Should Deborah Jeane Palfrey"Washington Madam" allowed to sell client phone records and business records?
Palfrey has argued that she needed to sell the records to pay for her mounting defense bills.
Prosecutors filed a motion to stop Palfrey, 50, from selling the records, which contain contact information from up to 15,000 former clients. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler granted a temporary restraining order and set a hearing on the matter for Monday.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/law/03/16/madam.
Answer:
Why not it is OK for the media to publicize those who use prostitutes. She has no profession license requiring protection of her clients. The phone numbers could constitute an invasion of their privacy particularly if those numbers are currently not public. The releasing of selective names could be using as a part of a smear campaign, but release of the whole unaltered list may well be her option. In any event they will be used by someone for political gain at some point.
No. To sell those records without prior written consent of her clientele should constitute an invasion of their privacy.
Whether it will be seen that way or not by the court is dependent on case law, I'm sure. I'm just speaking from a point of logic.
When someone knowingly participates in or solicits the services of a criminal enterprise, they should really not expect a real strong moral compass to govern the actions of the criminal enterprise. I would say that through their voluntary and willful association, the "clients" should not have any expectation to privacy or confidentiality.
I think that her selling her "client list" is no more illegal than the DMV selling the Names and addresses of licensed drivers to insurance companies, or law enforcement selling names of arrested suspects or persons who have received citations to attorneys.
I believe that a judgment against her "right to sell" client lists would be a slippery slope, opening all kinds of government agencies and private corporations to civil litigation.
comon, lets be fair about this ,she should NOT be allowed to See her list, as it would no doubt embarrass a lot of politicians and we certainly don't want that they should be above the law, not like the rest of us peon's who if we just bend the so called laws we will be serving time in the big house, a prostitute asked me " WHY DO POLITICIANS PAY FOR HER SERVICES, AND THE NEXT DAY GO INTO SESSION AND VOTE AGAINST PROSTITUTION"? " that was a question I found hard to answer on a legal foundation so I conclude it must be a case of shame, what is your reasoning on this ?
Does this violate the Freedom of Infornation Act?
why not?
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