New Jersey Institute For Continuing Legal Education
Q. My personal views of cabinet posts is that a president should generally get the cabinet he wants. I believe supreme court nominees are different and should be looked at with more detail - life can be a long time. I may have a problem with the tactics used but I generally didn't have a problem with Borking Bork. I think a president should be held to higher standards than cabinet members (irony). That said, my general view is that Baird shouldn't necessarily have been a problem nomination nor should Chavez. If there was a clear intent to commit a crime, I don't know. If a nominee was found guilty of drunk driving, are they not to be considered? Is that a lesser crime than what is alleged Chavez did? Obviously you can be found guilty of a crime and become president, vice president, and a cabinet member. But if you're suspected of one that you weren't convicted of, you're not? And you don't honestly believe that dem senators never came out in support of a nominee prior to hearings do you? Hell, dem senators have come out in support of republican nominees before the hearings.
A. And there isn't anything offensive or clearly wrong about your well-written and thoughtful post either. Except one thing: You refer to "intent," to commit a crime. Intent is a component of some crimes, and not others. The latter are called "strict liability" offenses, like drunk driving. It doesn't matter what you intended, if you commit the act, you are guilty of it. And some strict liability offenses are quite serious, others are not. Quite some time ago, the Federal Government placed significant burdens on employers to vet out illegal aliens. If you bring an alien into your home, either as a domestic, an au pair, or a guest for more than a relatively short period of time, you have legal responsibilities to investigate their status, and to file with INS, with Social Security, and with Federal and State taxation authorities. This protects taxpayers and citizens from loss of revenue AND unfair labor competition. If I hire someone I know OR SHOULD know to be an alien, I have an affirmative legal duty to confirm their status. That's the law, and it has been for a loooong time. So the next question is, what is "hiring?" I'm not an "expert" on criminal law, although I worked in that field, or matrimonial law, although I've handled a few cases. One thing I AM (at least in the minds of some authorities in New Jersey) an expert on is worker's compensation law. I teach the advanced Worker's Compensation course for the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, which trains Judges and lawyers. I also teach seminars for National Business Institute, and I've been published. Linda Chavez employed this woman, under the employment laws of every state I know of. She gave her money, room and board, the duties were recurrent, and not done for charitable purposes. You see, the wrong standards of law are being applied by both Chavez and her defenders. It's an elementary concept, really: This woman says she "felt responsible," to help out, because she was being housed. That has been construed to make her a "volunteer," rather than an employee. But there is no legal concept of "volunteer" except where a non-profit or benevolent agency is concerned, like a church or a soup kitchen. The legal test is whether she received value from Chavez (clearly, she did, in money and room and board) whether she gave value in exchange (she cleaned, babysat, etc.) whether she accepted directions or guidance as to how, where and when duties were to be performed (irrelevent in this case, as they were menial and done in her home) and whether it was recurrent (both admit it was) for duration (that has been construed as being anything more than voluntarily changing a tire on the side of the road for a stranger) and whether the work was done using the tools, equipment, or venue provided by the employer.
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