western 

Uttar Pradesh picks up. Together, the three states 

account for over 80 per cent of India's total production. 

One way of solving the problem, Patnaik told IANS, is 

that the government should distribute more grains 

among the needy if it is not able to create enough 

storage capacity. 

To reduce stockpiles, the government had allowed 

traders last year to export wheat and rice surpluses. 

122

USA Today/ - News, Dom, 15 de Abril de 2012 


Number of African-American baseball 

players dips again 

ST. LOUIS ??" Major League Baseball, celebrating 

Jackie Robinson Day on Sunday, has the lowest 

percentage of African-American players since the 

earliest days of the sport's integration, according to 

research conducted by USA TODAY Sports. The 

African-American population in baseball this season 

has plummeted to 8.05%, less than half the 17.25% in 

1959 when the became the last team to integrate their 

roster, 12 years after Robinson broke baseball's color 

barrier with the . It's a dramatic decline from 1975, 

when 27% of rosters were African-American. In 1995, 

the percentage was 19%. "Baseball likes to say things 

are getting better," says former 20-game winner and 

front office executive Dave Stewart, now a player 

agent. "It's not getting better. It's only getting worse. 

We've been in a downward spiral for a long time, and 

the numbers keep declining." Ten teams opened the 

year with no more than one African American on their 

roster, and 25% of African Americans in the game are 

clustered on three teams ??" the New York Yankees, 

Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. A 

dearth of collegiate scholarships, increasing cost of 

funding teams in inner cities and, some say, a lack of 

opportunities in major league front offices all have 

contributed to the paucity of African-American players. 

The void has been filled beyond the USA's borders. 

Foreign-born players in 2012 made up 28.4% of 

opening-day rosters. While the game's overall diversity 

has increased, the decrease in African-American 

players can seem stark in a sport where they once 

were its marquee performers. From 1990 to 1995, nine 

of the 12 American and National League MVP winners 

were African American. In 2012, Chicago Cubs center 

fielder Marlon Byrd is the lone African-American major 

leaguer in the city of Chicago. "I don't even know what 

to say," said Byrd, who was also the only African 

American on the field Sunday at Busch Stadium in St. 

Louis during the 65th anniversary of Robinson 

breaking the color barrier. "I remember when I came 

up with the (Philadelphia) Phillies in 2002, we had six 

(African-American) players. I thought that was the 

norm. Now, you look around and don't see anyone. 

Will it change? I don't know. I'm hoping it's a different 

story four or five years from now." The St. Louis 

Cardinals, who once had some of the greatest 

African-American stars in the game, such as Hall of 

Famers Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith, 

haven't had an African-American on their opening-day 

roster since infielder Joe Thurston in 2009. "It's 

concerning," Cardinals general manager John 

Mozeliak said. "I think the RBI program (Reviving 

Baseball in Inner Cities) is helpful and growing. We're 

all about talent. It doesn't matter if you're white, black, 

brown or green." Major League Baseball officials, 

aware of the dwindling numbers as many of the USA's 

top athletes apparently opt for other sports, said it is 

trying to reverse the trend with their urban academies 

and annual Civil Rights exhibition game. "We trying to 

get better. It won't happen overnight," Commissioner 

Bud Selig said. "And we're very comfortable saying it 

will be better. We are doing great work with our 

baseball academies and working in the inner cities. It's 

getting better." Robinson would want more While 

baseball has the lowest percentage of 

African-American players since Dwight Eisenhower 

was president, Major League Baseball's hiring 

practices are lauded by Richard Lapchick, director of 

the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the 

University of Central Florida. MLB received an "A" for 

race on Lapchick's Racial and Gender Report Card 

last year. "I remember Jackie saying 10 days before he 

passed (in 1972)," Selig said, "he wouldn't be satisfied 

until we had a black manager and general manager. If 

he went through all of our front offices today in 

baseball, he'd be proud." Still, the Chicago White Sox's 

Kenny Williams and the Miami Marlins' Michael Hill are 

the lone African-American general managers, and the 

Cincinnati Reds' Dusty Baker and the Texas Rangers' 

Ron Washington are the only African-American 

managers. There hasn't been an African American 

hired as manager since Jerry Manuel was promoted in 

2008 by the New York Mets, and there have been five 

African-American general managers in baseball 

history. "I think Jackie would be very disappointed," 

said Ron Rabinovitz, whose friendship with Robinson 

was the subject of an MLB Network documentary. "He 

would want more than this." Stewart, who gave up 

pursuing a general manager's job when clubs 

repeatedly bypassed him, believes there never will be 

improvement on the field unless MLB's hiring practices 

change. "Bud keeps making the comment that things 

will get better," Stewart said. " But Bud is not in 

position to make it happen. Bud works for the owners. 

He can't make them do something they don't want to 

do. "And right now, they don't want to hire blacks as 

decision-makers. Certainly not GMs. You have a lot of 

young executives who can do the job if they have the 

opportunity. But all they get is an interview for window 

dressing." Making baseball cool Baseball also 

constantly fights the stigma of being a dull sport. Even 

123

former American League MVP Ken Griffey Jr.'s son 

Trey abandoned baseball to accept a football 

scholarship at the University of Arizona, and Hall of 

Famer Barry Larkin's son Shane is playing basketball 

at Miami. The lack of African-American players also 

affects diversity in the stands. Just 9% of fans who 

attended an MLB game last season were African 

American, according to a recent Scarborough 

Marketing Research study. "It's what you grow up 

around," Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew 

McCutchen says. "For the African-American 

community, it's more basketball, it's more football. Just 

the hype of it. It's what people like. Baseball is more of 

a laid-back sport. There's not a lot going on. "Growing 

up, I really loved baseball, and it's something I 

flourished at as a child. But look at the world now. 

Technology is running the world. There are so many 

different things people can do, so it kind of turns them 

away from baseball." Said Dodgers center fielder Matt 

Kemp: "We're definitely aware what's going on in MLB 

as far as African Americans. I'm trying to make 

baseball cool for African Americans and let 

African-American kids know that baseball can give you 

the same opportunities as football, basketball or any of 



the other sports. You get paid just as much, get to 

drive those nice cars and do all of that fun stuff that all 

the other NBA guys get to do. We're just a little bit 

more low key." It's difficult, scouts and general 

managers say, since colleges also are attracting so 

few African-American athletes. Universities offer only 

11.7 scholarships in baseball, compared with 85 in 

football. "The lack of full scholarships in NCAA 

baseball sways kids to other sports," Oakland Athletics 

scouting director Billy Owens says. "Plus there are 

more options athletically and recreationally. Back in 

the '40s and '50s, baseball was unequivocally the No. 

1 sport in America. Now it's extremely popular but not 

a monopoly. We should embrace our past, promote 

the present and continue to strive and make things 

better for everyone." Williams says perhaps there's too 

much emphasis on the lack of African Americans in 

baseball. The White Sox GM is more intrigued with the 

additional benefits of MLB's efforts. "I'm happy with 

MLB's efforts to bring more young men to the game, 

but not why you think," he says. "It's the educational 

and motivational part of the programs that hopefully 

lead to college opportunities that most impress me." 

124



African Americans in MLB: 8%, lowest 

since integration era 

ST. LOUIS -- Major League Baseball, celebrating 

Jackie Robinson Day Sunday, has the lowest 




African-American percentage in baseball this season 

has dropped to 8.05%, which is less than half the 

percentage of 17.25% in 1959 when the Boston Red 

Sox became the last team to integrate their roster. It's 

down from 8.5% last season, and a dramatic decline 

from the peak of 1975, when 27% of all rosters were 

African-American. Even as late as 1995, the 

percentage was 19%. 

Baseball likes to say things are getting better,'' says 

former 20-game winner and front-office executive 

Dave Stewart, who's now an agent. "It's not getting 

better. It's only getting worse. We've been in a 

downward spiral for a long time, and the numbers just 

keep declining.'' Ten teams opened the year with no 

more than one African-American on their opening-day 

roster. There are nearly 30 more players from the 

Dominican Republic than the total of African-American 

players. Foreign-born players account for 28.4% of 

members of opening-day rosters. 

The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Los 

Angeles Dodgers account for nearly 25% of all 

African-Americans in baseball, while Cubs center 



to say,'' said Byrd, the only African-American on the 

field Sunday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis during the 

65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color 

barrier. " 

I remember when I came up with the Phillies in 2002, 

we had six (African-American) players. I thought that 

was the norm. Now, you look around, and don't see 

anyone. "Will it change? I don't know. I'm hoping it's a 

different story four or five years from now.'' Major 

League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, aware of 

the dwindling numbers, said the sport is diligently 

trying to reverse the trend with their urban academies 

and annual Civil Rights Game. 

"We trying to get better. It won't happen overnight,'' 

Selig said. "And we're very comfortable saying it will be 

better. We are doing great work with our baseball 

academies and working in the inner-cities. It's getting 

better.'' While African-Americans are dwindling on the 

field, Selig said he's pleased with the diversity of front 

offices. 

Still, Kenny Williams of the Chicago White Sox and 

Michael Hill of the Miami Marlins are the lone 

African-American general managers, and Dusty Baker 

of Cincinnati and Ron Washington of Texas are the 

only African-American managers. "I remember Jackie 

saying 10 days before he passed (in 1972),'' Selig 

said, "he wouldn't be satisfied until we had a black 

manager and general manager. If he went through all 

of our front offices today in baseball, he'd be proud.'' 

125

16/04/2012


16/04/2012 



U.S. high court hears Glaxo overtime pay case, 130 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Reforma Constitucional 

Centre has scant respect for States: Jayalalithaa, 131 



Ministry move on retrospective taxation decried, 132 

Correo Del Orinoco - Nacionales 


PPT Maneiro califica de "hipócrita" propuesta de Capriles de institucionalizar misiones, 133 

Corriere Della Será - Cronaca 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Suprema Corte de Justicia 

Escort nelle residenze di Berlusconi Lavitola in Italia: notificato l'arresto, 134 

Diário de Notícias Lisboa - Opinião 


Ilícito é o populismo..., 135 



CDS propõe juíza Fátima Mata Mouros para o Constitucional, 136 

El País - Internacional 


Los islamistas quieren acabar con el presidencialismo en Argelia, 137 



Marlaska, contra la prescripción de los crímenes de ETA, 138 



The clan that ruled the roulette wheel, 139 

El País - España 


Dos fallecidas a manos de sus parejas en 24 horas, 142 



Dictan pautas para la ejecución de los fallos, 143 



Carga procesal será cero, 144 

El Universal - Política 


Inician candidatos "pasarela" ante clero, 146 

El Universal - Opinión 

127



Buscan recuperar el corredor azul, 147 



Sigue siendo muy alto el nivel de judicialización, 148 



Están frenados por la Anses más de 4500 juicios de jubilados, 149 

La Repubblica - Cronaca 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Constitución 

"Niente fondi ai partiti e vincono le lobby" La reazione di Alfano, Bersani e Casini, 151 



Vauzelle ne s'occupera pas de Cassez , 153 

Le Monde - Idées 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Conseil Constitutionnel 

André Vallini : "La gauche devra mettre fin au soupçon de partialité qui ronge l"autorité de la justice", 154 

Los Tiempos - actualidad 


Caso Rózsa: Costas asegura que hubo "terrorismo de Estado", 156 



Kris Kobach: Immigration isn't just a federal matter, 157 



Rederechts-Pläne sollen entschärft werden, 159 



Gerichtshof verurteilt Russland wegen Katyn-Massakers , 161 



U.S. cites Assurant unit over health premium hike, 162 



Supreme Court hears Glaxo overtime pay case, 163 



Keeping a Promise to Home Care Aides, 164 



Need help from the IRS? Prepare to wait, 165 



More American workers sue employers for overtime pay, 167 



128


Can an undocumented immigrant be admitted to the Fla. Bar?, 170 



More U.S. workers sue employers for overtime, 171 



Influential African-American MLB players, 174 



Black baseball players declining, 175 



Letters: Jackie Robinson's legacy should be recalled often, 177 

129

Business Insurance/ - Article, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


U.S. high court hears Glaxo overtime pay 

case 

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Supreme Court 

heard arguments Monday on whether pharmaceutical 

companies must pay sales representatives overtime, a 

dispute that threatens the industry with billions of 

dollars in potential liability. 

The justices considered an appeal by two former sales 

representatives for a unit of Britain"s GlaxoSmithKline 

P.L.C. of a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of 

Appeals in California that they were "outside sales" 

personnel exempt from federal overtime pay 

requirements. 

That decision conflicted with an earlier ruling by the 

2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that 

pharmaceutical sales representatives qualified for 

overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Paul Clement, a former Bush administration solicitor 

general now in private practice, argued for the Glaxo 

unit and said the representatives were exempt from 

overtime requirements. 

Mr. Clement cited a brief filed by the Pharmaceutical 

Research and Manufacturers of America trade group 

that said classifying sales representatives as eligible 

for overtime could expose the industry to potential 

liability of billions of dollars. 

The Federal Labor Standards Act generally requires 

companies to pay workers overtime, but includes 

numerous exemptions for certain white-collar workers, 

including those classified as "outside salesmen." 

Attorney Thomas Goldstein, representing the workers, 

said the main purpose of the representatives was to 

promote drugs in visits to doctors. "They tout drugs to 

doctors," he said. 

During the hour of arguments, the justices also 

considered a second issue of whether the U.S. Labor 

Department"s interpretation of the law was owed 

deference. 

In 2009, the Labor Department sided with the former 

workers and said the exemption applied only if the 

representatives had been involved in a consummated 

sales transaction, but not when they just promoted 

drugs in visits to doctors. 

The two former Glaxo workers, Michael Christopher 

and Frank Buchanan, said in their class-action lawsuit 

that they did not receive overtime for 10 to 20 hours 

worked each week, on average, outside the normal 

business day. 

Glaxo replied that pharmaceutical sales 

representatives typically got a base salary and 

performance-based commissions, and that the 

overtime requirements did not apply. 

A ruling by the Supreme Court is due by the end of 

June. 

130

Business Line/ - Markets, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Reforma Constitucional) 

Centre has scant respect for States: 

Jayalalithaa 

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, 

warned against an "emerging pattern" wherein the 

State's powers are "abrogated" by the Centre through 

passage of Bills and accused it of showing "scant 

respect" for State Governments. 

In an all-round attack on the Congress-led UPA today, 

Ms Jayalalithaa accused the central Government of 

"encroaching on State powers" through the National 

Counter-Terrorism Centre which was in "contravention" 

of constitutional provisions that accord priority status to 

police in the State list. Addressing the Chief Ministers' 

Conference on Internal Security here, she claimed that 

the Centre unilaterally decided on the Indo-US joint 

naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal without taking the 

State Government into confidence. 

"Lack of consultation with the States and failure to take 

the States into confidence is a cogent commentary on 

the system of governance in the Centre. "...This is not 

all. Adding insult to injury, the Central Government did 

not permit the Consul-General of the US Consulate, 

Chennai, and senior Indian Navy Officials based in 

Chennai to meet me as the constitutional Head of the 

Government," she said. 

Ms Jayalalithaa, who is opposed to the NCTC, said 

this implies that the Central government has "scant 

respect" for constitutionally-elected State 

governments. 

She also expressed the hope that the Centre would 

follow the principle of prior consultation with the State 

governments, whenever such important decisions are 

taken by the Central Government. 

In her speech, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also said 

she was afraid there is an emerging pattern wherein 

powers vested with the States are sought to be 

"abrogated without the attendant responsibility, either 

by the passage of bills or issuance of notifications." 

Alleging that the leverage and operational magnitude 

of the State is sought to be kept under control by 

tightening finances, she said States were getting 

accustomed to this formula being repeated in almost 

every aspect of revenue accrual from the Centre. 

"The constant attempts to reduce States to the level of 

glorified municipal corporations heavily dependent on 

the Centre for funds is a travesty of the federal nature 

of our existence. This attitude is disturbing and the 

implication of such exercises is not conducive to either 

State or national growth," Ms Jayalalithaa said. 

She also said she comes with "great hope" of receiving 

assistance from the Centre every time she visits Delhi, 

but it has eluded her. 

"Hope, however, springs eternal," she said. 

She said the Tamil Nadu Police have successfully 

handled various protests, either at Kudankulam or at 

the site of the Mullaperiyar Dam. "The Kudankulam 

Nuclear Power Plant was successfully re-opened 

without any bloodshed or disturbance to law and order. 

The disturbances provoked by some unruly elements 

along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border were successfully 

quelled. 

"Land grabbing and exploitation of the common people 

by the land mafia which was a scourge prevailing 

particularly in major cities such as Chennai, Madurai 

and Tiruchi has now become a thing of the past," she 

said. 

Ms Jayalalithaa said the State Government received 

34,703 complaints of land grabbing in various districts 

and lands worth Rs 758.04 crores have been retrieved 

so far. 

Separation of crime investigation from the law and 

order police wing as provided for in the Supreme 

Court judgement on police reforms is indeed the right 

way forward, she said. 

131

Business Line/ - Markets, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Ministry move on retrospective taxation 

decried 

Renowned economist Mr Parthasarathi Shome on 

Monday criticised the Finance Ministry?s move to 

impose retrospective taxation on overseas 

transactions. 

According to Mr Shome, Director and CEO, Indian 

Council for Research on International Economic 

Relations (ICRIER), such a taxation system was not 

futuristic as it creates a conflict between the judiciary 

and the legislature. 

"It (taxation) has to be prospective and not 

retrospective. It is even banned in some countries 

constitutionally. There is a subsumption that the 

legislature can actually go back and change the view 

of the judiciary, which is based on the current law," he 

told the media on the sidelines of an interactive 

session on tax administration, organised by the Bharat 

Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata. 

It would also allow the legislature to ?change the 

functioning and judgement of the Supreme Court 

retro-actively,? he said. 

132

Correo Del Orinoco/ - Nacionales, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


PPT Maneiro califica de "hipócrita" 

propuesta de Capriles de institucionalizar 

misiones 

Ante los medios, Luis Tellería, recordó que el ahora 

candidato de la oligarquía, fue uno de los actores 

principales en oponerse a la propuesta de reforma 

constitucional que proponía la referida iniciativa 

Foto/Archivo 

Como “hipócrita” calificó el Movimiento Alfredo 

Maneiro del Partido Patria Para Todos (PPT) la 

pretensión del candidato de la derecha a la 

presidencia, Henrique Capriles Radonski, de recoger 

firmas para avalar una propuesta a la que se negaron 

en 2007, cuando rechazaron el referendo 

constitucional presentado por el Jefe de Estado, Hugo 

Chávez. 

“Son hipócritas la Mesa de la Unidad (MUD) y su 

candidato, porque en 2007 la reforma planteó darle 

rango constitucional a las misiones para que contaran 

con recursos ordinarios y se profundizara su trabajo. 

Ahora hablan de recoger firmas para 

institucionalizarlas”, criticó el secretario general del 

PPT Maneiro, Luis Tellería. 

En rueda de prensa este lunes, recordó que fue 

Capriles Radonski, en su rol de alcalde del municipio 

Baruta, uno de los actores principales en oponerse a 

que el pueblo votara a favor de la propuesta de 

reforma y ahora "viene a vender hipocresía y un falso 

discurso tratando de plantear recoger firmas para 

garantizar una legalidad a las misiones que ellos 

siempre se negaron a darle”. 

En un acto reciente de entrega de los primeros 

recursos para los integrantes de la Gran Misión En 

Amor Mayor, el presidente Chávez denunció que la 

oposición venezolana quiere eliminar las misiones 

como Barrio Adentro (salud gratuita) y Mercal 

(alimentos subsidiados), “porque lo que quieren es 

ganar plata en las clínicas privadas”. 

Sobre el tema se pronunció el 11 de abril pasado el 

vicepresidente Ejecutivo de la República, Elías Jaua, 

quien definió la llamada “Ley de Misiones”, como la 

denomina la ultraderecha, como una “propuesta 

demagógica”. 

Durante los actos conmemorativos de los 10 años del 

gole de Estado, en Puente Llaguno, en Caracas, 

expresó que lo que la derecha no dice es que "si 

hubiesen triunfado el 11 de abril no habría misiones 

sino miseria en el país. Esa es la realidad histórica”. 

Fuente/AVN 

Foto/Archivo 

Versión para Imprimir Ir arriba | Ir a Portada 

133

Corriere Della Será/ - Cronaca, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Suprema Corte de Justicia) 

Escort nelle residenze di Berlusconi 

Lavitola in Italia: notificato l'arresto 

Il faccendiere, ex direttore dell'Avanti latitante da 

ottobre 

Dai magistrati baresi è indagato nell'inchiesta 

sui rapporti tra Gianpi Tarantini e il premier 

BARI - Valter Lavitola, l'ex direttore dell'Avanti latitante 

in Sudamerica dal 14 ottobre 2011, è rientrato 

stamattina in Italia per costituirsi. L'aereo Alitalia 

proveniente da Buenos Aires con a bordo Lavitola è 

atterrato all'aeroporto di Fiumicino alle 6 e 41. Piumino 

blu smanicato, maglioncino bianco, jeans, scarpe da 

ginnastica, zainetto beige in spalla e con un piccolo 

trolley: così è apparso Valter Lavitola appena sbarcato 

dal Boeing 777 dell'Alitalia atterrato a Fiumicino. Qui 

Lavitola è stato prelevato da un nutrito dispiegamento 

di uomini della Polizia di frontiera e condotto negli uffici 

della Polizia giudiziaria, dove è avvenuta la notifica 

degli atti a suo carico. Terminata la notifica degli atti a 

suo carico negli uffici della polizia, Valter Lavitola ha 

lasciato, sotto scorta, l'aeroporto di Fiumicino. 

IN AEROPORTO - Nel percorso dall' uscita dell' aereo 

fino agli uffici della polizia giudiziaria, nella sala transiti 

del Terminal 3, Walter Lavitola è rimasto sempre teso, 

con il volto tirato, impassibile, e qualche volta ha 

sbuffato, mostrando anche un pò di stanchezza per il 

lungo viaggio. Un muro di uomini della polizia di 

frontiera e della guardia di finanza ha fatto da divisorio 

tra Lavitola e i tanti passeggeri che si chiedevano, 

incuriositi, chi fosse arrivato. Poi l'incrocio con una 

schiera di fotoreporter e troupe, dinnanzi ai quali 

Lavitola è rimasto con lo stesso atteggiamento. A 

Fiumicino ci sono funzionari della Digos e della 

guardia di finanza di Napoli, oltre ai carabinieri di Bari. 

Su Lavitola pende un'ordinanza d'arresto della 

magistratura di Bari per l'affaire delle escort nelle 

residenze di Berlusconi. È indagato nell'ambito 

dell'inchiesta sui rapporti fra i coniugi Tarantini e l'ex 

premier. 

LA PROCURA DI BARI - L'arresto del faccendiere 

Valter Lavitola per l'inchiesta barese sulle escort pone 

di nuovo l'interrogativo sull'iscrizione a Bari del nome 

dell'ex premier Silvio Berlusconi nel registro degli 

indagati. Interrogativo che tuttora, tuttavia, non è stato 

ufficialmente sciolto. Nell'indagine Lavitola è accusato 

di aver indotto Gianpaolo Tarantini a mentire ai pm 

baresi (in favore di Berlusconi) che indagavano sulle 

escort che Gianpi ha portato negli anni scorsi nelle 

residenze dell'allora premier. L'interrogativo emerge da 

quanto scrisse il tribunale del Riesame di Bari nelle 

motivazioni con cui, il 6 febbraio scorso, ha confermato 

il provvedimento d'arresto per l'ex direttore dell'Avanti. 

Scrive il tribunale, riprendendo l'orientamento già 

espresso dal tribunale della Liberta partenopeo che ha 

stabilito la competenza della procura pugliese ad 

indagare: «Non vi è dubbio che le dichiarazioni rese 

dal Tarantini davanti all'autorità giudiziaria di Bari in 

data 29 e 31 luglio 2009 risultano essere reticenti 

relativamente al coinvolgimento del premier e a tratti 

addirittura mendaci, determinando in tal modo, alla 

stregua dell'illustrato orientamento della Suprema 

Corte, la consumazione del reato di cui all'articolo 377 

bis del Codice penale, posto in essere da Silvio 

Berlusconi». E aggiunge, sempre citando i giudici 

napoletani: Lavitola ha avuto il «ruolo di intermediario 

tra Silvio Berlusconi (...) e Gianpaolo Tarantini e ha 

tenuto una condotta che deve essere valutata in 

termini di concorso nel reato». 

NUOVO PROVVEDIMENTO - Una nuova ordinanza di 

custodia, su richiesta della procura di Napoli è stata 

notificata all'ex direttore di Avanti. Tra le accuse, vi è 

anche la corruzione internazionale per presunte 

tangenti a politici panamensi per la realizzazione di 

carceri. Altre accuse riguardano i finanziamenti 

all'editoria. Nella nuova ordinanza di custodia 

cautelare emessa a carico di Valter Lavitola, del 

senatore Sergio De Gregorio e di altre persone, si 

contesta ai due e ad altre quattro indagati - Antonio 

Bifano, Vincenzo Ghionni, Roberto Cristiano e Patrizia 

Gazzulli - il reato di associazione per delinquere legata 

ai fondi per l'editoria. 

IL SENATORE - Nella vicenda all'interno della quale 

sono scattate nuove accuse per Valter Lavitola è stato 

emesso anche un ordine di custodia cautelare in 

carcere nei confronti del senatore del Pdl Sergio De 

Gregorio. Il provvedimento è stato trasmesso al 

Senato per l'autorizzazione all'esecuzione. «Mi 

difenderò con le unghie e con i denti» dice De 

Gregorio - non essendomi mai sottratto all'autorità 

giudiziaria non capisco quale necessità ci sia di questa 

misura cautelare» aggiunge il parlamentare 

napoletano. 

Redazione online 

134

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Opinião, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Ilícito é o populismo... 

Com a veemente censura do Tribunal Constitucional 

à criminalização do enriquecimento injustificado (que a 

lei fazia presumir ilícito), conheceu-se agora o epílogo 

de uma das mais lamentáveis expressões de 

demagogia alguma vez produzidas no nosso 

Parlamento, resultado de um infeliz casamento entre 

as pulsões populistas de uns e os laivos totalitários de 

outros, todos convergindo, a propósito de uma 

alegada "higienização" da sociedade, na postergação 

dos mais elementares alicerces de um Estado de 

Direito, mormente o princípio da presunção de 

inocência. 

Agora que, uns atrás dos outros, iremos certamente 

assistir ao desfile de avisados comentadores que 

enaltecerão a sábia decisão do TC, importa recordar 

que, no momento em que muitos desses 

comentadores assistiam, mudos e quedos (alguns, 

inclusive, aplaudindo essa pretensa "conquista 

civilizacional"), à embriaguez populista que conduziu à 

lei ora censurada, só o PS se manteve firme na defesa 

dos princípios hoje reconfirmados como fundacionais 

da democracia e liberdade. Só o PS teve então a 

coragem de sair em defesa do Estado de Direito 

Democrático, ousando arrostar com críticas que só 

hoje, graças à luz do acórdão do TC, se revelaram, 

enfim, aos olhos de todos, inequivocamente 

infundadas. 

Sucede que PSD e CDS não podem deixar de 

continuar a merecer uma forte reprovação. É que a 

gravidade do seu comportamento (a que se somaram 

PCP e BE) não decorre apenas - e já seria o bastante 

- da circunstância de terem votado, apesar dos apelos 

à razão por parte do PS, uma lei que nos colocava à 

margem do universo civilizacional das democracias 

liberais. Os principais danos da sua conduta residirão, 

por um lado, na caução que incautamente (?) 

emprestaram a uma conceção totalitária da sociedade 

(segundo a qual ao Estado seria legítimo inquirir da 

virtude do cidadão e este seria devedor dessa 

prestação), mas, sobretudo, no dano que bem sabiam 

não poder deixar de vir a provocar na confiança nos 

nossos tribunais e na Justiça. É que, ao confirmar-se 

agora a então mais que previsível 

inconstitucionalidade da lei que apresentavam como 

salvífica no combate à corrupção, PSD e CDS não 

podiam ignorar que a iliteracia jurídica de muitos dos 

seus eleitores iria conduzir ao enraizamento de um 

pensamento tão simples quanto perverso: "São os 

tribunais que não querem combater a corrupção", 

dirão agora muitos dos que permanecem iludidos pelo 

discurso populista dos seus dirigentes. 

Ora, esse é um dano sobre a credibilidade do sistema 

judicial que é tanto mais grave quanto partiu da última 

pessoa de quem poderia ter partido: da própria 

ministra da Justiça. Escutamos ainda o eco das 

palavras de Paula Teixeira da Cruz quando, na 

"Universidade da JSD", ao mesmo tempo que 

asseverava, pela enésima vez, que o diploma em 

causa não padecia de "nenhuma 

inconstitucionalidade", proclamava que este tipo legal 

era "absolutamente decisivo para o combate à grande 

corrupção"... (dois rotundos dislates, como o PS 

sempre denunciou e a decisão do TC vem confirmar). 

É, pois, da mais elementar justiça enfatizar hoje que, 

onde a direção do PS argumentou com seriedade, 

todas as outras se fizeram banhar no populismo mais 

rasteiro. Onde o PS permaneceu firme na defesa de 

princípios, todos os demais claudicaram. 

Hoje, com esta decisão do Tribunal Constitucional, 

saíram vencedores os Direitos, Liberdades e 

Garantias de cada cidadão. Derrotados, os 

demagogos e as demagogas. E o populismo. 

135

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Globo, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


CDS propõe juíza Fátima Mata Mouros 

para o Constitucional 

O líder parlamentar do CDS, Nuno Magalhães, 

afirmou hoje à agência Lusa que irá propor o nome de 

Fátima Mata Mouros para uma das três vagas a 

preencher no Tribunal Constitucional, cuja eleição 

se realizará na sexta-feira. 

Os nomes dos três juízes a indicar para o Tribunal 

Constitucional têm de ser eleitos com uma maioria 

de dois terços, o que obriga a um entendimento entre 

a maioria governamental PSD/CDS e PS. 

Na sexta-feira passada, o PSD propôs para o Tribunal 

Constitucional o nome de Paulo Saragoça da Matta, 

enquanto o PS escolheu o ex-secretário de Estado da 

Justiça Conde Rodrigues. 

Em declarações à agência Lusa, o líder da bancada 

do CDS referiu que o nome de Fátima Mata 

"Mas agora confirmamos a nossa escolha" de Fátima 

Mata 

Para o líder parlamentar do CDS, a juíza Fátima Mata 

136

El País/ - Internacional, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Los islamistas quieren acabar con el 

presidencialismo en Argelia 

Reforma constitucional para instaurar en Argelia una 

República parlamentaria; amnistía general para 

excarcelar a todos los islamistas y banca islámica para 

sustituir a la tradicional. 

La Alianza Verde, integrada por tres partidos 

islamistas legales (Movimiento de la Sociedad para la 

Paz, El Islah y En Nahda), desveló, el pasado fin de 

semana, su programa electoral justo después de su 

primer gran mitin de precampaña. 

Este coincidió con el entierro del primer presidente de 

Argelia, Ahmed Ben Bella, al que sus líderes no 

acudieron. Su campaña electoral arrancó formalmente 

ayer con un gran mitin en Constantina, elegida por ser 

en lugar de nacimiento del imán Ben Badis, 

reformador del islam argelino. 

Argelia celebrará dentro de tres semanas unas 

elecciones legislativas que, según recalcó el sábado el 

presidente Abdelaziz Bouteflika, “constituyen una 

etapa crucial y una apuesta decisiva”. 

Serán las elecciones más transparentes desde que 

hace medio siglo Argelia accedió a la independencia. 

Hasta ahora han estado marcadas por el fraude, pero 

esta vez más de 500 observadores internacionales 

tratarán de velar por su pureza junto con dos 

comisiones argelinas, una de ellas independiente. 

“Tenemos gran confianza en la credibilidad del 

escrutinio que, por supuesto, ganaremos 

holgadamente”, afirmó Faeth Rebaie, presidente de 

En Nahda, al presentar el programa. Contiene 718 

medidas a tomar durante dos legislaturas, pero aun 

así es vago. 

Si, el 10 de mayo, se confirma este cambio de 

mayoría Argelia empezará vivir una “primavera árabe” 

sui géneris. Hasta ahora es el único país del norte de 

África que se ha librado de vientos de cambio que 

soplan sobre la región y que han aupado a los 

islamistas al poder. 

La Alianza Verde quiere que el próximo Parlamento no 

solo enmiende la Constitución sino que se convierta 

en una asamblea constituyente para hacer de Argelia 

en una República parlamentaria. 

Hoy en día su régimen es presidencialista con 

Bouteflika a la cabeza, pero el DRS, el servicio secreto 

militar, sigue ejerciendo su influencia sobre algunos 

ámbitos incluido el Sáhara Occidental. 

Los islamistas también quieren promulgar una 

amnistía general que recoja la rehabilitación de los 

dirigentes del Frente Islámico de Salvación cuya 

victoria electoral fue abortada hace 20 años por el 

Ejército. La guerra civil larvada que vivió entonces 

Argelia se cobró cerca de 200.000 muertos. 

Bouteflika impulsó una política de reconciliación que 

supuso la excarcelación de miles de radicales, pero la 

amnistía que propugna la Alianza Verde conllevaría la 

liberación cientos de terroristas recientemente 

condenados. 

La marea verde que parece cernirse sobre Argelia, 

ante el desgaste y división de los partidarios de 

Bouteflika y la segmentación de los partidos 

democráticos, preocupa incluso a aquellos instalados 

desde hace décadas en el poder. 

Abdelaziz Belkhadem, líder de Frente de Liberación 

Nacional, el antiguo partido único, acabó su mitin en 

Tamanrasset pidiendo a los electores que asuma sus 

responsabilidad para no caer de nuevo en la 

inestabilidad y la inseguridad de antaño en una alusión 

a la violenta década de los años noventa. 

137



Marlaska, contra la prescripción de los 

crímenes de ETA 

El juez Fernando Grande-Marlaska, que ha tomado 

hoy posesión de su cargo como presidente de la Sala 

Penal de la Audiencia Nacional, se ha mostrado 

partidario de que se investiguen los numerosos 

crímenes de ETA que quedan sin resolver y se ha 

declarado contrario a la prescripción de los mismos. 

En un acto multitudinario celebrado en la Audiencia 

Nacional, al que han asistido el presidente del 

Supremo, Carlos Dívar; el fiscal del Estado, Eduardo 

Torres-Dulce; la presidenta de la Comunidad de 

Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre; numerosos vocales del 

Poder Judicial, magistrados del Supremo y multitud 

de jueces y fiscales, además de funcionarios y 

amigos, Marlaska ha explicado que uno de sus 

propósitos es potenciar la oficina de víctimas. El nuevo 

presidente ha tenido un recuerdo para las víctimas de 

otros crímenes investigados por la Audiencia y ha 

señalado que uno de los retos a los que se enfrenta 

en la lucha contra la criminalidad organizada y en la 

cooperación judicial internacional es el redefinir las 

competencias para ser más eficaces. 

El presidente de la Audiencia Nacional, Ángel Juanes, 

que le ha dado réplica, ha destacado que Marlaska “es 

una excelente persona, un buen compañero que ha 

sabido crear en su entorno del juzgado un ambiente 

idóneo de trabajo que ha permitido que todos sus 

componentes dieran lo mejor de sí mismos”. 

Juanes ha indicado que Marlaska llega en un 

momento clave, “pues si finalmente se acaba el 

terrorismo de ETA se hará necesario replantearse el 

futuro de la Audiencia Nacional con más de 34 años 

de historia, caracterizados por el sacrificio y entrega 

de sus componentes”. 

En el mismo sentido que Marlaska, Juanes ha dicho 

ser partidario de redefinir las competencias de la 

Audiencia, porque existe “una cierta incongruencia, ya 

que la Sala de lo Penal es competente para conocer 

de los delitos de trata de seres humanos cometidos en 

el extranjero y no lo es cuando esos delitos se 

cometen en España”. 

Dívar, por su parte, ha criticado que se vayan a quitar 

los escoltas a jueces y fiscales de la Audiencia 

Nacional, puesto que es un órgano que no solo 

investiga crímenes de ETA, sino también crimen 

organizado, delitos económicos y otros terrorismos. 

138



The clan that ruled the roulette wheel 

Gonzalo García-Pelayo"s winning racehorse is named 

Going Wrong, and bets are 12 to 1 just before the race 

at the tracks in Cheltenham, UK. The 450 euros that 

he has put down on the jockey in the green-striped 

shirt is part of a "private investment fund" which relies 

on tipsters and earns him a 30-percent annual return. 

Just then, his cellphone vibrates: it"s a text from 

another tipster. In the match between Fernando 

Verdasco and Juan Martín del Potro, he should bet 

against the Argentinean tennis player winning more 

than four games against the Spaniard. García-Pelayo 

then explains that he is in the process of creating a 

new formula for tennis bets based on the theory that if 

the pre-match favorite favorite loses the first set, he or 

she will win the second. If his studies prove conclusive, 

he will program it on his computer, under "Favorite 

loses first set" so it automatically launches. 

The race starts at Cheltenham. García-Pelayo leans 

back on his office chair, watching the screen with the 

remote in his hand. It"s mid-afternoon on a Tuesday in 

March, and the gambler is dressed in cords and 

checkered shirt. His white beard and hair are 

disheveled, his reading glasses hang from his neck. 

His desk is covered in several layers of dust and 

papers scribbled with formulas and numbers - their 

degree of yellowing is a like a scale that reflects the 

strata of his life as a gambler. 

This is more or less the position in which he spends 

his days at home in Madrid, although he does inch 

closer to the screen in order to determine the exact 

placement of his horse (Going Wrong seems to be in 

third place, maybe second; it"s hard to tell on the small 

screen). 

At times he gets up to check the other four computers 

he has placed in various rooms in his house. They are 

all buzzing with their own activity, offering players from 

all over the planet bets that he has programmed. An 

electronic cry of "Goal!" can be heard every so often 

from one of them, announcing a new development in 

the ongoing Debrecen-Kaposvár game in the 

Hungarian League. The software immediately updates 

itself, offering 2.6/1 that it will be four-goal match. 

Soccer is the axis upon which García-Pelayo"s private 

fund rotates. His computers offer 200 bets daily, from 

which he expects to earn some 15,000 euros a month, 

part of which will go to the investors and the remainder 

to a retirement fund. It took him a year to study how 

and what to program: "a degree in sports betting," he 

calls it. Though he will be 65 in June, there are a lot of 

unexplained gaps on his résumé. 

Gonzalo is the patriarch of the Pelayo clan, a family 

who shot to fame in the 1990s for designing a 

statistical-based method for winning on the roulette 

wheel. According to the family"s estimates, they won 

some 250 million pesetas (1.5 million euros) between 

1991 and 1995, mainly in the Madrid Gran Casino their "greatest enemy" but also the "laboratory" in 

which they tested their system. So Gonzalo and his 

son Iván wrote in La fabulosa historia de los Pelayo 

(or, The fabulous history of the Pelayos), published by 

Plaza y Janés. 

Their discovery was accidental. Gonzalo had sent his 

nephew to the casino to learn the ways of the 

croupiers. He wanted to study their "ways of dropping" 

in the hopes of determining a pattern in the path, 

bounces and final resting place of the ball. His nephew 

took down numbers and dealers" names; Gonzalo 

analyzed the data on a program on his computer. That 

was when he discovered that some numbers come up 

a lot more often than others, a tendency that had 

nothing to do with the dealer and everything to do with 

defects in the manufacture and leveling of the tables. 

His hypothesis: "If Swiss watches and NASA rockets 

have imperfections, then so do roulette wheels." 

These were the times of the get-rich-quick schemes, of 

the Seville Expo and the Barcelona Olympics. The 

patriarch decided to try his luck at roulette following a 

series of business failures, he recalled recently in an 

interview along with his children, Iván and Vanessa. 

He has tried his hand at most everything: from radio 

announcer to matador manager. In the 1970s, he had 

a go at the movie industry. His second movie, Vivir en 

Sevilla (or Living in Seville, 1979) received the 

following review from critic Fernando Trueba: "Clumsy 

dialogue and too calculatedly avant-garde." 

Next, García-Pelayo opened a nightclub in Seville, 

where as DJ, he played Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa. 

He went underground after a judicial order closed the 

establishment down on rumors that minors were using 

drugs in its backrooms. He moved onto the recording 

industry, discovering artists such as Triana and María 

Jiménez. In total, he left his signature on some 130 

albums, including some by Luis Eduardo Aute, Gato 

Pérez and Joaquín Sabina. The latter singer dedicated 

a few lines to García-Pelayo in his well-known song, 

19 días y 500 noches (or, 19 days and 500 nights), 

including: "Yesterday, the doorman threw me out of the 

Torrelodones casino." 

139

García-Pelayo branched out into producing TV 

programs, and had a few hits, but he shut down his 

company after he was accused of fleeing to Brazil, he 

says, and by that point, they were no longer taking his 

calls in the music world. So he started looking for a 

new gig, "beyond the limits of luck," as he calls it. 

After his first few hypotheses on roulette tendencies, 

García-Pelayo formed a team led by his son, Iván, a 

recent philosophy graduate and musician (he 

composed Africanos en Madrid (or, Africans in 

Madrid)). There wasn"t anybody over 26 years old in 

the first group. Though the figures and dates are now 

blurred, as often occurs in legends, after a "few 

months" recording numbers and working with the data, 

betting began in earnest in the fall of 1991. According 

to the book, they won close to "a million pesetas a day" 

in the first month. They played every day, from 5pm to 

closing. "A blue-collar job, not at all glamorous, with 

12-hour days," says Iván. "And on your feet the whole 

time," adds his sister, Vanessa. 

They are interrupted by the sound of their father"s 

cellphone ringing - the Beatles" Eleanor Rigby is the 

ring tone, and he comments that he would like to see a 

movie which portrays his clan like the Liverpool 

quartet, with "producer Phil Spector hovering in the 

background." That role is actually played by actor Lluís 

Homar, the spitting image of García-Pelayo. And the 

preceding scenes, or a version of them, kick off the 

The Pelayos by director Eduard Cortés (the movie 

premieres on April 27). "We are the Pelayos, and we 

have the opportunity to do something extraordinary: 

break the bank in a casino," says actor Daniel Brühl 

(Good Bye, Lenin!) in the role of Iván. 

"This is a classic story: the dream of a handful of social 

pariahs whose rival is big business," enthuses the 

director, who fell under the family"s magnetic spell 

after living with them for a period. 

Though the film mixes fact and fiction, the script 

accurately reflects the clan"s hostility toward the 

managers of the Torrelodones casino. "Every great 

feat has a great enemy," say the Pelayos today (and in 

the book: "We relish our detestation for the casino 

managers in the way that a boxer finds strength in his 

hate for his opponent"). The family was involved in 

long-drawn-out court case against these executives 

that started when they were kicked out of the 

establishment in 1992 for committing what the casino 

termed "gaming irregularities." The battle ended with a 

Supreme Court sentence in 1994 that recognized the 

legitimacy of the Pelayos" methods and even praised 

their "inventiveness." 

The bad guy in the movie is a malicious casino 

manager called La Bestia (The Beast), played by 



Eduard Fernández. The movie doesn"t say which 

casino he works for, but all of this attention has 

understandably caused concern (and anticipation) 

among management at the Madrid casino, who were 

not consulted by the movie"s scriptwriters. 

"We don"t have anything against anybody," says the 

casino"s communications director, his voice mingling 

with the sounds of chips falling in the European Room 

at Torrelodones. "The Pelayos really are not part of our 

everyday conversations around here. They represent 

just another story among the more than 18 million 

visitors we get here. We looked into whether they had 

some sort of advantage over the other players, and we 

fixed the imperfections in the tables." 

He tiptoes around the subject of the expulsions. He 

doesn"t know what the family"s total winnings 

amounted to. He says they never - "no way" - broke 

the bank. Jesús Marín, pit boss in the time of Pelayos, 

and current games director, adds, "They never played 

a lot of numbers, and they always played the same 

ones. They usually won, but their story has been 

exaggerated. It was immediately discovered that the 

roulette tables had a pattern; so first the wheels were 

switched from one table to another, then the entire 

tables were replaced. They played three or four weeks 

in total." 

One former croupier, who prefers to remain 

anonymous, remembers that the Pelayos" winning 

streak happen to coincide with a labor dispute between 

management and staff over an annual 2.6 billion 

pesetas in tips, complete with full and partial strikes 

throughout the year. "There was a lot of confusion and 

some things went unnoticed. That probably was a 

factor. One of the tables, table 13 or 14, was in bad 

shape. The wheel hadn"t been properly leveled, and 

they discovered this by watching and taking notes. 

That is where they had their big wins, about 100 million 

pesetas. But their method never worked as well in 

other casinos." 

The book mentions other wins in Vienna (14 million 

pesetas in one night), Amsterdam (almost 13 million) 

and 40 million in Lloret de Mar, where the movie was 

filmed. But apart from one old Casio calculator, little 

physical evidence of this past remains today in the 

penumbra of Gonzalo"s bedroom. After being 

repeatedly thrown out of the Torrelodones casino, he 

continued to visit the its roulette tables through his 

string of "underground" players, which included Luis 

Mazarrasa, a journalist who later published his story in 

EL PAÍS. There is something about the Pelayo clan 

that causes one to suffer a slight case of the 

Stockholm Syndrome. They welcome every visitor as if 

he or she may be the beginning of something new; 

140

there is a half-carved ham leg in the kitchen, and 

something about the smell of the house and the 

bookshelves full of movies and albums activates that 

part of your brain where memories of childhood are 

stored. 

Beyond this, there is the money. Mazarrasa recalls 

winning 1.8 million pesetas (just over 10,000 euros) in 

three days. García-Pelayo"s team broke up in 1995, 

when he set up an illegal poker establishment. That"s 

another story - maybe another movie. At the end of his 



roulette adventures, García-Pelayo had a stash of over 

60 million pesetas. But money doesn"t last long in the 

hands of a gambler and travel lover. "For Easter 

holidays, I will only have whatever I get out of these 

bets. I live day to day," he says. It is still Tuesday when 

his winning horse, Going Wrong, finishes ninth, 

Verdasco loses more than four games to Del Potro, 

and the cry of "Goal!" continues to be heard from the 

other computers. 

141

El País/ - España, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Dos fallecidas a manos de sus parejas en 

24 horas 

La violencia machista se ha cobrado este fin de 

semana dos nuevas víctimas, dos mujeres de 28 y 55 

años, fallecidas a manos de sus parejas en Tuineje 

(Fuerteventura) y Sevilla, respectivamente. Las 

primeras investigaciones apuntan a que ambas 

murieron por heridas de arma blanca. Con estas 

muertes, son ya 12 las mujeres fallecidas por violencia 

de género en lo que va de año. 

Ninguna de las víctimas mortales de lo que llevamos 

de 2012 había denunciado a su agresor con 

anterioridad, según los datos del Observatorio para la 

Violencia Doméstica y de Género del Consejo General 

del Poder Judicial. Ni la mujer fallecida este sábado 

en Fuerteventura ni la que murió en Sevilla en la 

madrugada del domingo habían dado ese paso, según 

los datos aportados ayer por las Administraciones. 

El crimen de Tuineje ocurrió en la zona de Tarajalejo. 

Sobre las 17.00, un familiar encontró a la mujer, de 

nacionalidad alemana, muerta en su casa. El cuerpo 

estaba tumbado en el suelo y rodeado de sangre, 

según informó la agencia Efe. Dos horas más tarde, la 

Guardia Civil detuvo como presunto agresor a la 

pareja de la víctima, un hombre de 38 años que, 

supuestamente, huyó tras matar a la mujer. 

El segundo de los crímenes sucedió en la madrugada 

del domingo en la calle del Cisneo Alto de Sevilla. La 

víctima, Rosario Gallego, tenía 55 años y llevaba más 

de 25 casada con Valeriano Díaz, de 57, que, 

presuntamente la asesinó con un arma blanca tras 

propinarle varios golpes, según las primeras 

investigaciones. Tras el crimen, el hombre salió de la 

casa, subió a la azotea del bloque y se arrojó al vacío. 

El matrimonio tenía dos hijos mayores de edad. El 

menor de ellos, de 18 años, vivía con los padres y fue 

el que encontró el cadáver de la mujer en el salón de 

la casa sobre la 1.30. Estaba debajo de una manta y 

presentaba heridas de arma blanca, signos de haber 

sido golpeada en la cabeza y tenía sobre el abdomen 

una toalla ensangrentada. 

El hijo estaba en casa en el momento del crimen, pero 

no escuchó nada. Cuando descubrió el cadáver, avisó 

a los vecinos, que alertaron a los servicios de 

emergencias. Cinco minutos después de la primera 

llamada, el 112 recibió otro aviso en el que se alertaba 

de que un hombre yacía muerto en la calle de Rafael 

Cansinos Assens, en la zona común de los bloques 

donde residía el matrimonio. El hombre, se habría 

suicidado, presuntamente, arrojándose desde la 

azotea del edificio, de siete pisos de altura. 

Las políticas de lucha contra la violencia machista no 

se han librado de los recortes, pese a la contundencia 

de las cifras de víctimas. La presidenta del 

Observatorio, Inmaculada Montalbán, criticó esta 

semana que la partida destinada a campañas para la 

prevención de la violencia de género se haya reducido 

el 70% respecto a 2011. “Es fundamental 

mantenerlas”, señaló Montalbán, que asegura que 

muchas mujeres cuentan en los juzgados que se han 

decidido a denunciar tras ver un cartel del 016 (el 

teléfono confidencial de ayuda e información a 

víctimas) o un anuncio en la televisión. 

142

El Peruano/ - Noticia, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Dictan pautas para la ejecución de los 

fallos 

El presidente de la Corte Suprema, César San Martín, 

remarcó a los magistrados los lineamientos adoptados 

por el Consejo Ejecutivo del Poder Judicial para el 

procedimiento de ejecución de sentencias de condena 

de pago de sumas de dinero dictadas contra el Estado 

y las medidas cautelares en forma de retención contra 

las entidades estatales. 

En efecto, mediante la RA Nº 149-2012-P-PJ, la 

judicatura refiere que la ejecución de estas sentencias 

debe ser ordenada a cargo de los presupuestos 

anuales de los pliegos presupuestarios respectivos y 

no contra la Dirección General de Endeudamiento y 

Tesoro Público.La medida fue decidida después de 

haberse constatado que algunos jueces, al dictar 

mandatos cautelares o en la ejecución de sentencias 

contra instituciones del Estado, vienen ordenando 

inapropiadamente que dichos mandatos deban ser 

ejecutados directamente por la Dirección General de 

Endeudamiento y Tesoro Público, refiere la 

disposición legal.Da cuenta, también, de la 

preocupación del Poder Judicial por proteger los 

derechos de todas las partes que intervienen en un 

proceso, sean públicas o particulares. De ahí que 

rechazan que estas precisiones constituyan una 

intromisión en el ejercicio de la independencia de los 

magistrados. 

143

Carga procesal será cero 

En diálogo con el Diario Oficial El Peruano, precisó 

que en el caso Madre Mía –en el que se investigó y 

exculpó al presidente Ollanta Humala– se cumplieron 

todas las fases del debido proceso. “Decir lo contrario 

es incorrecto”, puntualizó. 

¿Qué balance hace de su gestión?-Hemos producido 

100 mil causas adicionales a las ingresadas y esto 

significa que se empieza a resolver el problema de la 

carga procesal. La meta es que este año descienda 

26%, o sea un plus productivo de 300 mil expedientes 

más. Empezaremos con el presupuesto del próximo 

año a establecer un proyecto de inversión con el que 

en un plazo de cuatro años podamos llegar a carga 

cero.¿Cómo marcha la evaluación de 

jueces?-Tenemos que fijar estándares de producción y 

de calidad de las decisiones judiciales. 

Esto no es nada nuevo en derecho comparado; se 

trata de construir con mucha imaginación y creatividad 

el software y las bases que nos van a permitir 

controlar lo que un juez debe producir, cómo debe 

hacerlo, en qué medida está cumpliendo con las 

metas y luego ver si el producto que emite (la 

sentencia) es un producto de calidad.¿Cuánto tiempo 

tomará esta labor?-Espero acabar este trabajo a fines 

de año y tener a comienzos del próximo un modelo de 

monitoreo razonable que permita a los órganos de 

gobierno establecer si los jueces están cumpliendo 

con metas.¿ 

El Nuevo Código Procesal Penal (NCPP) se aplicará 

en Lima?-El Nuevo Código Procesal Penal (NCPP) ya 

está en funcionamiento en todo el país para delitos de 

corrupción; y está en curso en 17 de los 31 distritos 

(para otros casos). Este año trabajaremos 6 distritos, 

en junio será en Pasco, El Santa, Huánuco y Áncash y 

luego, en octubre, otros dos distritos. Esto se hizo a 

partir de la creación de una gerencia de operaciones 

para que el proceso sea dinámico. 

En Lima Metropolitana entrará en vigencia en 2013, ya 

estamos en la preplanificación y esperamos que en 

julio tengamos un primer gran esquema.¿No hay 

motivo para una medida de fuerza de parte de jueces 

por este tema?-Nosotros estamos trabajando en una 

línea de constante diálogo y trabajo técnico con el 

MEF con la amplia aceptación del Presidente de la 

República (Ollanta Humala). Creo que es lo más 

prudente.¿La corrupción sigue siendo el cáncer del 

Poder Judicial?-La corrupción genera descrédito. 

Tenemos un gran esfuerzo producto de la gestión del 

jefe de la Ocma, Enrique Mendoza. Se han creado 

programas especiales de investigación en temas 



sensibles y estamos trabajando en la Unidad de 

Investigaciones Especiales. La corrupción ya no es un 

tema individual, hay redes que tienen un común 

denominador, lo que obliga a cambiar modelos de 

combate. No solo se trabaja en la capacitación de 

jueces de control en auditorías judiciales, además, la 

Comisión de Justicia del Congreso aprobó el proyecto 

de ley que envié sobre jueces contralores. Hay que 

crear una especialidad en el campo jurisdiccional de 

auditoría judicial para que los jueces estén en 

condiciones de luchar contra la corrupción. 

Pericias forenses y contables¿Cuáles son las metas 

en la lucha contra el lavado de activos?-El lavado de 

activos es un delito no convencional que tiene como 

objetivo ocultar, transferir bienes delictivos, éstos 

generalmente provienen del narcotráfico, corrupción y 

contrabando. Todo el modelo de conducta es que los 

bienes mal habidos puedan ser incorporados a la 

economía de mercado y se fractura un principio básico 

de la libre competencia. Hay que atacar a quienes 

conducen los hilos de la economía criminal.¿Hay que 

especializar a los jueces en esta materia?-Lo más 

importante son las pericias forenses, financieras, 

contables, transferencias, seguimiento de bienes y 

cuentas bancarias. Para eso se requiere una mejor 

estructura legal a los organismo de control preventivo; 

hay que fortalecer la Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera 

y construir un cuerpo de peritos con conocimientos 

para analizar la información y establecer cuándo se 

lava o no un activo o un dinero. Se han firmado 

convenios con la cooperación de Estados Unidos y la 

Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola para preparar a 

peritos en el lavado de activos. 

Proceso por Madre Mía¿La justicia cumplió las fases 

en el caso Madre Mía, que involucra al presidente 

Ollanta Humala; ahora que pretenden llevar el caso a 

los organismos internacionales?-El caso fue 

oportunamente judicializado y llegó a la Corte 

Suprema de Justicia en 2009. Tanto el fiscal superior 

como el tribunal de la causa decidieron sobreseer el 

procedimiento porque no advertían ninguna evidencia 

sólida contra los imputados. Contra esa decisión, la 

parte civil a cargo de María Magdalena Sulca, hija de 

los agraviados Benigno Sulca Castro y Natividad Avila 

Rivera, interpusieron recurso de nulidad. 

Este recurso fue tramitado y el fiscal supremo 

dictaminó que no se justificaba la revisión de la causa 

porque no hay evidencias contra, entre otros, Ollanta 

Moisés Humala Tasso.¿La sentencia fue clara?-La 

fiscalía no acusó nunca. Señalada la vista de la causa, 

revisadas las actuaciones, en una sentencia de 25 

144

páginas de la que fui ponente, en efecto establecimos 

que no existía base suficiente como para anular el 

sobreseimiento, disponer que regrese la causa a más 

investigaciones o que la fiscalía subsane omisiones 

trascendentes en su análisis de la evidencia del 

proceso. 

El caso tenía más de siete mil folios, se investigó 

durante varios años, declararon muchísimas personas, 

en un momento que el Presidente de la República 

actual era un simple opositor y que había perdido las 



elecciones de 2006. Sostener que no ha habido una 

investigación suficiente, creo yo, es incorrecto por todo 

lo que se actuó y luego el análisis hecho por los 

tribunales ha sido muy extenso. Se hizo un análisis a 

profundidad del caso. El caso lo conozco muy bien y 

puedo decir que aquí no hay mérito ninguno que 

revele que la justicia peruana actuó indebidamente, 

incorrectamente o vulneró derechos humanos en 

agravio de las víctimas del caso materia de consulta. 

145

El Universal/ - Política, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Inician candidatos "pasarela" ante clero 

julian.sanchez@eluniversal.com.mx 

Los cuatro candidatos a la presidencia de la República 

expondrán esta semana a más de 100 obispos del 

país su postura sobre libertad religiosa y laicidad del 

Estado, así como la importancia de la familia, que los 

religiosos abordan como tema principal a partir de hoy 

en su 93 asamblea plenaria. 

Declarados como católicos, los candidatos Enrique 

Peña Nieto (PRI-PVEM), Josefina Vázquez Mota 

(PAN), Andrés Manuel López Obrador (izquierdas), y 

Gabriel Quadri, Partido Nueva Alianza (Panal), irán a 

la sede de la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano 

(CEM) en Cuautitlán Izcalli, en la que harán "pasarela" 

ante los ministros religiosos, a los que expondrán su 

ideario político en una hora y media. 

Quadri, quien asistirá el próximo viernes, es quien no 

se ha reunido con los religiosos. López Obrador se 

encontró con ellos hace seis años, cuando también 

aspiraba a la Presidencia. Cuando fue gobernador del 

Estado de México, Peña Nieto se reunió con los 

religiosos en cada asamblea. Vázquez Mota llegó a 

tener reuniones con los religiosos como secretaria de 

Estado. 

El PAN es el que más se acerca a la postura de la 

Iglesia católica, pues sostiene que la sociedad se 

compone de hombres y mujeres y entre los dos sexos 

pueden forman una familia, la cual, sostienen, es 

institución de la vida. 

Sobre el derecho a la vida, Vázquez Mota -quien será 

la primera en encontrarse con los religiosos mañana-, 

coincide con la Iglesia en que debe protegerse desde 

el momento de la concepción hasta la muerte natural, 

respecto a lo cual plantea una reforma constitucional. 

Peña Nieto, quien asistirá a la cita el jueves próximo, 

plantea la defensa de la familia y el fomento de su 

integración. Respecto a la salud reproductiva y 

educación sexual, propone orientación y educación 

para que se ejerzan de forma libre y responsable. 

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, estará el miércoles 

próximo en Cuautitlán Izcalli. No ha hecho un 

pronunciamiento reciente sobre el aborto y los 

matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo, temas en 

que la Iglesia se mantiene en contra. Lo que ha 

expresado es ser un juarista creyente del estado laico 

y respetuoso de las decisiones de la ciudadanía. 

En su plataforma, el PRD propone revisar la 

legislación sobre el aborto para proteger a las mujeres 

de una interrupción del embarazo insegura, y 

promueve que reciban un tratamiento adecuado. 

Quadri manifiesta que es católico, pero no practicante. 

Dice tener gran respeto a la diversidad sexual, así 

como del Estado laico. No está a favor del aborto en 

todos los casos, pero sí del derecho que tienen las 

mujeres de decidir la interrupción del embarazo, por lo 

que no está de acuerdo en que el tema se criminalice. 

146

El Universal/ - Opinión, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Buscan recuperar el corredor azul 

NAUCALPAN, Méx.— Con Angélica Moya Marín, 

Jonás Sandoval, Pedro Rodríguez y Javier Campos, el 

Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) buscará recobrar las 

alcaldías de Naucalpan, Tlanepantla, Atizapán y 

Huixquilucan, en lo que fue el llamado corredor azul. 

En la jornada de elección interna del PAN mexiquense 

votaron miles de panistas para elegir candidatos en 52 

alcaldías, al suspenderse el proceso en los 

ayuntamientos Coacalco, Tepotzotlán y Texcoco. 

En Naucalpan, la ex alcaldesa Angélica Moya Marín 

volvió a resultar electa como candidata del PAN, al 

obtener 551 votos, mientras que Mariela Pérez de 

Tejada logró, 341, y Manuel Gómez Morín, 137 

sufragios de militantes panistas. 

En Tlalnepantla, como único candidato, se ratificó el 

triunfo Jonás Sandoval, ex tesorero municipal panista, 

luego de que la comisión electoral negó el registro del 

ex presidente consejero del Instituto Electoral del 

Estado de México (IEEM ), Norberto Hernández 

Bautista, quien espera la resolución del Tribunal 

Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación 

(TEPJF). 

En Huixquilucan Javier Campos le ganó a Alejandra 

Parra de Inzunza. 

En Atizapán, Pedro Rodríguez logró 676 votos, con lo 

que ganó al ex alcalde y diputado local Carlos 

Madrazo. Mientras que Ana Banderas logró la 

candidatura a la diputación local por más 660 votos, 

desplazando a Wilfrido Torres. 

147

La Nacion/ - noticia, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Sigue siendo muy alto el nivel de 

judicialización 

Más notas para entender este temaEstán frenados por 

la Anses más de 4500 juicios de jubilados Entre 

febrero y marzo de este año, los juzgados de primera 

instancia de la seguridad social dictaron 11.294 

sentencias, el doble que en igual período de 2011 y 

cuatro veces más que las que se habían firmado en 

2008, según las estadísticas de la Cámara Federal de 

la Seguridad Social. 

La aceleración de los fallos tiene que ver con que 

muchos reclamos son similares, como los originados 

en la falta de aplicación de recomposiciones a los 

haberes entre 2002 y 2006, un tema sobre el que ya 

se expidió la Corte Suprema en la causa Badaro. 

Pero al mismo tiempo, según los datos del Poder 

Judicial, creció también en los últimos años el número 

de causas que son apeladas, ya sea por la Anses o 

por el demandante, y llegan entonces a la cámara. En 

los dos primeros meses del año con actividad judicial, 

fueron sorteados 9001 expedientes entre las salas de 

apelaciones, casi un 30% más que las que habían 

llegado a esa instancia en 2010 y casi el doble de las 

ingresadas cuatro años atrás, siempre considerando el 

mismo bimestre. 

Tendencia en alza 

En lo que va del año, se iniciaron 17.602 nuevos 

litigios por la actualización de los haberes. La cifra es 

inferior a la registrada durante 2011 (19.051 juicios), 

pero sigue siendo mucho más elevada que el número 

de causas que se iniciaban hasta 2007, el año en el 

que la Corte Suprema cuestionó la política oficial de 

elevar durante años inflacionarios sólo el haber 

mínimo, sin recomponer el valor de los ingresos de 

quienes, en virtud de los aportes hechos en la vida 

laboral, cobraban más que esa cifra garantizada por 

ley. 

A esa razón para la judicialidad se le suman otras 

causas, como la determinación de los haberes 

iniciales.. 

148



Están frenados por la Anses más de 4500 

juicios de jubilados 

Infografía: Los reclamos al EstadoMás notas para 

entender este temaSigue siendo muy alto el nivel de 

judicialización Más de 4500 juicios de jubilados, en su 

mayoría iniciados para reclamar reajustes de haberes, 

tienen su trámite paralizado -según estimaciones de 

fuentes del Poder Judicial-, por un accionar de la 

Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social 

(Anses) que incluye la continua recusación de uno de 

los jueces de la sala II de la Cámara Federal de la 

Seguridad Social. Y ese número crece mes tras mes. 

La situación se mantiene desde julio del año pasado, 

cuando el organismo de la seguridad social -que es la 

parte demandada en estos litigios- comenzó a tratar 

de impedir la participación del juez Luis Herrero, 

recusándolo sin invocación de causa, tras haberlo 

denunciado ante el Consejo de la Magistratura, algo 

que también hizo contra el magistrado Emilio 

Fernández, integrante de la misma sala. 

Desde entonces, y a la espera de una decisión final de 

la Justicia -el tema está ahora en la Corte- sobre la 

validez de ese accionar de la Anses, los trámites que 

llegan a esa sala con la recusación del ente estatal 

quedan frenados. 

La crisis en la Cámara de Apelaciones se da en el 

escenario de una muy elevada litigiosidad en el fuero, 

impulsada, entre otras razones, por la falta -o la 

insuficiencia, en algunos casos- de ajustes en los 

haberes entre los años 2002 y 2006, un período en el 

que la inflación ya iba deteriorando mes tras mes el 

valor real de los ingresos. Esa política, que fue 

declarada inconstitucional por la Corte Suprema en la 

causa Badaro, provocó en su momento recortes de 

hasta el 40% en el poder de compra de los haberes de 

cientos de miles de pasivos. 

La validez de la recusación sin causa contra Herrero 

fue rechazada ya en un dictamen aprobado por un 

tribunal que integraron tres jueces del fuero, en julio 

pasado, en el análisis de la causa "Ramos, Gabina". 

En realidad, como las recusaciones no invocan causa, 

formalmente no habría posibilidad de que se decidiera 

su rechazo. Sin embargo, los magistrados de ese 

tribunal entendieron que existe un abuso en la 

utilización de esa herramienta, ya que la propia Anses 

había informado ante el Consejo de la Magistratura 

sobre su denuncia contra Herrero, de la que se 

desprende que en realidad sí tenía una causa -que ya 

era pública- para su accionar contra el juez. 

En las recusaciones con causa sí existe la posibilidad 

de que desde el fuero sean no admitidas, y el 

dictamen entendió que el trámite no se cursó bajo esa 

modalidad, justamente con el objetivo de evitar su 

rechazo. 

La cuestión de la validez de esas recusaciones está 

ahora en manos de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, 

que analiza el tema en una causa titulada "Aguilera 

Grueso". Según consta en el detalle de la marcha del 

expediente, tras haber pasado por el despacho de tres 

jueces, el trámite fue enviado al procurador general. 

Contra las cautelares 

Más allá de que ese cargo está vacante tras la salida 

de Esteban Righi, no hay plazos para que el 

funcionario que lo reemplace (el Ejecutivo propuso a 

Daniel Reposo) se expida sobre el tema. Mientras no 

se resuelva esa cuestión y la Anses siga presentando 

la recusación en todas las causas que llegan a la sala 

II, los expedientes se irán acumulando. 

Herrero y Fernández, ambos cuestionados por la 

Anses, son los dos jueces camaristas que 

comenzaron a dar curso, años atrás, a medidas 

cautelares planteadas por jubilados para poder cobrar 

sus haberes con la actualización correspondiente, sin 

necesidad de tener que esperar los plazos de un 

reclamo judicial, que suelen ser de cinco, seis o siete 

años. Esas medidas son otorgadas cuando se trata de 

reclamos sobre los que ya se expidió la Corte 

Suprema, por lo que ya se conoce cuál sería su 

resolución final. La Anses rechaza esas cautelares y, 

más allá de apelar cada expediente, también presentó 

otro recurso a la Justicia para evitar que sigan 

dictándose, para evitar la continua salida de recursos. 

La existencia de estas cautelares no fue invocada en 

el pedido de investigación que el organismo dirigido 

por Diego Bossio elevó al Consejo de la Magistratura, 

en un trámite que, en última instancia, podría derivar 

en un juicio político. Sin embargo, la Comisión de 

Disciplina y Acusación, a cargo del diputado oficialista 

Carlos Moreno, pidió que dos auditores enviados a la 

Cámara busquen datos sobre la tramitación de esas 

medidas. 

Investigación 

La denuncia ante el Consejo de la Magistratura, sobre 

la que LA NACION informó el año pasado, tiene como 

justificativo supuestas irregularidades en la gestión del 

juicio iniciado por el jubilado Aguiar Atienza. 

La denuncia está basada en acusaciones hechas por 

la tercera integrante de la sala, Nora Dorado, respecto 

de que se habría alterado el orden de votación de los 

jueces y de que se habría recortado una parte del voto 

redactado por la propia magistrada. 

En su defensa, Herrero alegó que se lo acusa por 

149

tareas que no le corresponden al ser vocal de la sala. 

Además, se lo cuestiona por no haberse excusado 

dada una supuesta amistad con el abogado 

patrocinante, negada por el juez. 

En la causa que originó esa denuncia hubo una 



recusación con causa por parte de la Anses, sobre la 

que ahora un tribunal especial de jueces de la 

seguridad social deberá decidir.. 

150

La Repubblica/ - Cronaca, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Constitución) 

"Niente fondi ai partiti e vincono le 

lobby" La reazione di Alfano, Bersani e 

Casini 

ROMA - 

"Cancellare del tutto i finanziamenti pubblici, destinati 

ai partiti - già drasticamente tagliati dalle manovre 

finanziarie del 2010/2011- sarebbe un errore 

drammatico, che punirebbe tutti allo stesso modo 

(compresi coloro che in questi anni hanno rispettato 

scrupolosamente le regole) e metterebbe la politica 

completamente nelle mani di lobbies, centri di potere e 

di interesse particolare". E" quanto si legge nella 

relazione alla proposta di legge presentata da Pdl, Pd 

e Terzo Polo, primi firmatari Angelino Alfano, Pier Luigi 

Bersani e Pier Ferdinando Casini, contenente "misure 

per garantire la trasparenza e il controllo dei bilanci dei 

partiti e dei movimenti politici". 

Insieme ai capigruppo dei partiti che sostengono il 

governo anche Fabrizio Cicchitto, Dario Franceschini, 

Gian Luca Galletti, Benedetto Della Vedova e Pino 

Pisicchio firmano la proposta di legge presentata il 12 

aprile scorso. "Il finanziamento pubblico dei partiti - si 

legge ancora nel documento - presuppone regole certe 

che garantiscano la trasparenza e il controllo sui 

bilanci. Questa è la strada e bisogna intervenire 

rapidamente". Così la maggioranza è entrata in gioco 

pronunciandosi sulla polemica che ha travolto la 

politica dopo le recenti inchieste giudiziarie dell" 

e 

. Agire in fretta era stato anche l"appello anche del 

ministro per la Cooperazione internazionale, Andrea 

Riccardi: "C"è bisogno, in maniera vitale, dei partiti 

politici, non si può indulgere nell"antipolitica. C"è 

bisogno dei partiti, c"è bisogno di più partiti di partiti 

amici della gente e della cultura, che diano idee a 

questo paese e si chiedano quale sarà l"Italia del 

2013". E su 

il vicepresidente di Fli, Italo Bocchino commenta: "Se 

cancellare i finanziamenti ai partiti sarebbe un errore 

drammatico, non ridurli almeno del 50% sarebbe un 

atto immorale" 

Per i partiti della maggioranza che sostiene il governo, 

occorre quindi "trasformare il finanziamento pubblico 

nella leva per riformare i partiti. Come ha ricordato il 

Presidente della Repubblica Napolitano, è necessario 

sancire per legge regole di democraticità e 

trasparenza nella vita dei partiti e meccanismi corretti e 

misurati di finanziamento della loro attività. La strada 

maestra è quella della discussione e dell"approvazione 

di una legge organica che trasformi i partiti in 

associazioni riconosciute, dotate di personalità 

giuridica, con precisi requisiti statutari". 

Probabilmente già domani l"aula della Camera 

deciderà se assegnare la proposta di legge depositata 

da Alfano, Bersani e Casini in sede legislativa alla 

commissione affari costituzionali come chiesto dal 

presidente della Camera, Gianfranco Fini o se si 

seguirà il nomale iter con il passaggio in Aula, così 

come chiesto da Lega e Radicali. Nel caso, scontato, 

che non tutti i gruppi siano d"accordo, saranno 

chiamati a dichiarare la propria posizione un oratore a 

favore e uno contro. La richiesta viene bocciata se si 

oppone il governo o se vota contro un decimo dei 

deputati, vale a dire 63. Conti alla mano, se votassero 

tutti e 59 i deputati della Lega e i sei radicali, si 

arriverebbe a 65 e l"istanza sarebbe respinta. La 

proposta ricalca esattamente l"emendamento 

presentato giovedì scorso al decreto in materia di 

semplificazione fiscale all"esame della commissione 

Finanze, poi dichiarato inammissibile dalla terza carica 

dello Stato 

Si tratta di un solo articolo diviso in nove commi, e 

punta a intervenire immediatamente su alcuni aspetti 

cruciali della gestione finanziaria dei partiti, con tre 

obiettivi prioritari. Sono rese obbligatorie per legge la 

verifica e la certificazione dei bilanci delle forze 

politiche da parte di società di revisione esterne e 

indipendenti e i controlli esterni dei bilanci sono 

attribuiti alla Commissione per la trasparenza e il 

controllo dei bilanci dei partiti politici composta dai 

presidenti della Corte dei conti e del Consiglio di Stato 

e dal Primo presidente della Corte di Cassazione. 

Intatti i rimborsi elettorali e nessuna menzione della 

rata dei finanziamenti che i partiti dovrebbero ricevere 

a luglio e che la settimana scorsa Bersani aveva detto 

sarebbero slittati a settembre. 

Eventuali scorrettezze debbono essere sanzionate con 

una vera e propria decurtazione dei rimborsi elettorali, 

pari a tre volte la misura dell"irregolarità riscontrata. Si 

abbassa poi da 50.000 a 5.000 euro la soglia oltre la 

quale i contributi ai partiti vanno dichiarati 

pubblicamente e i conti dei partiti vanno pubblicati 

151

obbligatoriamente su internet, permettendo a tutti i 

cittadini di verificare dove i partiti si procurano le 

risorse e come le impiegano. 

Dell"ammontare dei finanziamenti, quindi, come 

annunciato la scorsa settimana si parlerà nell"ambito 

della discussione delle proposte di legge di attuazione 

dell"articolo 49 della Costituzione. Con la legge 

proposta, invece, si legge sempre nella relazione 

introduttiva, "intendiamo approvare anticipatamente, 

nei tempi più rapidi possibili, una nuova normativa 

sulla trasparenza e sui controllo". "La proposta di legge 

- scrivono i firmatari Alfano, Bersani, Casini - se 

approvata, cambierà immediatamente le regole su 

alcuni aspetti cruciali della gestione finanziaria dei 

partiti". 

I sistemi di controllo 

. "Sono rese obbligatorie per legge la verifica e la 

certificazione dei bilanci dei partiti da parte di società 

di revisione esterne e indipendenti. I controlli esterni 

dei bilanci, superando il sistema di verifiche 

meramente formali effettuate dai revisori nominati da 

Camera e Senato, sono attribuiti alla commissione per 

la Trasparenza e il controllo dei bilanci dei partiti 

La Repubblica/ - Cronaca, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


politici. La commissione, che ha sede presso la 

Camera dei deputati, è composta da tre componenti 

individuati nelle persone del presidente della Corte dei 

Conti, del presidente del consiglio di Stato e del primo 

presidente della corte di Cassazione, ciascuno dei 

quali si avvale fino a un massimo di due magistrati 

appartenenti ai rispettivi ordini giurisdizionali. La 

commissione è coordinata dal presidente della Corte 

dei Conti". 

Le sanzioni. 

"Chi agisce scorrettamente deve subire non una 

sospensione, come accade oggi, ma una vera e 

propria decurtazione dei rimborsi elettorali, pari a tre 

volte la misura dell"irregolarità subita". 

La trasparenza 

. "Si abbassa da 50mila a 5mila euro la soglia oltre la 

quale i contributi ai partiti vanno dichiarati 

pubblicamente e i conti dei partiti vanno pubblicati 

obbligatoriamente in internet permettendo a tutti i 

cittadini di verificare dove i partiti si procurano le 

risorse e come le impiegano". 

152

Le Figaro/ - International, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Vauzelle ne s'occupera pas de Cassez 

Michel Vauzelle, envoyé du candidat socialiste 

François Hollande au Mexique, a indiqué hier qu'il ne 

s'occuperait "absolument pas" de l'affaire Cassez lors 

de sa visite consacrée à des rencontres avec le 

gouvernement et les partis politiques. "L'affaire 

Florence Cassez, je ne m'en occupe absolument pas", 

a souligné à Mexico M. Vauzelle qui s'est dit "surpris 

par ce qui s'est passé". Il a estimé que le "buzz" 

médiatique créé autour de son déplacement n'a eu lieu 

que "parce que le président Sarkozy est aux abois". 

La mission de l'ancien ministre socialiste au Mexique 

avait provoqué samedi une polémique avec le camp 

de Nicolas Sarkozy qui a lancé contre François 

Hollande des accusations d'"instrumentalisation" de 

l'affaire de la Française, condamnée à 60 ans de 

prison pour enlèvement et dont la Cour suprême du 

Mexique examine actuellement le recours. Le directeur 

de campagne de François Hollande, Pierre Moscovici, 

avait confirmé que l'ex-ministre socialiste Michel 

Vauzelle se rendait au Mexique à partir de samedi 

pour "réparer le climat" entre la France et le Mexique 

après l'affaire Florence Cassez. 

Hollande "respecte l'indépendance de la justice 

mexicaine" 

"J'espère que l'initiative des socialistes ne portera pas 

préjudice à Florence, que j'ai au téléphone très 

régulièrement et qui mérite mieux que d'être utilisée 

d'une façon aussi basse", a déclaré le président 

Sarkozy samedi après-midi. Hier, François Hollande a 

dû assurer qu'il "n'avait jamais été question" que son 

émissaire au Mexique "porte un message" à propos de 

Florence Cassez. Affirmant "respecter l'indépendance 

de la justice mexicaine", le candidat socialiste à la 

présidentielle a déclaré qu'"il n'y a jamais eu d'initiative 

parallèle", dans un entretien publié par le Journal du 

Dimanche. 

A Mexico, M. Vauzelle a souligné qu'il était au Mexique 

pour rencontrer les principaux partis politiques 

mexicains afin de leur exposer le projet de François 

Hollande et préparer le sommet du G20 qui se 

déroulera à Los Cabos, au Mexique, les 18 et 19 juin, 

en cas d'élection du candidat socialiste à la 

présidence. Dans le programme de sa visite est 

notamment prévue une rencontre aujourd'hui avec la 

vice-ministre mexicaine des Affaires étrangères, 

Lourdes Aranda. Il doit aussi rencontrer plusieurs 

autres responsables mexicains avant de regagner la 

France mercredi. 

153

Le Monde/ - Idées, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Conseil Constitutionnel) 

André Vallini : "La gauche devra mettre 

fin au soupçon de partialité qui ronge 

l"autorité de la justice" 

André Vallini estime que "depuis cinq ans, la justice a 

été maltraitée par le pouvoir". | Olivier 

Laban-Mattei/Neus pour le Monde 

André Vallini, sénateur de l"Isère et responsable du 

pôle justice pour le parti socialiste, détaille les mesures 

qu"entend prendre François Hollande en cas de 

victoire. Et notamment une profonde réforme du 

Conseil supérieur de la magistrature (CSM), qui serait 

associé à toutes les nominations de magistrat, et 

désormais présidé par une personnalité de la société 

civile.Quel serait le calendrier des réformes de la 

justice la première année ? François Hollande a 

annoncé, s"il est élu, celle du Conseil supérieur de la 

magistrature (CSM) qui sera la clé de voûte de 

l"indépendance de la justice. Mais le plus attendu dans 

l"institution judiciaire, c"est d"abord de la sérénité et du 

respect car depuis cinq ans la justice a été maltraitée 

par le pouvoir, les magistrats stigmatisés et parfois 

même humiliés. Quant aux réformes, après le 

tourbillon législatif de ces dernières années,il faudra 

prendre le temps de la concertation pour remettre de 

la cohérence et aller vers une procédure pénale 

moderne, conciliant l"efficacité et le respect des droits 

fondamentaux, en renforçant la collégialité et le 

contradictoire.En matière civile, François Hollande a 

évoqué le rapprochement des tribunaux d"instance et 

de grande instance, pour que la justice du quotidien 

soit accessible à tous partout sur le territoire après les 

dégâts causés par la réforme brutale de la carte 

judiciaire en 2009.François Hollande aparlé aussi du 

regroupement dans une même juridiction des 

contentieux sociaux, aujourd"hui émiettés.Cette justice 

de l"aide sociale, du handicap, des pensions, des 

allocations familiales, doit être plus simple d"autant 

qu"elle concerne les plus humbles et les accidentés de 

la vie.Et les peines planchers ou la rétention de sûreté 

?François Hollande a annoncé qu"il abrogerait les 

peines planchers, parce qu"elles sont contraires au 

principe d"individualisation des peines, mais dans le 

cadre d"une politiqueglobale de lutte contre la récidive, 

en renforçant notamment les services pénitentiaires 

d"insertion et de probation.Quant à la rétention de 

sureté, qui n"est pas encore appliquée, il faudrait lui 

substituer le renforcement du suivi socio-judiciaire et 

de la surveillance judiciaire, pour ne pas remettre en 

liberté sans contrôle des individus dont les experts 

s"accordent à dire qu"ils présentent un danger réel 

pour la sécurité de nos concitoyens.Comment 

voyez-vous le nouveau CSM ?Comme une grande 

instance de régulation démocratique aussi 

prestigieuse et respectée que le CSM italien qui a 

résisté aux turpitudes judiciaires de Berlusconi. Il serait 

composéà égalité de magistrats et de non magistrats, 

nommés par une majorité renforcée des commissions 

des lois du parlement et présidé par une personnalité 

de lasociété civile reconnue pour son autorité morale. 

Ce CSM partagerait avec le ministre de la justice la 

gestion de la carrière des magistrats dont aucun ne 

pourrait être nommé sans son aval. Il serait associé 

aux réformes concernant la justice et pourrait avoir 

recours à l"Inspection des services 

judiciaires.Comment voyez-vous le futur parquet ? 

Après la série de nominations partisanes intervenues 

ces dernières années, la gauche devra mettre fin au 

soupçon de partialité qui ronge l"autorité de la justice, 

en interdisant par la loi les instructions individuelles 

dans les affaires en cours.Vous conservez le lien 

hiérarchique avec les parquets ? Oui, car après avoir 

donné aux procureurs des garanties statutaires pour 

leur permettre de résister aux pressions, le 

gouvernement doit pouvoir faire appliquer sa politique 

pénale par des instructions générales dont il devrait 

rendre compte au moins une fois par an devant le 

parlement mais aussi devant les commissions des lois 

aussi souvent qu"elles le souhaitent. La culture du 

contrôle parlementaire a beaucoup de progrès à faire 

en France.Maintenez-vous les décorations pour les 

magistrats ?Les interdire aux seulsmagistrats serait 

vexatoire et il faut poser le problème globalement.Et le 

Conseil constitutionnel ? Avec la QPC, il se transforme 

en cour constitutionnelle et n"a plus rien à voir avec 

celui de 1958. Les anciens présidents de la 

République ne devraient donc plus en faire partie et il 

faut aller vers une majorité renforcée pourla 

nomination de ses membres.Entendez-vous supprimer 

la Cour de justice de la République ?Pour y avoirsiégé, 

je pense que c"est une instance qui judiciarise la 

politique et qui politise la justice. Elle renvoie de 

surcroit l"image d"une classe politique qui échappe au 

droit commun. Les ministres qui ont commis une 

infraction pénale devraient être jugés parles tribunaux 

ordinaires et lorsque c"est une faute politique, ils 

doivent en répondre devant le parlement.Quelle 

politique pour les mineurs ? Il faut revenir aux 

154

fondamentaux de l"Ordonnance de 1945, signée de la 

main du général De Gaulle : spécificité des juridictions, 

atténuation de la peine lié à la minorité, et primat de 

l"éducatif sur le répressif. Et renforcer les services de 

la Protection judiciaire de la jeunesse qui ont 

beaucoup souffert ces dernières années.Sur les 

prisons ? La fuite en avant versle tout carcéral ne 

résout rien comme on le voit depuis 2002, et il pèse 

d"un coût démesuré sur le budget de la justice. Aux 

courtes peines d"emprisonnement, il faut substituer 

des peines de milieu ouvert avec un suivi efficace et 

réserver l"emprisonnement aux cas strictement 

nécessaires pour en faire un temps utile, avec des 

établissements spécialisés et des parcours 

pénitentiaires personnalisés, comme au Canada. Il 

faut aussi, et c"est lié, garantir de meilleuresconditions 

de travail aux surveillants et des conditions de 

Le Monde/ - Idées, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


détention respectueuses de la dignité humaine pour en 

finir avec les condamnations par la Cour Européenne 

des droits de l"Homme qui sont une humiliation pour la 

France.Se pose la question des moyens ?C"est dans 

le domaine pénitentiaire que les créations de postes 

annoncées par François Hollande seront les plus 

utiles.Pensez-vous dépénaliser le cannabis ? Je pense 

que ce serait un mauvais signal. La lutte contre 

l"économie souterraine du trafic des drogues doit, en 

tout état de cause, constituer une priorité.Que 

garderiez-vous du bilan de Sarkozy ?La QPC bien sûr. 

Et aussi le contrôleur général des lieux de privation de 

liberté, d"autant que le titulaire, Jean-Marie Delarue 

effectue un travail remarquable. Enfin une réforme 

qu"avait préconisée la commission Outreau, celle qui 

permet à un justiciable de saisir le CSM. 

155

Los Tiempos/ - actualidad, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Caso Rózsa: Costas asegura que hubo 

"terrorismo de Estado" 

SANTA CRUZ | 

El gobernador del departamento de Santa Cruz, 

Rubén Costas afirmó que el caso del grupo irregular 

de Eduardo Rózsa Flores demuestra que hubo 

terrorismo de Estado, argumentó que el suceso fue 

usado por el gobierno del presidente Evo Morales para 

afectar a sus opositores políticos. 

Hoy se cumplen tres años de la desarticulación del 

presunto grupo subversivo de Eduardo Rózsa que 

presumiblemente pretendía dividir el país en 2009, con 

la intervención policial al Hotel las Américas de Santa 

Cruz. 

"Yo creo que sí ha habido terrorismo, pero terrorismo 

de Estado y este es uno de los mejores casos. Como 

también fue terrorismo de Estado la pateadura a los 

pueblos indígenas del TIPNIS y otros", afirmó Costas 

en declaraciones a la prensa. 

La autoridad departamental dijo que el partido en 

función de gobierno ha utilizado el caso de presunto 

terrorismo para atemorizar y la chantajear a personas 

e instituciones, aprovechando que el poder judicial 

está subordinado al poder político. 

"Hay un sinnúmero de inocentes que no tiene nada 

que ver, pero con el fin de ajusticiar políticamente a 

sus adversarios los han aterrorizado. Hay mucha 

gente fuera del país y mucha gente quien está presa 

sufriendo", explicó el gobernador cruceño. 

156

Reuters General/ - Article, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Kris Kobach: Immigration isn't just a 

federal matter 

By Terry Baynes 

Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:01pm EDT 

n">(Reuters) - The battle over illegal immigration 

heads to the U.S. Supreme Court next week, when 

the court will hear arguments for and against new 

Arizona laws requiring police, employers and landlords 

to expose undocumented immigrants. 

Arizona of course is not alone in its crackdown on 

illegal immigrants, with states including Alabama, 

Georgia, Utah, as well as a number of cities, passing 

similar measures. 

The movement's chief legal architect is 45-year old 

Kris Kobach, a former constitutional law professor, 

current secretary of state of Kansas and adviser to Mitt 

Romney on immigration issues. 

While Kobach is not arguing in the Arizona case, he 

has been helping other states and cities defend their 

laws against challenges by the U.S. Justice 

Department and civil rights groups. 

Reuters' Terry Baynes recently discussed with Kobach 

the issue of state versus federal authority in 

immigration matters. The questions and answers were 

edited for clarity and brevity. 

Reuters: What do you think about immigration policy 

changes being forged in the courts? 

Kobach: Almost all of these cases center on the 

question of federal preemption -- whether or not states 

and cities can pass laws that regulate immigration 

alongside the federal government. Arizona won a 

victory last year when the Supreme Court upheld its 

2007 legal workers law that requires employers to 

verify the immigration status of their employees. That 

sent a green light to all states and cities that if they 

want to require employers to run E-Verify searches on 

employees, they can. 

Reuters: Why isn't immigration an exclusively federal 

matter? 

Kobach: The federal government has primary authority 

over immigration, but the Supreme Court has ruled 

multiple times that states have spheres of activity 

where they can operate to discourage illegal 

immigration. It's an area of shared authority. 

Reuters: How do you respond to the Obama 

administration's argument that federal immigration law 

is not designed to ferret out every person unlawfully 

present in the United States but rather to serve a 

broader federal policy with its own set of priorities? 

Kobach: The federal immigration law written by 

Congress is very clear and uncompromising. It calls for 

enforcement across the board. The Obama 

administration's argument has been: 'We, the 

executive branch, choose to not enforce these laws.' 

It's a novel theory, but it doesn't square with 

preemption. Acts of Congress, treaties and the 

Constitution can preempt state laws. Executive 

pronouncements do not preempt. 

Reuters: Are you involved in the Arizona case? 

Kobach: I submitted an amicus brief on behalf of 

Arizona, addressing two narrow issues. First, the 

executive branch cannot preempt the states. It must be 

Congress, and the acts of Congress do not express 

any attempt to push aside the involvement of the 

states. Second, the Department of Justice argues that 

the decision whether to deport a particular alien is a 

complicated one that the federal government needs to 

be able to make. But if you look at the federal 

immigration laws passed in 1996, Congress took away 

that prosecutorial discretion the Obama Justice 

Department claims it has. 

Reuters: What's the biggest challenge in the litigation 

over immigration laws? 

Kobach: Judges will sometimes have difficulty 

separating out the political arguments from the legal 

arguments. That's always a challenge, to make sure 

that the politics does not interfere with what should be 

an apolitical legal determination concerning 

preemption. 

Reuters: How were the Arizona and Alabama laws 

drafted to withstand legal challenges? 

Kobach: The state law must use the exact terminology 

of federal law. It must also define prohibited behavior 

at the state level so that it's perfectly congruent with 

prohibited activity at the federal level. One common 

misconception is that Arizona was doing something 

new and different by requiring immigrants to carry their 

registration documents. But that's been required by 

federal law since the 1950s. 

157

Reuters: You've described these laws as part of a 

policy of "self-deportation." What do you mean? 

Kobach: There's a false dichotomy that constantly 

emerges when you see politicians talking about 

immigration. They'll say you can't round up 11 million 

people and enforce the law 100 percent, so amnesty is 

the only rational way to move forward. But no serious 

thinker would say those are the only two approaches 

to a law enforcement problem. The rational solution is 

to ratchet up the level of enforcement. Then illegal 

aliens will self-deport because the cost-benefit 

calculation changes. 

Reuters: A study by the Center for Business & 

Economic Research at the University of Alabama 

found that Alabama's new immigration law will shrink 

the state economy by $2.3 billion and cost the state 

70,000 jobs. What do you think about the economic 

impact of the new immigration laws? 

Kobach: The Alabama study did not consider the huge 

fiscal burden illegal immigration is placing on Alabama 

taxpayers. The other factor that needs to be 

considered is the benefit of removing Americans from 

welfare rolls and allowing them to work. Once illegal 

aliens are removed from the labor market, wages will 

inevitably come up. 

Reuters: What's your own immigration story? 

Kobach: My great grandparents came from Norway 

and Germany and settled in Wisconsin. They were 

farmers for the most part. I'm a fourth-generation 

American. 

Reuters: How did you become interested in 



immigration reform? 

Kobach: One of the biggest epiphanies for me was the 

9/11 hijackings. I was working at the Justice 

Department for Attorney General John Ashcroft. All 

hijackers had come into the states legally, but five of 

the 19 became unlawfully present during their stays. 

Four of those five were apprehended by state and 

local police for traffic violations while they were in the 

country illegally. In none of those cases did the state or 

local officer have the information available to make an 

arrest and potentially foil the 9/11 plot. That realization 

was essential to my understanding of how critical 

federal and state cooperation is in this area. 

Reuters: What's the most influential law review article 

you've written? 

Kobach: In 2008, I published an article in the 

Georgetown Immigration Law Review, "Reinforcing the 

Rule of Law: What States Can and Should Do to 

Reduce Illegal Immigration." Arizona's SB 1070 

manifests many of the concepts that I prescribed in 

that article. 

Reuters: Has anything surprised you about how these 

laws have played out? 

Kobach: I didn't anticipate these state laws would 

become national issues in the way they have. I also 

never imaged the Justice Department would sue a 

state for trying to help the federal government enforce 

the law. That's never happened in American history 

before. 

(Reporting by Terry Baynes) 

158

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Rederechts-Pläne sollen entschärft 

werden 

Die Kritik war heftig, mehrere Abgeordnete drohten 

sogar mit dem Gang vors Verfassungsgericht. Nun 

wollen die Bundestagsfraktionen von Union, SPD und 

FDP die von ihnen geplante Einschränkung des 

Rederechts für Abweichler noch einmal überdenken. 

Nach massiven Protesten wollen die Fraktionen den 

Streit um die Neuregelung des Rederechts von 

Bundestagsabgeordneten entschärfen. "Es gibt jetzt 

offenbar einen ersten Entwurf. Das wird im Ältestenrat 

von den Fraktionen in den nächsten Wochen weiter 

besprochen werden", kündigte der Parlamentarische 

Geschäftsführer der Unionsfraktion, Peter Altmaier, in 

Berlin an. 

Der CDU-Politiker geht nach eigenen Worten davon 

aus, "dass wir eine einvernehmliche Regelung finden, 

die dem Rederecht des einzelnen Abgeordneten ein 

hohes Gewicht beimisst und die Funktionsfähigkeit des 

Parlamentes ermöglicht", fügte er hinzu. Aus der SPD 

verlautete, bisherige Pläne des 

Geschäftsordnungsausschusses, die auf eine 

Einschränkung des Rederechts für Abweichler in den 

eigenen Reihen hinauslaufen, sollten in dieser Form 

nicht weiterverfolgt werden. 

Parlamentsgeschäftsführer Thomas Oppermann 

distanzierte sich von den Plänen: "Diese Vorschläge 

sind nicht ausgereift und werden so nicht kommen", 

sagte er. Die Fraktionen hätten noch gar keine 

Gelegenheit gehabt, die Empfehlungen des 

zuständigen Geschäftsordnungsausschusses zu 

beraten. Reformen der Geschäftsordnung sollten 

möglichst im Konsens mit allen Fraktionen 

verabschiedet werden. Beides sei nicht geschehen. 

"Deswegen wird es auch in der nächsten Woche keine 

Abstimmung im Bundestag geben", betonte 

Oppermann. 

Die Sozialdemokraten im Bundestag hätten deutlich 

gemacht, dass der vorliegende Vorschlag nicht 

ausgereift sei, sagte SPD-Generalsekretärin Andrea 

Nahles in Berlin. "Eine Einschränkung des Rederechts 

ist mit der SPD nicht zu machen", bekräftigte sie. 

Auch die FDP-Fraktion signalisierte 

Kompromissbereitschaft. Seine Fraktion werde 

"selbstverständlich auf die Kritiker zugehen, mit ihnen 

das Gespräch suchen und versuchen, eine von einer 

breiten Zustimmung getragene Lösung zu finden", 

sagte FDP-Parlamentsgeschäftsführer Jörg van Essen 

in Berlin. 

Nach einem Bericht der Süddeutschen Zeitung wollten 

CDU/CSU, FDP und SPD den Parlamentspräsidenten 

verpflichten, das Wort nur noch Rednern zu erteilen, 

die von ihren Fraktionen angemeldet wurden. Sie 

wollen so die Redezeit von Abgeordneten 

einschränken, die nicht der Mehrheitslinie ihrer 

Fraktion folgen. Darüber sollte ursprünglich am 26. 

April im Bundestag abgestimmt werden. 

Die Pläne hatten zuvor heftige Kritik ausgelöst, 

mehrere Abgeordnete drohten sogar mit dem Gang 

nach Karlsruhe, darunter Klaus-Peter Willsch (CDU) 

und Frank Schäffler (FDP). Parlamentspräsident 

Norbert Lammert (CDU) hatte den zwei Abgeordneten 

in der Debatte um die Schuldenkrise Redezeit 

eingeräumt, obwohl sie von der Linie ihrer Fraktion 

abgewichen waren - und damit die Diskussion um die 

Neuregelung in Gang gesetzt. 

Abgeordnete wehren sich gegen Neuregelung 

"Ich werde mir nicht das Recht nehmen lassen, das zu 

sagen, was mein Gewissen gebietet, und wenn hier 

eingegriffen wird, dann muss man als freigewählter 

Abgeordneter dagegen vorgehen", sagte der 

CDU-Bundestagsabgeordnete Willsch im 

Deutschlandfunk. Notfalls bedeute das eine 

Verfassungsklage. 

"Die Fraktionsgeschäftsführer betrachten das 

Parlament als Gegenstand ihrer eigenen Inszenierung, 

bei der sie selbst Intendant sein wollen", sagte der als 

"Euro-Rebell" bekanntgewordene Willsch. Er habe sich 

gefragt, was als nächstes kommen solle, 

"Publizierungsverbot oder der Hausarrest". 

Der FDP-Abgeordnete Schäffler sieht für eine 

Verfassungsklage gute Chancen. "Das 

Verfassungsgericht hat immer die Rechte des 

Abgeordneten in solchen Fragen gestärkt", sagte er im 

Bayerischen Rundfunk. Zunächst müssten aber "die 

Abgeordneten selbst aufstehen, selbst ihren Mut 

zusammennehmen und gegen diese Tendenzen 

ankämpfen". Letztendlich gehe es um den Erhalt der 

parlamentarischen Demokratie. 

Auch der Grünen-Parlamentarier Hans-Christian 

Ströbele hält den Gang zum 

159

Bundesverfassungsgericht für vorstellbar. "Ich bin da 

guter Hoffnung, dass - wenn nicht die 

Fraktionsführungen von FDP, CDU, CSU und SPD 

jetzt zur Vernunft kommen - dass dann das 

Bundesverfassungsgericht hilft", sagte Ströbele im 

ZDF. 

Die Pläne zur Neuregelung des Rederechts stoßen 

auch bei CSU-Chef Horst Seehofer auf Unverständnis. 

"Es ist geradezu absurd, wenn im Bundestag jetzt 

versucht wird, das Rederecht von Abgeordneten mit 

abweichender Meinung zu beschneiden. Das ist eine 



Entmündigung des Parlaments. Ich würde mir das als 

Abgeordneter nicht gefallen lassen", sagte er der 

Bild-Zeitung. Das sei auch eine Lektion, die man aus 

dem Erfolg der Piraten lernen könne, sagte Seehofer: 

"Der Erfolg der Piraten zeigt, dass die etablierten 

Parteien ihren Politik-Stil ändern müssen." 

"Ich sehe keine wirkliche Begründung für die Änderung 

der Geschäftsordnung", sagte 

Bundestagsvizepräsident Hermann Otto Solms (FDP) 

der Berliner Zeitung. 

160



Gerichtshof verurteilt Russland wegen 

Katyn-Massakers 

"Unmenschlich" und "frappierend": Der Europäische 

Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte hat Russland mit 

scharfen Worten für die "menschenunwürdige 

Behandlung" von Angehörigen der Opfer des 

Massakers von Katyn 1940 gerügt. Die Richter 

kritisierten die Weigerung der Behörden, einer Witwe 

sowie neun Kindern von Getöteten Einsicht in die 

Ermittlungsakten zu geben. 

Mehr als sieben Jahrzehnte nach dem Massaker an 

mehreren tausend Polen in Katyn haben zehn 

Hinterbliebene einen Sieg vor dem Europäischen 

Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte (EGMR) errungen. 

Die Straßburger Richter rügten die Weigerung 

Russlands, den Angehörigen Einsicht in die 

Ermittlungsakten zu geben. 

Die Kläger - eine Witwe und neun Kinder von bei dem 

Massaker getöteten Polen - hätten keinerlei offizielle 

Information über die Todesumstände der Männer 

erhalten, rügte der Gerichtshof. Dieses Verhalten sei 

"unmenschlich". Die Weigerung Russlands, die 

Realität des Kriegsverbrechens von Katyn 

einzugestehen, sei "frappierend", heißt es in dem 

Urteil. Der EGMR rügte Russland auch wegen 

unzureichender Zusammenarbeit mit dem 

Gerichtshof, weil die russischen Behörden eine 

Übersendung von Akten über das Massaker unter 

Sowjetdiktator Josef Stalin abgelehnt hatten. 

Die russische Justiz habe die Anträge der 

Angehörigen auf Information über die Todesumstände 

und auf Rehabilitierung ihrer Familienmitglieder schroff 

abgewiesen. Konkret ging es um zwölf Opfer des 

Massakers, darunter Offiziere der Armee und der 

Polizei, einen Armee-Arzt und einen Schuldirektor. Sie 

waren nach dem Einmarsch russischer Truppen in 

Polen gemeinsam mit etwa 22.000 Polen im April und 

Mai 1940 in Katyn und anderen Orten von der 

sowjetischen Geheimpolizei erschossen worden. 

Im Wald von Katyn bei Smolensk wurden mehr als 

4000 Leichen in Massengräbern verscharrt. Das 

Verbrechen hat die polnisch-russischen Beziehungen 

jahrzehntelang belastet, auch wenn die russische 

Staatsduma den Mord 2010 verurteilt hat. Das 

EGMR-Urteil ist nicht endgültig, dagegen kann 

Berufung beantragt werden. 

161



U.S. cites Assurant unit over health 

premium hike 

WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:43pm EDT 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Monday 

cited two health insurers for excessive premium 

increases, under consumer protection rules of 

President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law that 

could soon be nullified by the Supreme Court. The 

Department of Health and Human Services called on 

Assurant Inc's Time Insurance Co and Bedford Park, 

Illinois-based United Security Life and Health 

Insurance Co to either offer rebates to customers in six 

states or rescind premium hikes ranging up to 24 

percent."Assurant Health is committed to setting 

premium rates at a level that will allow us to continue 

to serve the needs of our customers. We maintain our 

recent rate filings are actuarially justified and 

appropriate," Assurant spokeswoman Susan Burkee 

said in a statement.United Security had no immediate 

comment.The recently announced rate hikes affect 

about 60,000 individual and small group insurance 

customers in Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, 

Nebraska and Wyoming.The healthcare reform law, 

the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or 

ACA, faces a potential make-or-break Supreme Court 

ruling and repeated Republican election-year calls for 

its repeal."These increases are unreasonable for 

enrollees of these plans," said Gary Cohen, oversight 

director at the health department's Center for 

Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.The 

reform law requires insurers to justify premium 

increases of more than 10 percent but does not 

provide the government with authority to rescind those 

found excessive or unreasonable.Cohen said the rate 

changes also failed to meet federal standards requiring 

health insurers to devote at least 80 percent of higher 

premium revenues to healthcare services. But 

Assurant said its companies set their insurance rates 

in order to meet the requirement.The ACA, which does 

not come into full force until 2014, is intended mainly 

as a measure to extend health coverage to more than 

30 million uninsured Americans. But the legislation 

also includes a range of consumer protections and 

measures to improve care while reducing healthcare 

costs.Twenty-six states and an independent business 

group have asked the high court to overturn the 

healthcare law on grounds that it oversteps the 

authority of the federal government. A ruling, which 

could overturn the law in part or in whole, is expected 

by the end of June.The administration found that Time 

Insurance's rate hikes in five states were based on 

unreasonable assumptions by the company. Officials 

went further with United Security, saying a newly 

announced premium increase in Arizona was 

unreasonable and that the company had not even tried 

to justify it.(Reporting By David Morgan; editing by 

Carol Bishopric) 

162



Supreme Court hears Glaxo overtime pay 

case 

By James Vicini 

WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:58pm EDT 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court heard 

arguments on Monday on whether pharmaceutical 

companies must pay sales representatives overtime, a 

dispute that threatens the industry with billions of 

dollars in potential liability. 

The justices considered an appeal by two former sales 

representatives for a unit of Britain's GlaxoSmithKline 

Plc of a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 

in California that they were "outside sales" personnel 

exempt from federal overtime pay requirements. 

That decision conflicted with an earlier ruling by the 

2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that 

pharmaceutical sales representatives qualified for 

overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Paul Clement, a former Bush administration solicitor 

general now in private practice, argued for the Glaxo 

unit and said the representatives were exempt from 

overtime requirements. 

Clement cited a brief filed by the Pharmaceutical 

Research and Manufacturers of America trade group 

that said classifying sales representatives as eligible 

for overtime could expose the industry to potential 

liability of billions of dollars. 

The Federal Labor Standards Act generally requires 

companies to pay workers overtime, but includes 

numerous exemptions for certain white-collar workers, 

including those classified as "outside salesmen." 

Attorney Thomas Goldstein, representing the workers, 

said the main purpose of the representatives was to 

promote drugs in visits to doctors. "They tout drugs to 

doctors," he said. 

During the hour of arguments, the justices also 

considered a second issue of whether the U.S. Labor 

Department's interpretation of the law was owed 

deference. 

In 2009, the Labor Department sided with the former 

workers and said the exemption applied only if the 

representatives had been involved in a consummated 

sales transaction, but not when they just promoted 

drugs in visits to doctors. 

The two former Glaxo workers, Michael Christopher 

and Frank Buchanan, said in their class-action lawsuit 

that they did not receive overtime for 10 to 20 hours 

worked each week, on average, outside the normal 

business day. 

Glaxo replied that pharmaceutical sales 

representatives typically got a base salary and 

performance-based commissions, and that the 

overtime requirements did not apply. 

A ruling by the Supreme Court is due by the end of 

June. 

The Supreme Court case is Christopher v. Smithkline 

Beecham Corp, No. 11-204. 

(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) 

163

The New York Times/ - Politics, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Keeping a Promise to Home Care Aides 

Evelyn Coke, who died in 2009 at age 74, was a home 

care aide whose case for fair pay went to the 

Supreme Court in 2007, where she lost 9 to 0. At 

issue were federal rules that define home care aides 

as “companions,” a label that exempts employers from 

having to pay minimum wage and time-and-a-half for 

overtime. The justices said that only Congress or the 

Labor Department could change the rules.Pauline 

Beck is a home care aide in California. In 2007, 

then-Senator Barack Obama was paired with Ms. Beck 

for an event called “Walk a Day in My Shoes,” in which 

he worked for a day at her job caring for an 

86-year-old amputee. 

Last Dec. 15, with Ms. Beck at his side, President 

Obama invoked Ms. Coke’s memory and announced, 

“Today, we’re guaranteeing home care workers 

minimum-wage and overtime pay protections.” He was 

referring to sensible new rules, proposed by the Labor 

Department, to revise the companionship exemption. 

The problem is that the new rules have yet to be 

finalized, and could still be derailed or watered down. 

The Labor Department has until the end of May to 

digest thousands of comments on its proposal. Most of 

the comments were supportive, including those from 

home care agencies that already adhere to fair pay 

laws, professional health associations, labor activists 

and advocates for the elderly. Opposition came mainly 

from for-profit home care franchisees — a growing 

segment in a traditionally nonprofit industry — who 

said that fair pay would devastate affordable home 

care. That is the same argument that prevailed in 

2002, when reforms proposed at the end of the Clinton 

administration were spiked. 

This time around, proponents for change have been 

better organized and armed with research to rebut 

such claims. But now as then, for-profit agencies have 

taken their complaints to the Small Business 

Administration, setting up a conflict with the Labor 

Department. 

Even if the new rules survive the Labor Department 

review intact, they must then be approved by the White 

House Office of Management and Budget, a process 

that could bog down in the face of interagency 

disagreements. It will take Mr. Obama’s engaged 

leadership to ensure that the long-overdue new rules, 

which offer basic fairness for home care aides, are 

carried out. 

164

USA Today/ - News, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012 


Need help from the IRS? Prepare to wait 

At 12:30 p.m. Monday, about 50 people waited for help 

at the IRS center in Fort Myers, Fla. Another dozen 

who couldn't find seats stood in a line that stretched 

out the office suite door and into a lobby. At the walk-in 

center in East Harlem, N.Y., Belquis Castillo, 40, left in 

exasperation Monday afternoon after waiting more 

than an hour. Castillo needed copies of her 2010 tax 

return so her son can enroll in online college courses, 

but was told the computers were down. 

The long waits are the result of the IRS' expanded 

workload and diminished workforce, says IRS 

Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, whose 2011 annual 

report identified inadequate resources as the most 

serious problem facing taxpayers. In 1995, the IRS 

had a staff of 114,018 to process 205 million tax 

returns. In 2010, it had 90,907 people to process 

nearly 236 million tax returns. For this tax filing season, 

the IRS has 5,000 fewer employees than it did a year 

ago. 

"This is the lowest staffing level I've ever seen, and I've 

been with the IRS 26 years," says David Carrone, 

president of the Louisiana chapter of the National 

Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). The New Orleans 

Taxpayer Assistance Center has six employees, down 

from 12 eight years ago, Carrone says. Sometimes, it 

doesn't even have that many: Louisiana has several 

one-person walk-in centers, and when that employee 

calls in sick, someone from the New Orleans office has 

to fill in. Increasing the IRS' budget has never been 

politically expedient, and the Republican Party's 

anti-tax message has made the agency even more 

unpopular, says Bruce Bartlett, an economist who 

worked in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush 

administrations. 

Beating up on the IRS is never going to hurt you 

politically, regardless of which party you're in, and 

we're paying the price for this kind of attitude." The IRS 

has sought to deal with limited resources by 

encouraging electronic filing and directing taxpayers to 

its website, IRS.gov. It offers an automated service for 

frequently asked questions and has launched a pilot 

program that uses video technology to connect 

taxpayers at walk-in centers with an IRS employee at 

another location, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman 

says. "We continue to innovate, and I think we serve 

the American people well, given the resources we 

have," he says. Nonetheless, there are times when 

taxpayers or tax preparers need to talk one-on-one 

with the IRS, and that's becoming increasingly difficult, 

says James Smith, a certified public accountant and 

former chairman of the Texas Society of Certified 

Public Accountants. 

Get all the latest news and information on paying your 

federal taxes. Smith says the hold times for his calls to 

the IRS range from 30 minutes to an hour and 45 

minutes. "I've had to ask my secretary to stay on hold 

so I can go to the bathroom." Staff shortages have also 

delayed IRS responses to letters from taxpayers 

seeking to resolve issues or set up payment plans, 

according to the NTEU. Some of these hold-ups can 

result in financial hardship for taxpayers, Smith says. 

One of his clients waited four months to get his refund 

after Smith filed an amended return. During that 

period, the client almost lost his home to foreclosure, 

Smith says. Why it's getting harder to get in touch with 

the IRS: ???Complexity. Between 2000 and 2010, 

Congress made 4,428 changes to the tax code, 

including 579 in 2010 alone, according to tax publisher 

CCH. Every time Congress adds a provision to the tax 

code, the IRS must update its computers, which 

increases its workload, Olson said in her 2011 report. 

The strain on IRS resources is compounded when the 

changes come late in the year, Olson said. In 2010, for 

example, Congress made significant changes in the 

tax code in late December, forcing the IRS to delay 

processing millions of tax returns that contained 

itemized deductions until mid-February. Next year's tax 

filing season could be even worse, Shulman said in 

recent remarks before the National Press Club. On 

Dec. 31 this year, the tax cuts adopted during the Bush 

administration are scheduled to expire. 

The payroll tax cut adopted by the Obama 

administration is also scheduled to end. In addition, a 

host of tax "extenders," including one that prevents a 

broad expansion of the alternative minimum tax, 

expired on Dec. 31 last year. There's broad 

disagreement between Democrats and Republicans 

about how to handle the expiring tax cuts, and a 

resolution before the November presidential election is 

unlikely, political analysts say. 

A late-year compromise could force the IRS to delay 

processing of 2012 tax returns for many taxpayers, 

Shulman said. If Congress waits until next year and 

165

makes retroactive changes, "you could have a real 

disaster in the filing season," he said. "It's an issue 

we're tracking very closely, and we're quite concerned 

about." ???Fraud. The IRS has become an 

increasingly popular target for identity thieves, who use 

stolen Social Security numbers to file fake tax returns 

and collect refunds. In January, the IRS arrested 

dozens of suspected identity thieves in 23 states as 

part of a national crackdown. 

Taxpayers usually don't know they've been targeted 

until their tax returns are rejected by the IRS. Some 

victims have had to wait up to a year to get their 

refunds while the IRS investigates the crime, says 

Lu-Ann Dominguez, a tax attorney in Fort Lauderdale. 

USA TODAY's personal finance reporters offer help for 

the tax season. While the IRS has made significant 

progress in deterring identity theft, it lacks sufficient 

personnel to help those who have been victimized, 

Olson said in her annual report. Unlike many other IRS 

services, Olson said, assisting identity theft victims 

usually can't be automated. 

IRS personnel must work directly with victims to verify 

they are who they say they are and resolve the 

problem, she said. ???Other responsibilities. In 

addition to collecting $2.4 trillion in taxes, the IRS is 

increasingly being asked to administer other 

government programs. "Every time Congress does 

something new, it has to do with the tax code," says 

Lonnie Gary, chairman of government relations for the 

National Association of Enrolled Agents. 

For example, the IRS plays a key role in implementing 

the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration's 

health care law. Since 2010, the IRS has been 



responsible for administering a provision in the law that 

provides a health care tax credit for small businesses. 

The IRS will also be responsible for administering the 

most controversial aspect of the law, if the Supreme 

Court doesn't overturn it: the individual insurance 

mandate. Starting in 2014, those who can afford health 

insurance and refuse to buy it will be subject to a fine 

of up to $695, to be assessed by the IRS. 

Requiring the IRS to manage such programs distracts 

it from its primary mission of collecting tax revenue, 

says Donald Williamson, professor of taxation at 

American University's Kogod Tax Center. "The IRS is 

the IRS, not the penalty assessment bureau for people 

who don't have health insurance." President Obama 

has proposed a budget of $12.76 billion for the IRS in 

fiscal 2013, up nearly $945 million from the current 

fiscal year. While that's not enough to rebuild the IRS 

workforce to mid-1990s levels, "it would be a giant step 

in the right direction," says Colleen Kelley, president of 

the NTEU. 

Still, increasing the IRS' budget won't address a more 

fundamental problem, says Mark Robyn, an economist 

for the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan organization 

that supports low taxes. Currently, he says, the tax 

code is so complex that average taxpayers can't 

prepare their returns without professional help. Olson 

agrees that the tax code is too complex, but says that's 

no excuse for poor service. If individuals with 

questions about their taxes can't get help from the IRS, 

she says, "you're really harming taxpayer trust." Mary 

Wright, an IRS employee and president of the NTEU 

chapter in Colorado, agrees. "Most people want to be 

compliant," she says. "But the tax code is complicated, 

and they need help." 

166



More American workers sue employers 

for overtime pay 

Americans were pushed to their limit in the recession 

and its aftermath as they worked longer hours, often 

for the same or less pay, after businesses laid off 

almost 9 million employees. Now, many are striking 

back in court. Since the height of the recession in 

2008, more workers across the nation have been suing 

employers under federal and state wage-and-hour 

laws. The number of lawsuits filed last year was up 

32% vs. 2008, an increase that some experts partly 

attribute to a post-downturn austerity that pervaded the 

American workplace and artificially inflated 

productivity. Workers' main grievance is that they had 

to put in more than 40 hours a week without overtime 

pay through various practices: ???T 

hey were forced to work off the clock. ???Their jobs 

were misclassified as exempt from overtime 

requirements. ???Because of smartphones and other 

technology, work bled into their personal time. "The 

recession (put) more pressure on businesses to 

squeeze workers and cut costs," says Catherine 

Ruckelshaus, legal co-director of the National 

Employment Law Project. If employers had to bear the 

actual expense of overtime, she says, they likely would 

have hired more workers in the economic recovery. In 

response, employers are playing defense. 

They're drawing clearer lines between workers and 

managers, and in many cases, reining in modern office 

privileges, such as company-issued smartphones and 

telecommuting. The upshot, in many instances, could 

be a very different American workplace. Courts, 

meanwhile, must reconcile decades-old labor laws with 

ever-evolving technology. 

The spread of BlackBerrys and iPhones has many 

workers tethered to employers, for better or worse, 

even during off hours and vacations. The controversy 

has reached the Supreme Court, but in a case 

involving an age-old profession: sales. Monday, the 

justices will hear oral arguments in a class-action 

lawsuit against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. 

Pharmaceutical sales representatives ??" traditionally 

classified as exempt from overtime pay ??" say they've 

been misclassified, a stance backed by the Labor 

Department in another case. Glaxo says the sales 

force clearly is exempt under current law. Legacy of 

another time Employers say the explosion of lawsuits 

shows how the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 

??" at the center of the Glaxo case ??" has become 

outmoded in an age when most employees want the 

flexibility to work at home or answer office e-mail while 

running about on their free time. 

"The law has not kept pace with the contemporary 

workplace," says Randy MacDonald, IBM's head of 

human resources. Many companies have reclassified 

salaried executives as hourly employees ??" often to 

the consternation of the workers themselves, says Dan 

Yager, general counsel of the HR Policy Association, 

which represents human resource professionals. Such 

a strategy lets employers head off lawsuits by paying a 

lower basic wage that accounts for expected overtime. 

Under the FLSA, employees are entitled to overtime 

unless they're executives who manage and hire and 

fire employees; administrators who make key 

decisions; or professionals ??" such as lawyers and 

engineers ??" with advanced degrees, among other 

criteria. Also exempt are certain information 

technology workers and sales representatives whose 

hours can't easily be tracked. Employees must earn at 

least $455 a week to be exempt. 

While all hourly employees are entitled to overtime, 

salaried workers may also qualify if they don't fall 

under any of the exemptions. Last year, 7,006 

wage-and-hour suits, many of them class actions, were 

filed in federal court, nearly quadruple the 2000 total, 

according to defense law firm Seyfarth Shaw. 

Meanwhile, in fiscal 2011, the Labor Department 

recovered $225 million in back wages for employees, 

up 28% from fiscal 2010. Labor has added 300 

wage-and-hour investigators the past two years, 

increasing its staff by 40% to 1,050. 

The department "has stepped up its efforts to protect 

workers," particularly "in high-risk industries that 

employ low-wage and vulnerable workers," such as 

hotels and restaurants, says Nancy Leppink, deputy 

administrator of the wage-and-hour division. Several 

attorneys for plaintiff workers say employers wrung 

more output from fewer employees during recoveries 

following the 2001 and 2007-09 recessions. Both 

upturns initially yielded sluggish job growth. 

"A lot of companies make a business decision to say, 

'We can cut corners on this, and we won't get sued,' " 

says plaintiffs' attorney David Schlesinger of Nichols 

Kaster in Minneapolis. productivity, or output per labor 

hour, rose 2.3% in 2009 and 4% in 2010 ??" a period 

167

that includes the recession's final months and its 

aftermath ??" vs. increases of 0.6% to 1.6% the 

previous four years. Some economists say the gains 

are overstated because many overtime hours were not 

properly counted, as employees worked off the clock. 

Richard Alfred, chairman of Seyfarth Shaw's 

wage-and-hour practice, has a different view. He 

agrees that the recession helped drive the growth in 

lawsuits, but he says that's because many laid-off 

workers became lead plaintiffs in class-action suits to 

reap financial windfalls after they couldn't find new 

jobs. 

The biggest reason for the lawsuit surge, he says, is 

that lucrative settlements a decade ago prompted 

labor lawyers to file copycat complaints, and the suits 

are far simpler and less costly to pursue than 

discrimination cases. With class-action cases 

exposing companies to multimillion-dollar judgments, 

"the liability becomes so substantial that a vast 

majority of these cases settle," says Garry Mathiason, 

vice chairman of Littler Mendelson, which defends 

companies in such lawsuits. Case in point: In 

November, Oracle agreed to pay $35 million to settle 

claims by 1,666 software testers, technical analysts 

and project managers that they were denied overtime 

because they were misclassified as administrators or 

professionals. 

The company did not admit wrongdoing. The vice of 

technology The newest variety of plaintiff is a worker 

with a handheld device. Jeffrey Allen, a sergeant in the 

organized crime unit of the Chicago Police 

Department, says he got a near-constant barrage of 

e-mails, text messages and calls on his 

department-issued BlackBerry until around 10 p.m. 

every weeknight. Each required a response lasting 

from a minute to an hour or two, he says. While dining 

with his family, mowing the lawn or watching his son 

play soccer, Allen often had to step away to coordinate 

search warrants and compile reports on seized assets, 

among other tasks. Two years ago, he filed a 

class-action suit against the city on behalf of himself 

and other hourly paid police officials. Allen says they're 

owed back overtime pay from 2007 to 2010. 

The case is pending. "You feel like you don't really get 

a break from your job," says Allen, 47, who still works 

for the department, but in a different role. Roderick 

Drew, a spokesman for the city's law department, says 

it's policy to let police officials request overtime. In a 

legal filing, the city argued that Allen failed to show that 

his communications were more than an insignificant 

amount. Some courts have said that applies to 

anything less than 10 or 15 minutes. 

Other wage-and-hour cases seek compensation for 

off-the-clock work in the office. In a class-action 

complaint filed in February against Verizon Wireless, 

customer service representative Heather Jennings 



says she had to be at a Mankato, Minn., call center 10 

to 15 minutes before her shift officially started. 

Jennings says workers such as herself had to log into 

their computers and open databases so they were 

ready to take calls. "I thought it was unfair," says 

Jennings, 31, who was laid off by Verizon last May. 

Verizon spokesman Tom Pica says the company 

"compensates its employees fairly and fully." In a legal 

filing, Verizon said that Jennings' pre-shift activities 

were minimal and that she failed to take advantage of 

complaint procedures at the time. Other lawsuits allege 

that employers gave workers fancy titles to avoid 

paying overtime. 

Richard DeLeon is among more than 750 current and 

former assistant store managers of Big Lots in Florida 

suing the discount department store chain. DeLeon, 

57, says he spent his workday running cash registers, 

unloading trucks and tidying the Cutler Ridge, Fla., 

store. He says managerial functions ??" such as 

assigning tasks to employees ??" took up 10% to 15% 

of his time, but he couldn't hire, fire or discipline 

workers. 

DeLeon says he typically worked about 60 hours a 

week and earned $43,000 a year. His workload 

increased, he says, when managers had to run stores 

with fewer employees in 2009. "This is really a game 

plan by the company to keep labor costs down," says 

DeLeon's lawyer, Mitchell Feldman of Feldman Fox & 

Morgado. Big Lots did not return messages seeking 

comment. In court papers, the company said the 

"primary duty" of the lawsuit's lead plaintiff, Angela 

Schenburn, was assistant manager, but "at times" she 

may have done lower-level tasks "concurrently." 

Even office workers who sometimes earn $100,000 a 

year, such as securities brokers and financial advisers, 

are demanding overtime pay, arguing they're just 

salespeople rather than key decision-makers. In a 

class-action case, Scott Finger, 46, a former MetLife 

mortgage loan officer, says he had to work about 65 

hours a week at the firm's Melville, N.Y., office to meet 

sales targets while earning about $5,700 a month in 

commissions. While he recommended whether to 

approve loans, he says, underwriters made the final 

decisions. MetLife spokesman Ted Mitchell would not 

comment on pending litigation. 

The company has asked a judge to dismiss the case, 

saying it duplicates a previously filed suit. A changing 

workplace Companies say the lawsuits have forced 

them to grant workers less flexibility. Several years 

ago, IBM voluntarily reclassified 7,000 salaried 

technical and support workers earning an average 

$77,000 a year to hourly employees after it settled a 

class-action labor suit for $65 million. 

The company cut their base salaries 15% to account 

for potential overtime, says IBM's MacDonald. IBM's 

168

Shar Anderson oversaw 20 workers in a customer 

service group. "It made me feel less valuable to the 

company," says Anderson, 55, who has a bachelor's 

degree in computer science and several professional 

certifications. Anderson, who's now in a similar but 

higher-level salaried position, says she "wasn't able to 

do my job" because she sometimes had to hand off 

emergency responses to colleagues after 5 p.m. In a 

survey by the HR Policy Association last year, a third 

of the 155 large member firms that responded said 



they've restricted telecommuting as a result of the 

lawsuits, and 56% said they've curbed the use of 

communications devices outside the office. Johnna 

Torsone, head of human resources for mailing systems 

maker Pitney Bowes, says the firm would like to give 

about 30 overtime-eligible sales support staffers the 

ability to work from home but has held back while 

searching for a way to track their time. "You just don't 

take the risk," she says. 

169



Can an undocumented immigrant be 

admitted to the Fla. Bar? 

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is asking the state 

Supreme Court to determine whether it can admit 

someone who is not in the country legally, the Sun 

Sentinel reports. 

The issue involves aspiring lawyer Jose 

Godinez-Samperio, 25, a Tampa-area resident and 

native of Mexico who entered the United States with 

his parents 16 years ago on a tourist visa and didn't 

leave. In the meantime, he became valedictorian of his 

high school class of 2004 and graduated from the 

Florida State University College of Law. 

"No one who has shown this guy's level of contempt 

for American law should be practicing law," William 

Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, 

a political action committee that opposes amnesty for 

undocumented immigrants, tells the newspaper. 

Godinez-Samperio's a attorney and former law 

professor, Sandy D'Alemberte, who is also a former 

state lawmaker, former president of FSU and former 

president of the American Bar Association, disagrees, 

arguing that "it is unfair to deny him the credentials 

he's earned." Some supporters say that while 

Godinez-Samperio would not be permitted to earn a 

living legally as an undocumented immigrant, he could 

handle pro bono cases with a Bar card. The Sun 

Sentinel says the state Board of Bar Examiners began 

requiring exam-takers to submit proof of immigration 

status in 2008, but waived it for Godinez-Samperio, 

who disclosed his status and argued that 

documentation was not required as a rule for 

admission to the Bar. 

170



More U.S. workers sue employers for 

overtime 

Americans were pushed to their limit in the recession 

and its aftermath as they worked longer hours, often 

for the same or less pay, after businesses laid off 

almost 9 million employees. Now, many are striking 

back in court. Since the height of the recession in 

2008, more workers across the nation have been suing 

employers under federal and state wage-and-hour 

laws. The number of lawsuits filed last year was up 

32% vs. 

2008, an increase that some experts partly attribute to 

a post-downturn austerity that pervaded the American 

workplace and artificially inflated productivity. Workers' 

main grievance is that they had to put in more than 40 

hours a week without overtime pay through various 

practices: â¢They were forced to work off the clock. 

â¢Their jobs were misclassified as exempt from 

overtime requirements. â¢Because of smartphones 

and other technology, work bled into their personal 

time. 

"The recession (put) more pressure on businesses to 

squeeze workers and cut costs," says Catherine 

Ruckelshaus, legal co-director of the National 

Employment Law Project. If employers had to bear the 

actual expense of overtime, she says, they likely would 

have hired more workers in the economic recovery. In 

response, employers are playing defense. They're 

drawing clearer lines between workers and managers, 

and in many cases, reining in modern office privileges, 

such as company-issued smartphones and 

telecommuting. The upshot, in many instances, could 

be a very different American workplace. Courts, 

meanwhile, must reconcile decades-old labor laws with 

ever-evolving technology. 

The spread of BlackBerrys and iPhones has many 

workers tethered to employers, for better or worse, 

even during off hours and vacations. The controversy 

has reached the Supreme Court, but in a case 

involving an age-old profession: sales. Monday, the 

justices will hear oral arguments in a class-action 

lawsuit against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. 

Pharmaceutical sales representatives â traditionally 

classified as exempt from overtime pay â say they've 

been misclassified, a stance backed by the Labor 

Department in another case. Glaxo says the sales 

force clearly is exempt under current law. 

Legacy of another time Employers say the explosion of 

lawsuits shows how the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act 

(FLSA) â at the center of the Glaxo case â has 

become outmoded in an age when most employees 

want the flexibility to work at home or answer office 

e-mail while running about on their free time. 

"The law has not kept pace with the contemporary 

workplace," says Randy MacDonald, IBM's head of 

human resources. Many companies have reclassified 

salaried executives as hourly employees â often to the 

consternation of the workers themselves, says Dan 

Yager, general counsel of the HR Policy Association, 

which represents human resource professionals. Such 

a strategy lets employers head off lawsuits by paying a 

lower basic wage that accounts for expected overtime. 

Under the FLSA, employees are entitled to overtime 

unless they're executives who manage and hire and 

fire employees; administrators who make key 

decisions; or professionals â such as lawyers and 

engineers â with advanced degrees, among other 

criteria. Also exempt are certain information 

technology workers and sales representatives whose 

hours can't easily be tracked. Employees must earn at 

least $455 a week to be exempt. While all hourly 

employees are entitled to overtime, salaried workers 

may also qualify if they don't fall under any of the 

exemptions. Last year, 7,006 wage-and-hour suits, 

many of them class actions, were filed in federal court, 

nearly quadruple the 2000 total, according to defense 

law firm Seyfarth Shaw. 

Meanwhile, in fiscal 2011, the Labor Department 

recovered $225 million in back wages for employees, 

up 28% from fiscal 2010. Labor has added 300 

wage-and-hour investigators the past two years, 

increasing its staff by 40% to 1,050. The department 

"has stepped up its efforts to protect workers," 

particularly "in high-risk industries that employ 

low-wage and vulnerable workers," such as hotels and 

restaurants, says Nancy Leppink, deputy administrator 

of the wage-and-hour division. Several attorneys for 

plaintiff workers say employers wrung more output 

from fewer employees during recoveries following the 

2001 and 2007-09 recessions. 

Both upturns initially yielded sluggish job growth. "A lot 

of companies make a business decision to say, 'We 

can cut corners on this, and we won't get sued,' " says 

plaintiffs' attorney David Schlesinger of Nichols Kaster 

in Minneapolis. productivity, or output per labor hour, 

rose 2.3% in 2009 and 4% in 2010 â a period that 

includes the recession's final months and its aftermath 

171

â vs. increases of 0.6% to 1.6% the previous four 

years. Some economists say the gains are overstated 

because many overtime hours were not properly 

counted, as employees worked off the clock. Richard 

Alfred, chairman of Seyfarth Shaw's wage-and-hour 

practice, has a different view. He agrees that the 

recession helped drive the growth in lawsuits, but he 

says that's because many laid-off workers became 

lead plaintiffs in class-action suits to reap financial 

windfalls after they couldn't find new jobs. 

The biggest reason for the lawsuit surge, he says, is 

that lucrative settlements a decade ago prompted 

labor lawyers to file copycat complaints, and the suits 

are far simpler and less costly to pursue than 

discrimination cases. With class-action cases 

exposing companies to multimillion-dollar judgments, 

"the liability becomes so substantial that a vast 

majority of these cases settle," says Garry Mathiason, 

vice chairman of Littler Mendelson, which defends 

companies in such lawsuits. 

Case in point: In November, Oracle agreed to pay $35 

million to settle claims by 1,666 software testers, 

technical analysts and project managers that they 

were denied overtime because they were misclassified 

as administrators or professionals. The company did 

not admit wrongdoing. The vice of technology The 

newest variety of plaintiff is a worker with a handheld 

device. Jeffrey Allen, a sergeant in the organized crime 

unit of the Chicago Police Department, says he got a 

near-constant barrage of e-mails, text messages and 

calls on his department-issued BlackBerry until around 

10 p.m. every weeknight. 

Each required a response lasting from a minute to an 

hour or two, he says. While dining with his family, 

mowing the lawn or watching his son play soccer, 

Allen often had to step away to coordinate search 

warrants and compile reports on seized assets, among 

other tasks. Two years ago, he filed a class-action suit 

against the city on behalf of himself and other hourly 

paid police officials. Allen says they're owed back 

overtime pay from 2007 to 2010. 

The case is pending. "You feel like you don't really get 

a break from your job," says Allen, 47, who still works 

for the department, but in a different role. Roderick 

Drew, a spokesman for the city's law department, says 

it's policy to let police officials request overtime. In a 

legal filing, the city argued that Allen failed to show that 

his communications were more than an insignificant 

amount. Some courts have said that applies to 

anything less than 10 or 15 minutes. Other 

wage-and-hour cases seek compensation for 

off-the-clock work in the office. In a class-action 

complaint filed in February against Verizon Wireless, 

customer service representative Heather Jennings 



says she had to be at a Mankato, Minn., call center 10 

to 15 minutes before her shift officially started. 

Jennings says workers such as herself had to log into 

their computers and open databases so they were 

ready to take calls. "I thought it was unfair," says 

Jennings, 31, who was laid off by Verizon last May. 

Verizon spokesman Tom Pica says the company 

"compensates its employees fairly and fully." In a legal 

filing, Verizon said that Jennings' pre-shift activities 

were minimal and that she failed to take advantage of 

complaint procedures at the time. 

Other lawsuits allege that employers gave workers 

fancy titles to avoid paying overtime. Richard DeLeon 

is among more than 750 current and former assistant 

store managers of Big Lots in Florida suing the 

discount department store chain. DeLeon, 57, says he 

spent his workday running cash registers, unloading 

trucks and tidying the Cutler Ridge, Fla., store. He 

says managerial functions â such as assigning tasks to 

employees â took up 10% to 15% of his time, but he 

couldn't hire, fire or discipline workers. DeLeon says 

he typically worked about 60 hours a week and earned 

$43,000 a year. His workload increased, he says, 

when managers had to run stores with fewer 

employees in 2009. 

"This is really a game plan by the company to keep 

labor costs down," says DeLeon's lawyer, Mitchell 

Feldman of Feldman Fox & Morgado. Big Lots did not 

return messages seeking comment. In court papers, 

the company said the "primary duty" of the lawsuit's 

lead plaintiff, Angela Schenburn, was assistant 

manager, but "at times" she may have done 

lower-level tasks "concurrently." Even office workers 

who sometimes earn $100,000 a year, such as 

securities brokers and financial advisers, are 

demanding overtime pay, arguing they're just 

salespeople rather than key decision-makers. In a 

class-action case, Scott Finger, 46, a former MetLife 

mortgage loan officer, says he had to work about 65 

hours a week at the firm's Melville, N.Y., office to meet 

sales targets while earning about $5,700 a month in 

commissions. While he recommended whether to 

approve loans, he says, underwriters made the final 

decisions. 

MetLife spokesman Ted Mitchell would not comment 

on pending litigation. The company has asked a judge 

to dismiss the case, saying it duplicates a previously 

filed suit. A changing workplace Companies say the 

lawsuits have forced them to grant workers less 

flexibility. Several years ago, IBM voluntarily 

reclassified 7,000 salaried technical and support 

workers earning an average $77,000 a year to hourly 

employees after it settled a class-action labor suit for 

$65 million. 

The company cut their base salaries 15% to account 

for potential overtime, says IBM's MacDonald. IBM's 

172

Shar Anderson oversaw 20 workers in a customer 

service group. "It made me feel less valuable to the 

company," says Anderson, 55, who has a bachelor's 

degree in computer science and several professional 

certifications. Anderson, who's now in a similar but 

higher-level salaried position, says she "wasn't able to 

do my job" because she sometimes had to hand off 

emergency responses to colleagues after 5 p.m. In a 

survey by the HR Policy Association last year, a third 

of the 155 large member firms that responded said 



they've restricted telecommuting as a result of the 

lawsuits, and 56% said they've curbed the use of 

communications devices outside the office. Johnna 

Torsone, head of human resources for mailing systems 

maker Pitney Bowes, says the firm would like to give 

about 30 overtime-eligible sales support staffers the 

ability to work from home but has held back while 

searching for a way to track their time. "You just don't 

take the risk," she says. 

173



Influential African-American MLB 

players 

Jackie Robinson, shown here in 1952, broke the color 

barrier and changed baseball forever. Brooklyn 

Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, left, shakes hands 

with Robinson, then with the Montreal Royals, prior to 

an exhibition game in Havana, Cuba, in 1947. The 

Miami Marlins' Leroy "Satchel" Paige was the first 

African-American pitcher to pitch in a World Series 

game. 

Hank Aaron, shown here in 1967 with the Atlanta 

Braves, played in the MLBfrom 1954 through 1976, 

and is considered one of the best players of all time. 

Ernie Banks played for 19 seasons on the Chicago 

Cubs, from 1953 through 1971, and was elected to the 

National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. Former St. 

Louis Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood, left, became 

one of the pivotal figures in the sport's labor when he 

refused to accept a trade following the 1969 season, 

ultimately appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme 

Court. Although his legal challenge was unsuccessful, 

it brought about additional solidarity among players as 

they fought against baseball's reserve clause and 

sough free agency. 

Former Cleveland Indians outfielder Larry Doby was 

the first African-American player and pinch hitter in the 

American League. Buck O'Neil became the first 

African-American coach in the MLB with the Kansas 

City Monarchs. San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds, 

left, sits with his father, Bobby Bonds, right, in the 

Giants' dugout during a 2002 game. 

Barry holds the MLB record for most home runs in a 

season with 73. Cincinnati Reds outfielder , right, sits 

with his father, Reds coach Ken Griffey Sr. during a 

game in 2001. Griffey played from 1989 to 2001 to 

2010 and was considered the best player in the game 

during his prime. He is tied for the record of most 

consecutive games with a home run. Cincinnati Reds 

manager Dusty Baker, right, is one of two 

African-American managers in the MLB, with the other 

being Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers. 

174



Black baseball players declining 

ST. LOUIS â Major League Baseball, celebrating 

Jackie Robinson Day on Sunday, has the lowest 




African-American population in baseball this season 

has plummeted to 8.05%, less than half the 17.25% in 

1959 when the became the last team to integrate their 

roster, 12 years after Robinson broke baseball's color 

barrier with the . It's a dramatic decline from 1975, 

when 27% of rosters were African-American. In 1995, 

the percentage was 19%. "Baseball likes to say things 

are getting better," says former 20-game winner and 

front office executive Dave Stewart, now a player 

agent. "It's not getting better. It's only getting worse. 

We've been in a downward spiral for a long time, and 

the numbers keep declining." Ten teams opened the 

year with no more than one African American on their 

roster, and 25% of African Americans in the game are 

clustered on three teams â the New York Yankees, 

Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. A 

dearth of collegiate scholarships, increasing cost of 

funding teams in inner cities and, some say, a lack of 

opportunities in major league front offices all have 

contributed to the paucity of African-American players. 

The void has been filled beyond the USA's borders. 

Foreign-born players in 2012 made up 28.4% of 

opening-day rosters. While the game's overall diversity 

has increased, the decrease in African-American 

players can seem stark in a sport where they once 

were its marquee performers. From 1990 to 1995, nine 

of the 12 American and National League MVP winners 

were African American. In 2012, Chicago Cubs center 



to say," said Byrd, who was also the only African 

American on the field Sunday at Busch Stadium in St. 

Louis during the 65th anniversary of Robinson 

breaking the color barrier. "I remember when I came 

up with the (Philadelphia) Phillies in 2002, we had six 

(African-American) players. I thought that was the 

norm. Now, you look around and don't see anyone. 

Will it change? I don't know. I'm hoping it's a different 

story four or five years from now." The St. Louis 

Cardinals, who once had some of the game's top 

African-American stars, such as Hall of Famers Bob 

Gibson, Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith, haven't had an 

African American on their opening-day roster since 

infielder Joe Thurston in 2009. "It's concerning," 

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. "I 

think the RBI program (Reviving Baseball in Inner 

Cities) is helpful and growing. We're all about talent. It 

doesn't matter if you're white, black, brown or green." 

Major League Baseball officials, aware of the dwindling 

numbers as many of the USA's top athletes apparently 

opt for other sports, said it is trying to reverse the trend 

with their urban academies and annual Civil Rights 

exhibition game. "We're trying to get better. It won't 

happen overnight," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "And 

we're very comfortable saying it will be better. We are 

doing great work with our baseball academies and 

working in the inner cities. It's getting better." Robinson 

would want more While baseball has the lowest 

percentage of African-American players since Dwight 

Eisenhower was president, Major League Baseball's 

hiring practices are lauded by Richard Lapchick, 

director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport 

at the University of Central Florida. MLB received an 

"A" for race on Lapchick's Racial and Gender Report 

Card last year. "I remember Jackie saying 10 days 

before he passed (in 1972)," Selig said, "he wouldn't 

be satisfied until we had a black manager and general 

manager. If he went through all of our front offices 

today in baseball, he'd be proud." Still, the Chicago 

White Sox's Kenny Williams and the Miami Marlins' 

Michael Hill are the lone African-American general 

managers, and the Cincinnati Reds' Dusty Baker and 

the Texas Rangers' Ron Washington are the only 

African-American managers. There hasn't been an 

African American hired as manager since Jerry Manuel 

was promoted in 2008 by the New York Mets, and 

there have been five African-American general 

managers in baseball history. "I think Jackie would be 

very disappointed," said Ron Rabinovitz, whose 

friendship with Robinson was the subject of an MLB 

Network documentary. "He would want more than 

this." Stewart, who gave up pursuing a general 

manager's job when clubs repeatedly bypassed him, 

believes there never will be improvement on the field 

unless MLB's hiring practices change. "Bud keeps 

making the comment that things will get better," 

Stewart said. " But Bud is not in position to make it 

happen. Bud works for the owners. He can't make 

them do something they don't want to do. "And right 

now, they don't want to hire blacks as 

decision-makers. Certainly not GMs. You have a lot of 

young executives who can do the job if they have the 

opportunity. But all they get is an interview for window 

dressing." Stewart says MLB should be embarrassed 

by its recent run of managerial hires. He wonders why 

white managers can be continually recycled, with 

several recently out of the game, and still be hired 

ahead of any African-American candidates. "What did 

Jerry Manuel do to not get another opportunity to 

manage?" Stewart said of the former Mets manager. 

"He didn't get one interview after he was hired from the 

175

Mets. Not one. He had to go to the MLB Network just 

to stay around the game. "Look around. (Buck) 

Showalter was out of the game. Bobby Valentine was 

out of the game. Jim Leyland. Davey Johnson. They 

got jobs just like that. It's a joke, man." African 

Americans within the game have taken a grassroots 

approach to reversing the trend. Still, despite the 

obstacles, there are African-American players and 

executives trying to make a difference. LaTroy 

Hawkins, one of 11 African-American pitchers in the 

major leagues, spoke Sunday in New York at baseball 

clinics with Sharon Robinson, daughter of Jackie 

Robinson. Tyrone Brooks, the Pittsburgh Pirates' 

assistant general manager, got started in Hank Aaron's 

internship program with the Atlanta Braves and formed 

the Baseball Industry Network to help those trying to 

get jobs in the game. Oakland Athletics scouting 

director Billy Owens and Los Angeles Dodgers 

assistant GM DeJon Watson constantly try to persuade 

prep athletes to play baseball. "What I want to do is 

hopefully give these people an opportunity that they 

didn't quite know how to go about it," Brooks said. "If it 

wasn't for the people that started that internship 

program with the Braves, who knows if I would have 

had a chance to work in this game." Making baseball 

cool Baseball also constantly fights the stigma of being 

a dull sport. Even former American League MVP Ken 

Griffey Jr.'s son Trey abandoned baseball to accept a 

football scholarship at the University of Arizona, and 

Hall of Famer Barry Larkin's son Shane is playing 

basketball at Miami. The lack of African-American 

players also affects diversity in the stands. Just 9% of 

fans who attended an MLB game last season were 

African American, according to a recent Scarborough 

Marketing Research study. "It's what you grow up 

around," Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew 

McCutchen says. "For the African-American 



community, it's more basketball, it's more football. Just 

the hype of it. It's what people like. Baseball is more of 

a laid-back sport. There's not a lot going on. "Growing 

up, I really loved baseball, and it's something I 

flourished at as a child. But look at the world now. 

Technology is running the world. There are so many 

different things people can do, so it kind of turns them 

away from baseball." Said Dodgers center fielder Matt 

Kemp: "We're definitely aware what's going on in MLB 

as far as African Americans. I'm trying to make 

baseball cool for African Americans and let 

African-American kids know that baseball can give you 

the same opportunities as football, basketball or any of 

the other sports. You get paid just as much, get to 

drive those nice cars and do all of that fun stuff that all 

the other NBA guys get to do. We're just a little bit 

more low key." It's tough scouts and general managers 

say, since colleges also are attracting few 

African-American athletes. Universities offer 11.7 

scholarships in baseball, vs. 85 in football. "The lack of 

full scholarships in NCAA baseball sways kids to other 

sports," Oakland Athletics scouting director Billy 

Owens says. "Plus there are more options athletically 

and recreationally. Back in the '40s and '50s, baseball 

was unequivocally the No. 1 sport in America. Now it's 

extremely popular but not a monopoly. We should 

embrace our past, promote the present and continue 

to strive and make things better for everyone." 

Williams says perhaps there's too much emphasis on 

the lack of African Americans in baseball. The White 

Sox GM is more intrigued with the additional benefits 

of MLB's efforts. "I'm happy with MLB's efforts to bring 

more young men to the game, but not why you think," 

he says. "It's the educational and motivational part of 

the programs that hopefully lead to college 

opportunities that most impress me." 

176



Letters: Jackie Robinson's legacy should 

be recalled often 

Commentary writer Chris Lamb's excellent piece on 

Jackie Robinson warrants a prompt response (""). By 

virtue of Robinson's incredible courage and 

indefatigable spirit, this wonderful man was clearly one 

of the most important Americans of the 20th century. 

His reach transcended the integration of baseball, 

significant as that was, and affected considerably the 

civil rights movement. His influence on both will last 

forever. 

The unbearable pressures he faced on a daily basis 

likely took a toll on his health and vigor, and he passed 

away long before his time in October 1972. He was 53. 

I will never forget seeing my very first Major League 

Baseball game. It was a present for my 10th birthday, 

more than 60 years ago, and Robinson's Brooklyn 

Dodgers played the Phillies in the old Shibe Park in 

Philadelphia. He was my hero then, and he still is after 

all these years! Jackie Robinson Day is a nice gesture, 

but he deserves so much more. 

Robinson statues are at UCLA where he played and at 

some ballparks, but a prominent statue of him should 

be at every major-league park. Then all spectators can 

see him and find out more about this larger-than-life 

figure. Tim Norbeck; Bonita Springs, Fla. Teach kids 

significance of his life Jackie Robinson was important 

because of the huge impact his life had on our society, 

made up of people of all races, religions and ethnic 

backgrounds. Actually, we should honor him every 

day. 

Children of all generations should be taught the 

significance of Robinson's story. It appeals to and 

touches the better angels of our nature and is pertinent 

to what's going on today. Robinson was a great person 

and athlete. He had a quality that only the truly great 

possess: humility. Paul L. Whiteley Sr.; Louisville 

177

17/04/2012


17/04/2012 

Bizjournais - News 


Third general counsel in three years hired at Lincoln National, 182 



Have the Rich Ever Paid a Fair Share of Taxes? (Part 2), 183 



Letters, 185 



Right to education, 186 



Vodafone serves arbitration notice on Indian Govt over new tax plan, 187 

Corriere Della Será - Politica 


La Bardot sceglie Marine Le Pen «Insieme, dalla parte degli animali», 188 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Tribunal Penal Internacional (TPI) 

ONU diz que golpistas estão a agravar a crise política, 189 

El País - Sociedad 


Dos niñas se niegan a ir a EE UU con su madre pese a la orden de un juez, 190 



El CGPJ archiva la investigación abierta al presidente de la Audiencia de Lugo, 191 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Recurso de Inconstitucionalidad 

Los ocho alcaldes del PP andaluces mantendrán el escaño, 192 



Más participación y control ciudadanos, 193 



Alcaldes pueden ser acusados, 194 

El Universal - Nación 


PRI y PAN, los principales contrincantes en Yucatán, 195 



Parlamento adia votação para juízes do Tribunal Constitucional, 196 


179


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Suprema Corte de Justicia 

Espinho: Casino condenado a indemnizar em quase 83 mil euros cliente viciado no jogo, 197 



Rederecht im Bundestag Schwache Chefs, 198 



Bedrohliches Gefühl , 200 



Kriegserklärung des Innenministers , 202 



Complicaciones en la Justicia bonaerense por las medidas de fuerza, 203 



Severino: "Pene più alte per la corruzione" Intercettazioni, rispunta la "ammazza blog", 204 



Fmi alza stime Pil Italia, ripresa nel 2013 Pareggio di bilancio in Costituzione, 205 

Le Monde - Article 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Cour constitutionnelle 

La Libye sous syndrome post-traumatique, 207 



Ohio to execute farm hand who murdered boy, 209 



U.S. top court rules for generic drugmaker on patent, 210 



Florida judge in Trayvon Martin case to decide on recusal, 211 



U.S. top court: lawyers hired by cities can seek immunity, 212 



Cherokee adoption battle in South Carolina high court, 213 



Howard Stern lawsuit vs Sirius XM Radio thrown out, 214 

The Economic Times - Politics/Nation 


Border security policy is not foolproof: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, 215 



180


Impact of Atlantic Yards, for Good or Ill, Is Already Felt, 216 



Once Every 36 Years, Primary Fight for Indiana Senator, 218 



Disabilities Act Used by Lawyers in Flood of Suits, 220 



City Settles Lawsuit That Claimed Bias and Retaliation, 222 



Ted Nugent's comments buzz around Romney, 223 

UY Press - Actualidad 


Diputados apura trámite que reduciría plazos para adopciones, 224 

181

Bizjournais/ - News, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Third general counsel in three years hired 

at Lincoln National 

Lincoln National Corp. has hired its third general 

counsel since 2010. Adam G. Ciongoli, 43 has been 

named executive vice president and general counsel 

of the Radnor, Pa.-based insurance and financial 

services giant, effective May 7. He previously worked 

at Willis Group Holdings, where he was group general 

counsel and secretary. Prior to that, Ciongoli was 

senior vice president and general counsel for Time 

Warner Europe. After graduating from the University of 

Pennsylvania in 1991 and Georgetown University Law 

Center in 1995, Ciongoli was law clerk to U.S. 

Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who was 

then a member of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals 

based in Newark, N.J. After a stint in the Washington 

office of Kirkland & Ellis, where he worked with 

Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, he served as 

chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Constitution 

Subcommittee, which was chaired by then-U.S. Sen. 

John Ashcroft. When Ashcroft became U.S. Attorney 

General in 2001, Ciongoli joined him in the Justice 

Department. After joining the corporate world, he 

returned to clerk for Alito when the judge became a 

Supreme Court justice in 2006. Ciongoli replaces 

Nicole Jones, who left Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC), 

which does business as Lincoln Financial Group, last 

May only a year into the position to return to Cigna 

Corp. as general counsel. Jones served as deputy 

general counsel at Cigna before leaving National in 

May 2010. She replaced Dennis Schoff, who left 

Lincoln National earlier in 2010 after serving as 

general counsel since 2002. Schoff said at the time 

that Dennis Glass, who became Lincoln National’s 

CEO in late 2007 shortly after joining the company 

from merger partner Jefferson Pilot Corp. in North 

Carolina, had turned over much of the senior 

management team. Schoff consulted with the company 

while it sought his replacement. 

182

Bloomberg/ - Politics, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Have the Rich Ever Paid a Fair Share of 

Taxes? (Part 2) 

As the 19th century wound down, the industrialization 

of the U.S., by then the world's largest and most 

productive economy, was piling up fortunes of 

unprecedented size. Cornelius Vanderbilt had died the 

richest self-made man in the world when he left his 

heirs $105 million in 1877. His son William Henry 

Vanderbilt doubled his father's fortune in just eight 

years. When Andrew Carnegie agreed to sell Carnegie 

Steel Corporation to J.P. Morgan for $480 million in 

1901, Morgan told him, "Congratulations on becoming 

the richest man in the world." By 1910, John D. 

Rockefeller was worth $1 billion. But the rich remained 

undertaxed. The government still relied mostly on the 

tariff to fund its operations and the tariff fell most 

heavily on those at the lower end of the socioeconomic 

scale. An attempt to impose an income tax on the rich 

in 1894 had been thrown out by the Supreme Court 

the following year. The political pressure to make the 

rich "pay their fair share," however, had not abated. It 

had only increased as the country's political center 

moved to the left at the dawn of the new century. 

President Theodore Roosevelt belonged to the 

progressive wing of the Republican Party and had 

moved to enforce such measures as the Sherman 

Antitrust Act, long thought a dead letter. He even 

advocated an estate tax with the explicit purpose of 

preventing the "transmission in their entirety of those 

fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits." By the time 

William Howard Taft became president in 1909, the 

short-lived recession of 1907 had thrown the federal 

government into deficit. Many, including 

Representative Cordell Hull of Tennessee -- later 

secretary of state under President Franklin D. 

Roosevelt -- wanted to simply repass the income tax of 

1894 and dare the Supreme Court, which had 

become more liberal, to nullify it a second time. This 

idea horrified Taft, who revered the Supreme Court. 

He was afraid that any such move would put in 

jeopardy the court's role as final arbiter of the 

Constitution. (Taft would serve as Chief Justice from 

1921 to 1930, a job he much preferred to the 

presidency.) So Taft offered a very lawyerly alternative. 

He proposed a constitutional amendment that would 

allow the government to levy an income tax "without 

apportionment among the states and without regard to 

any census or enumeration," thus making moot the 

Supreme Court's 1895 ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' 

Loan & Trust. Congress passed the amendment and 

sent it to the states for ratification on July 12, 1909. 

Meanwhile, Taft proposed a 2 percent tax on corporate 

profits. In 1909, the overwhelming majority of stocks 

and bonds were owned by the wealthy. It was still 

uncommon in the early 20th century for people even to 

have bank accounts, let alone own securities. So a tax 

on corporate profits was, in effect, a tax on the rich. 

And it wouldn't have a Pollock problem because, 

technically, it wasn't an income tax at all. Rather, as 

Taft formulated it, it was an excise tax, measured in 

income, on the privilege of doing business as a 

corporation. There was, of course, a lawsuit regarding 

the matter, but the high court ruled unanimously in 

1911 that the corporate tax was an indirect one and 

thus constitutional. The 16th Amendment was declared 

in effect on Feb. 25, 1913, after Delaware became the 

36th state to ratify it. A week later, Woodrow Wilson 

took office and a new, strongly Democratic Congress 

quickly passed a personal-income tax bill. Wilson 

signed it into law on Oct. 3, 1913. The law was only 14 

pages long and called for a 1 percent tax on income 

above $3,000. With an additional marital deduction of 

$1,000, only 2 percent of American families were 

affected. But the tax was also graduated so that it rose 

to 7 percent on income over $500,000, equal to 

earnings of about $10 million today. There were 

numerous other deductions as well, including the first 

$20,000 of dividend income, interest on all debt and 

other taxes. Among the 357,598 people who filed 1040 

forms (as they were called even then) in 1914 was 

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt, 

whose form can be seen here. Although he had a very 

comfortable gross income of $14,244.86, Roosevelt's 

taxable income was only $989.67 and his effective tax 

rate (the percentage of total income taxed away) would 

have been only 0.6 percent. It was a modest tax at 

most, but the rich were, at last, beginning to pay their 

"fair share." Unfortunately, Congress didn't integrate 

the new personal-income tax with the corporate tax 

that had been originally intended only as a stop-gap 

measure. The failure to do so would have many 

perverse effects. One is that bond interest is a 

deduction from corporate-income taxes, but dividends 

are paid out of after-tax income and then subject to 

taxation at the personal level, skewing corporate 

investment decisions. Worse, the rich -- or more 

accurately their accountants and lawyers -- soon 

learned how to exploit the two separate, unrelated tax 

systems in order to postpone taxes, reduce them or 

escape them altogether. The personal-corporate 

income-tax interaction has been the great engine of 

complexity that has now resulted in a tax code that 

183

stretches to tens of thousands of pages. No reform of 

the tax code can succeed unless these two taxes are 

integrated into a single system. Indeed, if they had 

been at the beginning, there would be no talk of a 

Bloomberg/ - Politics, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Buffett Rule today to get the rich to pay up. In fact, the 

Buffett Rule is purely an artifact of that larger failure, 

plus no little demagogy. 

184

Letters 

This refers to the editorial "Teaching India" ( Business 

Line, April 16). My comments are as follows: The 

Government's primary duty of providing educational 

facilities to the poor cannot be simply transferred to 

private schools, taking advantage of the Supreme 

Court verdict. The Right to Education Act shouldn't be 

misused by politicians who have already mastered the 

art of grabbing land for educational institutions.The 

problem of huge number of poor students cannot be 

ignored, but to expect the rich to come to the rescue of 

the poor is expecting too much. The solution lies in 

having a dialogue with private schools to guarantee 

proper implementation of the SC verdict. Without social 

reforms, (which include education for the 

under-privileged), mere political freedom won't be 

sufficient to make progress as a society.Public sector 

banks have reported a deposit growth of Rs 2-lakh 

crore, and a loan growth of Rs 93,000 crore in the last 

week of March, 2012. The impressive total business 

(deposits plus advances) growth of Rs 2.93 lakh can 

be attributed to "window-dressing". Bankers have been 

resorting to dressing up their books in the last week of 

every fiscal. There are customers willing to help their 

bankers in building up total business growth (deposits 

plus advances).The Reserve Bank of India is also 

aware of this aspect. These deposits/loans vanish after 

the first/second week of April. There is a small cost 

(difference between lending rate and deposit rate) 

involved to these customers, but this is made good by 

offering concessions in services rendered during the 

year.Most of the public sector banks are listed entities, 

and so shareholder activism can check this 

phenomenon. 

K. V. RaoBangalore 

Business Line/ - Markets, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


185

Right to education 

This refers to the editorial "Teaching India" (Business 

Line, April 16). My comments are as follows: The 

Government's primary duty of providing educational 

facilities to the poor cannot be simply transferred to 

private schools, taking advantage of the Supreme 

Court verdict. The Right to Education Act shouldn't be 

misused by politicians who have already mastered the 

art of grabbing land for educational institutions.The 

problem of huge number of poor students cannot be 

ignored, but to expect the rich to come to the rescue of 

the poor is expecting too much. The solution lies in 

having a dialogue with private schools to guarantee 

proper implementation of the SC verdict. Without social 

reforms, (which include education for the 

under-privileged), mere political freedom won't be 

sufficient to make progress as a society.Narendra M. 

AptePuneWindow-dressingPublic sector banks have 

reported a deposit growth of Rs 2-lakh crore, and a 

loan growth of Rs 93,000 crore in the last week of 

March, 2012. The impressive total business (deposits 

plus advances) growth of Rs 2.93 lakh can be 

attributed to "window-dressing". Bankers have been 

resorting to dressing up their books in the last week of 

every fiscal. There are customers willing to help their 

bankers in building up total business growth (deposits 

plus advances).The Reserve Bank of India is also 

aware of this aspect. These deposits/loans vanish after 

the first/second week of April. There is a small cost 

(difference between lending rate and deposit rate) 

involved to these customers, but this is made good by 

offering concessions in services rendered during the 

year.Most of the public sector banks are listed entities, 

and so shareholder activism can check this 

phenomenon. 

K. V. RaoBangalore 



186



Vodafone serves arbitration notice on 

Indian Govt over new tax plan 

Vodafone has served on the Government of India a 

notice of dispute under the India-Netherlands 

investment treaty, in the latest escalation of the 

controversy over proposals in the Finance Bill, 

2012.The move enables Vodafone commence 

international arbitration proceedings should the 

yet-to-be-enacted legislation get passed. The 

proposals "violate the international legal protections 

granted to Vodafone and other international investors 

in India," the company said in a statement on 

Tuesday.The notice was the "first step required prior to 

the commencement of international arbitration," a 

London-based spokesperson for Vodafone told 

Business Line. If enacted, the proposals would have 

"serious consequences for Vodafone," they said. "We 

have called on India to either abandon or suitably 

amend the tax proposals.""We are happy to meet and 

explain our position, however if legislation as it is 

currently crafted becomes law then we will do 

whatever it takes to protect ourselves and our 

shareholders, including commencing international 

arbitration," the spokesperson said.The notice has 

been issued by Vodafone International Holdings BV, 

the Dutch subsidiary of the British telecom giant under 

the Bilateral Investment Treaty between India and the 

Netherlands. Vodafone contends that the changes 

included in the Finance Bill breached certain 

obligations of the Indian government, including giving 

investors fair and equitable treatment, and not denying 

justice to investors."The proposed legislation would 

also countermand the verdict of the Indian Supreme 

Court in January 2012, which ruled that Vodafone had 

no liability to account for withholding tax on its 

acquisition of indirect interests in Hutchison Essar 

Limited in 2007," the company said.Clarifying how the 

procedure would work should the company proceed 

with arbitration, the spokesperson said this would 

involve a panel of three arbitrators deciding on the 

matter in a neutral country, based on general 

international principles.The day before the Vodafone 

announcement, the Commerce and Industries Minister, 

Mr Anand Sharma, on a visit to London, reiterated the 

government's position, namely that the Finance Bill 

proposals amounted to "clarificatory amendments" and 

that they were not intended to be "Vodafone 

specific."Our New Delhi Bureau adds:The Finance 

Ministry today said that it has not as yet received the 

notice of dispute reported to have been served on the 

Indian Government by Vodafone in the matter of the 

controversial retrospective amendment proposed in 

the Finance Bill 2012."I am yet to see the notice, then 

only can I give my view on it", said Mr R. Gopalan, 

Economic Affairs Secretary. Echoing this view, the 

Finance Secretary, Mr R. S. Gujral, said, on the 

sidelines of a CII event: "We are in no position to talk 

about it as we are yet to see the 

notice."vidya.ram@thehindu.co.inkrsrivats@thehindu.c 

o.in 

187

Corriere Della Será/ - Politica, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


La Bardot sceglie Marine Le Pen 

«Insieme, dalla parte degli animali» 

L' ex modella ha sposato in ultime nozze un esponente 

del Front National 

PARIGI - La strana coppia delle elezioni presidenziali 

francesi è da ieri Marine Le Pen-Brigitte Bardot. La 

prima è figlia del fondatore del Front National, 

educazione severa e vita improntata ai valori dell' alta 

borghesia cattolica, sia pure temperati da un divorzio. 

La seconda è stata per decenni l' attrice francese più 

famosa del mondo, protagonista degli Anni Sessanta 

creativi e dissoluti e immersa in quel mondo artistico di 

solito associato alla sinistra. 

Invece, B. B. è sempre stata di destra, e ora con un 

impegno chiaro e appassionato a favore della Le Pen: 

con una lettera aperta pubblicata del quotidiano Nice 

Matin , l' ormai 77enne diva di Saint Tropez invita 

duramente i sindaci francesi esitanti a firmare a favore 

della leader del Front National, in modo che possa 

partecipare alle elezioni del 22 aprile. «Sono 

scandalizzata dal fatto che i sindaci francesi siano così 

cauti, e non abbiano l' onestà di dare i loro voti a 

Marine Le Pen - si legge nella lettera con la carta 

intestata della "Madrague", la celebre villa della Bardot 

- che fa parte di una équipe di punta per le 

presidenziali, che difende gli animali e ha il coraggio di 

voler ridare al nostro Paese, "la Francia" (tra virgolette, 

ndr ) il posto che le compete nel mondo». 

Non è chiaro quanto l' endorsement della Bardot farà 

bene a Marine Le Pen, visto che la popolarità dell' 

attrice è in caduta libera da decenni. La vita travagliata 

di B. B., i suoi tentativi di suicidio e le depressioni non 

le hanno mai fruttato grande compassione presso il 

pubblico francese, che sembra concordare con quanto 

scrisse di lei il secondo dei suoi quattro mariti, Jacques 

Charrier: «Per Brigitte l' umanità si divide in tre parti: gli 

esseri umani (razza inferiore e disprezzabile), gli 

animali (degni di essere amati) e lei stessa (degna di 

essere adulata)». L' amore per gli animali, o 

quantomeno la comune intransigenza con alcuni 

aspetti della cultura islamica, è ciò che più la unisce a 

Marine Le Pen. 

In questi giorni la leader del Front National sta 

conducendo una battaglia contro la carne halal, cioè 

macellata secondo il rito islamico: in deroga alla legge 

l' animale non viene stordito, e non viene ucciso con le 

speciali pistole che procurano una morte immediata 

ma sgozzato, la testa rivolta alla Mecca, mentre 

vengono pronunciate formule religiose. «Tutta la carne 

mangiata nella regione di Parigi è halal», ha 

denunciato Marine Le Pen. Non è vero, ma la sua 

protesta ha risvegliato l' attenzione dell' animalista 

Brigitte Bardot, che è comunque da anni vicino alle 

posizioni del Front National anche perché ne ha 

sposato in ultime nozze un suo esponente, l' 

imprenditore Bernard d' Ormale. La questione delle 

firme è decisiva per Marine Le Pen, e forse per l' 

elezione presidenziale francese. Secondo la legge, per 

figurare sul bollettino di voto il candidato deve avere 

raccolto le firme di 500 sindaci, e due giorni fa la Corte 

costituzionale ha confermato che tale sostegno deve 

essere pubblico e non anonimo, come avrebbe 

preferito la leader del Fn. Esporsi pubblicamente a suo 

favore espone al rischio di ostracismo, per questo 

Marine Le Pen è in grande difficoltà e a pochi giorni 

dalla scadenza (il 6 marzo) le mancano ancora un 

centinaio di firme. 

Dovesse restare fuori dall' elezione, ad 

avvantaggiarsene sarebbe Nicolas Sarkozy, che negli 

ultimi giorni conduce una campagna elettorale 

spostata a destra proprio per rivolgersi ai potenziali 

elettori del Fn. Per questo sia il socialista François 

Hollande sia il centrista François Bayrou sperano 

esplicitamente che Marine Le Pen riesca a trovare le 

firme necessarie per presentarsi, togliendo così voti 

preziosi a Sarkozy. In questo clima di calcoli politici e 

di democrazia invocata talvolta per escludere Marine 

Le Pen, talvolta per farla partecipare, secondo le 

convenienze, Brigitte Bardot si lancia con un appoggio 

senza precedenti, ma come sempre priva di 

diplomazia: «Chiedo ai sindaci di avere un po' di 

coraggio, per una volta nella loro vita, e di fare il loro 

dovere». In passato B. B. si è scagliata contro 

musulmani, omosessuali, collezionando cinque 

condanne per incitamento all' odio razziale. Non sarà 

certo il sostegno a Marine, campionessa del lepenismo 

soft, a farle perdere un affetto che i francesi sembrano 

averle tolto da tempo. 

188

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Globo, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Tribunal Penal Internacional (TPI)) 

ONU diz que golpistas estão a agravar a 

crise política 

O secretário-geral das Nações Unidas, Ban Ki-moon, 

afirmou hoje estar "gravemente preocupado" por os 

líderes do golpe de Estado na Guiné -Bissau estarem 

a "agravar a crise política", em vez de ouvirem os 

apelos da comunidade internacional. 

Em declaração hoje divulgada pelo seu gabinete, Ban 

Ki-moon reitera ainda o apelo, também já feito pelo 

Conselho de Segurança da ONU e pelo Departamento 

de Estado norte-americano, para a "libertação 

imediata" dos líderes políticos detidos no golpe da 

passada quinta feira. 

Ban Ki-moon afirma estar "gravemente preocupado 

por, apesar dos apelos da comunidade internacional 

para o regresso da ordem constitucional à 

Este agravamento da crise resulta, adianta, do 

anúncio de planos para criação de um Governo de 

unidade nacional. 

"Isto é particularmente perturbador, vindo numa altura 

em que o povo da 

Na quinta-feira à noite, um grupo de militares 

guineenses atacou a residência do primeiro-ministro e 

candidato presidencial, Carlos Gomes Júnior, e 

ocupou vários pontos estratégicos da capital da 

A ação foi justificada por um autodenominado 

Comando Militar, como visando defender as Forças 

Armadas de uma alegada agressão de militares 

angolanos, que teria sido autorizada pelos chefes do 

Estado interino e do Governo. 

A mulher de Carlos Gomes Júnior disse hoje que este 

foi levado por militares na noite do ataque e 

encontra-se em parte incerta, assim como o 

Presidente interino, Raimundo Pereira. 

Os acontecimentos militares na 

Na declaração hoje divulgada, Ban Ki-moon afirma ter 

falado nos últimos dias, sobre a crise na 

As conversas tiveram como objetivo "encontrar uma 

solução rápida e duradoura para a crise política" no 

país. 

Ban Ki-moon saúda ainda os esforços da CEDEAO, 

UA e outros parceiros da 

O golpe do final da semana passada foi condenado 

em larga medida pela comunidade internacional. 

A presidência angolana da CPLP admitiu entretanto 

avançar para o Tribunal Penal Internacional contra as 

autoridades militares guineenses, "em particular" o 

chefe das Forças Armadas, António Indjai. 

Para tal, como para serem decretadas sanções 

internacionais individuais contra líderes golpistas ou 

envio de uma força de paz sob alçada das Nações 

Unidas, seria necessária uma resolução do Conselho 

de Segurança. 

189

El País/ - Sociedad, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Dos niñas se niegan a ir a EE UU con su 

madre pese a la orden de un juez 

La Audiencia da la custodia a la mujer, acusada de 

llevarse a las menores ilegalmente El fallo judicial data 

de 2011 y queda suspendido Dos niñas de 12 y 14 

años de Tarragona se niegan a trasladarse a vivir a 

Estados Unidos con su madre, en contra de lo que 

establece una sentencia que otorga a la progenitora la 

guardia y custodia de las menores. Tras una larga 

batalla judicial en los juzgados de Estados Unidos y 

Valls (Alt Camp, Tarragona), el padre debía entregar 

este martes las niñas a la madre, pero estas se 

opusieron en la misma sede judicial. La titular del 

juzgado de instrucción 1 de Valls ha decidido no 

ejecutar la sentencia. “Se ha tenido que suspender 

hasta nueva fecha por la situación emocional de las 

menores y los momentos de tensión vividos en el 

juzgado”, ha informado el Tribunal Superior de 

Justicia de Cataluña (TSJC). Las dos niñas, según 

han confesado, quieren seguir viviendo con el padre, 

Quico Iborra, en la Vall de l’Arrabassada. Este es el 

enésimo capítulo de la historia que enfrenta desde 

hace casi tres años a un matrimonio divorciado en 

2006 y, sobre todo, a sus dos hijas. Iborra incluso 

cruzó el Océano Atlántico hace dos años para 

localizar a las niñas porque la madre se las había 

llevado sin consentimiento paterno a Estados Unidos 

aprovechando un error judicial: el juzgado no 

transmitió a la policía la prohibición de salir de España 

de las menores y la orden “se archivó por un error 

debido a la sobrecarga de trabajo”, según admitió 

hace un año el Consejo General del Poder Judicial. 

La progenitora, Luciane Almeida, brasileña de 

nacimiento pero también con nacionalidad española, 

se casó de nuevo en Estados Unidos con un pastor 

evangélico, según explicaron este martes los abuelos 

paternos. El 30 de julio de 2010, el juzgado de Valls 

acordó otorgar la guardia y custodia de las dos niñas 

al padre, pero la madre recorrió la decisión ante la 

Audiencia Provincial de Tarragona. Este último 

organismo, el 25 de noviembre del año pasado, estimó 

el recurso de Almeida, dejó sin efecto la resolución del 

juzgado de Valls y devolvió la custodia a la 

progenitora. Almeida llegó el lunes a España para 

recuperar a sus hijas, pero fue detenida en el 

aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat. Sobre ella pesaba 

una orden de arresto por desobediencia a la autoridad 

y sustracción de menores, vigente desde que se llevó 

a las menores a EEUU. La madre entró este martes 

en los juzgados de Valls discretamente poco antes de 

las diez de la mañana. Las niñas y el padre, con los 

abuelos paternos, lo hicieron minutos después. Las 

menores estaban visiblemente afectadas. La pequeña 

quería leer ante los medios una carta dirigida a su 

madre, pero el llanto se lo impidió. “Mamá, no 

queremos ir contigo. Por favor, haznos caso. Tú 

siempre has dicho que querías lo mejor para nosotras, 

pues deja que nos quedemos aquí”, decía la carta, 

leída al final por Iborra. Minutos después, la expareja 

protagonizó una fuerte discusión dentro de los 

juzgados. Los padres se cruzaron graves acusaciones 

en presencia de las niñas, que no podían parar de 

llorar. Iborra incluso dio puñetazos en las puertas, 

explicaron algunos testigos. “Llevo trabajando aquí 35 

años y nunca había visto nada igual, es un caso muy 

delicado”, dijo una funcionaria. La tensión fue tal, que 

los guardias cerraron las puertas del edificio y se 

desplazaron hasta allí varias patrullas de los Mossos 

d’Esquadra y la policía local, además de una 

ambulancia del Sistema de Emergencias Médicas 

(SEM). Poco antes del mediodía, el padre salía de 

nuevo acompañado de sus hijas y su abogada. “Ha 

sido imposible ejecutar la sentencia porque las niñas 

se niegan a ir físicamente con su madre, ahora, no sé 

qué pasará”, explicó Iborra. Almeida y su abogada se 

negaron a realizar declaraciones. La custodia, por el 

momento, la sigue teniendo la madre, pero las niñas 

viven con el padre en Tarragona. La ejecución de la 

sentencia fue pospuesta a una nueva fecha, que este 

martes el TSJC no ha concretado. 

190

El País/ - Internacional, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


El CGPJ archiva la investigación abierta 

al presidente de la Audiencia de Lugo 

El órgano de gobierno de los jueces lo justifica en las 

"versiones contradictorias entre el interesado y la 

magistrada Estela San José La Comisión Permanente 

del Consejo General del Poder Judicial (CGPJ) ha 

acordado este martes por unanimidad archivar la 

investigación abierta al presidente de la Audiencia 

Provincial de Lugo, José Antonio Varela Agrelo, en 

relación con la denuncia de la jueza instructora del 

'Caso Campeón', Estela San José, que le acusó de un 

posible comportamiento irregular en relación con un 

imputado en la causa en la que se investiga una 

supuesta trama de obtención fraudulenta de ayudas 

públicas. El órgano de gobierno de los jueces justifica 

el archivo de la investigación en las "versiones 

contradictorias entre el interesado y la magistrada del 

Juzgado de Instrucción número 3 de Lugo sobre la 

forma de producirse los hechos que dieron origen a la 

citada información previa, no existiendo otros 

elementos probatorios". A mediados del pasado mes 

de marzo, el CGPJ había tomado nota de una 

documentación anterior que le había remitido el propio 

Varela informando de que fue víctima de un intento de 

extorsión perpetrado por Jorge Dorribo, principal 

imputado en la 'Campeón'. Sin embargo, en el escrito 

de la jueza se daría una versión diferente al narrar 

San José la personación en su juzgado del presidente 

de la Audiencia Provincial para conocer de primera 

mano lo que había declarado contra él Dorribo, con 

quien habría tenido relaciones de amistad y 

comerciales. En su escrito ante el CGPJ, Varela había 

informado al órgano de gobierno de los jueces de su 

intención de formular denuncia ante comentarios 

realizados sobre su posible relación con un proyecto 

empresarial vinculado a la denominada 'Operación 

Carioca', en la que se investiga, también en Lugo, una 

supuesta trama de explotación de mujeres y una red 

de clubes de alterne. Varela Agrelo explicó en su día 

que había denunciado al farmacéutico gallego 

después de que éste le pidiese dinero "a través de un 

amigo común" para, supuestamente, no declarar en su 

contra.Tras producirse el supuesto intento de 

extorsión, el presidente de la Audiencia Provincial 

acudió al juzgado de guardia para dar cuenta de lo 

sucedido y, después de hablar con la jueza allí 

presente, Sonia Fernández Cortés, decidió aplazar la 

presentación de la denuncia hasta haber realizado una 

comunicación oficial al Tribunal Superior de Xustiza de 

Galicia. El empresario Jorge Dorribo había declarado 

como testigo ante la jueza de la 'Operación Carioca', 

Pilar de Lara, a la que aseguró que había conocido a 

Varela Agrelo en la sociedad Accion&Klasse y que 

había negociado con él su salida de prisión en 2011, 

tras ser encarcelado en mayo por la 'Operación 

Campeón'. Estos hechos han sido negados por el 

presidente de la Audiencia Provincial. 

191

El País/ - Sociedad, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Recurso de Inconstitucionalidad) 

Los ocho alcaldes del PP andaluces 

mantendrán el escaño 

El Tribunal Constitucional admite a trámite el 

recurso contra la ley electoral de la Junta El alto 

tribunal suspende la aplicación de la incompatibilidad 

con el escaño cuestionada Los ocho alcaldes del PP 

que han sido elegidos parlamentarios en las 

elecciones autonómicas del 25 de marzo mantendrán 

por el momento el escaño. El Tribunal Constitucional 

ha admitido esta mañana a trámite el recurso 

planteado por el Gobierno contra la recién reformada 

Ley electoral andaluza, que regula el estatuto de los 

expresidentes de la Junta, y contra la Ley de 

Incompatibilidades de Altos Cargos, que establece la 

incompatibilidad entre los cargos de diputado 

autonómico y alcalde o presidente de diputación. El 

alto tribunal ha decidido además suspender hasta su 

decisión la aplicación de esta normativa. El Ejecutivo 

de José Antonio Griñán cambió la ley el pasado 23 de 

noviembre, en los últimos días de la legislatura. Su 

rival electoral, Javier Arenas, hizo del combate a esta 

norma uno de los puntales de la precampaña de su 

partido y de la ofensiva al socialista, quien había 

defendido que no se pudieran simultanear los cargos 

para evitar su acumulación, especialmente en tiempos 

de crisis y desempleo. El líder del PP llevó su desafío 

hasta el extremo de encabezar cinco de las listas con 

alcaldes, a los que se sumaron media docena más en 

otros puestos. Y, además, el Gobierno de Mariano 

Rajoy planteó un recurso a la norma. De los 17 

alcaldes candidatos que presentó el PP, han sido 

elegidos ocho: Juan Ignacio Zoido, alcalde de Sevilla; 

Esperanza Oña, Fuengirola (Málaga); Carlos Rojas, 

Motril (Granada); Pedro Rodríguez, Huelva; José 

Antonio Nieto, Córdoba; Dolores López, Valverde del 

Camino (Huelva); Manuel Andrés González, Lepe 

(Huelva), y José Cara, La Mojonera (Almería). La 

admisión de un recurso de inconstitucionalidad del 

presidente del Gobierno suspende la vigencia y 

aplicación de las leyes comunitarias impugnadas, 

suspensión que el Tribunal deberá ratificar o levantar 

en un plazo no superior a cinco meses. En 

consecuencia, ambas normas quedan suspendidas 

desde que aparezca publicada la suspensión en el 

BOE. Transcurrido ese tiempo, si el alto tribunal no se 

ha pronunciado, los alcaldes deberán dimitir como 

diputados o como regidores. El PP hasta ahora ha 

dado por hecho que al final tendrán que elegir, habida 

cuenta de que la derogación de la norma ya no es 

posible al no conseguir el PP la mayoría absoluta para 

formar Gobierno y volver a cambiar Ley electoral 

andaluza. La providencia del Constitucional ordena 

dar traslado de la demanda al Congreso y al Senado. 

Así como a la Junta y al Parlamento de Andalucía 

para que en el plazo de 15 días puedan personarse y 

formular alegaciones al recurso. 

192

El Peruano/ - Noticia, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Más participación y control ciudadanos 

Luis Arana Galindo Periodista Han sido unificadas, 

sistematizadas y actualizadas once leyes electorales 

en el proyecto de ley del Código Electoral y Código 

Procesal Electoral presentado por el Jurado Nacional 

de Elecciones, cuyo debate para su aprobación fue 

iniciado por el Congreso de la República. Una de las 

normas comprendidas en dicho proyecto es la Ley de 

los Derechos de Participación y Control 

Ciudadanos–N°26300, vigente desde 1994, mediante 

la cual el pueblo viene ejerciendo su derecho político y 

decidiendo, con su voto libre y secreto, sobre diversos 

aspectos de los gobiernos nacional, regional y local. 

Basado en esta importante norma de la democracia 

directa, la ciudadanía puede proponer y lograr la 

aprobación, por ejemplo, de una reforma total o parcial 

de la Constitución Política, la dación de una ley, 

decidir sobre una propuesta de interés colectivo a 

través de la consulta de referéndum o plantear la 

formación de leyes u ordenanzas regionales y locales. 

Igualmente, ejerciendo su derecho democrático de 

control político amparado por esta ley, decide la 

revocatoria o destitución de autoridades regionales y 

locales elegidas, obliga a la remoción de autoridades 

designadas y ordena a una autoridad a rendir cuentas 

sobre su gestión. Pero, el caso es que estos derechos 

ciudadanos no se han viabilizado en toda su 

dimensión en casi dos décadas de su vigencia. 

Apenas han venido plasmándose las consultas de 

revocatoria de autoridades regionales y municipales y 

las de referéndum. Los otros derechos de 

participación, como las iniciativas de reforma 

constitucional, de formación de leyes o de 

ordenanzas, solo tuvieron limitadas aplicaciones e 

intentos fallidos, tal vez por falta de reglamentación, 

desconocimiento y procedimientos complicados. Igual 

suerte corrieron los derechos de control como la 

remoción y la demanda de rendición de cuentas. Así, 

el JNE propone que las solicitudes para ejercer estos 

derechos sean presentadas a través de los Jurado 

Electorales Descentralizados permanentes y/o 

temporales, y que, una vez comprobados los 

requisitos básicos, autoriza al Reniec la venta del 

formato de acopio de firmas y, luego, la verificación de 

ellas. En el caso de la revocatoria de autoridades, el 

proyecto dispone que dichos formatos se adquieran 

desde 90 días antes del inicio del segundo año de 

gestión. Es decir, los promotores no esperarán la 

conclusión del primer año, lapso en que la ley impide 

el inicio de todo proceso revocatorio. Es más, esta 

consulta podrá realizarse solo una vez durante el 

período de mandato y su convocatoria debe dictarse 

con anticipación de 210 días de la fecha de consulta. 

Asimismo, de aprobarse el proyecto, solicitar la 

reforma total o parcial de la Constitución Política ya 

no exigirá la presentación del 10 por ciento de firmas 

de adherentes, sino solo del 8 por ciento del padrón 

del último proceso electoral. 

193

El Peruano/ - Noticia, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Alcaldes pueden ser acusados 

Medida alcanzaría también a presidentes regionales, 

dijo Andrade Sanción podría llegar hasta los dos años 

de pena privativa de la libertad Los alcaldes y 

presidentes regionales que no han cumplido hasta el 

momento con presentar o ejecutar sus planes de 

seguridad ciudadana podrían ser denunciados por 

omisión de funciones de acuerdo con el artículo 377° 

del Código Penal. Así lo informó el congresista 

Fernando Andrade, quien precisó que tales denuncias 

pueden ser formuladas por los propios ciudadanos. Al 

respecto, el legislador precisó que según la 

normatividad peruana, la omisión de funciones se 

sanciona con una pena no mayor de dos años de 

cárcel o entre 30 a 60 días de multa. Sin embargo, 

Andrade advirtió que la sanción puede determinar la 

vacancia de la autoridad local o regional, en el caso 

que el Poder Judicial emita la sentencia 

correspondiente dentro de su período de gestión. "En 

algunos municipios los vecinos han efectuado el 

seguimiento a sus alcaldes y están formulando las 

denuncias contra ellos por no haber presentado el 

referido plan. Lamentablemente, no todos los 

ciudadanos saben que tienen esa facultad", expresó. 

También indicó que hasta el momento cinco 

presidentes regionales no han cumplido con presentar 

sus respectivos planes de seguridad ciudadana, lo que 

constituye un mal ejemplo para los alcaldes 

provinciales y distritales del país. Andrade –quien es 

miembro titular de la Comisión Especial Multipartidaria 

de Seguridad Ciudadana del Congreso– informó que 

se trata de las autoridades regionales de Áncash, 

Cusco, Madre de Dios, Pasco y Tumbes. "Si el 

presidente regional, que es el encargado de dirigir 

toda la región incumple sus responsabilidades, 

entonces qué se puede esperar de los burgomaestres 

provinciales y distritales. En este tipo de actitudes 

radica el problema", puntualizó. Plazo vencido Por su 

parte, el congresista Octavio Salazar dijo que hasta el 

momento existen más de 900 municipios distritales de 

todo el país (de un total de 1,644), que no han 

cumplido con presentar estos planes pese a que el 

plazo para hacerlo venció el pasado 1 de enero de 

este año. Asimismo, indicó que falta instalar 67 

comités provinciales de seguridad ciudadana, lo que 

significa el 34.54% del total. Justifican la demora El 

presidente regional de Apurímac, Elías Segovia, 

explicó que la demora en la presentación de su plan 

de seguridad ciudadana (el documento fue entregado 

recién), se debió a que su región se encontraba en 

emergencia a consecuencia de las intensas lluvias. 

"Sin ánimo de justificarnos, nos dedicamos a atender 

la emergencia para evitar que se produzcan pérdidas 

de vidas y mayores daños en infraestructura." Por su 

parte, el presidente regional de Pasco, Klever 

Meléndez, sostuvo que ya tienen listo su plan de 

seguridad ciudadana, pero debido a una 

descoordinación de los funcionarios encargados aún 

no ha sido entregado al Conasec. 

194

El Universal/ - Nación, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


PRI y PAN, los principales contrincantes 

en Yucatán 

MÉRIDA Con una población cercana a los 2 millones 

de habitantes, Yucatán celebrará elecciones 

concurrentes el próximo 1 de julio, es decir, se 

elegirán simultáneamente autoridades federales y 

estatales, en las que estarán en juego el gobierno del 

Estado, 106 alcaldías —incluyendo Mérida, la 

capital—, así como 25 diputaciones locales (15 de 

mayoría y 10 de representación proporcional), 

comicios que marcarán principalmente el futuro para 

las dos fuerzas políticas de mayor votación en la 

entidad, el PRI y el PAN, de acuerdo con 

especialistas. El Partido de la Revolución Democrática 

(PRD) que entra a la justa electoral, busca romper el 

tradicional bipartidismo PRI-PAN. Sin embargo, el 

perredismo sólo aumentó su membresía en Yucatán 

en el año 2001, cuando fue en alianza con el PAN y 

obtuvo poco más de 12% de la votación. A partir de 

una reforma constitucional del Congreso local de 

2006, las elecciones en Yucatán se efectuaron en 

2007 para elegir, por única ocasión, a un gobierno que 

duraría cinco años y dos meses. Ese gobierno lo ganó 

la priísta Ivonne Ortega Pacheco, cuyo período 

concluirá el próximo 30 de septiembre. Actores 

políticos Los dos principales protagonistas de la 

jornada electoral son Rolando Zapata Bello, candidato 

del PRI. Aunque en los últimos meses parecía que no 

era el aspirante de la mandataria Ivonne Ortega, quien 

impulsaba a la alcaldesa de Mérida, Angélica Araujo 

Lara, de acuerdo con priístas. Ortega Pacheco y 

Zapata Bello regresaron a su antigua alianza y por 

tanto el aspirante priísta lleva el sello de la actual 

mandataria estatal. Por su parte, el PAN decidió 

postular a la gubernatura a Joaquín Díaz Mena, ex 

delegado de la SEP, ex diputado federal, ex alcalde 

del puerto de San Felipe y considerado incondicional 

del ex gobernador Patricio Patrón Laviada. Por tanto, 

se considera que en la elección estatal se medirán las 

fuerzas políticas de Ortega Pacheco y Patrón Laviada. 

Irán con todo A decir de la investigadora de la 

Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas y Sociales 

Hideyo Noguchi, de la Universidad Autónoma de 

Yucatán, Gina Villagómez Valdéz, el PRI busca 

consolidar su hegemonía y el PAN intenta regresar al 

escenario electoral y recuperar espacios perdidos. 

Mérida, la ciudad capital, será el punto medular en la 

disputa entre ambas fuerzas, tomando en cuenta que 

concentra 46% de los electores. Otro investigador, 

Arcadio Sabido Méndez, considera que los partidos 

políticos carecen de democracia y todos ellos buscan 

llegar al poder por el poder mismo. Ambos 

investigadores opinaron que independientemente de 

simpatías partidistas, Yucatán requiere un gobierno de 

justicia social, ya que el desempleo y el abandono en 

el campo son asuntos medulares. La pobreza y falta 

de liquidez posiblemente vuelva a repercutir en el 

resultado electoral, si continúan las prácticas del 

clientelismo y el favoritismo con apoyos oficiales, 

indicó. Antecedentes electorales El PAN sólo ha 

gobernado en una ocasión en Yucatán, en 2001, 

cuando ganó el panista Patricio Patrón Laviada al 

entonces candidato del PRI Orlando Paredes Lara; 

también obtuvo el PAN la mayoría en el Congreso y 

retuvo Mérida. En esas elecciones, el PAN obtuvo 334 

mil 280 votos, mientras que el PRI alcanzó 302 mil 

340 sufragios. Luego de seis años de gobierno 

panista, en 2007 el PRI postuló a Ivonne Ortega, quien 

superó al panista Xavier Abreu Sierra, por 60 mil 

votos. En las elecciones de 2009, el PRI retoma 

espacios y gana las cinco diputaciones federales y en 

2010 recupera la alcaldía de Mérida, gobernada 

durante 19 años por el PAN. Elecciones 2011 El PRI y 

el PAN son los únicos partidos en Yucatán que 

presentaron candidatos propios en los 106 municipios 

de la entidad, en la gubernatura y en las 25 

diputaciones locales, 15 de mayoría y 10 de 

representación proporcional. Mientras tanto, el PRD, 

Partido del Trabajo (PT) y Movimiento Ciudadano 

(MC) postulan en coalición a candidatos a gobernador, 

a la alcaldía de Mérida y a diputados locales. El 

presidente del partido del sol azteca en el estado, 

David Barrera Zavala, considera que entran a la 

contienda buscando vencer los recursos y malas 

prácticas del PRI y el PAN, y avanzar en las 

preferencias electorales. “Creemos que se puede 

aumentar la votación en Yucatán, sobre todo con la 

figura y arrastre de nuestro candidato presidencial, 

Andrés Manuel López Obrador”, sentenció. 

195

Expresso OnLine Lisboa / - Atualidade, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Parlamento adia votação para juízes do 


Candidato socialista está de licença sem vencimento 

como juiz. 

Luisa Meireles e Rui Gustavo (www.expresso.pt) 

A votação na Assembleia da República para a eleição 

dos três juízes do Tribunal Constitucional foi adiada 

para 4 de maio devido a um problema "burocrático" 

com a candidatura do nome proposto pelos 

socialistas, José Conde Rodrigues. 

A eleição estava prevista para esta sexta-feira, dia 20. 

O ex-secretário de Estado da Justiça de José 

Sócrates, que foi juiz durante pouco mais de um ano 

num tribunal fiscal, pediu uma licença sem vencimento 

de longa duração em julho de 2011. 

Desde que saiu do Governo, Conde Rodrigues 

encontra-se a trabalhar como consultor num escritório 

de advogados, ABBC e associados, sendo colega de 

Rogério Alves e Luís Filipe Carvalho. 

De acordo com a lei do Tribunal Constitucional, pelo 

menos seis dos 13 membros do Tribunal têm de ser 

juízes em exercício. 

Os três nomes que deveriam ser votados na 

sexta-feira destinam-se a substituir os três membros 

que se reformaram ou terminaram os seus mandatos, 

Borges Soeiro, Pamplona de Oliveira e Gil Galvão, 

sendo que os dois primeiros são juízes. 

Ora, dos três nomes propostos para serem votados - 

Fátima Mata Mouros (pelo CDS), Paulo Saragoça da 

Matta (PSD) e José Conde Rodrigues (PS) - só a 

primeira exerce a profissão de juiz. 

PS mantém Conde Rodrigues 

O PS já disse que vai manter o nome de Conde 

Rodrigues, que terá assim 15 dias para "regularizar a 

sua situação", isto é, pedir o reingresso na 

magistratura. 

Desde a sua fundação que a composição do Tribunal 

Constitucional tem sido decidida entre os dois 

maiores partidos. 

O novo colégio de juízes terá também que eleger um 

novo presidente do Tribunal, em substituição de Rui 

Moura Ramos, que terminou o seu mandato. 

A decisão de adiar a votação foi tomada pela 

presidente da Assembleia da República, Assunção 

Esteves, ela própria uma antiga juíza do Tribunal 


Oficialmente, a explicação para o adiamento foi dar 

mais tempo para a audição dos candidatos na 1ª 

Comissão e a regularização das candidaturas. 

196

Expresso OnLine Lisboa / - Atualidade, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Suprema Corte de Justicia) 

Espinho: Casino condenado a indemnizar 

em quase 83 mil euros cliente viciado no 

jogo 

Espinho, 17 abr (Lusa) - O Supremo Tribunal de 

Justiça confirmou a condenação do Casino de 

Espinho ao pagamento de uma indemnização de 

82.893 euros a um cliente viciado no jogo, que em 

dois anos ali "destruiu" uma fortuna. 

A seu pedido, o cliente tinha sido proibido pela 

Inspeção Geral de Jogos (IGJ) de frequentar, durante 

dois anos, quaisquer salas de jogo, mas o Casino de 

Espinho continuou a facultar-lhe a entrada. 

Segundo o tribunal, o casino não se ficou pela 

omissão do cumprimento da notificação da IGJ, tendo 

ainda adotado condutas que "aliciavam" o cliente a 

deslocar-se até às suas instalações, enviando-lhe 

convites para eventos sociais e para pernoitar no seu 

aparthotel e oferecendo-lhe gratuitamente os serviços 

de bar da sala de máquinas e do restaurante. 

197

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/ - Politik, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Rederecht im Bundestag Schwache Chefs 

Wer das Rederecht von „Abweichlern“ einschränkt, 

sägt am Ast, auf dem er sitzt. Die 

Fraktionsvorsitzenden stärken damit nicht die 

Fraktionsdisziplin, sondern erweisen der 

repräsentativen Demokratie einen Bärendienst. Was 

würde Herbert Wehner dazu sagen? Wie schlecht 

muss es um die Fraktionsdisziplin im Bundestag 

bestellt sein, dass das Rederecht sogenannter 

Abweichler neu geregelt werden soll? Wie schwach 

muss die Autorität der Fraktionsvorsitzenden sein, 

dass sie sich eine Wahrung dieser Disziplin offenbar 

anders nicht mehr vorstellen können? Wie schwach, 

dass sie um jede Sekunde eines Debattenbeitrags 

feilschen müssen, der ihren Fraktionsfrieden stören 

könnte? Wie selbstherrlich müssen sie gleichzeitig 

sein, dass sie deshalb den Bundestagspräsidenten an 

die Leine legen wollen? Die beabsichtigte Änderung 

der Geschäftsordnung des Bundestags ist nicht nur ein 

Machtkampf, der sich im Parlament abspielt. Schon die 

von Bundestagspräsident Lammert eigenmächtig 

ermöglichten Reden zweier Abgeordneter der 

Regierungsfraktionen, die der Euro-Politik von 

Regierung und Opposition nicht zustimmen wollten 

und nicht mit der üblichen Protokoll-Erklärung 

abgespeist werden sollten, fanden nicht im luftleeren 

Raum des Bundestags statt. Der Gegenstand selbst 

war Thema einer Mitwirkungs- und Demokratiedebatte, 

die bis vor das Bundesverfassungsgericht getragen 

wurde. Diese Debatte wiederum war vor dem 

Hintergrund von „Stuttgart 21“ Teil einer 

Auseinandersetzung darüber, ob direkte 

Bürgerbeteiligung nicht besser sei als Repräsentation 

und Parlamentarismus. Der „Lammert-Kontroverse“ 

genannte Streit über Rederecht und Redezeit gibt 

solchen Zweifeln wie auch Kritik an den nicht immer 

einfachen Regeln der repräsentativen Demokratie 

neue Nahrung. Die Fraktionsführungen, die so tun, als 

gehe es um eine Aufweichung der Fraktionsdisziplin, 

sowie der nicht an Selbstunterschätzung leidende 

Bundestagspräsident sind in Wahrheit Getriebene 

einer Entwicklung, in der aus immer mehr Richtungen 

immer umfassendere Beteiligungsrechte gefordert 

werden, ohne dass die Möglichkeiten zur Bündelung, 

zur Integration, zum Kompromiss und zur 

Entscheidungsfindung verbessert würden. Wer nur das 

eine sieht, gefährdet angeblich den Parlamentarismus, 

wer nur das andere, verpasst Abgeordneten angeblich 

einen „Maulkorb“, unterdrückt Minderheiten oder gleich 

die ganze Volkssouveränität. Unterstützt wird die 

Polarisierung durch den Niedergang alter und die 

Entstehung neuer Parteien, dazu durch die 

Bekräftigung alter Illusionen und Widersprüche - alles 

soll schneller gehen, aber jeder Bürger zu Wort 

kommen. Weitere Artikel Reform des Rederechts im 

Bundestag: Auch Abweichler dürfen lange reden „Kein 

Maulkorb für Abgeordnete“ Debatten im Bundestag: 

Widerrede erwünscht Abstimmung im Bundestag: 

Mehr als eine Mehrheit Das Parlament sollte der Ort 

sein, an dem solche Entwicklungen nicht nur 

tatsächlich repräsentiert werden. Die Kontroversen 

sollten auch ausgetragen, anschließend aber auch 

Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Deutschland hat in 

der Weimarer Zeit Erfahrungen mit einem Parlament 

gemacht, das erst zersplittert und 

entscheidungsschwach war, dann lächerlich gemacht 

und ausgehöhlt, schließlich von einer militanten 

„Volksbewegung“ entmachtet wurde. Derzeit ist der 

Bundestag noch nicht zersplittert, nicht 

entscheidungsschwach, schon gar nicht entmachtet. 

Aber es gehört im Bürgertum vom Schlage der 

Stuttgarter Selbstermächtiger, im Milieu der Linkspartei 

und in den Blogs der Piraten schon wieder zum guten 

Ton, das Parlament auszuhöhlen und lächerlich zu 

machen. Doch es wäre absurd, sollten die 

Fraktionsvorsitzenden der „Altparteien“ CDU/CSU, 

SPD und FDP deshalb fürchten, die 

Funktionstüchtigkeit des Parlaments sei gefährdet. 

Ihre Durchsetzungsfähigkeit und somit die Effektivität 

des Parlaments sinken nicht dadurch, dass sich 

einzelne Abgeordnete ausnahmsweise gegen den 

Willen der Fraktionsmehrheit im Plenum zu Wort 

melden dürfen. Denn auch die Durchsetzungsfähigkeit 

des Abgeordneten und die Freiheit des Mandats 

nehmen nicht dadurch zu, dass sich ein Mandatsträger 

neben, ja gegen seine Fraktion stellt. Die Fraktionen 

sind nicht Knebelungsinstrumente für Parteizwecke, 

sondern stärken den einzelnen Abgeordneten, indem 

sie ihn und das Parlament überhaupt erst 

handlungsfähig machen. In Karlsruhe zum Scheitern 

verurteilt Je individualistischer, je heterogener die 

Gesellschaft, desto wichtiger die Fraktion und die 

Fraktionsdisziplin. Nicht umsonst ist der Fall, der jetzt 

alles ins Rollen brachte, weniger als ein Präzedenzfall. 

Es ist die Ausnahme von der Regel, die gestattet sein 

muss, um das zulässige Maß an Fraktionsdisziplin 

nicht in einen unzulässigen Fraktionszwang zu 

verwandeln. Alles andere wäre nicht 

verfassungsgemäß: Eine Einschränkung des 

Rederechts, neben dem Stimmrecht so etwas wie das 

Königsrecht des Abgeordneten, wäre in Karlsruhe 

198

deshalb zum Scheitern verurteilt. Viel mehr Angst als 

vor Zersplitterung und Störungen parlamentarischer 

Abläufe müssen die Fraktionsvorsitzenden vor ihrer 

eigenen Schwäche haben. Die Kontroverse über das 

Rederecht wirft nicht nur ein Licht auf die Balance 

parlamentarischer Kräfte und Bräuche, sondern auch 

auf mangelnde Autorität an der Spitze von 

Regierungs- und Oppositionsfraktionen. Deren 



Entscheidungsfreude hätte sich in dieser 

Legislaturperiode unter der Führung anerkannter 

Autoritäten (was würde Herbert Wehner dazu sagen?) 

längst in Gesetzen niederschlagen können. Wer aber 

das Rederecht braucht oder gar einschränken muss, 

um seine Autorität zu demonstrieren, der sägt an dem 

Ast, auf dem er sitzt. 

199

Das Stück namens Vorratsdatenspeicherung schwankt 

zwischen Posse und Tragödie. Gespeichert wird 

vorerst der Streit darum - wer weiß, wann die Koalition 

wieder einen brauchen kann. 

Von Reinhard Müller 

In dem Stück mit dem Titel „Vorratsdatenspeicherung“ 

wird alles geboten: Der Dauerstreit zwischen 

Bürgerrechtlern, die schon bei jeder Kartenzahlung 

den Eishauch totalitärer Überwachung spüren, und 

den Sicherheitspolitikern, die am liebsten auch von 

jedem Lurch vorsorglich eine DNA-Probe nehmen 

wollen - man weiß ja nie. Man findet die nach 

zündenden Themen suchende FDP, wie die aus 

Prinzip opponierende Union - man hat ja schließlich 

einen Koalitionsvertrag geschlossen. 

Nicht fehlen darf auch das Dauer-Ressentiment 

gegenüber Brüssel, obwohl die einschlägige Richtlinie 

von allen Staaten gemeinsam beschlossen wurde. 

Und man hört das Raunen, wie eine EU-Kommissarin 

dazu gebracht wurde, die Bundesregierung an ihre 

Pflichten zu erinnern. Selbst Sprachpfleger kommen 

noch auf ihre Kosten; schließlich hat die politische 

Debatte wieder einmal ein sprachliches Ungetüm 

hervorgebracht. 

Mittelweg zwischen Bedrohung und Beeinträchtigung 

Davon abgesehen, ist die Vorratsdatenspeicherung 

kein Monster. Telekommunikationsunternehmen 

speichern die Verbindungsdaten (nur darum geht es) 

ohnehin - mal kürzer, mal länger. Der Streit geht seit 

Jahren nur darum, wann und warum der Staat auf 

diese Daten zugreifen kann. Nach den Anschlägen 

vom 11. September 2001 hat sich auch diese Frage 

gestellt. Gewiss: Mit dieser Zäsur ging nicht nur eine 

neuartige Bedrohung einher. Unter dem Banner des 

angeblichen „Kriegs gegen den Terror“ gab es auch 

Manipulationen und Übertreibungen. Die Wunschlisten 

der Sicherheitsbehörden konnten nicht lang genug 

sein. Und noch immer gilt: Der Trend geht hin zur 

Prävention. 

Warum? Die große, freie, elektronische Welt ist auch 

Schauplatz und Instrument von Verbrechen. Manche 

Delikte werden nur elektronisch begangen. Dass auf 

diesem Feld rechtsfreie Räume entstehen, kann kein 

Rechtsstaat zulassen, weil er Leben, Leib und Freiheit 

des einzelnen zu schützen hat. Richtig ist: 

Sicherheitsmaßnahmen beschränken die Freiheit 

vieler. Es kommt darauf an, zwischen Bedrohung und 

Beeinträchtigung die goldene Mitte zu finden. 



Bedrohliches Gefühl 

Mehr als nur ein Gefühl 

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hält den Zugriff des 

Staates auf Verbindungsdaten für einen 

schwerwiegenden Eingriff in die Grundrechte. Der 

Erste Senat entdeckte eine „Streubreite, wie sie die 

Rechtsordnung bisher nicht kennt“. Vor allem müsse 

jenem „diffus bedrohlichen Gefühl des 

Beobachtetseins“ begegnet werden. Das klingt - auch 

wenn die Verfassungsrichter die 

Vorratsdatenspeicherung nicht für generell unzulässig 

halten - schon sehr nach Überwachungsstaat. Dessen 

Abwehr gehört für Karlsruhe zur deutschen Identität. 

Es wird aber auch umgekehrt ein Schuh draus: Wenn 

schwere Straftaten nicht mehr verhindert oder verfolgt 

werden können, weil Verbindungsdaten nicht 

zugänglich oder gelöscht sind, dann entsteht mehr als 

ein „diffus bedrohliches Gefühl“, und zwar nicht nur 

des „Beobachtetseins“. 

Verpflichtung gegenüber den eigenen Bürgern 

Immerhin hat die von den vehementen Gegnern der 

Vorratsdatenspeicherung sonst so gern beschworene 

europäische Rechtsgemeinschaft dieses Instrument 

nicht verworfen. Das ist der Grund, warum 

ausgerechnet jene EU-Kommission, die sich auf dem 

Feld des Datenschutzes von niemandem übertreffen 

lassen will, der Bundesregierung eine Frist bis zum 

Ende dieser Woche gesetzt hat, um die Richtlinie 

endlich in deutsches Recht zu überführen. 

Dass die Richtlinie noch vor dem Europäischen 

Gerichtshof bestehen muss, tut erst einmal nichts zur 

Sache. Deutschland muss dem europäischen Recht 

grundgesetzkonform Geltung verschaffen - eine 

Verpflichtung im Übrigen, die ganz unabhängig von 

Brüsseler Fristen vor allem gegenüber den eigenen 

Bürgern besteht. 

Datenspeicherung unterliegt dem Zufall 

Eine Anordnung, Daten ohne Anlass zu speichern, 

wäre freilich nicht nur überflüssig, sondern 

rechtswidrig, wenn sie untauglich wäre. Doch dass die 

Vorratsdatenspeicherung nicht wirksam wäre, ergibt 

sich weder aus den Erfahrungen anderer Länder noch 

aus wissenschaftlichen Gutachten. Die von 

Bundesjustizministerin Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger 

(FDP) bevorzugte Regelung, nur die 

Kommunikationsdaten Verdächtiger einzufrieren, taugt 

in vielen Fällen nicht. 

Davon abgesehen setzt die sogenannte 

200

Quick-freeze-Regelung voraus, dass Daten überhaupt 

gespeichert werden. Zurzeit liegt es an den jeweiligen 

Telekommunikationsunternehmen und damit am 

Zufall, inwieweit Daten verfügbar sind. Soll das den 

Ausschlag geben dürfen, ob Verbrechen verhindert 

oder verfolgt werden können? Das wäre eine 

Tragödie. 

Von der Tragödie zur Posse 

Somit entpuppt sich das Stück 

„Vorratsdatenspeicherung“ als Koalitionsposse. 

Offenbar wird hier seit einiger Zeit ein Streit auf Vorrat 



gespeichert - man kann ja nie wissen, wann man ihn 

mal wieder brauchen kann. Freilich macht der Streit 

auch anschaulich, dass die Politik auf dem Feld des 

Internets nach wie vor überfordert ist. Dort geht es 

nicht nur um die Bekämpfung von Kriminalität und den 

Schutz von Daten, sondern etwa auch um das 

Urheberrecht. Der Bürger soll sich selbst schützen. 

Nicht zuletzt gegen private Firmen, welche die 

allermeisten Daten sammeln. Wenn aber der Staat 

ausfällt, kann auch die Debatte über Grundrechte, 

über Freiheit und Sicherheit, gelöscht werden. 

201



Kriegserklärung des Innenministers 

Bundesinnenminister Friedrich hat den Gesetzentwurf 

von Justizministerin Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger zur 

Vorratsdatenspeicherung in der Luft zerrissen. Nun 

drängt die Zeit. Was tun? 

Von Peter Carstens, Berlin 

Bundes-Innenminister Friedrich (CSU) hat den 

Gesetzentwurf von Justizministerin 

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) zur 

Vorratsdatenspeicherung rundweg abgelehnt. Nach 

dem Vorschlag der Ministerin soll die Verwendung von 

Handy- und Computerverbindungsdaten nur noch 

nach dem „Quick-Freeze“-Verfahren möglich sein. Die 

Speicherfrist für diese Daten bei den privaten 

Anbietern will sie auf wenige Tage begrenzen. 

Frau Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger wollte ihren 

Gesetzentwurf dem Kabinett vorlegen und damit zum 

Ablauf eines Ultimatums der EU-Kommission 

signalisieren, dass Deutschland sich um die 

Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinie zur 

Vorratsdatenspeicherung bemühe. Sollte die Brüsseler 

Forderung nicht bis zum 22. April 2012 erfüllt werden, 

droht Deutschland ein Vertragsverletzungsverfahren 

vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof; im Falle einer 

Verurteilung auch eine Geldstrafe. Solche Verfahren 

sind für die betroffenen Regierungen unerfreulich, aber 

keine Seltenheit, auch nicht für Deutschland. 

Keine Korrektur, sondern eine Kriegserklärung 

Nachdem die abermalige Brüsseler Aufforderung in 

Berlin eingetroffen war, versprachen die 

Koalitionspartner einander, noch einmal gemeinsam 

nach einer Lösung zu suchen. Dazu sollte auch 

gehören, dass das Innenministerium (BMI) nunmehr 

zu dem Gesetzentwurf der Ministerin Stellung nimmt, 

der ihm erstmals Mitte 2011 zugeschickt worden war. 

Eine weitgehend korrigierte Fassung, die nun im 

Justizministerium angekommen ist, entspricht einer 

politischen Kriegserklärung. In einem Schreiben, das 

dieser Zeitung vorliegt, bescheinigt das 

Innenministerium dem Justizministerium eine ziemlich 

vollständige Unfähigkeit, den Anforderungen aus 

Brüssel, Karlsruhe und der Union gerecht zu werden. 

„Ich stelle fest, dass der übersandte Entwurf nicht 

geeignet ist, die Richtlinie 2006/24/EG umzusetzen 

und damit das laufende Vertragsverletzungsverfahren 

gegen Deutschland abzuwenden,“ schreibt der 

zuständige Beamte und moniert: „Auch werden die 

Vorgaben aus dem Urteil des 

Bundesverfassungsgerichts vom 2. März 2010 nur 

teilweise umgesetzt“. 

Belehrungen in patzigem Tonfall 

Deshalb, so das Schreiben, stimme das 

Bundesministerium des Innern „der Kabinettbefassung 

nur unter der Maßgabe zu, dass die aus der Anlage 

ersichtlichen Änderungen übernommen werden“. Die 

Änderungen, die dann seitenlang eingefügt sind, 

beginnen bereits mit der Überschrift, wo die 

Formulierung „Sicherung von Verkehrsdaten“ durch 

„Speicherung von Verkehrsdaten“ ersetzt wird. Die 

Präambel des Justizministeriums wird gelöscht mit der 

patzigen Bemerkung: „Derartige historische 

Ausführungen passen nicht in das Vorblatt eines 

amtlichen Gesetzentwurfs“. Im gleichen Ton fährt das 

Innenministerium fort. Inhaltlich entsprechen seinen 

Änderungswünsche ziemlich weitgehend der 

Gesetzgebung vor dem Urteil des 

Bundesverfassungsgerichts. 

Provokation und Reaktion 

Insbesondere besteht Friedrich auf eine Speicherfrist 

von sechs Monaten, nachdem Innenpolitiker der Union 

noch im vergangenen September erklärt hatten, sie 

könnten auch mit einer auf drei Monate verkürzten 

Speicherfrist leben. Der Gesetzentwurf hingegen sieht 

sieben Tage vor. Das wiederum empfindet das 

Innenministerium als Provokation. Nach seinem Willen 

soll auch der Verfassungsschutz künftig auf die 

Vorratsdaten zugreifen, denn die Kenntnis des 

Kommunikationsverhaltens sei „für die Aufklärung von 

Taten extremistischer oder terroristischer 

Vereinigungen“ sehr nützlich. 

Das Justizministerium bemühte sich am Dienstag 

darum, zumindest äußerlich die Form zu wahren. Es 

sei „mehr als bedauerlich, dass sich das BMI nicht 

ernsthaft mit der Alternative der anlassbezogenen 

Sicherung von Verkehrsdaten beschäftigt hat“, teilte ihr 

Sprecher mit. Das Innenministerium ließ verlautbaren, 

man habe „mehrere konkrete und konstruktive 

Änderungswünsche übersandt“. In dieser Woche noch 

wollen sich die beiden Minister treffen. Danach fährt 

die Justizministerin zum FDP-Parteitag. Friedrich sagte 

am Dienstag, er sei überzeugt, dass Frau 

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger „sehr bald“ einlenken 

werde. 

202

La Nacion/ - noticia, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Complicaciones en la Justicia bonaerense 

por las medidas de fuerza 

El reclamo salarial ya lleva más de un mes y medio y 

las protestas se profundizan; hoy hubo un corte en la 

autopista La Plata - Buenos Aires Por Valeria Musse 

LA PLATA.- El reclamo salarial de los empleados 

judiciales bonaerenses, que ya lleva más de un mes y 

medio, se agrava con el correr de los días. Luego de 

que el Ejecutivo provincial decidiera, por decreto, 

otorgar un incremento de hasta el 26 % y dar así por 

finalizada las negociaciones con los trabajadores que 

profundizaron las protestas. Esta mañana, un grupo 

de empleados interrumpió el tránsito en el ingreso y 

egreso de la autopista Buenos Aires - La Plata y en 

otros puntos de la capital provincial. Desde el Colegio 

de Abogados bonaerense, que nuclea a 50 mil 

profesionales matriculados, se planea presentar, en 

los próximos días, un recurso de amparo para que se 

regularice el sistema judicial y permita avanzar con 

trámites retrasados y procesos inconclusos. La 

Asociación Judicial Bonaerense (AJB), que representa 

a unos 20 mil empleados, reclama que el gobierno 

provincial reimplante el Sistema de Porcentualidad 

Salarial. "Esta ley implica la aplicación de una escala 

de remuneraciones expresada en porcentajes siendo 

el mayor sueldo, o sea el 100 % de esa escala, el de 

un juez de la Corte", explicó a LA NACION el 

Secretario General de la AJB, Hugo Blasco. Así, cada 

cargo del Poder Judicial tiene estipulada una 

proporción determinada. El dirigente se quejó: "Si bien 

el aumento que decretó el gobierno provincial le da a 

los niveles jerárquicos más bajos un mayor incremento 

[el 26 %] que a los jueces [el 21 %], la recuperación 

porcentual es muy pequeña". El Ejecutivo determinó 

esas cifras el miércoles de la semana pasada y así dio 

por cerrada las paritarias. Ante lo que consideró una 

decisión "unilateral, autoritaria y antidemocrática", la 

AJB convocó a endurecer las medidas de fuerza para 

esta semana. Los trabajadores planearon paros 

activos (con concurrencia a los lugares de trabajo pero 

sin ejercer la actividad), cortes de calles y 

movilizaciones a la Casa de Gobierno provincial, 

ubicada en La Plata. El Colegio de Abogados 

provincial se manifestó a través de un comunicado: "Si 

bien resulta absolutamente legítimo el derecho a 

reclamar por mejoras en las condiciones de trabajo, 

cabe recordar que es igualmente legítimo el derecho 

de los ciudadanos que requieren la protección 

jurisdiccional, como así también el de los abogados, 

para que se les permita, con las limitaciones que 

puedan generar las legítimas protestas de los 

trabajadores judiciales, acceder al servicio de 

justicia.". 

203

La Repubblica/ - Cronaca, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Severino: "Pene più alte per la 

corruzione" Intercettazioni, rispunta la 

"ammazza blog" 

l Guardasigilli presenta l'emendamento alle 

commissioni Affari costituzionali e giustizia della 

Camera. L'esame del ddl riprende a maggio. In 

mattinata vertice con i partiti di maggioranza. Nelle 

bozze riappare la norma già contenuta nel dl Aflano. 

Insorge Di Pietro ROMA - Sale a cinque anni la pena 

massima del reato di corruzione per l'esercizio della 

funzione: è una delle novità contenute 

nell'emendamento del governo al ddl anti-corruzione 

depositato dal ministro della Giustizia Paola Severino 

alle Commissioni Affari costituzionali e Giustizia della 

Camera riunite in maniera congiunta. Modifiche su cui i 

partiti saranno poi liberi di fare ulteriori cambiamenti. Al 

termine della seduta l'ufficio di presidenza delle 

commissioni ha fissato al 4 maggio il termine per i 

subemendamenti al testo. L'8 maggio, poi, le 

commissioni dovrebbero essere riconvocate 

sull'argomento. Il testo depositato dal Guardasigilli 

prevede che "il pubblico ufficiale che, in relazione 

all'esercizio delle sue funzioni o dei suoi poteri riceve 

per sè o per un terzo denaro o altra utilità o ne accetta 

la promessa è punito con la reclusione da uno a 

cinque anni". La riformulazione dell'articolo 318 del 

codice penale consente, si legge nella motivazione 

che accompagna il testo, "di ricostruire con maggiore 

precisione i 'confini' fra le diverse forme di corruzione: 

da una parte la corruzione propria che rimane 

ancorata alla prospettiva del compimento di un atto 

contrario ai doveri di ufficio; dall'altra l'accettazione o la 

promessa di utilità indebita da parte del pubblico 

ufficiale O dell'incaricato di pubblico servizio, che 

prescinde dall'adozione o dalla omissione di atti 

inerenti al proprio ufficio". Le norme anticorruzione 

incideranno sui processi in corso, spiega il ministro ai 

giornalisti al termine della seduta. "Bisogna avere il 

coraggio di intervenire seriamente e con razionalità. 

Nessuno potrà dire che si è intervenuti per incidere su 

un processo o un altro. E' questa la normale fisiologia 

e non la patologia del sistema", aggiunge. Sul falso in 

bilancio, Severino assicura che il governo è pronto ad 

intervenire. "Ci sono dei disegni di legge pendenti 

presso il Parlamento. E' una materia che avrà quindi la 

sua autonoma trattazione. E quando se ne parlerà il 

governo non si sottrarrà al suo dovere", spiega. 

Severino ha garantito poi di essere in grado di andare 

avanti anche sugli altri argomenti oggetto della 

trattativa di queste settimane fra il governo e le forze 

della maggioranza. Su intercettazioni e responsabilità 

civile dei magistrati "le bozze sono pronte - ha 

spiegato - e come tutte si tratta di bozze aperte al 

confronto parlamentare". Il lavoro fatto ai tavoli 

bilaterali "è stato estremamente proficuo - ha 

sintetizzato il Guardasigilli - il resto deve essere 

lasciato al dibattito parlamentare", auspicando di poter 

portare avanti i provvedimenti in tempi coerenti con le 

intese". Il testo depositato oggi rispecchia le bozze 

circolate in questi giorni, conferma Severino ai cronisti 

al termine della seduta. E in queste bozze rispunta la 

cosiddetta norma "ammazza-blog" 1, che ha subito 

suscitato una nuova levata di scudi. "Il paese si 

aspetta severe norme contro la corruzione, il traffico di 

soldi pubblici, la pratica corrente degli appalti gonfiati e 

il Pdl non trova di meglio che infilare nella bozza 

Severino sulle intercettazioni la norma 'ammazza blog' 

che aveva finto di rimangiarsi in Aula appena cinque 

mesi fa", denuncia in una nota Flavia Perina di Fli. "Giù 

le mani dalla rete", tuona Antonio Di Pietro, 

scagliandosi contro "l'odiosa norma ammazza blog, 

voluta già dal governo Berlusconi". Per il leader 

dell'Italia dei valori "il web è un baluardo della 

democrazia, uno dei pochi spazi che consente ai 

cittadini di avere informazioni e di dire la propria" e 

promette che l'Idv "si batterà affinchè sia rispettato 

l'articolo 21 della costituzione e venga tutelata la 

libertà d'informazione e di espressione della rete". In 

mattinata il ministro ha incontrato i partiti della 

maggioranza: sul tavolo i tre grandi temi della 

corruzione, delle intercettazioni e della responsabilità 

civile dei magistrati. Le proposte 2 depositate oggi 

"tengono conto del confronto di idee svoltosi nel corso 

degli incontri bilaterali", ha detto il Guardasigilli al 

termine del vertice, durato un'ora e mezza. "La scelta 

alla base della mia proposta, così come per gli altri 

due provvedimenti discussi in questi giorni, è stata rileva ancora Severino - quella di costruire attraverso il 

dialogo l'ossatura portante dei tre interventi normativi, 

in modo da delineare una struttura dotata di coerenza 

e logica interna anche sotto il profilo della misura delle 

pene". E sottolinea: sul ddl anti-corruzione "abbiamo 

rispettato la tempistica su cui c'eravamo impegnati con 

i presidente delle commissioni parlamentari". 

204



Fmi alza stime Pil Italia, ripresa nel 2013 

Pareggio di bilancio in Costituzione 

MILANO - Per la ripresa dell"economia italiana 

bisognerà aspettare fino al 2013, ma prima del 2017 

niente pareggio di bilancio. Parola del Fondo 

monetario internazionale che, nel giorno in cui la 

regola del pareggio di bilancio entra in Costituzione, ha 

rivisto al rialzo le stime sul Prodotto interno lordo del 

Paese, ma ha confermato la recessione per 

quest"anno: il pil si contrarrà dell"1,9% quest"anno e 

dello 0,3% nel 2013. Il Fmi ha così alzato le precedenti 

previsioni di gennaio rispettivamente di 0,2 e 0,3 punti 

percentuali. Più ottimistiche le previsioni del governo 

italiano e inserite nel Def, che sarà domani allo studio 

del Consiglio dei ministri: secondo Palazzo Chigi, il pil 

si contrarrà quest"anno dell"1,2%, mentre crescerà di 

mezzo punto percentuale nel 2013.Pareggio di bilancio 

in Costituzione. Il ddl sul pareggio di bilancio in 

Costituzione ha avuto il via libera definitivo dall"aula 

del Senato con i due terzi degli aventi diritto (cioè 214 

su 321) necessari per evitare il ricorso al referendum 

confermativo. I sì sono stati 235, i no 11, gli astenuti 

34. Hanno votato contro la Lega e l"Idv, si è astenuta 

Coesione Nazionale, a favore tutti gli altri gruppi. In 

dissenso dai rispettivi gruppi, Mario Baldassarri (Terzo 

Polo) che non ha partecipato al voto; Mauro Cutrufo 

(Pdl) e Massimo Garavaglia (Lega) che si sono 

astenuti. Pressione fiscale record. Ma secondo il Def, 

l"Italia raggiungerà un livello di zero deficit 

"reale" (non corretto per il ciclo) solo nel 2015. E" 

quanto prevede la bozza del Def. L"indebitamento 

netto, a -0,5% nel 2013, scende a -0,1% nel 2014 e a 

zero solo nel 2015. Per quanto riguarda il deficit-Pil 

quest"anno dovrebbe attestarsi all"1,7% per poi 

arrivare al livello di "close to balance" dello 0,5% nel 

2013. Nel frattempo, vola la pressione fiscale che 

tocca un nuovo record assoluto: quest"anno il peso del 

fisco si attesterà al 45,1%, salendo dal 42,5% del 

2011. Il livello di tassazione salirà poi al 45,4% nel 

2013, per poi attestarsi al 45,3% nel 2014 e al 44,9% 

nel 2015.Le previsioni del Fondo Monetario. La ripresa 

economica secondo il Fmi inizierà, quindi, solo nel 

2013 dopo una recessione più profonda rispetto a 

quella dell"area euro nel suo complesso, per la quale è 

comunque prevista una contrazione del pil nella prima 

metà del 2012. A preoccupare il vertici del Fondo 

monetario è il tasso di disoccupazione che in Italia si 

attesterà al 9,5% nel 2012 per salire fino al 9,7% 

l"anno prossimo restando, tuttavia, sotto la media 

dell"Eurozona al 10,9% quest"anno e al 10,8% il 

prossimo. La Spagna è il paese europeo con la 

disoccupazione più alta, al 24,2% nel 2012 e al 

23,09% nel 2013: il pil di Madrid si contrarrà 

quest"anno dell"1,8%, mentre nel 2013 crescerà dello 

0,1%. Negli ultimi mesi, sono stati messi in atto, "in 

modo corretto", molti aggiustamenti fiscali, una riforma 

strutturale e "sono stati fatti passi molto positivi per 

aumentare i requisiti patrimoniali del sistema 

bancario", tuttavia "il 2012 sarà un anno difficile". Così 

Jorg Decressin, vicedirettore del dipartimento di ricerca 

e consigliere economico del Fmi ha spiegato perché 

sono state riviste al rialzo rispetto a gennaio le stime 

sull"economia italiana. "Abbiamo rivisto 

moderatamente al rialzo le stime perché tensioni sui 

mercati finanziari si sono allentate e l"outlook globale è 

leggermente migliore rispetto a gennaio", ha detto 

Decressin durante la conferenza stampa a commento 

del world economic outlook, sottolineando che in Italia 

"sono state messe in atto politiche corrette e ora è 

questione di aspettare che la crescita ritorni, nel 

2013".Doccia fredda sulle speranze dell"Italia di 

raggiungere il pareggio bilancio già il prossimo anno. 

Secondo il Fmi il deficit-pil italiano passerà dal 2,4% 

del 2012 all"1,1% nel 2017, per attestarsi all"1,5% nel 

2013, all"1,6% nel 2014, all"1,5% nel 2015 e all"1,3% 

nel 2016. L"avanzo primario passerà dal 3% del 2012 

al 5,1% del 2017. Il debito sarà pari al 123,4% 

quest"anno e al 123,8% il prossimo. L"Eurozona. Il 

Fondo Monetario ha quindi migliorato le stime della 

crescita mondiale per il 2012 e il 2013: il pil crescerà 

quest"anno del 3,5% e il prossimo del 4,1%, 

rispettivamente 0,2 e 0,1 punti percentuali in più 

rispetto alle previsioni di gennaio. La ripresa partirà 

prima dagli Stati Uniti e solo dopo riguarderà 

l"Eurozona. L"economia americana crescerà 

quest"anno del 2,1% per poi accelerare nel 2013 al 

+2,4%, mentre quest"anno il Vecchio continente 

arretrerà dello 0,3%, prima di crescere dello 0,9% nel 

2013. L"economia tedesca crescerà quest"anno dello 

0,6% e nel 2013 dell"1,5%, quella francese dello 0,5% 

e dell"1%. Il capo economista del Fondo, Olivier 

Blanchard sottolinea che le decisioni prese in Europa 

"rappresentano un significativo progresso" per arginare 

la crisi, in un contesto globale in cui si notano 

miglioramenti, ma restano numerosi rischi e altro deve 

essere fatto. Per esempio "l"Europa dovrebbe 

205

prendere in considerazione un"offerta di eurobond". I 

firewall europei, ha detto l"economista, "non possono 

risolvere problemi di crescita e credibilità di alcuni 

Paesi europei", alcuni dei quali ancora rischiano "di 

innescare una crisi come quella a cui si è assistito 

nell"autunno". Il consiglio, dice Blanchard, "è che 

alcuni aggiustamenti immediati sono necessari per 

ristabilire la credibilità, ma poi servono piani di lungo 

termine".Le previsioni. Insomma, secondo il Fmi le 

prospettive per l"economia mondiale si stanno 

gradualmente rafforzando, "ma i recenti miglioramenti 

sono fragili e i rischi al ribasso elevati". A cominciare 

dai dubbi sulla tenuta dell"Europa e sul petrolio, con le 

tensioni geopolitiche che hanno effetto sul mercato e 

potrebbero causare, in caso di distruzioni alla 

produzione in Iran, un balzo dei prezzi. "Le condizioni 

del mercato del lavoro resteranno molto difficili in 

diverse economie avanzate", mette in evidenza il Fmi, 

secondo il quale fra gli altri rischi che potrebbero 

pesare sull"economia ci sono le pressioni 

disinflazionistiche. "Nel breve termine il rischio 

maggiore è il reintensificarsi" dell"interazione negativa 

fra la qualità degli asset delle banche e il rischio 

sovrano". Il capo economista del Fondo Blanchard, 

sottolinea come "la decisa risposta politica ha 

cambiato il corso delle cose, le elezioni in Spagna e la 

scelta di un nuovo presidente del consiglio in Italia 

hanno in certa misura rassicurato gli investitori", così 

come l"adozione del "fiscal compact". Tuttavia la "la 

crescita resterà debole, soprattutto in Europa, e la 

disoccupazione alta". Secondo il Fmi le priorità restano 

quindi "il consolidamento fiscale, la riforma del sistema 

finanziario e la revisione di programmi collegati 



all"invecchiamento della popolazione, che devono 

ridurre le spese future senza minare la domanda". Per 

risolvere i problemi delle economie avanzate sottolinea il Fmi - non basta l"austerity, ma servono 

politiche "meglio orientate a risolvere i problemi 

fondamentali". Come a dire che le strategie non 

convenzionali "non possono essere un sostituto per 

riforme fondamentali".Recessione. Come a diche che 

c"è ancora un rischio "sostanziale" di un nuovo o 

prolungato periodo di recessione per varie economie 

avanzate. Secondo il global projection model, il 

modello usato dall"Fmi, "la probabilità di una 

contrazione del pil nel 2012 è del 55% circa 

nell"Eurozona, del 15% negli Stati Uniti, del 14% in 

Giappone e del 3% in America Latina". Inoltre lo 

stesso modello suggerisce che nel quarto trimestre del 

2013 "la probabilità di un calo dei prezzi al consumo è 

superiore al 25% nell"Eurozona e sopra il 35% in 

Giappone, ma solo del 10% negli Stati Uniti".Debito. Il 

rapporto debito lordo-pil dovrebbe "crescere 

ulteriormente nelle economie avanzate, con un 

particolare drastico aumento nelle economie del G7 al 

130% entro il 2017". Il Fmi stima che senza azioni 

supplementari a quelle attualmente pianificate, il 

rapporto debito-pil raggiungerà "il 256% in Giappone, il 

124% in Italia, sia vicino al 113% negli Stati Uniti, e al 

91% nell"Eurozona". Le economie del G7 che fanno 

parte dell"Eurozona, "questi valori potrebbero essere 

raggiunti nel 2013, per poi calare". Al contrario, molte 

economie emergenti e in via di sviluppo vedranno 

calare il rapporto debito-pil, complessivamente al di 

sotto del 30% entro il 2017. 

206

Le Monde/ - Article, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Cour constitutionnelle) 

La Libye sous syndrome post-traumatique 

Que faire le soir à Benghazi ? Au choix, regarder l"une 

des dix-sept chaînes de télévision libyennes qui ont 

succédé à celle, unique, toute entière dévouée à la 

glorification du Guide aujourd"hui défunt. Aller dîner 

d"un repas de poisson frais, arrosé de soda, dans un 

des bons restaurants du front de mer. Visiter le Musée 

des martyrs, dans la cour de justice, théâtre des 

premières manifestations qui déclenchèrent 

l"insurrection libyenne, en février 2011.Ou encore, 

moins conventionnel, au volant de sa voiture, se 

défouler sur des parkings transformés en pistes de 

formule 1, dans un vacarme de crissement de pneus 

et de moteurs en surchauffe. Le jeudi soir, veille du 

week-end, le rodéo automobile de Benghazi joue au 

Grand Prix de Daytona. Un bon moyen d"évacuer le 

stress, en même temps que les odeurs de caoutchouc 

brûlé et la fumée des gaz d"échappement.Quatorze 

mois après le début de la révolution, Benghazi fait 

bonne figure, mais elle a les nerfs à fleur de peau. Le 

rodéo en voiture, dira-t-on, c"est toujours mieux que de 

se tirer dessus. Or l"un n"empêche pas l"autre, vu le 

nombre d"armes en circulation. Chaque matin apporte 

son histoire de la nuit. Celle de ce matin raconte que 

100 à 500 voitures, selon les versions, mises à l"abri 

par les kadhafistes pendant la guerre, ont été 

découvertes tardivement dans un entrepôt isolé. Des 

jeunes se sont servis, mais se sont heurtés aux milices 

locales... quelques échanges de tirs nourris ont suivi. 

"Vous n"avez pas entendu ?"Qui contrôle la Libye ? 

Des hommes en armes assurent l"ordre aux points 

stratégiques, mais l"absence d"uniforme rend leur 

identification incertaine. Ceux qui contrôlent l"aéroport 

de Tripoli, blouson de cuir noir (la variante avec la 

griffe Gucci est apparemment admise) et paire de 

menottes dépassant du jean également noir, 

appartiennent à la brigade de Zintan, qui a pris 

l"aéroport aux forces kadhafistes en 2011 et ne le 

lâche plus. Les hommes qui, au départ de Benghazi, 

demandent les passeports et exigent de multiples 

tampons sur le billet d"avion portent un badge du 

"ministère de la défense". Où prennent-ils leurs ordres 

? Difficile à dire.Car les relations entre Tripoli et 

Benghazi sont tendues, depuis que, le 6 mars, la 

région de Benghazi, l"une des trois grandes provinces 

libyennes (Tripolitaine, Cyrénaïque et Fezzan) a 

annoncé la création d"un "Conseil intérimaire de 

Cyrénaïque". Pas de quoi crier à la sécession, rassure 

un professeur local de droit public, Abdelkader Kadura, 

qui a mis sur pied un groupe de travail sur le 

fédéralisme. Mais "il y a maintenant un conseil de 

défense de la Cyrénaïque, ajoute-t-il dans le même 

souffle. On n"accepte plus de militaires de Tripoli." A 

Ajdabiya, autre ville de la Cyrénaïque, ce sont les 

tribus qui commandent, affirme le rédacteur en chef du 

journal local : les milices y sont sous l"autorité des 

chefs de tribu. Un jeune médecin de l"armée explique 

que, lorsqu"il fait le trajet de Zaouïa à Misrata, sur 300 

km, il décline trois identités différentes suivant le 

check-point auquel il est contrôlé. Bref, les Libyens 

s"adaptent.Médecin français installé depuis 2008 à 

l"hôpital de Benghazi, ce fameux hôpital offert par la 

France à la Libye dans le cadre du règlement de la 

libération des infirmières bulgares, Jean Dufriche voit 

défiler dans son bureau, toute la journée, des gens qui 

ont un besoin irrépressible de s"épancher. A l"hôpital, 

les conditions se sont dégradées. Les vingt-cinq 

médecins étrangers évacués au début de la révolution 

ne sont pas revenus, le directeur a changé trois fois, le 

budget annuel a été divisé par dix.Comme ailleurs, il 

faut tout reconstruire. C"est le défi qu"affrontent aussi 

d"ex-rebelles reconvertis dans le journalisme. Maleek 

Elhasee est le rédacteur en chef d"un nouveau journal, 

Al-Kalima ("La Parole") où il tente d"appliquer "les 

principes d"impartialité et de crédibilité". Une enquête, 

dans le dernier numéro, dénonce précisément la 

situation à l"hôpital et montre que "la révolution a 

encore beaucoup de chemin à faire".Mais comme ses 

collègues, il sait qu"il existe "une ligne rouge", celle 

des groupes armés. Il n"y a, dans la Libye nouvelle, ni 

code de la presse ni loi pour protéger les journalistes. 

"Si je franchis la ligne rouge, je peux prendre une 

balle, dit-il. Il y a des armes partout, la police et 

l"armée sont impuissantes. Alors, j"applique le 

précepte islamique : éviter le mal plutôt que de révéler 

la vérité."Faute de perspectives claires, encore 

incapables d"imaginer les contours de leur avenir, les 

Libyens, comme frappés du syndrome 

post-traumatique, baignent dans l"apologie de la 

révolution. La télévision n"en finit pas de projeter les 

images de l"insurrection et de la guerre. Les jeunes 

rappeurs ressemblent aux rappeurs du monde entier, 

casquette des New York Yankees vissée à l"envers 

sur la tête, mais eux chantent la révolution, dans des 

morceaux intitulés Benghazi, Libye ou Syrie."Merci la 

France !", proclame un grand panneau à l"aéroport de 

Benghazi. Nicolas Sarkozy gagnerait ici une élection 

haut la main. D"ailleurs, on en redemande. Invité, fin 

mars à Bruxelles, à la conférence annuelle du German 

Marshall Fund, l"ex-premier ministre libyen Mahmoud 

Jibril a accusé les Européens d"avoir déserté la Libye 

207

après l"opération de l"OTAN : "Nos partenaires ont 

oublié que lorsque le régime est tombé, l"Etat aussi 

s"est effondré, a-t-il dit. Et puis tout le monde s"est 

envolé." C"est, à ses yeux, "une erreur tragique : il y a 

un vide politique et sécuritaire en Libye, et le vide ne 

reste jamais vide longtemps". Catherine Ashton, chef 

de la diplomatie européenne, lui a répondu que 

l"Europe était présente en Libye à travers des 

programmes pour la société civile et les femmes ; pour 

le reste, "en l"absence de fonctionnaires et 

Le Monde/ - Article, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Cour constitutionnelle) 

d"administration", il est difficile de trouver des 

interlocuteurs.Les programmes pour les femmes sont 

certes appréciés, a répondu M. Jibril, un brin 

condescendant. "Mais le défi actuel, c"est de retirer les 

armes de la rue et de rétablir l"ordre avant les 

élections de juin." C"est vrai. Et c"est d"abord un défi 

pour les Libyens. Car les Européens, soucieux de ne 

pas reproduire les erreurs américaines en Irak, vont 

les laisser faire eux-mêmes ce travail-là. 

208

Reuters General/ - Article, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Ohio to execute farm hand who murdered 

boy 

By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND | Tue Apr 17, 2012 

7:40pm EDT (Reuters) - Ohio is scheduled on 

Wednesday to execute a 49-year-old man who 

stabbed a teenage boy to death when the boy 

discovered the farm hand burglarizing his horse farm 

in 1985. Mark Wiles is set to be put to death by lethal 

injection at 10 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional 

Facility in Lucasville. He would be the 14th person 

executed in the United States this year. He was 

sentenced to die for the August 7, 1985, murder of 

15-year-old Mark Klima, a top student who aspired to 

be a doctor. Wiles stabbed the boy 24 times with a 

kitchen knife. Wiles worked at Klima's family horse 

farm in Rootstown in northern Ohio and had been 

stealing from the family for some time. A panel of three 

judges convicted Wiles the following year, not 

persuaded by a doctor's testimony that Wiles had 

suffered a head injury 12 days before the murder that 

may have affected his impulse control. At his clemency 

hearing last month, Wiles said he "was not sure he 

was worthy of clemency." It was denied. The execution 

was allowed to proceed after U.S. District Judge 

Gregory Frost lifted an order that had postponed two 

previously scheduled executions this year. On April 4, 

Frost denied Wiles' motion to delay his execution, 

ruling the state had fixed problems with its death 

penalty protocols after the botched execution of 

Romell Broom in September 2009. Prison 

spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said Wiles requested for 

his final meal the night before the execution a 

pepperoni pizza, a bag of cheese puffs, strawberries, a 

salad with Ranch dressing, cheesecake, and a vanilla 

wafer. Ohio has executed 46 people since the state 

resumed executions in 1999. Executions were 

temporarily halted by a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court 

ruling that threw out federal and state death penalty 

statutes, prompting states to revamp their laws and 

procedures. Executions resumed in 1976. There were 

43 executions in the United States in 2011. (Editing by 

Andrew Stern and Greg McCune; Desking by Cynthia 

Osterman) 

209



U.S. top court rules for generic 

drugmaker on patent 

By Anna Yukhananov and James Vicini 

WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:07pm EDT 

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on 

Tuesday in favor of a generic drugmaker in a case 

over how companies can fight brand-name rivals in an 

effort to get their cheaper medicines to market. The 

high court unanimously ruled that the generics 

company, Caraco Pharmaceuticals, could sue a 

brand-name drugmaker to get it to narrow its patent 

description with the Food and Drug Administration. 

The FDA uses this information to decide whether to 

approve a generic "copycat" version of a medicine 

before the patent has expired. Caraco, a unit of India's 

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, argued that the 

description of the patent for the diabetes drug, 

Prandin, was too broad and therefore prevented any 

generic from entering the market. It raised a 

"counterclaim" to challenge the description. The U.S. 

government said generic drugs saved consumers 

billions of dollars each year, and it opposed a lower 

court ruling in favor of the brand-name company, 

Denmark's Novo Nordisk. The justices agreed, and 

overturned a U.S. appeals court ruling that Caraco 

could not file a legal counterclaim to challenge the way 

Novo had described its patent to the FDA. Justice 

Elena Kagan said in the opinion that when the FDA 

evaluated an application to market a generic drug, it 

considered whether the proposed drug would infringe 

a patent held by the manufacturer of the brand-name 

version. The FDA requires brand-name manufacturers 

to submit descriptions of the scope of their patents, 

known as use codes, and it assumes the information is 

accurate, she said. "We hold that a generic 

manufacturer may employ this provision to force 

correction of a use code that inaccurately describes 

the brand's patent as covering a particular method of 

using the drug in question," Kagan concluded. The 

FDA approved Prandin, known generically as 

repaglinide, for three separate uses to help patients 

with Type 2 diabetes to control their blood sugar 

levels. Novo Nordisk's main patent on the drug already 

expired, but it has another that covers the use of 

repaglinide only when it is used in combination with 

another diabetes drug, metformin. This patent expires 

in 2018. That means Caraco could get FDA approval 

to "carve out" two other uses for the drug without 

infringing on Novo Nordisk's specific patent. But Novo 

Nordisk, the world's biggest insulin producer, 

submitted a more general description of its remaining 

Prandin patent to the FDA, effectively covering all 

three uses. Novo Nordisk said its description of the 

patent for Prandin fulfilled FDA requirements and that 

the "counterclaim" provision was a minor point in the 

law that was never supposed to fix patent descriptions. 

But the Supreme Court rejected the company's 

arguments. The Supreme Court case is Caraco 

Pharmaceutical Laboratories v. Novo Nordisk, No. 

10-844. (Reporting By Anna Yukhananov and James 

Vicini; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) 

210



Florida judge in Trayvon Martin case to 

decide on recusal 

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Florida | Tue Apr 17, 

2012 4:21pm EDT (Reuters) - A Florida judge will 

decide this week whether to step down from the 

second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, the 

neighborhood watch volunteer charged in the shooting 

death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Circuit Judge 

Jessica Recksiedler disclosed last week that her 

husband's law partner previously had been contacted 

by Zimmerman seeking representation. Zimmerman's 

lawyer, Mark O'Mara, on Monday filed a motion asking 

Recksiedler to recuse herself. Recksiedler is on 

temporary assignment from the Florida Supreme 

Court, hearing oral arguments at the Fifth District 

Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach, Florida. She will 

issue a written order by Friday on the recusal motion, 

according to a court news release issued on Tuesday. 

A bond hearing is set for Zimmerman on Friday. The 

court spokesman was unavailable to comment on 

Tuesday on whether that hearing would go forward as 

scheduled if another judge takes over the case. In 

what the court spokesman previously acknowledged 

was an unusual decision, a different judge at 

Zimmerman's first appearance on Thursday sealed all 

court records filed in the case after that date. Martin 

was killed February 26 after he went to a convenience 

store to buy snacks before watching the NBA All-Star 

game on television. As he walked through a gated 

residential community where he was staying with his 

father and father's fiancee, Martin, a black teen, was 

spotted by Zimmerman, a white Hispanic. Prosecutors 

allege Zimmerman profiled Martin, disregarded police 

instructions, confronted and then killed Martin with a 

single gunshot to the chest. Zimmerman has claimed 

self-defense in the shooting in the central Florida town 

of Sanford. Police initially failed to arrest him or charge 

him with any crime because Florida's so-called "Stand 

Your Ground" law allows individuals who feel 

threatened in a public place to use lethal force in 

self-defense. (Editing By Tom Brown and Eric Walsh) 

211



U.S. top court: lawyers hired by cities can 

seek immunity 

By James Vicini WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 17, 2012 

1:41pm EDT (Reuters) - The Supreme Court ruled on 

Tuesday that private attorneys or others temporarily 

hired by local governments to conduct investigations 

can assert immunity from civil rights lawsuits alleging 

constitutional violations and seeking damages. The 

high court ruled such individuals were not barred from 

getting immunity solely because they do not work for 

the government on a permanent or full-time basis. The 

justices unanimously overturned a U.S. appeals court 

decision and ruled a private attorney retained by city 

officials to help with a personnel investigation can 

claim immunity in a lawsuit alleging constitutional 

violations. The ruling was a victory for lawyer Steve 

Filarsky, who had been hired by the city of Rialto, 

California, to investigate possible misuse of sick leave. 

Nicholas Delia, a firefighter suspected of improperly 

taking sick days, sued Filarsky after the investigation. 

Delia was filmed by an investigator buying fiberglass 

insulation at a home improvement store while on 

medical leave. As part of the investigation, Filarsky 

interviewed Delia and asked him about the insulation. 

Delia was ordered by the fire chief to retrieve the 

insulation from his home. Two department officers 

accompanied Delia to his house to get the unopened 

rolls of insulation to use in the city's case against him. 

City officials ultimately closed the investigation and 

took no action against Delia. Delia claimed in his 

lawsuit it was an unconstitutional search that violated 

his rights and sued the city, the fire department and 

Filarsky. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the 

appeals court ruled that Delia could proceed against 

Filarsky only. The Supreme Court in an opinion 

written by Chief Justice John Roberts ruled for 

Filarsky. Roberts wrote that affording immunity to 

those hired temporarily allowed the government to 

attract individuals with specialized knowledge or 

expertise, and that the public interest was served by 

their ability to work free from the distraction of potential 

lawsuits and liability. He concluded that individuals 

temporarily retained by the government should receive 

the same immunity enjoyed by their public employee 

counterparts. The Obama administration, 27 states, 

the American Bar Association and groups representing 

cities, mayors and state legislatures all supported 

Filarsky while a group representing trial lawyers 

backed Delia. Supporters of Filarsky said cities and 

counties have been struggling to contain costs amid 

massive budget cuts and have hired private attorneys 

for work normally done by government employees. 

The Supreme Court case is Filarsky v. Delia, No 

10-1018. (Editing by Doina Chiacu) 

212



Cherokee adoption battle in South 

Carolina high court 

By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina | 

Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:04am EDT (Reuters) - The 

adoptive parents of a 2-1/2-year-old Cherokee girl at 

the center of a custody battle stemming from her 

Native American heritage will ask the South Carolina 

Supreme Court on Tuesday to return her to them. 

Authorities took Veronica Capobianco from Matt and 

Melanie Capobianco of Charleston, South Carolina, on 

New Year's Eve and turned the toddler over to her 

biological father, Dusten Brown, a member of the 

Cherokee Nation. Brown had sued for custody under 

the federal Indian Child Welfare Act that protects 

Native American families from being separated. The 

court proceedings Tuesday afternoon will be closed 

and records are sealed because it is an adoption case. 

A ruling is expected in mid-May, and parties and 

attorneys have been ordered by the court not to 

comment. The Capobiancos legally adopted Veronica 

at birth in 2009 through an open adoption in 

Oklahoma, said family spokeswoman Jessica Munday. 

According to "Save Veronica," a website set up by the 

couple's supporters, Veronica's birth mother, Christina 

Maldonado, who is not Native American, offered the 

child for adoption because she could not care for the 

baby and had no support from Brown. Maldonado lives 

in Oklahoma, Munday said. The biological parents 

were not married, and Brown was in the Army in 

Oklahoma when Veronica was born in September 

2009, Munday said. Brown contested the adoption and 

began petitioning for custody of Veronica under the 

federal law when she was four months old. "He loves 

this child with all his heart," Brown's attorney, Shannon 

Jones, said in January. A family court judge in 

Charleston found last fall that the federal law trumped 

South Carolina's adoption law, which ends a father's 

paternity rights when he has not provided pre-birth 

support or taken steps to be a father before and shortly 

after birth. The Capobiancos have spoken to Veronica 

by telephone only once since Brown, whom she had 

just met, drove away with her in December, Munday 

said. PETITION CONGRESS Friends and supporters 

of the couple have gathered almost 22,000 signatures 

on a petition to Congress asking for changes to the 

Indian Child Welfare Act. "We're not saying the whole 

law has to go away," Munday said on Monday. "There 

was obviously an intent for it. You hear about tribes 

with only 1,000 members. They don't want to lose their 

culture." The 1978 law gives tribes a right to intervene 

in adoption and child welfare cases and provides extra 

protections against the parent of an American Indian 

child having parental rights removed, said Chrissi 

Nimmo, assistant attorney general of the Cherokee 

Nation. Under the law, a child should be placed with a 

member of the child's extended family, whether they 

are Indian or not; a member of the child's tribe; or a 

member of another Indian tribe. The law was passed 

"as a result of studies that found that Indian children 

were being removed from their families at a 

disproportionately higher rate than other children," 

Nimmo said in an email. "And 99 percent of Indian 

children in adoptive placements were in non-Indian 

homes." The Cherokee Nation, which has about 

317,000 current enrolled members, is involved in about 

1,100 various types of child custody proceedings 

nationwide, Nimmo said. Nimmo said only one Indian 

Child Welfare Act case has reached the U.S. Supreme 

Court, which ruled in 1989's Mississippi Band of 

Choctaw Indians vs. Holyfield that "the tribal court had 

exclusive jurisdiction over a private adoption even 

though the mother left the reservation to give birth to 

twins." South Carolina law allows a reasonable amount 

of time before and after birth for a father to establish 

paternity rights, said Stephanie Brinkley, a Charleston 

adoption lawyer who has researched the laws that 

apply to Veronica Capobianco's case. After that, a 

father's rights can be terminated if he hasn't provided 

support in some form, she said. "You've got to have 

more than biology," Brinkley said. "It's biology plus 

action. It's not always about money. Did he provide 

diapers? Did he set up a nursery in his own home? 

The court will look at whether Brown had a 

constitutional right to establish parentage." (Editing By 

Colleen Jenkins and Eric Beech) 

213



Howard Stern lawsuit vs Sirius XM 

Radio thrown out 

By Jonathan Stempel and Karen Freifeld Tue Apr 17, 

2012 6:54pm EDT (Reuters) - A judge has dismissed 

radio DJ Howard Stern's $330 million lawsuit accusing 

Sirius XM Radio of failing to pay him stock awards he 

was due for helping the dominant U.S. satellite radio 

company exceed growth targets. New York State 

Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick in Manhattan 

said Stern and his agent Don Buchwald were bound by 

the language of the 2004 agreement that brought the 

now 58-year-old "shock jock" to what became Sirius 

XM from traditional radio. "While it may be true that 

Stern and Buchwald hoped and expected to reap the 

benefits from any significant growth that Sirius 

experienced after they entered into the agreement, 

that subjective expectation cannot suffice to override 

the clear, unambiguous language of the agreement," 

Kapnick wrote. Seth Rothman, a lawyer who 

represents Stern, did not immediately respond to 

requests for comment. Sirius spokesman Patrick Reilly 

had no immediate comment. The case centered on 

whether to count subscribers of the former XM Satellite 

Radio Inc, which Sirius bought in 2008, to help 

determine performance-based awards for Stern's 

production company, One Twelve Inc, and fees for 

Buchwald. Sirius ended 2011 with 21.9 million 

subscribers, up from 3.3 million at the end of 2005, 

when the company was known as Sirius Satellite 

Radio Inc. Stern moved his radio show to Sirius on 

January 9, 2006. He renewed his contract for five 

years in December 2010, only to file his lawsuit three 

months later. According to the lawsuit, Stern's 

presence helped New York-based Sirius exceed 

subscriber targets by at least 2 million in each of 

several years beginning in 2006, triggering a new 

stock award every time. Sirius awarded $75 million to 

One Twelve and $7.5 million to Buchwald after the first 

year. Kapnick wrote that had all the performance 

awards been triggered, Sirius could have owed One 

Twelve another $300 million and Buchwald another 

$30 million. But Kapnick agreed with Sirius that XM 

subscribers did not count toward the subscriber base 

used to determine the awards. She said the only 

contractual provision that even mentioned or referred 

to XM or a potential merger called for Sirius to pay $25 

million to One Twelve and $2.5 million to Buchwald if 

the XM merger took place. These payments were 

made, she said. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld and 

Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by 

Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and John 

Wallace) 

214

The Economic Times/ - Politics/Nation, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Border security policy is not foolproof: 

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat 

RAJKOT: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that 

terrorists can enter India easily because the country's 

"border security policy" is not foolproof. "Our defence 

forces are capable of meeting any security challenge, 

but our border security policy is not foolproof and 

therefore terrorists can enter India easily," Bhagwat 

said, addressing RSS workers at Virani High School 

ground here last night. 

215

The New York Times/ - Politics, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Impact of Atlantic Yards, for Good or Ill, 

Is Already Felt 

The battle over Atlantic Yards has already raged 

longer than the Civil War, with eight years of protests, 

petitions and lawsuits seeking to halt a project that 

promised to reshape the heart of Brooklyn. Even now, 

as the oyster-shaped basketball arena that will anchor 

a 22-acre housing and office complex rises against the 

low-slung Brooklyn skyline, die-hard opponents are still 

resisting. Last week they packed a hearing held by two 

community boards to block the arena from speedily 

receiving a liquor license. But almost six months 

before the Barclays Center opens its doors to the Nets, 

Brooklyn’s first major professional sports team since 

the lamented Dodgers, the reality is that the Atlantic 

Yards project has already done the very thing that 

critics feared and supporters promoted: transform 

surrounding neighborhoods prized for their streets of 

tree-lined brownstones and low-key living. Shops 

along the workaday stretch of Flatbush Avenue south 

of the arena that for generations sold unglamorous 

products like hardware, paint, plumbing supplies, 

prescription drugs, even artificial limbs, are seeing new 

businesses pop up that sell high-heel shoes for $3,500 

a pair, revealing party dresses, exotic cheeses and, of 

course, high-priced martinis. Dozens of restaurants 

and bars, with beguiling names like Fish and Sip and 

Va beh’ (Italian slang for “It’s all good!”), have sprouted 

on major thoroughfares and serene side streets. “The 

neighborhood is now becoming an entertainment 

mecca — anything that’s hip and of the moment,” said 

Robert Schulman, who fits prosthetic devices for Allied 

Orthopedics, which has been on Flatbush Avenue for 

25 years. “The change was slowly growing, but once 

the arena came into play, it was exponential. Once a 

week, a new restaurant or clothing store is opening 

up.” The commercial avenues radiating from the arena 

— through Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Boerum Hill 

and Fort Greene — had already been undergoing 

significant changes anyway as a result of the flood of 

young newcomers to the borough, who have driven up 

real estate prices and infused the area with an often 

parodied mix of the trendy and precious. Along with 

community gardens and farm-to-table restaurants, 

visitors will find a purveyor of artisanal mayonnaise, an 

“eco-friendly bar” made of recycled oak floorboards 

from an old dairy farm, and, not far from the arena, 

Bark Hot Dogs, which offers franks topped with “baked 

heirloom beans.” But the changes have been visibly 

accelerated by the construction of the $450 million 

arena, the flagship of a $4.9 billion housing and office 

complex to be built over 25 years and known as 

Atlantic Yards, stoking the fears of longtime residents 

and even some of the new arrivals that traditions like 

stoop conversations at dusk and spring bulb-planting 

parties may be bleeding away. For Forest City Ratner, 

the developer of the project, which was strongly 

backed by many city leaders, the changes are 

evidence that the arena has already met its goal of 

transforming a dreary section of Brooklyn — the Long 

Island Rail Road’s rail yards and surrounding industrial 

buildings, which the company’s spokesman described 

as “ a scar that divided the neighborhood.” “That’s a 

sign of economic vitality, something that’s good for the 

borough,” said Joe DePlasco, the Ratner spokesman. 

Indeed, some here have watched the construction with 

excitement, including condo owners who imagine a 

sharp rise in home values, new shop owners who 

anticipated the arena in their calculations, and even 

some longtime merchants looking forward to a surge of 

foot traffic. Among these supporters is Moussa Dia, a 

Senegalese immigrant who owns Versailles, a year-old 

custom party-dress store that has been featured on 

MTV, who figured fans heading to Barclays will “notice 

we’re here.” “It’s a beautiful piece of art, the arena 

across the street,” he said. “The face of Flatbush is 

changing.” In addition to the many changes that are 

already visible, opponents are even more concerned 

about those still to come after the arena opens Sept. 

28, with a concert by Jay-Z, the rapper and part owner 

of the Nets. They envision their narrow blocks 

inundated nightly with drunken, celebrating basketball 

fans — though, to be fair, victories have been few and 

far between for the long-struggling franchise — and 

concertgoers still reveling in the music and honking 

cars stalled in traffic. The 19,000-seat arena plans 220 

events a year. That kind of building should never have 

been allowed in a residential neighborhood, said Peter 

Krashes, president of the Dean Street Block 

Association. “Most arenas and stadiums are either 

outside an urban area or in a commercial area,” Mr. 

Krashes said. “If the kids have school the next day and 

you have an arena event that night, are the kids going 

to get a night of sleep?” “Potentially,” said Tracy 

Collins, a photographer who owns a brownstone on 

Dean Street, “there will be fans who’ve had a few 

beers in the arena being rowdy after a win or loss 

walking in front of my home, keeping me awake, 

possibly damaging my property, leaving trash.” Sam 

Schwartz, the project’s traffic engineering consultant, 

said the arena was working to limit the numbers of 

drivers and pedestrians by ensuring that most of the 

216

dozen subway lines to the area empty out directly into 

the arena’s plaza; that express trains are provided at 

night; and that shuttle buses at remote parking areas 

pick up those who choose to drive. The concerns 

about crowds prompted about 100 residents to attend 

a community board meeting last Tuesday night to fight 

an application for a liquor license by Barclays and the 

arena concessionaire, Levy Restaurants. Residents 

have also been fighting other proposed drinking 

establishments in the area. The 14 promised 

residential towers, with 6,430 apartments, and two 

commercial buildings are so far in the future that they 

are not much on residents’ lips. Mr. DePlasco said that 

work would start this year on the first of the apartment 

buildings, and that others could be built two decades 

from now. But the company has repeatedly scrapped 

or scaled back more ambitious plans for the area, 

including the original design by Frank Gehry. A ruling 

by a state appeals court last week, stemming from one 

of the lawsuits over the project, may cause additional 

delays in putting up most of the housing — though not 

in building the arena itself — by requiring the state to 

conduct a new environmental impact statement. The 

ruling by the Appellate Division of State Supreme 

Court said that the Empire State Development 

Corporation conducted its environmental review based 

on a 10-year time frame, but that a 25-year schedule 



could force residents to “tolerate vacant lots, 

above-ground arena parking and Phase II construction 

staging for decades.” Yet Danae Oratowski, 

chairwoman of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood 

Development Council, said the shift from stores selling 

things people need to those selling things people want 

was already taking its toll on organically functioning 

neighborhoods and complicating residents’ lives. 

“People who live in Prospect Heights still need to get 

their clothes dry cleaned and shoes repaired,” she 

said, “and these businesses won’t be around in a 

year.” Though some stores, like the prosthetic device 

shop, are protected because their owners also own the 

buildings and are not worried about skyrocketing rents, 

others, like Flatbush Hardware, already fear what will 

happen when their leases expire. Paul Nation, a 

Jamaican immigrant who owns the hardware store, is 

negotiating with his landlord for a new lease. “It’s 

ridiculous what they’re asking for,” he said. Yagil 

Kadosh, who opened Kulushkät Gourmet Falafel 10 

months ago and bicycles to work from his nearby 

home, expects an upsurge in demand once the arena 

opens, though he denies that the arena motivated his 

choice of location. “As a businessman it’s good,” he 

said. “As a resident not so much. It turns a 

neighborhood into Midtown Manhattan.” 

217



Once Every 36 Years, Primary Fight for 

Indiana Senator 

INDIANAPOLIS — At age 80, Richard G. Lugar, one of 

the longest-serving members of the United States 

Senate, is getting a crash course in what a campaign 

looks like. At his campaign office here the other day, 

Mr. Lugar smiled politely while volunteers boxed up 

thousands of yard signs to distribute to Indiana’s 92 

counties. He spoke with admiration of the 

sophistication of his campaign’s mobile, computerized, 

microtargeting phone bank, with which, he explained, 

volunteers “can just press a button and they’re on line 

with somebody.” He described how his campaign had, 

in essence, gone “to school” on the methods of 

campaigns around the country. Mr. Lugar, who has not 

had a primary challenger since he first won election in 

1976 and last contended with a race where the margin 

was close in 1982, is locked in a Republican primary 

fight for the seat he has held for six terms with the May 

8 election fast approaching. A poll conducted late last 

month, the Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll, 

showed Mr. Lugar leading Richard E. Mourdock, the 

state’s treasurer, 42 percent to 35 percent among 

likely primary voters, an advantage that is within the 

poll’s margin of sampling error of plus or minus five 

points. Craig Dunn, the Republican chairman in 

Howard County, said he was stunned last year when 

he asked the 15 members of his local steering 

committee how many would vote for Mr. Lugar. “Not a 

hand went up,” said Mr. Dunn, who has supported Mr. 

Mourdock, as did, his campaign said, nearly 

three-quarters of the party’s county chairmen back 

when he announced plans to run more than a year 

ago. (Mr. Lugar’s supporters say those numbers have 

since shifted and shrunk.) “This never would have 

happened to Dick Lugar in his prime,” Mr. Dunn said. 

Mr. Lugar sees his troubles as a product of forces 

outside Indiana. “You can say, ‘Why in the world are 

we having such a time?’ ” he said. Then he offered an 

answer to the question: “Because there are others in 

America who are very interested in this, sort of as a 

battleground, or I’d even say a playground, for their 

thoughts.” To hear others tell it, Mr. Lugar, the product 

of a more genial era of politics, faces a confluence of 

opposition. Tea Party groups and organizations like 

the Club for Growth and the National Rifle Association 

are questioning his conservative credentials, some 

pointing to positions he has taken in favor of the bank 

bailout, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees, 

the New Start nuclear arms control treaty, and more. 

Meanwhile, some Indiana residents, including active 

members of the Republican Party, say they wonder 

whether Mr. Lugar, in all those years in Washington 

and around the world in his influential role on the 

Foreign Relations Committee, has failed to come 

home enough for ordinary Lincoln Day dinners and the 

like. Along the way, some say, he lost touch. And just 

below the surface is an uncomfortable question about 

age and how long in Washington is too long. Beyond 

Indiana, much is at stake. Democrats hoping to hold 

on to a majority in the Senate see a glint of opportunity 

to take a Republican seat — a possibility that polls 

suggest is more likely if Mr. Lugar loses and leaves Mr. 

Mourdock, 60, to face Representative Joe Donnelly, a 

Democrat, in November. Tea Party members view the 

potential defeat of Mr. Lugar as a crucial chance to 

prove their muscle as some observers try to declare 

their movement over. “If we win, the Tea Party goes 

into a higher level as a credible force,” said Greg 

Fettig, a supporter in Indiana. Last fall, he said, 55 of 

the state’s Tea Party groups convened and 

overwhelmingly favored Mr. Mourdock. Organizers at 

FreedomWorks, a national group that has helped build 

the Tea Party movement and has assisted efforts here, 

have already begun likening this race to Mike Lee’s 

defeat of Senator Robert F. Bennett, a fellow 

Republican, in Utah in 2010. But others say that the 

strength and unity of the Tea Party here have been 

overblown, and that Mr. Lugar, a former Eagle Scout, 

Rhodes scholar and Navy officer, has clear wells of 

strength. These include more money in the bank than 

his opponent and support from Mitch Daniels, the 

popular governor who, as a student, worked for Mr. 

Lugar when he was mayor of Indianapolis in the 1960s 

and ’70s and stayed on for years. Mr. Daniels, who 

asked Mr. Lugar to be godfather to one of his 

daughters, fended off assertions that Mr. Lugar might 

not be conservative enough or had compromised too 

often across party lines. Mr. Lugar’s supporters say he 

has pressed for less government spending and a 

balanced budget amendment, and fought President 

Obama’s health care overhaul and regulations that 

stifle business. “It’s ironic and it’s just inaccurate to 

suggest that somehow he’s not very strongly 

Republican in his viewpoints,” Mr. Daniels said. Lately, 

Mr. Lugar has taken blow after blow. A challenge that 

he did not meet a residency requirement for 

candidates because he lives much of the time in 

McLean, Va., failed. However, he was required to 

change his voter registration to the farm his family has 

owned for decades, rather than the Indianapolis house 

that he sold in 1977. Then his office announced that he 

218

was returning $14,500 to the government for nights he 

had spent in Indiana hotel rooms during adjournments 

— a technical oversight of a Senate expenses rule, but 

one more reminder of his long time away. All the while, 

the onslaught of ads and critiques came, denouncing 

Mr. Lugar as a friend of President Obama, recipient of 

an F-rating from the N.R.A., and someone who once 

opposed a ban on earmarks and supported the Dream 

Act. Mr. Lugar, who dismissed claims of a closeness to 

President Obama, is unapologetic for working the 

other side of the aisle, an approach that in the 1990s 

brought the accomplishment for which he may be best 

known — a program, with Sam Nunn, a Democratic 

senator, for disarmament in the former Soviet Union. 

“It’s a fact of life,” Mr. Lugar said, “if you are a legislator 

for any period of time, and if you are attempting to 

pass what you believe is very constructive legislation 

for the country, either domestically or in terms of 

foreign policy, that in the Congress of the United 

States, you’re going to deal with members of the other 

party.” Mr. Mourdock has told audiences, like the one 

at a recent Rotary breakfast in Noblesville, that 

bipartisanship has taken the nation to the brink of 

bankruptcy. “The time for being collegial is past,” Mr. 

Mourdock said in an interview. “It’s time for 



confrontation.” A former coal executive who remains 

far less known among Indiana voters, Mr. Mourdock 

lauded Tea Party members for their support and grew 

teary-eyed when reflecting on the devotion of a large 

Tea Party group he addressed several years ago. Still, 

Mr. Mourdock, who first won election as state treasurer 

in 2006, recoils at the way he says Mr. Lugar has tried 

to paint him: in Mr. Mourdock’s words, as a “wild-eyed 

Tea Party candidate.” Back inside Mr. Lugar’s 

campaign office last week, volunteers gushed over his 

debate performance a night earlier, his first such 

debate in a dozen years after Democrats did not even 

field an opponent in 2006. Pamela Altmeyer Alvey, a 

volunteer, recalled how friends, including one who is 

upward of 80, had voiced doubt about Mr. Lugar 

before the debate but sounded different now. “They 

said, ‘He was so vibrant!’ ” Ms. Altmeyer Alvey told the 

senator. If finding himself in a battle now, in his 36th 

year in the Senate, feels insulting or painful or a little 

awkward, Mr. Lugar is not saying. “I’ve long since 

forgotten about whether it’s odd,” he said. “This is just 

what I do all my life. And so we just take each day as 

happily as possible, look at it as optimistically as we 

can.” 

219



Disabilities Act Used by Lawyers in 

Flood of Suits 

A small cadre of lawyers, some from out of state, are 

using New York City’s age and architectural quirkiness 

as the foundation for a flood of lawsuits citing 

violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The 

lawyers are generally not acting on existing complaints 

from people with disabilities. Instead, they identify local 

businesses, like bagel shops and delis, that are not in 

compliance with the law, and then aggressively recruit 

plaintiffs from advocacy groups for people with 

disabilities. The plaintiffs typically collect $500 for each 

suit, and each plaintiff can be used several times over. 

The lawyers, meanwhile, make several thousands of 

dollars, because the civil rights law entitles them to 

legal fees from the noncompliant businesses. The 

practice has set off a debate about whether the 

lawsuits are a laudable effort, because they force 

businesses to make physical improvements to comply 

with the disabilities act, or simply a form of 

ambulance-chasing, with no one actually having been 

injured. The suits may claim a host of problems: at a 

deli grocery in West Harlem, an overly steep ramp 

without guardrails, high shelves and a narrowing 

pathway near the refrigerators; at a yogurt shop in the 

theater district, no ramp, no bathroom doorknob that 

can be opened with a closed fist and exposed hot 

water drains under the bathroom sink; at a flower shop 

on the Upper East Side, no ramp and shelves that are 

too high. All of those suits were filed by Ben-Zion 

Bradley Weitz, a lawyer based in Florida, who has a 

regular group of people with disabilities from whom he 

selects plaintiffs. One of them, Todd Kreisler, a man in 

a wheelchair who lives on the East Side of Manhattan, 

sued 19 businesses over 16 months — a Chinese 

restaurant, a liquor store and a sandwich shop among 

them. The results of the suits were almost immediate: 

workers grabbed their hammers, installing new ramps, 

lowering counters and shelves and making businesses 

more accessible to people with disabilities. And as a 

product of the litigation, the businesses had to pay 

thousands of dollars in legal fees to Mr. Weitz and his 

associates. Mr. Weitz is leading the charge into New 

York’s courtrooms. Since October 2009, he has sued 

almost 200 businesses in the state, mostly in Federal 

District Court in Manhattan. He has eight years of 

experience filing these suits in Florida, where his 

practice does not seem to be lagging. Two weeks ago, 

he brought claims against four Tampa businesses — a 

strip mall, a convenience store, a bar and a print shop. 

Another lawyer with a thriving practice, Martin J. 

Coleman of Long Island, has filed almost 130 cases in 

the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Coleman said he 

was aware the lawsuits had drawn criticism. “Folks go 

out there and say, ‘I’m mad at the plaintiffs,’ and ‘I see 

the same names,’ and ‘Let’s go bash the plaintiffs’ 

attorneys,’ “ Mr. Coleman said. “I don’t mind that, but 

the law has been there, don’t kid yourself.” “As a 

private attorney, every lawsuit that I file is to make 

money, because that’s how I make a living,” he added. 

“And in that regard, I’m no different than any other 

private attorney.” Few, if any, cases have gone to trial, 

according to a review of electronic court records; the 

defendants usually agree to settle, often in less than 

six months, closing the cases at a breakneck pace for 

federal court. Suit by suit, the lawyers are forcing this 

tough and intensely pedestrian city, so resistant to 

change, to meet standards for accessibility that are 

more than 20 years old. In doing so, they are part of a 

nationwide trend: In the last year, 3,000 similar suits, 

including more than 300 in New York, were brought 

under the Americans With Disabilities Act, more than 

double the number five years ago. Most of the cases 

involve claims against businesses filed by 

nonemployees. Lawmakers and federal judges have 

questioned the practice, contending that the lawyers 

are only interested in generating legal fees; they say 

the lawyers typically do not give the businesses a 

chance to remedy the problem before filing suit. Those 

who defend the lawsuits say the means are justified to 

bring more businesses into compliance. Because the 

settlements are invariably bound by confidentiality 

agreements, it is impossible to calculate the precise 

amount lawyers earn in total. One defense lawyer said 

his client had paid Mr. Weitz and the lawyers who 

worked with him $6,000 in legal fees. At that rate, Mr. 

Weitz would take in more than $600,000 for the 106 

cases he has closed in New York. The Americans With 

Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination by 

private entities that are open to the public. When 

Congress was considering the law, advocates for 

people with disabilities wanted to be able to sue for 

damages. But Congress allowed litigants to sue only 

for injunctive relief, or court-ordered remedies to the 

problems that were raised in lawsuits. As a 

compromise for disabled plaintiffs, Congress also 

awarded fees to the lawyers that bring their 

discrimination cases. Ruth Colker, a law professor at 

The Ohio State University, who specializes in disability 

law, said the lawsuits were an effective enforcement 

strategy. “It would be really be impossible for people to 

find a lawyer if there was no way for lawyers to get 

220

paid,” she said. In Florida, editorial boards, lawmakers 

and federal judges have long argued against the 

practice. In 2004, Judge Gregory A. Presnell of 

Federal District Court in Orlando said in a written 

opinion in favor of a business owner: “Plaintiff’s 

testimony left the distinct impression that he is merely 

a professional pawn in an ongoing scheme to bilk 

attorney’s fees from defendant.” Former 

Representative Mark Foley of Florida regularly 

introduced legislation to amend the Americans With 

Disabilities Act to require that business owners receive 

90 days notice before being sued. Similar legislation is 

pending now. Mr. Weitz, described on his firm’s Web 

site as an “advocate for the disabled community,” filed 

cases in New York with a local lawyer at first, but then 

on his own after his admission to the state bar in 2010. 

He did not return calls seeking comment. Mr. Weitz’s 

use of Mr. Kreisler was not unique. Zoltan Hirsch, a 

double leg amputee, was represented by Mr. Weitz in 

143 suits, filing as many as nine suits on a single day. 

Maryann Santiago filed six suits. Carr Massi, who uses 

a wheelchair, sued five businesses in Manhattan. Ms. 

Massi said she learned about Mr. Weitz’s efforts at a 

meeting of Disabled in Action, an advocacy group in 



New York. “He gave a presentation about access and 

stuff,” she recalled. “Let’s give it a shot,” she said she 

thought to herself. “Stop complaining and do 

something about it.” Asked if she ever patronized the 

businesses she sued after they made improvements, 

Ms. Massi said, “Unfortunately, no.” While the disabled 

plaintiffs cannot collect damages under the disabilities 

act, they are entitled to receive awards as long as they 

also sue under city or state human rights law. Local 

business owners, who say they are often sued without 

warning, call the suits shakedowns, invariably signing 

settlement agreements with strict confidentiality 

requirements. “All they want is money; they get the 

money, and they move on to the next target,” said 

Ming Hai, a Queens lawyer who has defended 

businesses from the suits. “It has become a profession 

to go out and look for a little problem here and there.” 

Ms. Massi did not agree with critics of the aggressive 

litigation by Mr. Weitz. “He is fighting for something he 

believes in, and if he gets a few bucks, why not?” she 

said. “I feel like whatever he is doing I am benefiting 

from it and other wheelchair users are benefiting from 

it.” 

221



City Settles Lawsuit That Claimed Bias 

and Retaliation 

New York City has agreed to pay $750,000 to a black 

official of the city’s Human Resources Administration 

who had claimed in a lawsuit that the agency’s 

commissioner and others had retaliated against her 

because she had complained about contracting 

practices. The settlement, which on Friday was 

disclosed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, came 

three days after the official, Sandra Glaves-Morgan, 

won a jury trial on her discrimination and retaliation 

claims; the jury awarded her $420,000 in 

compensatory damages. A portion of those damages, 

$320,000, was found by the jury against the agency’s 

commissioner, Robert Doar, who was widely praised 

when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed him in 

2007 to head the Human Resources Administration, an 

agency that serves more than three million New 

Yorkers. Ms. Glaves-Morgan, 55, had accused Mr. 

Doar and others of demoting her, cutting her salary 

and reassigning her duties to less qualified white men 

and women. The jury also found that Ms. 

Glaves-Morgan was entitled to punitive damages on 

her claims, although the city agreed to the settlement 

before the jury had begun to deliberate on what that 

amount might be. On Monday, Ms. Glaves-Morgan’s 

lawyer and the city disagreed sharply over the 

significance of the jury’s findings and of the settlement, 

which also calls for the city to pay for Ms. 

Glaves-Morgan’s legal fees (her lawyer estimated that 

to be about $720,000). “The city has an abysmal 

record of timely addressing civil rights complaints and 

only does so after it is facing a significant jury award, 

as in this case,” Ms. Glaves-Morgan’s lawyer, Samuel 

O. Maduegbuna, said. But James Lemonedes, a 

lawyer for the city, said in a statement: “H.R.A. and its 

leaders did nothing wrong, and the evidence does not 

support any finding of wrongdoing. Given the risks of 

litigation and appeal, and the desire to save the 

taxpayers money, we felt that before the jury issued a 

final verdict, a settlement was in the city’s best 

interest.” Mr. Lemonedes told the jury that Mr. Doar 

came from a family tradition of fighting for civil rights. 

He noted that Mr. Doar’s father, John, had served as 

an assistant attorney general in the Justice 

Department during the Kennedy administration and 

helped enforce civil rights laws. “That’s the man we’re 

talking about,” he said. The settlement will include no 

admission of liability, and the jury’s verdict against the 

city, Mr. Doar and a second official, Thomas DePippo, 

will be vitiated, Mr. Lemonedes said on Monday. Ms. 

Glaves-Morgan, a naturalized citizen from Jamaica, 

entered the United States in 1961, her lawyer told the 

jury. She graduated from Yale and obtained a law 

degree at Brooklyn Law School. After working for the 

Legal Aid Society, the state comptroller’s office and the 

Board of Education, she joined the social services 

agency in 1995, initially as a deputy general counsel. 

She was later appointed chief contracts officer, and it 

was in that capacity, her lawyer told the jury, that she 

objected to what she felt was preferential treatment in 

contracting being given to vendors whose employees 

were members of Local 32BJ of the Service 

Employees International Union. In 2007, she raised the 

issue with Mr. Doar, after his appointment, and he later 

demoted her, Mr. Maduegbuna told the jury. Each time 

officials took assignments and duties away from her, 

Mr. Maduegbuna said in his summation last week, they 

went to “somebody who was not black.” After Ms. 

Glaves-Morgan had been told that her salary would be 

cut by 20 percent and that she would be relocated to 

an office in Brooklyn, Mr. DePippo allegedly said that 

at least she was not going to be “cleaning 

washrooms.” Mr. Lemonedes, the city’s lawyer, 

rejected the allegations of discrimination , and said, 

for example, that Mr. DePippo’s comment had been 

twisted out of context. He had been trying to reassure 

her, he told the jury, adding, “What happens? No good 

deed goes unpunished.” In court, the city argued that 

Mr. Doar had a solid record of advancing members of 

minority groups, and that he had removed or demoted 

whites and promoted blacks in his administration. 

Connie Ress, a spokeswoman for the agency, said on 

Monday that the accusations of discrimination 

against the officials were “wholly without merit.” 

“H.R.A.’s key leaders are as diverse as New York City, 

and Commissioner Doar’s record throughout his tenure 

in promoting women, people of color and ensuring 

integrity throughout H.R.A.’s programs stands on its 

own,” she said. Ms. Glaves-Morgan declined to 

comment, but in court on Friday, she told the judge, 

Harold Baer Jr., that although she was disappointed 

with some aspects of the deal, “we have a settlement; I 

am agreeable to it.” This article has been revised to 

reflect the following correction: 

222

USA Today/ - News, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Ted Nugent's comments buzz around 

Romney 

Rocker Ted Nugent's controversial remarks about 

President Obama this weekend have put a spotlight on 

his support of Mitt Romney, as the likely GOP 

presidential nominee ratchets up his White House 

campaign. Nugent slammed the Obama administration 

and singled out four members of the Supreme Court 

as not supporting the Constitution during his remarks 

at the National Rifle Association's annual conference in 

St. Louis. Nugent, best known for his hit Cat Scratch 

Fever, is an NRA board member. "If you want more of 

those kinds of evil anti-American people in the 

Supreme Court, then don't get involved and let 

Obama take office again," Nugent said Saturday. 

"Because I'll tell you this right now: If Barack Obama 

becomes the president in November again, I will either 

be dead or in jail by this time next year." Nugent's 

comments sparked an outcry from Obama's allies. 

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie 

Wasserman Schultz said in an e-mail to supporters 

that Nugent's remarks were "clearly beyond the pale" 

and called on Romney to denounce them. Andrea 

Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, said 

in a statement, "Divisive language is offensive no 

matter what side of the political aisle it comes from. 

Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil." 

Asked about Nugent's comments, White House 

spokesman Jay Carney did not directly respond to its 

specifics. "We can't as a general rule police the 

statements of every supporter," Carney said, adding 

Obama is focused on issues such as the economy. 

The U.S. Secret Service is looking into the matter. "We 

are aware of the situation, and we're conducting an 

appropriate follow-up," said Brian Leary, a Secret 

Service spokesman. 

223

UY Press/ - Actualidad, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012 


Diputados apura trámite que reduciría 

plazos para adopciones 

MONTEVIDEO (Uypress) - La Comisión de 

Constitución de la Cámara de Representantes 

decidió dar prioridad al proyecto de ley de adopciones, 

que modifica el sistema actual y reduce los plazos del 

proceso. Se busca que sea probado cuanto antes. 

Según información divulgada por El País digital, hay 

diferencias entre el oficialismo y la oposición en 

relación a este tema. Sin embargo, la comisión de 

Constitución de diputados decidió apurar el 

tratamiento del proyecto cuya finalidad es acelerar los 

plazos previos a una adopción legal. Para eso, la 

Comisión recibirá, en una sesión extraordinaria el 

próximo miércoles 25 de abril, a todas las 

delegaciones que solicitaron ser recibidas, además de 

a los actores involucrados, que en este caso son el 

Instituto del Niño y el Adolescente del Uruguay (INAU) 

y el Poder Judicial. Luego se remitirá el documento al 

pleno de la Cámara de representantes para su 

aprobación, según anunció el lunes el diputado Julio 

Bango (FA,PS). Actualmente, son dos los proyectos 

de ley que están bajo estudio. Uno de ellos fue 

presentado por una comisión multipartidaria que 

trabajó durante el 2011. El segundo fue elaborado por 

el Frente Amplio el pasado mes de marzo, y recoge 

los puntos de consenso alcanzados por la comisión, 

más algunas modificaciones planteadas por el 

oficialismo. Es precisamente entre estos dos proyectos 

que se manifiesta el conflicto entre oposición y 

oficialismo. Los primeros reclaman que el texto a 

tomar en cuenta sea el primero, mientras que el 

Frente Amplio afirma que su proyecto recoge los 

puntos de consenso. Sin embargo, las diferencias se 

ubican en torno a una figura que se denomina 

"tenencia preadoptiva", contemplada en el primero de 

los proyectos y eliminado del segundo. La oposición 

insiste en que esa figura privilegia los lazos afectivos y 

el bienestar del niño, mientras que el oficialismo 

sostiene que ese arreglo "perfora" el sistema. Bango, 

encargado de seguir el tema para la bancada 

oficialista, se manifestó totalmente en contra de las 

incorporaciones de la oposición y adelantó que 

rechazará incorporarlas en el proyecto, según El País. 

La diputada Verónica Alonso (PN,UN), una de las 

redactoras del proyecto multipartidario, dijo a ese 

medio de prensa que está dispuesta a votar los 

cambios al sistema que reúna mayorías. "Si el FA es a 

lo último que está dispuesto a llegar y no acepta 

modificaciones que creemos importantes, yo voy a 

acompañar las modificaciones, aunque me hubiera 

gustado estar de acuerdo y no esperar todo este 

tiempo. Me parece un crimen modificar de nuevo el 

Código para algo que es limitado y corto, pero 

sabemos cual es la realidad de las mayorías". El 

senador Alfredo Solari (PC,VU), también redactor del 

primer proyecto, manifestó asimismo su voluntad de 

negociar hasta último momento para que se 

incorporen al proyecto del oficialismo al menos una "o 

una y media" de las cosas excluidas del proyecto 

inicial, para evitar que pueda tener lugar otro "caso 

Mía" (la niña que tras haber estado 17 meses con una 

familia cuidadora, fue entregada en enero, por la 

justicia, a una familia adoptiva). s.p. 

224

18/04/2012


18/04/2012 



Sun Pharma scrip jumps on US Supreme Court ruling on patent litigation, 229 



Party symbols: SC upholds EC criteria, 230 



PS diz que Conde Rodrigues "reúne todos os requisitos", 231 



Eleição de juízes do Tribunal Constitucional adiada, 232 

El Dia - Noticia 


Otro día de paro en Tribunales, 233 



Justicia: siguen los paros y piden mediación de la Corte, 234 



Renace la embestida kirchnerista en busca de dividir la Procuración, 235 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Derecho Constitucional 

Las Cortes piden publicitar la lista de cargos que cobran ayuda por vivienda, 236 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Cuestión de Inconstitucionalidad 

Un juez plantea al Constitucional sus dudas sobre la reforma laboral, 237 



Archivada la investigación al presidente de la Audiencia de Lugo, 238 


CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Corte Penal Internacional 

La imagen del “México seguro”, 239 



Debe & Haber, 240 

El Universal - Política 


Exigen respetar cuota de género, 241 

La Nacion - Política 


Casal, un blanco en la mira de la comisión investigadora, 242 

La Nacion - Política 

226



Prostitución y escándalo en la justicia santafecina, 243 



Hollande contro il fiscal compact "Serve un patto per la crescita", 244 



La perdita dell"olfatto, 245 



Nel Veneto tradito da Bossi "Ora Maroni deve trattare con noi", 247 

Le Figaro - économie 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Cour pénale internationale 

Le procureur de la CPI en Libye, 249 

Le Monde - Article 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL | Conseil Constitutionnel 

Le harcèlement sexuel examiné par le Conseil constitutionnel, 250 



LAUSD considers lowering the bar for graduation, 251 



State Senate panel backs bill to deregulate Internet phone service, 253 



Der Grund der Absage , 254 



Wie die katholische Kirche eine Professorin verhinderte , 256 



Aarushi murder case: Non-bailable warrant against Nupur Talwar extended till April 30, 257 



Apex court rejects plea on election symbols, 258 



Mamata Banerjee named among world's most influential people, 259 

The Economic Times - Politics/Nation 


CBI seeks fresh warrant to arrest Nupur Talwar, 260 



Romney Warns Gun Lobby of a Second Obama Term, 261 



227


Phony Mommy Wars, 262 



Abiding by the Fair Sentencing Act, 263 



Lin, Tebow included on Time 100 list, 264 



Tell us: What happens with Kentucky?, 265 



Latest celeb feuds: Why are these stars fighting?, 266 

228

Business Line/ - Markets, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Sun Pharma scrip jumps on US Supreme 

Court ruling on patent litigation 

MUMBAI, APRIL 18: Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical 

Industries surged over 2 per cent after the US 

Supreme Court ruling on a patent litigation by its 

subsidiary Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories. In a 

regulatory filing, Sun Pharma said the US Supreme 

court has ruled in favour of Caraco in its patent 

litigation against Novo-Nordisk over Caraco’s generic 

version of Prandin, Repaglinide tablets. The company 

said that it is a landmark judgment for generic 

companies. Reacting to the development, the shares 

of the company witnessed a record high of Rs 599 on 

the BSE, a jump of 2.53 per cent over its last closing 

price of Rs 584.20. The scrip was later trading at Rs 

596.90, up 2.17 per cent. A similar movement was 

witnessed on the National Stock Exchange as well, 

where the stock opened at Rs 588.05, then jumped 

2.61 per cent to see a high of Rs 600. It was later 

trading at Rs 597.15, up 2.13 per cent. Marketmen 

said the positive news helped the stock gain 

momentum. Besides, the broader market was also 

trading in the positive territory. 

229

Business Line/ - Markets, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Party symbols: SC upholds EC criteria 

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18: In a majority verdict, the 

Supreme Court today upheld the criteria of the 

Election Commission (EC) for granting symbols to 

unrecognised registered political parties. A three-judge 

bench comprising Justices Mr Altamas Kabir, Mr S.S. 

Nijjar and Mr Jasti Chelameswar upheld the panel’s 

symbol order by a two-to-one majority. Justice 

Chelameswar wrote the dissenting order against the 

EC’s symbol order. The court passed the order on a 

batch of petitions filed by State political parties 

challenging the symbol order of the EC. According to 

the EC’s order, a permanent symbol is granted to 

political parties that have garnered at least five per 

cent votes in the Assembly elections or have managed 

to win two assembly seats or one seat in parliamentary 

elections from the State. Several parties including the 

Praja Rajyam Party, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi and the 

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam had approached 

the apex court in 2008 against the EC’s decision to 

change their symbol from what was allotted to them 

previously. 

230

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Globo, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


PS diz que Conde Rodrigues "reúne todos 

os requisitos" 

O vice-presidente da bancada parlamentar do PS 

Ricardo Rodrigues afirmou hoje que Conde Rodrigues 

"reúne todos os requisitos" para ser eleito para o 

Tribunal Constitucional, tal como os socialistas 

propuseram, não tendo o partido "dúvidas sobre essa 

matéria". 

"Conde Rodrigues reúne os requisitos [para ser eleito 

para o Tribunal Constitucional] e não temos dúvidas 

sobre essa matéria. E portanto é o nome que o PS 

indicou. Quem diz que não reúne os requisitos está 

mal informado, não sabe o que está a dizer", disse o 

deputado à 

Ricardo Rodrigues comentava assim notícias 

avançadas pelo Jornal de Negócios e pelo Expresso 

segundo as quais a eleição de três juízes para o 

Tribunal Constitucional, marcada para sexta-feira, 

foi adiada por, entre outros aspetos, existirem dúvidas 

quanto ao candidato indicado pelo PS, o ex-secretário 

de Estado da Justiça Conde Rodrigues. 

Segundo essas notícias, Conde Rodrigues foi 

magistrado num tribunal administrativo e fiscal, mas 

não está neste momento no ativo, por ter pedido uma 

licença sem vencimento de longa duração. A lei 

estabelece que pelo menos seis dos 13 membros do 

TC têm de ser juízes, tendo o nome de Conde 

Rodrigues sido indicado para preencher essa quota de 

magistrados. 

Ricardo Rodrigues disse à 

"E, portanto, é juiz. Primeiro ponto. Mas mesmo para 

quem tivesse essa dúvida, tanto quanto tomei 

conhecimento, ele terá feito um requerimento para 

levantar essa condição de estar em licença sem 

vencimento. Em todo o caso, mesmo assim, se vier a 

faltar um juiz pelas contas da composição que o 

tribunal deve ter, a verdade é que o tribunal pode 

cooptar um que falte e aí não havia dúvida nenhuma. 

Portanto, qualquer que seja a perspetiva que se 

analise, está a analisar-se mal quando se diz que o 

candidato do PS não reúne os requisitos", 

acrescentou. 

A eleição dos novos juízes do Tribunal 

Constitucional, prevista para sexta-feira, foi adiada 

para "salvaguardar o tempo e a serenidade 

necessários" à audição dos candidatos no Parlamento, 

uma decisão que resultou de "um consenso largo" 

entre os grupos parlamentares. 

Esta informação foi dada hoje à agência 

Questionada sobre se está em causa alguma questão 

de preenchimento de requisitos por parte de algum 

dos candidatos, a mesma fonte respondeu: "O 

gabinete da presidente não comenta nenhum nome, o 

que o gabinete da presidente disse aos jornais mas 

nem sempre foi bem citado, infelizmente, foi que a 

presidente da Assembleia da República está ainda a 

verificar os requisitos de admissibilidade dos 

candidatos. Portanto, trata-se de uma questão de 

verificação e não de dúvida". 

A agência 

Além de Conde Rodrigues, foram indicados mais dois 

nomes para substituir os três juízes do TC que se 

reformaram e terminaram mandatos: Fátima Mata 

Mouros, pelo CDS, e Paulo Saragoça da Matta, pelo 

PSD. 

231

Diário de Notícias Lisboa/ - Globo, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Eleição de juízes do Tribunal 

Constitucional adiada 

A eleição dos novos juízes do Tribunal 

Constitucional, prevista para sexta-feira, foi adiada 

para "salvaguardar o tempo e a serenidade 

necessários" à audição dos candidatos no Parlamento, 

uma decisão que resultou de "um consenso largo" 

entre os grupos parlamentares. 

Esta informação foi dada à agência 

"A eleição vai ser adiada para salvaguardar o tempo e 

a serenidade necessários à audição dos candidatos 

ao Tribunal Constitucional na comissão de Assuntos 

Constitucionais, Direitos, Liberdades e Garantias, na 

Assembleia da República", acrescentou a mesma 

fonte. 

Questionada sobre se está em causa alguma questão 

de preenchimento de requisitos por parte de algum 

dos candidatos, como se pode ler na imprensa de 

hoje, a mesma fonte respondeu: "O gabinete da 

presidente não comenta nenhum nome, o que o 

gabinete da presidente disse aos jornais mas nem 

sempre foi bem citado, infelizmente, foi que a 

presidente da Assembleia da República está ainda a 

verificar os requisitos de admissibilidade dos 

candidatos. Portanto, trata-se de uma questão de 

verificação e não de dúvida". 

O Jornal de Negócios e o Expresso (numa notícia 

colocada na sua página na internet) escrevem que a 

eleição dos juízes do TC foi adiada, estando em 

causa, entre outos aspetos, o nome do ex-secretário 

de Estado da Justiça Conde Rodrigues, proposto pelo 

PS. 

Segundo essas notícias, Conde Rodrigues foi 

magistrado num tribunal administrativo e fiscal, mas 

não está neste momento no ativo, por ter pedido uma 

licença sem vencimento de longa duração. 

A lei estabelece que pelo menos seis dos 13 membros 

do TC têm de ser juízes em exercício, tendo o nome 

de Conde Rodrigues sido indicado para preencher 

essa quota de magistrados. 

De acordo com a lei do Tribunal Constitucional, pelo 

menos seis dos 13 membros do Tribunal têm de ser 

juízes em exercício. 

A agência 

Além de Conde Rodrigues, foram indicados mais dois 

nomes para substituir os três juízes do TC que se 

reformaram e terminaram mandatos: Fátima Mata 

Mouros, pelo CDS, e Paulo Saragoça da Matta, pelo 

PSD. 

A audição dos candidatos no Parlamento não é 

obrigatória, mas não é inédita, tendo as bancadas 

decidido fazê-la. 

232

El Dia/ - Noticia, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Otro día de paro en Tribunales 

Los trabajadores judiciales cortan la avenida 13 en 

una nueva jornada de protesta. La AJB pide la 

mediación de la Corte Trabajadores judiciales realizan 

un nuevo paro de actividades de 48 horas, con otro 

corte de tránsito en la Avenida 13, frente a los 

tribunales, en medio de un conflicto queno exhibe 

visos de solución, el gremio reclamó a la Suprema 

Corte "que se involucre" en la discusión. Ayer, a 

través de una nota dirigida al alto tribunal, la AJB le 

pidió a la Corte "que asuma su papel de cabeza del 

Poder Judicial, se involucre en el conflicto 

interesándose por la suerte de sus trabajadores y que 

desista de acciones represivas que a nada bueno 

conducen", en relación ala presencia policial en la 

sede del tribunal. De esta forma, el sindicato planteó 

un esquema de retorno a la negociación similar al que 

se terminó configurando el año pasado y que permitió 

superar el conflicto: que el alto tribunal inicie una 

suerte de mediación entre el Ejecutivo y los 

trabajadores. La otra movida del gremio fue un 

pedidopor carta al gobernador, Daniel Scioli, para que 

reabra la discusiónsalarial cerrada la semana pasada 

por la Provincia, al anunciar quedispondrá por decreto 

el aumento rechazado por el sindicato. La sucesión de 

paros obedece a la decisión de la Provincia de 

rechazar la pretensión del gremio deavanzar con la 

Porcentualidad salarial, un mecanismo que engancha 

los sueldos de los trabajadores, en distintas escalas, 

con los de los ministros de la Corte. En ese contexto, 

el gobierno de Scioli ofreció aumentos que van del 21 

al 26% y los liquidará por decreto ante la negativa del 

gremio a aceptarlos por considerar que no se 

enmarcan en la recuperación porcentual. 

233



Justicia: siguen los paros y piden 

mediación de la Corte 

El gremio reclamó al alto tribunal "que se involucre" en 

el conflicto. Gestión ante el Gobernador Trabajadores 

de la Justicia bonaerense retomarán hoy las medidas 

de fuerza, cuando inicien un paro que se extenderá 

por 48 horas y que volverá a afectar la actividad en los 

tribunales. Y en medio de un conflicto que no exhibe 

visos de solución, el gremio reclamó a la Suprema 

Corte "que se involucre" en la discusión. A través de 

una nota dirigida al alto tribunal, la Asociación Judicial 

Bonaerense le pidió a la Corte "que asuma su papel 

de cabeza del Poder Judicial, se involucre en el 

conflicto interesándose por la suerte de sus 

trabajadores y que desista de acciones represivas que 

a nada bueno conducen", en relación a la presencia 

policial en la sede del tribunal. De esta forma, el 

sindicato planteó un esquema de retorno a la 

negociación similar al que se terminó configurando el 

año pasado y que permitió superar el conflicto: que el 

alto tribunal inicie una suerte de mediación entre el 

Ejecutivo y los trabajadores. La otra movida del gremio 

fue un pedido por carta al gobernador Daniel Scioli 

para que reabra la discusión salarial cerrada la 

semana pasada por la Provincia, al anunciar que 

dispondrá por decreto el aumento rechazado por el 

sindicato. La sucesión de paros obedece a la decisión 

de la Provincia de rechazar la pretensión del gremio 

de avanzar con la Porcentualidad salarial, un 

mecanismo que engancha los sueldos de los 

trabajadores, en distintas escalas, con los de los 

ministros de la Corte. En ese contexto, el gobierno de 

Scioli ofreció aumentos que van del 21 al 26% y los 

liquidará por decreto ante la negativa del gremio a 

aceptarlos por considerar que no se enmarcan en la 

recuperación porcentual. MEDIDAS DE FUERZA 

Frente a este panorama, el gremio cumplió el lunes un 

nuevo paro y ayer sacó el conflicto a la calle en 

distintas zonas de la Provincia. En nuestra región, un 

grupo de trabajadores cortó la Autopista La 

Plata-Buenos Aires en la subida de Ensenada. El corte 

fue total entre las 9 y las 10,30, cuando se liberó una 

mano. Actividades similares se registraron en la ruta 2 

a la altura de Dolores. En tanto, un grupo de 

trabajadores pretendió cortar la avenida General Paz y 

Constituyentes, pero la actividad fue impedida por la 

Policía Federal. Los judiciales cumplirán hoy un nuevo 

paro de actividades y mañana repetirán la protesta 

acompañada de una movilización a Casa de Gobierno. 

No se descarta la profundización del reclamo en caso 

de que no se abra un canal de diálogo con el Ejecutivo 

y la Corte. Frente a las medidas que afectan la 

actividad en los tribunales, el Colegio de Abogados 

volvió a reclamar la normalización de la atención y la 

Corte ratificó que descontará los días no trabajados. 

234



Renace la embestida kirchnerista en busca 

de dividir la Procuración 

El vicegobernador Gabriel Mariotto envió ayer un claro 

mensaje al Ejecutivo bonaerense para que apure el 

envío a la Legislatura el proyecto que apunta a 

desdoblar la estructura de la Procuración General de 

la Suprema Corte y otorgar autonomía al cuerpo de 

Defensores Oficiales, que el gobernador bonaerense 

anunció a fines del año pasado. Y afirmó que esa 

iniciativa "debe ser tratada en conjunto" con la que 

propone la creación de la Policía Judicial, que ingresó 

a la Cámara alta en marzo pasado."Muchos 

ciudadanos, muchos sectores, han establecido que los 

proyectos de Policía Judicial y de desdoblamiento de 

la Procuración son parte de una misma matriz y que 

es importante que uno salga junto con el otro, que no 

se pueden abordar desdobladamente, por separado, 

que tienen que abordarse juntos", dijo ayer 

Mariotto.De esa forma, el Vicegobernador condicionó 

el tratamiento de la ley de Policía Judicial al ingreso de 

la iniciativa que apunta a reformar la Procuración para 

crear dos áreas independientes, una que nuclee al 

cuerpo de fiscales y otra, autónoma, a los defensores 

oficiales, que viene siendo reclamada por organismos 

de Derechos Humanos.Como este diario informó, si 

bien el gobernador Daniel Scioli anunció en la apertura 

de sesiones ordinarias que enviaría esa iniciativa a las 

cámaras, el proyecto parece haber quedado 

"congelado" en el Ejecutivo, desde la idea de que 

debería ser la Legislatura quien lo impulse.Sectores 

del Poder Judicial han dejado trascender sus dudas 

respecto de la posible inconstitucionalidad de una 

reforma de estas características. La duda es 

compartida por algunos sectores del propio 

oficialismo. Incluso la propia Procuradora María del 

Carmen Falbo expuso sus resistencias.El planteo de 

Mariotto, que apuntó directamente al Ejecutivo, fue 

presentado en la misma jornada en la que el 

gobernador Scioli mantuvo un encuentro con el 

presidente de la Suprema Corte de Justicia, Eduardo 

Petiggiani, y la Procuradora de la Corte María del 

Carmen Falbo.MAGISTRATURALas declaraciones 

fueron formuladas por Mariotto en el Senado en el 

marco de una nueva sesión de la Comisión Especial 

de seguimiento a la investigación del crimen de 

Candela Rodríguez que se realizó ayer en la Cámara 

alta (ver pág. 18). En ese marco, el Vicegobernador 

anunció que desde el bloque oficialista se busca 

avanzar también con una reforma en el reglamento del 

Consejo de la Magistratura para que el organismo "no 

actúe de espaldas a la sociedad"."Queremos que las 

reuniones sean públicas, que lo que se trate sea de 

dominio público y que no sea un establecimiento 

cerrado donde muchas veces las corporaciones llevan 

adelante sus acciones a espaldas de la sociedad. Se 

trata de darle luz a aquellos lugares donde muchas 

veces las corporaciones llevan adelante sus acciones 

sin dar cuenta al resto de la sociedad", dijo.En 

conferencia de prensa, Mariotto defendió el rol de la 

denominada "Comisión Candela", al señalar que 

trabaja "para que no haya connivencia de ningún tipo 

entre el delito, la policía, la justicia y la política". "Cada 

poder debe trabajar por sí solo y el delito no puede 

tener la cobertura de nadie. Es necesario echar luz 

sobre las acciones y que esta matriz de connivencia 

que se advierte en algunos hechos pueda ser 

desentrañada". 

235

El País/ - Sociedad, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Derecho Constitucional) 

Las Cortes piden publicitar la lista de 

cargos que cobran ayuda por vivienda 

La iniciativa del PSPV sale con los votos favorables 

del PP y de EU y la oposición de Compromís Las 

Cortes valencianas han aprobado una proposción no 

de ley por la que se insta al Gobierno de la Generalitat 

a publicar en el Diari Oficial de Comunitat Valenciana 

(DOCV) el listado de sus altos cargos que reciben una 

indemnización mensual por el traslado de su 

residencia a Valencia. La iniciativa, aprobada por los 

votos a favor del PSPV-PSOE, PP y Esquerra Unida 

(EU) y en contra de Compromís, pide al Ejecutivo 

valenciano que modifique el acuerdo de 1995 por el 

que se establecía que los altos cargos que debían 

trasladar su residencia percibieran una ayuda mensual 

equivalente al 14% de su sueldo. Las Cortes también 

piden que se "modifiquen" los criterios para su 

percepción, que en la actualidad sólo pasa por la 

presentación de un certificado de empadronamiento, 

que se presenta al principio de tomar posesión del 

cargo y no se tiene que volver a ratificar, según ha 

explicado el portavoz adjunto del PSPV, Rafael Rubio. 

Rubio, que ha defendido esta propuesta en la 

comisión parlamentaria de Coordinación, Organización 

y Régimen de las Instituciones de la Generaltat, ha 

considerado "insuficiente" la presentación del padrón, 

y ha propuesto que se acompañe de un recibo del 

gasto que supone para estas personas el alquiler de 

un inmueble. En este sentido, se ha mostrado 

contrario a que esta ayuda se conceda a aquellas 

personas que van y vienen todos los días a Valencia 

en coche oficial o que aunque empadronados en otra 

ciudad, viven en Valencia en un piso de su propiedad, 

y ha puesto el ejemplo del consejero de Sanidad, Luis 

Rosado, quien en concepto de esta ayuda recibiría 

9.000 euros anuales, según ha apuntado Rubio. El 

diputado socialista, quien ha informado de que en la 

actualidad hay 19 personas que cobran esta ayuda, 

entre las que está el presidente de la Generalitat, ha 

explicado que esto supone un gasto anual entorno a 

los 160.000 euros y ha defendido que el dinero público 

no debe servir para que un alto cargo pueda 

incrementar su patrimonio. El diputado del PP, Rubén 

Ibáñez, ha destacado que la publicación de este 

listado va en la línea de la "transparencia" defendida 

desde el Gobierno de la Generalitat y ha sostenido 

que la concesión de estas ayudas sigue "una 

fiscalización absoluta y correcta" que garantiza que se 

conceden conforme a ley. Por otra parte, el PP ha 

rechazado con sus votos una proposición no de ley de 

Compromís para que se retire la orden para modificar 

los módulos de compensación económica aplicables a 

las actuaciones del turno de oficio y asistencia al 

detenido, y que se retome el diálogo con todas las 

asociaciones profesionales afectadas. La diputada del 

PP María José García Herrero ha sostenido que con 

esta orden se "garantiza" el servicio de asistencia 

gratuita y una "retribción digna" para los profesionales, 

mientras que el portavoz de Compromís, Enric Morera, 

ha defendido que este "derecho constitucional" en 

estos momentos "se ve amenazado por la insolvencia" 

del Consell. La comisión también ha rechazado, con 

los únicos votos en contra del PP, una iniciativa de EU 

para que se dejara de exigir el número de 

identificación del extranjero a aquellos inmigrantes que 

acuden a inscribirse en el registro de uniones de 

hecho de la Comunitat Valenciana. 

236

El País/ - Internacional, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Cuestión de Inconstitucionalidad) 

Un juez plantea al Constitucional sus 

dudas sobre la reforma laboral 

El magistrado pone en duda la eliminación de los 

salarios de tramitación en caso de despido 

improcedente Consulta aquí el auto íntegro Un caso 

de despido disciplinario seguido en un juzgado de lo 

Social de Madrid ha servido para que el juez presente 

una de las primeras cuestiones de constitucionalidad 

contra la reforma laboral aprobada por el Gobierno el 

pasado 10 de febrero, que motivó la oleada de 

protestas sociales que culminaron con la última huelga 

general, y que sigue en tramitación en el Parlamento. 

El magistrado titular del juzgado número 30, José 

Ángel Folguera, cuestiona ante el Tribunal 

Constitucional, en concreto, la práctica eliminación 

de los salarios de tramitación, los que debe abonar el 

empresario desde que el despido se hace efectivo 

hasta que un juez lo declara, en su caso, 

improcedente. El juez recuerda que, con la reforma, 

en caso de que se declare improcedente un despido, 

lo que implica un juicio de culpabilidad sobre el 

empresario, este último tiene la prerrogativa de 

readmitir al empleado en las mismas condiciones 

laborales que tenía y abonarle los salarios de 

tramitación (los que ha dejado de percibir entre el 

despido y la sentencia) o dejarlo en la calle, caso en el 

cual no tendría que pagar esas nóminas. En este 

último caso, el trabajador cobraría únicamente el paro. 

El magistrado considera que esta última posibilidad 

–que se consume el despido y no se paguen los 

salarios de tramitación- afecta a los derechos del 

empleado, ya que “las prestaciones de desempleo son 

manifiestamente inferiores a los salarios dejados de 

percibir (…) y no compensan en su integridad el 

salario perdido”. Además, recuerda que en caso de 

que el trabajador no haya cumplido el período mínimo 

de cotización, no tendrá derecho a recibir ese 

subsidio, lo que supondría una clara discriminación. 

Pero además, percibir el paro en lugar de los salarios 

de tramitación, implica que sea el propio trabajador el 

que asuma con cargo a sus cotizaciones por 

desempleo el período de espera entre el despido y la 

sentencia, lo que a juicio del magistrado constituye 

una “subvención pública” al empresario a pesar de 

haber cometido “un acto ilícito”, el despido 

improcedente. El nuevo régimen de los salarios de 

tramitación, que en la práctica supone su eliminación, 

afecta también según el juez Folguera, al derecho al 

trabajo que recoge el artículo 35 de la Constitución, 

ya que el cambio legal “constituye no solo un evidente 

estímulo contrario a la recuperación del empleo y 

favorable a la generación de desempleo, sino que se 

ven minorados esencialmente los derechos 

constitucionales de los trabajadores a la prestación 

por desempleo”, dice en su cuestión de 

constitucionalidad. La resolución judicial pone en 

duda, además, que existan los requisitos de 

“extraordinaria y urgente necesidad” que exige la 

Constitución para aprobar un decreto ley, la norma 

utilizada por el Gobierno para sacar adelante la 

reforma. La presentación de la cuestión paralizará el 

proceso de despido hasta que el Tribunal 

Constitucional la resuelva. 

237

El País/ - Internacional, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Archivada la investigación al presidente 

de la Audiencia de Lugo 

El Consejo General del Poder Judicial justifica el 

cierre del expediente en las "versiones contradictorias" 

de Varela Agrelo y la juez que lo denunció La 

Comisión Disciplinaria del Consejo General del Poder 

Judicial (CGPJ) acordó ayer por unanimidad archivar 

la investigación abierta al presidente de la Audiencia 

Provincial de Lugo, José Antonio Varela Agrelo, tras la 

denuncia de la juez instructora de la Operación 

Campeón, Estela San José, que le acusó de intentar 

acceder de forma irregular a la declaración del 

empresario Jorge Dorribo. Según la juez, Varela 

Agrelo trató de enterarse de lo que había declarado el 

imputado sobre él. El órgano de gobierno de los 

jueces justifica el archivo de la investigación en las 

“versiones contradictorias entre el interesado y la 

magistrada” y a la falta de “otros elementos 

probatorios”. Varela Agrelo ha denunciado que Dorribo 

intentó extosionarle a cambio de no declarar contra él. 

238

El Universal/ - Nación, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Corte Penal Internacional) 

La imagen del “México seguro” 

Sin que se sepan sus nombres, sin que se hayan 

divulgado sus historias, discretamente hospedados en 

un hotel de lujo de la Riviera Nayarit, desde el fin de 

semana están en México personas como las 

siguientes:El contacto de los rebeldes de Siria y Libia 

con gobiernos de Europa; el hombre que cabildea 

políticamente detrás del millonariamente visto video de 

Kony-2012 para que caiga el ugandés Joseph Kony en 

manos de la Corte Penal Internacional; un príncipe 

de los Países Bajos; el opositor que quiere tumbar de 

la presidencia a Mugabe en Zimbabwe. Está la 

primera mujer africana en la televisión del Estado 

chino, el abogado que desde su despacho en 

Washington logró liberar a la premio nobel de 

Birmania, el niño soldado de Sudán del Sur que de 

adulto se volvió cantante de hip-hop, el chavo con 

discapacidad que unió a toda Venezuela cuando 

completó el maratón de Nueva York en 15 

horas.Todos tienen menos de 40 años de edad y 

forman parte del grupo de los Jóvenes Líderes 

Globales del Foro Económico Mundial, cuya reunión 

se lleva al cabo desde el lunes en Puerto Vallarta, 

Jalisco. Perdón que te lo pregunte —se muestra 

apenado uno de ellos— pero, ¿es seguro estar 

aquí?—Cuando le dije a mi familia que venía a México 

todos se asustaron muchísimo (se incorporó otro a la 

conversación).Los guías del transporte que los lleva 

rumbo a una caminata por Las ánimas se apuran a 

responder que en la zona de Vallarta y la Riviera 

Nayarit no hay problemas de seguridad. Que las 

playas, los restaurantes, los hoteles, los bares son 

confiables. Que se puede caminar por las calles y 

tomar un taxi sin miedo. Que “la bronca del narco” 

está más bien en las entidades del norte, y algunos 

otras como Guerrero y Veracruz.Lo escuchan 

atentamente. Al llegar a su destino, bajan del autobús 

para abordar cuatro lanchas tipo pescador que usan 

para transportar turistas. El recorrido de la Marina a la 

zona de Las ánimas demora como media hora. 

Durante el trayecto por el mar, custodian al grupo tres 

lanchas de guerra de la Marina Armada de México y 

un elemento de seguridad va como parte de la 

tripulación de cada embarcación de los visitantes. Más 

tarde, se atoraron en la ruta del hotel sede de la 

reunión al Centro de Convenciones de Vallarta: duró 

más del doble de lo previsto porque un retén de la 

Policía Federal generó una cola de tráfico de varios 

kilómetros.Por la noche, en el coctel de bienvenida en 

la playa, elementos del Ejército coordinados con la 

policía local custodiaban con vallas metálicas 

colocadas sobre la arena para aislar el sitio. Para 

llegar hasta ahí, cualquiera debía sortear retenes con 

elementos del Estado Mayor Presidencial. Si es tan 

seguro, ¿por qué tanta seguridad?, preguntó, asfixiado 

y asustado por el despliegue, uno de los invitados al 

foro.Un extranjero se apresuró a contestar que el país 

no se podía dar el lujo de un incidente en una reunión 

de tal tamaño. Una mexicana dijo que no era para 

tanto, que el despliegue era innecesario. 

239

Debe & Haber 

El Poder Judicial otorgó a la Profeco un amparo que 

establece que los derechos de los consumidores 

deben catalogarse como derechos humanos, con lo 

que se avala que los 9 mil 781 representados en el 

concurso mercantil de Mexicana sean considerados 

acreedores privilegiados para el pago de los créditos. 

Con esta determinación, alcanzada por el Séptimo 

Tribunal Colegiado en Materia Civil, los consumidores 

representados por la Profeco se ubican en el segundo 

lugar dentro del orden de prelación que se siga en la 

resolución del concurso interpuesto por la aerolínea, 

después de los trabajadores de la empresa. Juez 

emplaza a línea a pagar adeudo La Comisión Federal 

de Competencia (CFC) impuso multas a productores, 

a dos asociaciones y a un par de servidores públicos 

por coludirse y controlar la venta de tortilla en Tuxtla 

Gutiérrez, Chiapas. Las multas superan los 400 mil 

pesos para las asociaciones Consejo Estatal de la 

Industria de la Masa y la Tortilla de Chiapas (CEIMT) y 

para SOMOS CHIAPAS, y 30 mil pesos para dos 

funcionarios públicos al participar en la práctica 

monopólica absoluta. Los presidentes de estas 

asociaciones responsables: serán sancionados 

también con 30 mil pesos a cada uno. Prácticas 

monopólicas en la venta 

El Universal/ - Nación, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


240

El Universal/ - Política, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Exigen respetar cuota de género 

34 mujeres políticas de NL acusan a partidos de 

exclusión MONTERREY Alrededor de 34 mujeres de 

diferentes organismos políticos de Nuevo León 

presentaron un recurso de inconformidad y una queja 

ante la Comisión Estatal Electoral al considerar que 

son excluidas en la selección y designación de 

candidaturas por los partidos con registro en la 

entidad. El grupo, conformado por destacadas 

académicas, políticas, funcionarias y escritoras, 

encabezado por María Elena Chapa, ex senadora del 

PRI, entregó el documento a fin de que el presidente 

de la Comisión Estatal Electoral, Luis Daniel López, 

llamara a los partidos a mantener la equidad de 

género en las candidaturas, que deben ser de 30% 

para el sector femenil. En la denuncia, las mujeres 

precisan que de las 51 presidencias municipales, al 

menos 13 deben ser candidaturas femeniles. Y al 

menos cinco curules del Poder Legislativo local 

también debe ser ocupado por mujeres. Por eso, 

instaron a respetar lo establecido en el artículo 112 de 

la ley estatal electoral, así como el cuarto de la 

Constitución Política Mexicana, el cual establece la 

igualdad entre varón y mujer, y el artículo primero de 

la Constitución local, en el que se lee: “El derecho del 

ser humano son la base y el objetivo de las 

instituciones sociales. Todas las leyes y todas las 

autoridades deben de respetar y hacer respetar las 

garantías que otorga la presente constitución”. Se 

unen para protestar A la denuncia se sumaron 

Guadalupe Rodríguez de Anaya, del PT; María de 

Jesús Huerta, del PRI; Martha Zamarripa, del PRD; 

Liliana Flores Benavides, del PRD; y Diana Perla 

Chapa, del Movimiento Ciudadano; de igual manera, 

la actriz Nena Delgado, del PAN, entre otras activistas 

sociales del estado de Nuevo León. María Elena 

Chapa, quien dirige el Instituto Estatal de la Mujer, 

indicó que de no llamar el presidente ciudadano de la 

CEE a los partidos políticos a cumplir con la cuota de 

género en la selección y designación de candidatos, 

llevarán ante el Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial 

de la Federación su inconformidad. “Buscamos 

respeto para la equidad de género en cuanto a la 

postulación de candidatos a diputados locales y a 

alcaldes, por eso presentamos esta denuncia que la 

comisión estatal electoral se negaba a recibir, pero de 

no haberlo aceptado ese recurso, nosotros 

hubiéramos ido a inconformarnos ante el Tribunal 

Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación”, 

advirtió María Elena Chapa. La Oficialía de Partes 

demoró aproximadamente cinco horas para la 

recepción de la queja interpuesta por el grupo de 

mujeres políticas neoleoneses, quienes buscan que 

los partidos en los que simpatizan puedan fijar sus 

ojos en algunas de ellas. Algunas de las mujeres 

inconformes han servido como funcionarias en el 

gobierno estatal, municipales y federal; otras han sido 

Senadoras de la República y otras diputadas federales 

y locales. 

241

La Nacion/ - Política, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Casal, un blanco en la mira de la 

comisión investigadora 

LA PLATA.- La decisión de la Cámara Penal de 

Apelaciones de Morón que anuló buena parte del 

proceso de investigación por el crimen de Candela Sol 

Rodríguez alimenta la preocupación del gobierno 

bonaerense sobre la situación del ministro de Justicia 

y Seguridad, Ricardo Casal. Tras la medida judicial, el 

gobierno de Daniel Scioli espera ahora el dictamen de 

la Comisión Especial de Acompañamiento para el 

Esclarecimiento del Asesinato de Candela Sol 

Rodríguez del Senado bonaerense, que plantea una 

inusual investigación paralela a la llevada adelante por 

el Poder Judicial. La pesquisa por el crimen de 

Candela, hallada sin vida el 9 de agosto de 2011, 

estuvo plagada de versiones y testigos contradictorios, 

groseras fallas en la comunicación oficial e indicios 

sobre connivencia policial con el delito, todo lo que 

terminó con los sospechosos libres por falta de 

pruebas contundentes para incriminarlos. Ayer, el 

vicegobernador Gabriel Mariotto, promotor de la 

conformación de la comisión legislativa para investigar 

la investigación, aseguró que "se van a instrumentar 

todas las acciones para que no haya connivencia 

entre el delito y la policía, y entre la Justicia, la policía 

y el delito, y entre la política, la Justicia, la policía y el 

delito. Cada poder tiene que trabajar por sí mismo y el 

delito no tiene que tener cobertura de nadie". Mariotto 

anunció, a modo de vocero del cuerpo, que dentro de 

15 días se citará a declarar al ex jefe de la policía 

bonaerense Juan Carlos Paggi. Trascendió, al mismo 

tiempo, que no se descarta convocar al ministro de 

Justicia y Seguridad bonaerense, Ricardo Casal. 

UNA LUCHA POLÍTICA En realidad, la actividad 

desarrollada por la comisión persigue un fin político no 

enunciado: horadar a Casal como figura que expresa 

una "matriz" que, según la mirada que impulsa la 

iniciativa, facilita y reproduce la connivencia entre los 

poderes -incluido el político- y el delito. Pese a 

destacar en los fundamentos de su creación la 

existencia de la división e independencia de poderes, 

la comisión especial del caso Candela avanza 

atribuyéndose facultades propias de la Justicia con el 

aval del vicegobernador. Si bien la Legislatura posee 

atribuciones para controlar a otros poderes, la 

comisión especial no indaga las acciones de jueces y 

fiscales en el marco de lo que establece la ley de 

enjuiciamiento de magistrados provincial, sino que 

aborda -directa y críticamente- el desarrollo del 

proceso jurisdiccional. A esta altura, no queda 

suficientemente claro el alcance del trabajo 

investigativo, a excepción del impacto político que, sin 

dudas, provocará. Es ostensible, en cambio, la tensión 

generada entre ambos poderes ante la puesta en 

marcha de la nueva modalidad. Y no se sabe si, en el 

futuro, el Senado será receptivo ante planteos de 

crear comisiones idénticas para casos en los que las 

partes denuncian irregularidades. 

242

La Nacion/ - Política, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Prostitución y escándalo en la justicia 

santafecina 

Una funcionaria presa por reclutar menores Por José 

E. Bordón SANTA FE.- Un caso promete hacer estallar 

un gran escándalo en la justicia santafecina. Una 

empleada del Poder Judicial provincial que se 

desempeñaba en los tribunales del departamento de 

Vera, 330 kilómetros al norte de esta capital, fue 

detenida el pasado fin de semana, acusada de 

corrupción de menores. Pero lo más explosivo es que 

la detención se produjo como consecuencia de las 

declaraciones que en sede judicial ofrecieron seis 

adolescentes -de entre 12 y 16 años-, en las que 

admitieron haber sido llevadas a fiestas nocturnas, 

donde "primos" de la acusada (así denominaba ella a 

los funcionarios y empleados de los tribunales de esa 

ciudad y a otros varones que aportaban suculentas 

sumas para concretar las mentadas reuniones 

privadas) las invitaban con bebidas alcohólicas y 

posiblemente drogas para, luego, hacerlas partícipes 

de diversas prácticas sexuales. El caso cobró 

notoriedad cuando las mujeres reconocieron que "a 

las fiestas de «la Bibi» habrían asistido importantes 

personajes que en el mismo acto de consumir la oferta 

sexual prohibida y penada por ley desplegaban un 

halo de complicidad e impunidad que ahora podría 

comenzar a descorrerse", relató uno de los 

investigadores del hecho. El juez de Vera Ireneo 

Berzano ordenó la inmediata detención de "la Bibi", 

Nilda Emilia Catalina Sánchez, de 51 años, separada, 

empleada judicial de los tribunales de Vera, acusada 

de corrupción de menores. La detención se produjo a 

las 3 de la madrugada del sábado de la semana 

pasada al cabo de un importante operativo policial que 

se desplegó frente al domicilio de Rosario al 2000, en 

esa ciudad del norte provincial. La causa, que promete 

avanzar hacia la revelación de la identidad de 

importantes figuras de la noche verense involucradas 

en estas denominadas "fiestas negras", se inició 

después de que tres adolescentes sindicaron a "la 

Bibi" Sánchez como la persona que las captaba "para 

entregarlas a hombres mayores en fiestas privadas en 

las que corrían el alcohol y las pastillas", según 

explicaron fuentes de la investigación. Horacio Coutaz, 

secretario de Derechos Humanos de la provincia, 

admitió: "Estamos percibiendo que en Vera y en 

Reconquista [ambas poblaciones del norte 

santafecino] los casos de abusos de menores se 

reiteran y, no obstante, la respuesta judicial es 

prácticamente nula e ineficiente. En Vera tenemos dos 

casos paradigmáticos. En este último, el juez tomó 

conocimiento del hecho en el mismo momento que 

nosotros y recién se abocó a la causa el lunes pasado. 

En este caso no sólo hay abusos de menores, sino 

que también está involucrada una empleada del Poder 

Judicial", explicó. Según coincidieron en señalar varios 

dirigentes políticos y sociales consultados por LA 

NACION, en Vera corre desde hace tiempo el rumor 

de que a las fiestas de "la Bibi" Sánchez asistían 

reconocidos personajes de la actividad política, 

empresarial y comercial del norte de esta provincia. Y 

alertaron sobre que "si «la Bibi» cuenta lo que sabe, 

muchos políticos y respetados habitantes de la región 

se verán en problemas". 

243

La Repubblica/ - Cronaca, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Hollande contro il fiscal compact "Serve 

un patto per la crescita" 

Il candidato socialista alle presidenziali francesi 

attacca l'Unione europea: "Senza nuove misure non 

potrò sostenere la sua ratifica. L'ho promesso agli 

elettori". Il mercato teme l'attacco degli speculatori. 

Sarkozyin difficoltà nei sondaggi PARIGI - François 

Hollande non cambia linea: senza un cambiamento, la 

Francia non ratificherà il trattato europeo sul fiscal 

compact. Lo conferma in un'intervista all'Handelsblatt : 

"Se il patto non contiene misure per la crescita, non 

potrò sostenere la sua ratifica all'Assemblea nazionale. 

L'ho promesso ai francesi e mi atterrò a questa linea". 

Il candidato socialista sostiene di avere alleati in 

Europa: "Ho incontrato parecchi capi di Stato europei. 

Non ce ne sono molti soddisfatti dalla situazione 

economica. Non sono isolato". Tutti i paesi, Germania 

compresa, hanno interesse a una strategia di crescita : 

"Una disciplina di bilancio a livello nazionale è 

necessaria, ma non dobbiamo economizzare per 

economizzare". Hollande si mostra anche restìo 

all'idea di introdurre una regola d'oro nella costituzione, 

"una pura operazione di relazioni pubbliche", dice 

riferendosi all'idea difesa da Sarkozy. Se la linea 

generale è chiara, più difficile sapere cosa voglia 

davvero il candidato socialista e grande favorito dei 

sondaggi. Si dice che i contatti informali con Berlino 

siano in corso da tempo e che Angela Merkel sia 

disposta ad aggiungere al trattato un documento, con 

valore giuridico, relativo alla crescita. Una soluzione 

che sarebbe caldeggiata anche da verdi e 

socialdemocratici tedeschi. Ma su questo punto, le 

cose sono ancora vaghe. La probabile vittoria di 

Hollande suscita interrogativi sulla futura politica 

economica francese e sulla reazione dei mercati. La 

destra agita lo spettro della speculazione, ma più che 

la vittoria del candidato socialista può essere la 

situazione francese a creare tensioni. Il deficit pubblico 

è alto (5,2% nel 2011), l'avanzo primario è ancora 

lontano, il pareggio è promesso per il 2016 (Sarkozy) o 

per il 2017 (Hollande). Ma i programmi economici dei 

due candidati si basano su una previsione di crescita 

del 2 per cento, considerata dagli economisti troppo 

ottimista. Hollande, stamani, si è rifiutato di accettare 

le previsioni, molto pessimiste per tutta la zona euro, 

del Fondo monetario internazionale. Ha detto di non 

voler prendere nuove misure di rigore per non creare 

le condizioni di una recessione. Ha la bacchetta 

magica, gli è stato chiesto? "Cos'è la bacchetta 

magica? Si chiama un voto dei francesi che mi 

consentirebbe di trascinare l'Europa". I mercati, per il 

momento, sono piuttosto tranquilli sui titoli francesi. 

L'arrivo di un derivato sul debito transalpino, introdotto 

lunedì sull'Eurex tedesco, ha suscitato polemiche nel 

mondo politico, ma gli scambi sono stati molto limitati. 

Segno che per i mercati è ancora presto per dare un 

giudizio. Ma i dati parlano da soli: due terzi del debito 

francese sono in mano a investitori esteri (primi fra tutti 

i tedeschi) e l'ex ministro delle Finanze, Thierry Breton, 

sostiene che dal 2013 al 2020 la Francia sarà il primo 

emittente di titoli di Stato, davanti a Italia e Germania. 

Ce n'è abbastanza per scrutare con attenzione come 

reagiranno i mercati dopo il 6 maggio, chiunque vinca 

la corsa all'Eliseo. 

244

La perdita dell"olfatto 

QUANDO il fascismo stava per finire, nel novembre 

1944, un giornalista americano che conosceva bene 

l'Italia, Herbert Matthews, scrisse un articolo molto 

scomodo, sul mensile Mercurio diretto da Alba De 

Céspedes. S'intitolava "Non lo avete ucciso", e ci 

ritraeva, noi italiani e i nostri nuovi politici, incapaci di 

uccidere la bestia da cui in massa eravamo stati 

sedotti. Una vera epurazione era impossibile, 

soprattutto delle menti, dei costumi. Troppo vasti i 

consensi dati al tiranno, i trasformismi dell'ultima ora. 

Matthews racconta un episodio significativo di quegli 

anni. Quando il governo militare alleato volle epurare 

l'Università di Roma, una delegazione del Comitato di 

liberazione nazionale (Cln) chiese che la 

riorganizzazione fosse compiuta da due membri di 

ciascun partito: "In altre parole, una politica di partito 

doveva essere introdotta nel dominio dell'alta cultura: il 

che, mi sembra, è fascismo bello e buono". Il 

giornalista conclude che la lotta al fascismo doveva 

durare tutta la vita: "È un mostro col capo d'idra, dai 

molti aspetti, ma con un unico corpo. Non crediate di 

averlo ucciso". L'idra è tra noi, anche oggi. Nasce allo 

stesso modo, è il frutto amaro e terribile di mali che 

tendono a ripetersi eguali a se stessi e non vengono 

curati: come se non si volesse curarli, come se si 

preferisse sempre di nuovo nasconderli, lasciarli 

imputridire, poi dimenticarli. È uno dei lati più scuri 

dell'Italia, questo barcollare imbambolato lungo un 

baratro, dentro il quale non si guarda perché guardarlo 

significa conoscere e capire quel che racchiude: la 

politica che non vuol rigenerarsi; i partiti che non 

apprendono dai propri errori e si trasformano in 

cerchie chiuse, a null'altro interessate se non alla 

perpetuazione del proprio potere; la carenza 

spaventosa di una classe dirigente meno 

irresponsabile, meno immemore di quel che è 

accaduto in Italia in più di mezzo secolo. E tuttavia 

distinguere si può, si deve: altrimenti prepariamoci alle 

esequie della politica. Ci sono uomini e partiti che si 

sono opposti e s'oppongono alla degenerazione, e ce 

ne sono che coscientemente hanno scommesso sul 

degrado. C'è la Costituzione, che protegge la politica e 

chi ne ha vocazione: compresi i partiti, che al caos 

oppongono l'organizzazione. Il molle non è 

equiparabile al colluso con la mafia, il mediocre non è 

un criminale. La politica è oggi invisa, ma a lei spetta 

ricominciare la Storia. I movimenti antipolitici 

denunciano una malattia che senz'altro corrode dal di 

dentro la democrazia, ma non hanno la forza e 

neanche il desiderio di governare. Chi voglia 

governare non può che rinobilitarla, la politica. Se 

questo non avviene, se i partiti si limitano a denunciare 

l'antipolitica, avranno mancato per indolenza e 



autoconservazione l'appuntamento con la verità. Non 

avranno compreso in tempo l'essenziale: sono le loro 

malattie a suscitare i pifferai-taumaturghi (l'ultimo è 

stato Berlusconi). Il paese rischia di morire di 

demagogia, dice Bersani, ma questa morte è un 

remake: vale la pena rifletterci sopra. Guardiamola 

allora, questa politica sempre tentata dai remake. Non 

è solo questione di corruzione finanziaria, o del denaro 

pubblico dato perché i partiti non siano prede di lobby 

e che tuttavia è solo in piccola parte speso per opere 

indispensabili (il resto andrebbe restituito ai cittadini: 

questo è depurarsi). La corruzione è più antica, ha 

radici nelle menti e in memorie striminzite. Matthews 

denuncia lottizzazioni partitiche già nel '44. Un'altra 

cosa che smaschera è il ruolo della mafia nella 

Liberazione. Anche quest'idra è tra noi. È lunga, la lista 

dei mali via via occultati, e spesso scordati. 

L'Anti-Stato che presto cominciò a crearsi accanto a 

quello ufficiale, e divenne il marchio comune a tante 

eversioni: mafiose, brigatiste, della politica quando si 

fa sommersa. Un Anti-Stato raramente ammesso, 

combattuto debolmente. E le stragi, a Portella della 

Ginestra nel '47 e a partire dal '69: restate impunite, 

anonime. L'ultima infamia risale alla sentenza 

sull'eccidio di Brescia del '74, sabato scorso: tutti 

assolti. È un conforto che Monti abbia deciso che 

spetta allo Stato e non alle vittime pagare 38 anni di 

inchieste e processi: l'ammissione di responsabilità gli 

fa onore. Poi la P2: una "trasversale sacca di 

resistenza alla democrazia", secondo Tina Anselmi. 

Berlusconi, tessera 1816 della Loggia, entrò in politica 

per attuare il controllo dell'informazione e della 

magistratura previsto nel Piano di Rinascita 

democratica di Gelli. Le mazzette a politici e giornalisti 

si chiamano, nel Piano, "sollecitazioni". È corruzione 

anche la sordità a quel che i cittadini invocano da 

decenni, nei referendum. Nel '91 votarono contro una 

legge elettorale che consentiva ai partiti di piazzare 

nelle liste i propri preferiti. Nel '93 chiesero 

l'abbandono del sistema proporzionale, che in Italia 

aveva dilatato la partitocrazia. Il 90.3 per cento votò 

nel '93 contro il finanziamento pubblico dei partiti. I 

referendum sono stati sprezzati, con sfacciataggine. Il 

finanziamento è ripreso sostituendo il vocabolo: ora si 

dice rimborso. Da noi si cambia così: migliorando i 

sinonimi, non le leggi e i costumi. Ma soprattutto, sono 

spesso svilite le battaglie dell'Italia migliore (antimafia, 

anticorruzione). Bisogna cadere ammazzati come 

Ambrosoli, Dalla Chiesa, Falcone, Borsellino, per non 

finire nel niente. Le commemorazioni stesse sono 

subdole forme di oblio. Si celebra Ambrosoli, non la 

sua lotta contro Sindona, mafia, P2. Disse di lui 

Andreotti, legato a Sindona: "È una persona che se 

245

l'andava cercando". Fu ascoltato in silenzio, e non 

possiamo stupirci se l'ex democristiano Scajola, nel 

2002, dirà parole quasi identiche su Marco Biagi, reo 

d'aver chiesto la scorta prima d'essere ucciso: "Era un 

rompicoglioni che voleva il rinnovo del contratto di 

consulenza". Ci sono cose che, una volta dette, ti 

tolgono il diritto di rappresentare l'Italia. Viene infine la 

dimenticanza pura, che dissolve come in un acido 

persone italiane eccelse. Tina Anselmi è un esempio. 

Gli italiani sanno qualcosa della straordinaria donna 

che guidò la commissione parlamentare sulla P2? È 

come fosse già morta, ed è commovente che alcuni 

amici la ricordino. Tra essi Anna Vinci, autrice di un 

libro di Chiarelettere sulla P2. Con Giuseppe Amari, la 

scrittrice ha appena pubblicato Le notti della 

democrazia, in cui la tenacia di Tina è paragonata a 

quella di Aung San Suu Kyi. Altro esempio: Federico 

Caffè, fautore solitario di un'economia alternativa ai 

trionfi liberisti, di rado nominato. Un mattino, il 15-4-87, 

si tolse di mezzo, scomparve come il fisico Majorana 

nel '38. Anosognosia è la condizione di chi soffre un 

male ma ne nega l'esistenza: è la patologia delle 

nostre teste senza memoria. La letteratura è spesso 



più precisa dei cronisti. Nel numero citato di Mercurio è 

evocato il racconto che Moravia scrisse nel '44: 

L'Epidemia. Una malattia strana affligge il villaggio: gli 

abitanti cominciano a puzzare orribilmente, ma in 

assenza di cura l'odorato si corrompe e il puzzo vien 

presentato come profumo. Quindici anni dopo, Ionesco 

proporrà lo stesso apologo nei Rinoceronti. La malattia 

svanisce non perché sanata, ma perché negata: 

"Possiamo additare una particolarità di quella nazione 

come un effetto indubbio della pandemia: gli individui 

di quella nazione, tutti senza distinzione, mancano di 

olfatto". Non fanno più "differenza tra le immondizie e il 

resto". Ecco cosa urge: ritrovare l'olfatto, anche se "è 

davvero un vantaggio" vivere senza. Altrimenti 

dovremo ammettere che preferiamo la melma e i 

pifferai che secerne, alla "bellezza del fresco profumo 

di libertà che fa rifiutare il puzzo del compromesso 

morale, dell'indifferenza, della contiguità, e quindi della 

complicità". Il profumo che Borsellino si augurò e ci 

augurò il 23 giugno '92, a Palermo, pochi giorni prima 

d'essere assassinato. 

246



Nel Veneto tradito da Bossi "Ora Maroni 

deve trattare con noi" 

TREVISO - Ogni maledetto venerdì in un"azienda del 

trevigiano o del vicentino o del bellunese, una delle 

aree più ricche d"Europa, un imprenditore aspetta che 

escano gli operai e la segretaria, chiude il libro 

contabile e apre il cassetto con la pistola o scende nel 

capannone e si impicca. Perché non ha più la forza di 

andare in piazza, al bar, a messa, di incrociare lo 

sguardo dell"operaio amico o del cognato impiegato 

senza stipendio da mesi.Dall"inizio della crisi gli 

imprenditori e gli artigiani suicidi in Veneto sono 

cinquantadue, dodici dall"inizio dell"anno. Quasi 

sempre a fine settimana e fine mese, dopo l"estremo 

tentativo di rimettere in moto gli affari, l"ultimo sollecito 

di pagamento ricevuto o inviato, l"ultima inutile visita in 

banca. "Nelle assemblee ormai ci guardiamo intorno, 

chi sarà il prossimo?" dice uno dei presenti l"altro 

giorno a Vigonza, vicino a Padova, alla fondazione di 

"Speranzaallavoro", l"associazione dei familiari degli 

imprenditori suicidi, guidata da due giovani orfane, 

Laura Tamiozzo e Flavia Schiavon. In questo clima si 

può immaginare come il laborioso Nord Est possa 

accogliere il bollettino quotidiano della padanopoli di 

via Bellerio, i lingotti d"oro di Francesco Belsito, i 

diamanti di Rosi Mauro, i rotoli di euro dei figli di Bossi, 

gli appartamenti di famiglia. Perfino il bossiano più 

ortodosso, Gian Paolo Gobbo, segretario regionale 

della Lega ("Il mio imam in Veneto" dice il Senatur) 

allarga le braccia e ammette: "Avanti così 

e la Lega implode, muore. Ci mandano a casa tutti". 

Sul ponte di Caorle, una specie di dazebao dei 

malumori locali, dove negli anni Ottanta avevo letto il 

primo slogan proto leghista ("Roma ne ciucia el 

sangue"), oggi campeggia un definitivo: "LEGA 

LADRONA". Quella scritta l"ha vista anche Bepi Covre, 

leghista eretico ma della prima ora, ex sindaco di 

Oderzo e fondatore con Cacciari e l"indimenticato 

Giorgio Lago del movimento dei sindaci anni Novanta, 

silurato in tandem da Bossi e D"Alema. Vado a trovarlo 

nella sua fabbrica, mobili e ferramenta. "Come va? 

Resisto. Non ho fatto un"ora di cassa integrazione. 

L"export tira da matti, ma il mercato interno è roba 

triste. Ci facciamo uno spritz?". Al secondo spritz 

affiora tutta l"amarezza: "Noi leghisti di antica data alla 

diversità ci credevamo davvero. Siamo nati quando i 

vecchi partiti morivano di corruzione e ora vedere 

questi scenari squallidi, la corte, le badanti, i 

profittatori, ogni giorno è una coltellata. Certo, la puzza 

di bruciato si sentiva da un po", c"era insofferenza 

nella base per quel coprire in tutto e per tutto 

Berlusconi. Quando è scoppiato lo scandalo dei festini 

io che ho una figlia dell"età di Ruby ho scritto una 

lettera aperta su un giornale e parecchie chiuse ai 

dirigenti. Ma nessuno si aspettava di scoprire tanto 

marcio intorno a Bossi. La Lega è stata nobile con lui 

quando ha avuto il colpo, l"ha aspettato, sostenuto. In 

qualsiasi altro partito avrebbero affilato i coltelli per la 

successione. E lui li ripaga così. Come andrà a finire? 

Chissà. Un pezzo di Lega terrà nei territori, qui in 

Veneto gli amministratori sono a posto, le città ben 

condotte, il consenso è radicato. Ma a livello nazionale 

il fallimento del progetto è sotto gli occhi di tutti. 

Bisogna ricominciare, ma stavolta le decisioni non 

possono essere prese tutte fra Varese e Bergamo. La 

nuova Lega di Maroni dovrà trattare coi veneti, a 

cominciare da Zaia e Tosi, e mi pare lo stia già 

facendo". Nelle pieghe dello scontento riemergono 

antiche ferite e l"eterna vocazione autonomista del 

Veneto, prima regione leghista nei voti e ultima a 

contare nelle decisioni. "Colonizzati due volte, anzi tre, 

da Roma, Milano e Varese" dicono i vecchi "lighisti". 

Quelli che ricordano la Liga Veneta, la "madre di tutte 

le leghe", fondata nel 1980 e la prima a portare eletti in 

Parlamento. L"annessione dei fratelli maggiori veneti è 

stato il primo machiavellico capolavoro dell"ascesa di 

Umberto Bossi ed è una storia che spiega bene il 

trionfo del virtuale nella seconda repubblica. Il 

vantaggio paradossale di Bossi è stato infatti il totale 

sradicamento della sua idea di patria immaginaria. La 

Padania è un falso mito senza storia e la Serenissima 

ne ha troppa. I padani non sono mai esistiti, mentre i 

veneti sono un popolo da tremila anni e da allora si 

lamentano dei vicini. I lombardi sono dialetti e il veneto 

è una lingua da prima dell"italiano. Il sole padano è 

paccottiglia pseudo celtica e il Leone alato è uno dei 

grandi simboli della civiltà europea. Ma proprio perché 

se l"era inventata lui, Bossi s"è messo in tasca la 

Padania e se l"è venduta e rivenduta a piacere sul 

mercato politico, mentre i fratelli veneti 

s"accoltellavano sull"eredità della Serenissima.A 

Gianfranco Miglio che gli consigliava il "divide et 

impera" in Veneto alla vigilia del primo congresso 

federale, a Pieve Emanuele nel 1991, Bossi che 

conosceva i suoi rissosi polli rispose: "Non c"è 

bisogno, ci pensano da soli". Per avere un"idea del 

grado di conflittualità interna agli autonomisti veneti, 

vale la pena di ricordare la loro più famosa impresa, 

l"occupazione del campanile di San Marco da parte dei 

"Serenissimi" nella notte fra l"8 e il 9 maggio 1997. 

Un"immagine finita sulle prime pagine di tutto il mondo. 

Ma pochi conoscono i retroscena, narrati da 

247

Francesco Jori, allievo di Lago, nella bellissima 

inchiesta "Dalla Liga alla Lega". L"operazione San 

Marco parte come una spedizione militare in grande 

stile, con decine di militanti e diversi "tanki", mezzi di 

trasporto paramilitari. Soltanto che alla fine si 

presentano in otto, con un trattore mascherato da 

panzer. Il capo, l""ambasciatore serenissimo" che 

avrebbe dovuto leggere la dichiarazione 

d"indipendenza dal campanile di San Marco, si dilegua 

la notte stessa, rincorso dalle chiamate disperate degli 

altri. All"alba vengono arrestati tutti. Durante i processi 

litigano fra di loro e con gli avvocati, un paio si pentono 

e in cinque patteggiano. All"uscita dal carcere 

smettono di frequentarsi.Naturalmente Franco 

Rocchetta e Marilena Marin, la coppia leader per un 

decennio, papà e mamma della Liga veneta, buttati 

fuori da Bossi nel "94 ("ma ce n"eravamo andati noi da 

sei mesi") hanno un"altra versione e me la raccontano 

in una trattoria di Conegliano, davanti a prosecco e 

baccalà d"ordinanza. "Voi giornalisti avete spiegato la 

fine della Liga con le solite baruffe chiozzotte, ma sono 

balle" spiega Rocchetta "La verità è che Bossi, con alle 

spalle le teorie di Miglio, vate della Lombardia come 

Prussia del Nord, ha tramato fin dal principio per 

prendersi l"egemonia del movimento. E se l"è preso 

manovrando i soldi del partito, esattamente come 

aveva fatto prima Craxi nel Psi. La Lega Lombarda era 

appena nata e già intascava duecento milioni di 

tangenti Enimont. Poi hanno dato la colpa al "pirla" 

Patelli, come ora cercano di fare con Belsito. Ma uno 

che dà la cassa di partito a uno come Belsito, perché 



lo fa? Non mi stupisce neppure la debolezza di Bossi 

nei confronti dell"amica Rosi Mauro. E" lo stesso tipo 

di debolezza che lo portò a nominare la ragazzotta, in 

seguito show girl, Irene Pivetti alla terza carica dello 

Stato". Marilena Marin rincara la dose: "Nel "94 

Berlusconi, che ha i suoi lati comici, ci chiese che 

cos"era questo famoso federalismo e di fargli avere 

una memoria sulla faccenda. Malafede? Non credo. A 

lui interessava scampare ai processi e salvare le tv, 

per il resto era disposto a tutto, al federalismo, alla 

riforma fiscale, perfino al ritorno della Serenissima. In 

ogni caso, noi gli portammo il dossier, Bossi mai". 

Conclusione di Rocchetta: "A Bossi del federalismo 

non è mai fregato niente. E" stato al governo dieci anni 

e le uniche riforme federaliste le ha fatte l"Ulivo con i 

decreti Bassanini e la riforma del titolo V della 

Costituzione, soltanto che sono troppo stupidi per 

rivendicarla e anzi se ne vergognano. Bossi ha 

replicato con la devolution, che è una solenne 

pagliacciata".Papà e mamma Liga avranno i loro 

rancori da mettere in conto, ma nel grande Nord Est i 

tamburi della rivolta autonomista hanno ricominciato a 

battere da Verona a Belluno. Se le elezioni di 

primavera andranno come si prevede, un crollo della 

Lega romanizzata in Lombardia e la tenuta della Lega 

dei sindaci in Veneto, anche grazie alle liste civiche 

che Bossi aveva proibito, Roberto Maroni dovrà 

tornare nella culla del leghismo a firmare un nuovo 

patto fra lombardi e veneti. 

248

Le Figaro/ - économie, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 

CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Cour pénale internationale) 

Le procureur de la CPI en Libye 

Le procureur de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) 

Luis Moreno-Ocampo est arrivé aujourd'hui en Libye 

pour se pencher sur le dossier de Seif al-Islam 

Kadhafi, fils du dirigeant défunt que Tripoli refuse de 

livrer. 

A La Haye, la CPI a indiqué dans un communiqué que 

la visite de M. Ocampo qui va séjourner en Libye 

jusqu'à samedi, vise à réclamer la coopération de 

Tripoli dans cette affaire, sans autre précision. Il s'agit 

de la deuxième visite de M. Ocampo en Libye après 

celle effectuée en novembre 2011. 

Seif Al-Islam, 39 ans, arrêté le 19 novembre dans le 

sud libyen, est visé par un mandat d'arrêt de la CPI, 

notamment pour crimes contre l'humanité commis lors 

de la répression de la révolte populaire l'an dernier, qui 

s'est transformée en guerre civile. 

Le gouvernement libyen a fait appel le 10 avril d'une 

décision de la CPI lui demandant de lui livrer 

"immédiatement" le fils de Mouammar Kadhafi. 

Il a annoncé par ailleurs son intention de déposer le 30 

avril un document contestant la compétence de la CPI 

pour juger Seif Al-Islam, qu'il souhaite poursuivre 

lui-même. 

249

Le Monde/ - Article, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Le harcèlement sexuel examiné par le 

Conseil constitutionnel 

Le Monde.fr avec AFP | 18.04.2012 à 11h44 • Mis à 

jour le 18.04.2012 à 11h49 Le délit de harcèlement 

sexuel, bientôt rayé du code pénal ? C'est en tout cas 

ce que réclame Gérard Ducray, ancien député adjoint 

au maire de Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône), 

condamné en appel mars 2011 pour harcèlement 

sexuel sur trois employées de la municipalité. L'élu a 

déposé une question prioritaire de constitutionnalité 

(QPC) qui a été examinée mardi 17 avril par les 

Sages. En cause : la définition pénale du "harcèlement 

sexuel", motif pour lequel l'homme s'estime 

injustement condamné. L'ancien élu du Rhône 

considère que l'article concerné du code pénal, 

laissant au juge une trop large marge d'appréciation 

des éléments constitutifs du délit, est contraire au 

principe d'"égalité des délits et des peines", a plaidé 

son avocate, Me Claire Waquet. Cet article stipule que 

"le fait de harceler autrui dans le but d'obtenir des 

faveurs de nature sexuelle est puni d'an an 

d'emprisonnement et de 15 000 euros d'amende". Le 

harcèlement sexuel existe dans le code pénal depuis 

1992, mais sa définition a été modifiée en 2002, 

supprimant notamment sa limitation au domaine des 

relations de travail. UNE DÉFINITION TROP FLOUE 

"Dans l'affaire qui nous occupe, il s'agit de trois 

femmes à qui il a été fait des avances un peu lourdes ; 

à chaque fois, elles ont dit non et [M. Ducray] n'a pas 

réitéré. Ça peut aller très loin", a estimé l'avocate, pour 

qui le texte "autorise tous les débordements, toutes les 

interprétations". Il doit par conséquent être 

immédiatement abrogé, a-t-elle conclu. L'Association 

européenne contre les violences faites aux femmes au 

travail (AVFT), intervenant dans la procédure, a 

également demandé l'abrogation du texte, mais de 

manière différée, afin de laisser au législateur le temps 

d'en adopter un nouveau. Selon elle, une abrogation 

immédiate entraînerait un dangereux vide juridique. 

Rappelant avoir toujours milité pour "une définition 

rénovée" du harcèlement sexuel, l'association souligne 

qu'elle fait "une analyse radicalement opposée à celle 

de Gérard Ducray". Lui, "avance le risque de 

répression par les tribunaux de la 'drague admissible'", 

alors qu'elle affirme constater, "au contraire, des 

classements sans suite quasi systématiques et des 

renvois devant le tribunal correctionnel pour 

harcèlement d'agissements qui auraient pu être 

qualifiés d'agressions sexuelles, voire de viols". Les 

Sages, saisis du problème par le biais d'une QPC, 

rendront leur décision le 4 mai. 

250

Los Angeles Times/ - Politics, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


LAUSD considers lowering the bar for 

graduation 

The district could face a flood of dropouts if it doesn't 

ease its policy that all students pass college-prep 

classes. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times April 

18, 2012 Eight years ago, the Los Angeles Board of 

Education adopted an ambitious plan to have all 

students take college-prep classes to raise academic 

standards in the nation's second-largest school district. 

Now, that plan is about to take effect: Beginning this 

fall, incoming freshmen will have to pass those classes 

to graduate. On Tuesday, district officials backtracked, 

offering details of a proposal to reduce overall 

graduation requirements and allow students to pass 

those classes with a D grade. They must change 

course, Los Angeles Unified School District officials 

said, or they would open the doors to scores of 

dropouts and others who can't pass the more rigorous 

requirements. The new plan, which still must be 

approved by the board, would allow students to 

graduate with 25% fewer credits. "If we don't do 

something, we have to be prepared to be pushing out 

kids as dropouts," said Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino at a 

school-board committee meeting Tuesday. "We face a 

massive dropout rate in four years." Currently, a 

student must earn 230 credits to graduate. Under the 

proposal, that requirement would be reduced to 170 

credits, the minimum set by the California Department 

of Education. Among the requirements to be dropped 

are: health/life skills, technology and electives that 

cover a broad range of subjects, including calculus and 

journalism. "I know of no other school district in 

California that is reducing graduation requirements by 

60 units and calling it an improvement," said former 

senior district official Sharon Robinson, who now is an 

advisor to school board member Marguerite 

Poindexter LaMotte. LaMotte added that she isn't 

convinced the district can carry out the policy 

successfully. Former school board member David 

Tokofsky, who supported the original plan, also was 

bothered by the reduced credit requirement. He said 

that officials instead should focus on getting younger 

students prepared to succeed in high school. Students 

who pass all their classes typically would earn a 

minimum 180 credits by the end of their junior year. 

Under the staff proposal, students also could pass the 

college-prep classes with a D even though California's 

public university systems require a C or better for 

admission. Former school board member Marlene 

Canter, who also supported the more rigorous 

requirements, said, "It doesn't make sense," to push 

for a college-prep curriculum but not the grades 

necessary for the courses to count. District officials 

said they hope to raise the bar — mandating that 

students earn at least a C — for the class of 2017. The 

expectation is that even D students benefit from more 

difficult classes, even if they don't qualify for a 

four-year college. "These courses are the markers of a 

more rigorous curriculum," said USC education 

professor Guilbert Hentschke. Since most students 

don't attend a four-year university, a college-prep 

curriculum also "should have a giant effect on success 

in a two-year community college," Hentschke said. Of 

those who started as freshmen in the class that 

graduated four years later in 2011, only 15% were 

eligible for admission to the University of California and 

California State University systems. Even among 

graduating seniors, close to half failed to complete 

what's called the "A through G" curriculum, the 

college-prep classes. If those students suddenly were 

unable to earn a diploma, the graduation rate would 

plummet, officials said. Reducing the required credits 

means that students will be able to retake college-prep 

classes or get extra help for them during the regular 

school day, said Gerardo Loera, the district's executive 

director of curriculum and instruction. "We're not 

considering this as an ideal solution," Loera said. "It's a 

creative solution with the amount of resources we 

have." The school board approved the more rigorous, 

phased-in graduation requirements in June 2005. At 

the time, community and school activists pushed hard 

for the changes, saying that poor and minority students 

lacked equal access to college-prep classes. Today, 

they say they are disappointed with the pace of 

progress, but still support the initiative. The goal 

remains to get students to a grade of C in college-prep 

classes — and to give them the support they need to 

get there, said Maria Brenes, the executive director of 

InnerCity Struggle, a local nonprofit that helped lobby 

for the changes. "Almost always these policies are 

done for really good motives," said Gary Orfield, who 

directs the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. "It would be 

great to mandate that everyone would get an A. My 

belief is that just passing a rule that says you will 

achieve such and such does not change the world. If 

it's done without adequate thought and support, it 

increases the obstacles for students already facing 

tremendous obstacles and risks denying them crucial 

high school credentials." Some college-track students 

at Los Angeles High School said recently that they 

have no problem with more difficult requirements. 

"Most students don't have a problem getting through 

251

this," said senior Erik Segura. "They just start slacking 

off and getting lazy." Junior Rosario Lopez said she 

understands how factors outside of school can 

undermine a student's efforts. For a long time, she 

lacked a place to study — and sometimes even a 

consistent place to live — because of her family's 

economic struggles. And one relative insisted that she 



should do housework rather than homework. Though 

most of her grades are A's and Bs, she worries that 

she might need another shot at passing Algebra 2. But 

she also supports aiming high. "If the students know 

they can just pass with a D," she said, "then they're not 

going to take the initiative to get a higher grade." 

252



State Senate panel backs bill to deregulate 

Internet phone service 

Proponents say the bill would lock the state's hands-off 

policy into law, but critics say it would strip the PUC of 

its power to require phone firms to provide basic 

land-line service to any consumer. By Marc Lifsher, 

Los Angeles Times April 18, 2012 SACRAMENTO — 

An industry-backed bill that would preempt state 

agencies from regulating Internet-enabled voice and 

data transmissions won unanimous approval from a 

state Senate committee in its first legislative hearing. 

Amid protests from consumer advocates, the bill's 

author, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), tried to 

downplay the significance of the measure, which 

proponents said would simply lock the state's current 

hands-off policy into law. Such a reiteration of existing 

practices would give Silicon Valley businesses "the 

certainty" to continue developing innovative, 

Internet-powered products and programs, Padilla 

argued at a hearing Tuesday of the Senate Energy, 

Utilities and Telecommunications Committee. The bill 

"maintains the environment that has taken us to where 

we are today and ensures it will continue tomorrow," 

said Robert Callahan, a lobbyist for TechAmerica, a 

Silicon Valley telecommunications and technology 

trade group. But opponents, mainly consumer 

advocates for the poor, elderly and minorities, 

countered that Padilla's bill, SB 1161, would strip the 

California Public Utilities Commission of its last vestige 

of power to require telephone companies to provide 

universal, basic land-line service to any consumer. 

Those same rules also mandate that subsidized 

connections be available for qualifying low-income 

residents and that special equipment be given to 

people with hearing disabilities. "We see this as a 

withering away and the elimination of PUC regulation 

over telecommunication," said Richard Holober, 

executive director of the Consumer Federation of 

California. "We think that would be bad public policy." 

Residential land-line phone service was almost 

completely deregulated in 2006, but the PUC retained 

limited authority over service quality and availability. 

The door, however, was always left open for the 

agency to re-regulate the industry, should that be 

needed in the future. The proposed law would 

eliminate that option. The bill is being pushed by AT&T 

Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., which own 

networks connecting about 11 million land lines 

statewide, as well as major tech companies such as 

Cisco Systems Inc. that make communications 

hardware and software. AT&T was the fifth-largest 

contributor to Padilla's campaign coffers with $23,900 

from 2007 through 2010, according to nonpartisan 

political data firm Map- Light.org. In all, Padilla 

received $69,644 from telecom services and 

equipment interests during that period. Padilla, the 

committee's chairman, bristled at charges that he was 

in league with telecommunications, cable TV and 

Internet companies to jettison California's minimal 

remaining oversight of basic phone service. He 

promised to amend his bill as it makes its way through 

the Legislature to "make it abundantly clear" that it 

does not eliminate any existing regulation of 

conventional phone service through land-line 

connections. Padilla's pledge clearly swayed 

committee members who expressed skepticism about 

the need for the bill, which passed on an 11-0 vote. "I 

don't want to vote for diminishing any existing 

consumer protections," such as universal service, said 

Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) toward the end of 

more than two hours of testimony and deliberation. But 

Padilla's stab at compromise didn't win any applause 

from the bill's strongest critics. Voice over Internet 

Protocol technology is so inexpensive and ubiquitous 

that it is expected to replace the current copper wire 

lines in the near future, they said. Copper networks 

already depend on VOIP to complete most calls, and 

the technology is at the heart of all cable phone and 

fiber-optic and long-distance service. "As more people 

use voice over Internet, fewer people will have 

[consumer] protections," said Mark Toney, executive 

director of the Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco 

consumer group. People who live in isolated 

communities with VOIP phones won't have the legal 

right to get subsidized, low-cost service, he said. State 

policymakers should provide more, not less, oversight 

of the communications industry if they don't want to 

repeat the mistakes that they and their federal 

counterparts made when they deregulated the energy 

and the home mortgage industries, said Samuel Kang, 

managing attorney for the Greenlining Institute, a civil 

rights organization in Berkeley. "Why are we now 

trying to take authority out of the hands of the PUC 

and outsource that accountability to Washington, 

D.C.?" he said. The PUC has so far taken no public 

position on the Padilla bill. marc.lifsher@latimes.com 

253

Von Daniela Kuhr 

Der Grund der Absage 

Mehr Frauen, mehr Ältere, mehr Migranten - 

Unternehmen predigen gern Vielfalt beim Personal. 

Die Realität sieht anders aus. Es gibt kaum eine 

Handhabe für Bewerber, die sich diskriminiert fühlen. 

Das könnten die EU-Richter jetzt ändern. 

Wenn eine gut ausgebildete Frau sich erfolglos auf 

eine Stellenanzeige bewirbt, kann die Absage viele 

Gründe haben: Vielleicht waren die anderen Bewerber 

qualifizierter? Vielleicht waren sie sympathischer? 

Flexibler? Oder vielleicht auch einfach nur Männer? 

Womöglich wollte der Arbeitgeber schlicht keine Frau 

für den Job. Dann könnte die erfolglose Bewerberin 

zwar Schadenersatz verlangen, denn sie wäre wegen 

ihres Geschlechts diskriminiert worden. Das Problem 

ist nur: Der Arbeitgeber wäre wohl kaum so dumm, ihr 

diesen Grund mitzuteilen. Sie stünde also vor der 

großen Frage: Wie soll sie die Diskriminierung 

belegen? 

Eine Antwort darauf könnte an diesem Donnerstag der 

Europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH) geben. Dort ist ein 

Verfahren anhängig, das in der Wirtschaft bereits mit 

großer Nervosität beobachtet wird. Einige Arbeitgeber 

befürchten sogar, nach dem Richterspruch nicht länger 

frei entscheiden zu können, wen sie einstellen wollen 

und wen nicht. Vom "Ende der Privatautonomie" ist die 

Rede. Dabei ist der Auslöser der Aufregung eigentlich 

gar nicht so furchteinflößend. Es ist in diesem Fall eine 

"Sie": Galina Meister, Jahrgang 1961, gebürtige 

Russin. 

Meister verfügt über einen russischen Abschluss als 

Systemtechnik-Ingenieurin, der mit einem deutschen 

Fachhochschul-Diplom zu vergleichen und offiziell 

anerkannt ist. Im Oktober 2006 bewarb sie sich auf die 

Stellenanzeige eines Unternehmens, das "eine/n 

erfahrene/n Softwareentwickler/in" suchte. Wenige 

Tage später erhielt Meister eine Absage - ohne nähere 

Angabe der Gründe. Kurz danach jedoch 

veröffentlichte das Unternehmen erneut eine 

Stellenanzeige mit gleichem Inhalt im Internet. Meister 

bewarb sich wieder - und wurde wieder nicht zum 

Vorstellungsgespräch eingeladen. Auch diesmal 

enthielt die Absage keine Begründung. Da Meister sich 

sicher war, für die Stelle besonders gut geeignet zu 

sein, fragte sie nach, ob ein anderer Bewerber 

eingestellt worden sei und welche Qualifikation er 

habe. Eine Antwort erhielt sie nicht. 

Süddeutsche Zeitung/ - Politik, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Die Ingenieurin fühlte sich diskriminiert - wegen ihres 

Geschlechts, ihrer Herkunft und ihres Alters. Und 

deshalb klagte sie nach dem Allgemeinen 

Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, das im Fall von 

Benachteiligungen einen Anspruch auf Schadenersatz 

vorsieht. Voraussetzung ist aber, dass der Betroffene 

Indizien vortragen kann, die eine Diskriminierung 

vermuten lassen. Gelingt ihm das, muss der 

Arbeitgeber nachweisen, dass keine Diskriminierung 

stattgefunden hat. 

Doch Meister scheiterte bereits an der ersten Hürde. 

Weder das Arbeits- noch das Landesarbeitsgericht 

vermochten Hinweise zu erkennen, die eine 

Diskriminierung nahelegen. Dass die gebürtige Russin 

trotz ihrer Qualifikation nicht zum 

Vorstellungsgespräch eingeladen worden war, 

genügte nach Ansicht der Richter jedenfalls nicht. 

Auch müsse der Arbeitgeber ihr nicht mitteilen, wen er 

stattdessen eingestellt habe und warum. 

Der Fall landete beim Bundesarbeitsgericht; das 

wiederum legte ihn dem EuGH in Luxemburg vor. Der 

dortige Generalanwalt Paolo Mengozzi hat Mitte 

Januar verkündet, wie das höchste EU-Gericht seiner 

Meinung nach entscheiden sollte. Und ebendieser 

Schlussantrag ist es, der die Wirtschaft so alarmiert 

hat. 

Dabei hatte Mengozzi zunächst etwas durchaus 

Beruhigendes gesagt: Er stellte fest, dass das Gesetz 

tatsächlich keinen Auskunftsanspruch vorsieht. Doch 

dabei wollte er es nicht bewenden lassen. Denn das 

hätte zur Folge, dass Bewerber "vollständig vom guten 

Willen des Arbeitgebers abhängig" wären. Dieser 

könne durch seine Weigerung, die gewünschten 

Informationen herauszugeben, "seine Entscheidungen 

mit ziemlicher Wahrscheinlichkeit unangreifbar 

machen". 

Deshalb schlug Mengozzi einen Kompromiss vor: Hat 

sich ein Bewerber auf eine Anzeige beworben und 

besaß er nachweislich die verlangte Qualifikation, 

dann hat er zwar kein Recht darauf zu erfahren, 

warum ein anderer zum Zug kam. Fragt er aber 

dennoch nach und erhält keine Antwort, kann dieses 

Schweigen unter Umständen ein Indiz dafür sein, dass 

er tatsächlich diskriminiert wurde. Der Arbeitgeber 

müsste dann also beweisen, dass es nicht so war dass er vielmehr andere Gründe für die Ablehnung 

hatte als das Geschlecht, das Alter oder die Herkunft. 

Gelingt ihm das nicht, müsste er Schadensersatz 

zahlen. 

254

In den meisten Fällen folgen die EuGH-Richter dem 

Vorschlag des Generalanwalts. Sollten sie es diesmal 

wieder tun, würden Bewerbungsprozesse in Zukunft 

"extrem zeit- und personalintensiv", meint Stefan 

Kursawe, Partner bei der Anwaltskanzlei Heisse 

Kursawe Eversheds. "Denn Arbeitgeber wären 



gezwungen, jeden passenden Bewerber zum 

Vorstellungsgespräch einzuladen, auch wenn sie sich 

vielleicht schon längst für einen anderen Kandidaten 

entschieden haben." Er ist überzeugt: "Damit wäre 

auch Bewerbern kein Gefallen getan." 

255

Von Martina Scherf 



Wie die katholische Kirche eine 

Professorin verhinderte 

Sie bewarb sich auf den Lehrstuhl für Praktische 

Philosophie an der Universität Erlangen und wurde 

abgelehnt. Ulla Wessels glaubt, den Grund zu kennen: 

Sie ist keine Katholikin. Jetzt zieht sie vor das 

Bundesverfassungsgericht. Und sie ist nicht die 

einzige, die sich gegen den Pakt zwischen Kirche und 

Staat zur Wehr setzt. 

Diese Frau will es wissen. Sie will endlich Klarheit in 

ein undurchsichtiges Verfahren bringen und geht dafür 

durch alle Instanzen. Vor fünf Jahren hat sich Ulla 

Wessels auf den Lehrstuhl für Praktische Philosophie 

an der Universität Erlangen beworben und wurde 

abgelehnt - weil sie keine Katholikin ist, meint sie. 

Denn die Stelle gehört zu einem Konkordatslehrstuhl: 

Der wird vom Staat finanziert, über seine Besetzung 

bestimmt aber letztlich der Bischof. 21 solcher wohlgemerkt nicht-theologischer - Lehrstühle gibt es 

noch in Bayern, in Philosophie, Pädagogik und 

Gesellschaftswissenschaften. Und weil die Philosophin 

dies im 21. Jahrhundert für einen "Skandal" hält, zieht 

sie nun vor das Bundesverfassungsgericht. 

Ulla Wessels lehrt an der Universität des Saarlandes in 

Saarbrücken. Ihre Dissertation hat sie über den 

Paragraphen 218, der den Schwangerschaftsabbruch 

regelt, geschrieben. Sie ist Mitglied der 

Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung für Humanismus und 

Aufklärung und konzentriert sich in ihrer Forschung auf 

die Ethik und praktische Vernunft. 

Dass sie mit diesem Steckbrief das "nihil obstat", also 

die Zustimmung des Bamberger Bischofs, erhalten 

würde, war unwahrscheinlich. Doch mit ihr haben sich 

damals viele weitere nicht-katholische Philosophen auf 

die Stelle beworben. Einige haben ebenso wie die 

Saarbrückerin gegen die Ablehnung geklagt. 

Zwar hatte die Universität zunächst rein fachliche 

Gründe ins Feld geführt. Doch dann tauchte ein Brief 

an mehrere Bewerber auf, in dem nicht nur nach der 

Liste der bisherigen Publikationen, sondern auch nach 

der Konfession gefragt wurde. Daraufhin hatte das 

Verwaltungsgericht Ansbach das 

Bewerbungsverfahren gestoppt. Eine 

Wiederzulassung der Klage lehnten die Richter 

dennoch ab - ein solcher Formfehler passiere beim 

nächsten Mal nicht mehr. 

Für Ulla Wessels und ihren Anwalt Rainer Roth ist das 

undurchsichtige Verfahren ein klarer Fall fürs 

Verfassungsgericht in Karlsruhe: Die bayerische 

Vergabepraxis von Konkordatslehrstühlen verstoße 

gegen Artikel 33 des Grundgesetzes. 

Darin heißt es: "Der Genuss bürgerlicher und 

staatsbürgerlicher Rechte, die Zulassung zu 

öffentlichen Ämtern sowie die im öffentlichen Dienste 

erworbenen Rechte sind unabhängig von dem 

religiösen Bekenntnis. Niemandem darf aus seiner 

Zugehörigkeit oder Nichtzugehörigkeit zu einem 

Bekenntnis oder einer Weltanschauung ein Nachteil 

erwachsen." 

256

The Economic Times/ - News, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Aarushi murder case: Non-bailable 

warrant against Nupur Talwar extended 

till April 30 

GHAZIABAD: The non-bailable warrant against dentist 

Nupur Talwar in the double murder case of her 

teenaged daughter, Aarushi and their domestic help, 

Hemraj, was today extended by special CBI court here 

till April 30. The CBI told the court that it would not 

arrest Nupur till the pendency of her special leave 

petition before the Supreme Court but sought the 

extension of the warrant as an instrument to take 

action against her in case she does not get relief from 

the apex court. The CBI said since the deadline of 

warrant was ending today they needed fresh orders 

from the court. Special Magistrate Priti Singh observed 

warrant could not executed by the CBI since to special 

leave petition was pending in the Supreme Court. The 

court fixed the next date of hearing on April 30 when it 

would decide the fate of the warrant. The agency also 

filed its compliance report before court in which it said 

that searches were conducted at six places to arrest 

Nupur but she went into hiding. It also claimed that she 

knew that the court has issued a NBW against her but 

despite that she kept evading arrest. The special CBI 

court had issued the warrant against Nupur, mother of 

14-year old Aarushi, as she was not appearing before 

the court, despite orders. Talwars only daughter 

Aarushi was found dead at the family's Noida 

residence on the intervening night of May 15 and 16, 

2008. The next day, the body of their servant Hemraj 

was found on the terrace of the house. Nupur's 

husband Dr Rajesh Talwar was present in the court 

but she did appear before it. 

257



Apex court rejects plea on election 

symbols 

The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the Election 

Commission's order setting criteria for the allocation of 

election symbols to the registered and recognised 

political parties. Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice S.S. 

Nijaar, constituting a bench of the apex court, in their 

majority judgment rejected the plea of a number of 

registered but unrecognised political parties for 

allocation of permanent poll symbol. These parties had 

challenged the validity of the commission's symbol 

order, by which, based on certain criteria, election 

symbols are allotted to recognise political parties. 

Justice J. Chelameswar, in a separate judgment, held 

that the symbol order for the allocation of the election 

symbol was violative of Article 14, granting equality 

before law, and had no rational nexus to the objective 

to be achieved. Under the Election Commission 

symbol order, any state level political party must have 

at least two elected members in the state assembly, 

one member in parliament or certain percentage of 

votes to attain the status of a "recognised" party and to 

get an election symbol. 

258



Mamata Banerjee named among world's 

most influential people 

NEW YORK: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata 

Banerjee has been named among the 100 most 

influential people in the world by the prestigious Time 

magazine in its 2012 list which also includes US 

President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary 

Clinton and billionaire investor Warren Buffet. Apart 

from Banerjee, advocate Anjali Gopalan, who works 

for the rights of gays and the transgendered in India, is 

the only other Indian in the list released by the 

magazine today. The 2012 list is topped by American 

basketball sensation Jeremy Lin. In recent days, 

Banerjee's government has been criticised for choice 

of newspapers for state and state-aided libraries and a 

professor's arrest over circulation of a cartoon 

featuring the chief minister. Time said Banerjee, 57, 

spent years struggling on the margins but ultimately 

she proved to be the "consummate politician." "Though 

much of Indian society remains hidebound in 

patriarchy and tradition, strong women still prevail in 

the nation's political life. Mamata Banerjee rose to the 

fore last year when she and a movement she built from 

the grassroots wrested control of her home state of 

West Bengal, ending three and a half decades of 

sclerotic communist rule," Time said. Referred to by 

her supporters as 'Didi', Banerjee was labelled by 

critics as a "mercurial oddball and a shrieking street 

fighter". Through successive elections, she steadily 

expanded her power base while chipping away at 

those of her opponents, Time said adding that her 

lower-middle-class background was no obstacle in a 

country "notorious for its dynasties". "She out-Marxed 

the Marxists. And as chief minister of her home state, 

she has emerged as a populist woman of action -strident 

and divisive but poised to play an even greater 

role in the world's largest democracy," the magazine 

said. On Gopalan, 54, Time said through her work at 

the Naz Foundation, she has done more than anyone 

else to advance the rights of gays and the 

transgendered in India, successfully petitioning the 

courts to get rid of a British-era law against sodomy. 

"Gopalan has brought about a revolution in the status 

of sexual minorities in India -- and has done so 

joyously, dancing," it said. The list comprising people 

"who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change 

our world," includes Pakistan's first Oscar winner 

filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Facebook COO 

Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar 

Chaudhry. In his commentary on Chaudhry for Time, 

former Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan 

said he has become the first head of Pakistan's 

Supreme Court to attempt to bring the powerful to 

justice, taking on the Prime Minister and the President 

in an effort to hold them to account. "It's not just the 

politicians either. Chaudhry, 63, is also seeking to take 

Pakistan's intelligence agencies to task for their 

human-rights abuses," Khan said in the magazine. 

259

The Economic Times/ - Politics/Nation, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


CBI seeks fresh warrant to arrest Nupur 

Talwar 

GHAZIABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation on 

Wednesday submitted before the local CBI court here 

to issue a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against dentist 

Nupur Talwar in the case of murder of her daughter 

Aarushi. The CBI pleaded that since the non-bailable 

warrant issued earlier had expired on Wednesday, a 

fresh NBW was needed to arrest her. Counsel for 

Talwar opposed the CBI plea on the ground that her 

bail application was pending before the Supreme 

Court, and the agency was restrained from arresting 

her. After hearing the arguments from both sides, the 

court is expected to deliver the order. 

260

The New York Times/ - Politics, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Romney Warns Gun Lobby of a Second 

Obama Term 

By TRIP GABRIEL ST. LOUIS — As he works to 

energize the conservative base ahead of the general 

election, Mitt Romney came to the annual gathering of 

the National Rifle Association on Friday seeking 

support from a powerful group that has not always 

embraced him. His backing while Massachusetts 

governor of key laws opposed by the national gun 

lobby – an assault weapons ban and a waiting period 

to buy firearms – has engendered skepticism, if not 

hostility, among many gun owners. But in the speech 

he delivered here, Mr. Romney breezed past those 

issues to touch a more fundamental nerve: the gun 

lobby’s fear that a second term for President Obama 

would give him another Supreme Court appointee. 

The 4.3-million-member gun group fears that a remade 

court could lead to restrictions on firearms. “In his first 

term,” Mr. Romney’s said, “we’ve seen the president 

try to browbeat the Supreme Court. In a second term, 

he would remake it. Our freedoms would be in the 

hands of an Obama court, not just for four years, but 

for the next 40. That must not happen.’’ Before Mr. 

Romney spoke, a spokesman for the gun lobby, 

Andrew Arulanandam, said it was looking for exactly 

this kind of statement. Mr. Arulanandam said that the 

biggest fear of N.R.A. members was that an altered 

Supreme Court might reverse two 5-to-4 rulings since 

2008 interpreting the Second Amendment as 

guaranteeing a fundamental right to individuals to bear 

arms. The most recent ruling, the McDonald case in 

2010, is seen as opening the way for challenges to 

local laws restricting gun ownership. Another goal for 

Mr. Romney here is to close some of the cultural gap 

with gun owners. He was lampooned during his 2008 

run for the Republican nomination for exaggerating his 

hunting career, at one point, when pressed, saying that 

the game he had experience with were rodents and 

rabbits, “small varmints, if you will.’’ More recently, Mr. 

Romney revealed that he owned a couple of firearms, 

and in a debate in January he described a hunting trip 

to Montana. His guide on that outing was a respected 

sportsman, Rob Keck, who in an interview described 

taking Mr. Romney for two days of hunting elk and for 

one shooting pheasants on a private ranch. “He 

admittedly didn’t grow up hunting,’’ Mr. Keck said, “but 

let me tell you, he accounted for a number of birds on 

that day.’’ So it was probably no surprise that Mr. 

Romney has been accompanied here by Mr. Keck, the 

director of conservation for Bass Pro Shops. It remains 

to be seen whether hunters who view gun rights as a 

top issue will enthusiastically support Mr. Romney in 

November. David Ross, a longtime N.R.A. member 

from Reading, Pa., who has been a grass-roots 

organizer for conservative candidates in his 

battleground state, was skeptical. “Romney needs to 

get people like me passionate enough for his 

campaign to win in November, and I think that’s going 

to be heavy lifting,’’ said Mr. Ross, who was attending 

the convention with his son, Clinton, an Army reservist. 

“He was for an assault weapons ban when he was 

Massachusetts governor. What changed? And how do 

we know he’s not going to change back? This is the 

chameleonlike thinking that is my biggest fear.’’ 

261

Ann Romney is a good mom. She’s also a good pol. 

And though her people skills are far superior to Mitt’s, 

it turns out that Ann is just as capable as her husband 

of turning an advantage into a disadvantage. After the 

liberal strategist Hilary Rosen clumsily mocked Mitt 

Romney for relying on Ann to tell him what issues 

women care about when “his wife has actually never 

worked a day in her life,” Ann smashed that lob back. 

Blasting out her first tweet, she said: “I made a choice 

to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was 

hard work.” Shaken Democrats dived for cover and 

threw Rosen under the campaign bus. The media, 

worried about being perceived as favoring President 

Obama, jumped in on the side of the maligned Ann. 

She pressed her advantage, scolding Rosen on Fox 

News. “She should have come to my house when 

those five boys were causing so much trouble,” Ann 

said. She alluded to her brave battles against breast 

cancer and multiple sclerosis: “Look, I know what it’s 

like to struggle.” But at a fund-raiser at a private home 

in Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, the night before her 

63rd birthday, Ann made it clear that she wasn’t really 

aggrieved. She was feigning aggrievement to milk the 

moment. “It was my early birthday present for 

someone to be critical of me as a mother, and that was 

really a defining moment, and I loved it,” a gleeful Ann 

told the backyard full of Florida fat cats, sounding “like 

a political tactician,” as Garrett Haake, the NBC 

reporter on the scene, put it. It’s important when you 

act the martyr not to overplay your hand. If you admit 

out loud to a bunch of people — including Haake, who 

was on the sidewalk enterprisingly eavesdropping — 

that you’re just pretending to be offended, you risk 

looking phony, like your husband. (It also doesn’t fly to 

tell Diane Sawyer that your dog “loved” 12 hours in a 

crate on top of the car or that it’s “our turn” to be in the 

White House.) The candidate, meanwhile, continued to 

look phony by presenting a completely different side of 

himself to the wealthy Palm Beach donors who came 

in fancy cars to eat snapper and hear a snappier Mitt. 

Rather than making bland pronouncements or parsing 

patriotic songs, as he usually does, Mitt gave a more 

specific vision of a Romney White House, including the 

possible elimination of the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, which his dad once led, and 

Phony Mommy Wars 



vivisecting the Department of Education. He also 

talked about ways he might close tax loopholes for the 

affluent — another matter he hasn’t been too detailed 

about — to pay for his cuts in tax rates. Mitt offered a 

different view of the value of working parents in 

January when he talked about how he changed 

welfare rules as governor of Massachusetts: “I said, for 

instance, that even if you have a child 2 years of age, 

you need to go to work. And people said, well, that’s 

heartless. And I said, no, no, I’m willing to spend more 

giving day care to allow those parents to go back to 

work. It will cost the state more providing that day care, 

but I want the individuals to have the dignity of work.” 

So the dignity of work only applies to poor moms? This 

latest kerfuffle is piffle, but it is another instance of 

Republicans dragging women back to the past to 

re-litigate issues they thought were long settled. Just 

as women had assumed their contraception rights 

were safe, they had considered the tiresome debate 

about working moms versus stay-at-home moms over. 

My mom stayed home to raise five kids, and she is my 

feminist role model. For the most part, nobody’s 

casting aspersions on anybody else’s choices, which 

are often driven by economics. Women have so many 

choices that they’re overwhelmed by the stress of so 

many choices. The real issue is whether Mitt, a tycoon 

who has been swathed in an old-fashioned cocoon, 

understands the plight of working mothers and the 

rights of 21st-century women. When the Romneys got 

married and moved to Boston in 1971 so Mitt could 

attend Harvard, they set up house in a suburb, 

befriended other young Mormon couples and kept to 

their cloistered, conservative, privileged, traditional, 

white, heterosexual circle. Campuses were roiling with 

change — feminism, civil rights, antiwar 

demonstrations — but the Romneys were not part of 

that. They were throwbacks. “The parental roles were 

clear,” Michael Kranish and Scott Helman write in “The 

Real Romney.” “Mitt would have the career, and Ann 

would run the house.” We will see if these affluent, 

soon-to-be owners of a car elevator in La Jolla and 

members of the horsey set can relate to the economic 

problems of regular people. Given how secretive and 

shape-shifting Mitt Romney is, we’ll probably have to 

keep eavesdropping to find out. 

262



Abiding by the Fair Sentencing Act 

The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 addressed a gross 

inequity in federal sentences by reducing the disparity 

in punishment for a crime involving crack versus 

powdered cocaine. Previously, under a 1986 law, 50 

grams of crack (the weight of a candy bar) led to a 

mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years — the same 

sentence that applied to 5,000 grams of powdered 

cocaine (enough to fill a brief case). A street dealer of 

crack cocaine often got a longer sentence than the 

major trafficker who sold the powdered cocaine made 

into crack. The new law cut the 100 to 1 ratio to 18 to 1 

— not equalizing the penalties as it should have but 

markedly reducing the difference. In two cases the 

Supreme Court heard on Tuesday, the issue is 

whether the sentencing law should apply to people 

who were convicted of cocaine crimes, but not yet 

sentenced, before it went into effect. The Justice 

Department initially argued that the new rule should 

apply only to crimes committed after the law was 

signed. To its credit, it changed its stance in July 2011, 

saying that since the goal of the law was to “rectify a 

discredited policy,” the rule should apply to all 

defendants sentenced after the law’s passage. This is 

clearly the right way to read the law, given the 

legislative history and the text, including the 

“emergency authority” for the United States 

Sentencing Commission to quickly put out guidelines. 

A rule of leniency requires that any ambiguity in a 

criminal statute be resolved in favor of defendants — 

especially when the old sentencing rules resulted in 

huge racial disparities, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor 

pointed out. The majority of crack users are white and 

Hispanic, but, as the sentencing commission reported, 

in 2010 blacks made up more than three-fourths of 

those sentenced under federal crack cocaine laws. 

Most were low-level offenders. The high number of 

black defendants and the disparity in treatment of 

crack versus powdered cocaine led federal sentences 

for blacks to jump to almost 50 percent higher than for 

whites in 1990. Congress, the Obama administration 

and many federal judges agree that there is a need to 

correct a grossly unfair and unjustifiable sentencing 

scheme. The justices should allow the 2010 law to 

apply to all defendants sentenced after its enactment. 

263

USA Today/ - News, Qua, 18 de Abril de 2012 


Lin, Tebow included on Time 100 list 

Often you are judged by the company you keep. That 

should make the athletes on the Time 100 list pretty 

heady. Not only are they in good company with 

presidents, actors and Supreme Court justices but 

their tributes are written by some impressive people. 

Jeremy Lin gets U.S. Secretary of Education Arne 

Duncan. Tim Tebow gets Jeremy Lin. 

264



Tell us: What happens with Kentucky? 

Kentucky coach John Calipari is now an empty-nester. 

But his arms and the door to the Wildcat home is wide 

open. CAMPUS RIVALRY: Five Kentucky players 

moving to the pros NBA: Mock draft full of Wildcat 

players The good new for Calipari is that Anthony 

Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, 

Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb are leaving home 

with job offers. "This is a players-first program," 

Calipari said about the five players from his NCAA title 

team moving on. "During the season, it's about the 

team. ... When the season is over, it's about moments 

like this." Guys we hardly knew ye. Now we have to 

find out if national recruits Nerlens Noel, Alex 

Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley can fill 

your Nikes. And of course the over 90% of rebounds 

and scoring that departing players (including seniors 

Darius Miller and Eloy Vargas) provided. The future if 

promised to no one but it appears that Kentucky fans 

have something to build on. What happens to the 

Wildcat program now? While we wait on the rebuild, 

here is some good work by some good people that we 

might have missed while sleeping or marking the 

calendar with the NFL games we just can't miss. You 

can tell Jamie Moyer's age by the rings around his 

trunk. Here are the top 500 NFL draft prospects. Here 

are some betting lines for Week 1 of the NFL. Here is 

an early look at the documentary on the Miami Marlins. 

Gordon Hayward almost threw down over the Delonte 

West wet-willie. Antonio Romo will try to qualify for the 

U.S. Open. Proctor & Gamble hopes you'll cry over its 

Olympic video. Chris Paul gets booed at Dodger 

game. Who said Michael Jordan isn't used to losing? 

Supreme Court justice takes swing at the Mets in 

opinion. Ozzie Guillen is back and not everyone is 

happy. Larry Brown is returning to coaching. 

265



Latest celeb feuds: Why are these stars 

fighting? 

You can always count on death, taxes and celebrity 

feuds. Surely it's not the case that celebs are more 

belligerent than the rest of us, but it does seem like 

there's more sniping than ever. Possibly it's thanks to 

the proliferation of reality TV and social media like 

Twitter and Facebook, where people can duke it out 

with ease and the rest of us can listen in. Then again, 

there's always that movie/TV show/album/whatever for 

celebrities to flog. Here are some of the latest firefights 

to break out: The combatants Axl Rose vs. Guns N' 

Roses The feud The longtime estrangement of Axl 

Rose from his original Guns N' Roses bandmates was 

reinvigorated last week when Rose refused to be 

inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because 

he didn't want to appear on the same stage and play 

with the old band. Awkward! Rose has been ticked off 

at the guys, especially guitarist Slash, for years. Why? 

Lost in the mists of time and controlled substances. 

But the induction happened anyway and the band 

played on. The fallout Intense. Before the ceremony, 

Rose wrote an open letter to the fans and the Hall to 

clarify that by refusing to be included, "my camp" did 

not mean to offend, attack or condemn anyone. 

"Though unfortunately I'm sure there will be those who 

take offense (God knows how long I'll have to contend 

with the fallout)," he wrote. The combatants Donald 

Trump vs. Rosie O'Donnell The feud These two have 

lobbed verbal grenades at each other for years; 

nowadays they tweet 140-character insults. The latest 

flare-up was in March when Trump crowed after Oprah 

canceled O'Donnell's talk show on the OWN network. 

"Rosie fails at everything," he sniffed to Fox and 

Friends. When the show debuted last year, he tweeted 

it was "a complete and total disaster," and called 

O'Donnell a "true loser." O'Donnell called him "an ass." 

The fallout Moderately intense. These two exchange 

harsh words routinely, like they're ordering pizza, but 

does it really matter? They're kind of over anyway. 

Besides, Trump is never not promoting something â 

his show Celebrity Apprentice The combatants 

Gwyneth Paltrow vs. The New York Times The feud Is 

there such a thing as a polite food fight? In a story 

about ghostwriters on celebrity cookbooks, the Times 

reported that ghostwriter Julia Turshen is writing a 

second cookbook with Paltrow after their collaboration 

on My Father's Daughter. Ahem, not so fast, tweeted 

Paltrow. "Love @nytimes dining section but this weeks 

facts need checking. No ghost writer on my cookbook, 

I wrote every word myself," she tweeted. Rachael Ray, 

likewise mentioned in the article, also was steamed, 

according to the paper's ombudsman, Arthur Brisbane, 

who fielded unhappy calls from both women. Later, 

Paltrow called into Ray's show to complain some 

more. "Normally I don't respond to gossip but this is my 

professional life and I'm writing more cookbooks," she 

said, adding "I wrote my book and it's all mine." The 

fallout Mild. This is hardly even a feud. Paltrow is so 

well-mannered she manages to praise the Gray Lady 

while correcting it. It's not a good idea to be on the bad 

side of the world's most important paper, especially the 

next time you have a movie or cookbook to promote. 

The paper retracted nothing, even though Brisbane 

called the article "misleading." In a polite follow-up 

piece, the Times explained that Paltrow and other 

celebs named in the story have acknowledged working 

with collaborators, but object to the use of the word 

"ghostwriter" because it suggests that they don't do 

their own cooking. And as any perusal of Paltrow's 

Goop blog shows, she loves to cook. The combatants 

Lindsay Lohan vs. Pitbull The feud Lohan's always 

getting into scrapes. This time she's suing the rapper 

Pitbull for using her name in his song Give Me 

Everything, which includes the lyric: "I got it locked up 

like Lindsay Lohan." She's claiming a violation of New 

York civil rights laws, is worried that the song is a 

reference to her stint in jail and will cause "irreparable 

harm" to her reputation. He says he was actually 

complimenting her. "If you play at the park, if you're 

from the neighborhood, if you got it locked up, it means 

you run that area." The fallout Moderate. Anytime 

you've got lawyers involved it can get nasty and 

expensive. But La Lohan's rep is not exactly glowing 

these days, and that's mostly down to her. Lohan's 

trying a comeback, so maybe any publicity is good 

publicity. Pitbull says he's not into dissing her or 

anyone else. "Rapping is always about double 

meanings and metaphors." He says she should get a 

sense of humor. And maybe read the First 

Amendment. The combatants Kim Kardashian vs. Jon 

Hamm The feud Mad Man swoon Jon Hamm told Elle 

that "stupidity is certainly celebrated" in our 

celebrity-obsessed culture, and Kardashian and her ilk 

are Exhibit A. How "careless," Kardashian tweeted in 

response. Hamm wouldn't back down when E! News 

asked him but he did say that he meant to comment on 

the pervasiveness of idiocy, not attack her personally. 

"But she took offense to it and that is her right." The 

fallout Moderate. Hamm isn't really known for sparring 

with other celebs, but he speaks his mind and even a 

thoughtful comment on the state of the culture can be 

266

used as ammunition. Still, his madly popular show 

hardly needs more promotion. Kardashian, on the 

other hand, bounces from one feud to another, getting 

into it in recent years with Daniel Craig and Halle 

Berry. All of which keeps her and her family and their 

ubiquitous reality shows ever more ubiquitous. The 

combatants Madonna vs. Elton John The feud They 

jousted after the Golden Globes in January, when 

Madonna won Best Original Song, for Masterpiece 

from her movie W.E., The fallout Mild. Elton is a 

quarrelsome fellow. Remember the obscenity-laden 

spat with Lily Allen in 2008? He can be prickly but it 

never seems to hurt his career or his philanthropic 

endeavors. And if Madonna went postal every time 

someone criticized her â¦ well, she wouldn't be 

Madonna. She's been exchanging tit-for-tat tweets with 

CNN's Piers Morgan ever since he banned her from 

his talk show in a promotional stunt of his own, and 

she came under fire from some musicians for seeming 

to joke about drug use on her latest record, MDNA, 

similar to MDMA or ecstasy. But if feuding helps bring 

attention to her movie or her record, she's not going to 

complain. The combatants Keith Olbermann vs. Al 

Gore, Current TV The feud Cranky Olbermann is a 

frequent feuder. His latest dust-up is with former veep 



Al Gore and his Current TV network, which fired 

Olbermann last week just months after hiring and 

hailing him as the savior of the little-watched news 

network. Current TV execs say he's out for alleged 

breach of contract and for generally being a pain to 

deal with. Olbermann, in his customary state of 

outrage, has sued (as he has in past noisy departures 

from MSNBC and ESPN). He issued a statement and 

took to Twitter to denounce Current TV as a "failure," 

and to accuse Gore and other execs of lacking ethics 

and lying to get out of a contract. The fallout Moderate. 

Olbermann is the only one barking. Gore released an 

initial statement saying Olbermann lacked the 

network's values of respect and loyalty but has said 

little since. Meanwhile, Mr. O is set to sit down 

Tuesday with David Letterman (another guy who 

knows cranky) to tell more about his woes. It's 

probably not the end for him â somehow he always 

gets another job. Not clear how feud helps Current, 

which replaced Olbermann with Eliot Spitzer, the 

former N.Y. governor who resigned after a prostitution 

scandal. All this would be an embarrassing tiff among 

liberals for conservatives to rejoice in â except no one 

is watching anyway. 

267

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