Former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio, still serving a 70 month sentence on his insider trading conviction, has sued his chief defense counsel, ex-U.S. District Court Judge Herb Stern and his firm, Stern & Kilcullen LLC (including partner Kilcullen) for negligence in representing him and for overbilling.

The firm billed Nacchio more than $25 million to defend criminal and civil matters, charging tens of thousands of dollars for staff breakfasts, attorney underwear and in-room movies during the trial in federal court in Denver, according to the complaint in state Superior Court in Newark, New Jersey.

On the negligence, Nacchio alleges: [More...]

I'll be watching the basketball. So here's an Open Thread.

Let's Go Gators!

Open Thread.

4 games are on tap tonight in the Sweet 16 portion of March Madness.

Kicking it off is the Florida-BYU game. BYU guard Jimmer Fridette is the likely Player of the Year in college basketball. His range for tonight's matchup in New Orleans begins from Lake Ponchartrain. (BTD sidebar: I was born in New Orleans.) A year ago, these two teams played a 2OT thriller in the first round of the NCAAs with The Jimmer going for 37 in leading the Cougars to the win. Both teams are markedly better this year. Another thriller in store tonight? The Law of Gus suggests so. Gus Johnson is calling the Florida-BYU game and when Gus calls a game, any game, the chance seem to rise markedly that it will be a thriller. More . . .

38 years later in 2004:

45 years later, it's Motown night on American Idol. While I'd love for one of the contestants to choose a Four Tops song and channel Levi Stubbs, I'll be glad to watch whoever they choose. The appeal of Motown is ageless and timeless and it's always fun to see it passed on to a new generation.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Government began presenting its evidence yesterday in the trial of baseball giant Barry Bonds, who is charged with making false declarations to the grand jury about steroid use and obstruction of justice.

Jeff Novitsky, former IRS agent and lead investigator in the steroid cases, was the first witness. He testified Bonds' misstatements to the grand jury hampered the investigation. One of the elements of the false statement charge is that the statement had to be material to the grand jury investigation.

Also yesterday, the Judge sent Bonds' former trainer, Gregg Anderson, back to jail for refusing to testify. He'll stay there for the duration of the trial, which is expected to last a month. [More..]

Former Georgia federal judge Jack Camp was sentenced to 30 days for his illegal drug use. As I wrote here, his lawyers argued in their sentencing memorandum that Camp had brain damage:

Camp's sentencing statement contains a plethora of mitigation, from his bi-polar disorder for which he received the wrong kind of medication, to complications from a difficult operation for prostate cancer that required the removal of his entire prostate, to a bicycle accident in 2000 that caused brain damage. Interestingly, the defense says the temporal lobe damage caused by the accident didn't affect him cognitively, it just caused him to have poorer impulse control.

So from 2000 until his resignation in 2010 (which was required by the plea agreement) this judge, who was sentencing drug defendants and others to jail, was suffering from bi-polar disorder and temporal lobe damage, as well as engaging in illegal drug activity

The disclosures by Camp's lawyers have prompted several defendants to seek to resentencing and in some cases a new trial. [More..]

Via Exeuctive Order, Florida Governor Rick Scott today ordered mandatory drug testing for newly hired state employees, and periodic testing for existing employees.

Scott issued an executive order requiring each of his agencies to amend its drug testing policy within 60 days to require pre-employment screenings of all job applicants and random testing of the existing work force.

The American Civil Liberties Union, though, pointed out that a federal judge in 2004 ruled random drug testing of most state employees was an unconstitutional violation of privacy rights.

The ACLU says in order for a drug-testing requirement to pass constitutional muster, there must be some connection to safety, or some evidence of illegal drug use.

The order may also violate labor union contracts and collective bargaining rights .[More...]

Paul Krugman discussing Yves Smith's post on Elizabeth Warren:

My general view of politics and policy is that there are no saints and no geniuses; place too much faith in anyone, and you’re bound to be let down. But there are villains, and they need to be fought.

Words to live by. And yes, this does provide me with an excuse to again post my refrain, pols are pols and do what they do:

Citing Matt Yglesias, Paul Krugman writes:

[T]he only way we’ll get any budget deal now — or, I’d say, any time in the next several years — will be if conservatives come up with an offer. And they won’t.

[. . . W]hat Republicans want is for Obama to propose [spending] cuts– and therefore to take the political heat — while they give up nothing whatsoever. Not going to happen.

(Emphasis supplied.) Krugman is entirely too sanguine about this. Time after time, the GOP's Norquist strategy has worked on Obama. The Deal in December being the most prominent. Unlike Krugman, I do not have confidence that Obama (especially with Tim Geithner being a key player) and the Dems will not propose spending cuts to key programs. After all, in the ongoing budget negotiations, they have done so already. Obama and the Dems have proven to be inept political bargainers

Speaking for me only

Elizabeth Taylor has passed away:

Elizabeth Taylor, the actress who dazzled generations of moviegoers with her stunning beauty and whose name was synonymous with Hollywood glamour, died on Wednesday of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, her publicist, Sally Morrison, told The Associated Press. She was 79.

R.I.P.

Former NY Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was sentenced to six years of probation today for to sexual misconduct and having sex with an underage prostitute.

Attorney Gloria Allred gave a press conference after the sentence, accompanied by the underage woman, whose identity up until today was kept under wraps. Gloria, of course, was unhappy Taylor wasn't sentenced to life plus cancer.

She was even more upset the judge didn't allow the accuser to read a victim impact statement in court. The judge pointed out that it's allowed only for felonies.

Allred's presser rendered Taylor's attorney, Arthur Aidala, completely apoplectic. He then took to the mike. TMZ has the video of him excoriating Allred. Allred was present during the tirade. She laughed through the whole thing.