Weekly Docket
Dive into the world of law with 'Weekly Docket,' hosted by Silberman Law Firm's Phil Silberman. Get the latest on landmark cases, practical law, and a unique perspective on the legal landscape. Join us for a weekly exploration of law like you've never heard it before.
Weekly Docket
Non-Compete Ruling Halted, Elon Musk vs. Free Speech, Texas Landlord Laws, Short Sales, and Mask Ban Controversy
Join Phil Silberman and Austin Black in Episode 32 of the 'Weekly Docket' as they dive into the latest legal news and debates. This week, we discuss a federal judge’s ruling blocking the FTC’s attempt to ban non-compete agreements and Elon Musk’s global free speech controversies igniting legal battles. We also answer key legal questions about how Texas landlords can legally handle abandoned property and what short sales mean in real estate. Finally, we explore Nassau County's controversial new law banning face masks in public places. Don’t miss this episode packed with legal insights, expert analysis, and thought-provoking discussions!
Welcome to Silberman Law Firm's Weekly Docket, Episode 32, where we talk legal news and practical law. Today is August 22nd, 2024, and I'm Phil Silberman, your host and owner of the firm, and I'm joined by Austin Black, my co host who works in our Dallas office. How are you doing today, Mr. Black?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I am doing well, really hoping that this weather starts to be a little bit less abrasive, but hitting 105 every day is starting to drain on me,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah, but Starbucks has its new fall drinks out. are you ready for fall coffee?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I'm not a fan of fall coffee, to be honest,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:to Starbucks, I'm just getting a iced Americano black every single time.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay. I think it's so that my wife will go and get all the fall stuff and it's 105 degrees outside right now. I'm not ready for fall, but what's on our docket today, Austin?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Okay, well, in our legal news section, we're going to be talking about a federal judge blocking the FTC's ban on non compete agreements, which we've covered. In depth previously, but just going over exactly what this ruling does, and the implications for people who are subject to non competes. and then our section 2nd legal news section is going to talk about, uh, Elon Musk, and how his. Movements relating to X, or I'm just going to call it Twitter because I think X is a dumb name. Twitter have started free speech battles globally, both related to attempted government regulation. Attempted moderation, aside from governments, just some various watchdog entities, things like that be going over that, and exactly what we think is going to pan out there, if anything, are we going to touch at all on his, against his, advertisers?
_1_08-22-2024_142435:No, but we are going to talk about Nerf guns.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Great. Okay. Nerf guns. Very good. and then our legal questions section. we will talk about how landlords legally handle abandoned property in Texas. and then what short sales are. That does not mean you are selling a house with only half a floor. Okay, it's not a house for very short people. Something different. We'll tell you what it is. and then our Rant and Rave section. we will be talking about do you pronounce that county? Okay, I've wondered that
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Isn't it in New York, Nassau County? I don't know.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:we'll say Nassau, and if we're wrong, I'm sure someone will correct us. Nassau County, they implement a mask ban, to not have masks. Don't wear masks, that's bad, okay? That's what the ban is doing, and we'll be ranting and raving about that.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah, but it's just to be clear. We're not talking about medical masks. We're talking about like bad guy mask.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:bad guy mask. What is a bad guy mask, though,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:we'll get stuck with the Joker. No, the Joker did not wear a mask. did the penguin wear a mask? I don't know.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:did not wear a mask. The mask wore a mask. the
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yes,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:mask movie. he actually did wear a mask.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:What about the green goblin? Is that, but that's not, but that's spider man, right? Okay.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:wear a mask. Yes.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Those kinds of bad guy mass. All right. All right. Let's kick it off with our legal news section. And we're talking about this FTC ban. And we've talked about it on previous shows, but Austin, that you've been getting like five calls a month or a week from people saying, Hey, I heard my non compete is, no longer valid. Is that true? And you've been telling them what?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I've been telling them operate as if it is still enforceable.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:That ended up being the right advice. Good. So the FTC, a little history, the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, they're a division department of the executive branch. They promulgated a rule. They made a rule saying, Hey, all non competes are basically invalid. I'm oversimplifying, but all non competes are invalid. When that news broke, you and I got together on a show and we asked the question, what Does the ft. We scratched her heads and said, does the FTC have the power to do things? And we very quickly said, no. The executive branch, FTC rulemaking bodies do not have the power to make those broad sweeping rules. They can make other kinds of rules
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:As much as it would like to have that power. It does not.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:they can make. They can make like little baby rules, like about non-competes, but they can't do
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:big, huge sweeping changes.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:and even those are really only to be done. the implementation of other restrictions that Congress put in place, right? They can't like make their own restrictions, right?
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah, they're for certain. So anyway, no surprise there, a private company challenges it in court. Ryan LLC versus the Federal Trade Commission, argued that the FTC exceeded its statutory power as vested by, Congress and the rule was arbitrary and capricious. The U. S. District Court, Northern District out of Texas, that's up in Dallas, where Austin is, absolutely agreed, said, the FTC does not have that kind of power. So the court, basically said the FTC doesn't have the power to make those kinds of sweeping rules. So if you're out there and you've got a non compete. It is still very much valid. Now, on a personal note, I am not actually a fan of non competes in the way that they're used in the state of Texas and all over the country. I don't think that low level employees or rank and file employees should be subject to non competes. I'm okay if you're an executive, you're running a corporation, you're selling a business. I'm okay with those non competes being enforceable. I don't love it when you try, I had a guy on the phone the other day, Austin, he worked on big rigs. He was an 18 wheeler mechanic. I don't think an 18 wheeler mechanic should be subject to non compete. Y
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Really? You don't think an 18th Amendment can actually be so difficult? Okay, what about, past control? What about a past control guy?
_1_08-22-2024_142435:those guys are a little squirrely because of all the chemicals they constantly breathe. But I al I also, IIE despite that, I think they should not be subject non convenient.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:dog grooming?
_1_08-22-2024_142435:That's the worst. you're giving me examples that you've had at the firm. I, there is nothing special. Un, unless you're, what is the show? The annual competition where they made a movie, like making fun of it? There's some. Dog show, right?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:the dog show that happens on Thanksgiving,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay, that show. Yes,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Show. Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:that, if you're like such a specialized dog groomer, maybe I can get on board with that.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Maybe.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:if you're just, yeah, if you're just down at the local, is it like Petco? Do they still have Petco? I don't know.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah, I think they sell Peko, yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah, if you're down at the local Petco grooming dogs, I don't think you should sign and not compete. But nobody asked Phil Silberman. Nobody asked Austin Black. As it stands,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:just as a sidebar in a pretext, in a sub ranted rave section, right? It makes me so mad that Texas Ardently enforces, non-competes when every politician in Texas likes to talk about how, free and capitalistic and pro-business they are and everything like this. and it's just like this is so anti competition. that's
_1_08-22-2024_142435:right,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:It's just crazy
_1_08-22-2024_142435:and it's because of that, that we get all those calls where people are like, I signed a non compete, but this is a right to work state
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:I don't know where that's some kind of urban myth, but it is, it's not a right to work state. you can work, but
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:do have the right to work. That's true.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yeah, just not subject to non competes. good news for some, we do represent small businesses, medium sized businesses, and we draft non competes. Despite the fact that I don't, not a fan of them, we do draft them. I guess I'm a hypocrite, but
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:draft them. We will make them enforceable for businesses. So all our clients out there that are small business owners or business owners. good news. All those draft non competes we drafted for you over the years are still enforceable. If you need some more non competes out there, you can call an attorney. Those are still going to be good, but that's where we are right now. The FTC could appeal it. I don't know that the FTC will appeal it. Maybe they will, maybe they don't. I don't know. I don't see that one. I see that one being a lost cause for the FTC. We'll let everyone know how that plays out. All right, let's keep moving along. We have Alon Musk. Bold moves ignite free speech battles across the globe. I don't, you know, Elan just, he tweets all kinds of crazy things.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:bold moves, or are they just on being weird,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:They're just,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:is he really, I just need to ask you a question and I'm not sure what we can talk about on the podcast without offending people, but I guess that's never stopped us before. Is he autistic? Is that true? I've heard he's autistic.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:He is neurodivergent.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:what is that? Is that,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:That means he's autistic. Okay,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:is that,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:that's what you say now. You say neurodivergent.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:I've never heard of that. And you're, you teach me all kinds of things.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:you know the divergent books, right? It comes from that.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:okay, this was
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:actually doesn't come
_1_08-22-2024_142435:okay. I see. Don't do that to me. Don't do that to me. This is this. This is when I was first learning about Christmas and I didn't know anything about Christmas and they, like my friends, my Gentile friends started lying to me about things like Christmas folklore, like Rudolph. And I didn't know it's really mean to do that.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Sorry,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yeah. Or our producer where we were talking about blind people. And what did Aaron put in there about something about the, their, visually challenged, or there's some euphemism for being
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Visually impaired.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:impaired, right? All right.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:okay. Alon is not blind, but he is autistic, neurologically divergent, Austin has taught me something. he markets himself as a staunch advocate of free speech. He tweets all kinds of crazy things. his recent thing was. He tweeted about the UK, civil war is inevitable. I can't remember the exact context for that, but that doesn't sound that bad to me.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah. Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:it just doesn't, it's inflammatory, but it's, certainly it's hyperbole. I just, does it sound bad to you?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:don't know. I will say, okay, do you frequent Twitter? Do you use Twitter frequently?
_1_08-22-2024_142435:We used to post on it
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I use it for, I use Twitter pretty frequently. I have, an anonymous account that I use to troll people and,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:what do you post on Twitter? You like update people?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:don't really post on Twitter. I
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay. Okay.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:people for the most part.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:but, I do follow Elon, like most people do on Twitter. Most people follow him. Or see stuff he does. And he comments a lot. On everything like anything that's rightly leaning that gets a bit of traction You'll see a lot like comment on it and just have two exclamation points. He's wow, this is crazy I was like, dude, you have so you need really need to be spending your time doing better things
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Do you think that's really him tweeting or
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Absolutely. I
_1_08-22-2024_142435:so
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah I think everything that he tweets i'm i'm almost 100 percent certain it's him
_1_08-22-2024_142435:okay. So like a lawn and Donald Trump are like up in the middle of the night. Cause that would make sense because if you were a PR person for Donald Trump or Elon Musk, you probably would not.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:you would take their phones Absolutely
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:they did take Trump's phone, right? For a period of time. There was a period of time where they did take Trump's phone from him, because he was tweeting off some even more unhinged things than usual.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:but yeah, like Twitter has just become, we're talking about moderation of speech. he doesn't moderate. like, like there in any tweet that gains any sort of traction, the replies are like, just late, like pornography throughout all of them. it's terrible. And you can do things to make sure you don't see that stuff. like that it's blurred or whatever, but it's just crazy. Yeah,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah. so we have to talk about yelling fire in a crowded theater again, just to give, just so we can give the legal, this is still a legal show. And the idea is there are limited, you have first amendment, you have right to free speech, but there are limits on free speech. And the example we always use, you can't walk into a theater and yell, fire. There's not really a fire. And then people run and injure themselves and create a stampede. You cannot do that. Limits on free speech.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:or nowadays like he's got a gun in a theater again, like that would be
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yeah. You can't do it. So some of this stuff gets really fact specific, I think. I think you're the civil war thing. this is the, again, the law according to Phil, but if I'm an avid Twitter user and I'm, I want to post something political and I think that the United States is so divided. I think I can, speak in, in, in metaphor. and say, okay, this will cause a civil war. This is like a civil war. This will cause a civil war. Surely that's not the same as what this one guy did, in England and in the UK, a British judge, gave this 26 year old guy jail time. Tell me if you think you agree with this. Sentenced to 38 months for urging rioters to set fire to hotels, housing migrants.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah, and so Speaking we're just still talking about X here. first saw this reported by so many people who We're not being truthful about what this guy did. They would, they showed things he said online, not him urging rioters to set fire to hotels, housing migrants, just him saying general like racist and anti immigration things, right? Which I'm against. don't think that's a good thing for him to say, but nothing about him actually urging people to go set fire. They're like, wow, The UK has such, like you don't have free speech anywhere in the uk. You can't say these things. It's no. He was telling people to set other people to wanna fire, which is crazy. should go to jail.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yeah, now it's, and to be clear about this is like if somebody has a gun, okay, your friend has a gun, and you're in some kind of quasi heated argument, and you tell your friend, Bill, Bill shoot that guy, you, just to be clear, you, it's like you held the gun in Texas. you are, you are the same as the murderer, right? Now there may be some interesting defenses is why I didn't really mean to shoot him. I was like, no, your friend's got a gun. he has a gun. You're in a heated debate. You tell Bill to shoot him. You better shoot him. you give the instruction, the guy who orders the assassination is as guilty as murder as the assassin. Now that's the same, the idea that's being the same thing. if you get on social media and you tell Bill, Bill go, you DM Bill, your friend, or you just post, Hey Bill, go over there and shoot that guy. You have committed murder. that's the line of. Of thinking that is different than I think what Elan is doing. it's different if you're voicing a political opinion,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:agreed.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:different than if you actually, call the arms, you talk about a treason, everybody lets meet in the town square and assault the government building. Yeah, that, that's a different thing. And by the way, that's what they tried to accuse Trump of doing in the January 6th riots. Is, Trump actually called them to arms and that, that hasn't worked out for them for other reasons. That hasn't worked out for the prosecution for other reasons. That has to do more with a recent Supreme court ruling on official acts, but that's beyond the scope of this show. So final question, Austin, because we're talking about guns in Twitter. Do you, are you offended or do you think it's appropriate if. You use an emoji that looks like an actual gun.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:No,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay. So I saw a re a recent chart of the different emoji guns that have been used by social media company. Have you seen this chart?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I have It was
_1_08-22-2024_142435:so it's like everyone has gone from real guns all the way to now it's a Nerf gun, except Twitter or X still has the real gun. Are you okay with that? you, are, you think you ought to be able to select an emoji real gun? Yeah.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I think you should be able to select an emerging real gun, but also. I don't care. I don't care enough to get all up in arms about this. I think people choosing their battles is an art that few understand and follow nowadays. Like people just want to get mad about absolutely everything. And I just, I think picking your battles will make your voice have a lot more impact.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:I tend to side with Austin on that one from a free speech standpoint. I think if you want to use a real gun in your emoji, I think you can. where do you draw the line? pretty soon, you're a Star Wars fan, Austin, They're going to stop letting you use lightsaber emojis, right? So
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah. For some reason, people don't see and have a problem with swords ever. I don't know, but
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yeah, a sword can kill you too. I'm going to tell you that right now, obviously. All right, let's go ahead and move on. There is not really anything to update on the Elon Musk story. who knows where that goes. He's going to do something else crazy and then we'll talk about it,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:sure he will, but I still want a Cybertruck because I think they look so stupid that I just need to get one.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yeah, I'm not a fan of cybertrucks, but all right, let's answer some legal questions. Okay, the first one we've got is how can landlords legally handle abandoned property in Texas? have you ever dealt with sort of residential property where the tenant just leaves and abandoned some stuff?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:not. I have not.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:it's actually not that interesting, but it happens every so often. If you're a landlord, and you've got a tenant, usually you have a tenant not paying rent, and the tenant just leaves and leaves a bunch of furniture and stuff. The question is what do you do with it? it is, I've never had a situation with abandoned property, and I own a property management company as well, and I've owned real estate over the years. I've never had a situation where a tenant has abandoned anything valuable. usually I just throw the stuff away because there's a provision in the lease I use. where it says you can throw it away. But the most common lease that we use is TR Lease, Texas Association of Realtors Lease. it says abandonment occurs when, okay, the tenants, breached the lease, not paying rent, landlord, you delivered a notice and, the landlord has to take, you have to take your notice and you have to fix a fix it on the inside of the door, giving some type of notice of abandonment. And then about two days, you can then say the property is abandoned. and then if the tenant leaves personal property there, you can just throw it away in the trash or landfill, which is what I recommend you do if you don't want a bunch of hassle, this is also a lot of people. Don't realize this. All of your stuff, Austin, if you were in your apartment right now, as much as you like your stuff, assuming you don't have valuable artwork, assuming you don't have jewelry, yeah. Your stuff is probably worth almost nothing on the secondary market.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Sure.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:So I'm pretty comfortable throwing this stuff away. That's what you, that's what you should do. If you happen to have valuable stuff, if you're a landlord and you find valuable stuff, it's never going to happen, but it's gold at the end of the rainbow or something like that, then there is a process in the property code for selling it and going through those procedures. It's a big hassle. I don't recommend it. If, especially if your tenant leaves one, one TV, something like that, you think it's valuable, it leaves it is the stuff really is invaluable. Just throw it away. That's the practical advice here. if you really want to go through the painful process of taking possession and following the property code of valuable property, you can do that. But I, I don't recommend it,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Hmm.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:not a lot to that question, but it was, I think it's a good question because it does happen a lot. And we're doing more evictions now than ever. Evictions are way up. Tenants are abandoning a property. So if you're a landlord out there and you've got a tenant leaving, you That's how you do it. All right. Next question. Short sales. Do you know what a short sale is? You made a joke about it's not a house for short people
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:It's like when a property is underwater in their mortgage, right? Like the mortgage is worth more than
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:is valued at and you sell it for less than the mortgage is,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah. it's really hard to get that to work. and I think. It does happen sometimes, but it hasn't happened in a while because we've had raised, we've had real estate prices have been so high and there's been such a short shortage of supplies, a short of inventory that it would be really hard for you to get upside down in a house right now. Although it's going, if if you bought at the top of the market, if somebody's out there, they bought at the top of the market, you bought right, like at the end of 2022 or 2023, something like that. And then, prices have corrected. You could be in a situation. You're the price of your home would have you'd have to have bought the thing really wrong, which hopefully you didn't because they're supposed to have an appraisal. So you would have had to buy it really wrong. You've had to have a bad appraiser and then you might be in a situation where it's underwater. So
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:would be bad. It's things to be underwater.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:yes. And as Austin correctly points out, underwater means the value of your home is lower Then your mortgage balance. So you owe more than the house is worth. That happened a lot in 2008 subprime crisis. And we saw a ton of short sales then, and the banks don't really want the properties back and what's happening there. if a bank has to. Take the property back and do a foreclosure process, then that's expensive for the bank. The bank typically doesn't want it. Their costs associated with it. The bank has to, pay for maintenance for upkeep. The bank has to pay transaction fees for reselling the property. The bank would often love to just, work with the borrower and get these things, off, off the books and the bank will agree to take less. on their loan. Now if you're going to do that, you want to make sure that the bank agrees to absolve you of the balance out. So you don't want the bank to give you permission to sell it and then say, and the bank come around and say, okay, now you still owe the bigger amount on the loan.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah, that would not be good. Don't do that.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:no. And, Here's the other problem. If you get into one of these situations, and I think, I don't have a crystal ball, but if real estate takes a turn on us and you're in one of these situations, if you go through a short sale, you're upside down, bank approves a short sale. if the bank forgives the debt, which is good, you want the bank to forgive the debt, that's going to be taxable income to you as debt forgiveness. So a lot of people were absolutely surprised and slammed to find out that they got a notice from the IRS because the lender filed a, I think it's a 1099 for debt forgiveness. The IRS got, gets that informational return. And then the, you get this big tax bill for like a hundred or two, whatever you got forgiven in, in, in income. That's a really bad name. Cause you're like, I lost my house and now I've got this huge tax bill. So this, a lot of people that have only been practicing, in the last three or four years or five, 10 years, whatever, they've, they don't remember the pain of the 2008, subprime crisis and that's all this going on. And by the way, this is, this could start happening a little bit with commercial real estate now, Austin, because you're seeing a lot of office space get absolutely hammered. Now you're seeing, multifamily, a lot of multifamily foreclosures start to, go bad. So you're going to see lenders working with. property owners and borrowers a little bit more. And you could see some of this stuff. You're already seeing some of this stuff work out with commercial real estate, which hasn't been as supported as a, as residential real estate. So, that's short sales and we used to do a lot of that. So maybe that comes back. I don't want it to come back. I don't wish that on anybody. But as attorneys, if you've gone through as many cycles as I have in the real estate market, you're going to, I remember during to go back to 2008, Austin or 2009 or 10 or 11, 12, we were doing the, we were doing so many foreclosures that the state bar kind of stopped and put out a, some educational material and started doing seminars and teaching attorneys how to do foreclosures. Because there was such a demand to do foreclosures. Have you done any foreclosures yet? or not yet.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah. So it was like between, it was going on. for a while we were doing foreclosures. all right. That brings us to, uh, favorite part of the show, rant and rave section. I saw this, I did not know, we don't know if we're mispronouncing it, Nassau County, it's in New York state. they instituted a mask ban. Now, when I first heard about this, I thought, gosh, they, the, the liberals in New York have gone the exact opposite direction. there was a point where, Biden was putting on two masks during COVID, wear two or three or four of those things, and. Everybody on the East Coast, they were, beating people up who weren't wearing a mask. I thought, my goodness, they've gone the opposite direction. Now they're passing laws that don't want people to wear masks, but that's not what this was about.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:blows my mind that our country is so polarized that that is just a health thing was political like again And I think like the general consensus is we didn't even know if that actually helped at that point
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I just like I hate that. It's just a political thing If someone's wearing a mask now, you know their political identification instantly. It's just crazy But
_1_08-22-2024_142435:I still see him with masks on. I just think that,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:different than asia, right? Because in asia, like you would wear a mask if you were sick way before covet, right? It was just a Yeah, it's just normal, but yeah,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:It's a courtesy because I think there is some evidence that it does stop your sickness from spreading to other people, but it doesn't actually keep you from getting sick, I think is what. is what they've decided. That's the most recent thing. we'll see if Anthony Fauci wants to come on the show and we'll ask him where he's finally settled on that issue.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:now, yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:All right, so this has nothing to do with medical masks. This is about masks that people are wearing to go commit crimes, like menacing masks, like face masks, like ski masks, things like that. Now, I, you don't live in Houston, Austin, but I do. and I can tell you that it's not unusual to pull up to a gas station in Houston or be in some, CD part of town. And I, and there are parts of Houston where if I were to take a wrong turn in, I would have a high likelihood of just getting murdered like immediately. But I'm not even talking about those really bad parts. I'm just talking about, you could be getting gas on Westheimer or I 10 and you could just see a dude in a, riding his bike around in a ski mask. It turns out that's not actually illegal because, you're allowed to wear masks, right? but wouldn't you think that guy's up to no good?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Maybe he would. sometimes when opposing counsel shows up wearing a ski mask, I always object, but the judge allows them. It's crazy. Yes,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Did I told you about the, when I was leaving on a road trip this summer that I was struck by lightning, right? I told you about that. Okay. So for our listeners who don't know, I was not like physically struck by lightning. I was driving my car on a road trip and I'm going past downtown Houston And it was like a storm, but it wasn't a bad storm. And just boom, my whole car is struck by lightning and I'm engulfed in this white light. And the car like starts malfunctioning and I like limp off. The freeway into this neighborhood in East Houston. And I was at first I was just shocked of literally, I was shocked, I was struck by
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:you were shocked.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:but then once I realized that, okay, no one's injured at this point and we're all okay, there's something called a Faraday cage, if you don't know what that is, look it up at the Faraday cage, I think the guy's name was Michael Faraday that protected us and we were okay until we pulled into a neighborhood in East Houston. And I quickly looked around and noticed that it was a really bad neighborhood. and I'm not joking. There was a guy, I don't think he was stealing the car, but he was working on his car with a ski mask on and a pistol in his belt, and I'm like looking at him, is he stealing it? Is he working on it? He's going to come after me. And you just, in places like Houston, you just see people wear masks all the time. another example, do you have, do you, or do you believe in security cameras, Austin, do you like security cameras?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:in security was like a,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:d let me.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:they exist. I do. I do believe
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Okay. okay. Okay. Mr. Okay, Mr. Lawyer. let me re, let me rephrase the question.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yes, I do. I do believe in the use of security cameras.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:do you believe that they're effective as a crime deterrent?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:as a crime deterrent. Yes. Yeah. I think they're
_1_08-22-2024_142435:See,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:crime.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:I don't. And here's why every time I watched the local news in Houston that there's, they always have the cameras and we're watching the guys just last night I was watching again, they just drive the cars through like the vape shops,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Huh.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:vape shops. cell phone stores, and the one last night was a gun store, and they just, they steal the car, they drive it through the window, and they all get out, they all get out, and they're all in masks, and they're covering their tattoos, and
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:guess that makes sense. Yeah. Cause for instance, the security camera would deter me from committing the crime, but it's also not something I would do anyways. So people who would commit crimes, like maybe the, like Delta between people who would already would commit crimes, but then the people who wouldn't commit the crimes. If the cameras are there is very small. I get what you're saying.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:I'm so tired, this is the rant, I am so tired of watching thieves and criminals in Houston steal things, And then the local news, they put it up and they're like, if you know these people, please help us catch them. And all their tattoos are covered. They're all in masks and we never catch anybody. So we're just constantly watching videos of masked people drive cars into stores.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:So here's where I'm going with this. And Austin, I think you'd be a smart enough criminal to cover up all your tattoos. And wear the mask, but what's, what's
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:for me considering I don't have any, but yes.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:right, what's going on in Houston? This is what I believe is what's happening in Houston. Everybody in Houston who's up to no good is like on their bike, driving around their cars in their ski masks. Like waiting for an opportune time to commit the crime. and we can't do anything about it. they're in their hoodies and they're in their masks. And we just, Oh, they're not breaking the law yet. So it's a dangerous place that, the mayor of Houston, we elected this new mayor. I think the guy's name is John Whitmire. And he actually was quoted. They're the nicest neighborhood. One of the nicest neighborhoods in river is in Houston is River Oaks. He was actually talking about how bad the, he was just elected. He was talking about how bad the crime was in Houston. And he actually said that he didn't feel safe. He's I don't feel safe going down to my Kroger over on West Gray in River Oaks. And we're, and I'm thinking, I'm like, dude, you're the mayor. You can do something about this.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:can,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:And everyone's,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:crazy.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:everyone started making fun of him. they did do something about it in, in Nassau County, up in New York, they banned all the masks. So now if you're wearing a mask, you can be arrested. I think this is a great idea. What, Austin, what do you think? this is a first amendment. You're right to wear a mask and express yourself, verse everybody out there in, in my city, in Houston. Now, Dallas isn't near as bad. maybe downtown Dallas may be like a 10 percent as bad as places in Houston, but come on, help me out, Austin. Don't you think we should pass a law that says you can't wear masks
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Yes, considering I see that the New York Civil Liberties Union is criticizing it. Yes, I think we should pass that law everywhere,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:everywhere? we can have exceptions. we can have exceptions, right?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:if it's a medical mask.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:good
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Like I'm fine with a Hijab? I'm fine with religious mass. I'm fine with medical mass. If you want to wear a medical mask, I think there should be valid exceptions. and I'm a big proponent of this law living in a place like Houston. And I think that's my rant. The city has gotten so dangerous that I think we absolutely ought to ban masks. And I'm hearing Austin is a hundred percent on board for backing me on this one, right?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:Absolutely on board, yes.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Good. I'm glad we've, I'm glad we've settled that, that detail. This was introduced by Republicans in New York. Does that surprise you, Austin?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:No, it doesn't surprise me because for some reason a lot of people on the left seem to have some sort of weird idea that it's totally fine to just go out and commit like crimes that they're not going to prosecute. And it's like, what's the point of even having a law then? I just, I don't get it.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:thousand dollar fine could result a year in jail and a thousand dollar fine for domestic. I think that's a little harsh.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:yeah. It's just like the fact that the New York civil liberties union, Okay, violation of civil liberties, but said they say specifically the right to anonymous speech. Okay. I can vibe with that. I get that. And peaceful protest. Okay. If you're peacefully protesting, do you need a mask? like that, that,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Yeah.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:does it. I don't understand that unless there's a scenario where You are worried that, and yes, police can do this at times, right? Like where you're worried that there's going to be, tear gas or something, sent to disperse peaceful protesters, then you might need a gas mask or something like that. Sure. But aside from that scenario, why would you need a mask for peaceful
_1_08-22-2024_142435:No, but I, if I were to play the devil's advocate, And say let's say you wanted to support Palestinians and anti Israel, But you didn't want me to know that. because if you were to go,
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I get it. I get it. I didn't want my employee to know, but yes, I understand. I understand all that. Yeah.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:that's because if I see you, if I see you over there, in an anti Israel rally, I'm going to fire you. So if you have the mask on, if you have the mask on, I don't think, I don't think that's legal. I don't think, I don't think you can fire someone for maybe, I'm not sure, but that can be another legal question.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:I think you can, I think you can fire someone for being involved in a protest like that,
_1_08-22-2024_142435:Is that right?
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:with. Because I think it's just the same thing as if, people are tweeting things that are contrary to the views and, the perspective of the company and what the company wants to be sending out. I know Google's fired people for that. I think any company could do it.
_1_08-22-2024_142435:There you go. All right. 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. 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, email us at info at silblawfirm. com. I N F O at Silb, S I L B like boy law firm. com. Tell us you want it publicly answered in the podcast. We will do our best. Thanks everybody. Have a great rest of your day and weekend.
austin_2_08-22-2024_142437:okay. Bye.
