The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
More on Steve Farzam, L.A. Businessman Accused of Using Forged Court Order …
to try to vanish online magazine article about him.
David Mark Simpson (The Atavist) writes about this incident, which I briefly mentioned here.
To get the Volokh Conspiracy Daily e-mail, please sign up here.
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
The work you have done on this matter — and more generally, in other cases of overbroad or unwarranted sealing orders — does you great credit as a member & teacher of the legal profession, Professor Volokh. Please carry on.
Thanks, much appreciate the kind words!
I appreciate just from the educational aspect. It’s hard for me to comprehend what drives people to such great lengths. I understand wanting to be an EMT: drives with lights and siren, save people, be a hero. But I can’t quite wrap my head around getting fake certifications just to boast about what you are not; all he gets to do is pretend he gets to drive with lights and siren, and that seems so hollow in comparison.
A really sad individual. Almost makes you wish you could get a court order telling google to put these articles at the top of the results.
I can see the justice in removing a story if someone did something stupid early in life, or as an aberration, and has otherwise lived a good life since. I would not want to be judged by every stupid thing I said or did twenty, thirty or forty years ago. There’s a reason bad credit drops off a credit score after seven years.
But that’s not the case here. This is someone who has said and done dishonest things his entire life and shows no indication of slowing down. Since the bad stuff that has been reported about him is an accurate indicator of his life now, leave it up.
Everyone does stupid things while young. There is no need to purge it or “forget” it. Unless, of course, your stupid thing was worse than most. But most isn’t.