Mark Fiorino

The Incident

February 13, 2011 Mark Fiorino, age 25, was stopped in Philadelphia by a police officer for carrying a holstered, 40 caliber Glock, in plain view on his left hip.  The officer drew his own weapon, defensively aimed at Mr. Fiorino’s chest and asked “Yo, Junior… what are you doing?” The officer did not identify himself as a police officer, but did tell Mr. Fiorino that his name was Sergeant Michael Dougherty, when asked.  Sergeant Dougherty called for backup, ordered Mr. Fiorino to his knees, and finally ordered him to lay face down.  Through the course of verbal directives, orders, and unprofessional language on the part of the police officers involved, it was discovered that Mr. Fiorino had been voice recording the entire incident.  The police did not confiscate the voice recorder, nor was he arrested for recording the incident, however, and forty minutes after Sergeant Dougherty drew his weapon, Mr. Fiorino was released. 

What We Can All Be Saving NOW

The Power of Madison Avenue: How the Lie Dances Around the Truth

The right to informed consent is defined as “the agreement by a person to a proposed course of conduct after the lawyer has communicated adequate information and explanation about the material risks of and reasonably available alternatives to the proposed course of conduct.” In re Collmar, 417 B.R. 920, 923 (Bankr, N.D. Ind. 2009).  And although is should apply to all interactions in which the individual is or can be subjected to abuse by entities and corporations that have power to harm them, it only applies to “medical procedures.”  For everything else, we have to depend on watchdog organizations, government regulators and corporate disclosure.