CDR: RE: Make legal threats, go to jail for 20 years cpunk

[Bill Stewart]

>> Declan McCullagh[SMTP:declan at well.com] wrote:
>> This is from a bill that both the House and Senate passed (yesterday):
>> 
>> Whoever knowingly provides or obtains the labor or services of a 
>> person...by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal
>> process, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more 
>> than 20 years, or both. 
>> URL: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:h.r.03244:
>> I can imagine some abuses of this, in workplace situations or divorce
>> cases...

At 01:43 PM 10/12/00 -0400, Trei, Peter wrote:
>While almost any law can be abused, I think you'd need a really
>odd situation for normal people to be able to use this one abusively.

Blackmail was already illegal; this just makes some kinds of
blackmail a Federal crime with enhanced penalties,
which I'm not convinced is particularly necessary.

The kind of abuse that's been in the papers that's probably what
this law is designed to make a show of opposing is
illegal immigrants being kept in indentured servitude by 
the coyotes who import them.  It's mostly Asians working in
the garment industry in California, but there are probably
other large groups like this as well.



				Thanks! 
					Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart at pobox.com
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