Mat Hew
@hotairmat
Just some he/him dude.
Can't write the conclusion any better than Justice Vigil: "Despite her unresolved medical crisis, Dr. Vaskas, without authorization, ambushed Defendant, bringing with her two-armed officers who stood in the doorway of her hospital room, and disclosed her personal medical information to all...
Court says whether a patient has the physical and mental capacity to waive dr.-patient privilege is a question of fact that should be remanded to the district court to analyze. But the facts here are so shocking that they aren't going to. 13/?
Court also emphasizes that the doctor didn't have any interest in informing her patient of her life-threatening medical condition until the cops got there to act as witnesses [does this doctor still have a medical license? WTAF]. 12/?
I had been focusing on the fact that this 19yo was clearly in the middle of a highly traumatic event, sought medical care, and instead apparently found a cop with a medical degree and a vendetta. The supremes point out that the hospital also had her drugged to the gills before anyone spoke with her.
Court goes through some background on privilege, then distills a rule that dr.-patient privilege can be waived, but the patient must have the capacity to waive the privilege and must do so voluntarily. 10/?
Next, the State makes the (still rejected by the Court but a whole lot more legally defensible) argument that because the 19yo could see the cops in the room when she made her statements to the doctor, she waived her privilege.
Supremes want no part in that. The mandatory reporting statute requires medical personnel to alert law enforcement that they have a suspicion of abuse so law enforcement can do their thing. It does *not* turn doctors into investigators with open files the moment they suspect anything. Because duh.
Looks like the State is making the *insane* [feel free to argue if you think this is legally defensible, but WTF] argument that because doctors are mandatory reporters, mothers who have just given birth and are suspected of child abuse aren't entitled to confidential communications with their dr.s.
Looks like the supremes are going to dodge the Miranda issue, but to me, it seems fairly obvious the statements of a 19yo stuck in a hospital bed in the middle of a medical emergency surrounded by a doctor and cops blocking the door confronting her about a dead baby may have been a Miranda issue.
Defense moves to suppress the statements to the dr/cops, and the district court agrees that she was detained but not mirandized and that her statements were covered by Dr.-patient confidentiality even though there were others in the room. State appealed. 5/?
19yo tells the doctor with the cops in the room that she panicked. They arrest her. And then the doctor tells her *for the first time* that she's in the middle of a medical emergency and needs to be airlifted to another hospital. 4/?
Dr. didn't tell her she was pregnant (in fact left her hooked up to morphine and other meds for nearly an hour after finding out she was pregnant), didn't tell her that she was pending an urgent transfer because of her bleeding. WAITED FOR THE COPS, then took the cops into her room to confront her.
Cliffnotes: 19yo went to the hospital, said she didn't know she was pregnant, had a baby that she said was stillborn, panicked, left the baby in the bathroom in a trash can, and went back to her room. 2/?
That's not "unanswered." That's the people pushing this technology didn't get the answer they wanted.
Here to request that every news article on SCOTUS conclude this way for the foreseeable future:
What is BFP? You gotta flip back to the glossary of abbreviations in the introduction, complete with an explanation of who the United is, even though the entire opinion is a detailed explainer on the United and their stadium 😆.
New NM COA opinion that is I'm sure interesting if you're into city planning. I made it through about the first paragraph, lol (bottom line, the United stadium is good to go). I'm gonna start referring to Fiesta as "the beloved Fiesta" from now on though. coa.nmcourts.gov/wp-content/u...
Someone pointed out the crowd are all taking pictures of the balloons, and the balloonists are all taking pictures of the sun (none of which do it justice) 😆
Loads of forest fires make breathing somewhat of an adventure, but the smoke sure does make a pretty sunset.
The NM COA ruled that emailing yourself CSAM is "copying by any means" and is therefore manufacturing. They also dropped a footnote suggesting that maybe the act of downloading CSAM is manufacture. coa.nmcourts.gov/wp-content/u...