Weekly Docket
Baby Reindeer Lawsuit, Hunter Biden Gun Case, Texas Secession, and Vehicle Inspection Law Change
Join Phil Silberman and Austin Black in Episode 22 of the 'Weekly Docket' as they dive into the latest legal news and controversies. This week, they discuss the defamation lawsuit against Netflix over the miniseries "Baby Reindeer" and Hunter Biden's high-profile gun case. They also answer pressing legal questions about Texas' right to secede and whether teachers can legally search students' phones. Plus, don't miss their rant about the recent changes to Texas vehicle inspection laws. Tune in for insightful legal analysis and engaging discussions!
Join Phil Silberman and Austin Black in Episode 22 of the 'Weekly Docket' as they dive into the latest legal news and controversies. This week, they discuss the defamation lawsuit against Netflix over the miniseries "Baby Reindeer" and Hunter Biden's high-profile gun case. They also answer pressing legal questions about Texas' right to secede and whether teachers can legally search students' phones. Plus, don't miss their rant about the recent changes to Texas vehicle inspection laws. Tune in for insightful legal analysis and engaging discussions!
Welcome to Silberman Law Firm's Weekly Docket, Episode 22, where we talk legal news and practical law. Today is June 13th, 2024. I'm Phil Silberman, owner of the firm and your host. I'm joined by Austin Black, our co host who works in our Dallas office. How are you doing today, Austin?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Doing great. How about you?
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I am doing very well. Excited for our show. What do we have on our docket today, Mr. Black?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:So for our legal news section, we are first talking about Netflix's baby reindeer defamation lawsuit. And that's a mini series to be clear. It doesn't actually have to do with the. Literal baby reindeer and then we're going to be talking about the hunter Biden gun case and the conviction that occurred there, how we got there and maybe what the repercussions of that may be, then moving on to our legal question section. First, a topic that is very near and dear to every Texan's heart. Does Texas have the right to secede? think some people will be very disappointed by the answer to that question. and then next, can teachers legally take your phone and look through it in Texas? so I'm sure we've all heard of teachers taking students phones when they're being disrupted or something, but can they legally do that? We'll talk about it. and then for our ranch and rave section, we're going to be discussing the Texas vehicle inspection law change, and sort of Texas is finally going to be, in lockstep with the majority of other states on their inspection requirements and what that looks like. And then also what the practical effect of this law is.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:There you go. I'm excited about the show. Got some good stuff. Baby reindeers, vehicle inspections. Illegal search and seizures. let's go ahead and kick it off with our legal news section today. And we're all going to start off with the Netflix's baby reindeer defamation lawsuit. Now you mentioned it's a mini series. What's the difference between a mini series and just a regular series and when it comes to streaming?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Usually what that means is it's four episodes,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I see.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:for instance, Chernobyl, the Chernobyl miniseries that they did on, HBO, I think it's just called Max Now, was also four episodes, and they called that a miniseries,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, good to know I'm not much of a streamer or binge watcher, but apparently there's a show on Netflix and it's created by this guy, Richard Gadd, based on his real life experiences with a stalker. And he presents it as a true story. And I think what's happening, I've seen some trailers, it looks like he's a bartender. And some relatively plump, maybe my, some might even say morbidly obese woman walks into the bar and begins to flirt with them. And you can tell something's rotten in Denmark, right? so he begins some sort of conversation and I guess she starts to, to stalk him in the series. I don't know if we have an actual definition of stalking, but. very loose term. I presume. Have you ever been stalked Austin? maybe the question I should ask you is have you ever stalked someone?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:definitely have never stalked anyone. and I don't think I've had anyone that's been close to stalking me. I've had some people who were like, trying to show up in the places I was showing up in. People I was not interested in a romantic way or any other way. and, it never got to the point where I think it would have progressed to actual stalking. But, yeah, it, even that is uncomfortable. So I can't even imagine people who are subjected to what's going on. Actual stocking is, and I just pulled it up. I apparently in Texas law defines stocking as A course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear. And this course of conduct can include acts such as following, communicating, threatening the victim, or interfering with their property.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, and I've also seen a cause of action. I've got this up here too. The Texas Penal Code section 42. 07. Some type of criminal harassment that involves intentional behavior meant to annoy, torment, alarm, abuse, or embarrass another person. I guess that could be stalking as well. So this takes place, I think, in England or the UK somewhere because the stalker who, in the mini series, goes by Martha. But the real life stalker that the show is based on her name is Fiona Harvey, and Fiona Harvey is a Scottish lawyer that begins stalking this Donnie Dunn who's played by Richard, Gad. So the show comes out, it's a smash hit, Austin you haven't seen it, I haven't seen it, but it's really a very popular kind of surprise hit on Netflix, and Miss Harvey alleges that the show falsely portrays her. As a twice convicted stalker, which is not true, which may be fair, but the bigger issue I have is she sues for all kinds of money, right? She's suing for defamation and she's suing for 170, 000. But the bigger issue is how is it, Austin, do you think that people could just identify her as connect the character, Martha, To the real Scottish attorney Fiona Harvey. is it that easy to do?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I would hope that if she's bringing in this lawsuit, then enough people had made that connection that caused like a substantial impact in her life. Because if it hadn't, me bringing this lawsuit makes it very clear that it's going to, it's going to do what you were trying to avoid. It's a little weird,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:that's a good point because there would have to be some evidence that the that real people were connecting her to the character so She claims that there are some verbatim sayings that they took directly from her Now, I don't, yeah, I don't know how, what the population of Scotland is and how many attorneys they really have in Scotland, but I'm just thinking from a Texas standpoint, we're both in big markets here in Dallas, I'm in Houston. if I were a stalker and I started stalking somebody and then they made a show about it, are my sayings so unique? That someone's, oh yeah, that guy, Bill Barley who clearly plays Phil Silverman, because I've heard Phil say that, and he's also an attorney in Texas. the odds to me would be, statistically insignificant. Or,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I think, I like to think she had a catchphrase or something
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:okay,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:here comes Martha, or something like that. I don't know that she said every time she entered into the bar where she was trying to stalk the
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:right. Maybe she's the only morbidly obese Scottish female lawyer
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:maybe.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:that says, hey, here comes Martha. And that's how. That's how the viewers connected it. we can only speculate.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:But she,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:a picture of her. I could see that. I could see that being the case. So
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:is she, is the real Fiona Harvey that fat?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:she's,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Big girl.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I think she may have her own zip code. I'm not sure,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:The kid, the kids say thick, that she's thick.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:no. she's not thick. like it would have to be with at least four C's for it to be adequate.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I see. So when the kid, when the kids say that a young woman is thick, they mean that she's voluptuous and attractive in a good way.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:exactly, and they usually only use two C's for that. If you're talking morbidly obese, it gets more up to the four C's
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay. yeah. Isn't there a famous singer that owns being really big and trying to make that sexy?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah, that, that's Lizzo, but she's not necessarily in the best public light right now because apparently she was abusing a lot of her backup dancers.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Oh, okay. Like making them work too hard, like that kind of thing.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:like that, yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay. All right. What are our elements now, this isn't in Texas, but what are the elements of defamation in Texas, Austin?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:So the elements of defamation in Texas is you need to have one publication. Okay. So that false statement that you're making about someone has to be communicated to someone other than the plaintiff. Okay. The person bringing the lawsuit, to the statement needs to be false. And you would think that's, but that's actually not the case. Defamation in other countries, the statement can be completely true. And you still can be convicted of that. South Korea is a place like that.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:And then three, harm. The statement must cause harm to the plaintiff's reputation. And then for fault, the defendant must actually be at fault. So acting with negligence or actual malice, depending on if the plaintiff is a public figure or not.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay. So the show says, true story. The show itself is a publication. It's some sort of tangible form. So that's probably liable, not slander. The idea is that there's some falsity there because it's a publication. She never actually was convicted as a stalker, and obviously there's harm because she's been shamed, and maybe she's got real economic harm, maybe no one wants to hire her as a lawyer anymore, and the defendant was at fault. Richard Gadds had this defense that, yeah, it was based on her, but we took some artistic liberty. does it change anything if there's like a disclaimer in the show, Austin, that says something like, based on a true story as opposed to, true story? Does that change anything?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I would think so. I don't know the actual, because I'm sure
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:law on that. I don't know the case law on it, but I would think that saying based on a true story. Versus, this is a true story would have some more wiggle room.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:There was a, Jerry West, who is a famous basketball player, died recent, recently, Austin. And they did a movie about Jerry West. And the real life Jerry West was very temperamental, very moody. And in that movie, I was reading in the Wall Street Journal article today, that Jerry West was quoted as saying, yeah, I saw the movie. I was temperamental and prone to mood swings, but it wasn't that bad, right? It wasn't as bad as they portrayed in the movie. So, it, now some of these, those, I don't know, Jerry West may have actually consented and sold that story. there's also a movie called, I believe it's called gifted hands with Dr. Ben Carson. I think it's a little weird when they make a movie about you when you're still alive. But, Ben Carson probably consented to that movie. do they get everything right? So
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:think they needed to make that movie because it was very clear he didn't have a gifted mouth, so they needed to show that he had gifted hands.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:did you actually see the movie?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I did not see the movie. I did not see the movie. debates with Ben Carson that I didn't want to watch
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:so Austin makes another good point. I bet my impression of Ben Carson and I think I've heard him speak a couple times and seen the movie. And I think I heard him, I don't know if I heard him speak in person or not, but Austin's right. he's, he's not a dynamic personality to run for president. But you want to talk about absolutely brilliant. And they,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:he was the first guy to, operate and successfully separate conjoined twins and, I heard another doctor talking about what he could do in a neurological operation is the concept of the way he saw space inside the brain was like uncanny. but yeah, Austin's right in a debate, not just because he's brilliant doesn't mean he's dynamic enough to be president, which is sad because I think he would have made a great president, but Ben probably consented to that movie. this is something different. Scottish. probably did not consent to this. If this were going on in Texas, there may be some bona fide defamation claims. Netflix's response was, we're making so much money, we don't care. not really. They, they, Netflix stated it, it has, intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit. Supporting Gad's right to tell his story, they emphasize the portrayal in Baby Reindeer is a dramatized account of, of the events and stands by the series as a piece of creative work and I think that's why I asked you, Austin, does it make a difference if it says based on a true story? I think it does. And Netflix is tipping its hat at its defense here.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Oh, does this mini series say based on the true story? Not this is a true story.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I don't know the answer to that. I think our producer Aaron gave the notes in our outline here says Richard Gadd says based on his real life experiences. So maybe that term based on his real life experiences is going to be material in the defense.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I see in the quotes here in our show notes, it says that it's presented as this series is presented as a quote unquote, true story. So if it says this is a true story, I feel like that's closer to this is like the real story and not based on that.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:That, that may be true. I think a jury is going to have to, you're going to have to decide and. maybe it's going to be hard to find a jury. If you're doing, if you're doing Voidire, yes, in Texas we say Voidire, not Voidere. If you're, if this were going on in Texas, which it's not, and you were doing Voidire, it's going to be hard to pick a jury that hasn't heard of or seen the series,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:probably. Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:all right, let's move on to our next legal news story. We have Hunter Biden, the gun case. Now this has been all over the news. And so we're not going to go into a huge amount of detail here. We've got a different angle on this, I think, talking more about whether Joe Biden's going to pardon him and that kind of thing. But here's an overview of the case if you haven't been following it. Hunter Biden charged with some felonies. in recent years, it's undisputed that Hunter Biden has been addicted to crack cocaine. He wrote a book about it called Beautiful Things, and I guess he needed to make some money because the whole Ukrainian kind of side hustle with the president wasn't enough. So he writes a book, he's got to sell some books, talks about being addicted to Crack cocaine. And at some point while addicted, I guess he wants to buy a gun. It's a Colt Cobra revolver. I understand that's a 38 caliber. So generally, I'm just thinking, Austin, you're from Dallas. I'm from Houston. It's not crackheads to go out and try to buy guns and lie on the forms. I'm, you're doing dangerous stuff. You're going down to I don't know bad neighborhoods in Houston or wherever you buy crack or Dallas and You got to buy your drugs. So maybe you need to be packing for that, right?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:this is a very compact revolver. Like it's almost a snub nose. And
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, You've pulled up a photo of it
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:yeah, exactly. So this is something that like you keep in your waistband,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, and the idea I think the idea with this with the snub nosed 38 caliber revolver, Austin You may not know that this But it you're close range, you're doing a drug deal. You got to buy your crack You And your hoochie mama's waiting in the car. If you get in a, if you get in a tussle, you gotta be able to get that thing out and you don't want like a big, awkward firearm. You got to be able to put it right on, your dealer or whoever's trying to rob you and shoot them.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:As you do. Yes.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah, that's how you do it. sh you should know that being up in Dallas, Austin, that's an important thing. So he's trying to buy a gun. And it turns out when you buy a gun, you have to fill out this form, this A TF form 44 73. It's just some form when you buy a gun and he lies on the form. And the question, what's, what are the questions? Austin, do you have the quotes of the questions on that form? Yeah.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:quote. Are you an unlawful user of or addicted to? marijuana or any depressant Stimulant narcotic drug or any other controlled substance and then the other question is quote Have you been ever been adjudicated as a mental defective or been committed to a mental institution?
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay. And I'm up here in Massachusetts right now for this show. And the que first question is the whole state of Massachusetts is not now not able to legally buy a gun because, An unlawful user of marijuana and marijuana, as we discussed in a previous show, Austin is illegal under federal law. So if you're, am I reading this right? If you live in Colorado, Massachusetts and you smoke a little weed or vape weed or whatever they do with it now that because you're an unlawful user, you'd be prohibited from legally buying a gun under federal law. Do you read that correctly?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Technically, yes.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:it's a little weird with not being enforced, like marijuana restriction is not being enforced in Massachusetts. But
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:you, you've heard it here first from the Silverman Law firm's weekly docket, if you smoke weed, you're an unlawful user under federal law. So you can't legally buy a gun under federal law either.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:you'd have to mark on the ATF form that you are an unlawful user. And I'm sure there are, Hundreds of thousands of people who mark no thinking that because the marijuana is unquote legal in their under state law that not an unlawful user, but federal law, it's still illegal. I, we discussed this on previous podcasts, to be honest, I'm not sure why, but that is the case though.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:All right. Hunter, ironically, that's a terribly ironic name to be prosecuted for, illegally buying a gun. But Hunter, lies on the form, says he wasn't addicted. He writes in the book, that I was addicted and he gets rung up in federal court and he's convicted. Joe Biden is on an airplane. President Biden is on an airplane somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Diverse the aircraft after the conviction comes in, goes there, gets off the chopper, hugs his son, very supportive of his son. I think First Lady Jill Biden was ping ponging between France and, Delaware where this trial was going on. And the family is very supportive. And he's convicted maximum penalties, up to 10 years. And, unlawful possession. He probably, federal law is pretty lenient for first time offenders. the, there's some kind of issues with, should he have been prosecuted for this? I heard one guy say, yeah, Hunter belongs in jail, but not for this. I, I heard about the case and I was like, you know what, I'm not a Biden supporter. And I don't know much about Hunter Biden, but this seems like a pretty technical thing. Surely this isn't prosecuted that much. I can't figure out, and this is typical of our government, Austin. Why is it the, I guess he was never convicted of any kind of drug crimes. So that database maybe doesn't talk to the ATF database, but,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I don't know exactly how that works. I will say that, loopholes that people talk about, And acquisition of guns. I think that, bad communication between different databases is one of the things that people are working on, like pushing legislation to fix.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:okay,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:that I'd be in favor of too. And I think a lot of. I think a lot of responsible gun owners are in favor of fixing quote unquote loopholes like that, to make sure that if someone is dangerous, like actually dangerous, I don't mean they just had a false accusation against
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:yeah.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:like that, right? Actually dangerous that yes, they shouldn't be able to get a gun.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, there you go. he's convicted. He's going to be sentenced. We don't know how much time he's going to get. president is very supportive of him. There's a question of whether Joe Biden should pardon him or not. And Joe Biden does, as the president, does have the ability to pardon him, does have the ability to commute the sentence. President Biden is basically ambiguously indicated that he's going to let the law do its thing and not pardon him. But let me ask Austin, if you were the president and this is your son, do you commute the sentence or do you pardon him?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I don't think so.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Austin's saying no. I, I was, talking to my wife and I was like, honey, if I were president and one of our kids did that, do you think I should pardon him? And she said, It depends on whether you want to run for president again,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Sure. Yeah. No,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:yeah. and Biden obviously does, he's just running this So yeah,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:my call on this and as parents. You love your children. And this is, this kind of conviction. Yeah, the kids screw up. He's got problems. He's not a kid. He's 50 years old. but this isn't something that. People really frequently get prosecuted for. we've got some data here. In fiscal year 2017, out of 112,000 firearm purchase denials, only 12 cases were prosecuted by federal th federal authorities. That's 12 out of 112,000.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:They absolutely pick and choose who they want to go after for these 100%.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:and
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:is such a corrupt institution.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:and they, so they said it depends if there was underlying crimes. I think there's no doubt here this was politically motivated. I think Hunter has a tax evasion trial coming up as, as well. I don't see this being, something that the Trump campaign can really grab a hold of. Austin, here's why. the American people are really sympathetic to addiction. Almost everybody has someone in their family, someone very close to them that struggles with addiction. So the Trump campaign doesn't really want to grab a hold of this and beat him up too bad. But at the same time, Austin, It hurts the Biden campaign can't grab a hold of Trump's conviction now. Because, oh, vote for, don't vote for him, Donald Trump's convicted felon. Because, you hear me say, and I wasn't the person who said this, originally, you have to take the plank out of your eye before you take the speck out of your neighbor.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:we'll see what comes out of it. I think if Biden loses the election, and there's that period of time between November and January or whatever, where he, he's gonna, The president, all presidents do it. I think his son is going to get a pardon here from Joe Biden.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:it would be hilarious if Trump pardoned him.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Austin mentioned before the show started that there was some fake, true social, where what did the,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:was a fake truth social post from Trump where he was like, even though Hunter Biden is this crack addled fiend, he still deserves the, he still has a second amendment right to own a gun and I'll pardon him since Biden won't take care of them. It's so stupid.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:oh my goodness. if I were Donald Trump.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:also it was very in the theme of how Trump writes these posts, like obviously random capital letters and in all caps and some things. And I thought it was real until I looked it up, but it's not real, unfortunately.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:that's how you know an old person is texting or using some sort of electronic media as they love all caps,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I let's answer some legal questions does Texas have the right to secede I grew up in the Houston area, but it was really Cypress, or it's like Cypher ISD. and back when I grew up in, in Cypress, it was a little bit country out there. Now it's like a, busy suburb of Houston. And growing up, I all the time would hear Texas has the right to secede, break away from the Union. Did you ever hear that growing up, or hear it recently Austin?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Absolutely. Yeah,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah. Yeah.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:that. And they, Texas is the only state that has the right to secede and form its own nation. When we entered the U S that was part of the requirement for us to join the United States was that we could secede if we want to. Yes. Yes.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:That, yeah, so we heard the same stuff
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yep.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:and I was always a little suspicious of it, but it's that sounds like it's true because you're, we're taught Texas history and in, and there's some politicians that in Texas politicians that lend credence to it. In June 2022, Texas State Republican Convention adopted a platform urging the legislature to put a referendum before the people of Texas in November 23 to determine whether or not the state of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation. So when the Republicans in Texas do stuff like that, it lends credibility to that theory. Now short answer, Texas does not really have the right to secede. And that's based on a Texas Supreme Court case, Texas v. Wyatt, 1869. established that secession is not permissible under the U. S. Constitution. Do we have a Supreme Court quote there?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yes, Texas v. White, from 1869, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that individual states don't have the right to unilaterally secede from the Union. the court stated that the union between Texas and the other states was, quote, as complete, as perpetual, and as as the union between the original states.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:can't do it.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Nope. Cannot do it.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Austin, to be fair, you would expect the U. S. Supreme Court to say something like that, right?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yes.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:So they so you look at that case with the grain of salt. And so it's the U. S. the federal U. S. Supreme Court. Issuing that opinion so that's be expected. it's like, asking, Bill Clinton if he had sex with Monica Lewinsky or whatever. So or asking, Donald Trump if, he ever had a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels. What? what do you expect them to say? I wanted to dig in a little bit to what Texas's perspective is and what the historical argument. And if, because his lawyers were hired guns, right? Pun very much intended for this show. And people, if people pay us enough, we will make the best legal argument possible. So if someone paid us, what would the legal argument be?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:as long as there is an actual argument, can't make it up. But yes, so some people argue that Texas retained the right to secede due to the language in the 1845 annexation resolution. but that's been misinterpreted. The Language actually really only allows texas to split into multiple states, not to secede. I
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:So the language that we're talking about says, quote, New states of convenient size, not exceeding For in number, in addition to the said state of Texas and having sufficient population may therefore after hereafter by the consent of said state be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the federal constitution.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay. Okay.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:about
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, so when we agreed to annexation by the United States, the deal was not that Texas, oh, you can secede if you don't like it.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:the deal was Texas, if you decide you want to break your state into four additional states, then you could. And it, but you have to have enough population and be in four different, populous, populated counties and all that. So it'd be like Dallas being its own state, Houston being its own state, maybe El Paso and Corpus or something like that.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Now, I think that clearly, indicates that we are not able to legally secede.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:And even if by some very strange legal interpretation, you could say that you believe that the annexation agreement did give Texas the right to secede, most legal scholars believe that Texas would have lost it. when they joined the South during the Civil War.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yes,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:when they re entered the Union, after that, that they would have lost any rights like that.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I see. that probably is a, correct interpretation from those scholars. Now, Austin, I'll, me being a practical guy and us, having practical clients, does it really matter? Because let's say that legally we in fact did have the right to secede. the United States is not going to let us secede.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:No.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:So that, that was really,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:the whole thing with the Civil War, right?
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:okay, now Austin, be careful because you know what we call it in Texas. Don't you?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:The War of Northern Aggression.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:The war of Northern aggression. and
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:it in Tennessee, too.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:okay. I'm surprised you knew that Austin. So if you, if you're old enough to, still, hang around a bunch of rednecks and older people from Texas. that's what or anywhere in the south That's what they call it the war of northern aggression
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah, it doesn't matter I mean they're gonna come Even if we legally could succeed, they're not going to let us succeed. and why? here's some statistics on our economy. Second largest economy in the United States, we have a gross state product of approximately two trillion dollars. I, I don't have the notes on what the first largest economy is, but I'm going to assume that's Austin,
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:California
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:my guess. Global ranking, and Austin we put this in here for you, the 10th largest economy in the world because Austin you love Asian people, Asian women in South Korea. not necessarily in that order, the country would be on Texas.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:thought maybe we're going to say because I've lived with in Canada and in South Korea. So that makes sense. But we rank as the 10th largest economy in the world if we were a separate country, right? And that is on par with Canada and South Korea.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah, exactly. So they're not going to let us leave because they want our tax dollars and they want our economy. I don't believe that Texas, personally, for what it's worth, I don't think we'd be better off without, the rest of the United States, but it still is a very popular, myth. And Rick Perry in 2009, not one of our, I think, best governors ever, he jokingly talked about secession in 2009, and it created all sorts of controversy. But.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:My favorite thing about Rick Perry was how when he had his Failed presidential attempts someone on his campaign staff said, Hey, look, you are not very smart. You need to wear glasses. That'll make you look
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I remember being more of a Rick Perry fan, I think when I was in college or something I met him personally in Tarrytown and that was in Austin, I was at the University of Texas and I thought he was an okay guy and then I started seeing the debates when he ran for office and I'm like, oh man, this guy is stupid.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:And then we have Abbott who is not stupid at all.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:No.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:met Abbott at a, at a Republican convention, like in 2012, I want to say, And then of course I've come to learn about how the accident that got him in his wheelchair, he closed the recovery for anyone else who has a similar accident for him. And I
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah. Yeah, that people, that's the first thing you hear about, about, if you're up there, I'm up here in Massachusetts for a little while. That's the first thing you'll hear, someone from the Northeast say, Oh, you're a governor. for those, for listeners who don't know, Greg Abbott is in a wheelchair. he is brilliant. Okay, he is a incredibly intelligent man. I think he was jogging in river.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:in front of a neighbor's home. A tree fell and it caused damage to his spine he sued them and got a very substantial amount of money for that. And then when he was in a position to do he pushed forward a law that, basically limited recovery for similar types of accidents. so no one else could get the sort of recovery he got in that
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah, he was big in tort reform in Texas. So that, that, that is a bit, hypocritical in, in, in my view. But, now Rick Perry, not near as smart as Governor Abbott, but All right, let's go ahead and move on to our next legal question. Can teachers legally take your phone and look through it in Texas? we'll do the analysis, and it's an interesting analysis. And Austin, I'll set this up with a story. my oldest child, who's middle school going into the ninth grade, And this is in Spring Branch Independent School District. There was some risqué video circulating among high schoolers and middle schoolers. of, and they're underage, right? They're below 18, so they're minors. and of course, when that happened, kids do all kinds of stupid things now. And they put risqué, them doing risqué things on video and it circulates. it's a terrible idea. But that's a
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:to do if you're an adult, but as a minor, much worse.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:really bad idea because it turns out that other minors in possession of that are now in possession of child pornography. It's just the way it works. And So the parents are upset, the kids are upset, and they send, each school district has the police, its own little, ISD police force. So they send in the police force, and they're trying to figure out, they're trying to get this off kids phones. And I don't, this was probably a half baked idea. Terrible that this is circulating, but the police go into my son's middle school and allegedly just start grabbing phones and like looking through phones and my kid comes home, mentions it to me and thankfully he did not have it on his phone. But I, I happened to mention, I was like, that's interesting, that, that sounds like that would violate, the constitutional right of a legal search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. it turns out that this question comes up all the time. Can, teachers, can the administration take students phones? The answer is yes, they can take the phone. And that arises out of, in Texas anyway, it arises out of school policies. Texas Association of School Boards has this policy. If the phones are being used unproductively or inappropriately, they can confiscate the phones. That doesn't mean they can start looking through it, Austin. And in fact, they have an obligation to keep it private. But then you get into this idea, when in fact can the school police or when can teachers or administration Actually start looking through the phone and what do we have on that, Austin?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:they can only start looking through the phone. if there is quote, reasonable suspension of wrongdoing and it can't just be general curiosity or violation of the phone policy, they need to have a specific. Reason to believe that there's something on the phone that is a violation of school rules or the law.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah. and what this really is talking about, this is talking about fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. And this means that you have to have some sort of suspicion. Okay, I, we may, I'm not a criminal lawyer. I'm not a constitutional scholar. this is potentially related to probable cause. It's if a police officer pulls you over. Austin, you get pulled over and you're hoopty. I know you drive what do you drive again? some really beat up Honda or something like that.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yeah it's like a 2007 honda civic. Yeah,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, and so you, Austin gets pulled over in his Honda. The popo can't just start digging through your civic, right? There has to be, Probable cause, reasonable suspicion.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Oh, but there always is because they're like I smell marijuana. Yeah that every single time Yeah, it's
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:that's how it works. The officer smells marijuana and they can go through the car. I don't know what reasonable suspicion is. it certainly can't be because you're black. It can't be race based. it can't be because you've got a hoodie on and all this kind of stuff. They have to actually suspect that you've It's the same with schools, there has to be some reasonable suspicion of something's going on. We've got a case, New Jersey v. TLO 1985. U. S. Supreme Court establishes that school officials, do, they don't need a search warrant, but there, there must be re, there must be something, some reasonable suspicion, and there was a purse, there was a purse that was searched, and the court determined that search of that handbag was justified. Thank you. because there was a reasonable suspicion because the student was violating school rules by smoking on school grounds. Okay, I guess the idea, okay, you were smoking, we're going to go through the person and look for cigarettes. you've got another Texas case, State v. Granville 2014. They, arrested a student by the name of Anthony Granville. He was a high school student. He caused a disturbance on a school bus. His cell phone was taken. Police officer later retrieved the phone without a warrant, searched its contents. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Granville retained a reasonable expectation that his phone be kept private, okay? Just because maybe, I created a disturbance on the school bus. There, there's an expectations of privacy and even though it was in the, what they call the jail property room, the court emphasized a need for a warrant in that case because they had a reasonable, the student was entitled to a reasonable expectation. And the ruling in for reinforced the principle, that officials need some reasonable expectations. So just because he created disturb disturbance on a school bus that wasn't necessarily related to searching his phone. So there you go. that's how those lines of cases go. So if you're a student out there, if you're a parent out there, kids going to school, they can't do what? the IS, the Independent School District allegedly did, to, to at my kid's school. You can't just, show up, bust into the school and start, grabbing kids phones. that doesn't work, all right? And I'm sure if the general counsel at that school district had half a brain, he'd be flipping out when he heard that the Independent School District Police, that was their go to. All right, so I think we've answered that one pretty thoroughly. Austin, when you have children, be aware of that, many years from now should you choose to have children with all those Asian women that you love. Austin's just
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:dating someone who is Chinese. Everyone else I have ever dated has not been Asian. Okay.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Yes.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Austin taught school in South Korea. That's why he uses South Korea as a reference point. and I've never met Betty, but I understand that she is a wonderful, wonderful lady, Austin. I hope she doesn't listen to the show. Does she?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:No, she definitely doesn't. Haha.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Good. Good. Let's not start listening today.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:yep.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:This would not be the one.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:don't think you could pay her too. So
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Betty, if you happen to listen to this show, I apologize. Alright, let's get to my favorite part of the show, our rant and rave section of the show, Texas vehicle inspection law. in Texas, you have to inspect your vehicle. every year, if you have a vehicle that's older than two years, you inspect it every year, you take it to a state inspection facility, they come out, they check the tread on the tires, they check to make sure your windshield wiper is working, you pay like 20, 30, 40 or something like that. New law, Austin, you'll be glad to know. And because your Honda Civic, I think, will breathe a little easier. New law eliminating the requirement for annual vehicle safety inspections. no longer need to get an inspection. Goes into effect September 1st, 2024. And, that, that's a good thing, right? Less regulation in Texas.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:it is a good thing.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:but here's my rant about this. Did you ever have a cable box or are you too young to have had cable Austin?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I'm not too young to have had cable. but my family never had it growing up. I just watched PBS.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Okay, so Austin was homeschooled. So you've got a little bit of weird stuff going on in that household, okay? I'm just beating it today All right, but for the rest of us Okay that may have been of a generation or had parents that had cable The deal was you would get Xfinity, Comcast, Spectrum, whatever your cable provider was, and you would have a box, and the box would plug in, and you'd pay a fee for the box, and that was a huge revenue boon for cable companies And then all of a sudden streaming came along and they're like, Oh no, we can't sell boxes anymore. So they created this fee. If you're still going to have our cable service, we're going to charge you a fee for not having the box. And I was like, Austin, I almost like, since there's little things that almost put me like over the edge. And that was one thing that almost sent me over the edge. It's wait a minute. I paid a fee for having a box and now I no longer. Need a box, but I still have to pay a fee for not having the box. Okay, the government does it too Texas the state of texas is no better and they say You no longer need to get this car Inspected but we're going to charge you a government fee for the privileges of not having an inspection We're going to inspect it and we're going to call it like You know the not get it anti inspection fee and it's seven bucks or something. And if you live in a really populated county like Dallas County, Harris County, you're still going to have to get the thing emissions tested anyway. And Austin, I don't know if your Civic is passing those emissions tests anymore, so you better get into the market for another car.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I, I plan on it, but we'll keep moving this one until it dies.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah, 7. 50, fee for not having your vehicle inspected, but good news, need, no longer needed inspection. That's a good thing. Public reaction, mixed feelings from the public. Austin, do you think getting vehicles inspected keeps, vehicles safer on the road?
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:probably,
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:I think so.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:I, I think the most obvious example of that is that they test your brakes. And if you are driving a car and you've. Thankfully never needed to like actually slam on your brakes, right? To stop you from hitting something, or stop someone from hitting you. then you wouldn't know if your brakes are going out necessarily, if you, they haven't been maintained, you bought a used car or something like that. And if that's caught in an inspection, that can be pretty important, right?
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:Yeah. We have a lot of, illegal kind of immigration sort of Austin used to be an immigration attorney. But certainly in Texas, it's no secret that we have a lot of, people that are crossing the border without proper authority. And they're over here driving vehicles. I don't know if they get them inspected or not, but it certainly seems to me that a little bit of checks and balances on the quality of these vehicles on the road would be better. I think the good thing, if you're looking at a positive spin on this, is you save the fee. It's less regulation, so there you go. But it's one of those things where, did you really have to rub salt in the wound and charge us the inspection fee for not getting the vehicle inspected. So
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:not.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:thanks a lot guys. I appreciate you guys did good work in that legislative session.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:maybe we can have another rant and rave about this sometime, but hey, at least they did something right. Usually the Texas legislature does absolutely nothing.
phil-silberman_2_06-13-2024_121755:But that brings our show to a close. I've been your host, Phil Silberman. Austin Black has been my co host. Like us, follow us, review us, wherever you get your podcasts. And as a friendly reminder, nothing in this show is to be considered legal advice. And this has all been for entertainment purposes only. If you have a legal question and want it answered publicly on the podcast, email us at info at sylblawfirm. com. That's I N F O at sylb S I L B L A W F I R M D O T C O M and say you want it publicly answered in the podcast. Thanks everybody for listening. Have a great day.
austin_2_06-13-2024_111755:Thanks.