South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 2, November, 1982 Page: 2 of 8
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Pa ge 2 - ANNOTATIONS - November 1982
by PJ. Rita
For those of you out there who
had any doubts that the rich are
different, are treated differently
by the agencies of government,
that there are two sets of laws, one
for the rich and another for the
poor and middle class, then here is
a lesson in law for the few of you
who remain as yet skeptical.
Recently, ten of the richest oil
companies in the United States
were judged by GAO and other
investigatory agencies, to have de-
frauded the American people of
some one thousand eight hundred
million dollars in illegal oil prices.
Now one would expect the equal
protection of the laws — and their
equal application — but this was
not so.
Somewhere in its infinite
wisdom (for reasons not revealed
to the plebs), the government
asked for the return of only 200
million of this dishonest 1.8 bill-
ion dollars. Crime does not pay if
you are poor or middle class. If
you are big enough, steal greatly
enough, have high powered law-
yers to speak double talk and
dishonestly to these agencies,
crime indeed does pay to the tune
of 1.6 billion dollars. Now this,
mind you, is simply stolen money
which these conglomerates have
been allowed to keep.
Eat your heart out, Socrates
Now here is a lesson for all of
you honest suckers out there. If
any of you owed the IRS
$1,800.00 in, say, a tax deficiency
and offered to pay $200 as pay-
ment in full for the amount owed,
what do you think would happen
to you? That, I surmise, I can
safely leave to your imagination.
But hold on, sports fans, there's
more. If the IRS found out you
did it intentionally, fraudulently
and dishonestly, they would ask
the court before whom they would
drag you pronto, for what is
known as punitive damages, that
is, double or tripple the amount
owed ($3,600 or even $5,400).
But, again, if you are big enough
like Exxon, Texaco and Shell, you
simply get a government rebate
for dishonesty (paid for, by the
way, by you, suckers).
And hold on again. I promise
this is the last point before we can
all go to a corner and barff. If the
same IRS caught you defrauding
the government intentionally and
willfully, there would be criminal
penalties to pay as well. In other
words, sports fans, you'll get 1-5
years in the slammer.
So we ignorantly and naively
ask what president, vice president
or Board of Directors of Exxon,
Shell or Texaco has gone to jail?
None, you say? You are right of
MENS FORMALS
Your Tuxedo Specialist
DOWNTOWN
1402 Main at Clay
Phone 652-2039
SHARPSTOWN
7601 Dashwood
Phone 270-6560
NORTH FREEWAY (1-45)
10998 North Freeway
Phone 445-1898
GULF FREEWAY
6326 Gulf Freeway
Phone 640-2332
10% Discount on All Tuxedo Rentals to
Law Students with I.D. Cards
course. And more to the point,
these thieves and crooks who now
keep their ill gotten gain, are still
the respected pillars of our com-
munity and promoters of the arts
and sciences.
I know the above story well. I
teach future lawyers and prepare
"the brightest and the best," to be
advocates for these people. It
seems that some of my fornier
students have done their work
well. Not only have they kept their
clients out of jail (where they just-
ly belong) but they have enriched
them unjustly to the tune of 1.6
billion dollars (picking up along
the way, their handsome fees).
I sense no outrage in the legal
community. Why? It's done every
day just as long as you are power-
ful enough, rich enough, big
enough, and corrupt enough. The
law is made for the rich, the
powerful, the corrupt, and
lawyers are their whores.
It should therefore come as no
particular shock that in the past
decade, some 22% of American
companies have been found guilty
of bribes, illegal kickbacks, price
fixing, short weights and a variety
of other illegal activities. And
since we know that only a small
percentage of criminals are ap-
prehended and found guilty, the
final number of these people must
be left to the imagination.
But what is not imaginary is
that a country which is basically
honest in its public and private
dealings, no courts or lawyers
need save; when they are not, no
courts or lawyers can save.
Socrates was right: virtue is the
foundation of all public and
private life. I wish to hell we really
would teach the Socratic method
in law schools.
Goal of SBA to provide better services
by Lynn Cherry
If you are wondering who those
people are selling tickets to
various Student Bar Association
functions on the first floor —
those are the members of the Stu-
dent Board of Governors. This
year your Student Board of
Governors are: President Mike
Echevarría, Vice President Boots
Bukauskus, Secretary Rick
Evrard, Treasurer Doug Jueng-
ling, Senior Senators David Dee
and Mike Roe, Mid-Law Senators
Bob Frappier and Michael Jones,
and Freshmen Senators Lynn
Cherry and Brian Gonzalez.
The purpose of the Student Bar
Association is to function
somewhat as a mini-bar associa-
tion at the school. The Constitu-
tion states that the S.B.A. shall
have as one of its goals, "to foster
a closer relationship among the
student body, faculty, and ad-
ministration." All duly enrolled
students of the South Texas Col-
lege of Law shall be members of
the Student Bar Association. One
of the goals this year of the Board
of Governors is to provide ac-
tivities that the students, faculty
and administration of South
Texas can participate in. The
S.B.A. Picnic held on Saturday,
October 2nd at Spott Park was at-
tended by 200 students, their
family members, faculty mem-
bers, and members of the ad-
ministration. The 1st Annual
Halloween Ball 'at the Meridian
Hotel is projecting an attendance
of more than 500.
ANNOTATIONS
Editor Dale O'Neal, Jr.
Assistant Editors Louis Chapman
Gerri Lawrence, Cindi A. Watts
Special Articles Editor Warren St. John
Lead Articles Editor David W. Holman
Outdoors Editor Roger Bellows
Entertainment Editor Lloyd Segall
Advocate Editor Paul S. Ginsburg
Annotations is published the first day of October, November, December, February, March, April by the
students at South Texas College of Law. Copy deadline is the 15th of the previous month. Typed contributions
are solicited. Subscriptions $10 postpaid. 1303 San Jacinto, Suite 324, Houston, Texas 77002. (713) 759-9142.
Business Manager Bill McCoy
Assistant Business Mgr Kirk Oncken
Consulting Editor Lynn Cherry
Assistant to the Editor Rosemary Hines
S.B.A. Representative Michael Roe
S.B.A. President Mike Echevarría
Faculty Advisor Peter J. Riga
Boots
South Texas has an enrollment
of over 1200, but there are many
faces that are only seen walking in
and out of classes. Participation
by more students in the activities
offered could be an enhancement
to those students at a later date.
Has it ever occurred to you, that
by getting more involved in school
functions that you could have the
opportunity to meet more South
Texas students than those in your
classes? Oftentimes, other
students can give you hard-
learned lessons about classes and
professors — valuable lessons that
could possibly save you time and
worry. While attending outside
activities, it is also enlightening to
learn that some professors don't
exist on nails and the South-
western Reporter alone — they
really can be human and some
even have a marvelous sense of
humor!
Other than social functions the
S.B.A. provides other valuable
services for you. The Outline File
on the 3rd floor is open daily from
4:30 to 5:30 and can provide addi-
tional insight into some of the
professor's taste's in torture and
outlines that other students have
found helpful. For those who like
to work their frustrations out, the
S.B.A. has an excellent In-
tramural Program. During the
September 14th meeting the Board
of Governors appointed Mark
McPhail and Tom Deen to the
Honor Court. At the present time
the Student Directory is in the
process of being completed and
should be ready the first of
November. For those of you who
would like to become involved in
our new "Speaker's Hour" in
which any faculty member or stu-
dent may make a five to seven
minute speech on any topic of
their choice, more information
will be made available soon.
Your Student Board of Gover-
nors is working hard for you and
South Texas. If you have any sug-
gestions, please contact any
member of the Board or attend
one of the upcoming meetings
which will be held in Room 112 on
November 2nd, 15th or 30th. We
would enjoy seeing new faces at
the meetings or getting any sug-
gestions to help South Texas be
the best Law School possible.
Thanks for your involvement and
help!
Phi Alpha Delta's
'82 Fall Semester
starts with a Bust!
by Gerri Lawrence
Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity
began the fall semester with a Beer
Bust held at the White Horse near
the college campus. A large crowd
of P. A.D. members and guests en-
joyed the refreshments and com-
raderie that characterize most
P.A.D. events. Michael Roe,
President of P.A.D., anticipates
an even larger crowd at the
margarita party to be held in late
October at one of downtown's
favorite spots — the Mexicatessan
Restaurant on Market Square.
In addition to social activities
Phi Alpha Delta has participated
in giving programs to local high
schools on a variety of legal
topics. Many P.A.D. members
have generously given of their
time and talent to make this a
worthwhile endeavor. Other
topics of business at the last
meeting included the encourage-
ment of using the outline files held
by P.A.D. and plans to hold an
alumni-member banquet later in
the semester.
Carlos Pazos presented news of
his eventful trip to Saint Louis this
last semester when he represented
South Texas' P.A.D. chapter at
the international fraternal
meeting. In addition the members
of P.A.D. elected to contribute to
the South Texas College of Law
Halloween Ball, and thus jointly
sponsor the event with the Student
Bar Association and any other or-
ganizations that decided to
participate.
, 4v
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O'Neal, Dale, Jr. South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 2, November, 1982, newspaper, November 1982; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144408/m1/2/: accessed May 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.