Verizon Lawsuit - Whose Public Interest?

Seems it didn't take long for so-called public interest lawyers to launch a law suit on the heels of the the NSA data gathering story which broke last week in USA Today - er, I mean, months ago in the NY Times. It appears that one of those lawyers, Bruce Afran, launches and even wins a significant number of lawsuits in the public interest when not trying to become a candidate for office on the Republican or Green Party ticket. The other, Carl Mayer, has a blog.

The New York Times call Carl Mayer: "A populist crusader and ... a maverick lawyer." New York Times, October 15, 2004.

But some individuals which make up the public might not agree with certain lawsuits purportedly filed on their behalf, though a group which calls itself the American Atheists seemed to like Afran enough when he's wearing Green Party colors.

TRENTON, N.J. - Two New Jersey public interest lawyers sued Verizon Communications Inc. for $5 billion Friday, claiming the phone carrier violated privacy laws by turning over phone records to the National Security Agency for a secret government surveillance program.

Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.

Here's a quick look at some of Afran's other lawsuits.

Mr. Afran has been particularly active in the defense of immigrant rights, particularly in the field of employment law, arguing numerous cases seeking to uphold immigrants’ claims to protection under state wage and hour laws and in an effort to challenge state laws denying illegal immigrants the right to driving licenses.

He prosecuted a well-publicized action against the Princeton Medical Center, Perez v. Medical Center at Princeton, on behalf of a Mexican woman who was denied access to an interpreter during a major medical procedure. In the course of that litigation, the Princeton Medical Center hired its first full-time Spanish interpreter, setting a language rights precedent for hospitals throughout New Jersey.

In the field of elections law, Mr. Afran successfully overturned a New Jersey statute requiring denying residents of the State the right to vote if they moved within the State less than 30 days before an election. That 1990 decision, Afran v. State of New Jersey, fundamentally altered the residency requirements for voting in New Jersey and is a frequently cited precedent in elections law.

In an article published in the Trenton Times, Mr. Afran strongly condemned the Verniero appointment on the ground that as Attorney General, Peter Verniero failed to adequately protect the rights of African-American drivers from illegal discrimination by the New Jersey State Police

Now, perhaps more visibility from the recently filed Verizon lawsuit will help the candidate without a real party find a home.

From 2003:

Civil-rights attorney Bruce Afran has formed an exploratory committee for
a possible run for U.S. Congress on the Republican ticket.

Mr. Afran announced the move during a press conference Thursday at the
Statehouse in Trenton. If he runs, it will be as Republican challenger for
the 12th District congressional seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Rush Holt.

From 2005:

Also, please send this message on to others you think might be supportive of or interested in hearing about the alternative we are presenting this year.  Encourage them to join the campaign to put Bruce Afran in New Jersey's U.S. Senate seat, Ralph Nader in the White House, and to build a new force in Congress -- through NJ Green Campaign 2000.

Certainly many of Afran's positions seem principled enough. And some of his and Mayer's work has targeted political corruption in New Jersey. But while launching lawsuits which have impacted everything from a homeowner's right to keep deer from eating their landscaping, to loosening up voting guidelines, or encumbering our heatlh care system with added costs to serve non-english speaking immigrants, it's difficult to see some of his principles as embraced by the public at large.

Comments

[Layer Seven]

Funny, I can purchase anybody's phone bill for a few dollars.

So can a terrorist. I think - anybody in the world can purchase the bill, if they know the phone number.

Lawyers and democrats want a cut, I suspect.

[*flo*]

Verizon gets sued?...Verizon makes more money and breaking the monoploy in many areas in florida as well as other states...Bright House is not too happy right now...http://www.tbo.com/news/scitech/MGBCMJ1X3NE.html