PLEASE READ THESE FACTS FIRST:

  • Random House sued ME; not the other way around.
  • Random House filed suit to silence the facts I was posting on the web.
  • There has been NO trial on the facts, only the Random House effort to prevent a trial.
  • NO expert testimony was allowed despite three international plagiarism experts who were willing to testif that it existed.
  • The only sworn statements made under penalty of perjury are affidavits from me and my experts, nothing from RH.
  • The judge refused to consider any expert analysis.
  • Despite suing me first, Random House & Sony UNsuccessfully demanded that I pay the $310,000 in legal fees they spent to sue me.
  • Contrary to the Random House spin, I am not alleging plagiarism of general issues, but of several hundred very specific ones.
  • This is not about money. Anything I win goes to charity.

Legal filings and the expert witness reports are HERE

I have a second blog, Writopia
which focuses on Dan Brown's pattern of falsehoods
and embellishment of his personal achievements.


Thursday, December 07, 2006

Coin-Toss "Justice:" Case of the Dwindling Docket Mystifies the Supreme Court

It looks like Random House simply lucked out at the Supreme Court rather than prevailing because of something more substantial.

The New York Times has an interesting article today (free but annoying login required) on how the current Supreme Court has accepted 40 percent fewer cases this year than last year, leading to court days when they have run out of cases and have nothing to do but twiddle beneath their robes.

No one knows why. It's not like there's a lack of appropriate cases.

"The most important of those criteria is whether a case raises a question that has produced conflicting decisions among the lower federal courts," writes the NYT.

"But there are still plenty of lower-court conflicts that go unresolved, said Thomas C. Goldstein, a Supreme Court practitioner and close student of court statistics who wrote last week on the popular Scotusblog that the justices were 'on the cusp of the greatest shortfall in filling the court’s docket in recent memory, and likely in its modern history'.”

“'I don’t think we’re at the end of history and have fixed all the problems,' Mr. Goldstein said in an interview."

"One theory is that the court is so closely divided that neither the liberals nor the conservatives want to risk granting a case in which, at the end of the day, they might not prevail.... While such behavior may account for a portion of the shortfall, it can hardly provide a global explanation, because only a relative handful of the 8,000 appeals that reach the court each term are ideologically charged."

Lazy, Timid Law Clerks to Blame?

"Another possible explanation is the method by which the justices screen the thousands of petitions. Eight of the justices, all except Justice John Paul Stevens, pool their law clerks and have only one clerk make the initial recommendation for each case.

The recommendation is not binding, of course. But there is a built-in “institutional conservatism” in which law clerks are afraid to look overly credulous and so are reluctant to recommend a grant, according to Stephen M. Shapiro, a former deputy solicitor general who practices law in Chicago with Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw.

“'Perhaps the clerks have been trained to be naysayers for so long that they don’t know any other way,' Mr. Shapiro said in an interview."

Justice Denied

Whatever the cause: lazy Supremes or their clerks, it's clear that they have not upheld their constitutional responsibilities as the ultimate arbiters of justice. Perhaps coin-toss justice is the wave of the future.

11 Comments:

Blogger Mark said...

Ian McKewan lifted exact passages for Atonement, and other novelists including Pynchon approved. It's bizarre really.

Shafer

Sun Dec 10, 05:59:00 AM PST  
Blogger Lewis Perdue said...

One might conclude that the approval of plagiarism by "big-shot authors" might mean that they all plagiarize and thus condone ripping off the work of lesser-known authors.

Whatever the conclusion, they seem pretty well protected by the establishment.

Sun Dec 10, 08:22:00 AM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

I think that's exactly what's going on here as was the case with your situation. Happy Holidays Lew.

Sun Dec 10, 09:25:00 AM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

Hey Lew, Happy New Year!

I have a question about the query for my last novel. Is this a plot? Or have I conveyed any sense of a plot? Most say no. The book has one which is pardon the turn of phrase essentially the polar opposite of Crichton's State of Fear which called global warming a hoax engineered by Hollywood and environmental groups. Thanks.

“The Earth’s surface, atmosphere and seas are warming; ocean currents are slowing; ice shelves are melting faster than projected; spring is coming ever sooner; rainfall patterns are changing; North American migratory birds are ranging father north; the ability of the earth to self-regulate to resist warming appears to be waning,” NY Times (May 24,2006)

Welcome to the world in WARM FRONT a novel set in the midst of a mounting global warming crisis. Jack Sheldon, a caribou biologist on Alaska’s north slope, monitor of the dwindling Porcupine caribou herd, and Jake Elmore an environmental reporter for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner embark on a quest to get the message out on an around the world investigation from the Arctic to Antarctica and back.

Along the way, both are imperiled by the consequences of abrupt climate change that could end their lives and threaten the existence of life on the planet.

Sheldon meets Robin Sampson a 28-year-old lawyer and head of an environmental group attempting to sue Arctic Oil Corporation for endangering the polar bears of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Her father, Alaskan Republican Senator Richard Sampson opposes them, throwing all his power and weight behind an industry led effort to obfuscate the truth and discredit the scientists.

Through his danger-filled global treks, Elmore learns just how dire this is and methodically lays out the case in a climate series widely read all over the world, by both friend and foe. He risks his career and life to report it. Will the message be heard in time?

Mon Jan 01, 05:46:00 AM PST  
Blogger Lewis Perdue said...

The general outlione of what happens is your plot. The characters are yours as will be the way you tell the story.

Hope that helps. Sounds interesting (as long as you don't "preach.")

Have a great 2007!

Mon Jan 01, 09:06:00 AM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

Thanks. I've remodeled it a bit to address some of the complaints I got from readers who were all too quick to attack my explanation. You know the type of web mob I'm talking about.

While refraining from preaching any sort of Gospel, the premise and story is a path to discovery. Doesn't sound like the plot was completely lacking at least. Thanks again. I hope you get a publisher, and I don't mean TOR.

Tue Jan 02, 08:00:00 AM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

Well I got a review by this Hollwood player that's positive if anyone reads his site. He seems genuine and requested the book after reading my screenplay. apparently I didn't build drama well enough for the screen, nor the book either for that matter. It's real history not hyped.

Rapid Stream Review

Tue Jan 23, 05:15:00 PM PST  
Blogger Lewis Perdue said...

Congratulations. Very nice!

Wed Jan 24, 07:59:00 AM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

Thanks. Now if only an agent and publisher will take it on. Most just don't see enough money in it to bother. I hope your quest for a new publisher is successful. Just yesterday one of the sci-fi TOR people claimed how wonderful it was Dan Brown convinced so many people to read "his words." Right.

Wed Jan 24, 08:20:00 AM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

Lew,

I've entered my novel Warm Front into the firstchapters contest over at gather.com. Unfortunately without your skill for the dramatic, experience, and my sheer greenhornedness as a novelist, I didn't leave them wanting to fly to the next location, as I had thought they'd be inclined to do.

I'd appreciate it if you would read the chapter, vote and comment over at: Warm Front

You have to registermessageId%3D9851624185668385, which is a pain but as easy as blogger so...Post a sig with your book links in the comment thread. You could pick up readers.

The prize is a $5000 advance from Simon & Schuster. Talk about bargin hunting. At any rate professor, this old journalist and scientist would be honored to have a brief visit over there. Thanks, and continued good luck.

Thu Feb 01, 07:29:00 PM PST  
Blogger Mark said...

Thanks Lew. I really appreciate it. I intend to leave a better hook at the end too. They won't follow the science presented later if I don't give a compelling enough reason. That's tough to see.

Fri Feb 02, 08:51:00 AM PST  

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