The suits may or may not succeed under a Maryland law forbidding the capture of private conversations, but I'd prognosticate that ACORN will be more harmed than hurt by the effort, and that its targets will not experience much by way of harm, as conservatives and other reform-minded folks chip in to help them.

Other reform-minded folks who disregard laws?

The defenders of ACORN are all shocked that a law was broken.The same people who get angry when immigration laws are enforced.You can almost write their script.From the whining on RIF,it's apparent the kids did something right.
ACORN hasn't got much jury appeal these days.

I agree, Justin, that ACORN will be harmed even more by bringing more attention to this scandalous story. The corrupt behavior of ACORN workers will continue to overshadow the benign issue of private conversations being recorded. Certainly doesn't seem like a very wise move on ACORN's part, but then again what would you expect from this group. I expect they will smarten up soon and let it go.

"Other reform-minded folks who disregard laws?"

Right. Like those draft-card burning hippies of so many years ago that every "Progressive" alive today wishes he or she could re-live. Yes, just like those people.

ACORN gives advice to young "pimp and prostitute" on how to set up a prostitution and sex-trafficing business.

RI legislature can't seem to pass legislation to outlaw indoor prostitutionand sex-trafficing.

RI Future screems to the defense of ACORN.

RI Future screems to the defense of the Democrat assembly

Dots! dots!

Joe

Am I a defender of ACORN because I question the use of a phrase like reform-minded. I would hope that reform -minded folk as Justin likes to call them are not just conservatives, although that does not mean they cannot be. I would hope those who work towards reform are doing so to advance some principle or idea that end up helping someone other than themselves. That may in some cases involve trying to overturn a law. The draft card burning hippies who Patrick referenced (incorrectly) were people who broke the law they disagreed with, and did so publicly and paid the price. I admire those who stand on principle, not those who sneak, spy and then cry when caught. But by all means,Joe send your money to the "kids".

Phil-you are so typical of the RIF and Kmareka people.You tell me to send my money to the kids-how do you know what I do with my money?You don't know anything about what I do except what I say on line.You are beginning to sound like "klaus'on Kmareka who seemed to know where I got my ideas.
I'm sure Fox will foot the bill for their legal fees.ACORN has needed a comeuppance for a long time now,they trying to rig the election process in tjis country.I won't say they're the only people who've done that,but they seem to operate on a larger scale than most others.
The idea of them having anything to do with the census is of the most concern.
thankfully that has been averted.
I was pointing to the hypocrisy of the left when it comes to advocating adherence to the law.You have no answer for that,so you resort to the smart remark.

Now my comments do not get posted.

If you get your news from right-wing talk radio and Fox News, you probably think America is being overrun by a hyper-corrupt organized prostitution ring headquartered in the White House. Although Obama never worked for ACORN 12% of the national news coverage claims that he did, but that is the least of the matter. (Source is MediaMatters.com)

The two conservative activists, Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe, visited a host of ACORN offices around the country posing as a pimp and prostitute. They asked for help establishing a brothel, and even stated that underage girls would be working for them. They had a surveillance camera and recorded at least four interactions with ACORN employees and claimed these employees provided them with assistance. All of the employees implicated have now been fired, and federal aid to ACORN has been cut off.

The undercover videos first appeared on biggovernment.com founded by Andrew Breitbart, a protégé of Matt Drudge and a conservative with a long record of highly partisan and inflammatory statements. Giles, daughter of conservative blogger Doug Giles attended the National Journalism Center in Washington, one of the many right-wing institutions conservatives have established to flood the field with young, motivated, and rabidly partisan "reporters." For his part, O'Keefe has been a far-right activist since college. To give you an idea of O’Keefe’s thinking on other subjects, while at Rutgers University he disrupted a class on Women’s Culture to hand out a copy of a 1955 edition of Housekeeping Monthly titled, “The Good Wife’s Guide” which urges women to be a little more interesting for him and not to "ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment" because "he is the master of the house" and "you have no right to question him." The admonition "[a] good wife always knows her place" is circled in O’Keefe’s handout.

During interviews, Breitbart, Giles, and O'Keefe had all asserted that the undercover team had never been kicked out of an ACORN office. Bertha Lewis, ACORN's CEO and chief organizer, had already said this was a falsehood by the time a Philadelphia ACORN employee, Katherine Conway Russell, publicly claimed to have done just that, adding that she had filed a police report after a visit from the conservative pair. The police report was soon produced, raising further serious questions about the credibility of the entire ACORN exposé. It was another major side of the story that Fox News simply hadn't cared to look into.

Why such vitriol against ACORN? Simple, they register a lot of poor people, and poor people very seldom vote Republican.

Yes, those people on the video were wrong, but the attempt is to discredit an entire organization for the sins of a few. Carried to its logical conclusion, such an attitude would shut down the Republican Party for the political sins of convicted White House felon Scooter Libby. Congress cutting off all funding would be like Wal-Mart closing all their outlets because a couple of stores were using illegal immigrants to clean their stores at night. Remember that?
OldTimeLefty

"Simple, they register a lot of poor people"

and they registered a lot of the same person over and over and over...

If you don't think that matters, you're a little naive.

Patrick
There is NO INSTANCE of any ACORN registered voter who voted more than once. NOT ONE.

You have confused historical with hysterical.

Where are you getting your information?
OTL

I love it when people like OTL tell us what's what.See,THEY don't have to present any proof,they're just so righteous and all that,why it's unecessary.Good try,OTL.

"Why such vitriol against ACORN? Simple, they register a lot of poor people, and poor people very seldom vote Republican."

poor people, and dead people, and cartoon characters...

"There is NO INSTANCE of any ACORN registered voter who voted more than once. NOT ONE. "

...and there was no evidence what-so-ever that Gore won Florida in 2000, but that didn't stop the lies from the looney left.

"and there was no evidence what-so-ever that Gore won Florida in 2000, but that didn't stop the lies from the looney left."

Yup. A full recount was carried out by the NYTimes and other newspapers. George Bush won Florida.

Why didn't you hear about it at the time via front page articles with banner headlines? Duh! 'Cause Bush won, not Gore.

joe,
A very unworthy come back. I wrote over 600 words, most of them discussing the bona fides of O'Keefe and Giles. I carefully outlined their background in causes antithetical to ACORN, and the best you can do is say that I present no proof. You've had more than a casual acquaintance with the niceties of the law and have nothing to say to those making the accusation that people registered by ACORN were voting twice, or were voting illegally or that non-existent people voted. I didn't say that, George and Patrick did and Monique mumbled something from her echo chamber. They have the burden of proof. I was calling on them to put up or shut up. As I said, a very disappointing response from you that goes something like this - I don't believe OTL because I don't like his beliefs. I do believe Patrick and George and Little Miss Echo because I want what they say to be true.
You can do better, mi amigo.
Your Pal,
OldTimeLefty

Actually, I'd say it'd be more accurate to say that you plagiarized 600 words.

But we do all understand the effort in copying and pasting...

OTL-I guess having worked voter and citizenship fraud cases during my career,I really don't need cub reporters or whatever to convince me of something I believe from my experiences with "community advocates".Most of them have no qualms about breaking immigration and voting laws without a second thought.
The culture that allows this kind of thinking/behavior couldn't be more obvious than the woman who was a political/community activist and state employee that was convicted of selling false identities using valid licenses to illegal aliens and fugitives.She herself was a convicted felon and a fugitive on a deportation warrant.Small thing,I know,but it is just a single example.She was trying to run for Democratic committeewoman for chrissakes.That was too much even for the local party officials,but it wasn't like they reported her.
Det.Moynihan of the RISP who made the case,was no amateur reporter,I can assure you.I was one of the agents he did field training with when he was an immigration officer prior to his State Police days.An outstanding young man.
The point is,the system is so loose in RI and in many other states that anyone can vote.It's obscene.People died in foreign countries on behalf of our constitutional republic and its system of free and legitimate elections(not perfect,but decent)and I just don't believe for a second that ACORN and other similar organizations haven't tried to compromise the election system.
ACORN supported Obama -that is undeniable.They have a stake in skewing the electorate.
I have first hand information that illegal aliens have routinely been able to become voter registrars in RI.I won't go into detail,and you are free to call me a liar,but source is one I trust 100%,not something I say lightly.
ACORN is just doing what is easy-taking advantage of a moribund electoral system which is largely devoid of verification.
I often watch the Jim Vincent Show on Sunday mornings and it is a non stop parade of poverty pimps-very informative.Matter of fact,I watch a lot of left wing public access-nothing like hearing it from the source.
Why would I depend on Fox or Beck,Limbaugh,etc to mold my opinions?I don't need a back rub from "pundits"to make me think I'm on the right track.
So maybe this is a more constructive answr.And I think socialism and all its derivatives are insanity.They are counterintuitive to human nature.
I am just what you people have a hard time dealing with-a conservative without the trappings of the religious right or party politics.I depend on observable fact and logical thinking.
The left has mostly emotion and then invective when that doesn't work.

Justin,
Nice to see that you came out of your hole. Did you miss (Source is MediaMatters.com)or are you being intentionally thick headed?
OldTimeLefty

Not in a hole; just prefer to ignore you. This one was a bit too much for my willpower, though.

Yeah, I saw your "sourcing"; that's why I didn't delete the comment outright as plagiarism. But citing the length of what you copied as evidence of your thoughtful participation in discussion pushed things a bit far.

OK. Back to ignoring you.

Bravo, joe,
A good rejoinder. This is why you have my respect. If there are holes in the registration process, we both agree that they should be patched.

That being said, the Republican Party almost always profits from a low voter turnout. That is why it is in their interest to keep the voter rolls as thin as possible.

Your amigo
OldTimeLefty

OTL-have you ever watched Jay Leno's "jaywalking" segments,usually done at Universal Studios?The people he interviews are not poor-how would they afford the trip there?
The stunning lack of knowledge of the most basic history and current events(a teacher thought Churchill was a US President for example)makes me wonder if maybe the voter roles shouldn't be even thinner.
I really don't mean that,but still-you have to wonder what they're thinking about when they pull the lever.
I don't think that observation cuts towards euther major party.

Yeah, I saw your "sourcing"; that's why I didn't delete the comment outright as plagiarism.

Justin

You seem to be quick with the delete button with comments you do not like. Please tell me why you deleted or removed my answer to the bilious joebernstein.

Your comment was junked by the keyword filter for profanity. If there'd been a bit more substance to it, I would have edited and unjunked it, but with the give and take of time...

Gee,why delete someone cursing me out?It's been done by experts.I shine them on,particularly anonymous noisemakers like Phil.Like what he says could matter .

Thank you Justin.

I guess you take Phil out of the waterfront, but you can't take the waterfront out of Phil. My apologies for the salty language. Just keeping it real. That's something No Caps joe would understand. Adios amigos.

I hate hypocrisy and I have had serious pottymouth and been censored a bunch of times here and elsewhere-spending one's life(30+ years)in the military and law enforcement doesn't make for polite discourse.I don't know if it makes people bilious.I didn't have liver disease last time I got a blood test.