An Avenger, on the Defensive

C M Y K Nxxx,2013-07-31,B,001,Bs-4C,E1 S.& P. 500 1,685.96 U 0.63 Media A former analyst is charged in con- SportsWednesday D Pages 11-15 Dow industrials 15,520.59 1.38 Gains for ABC nection with the SAC case. 3 Nasdaq composite 3,616.47 U 17.33 David Muir and his col- One More Day 10-yr. Treasury yield 2.61% U 0.01 leagues beat “NBC Nightly With sales picking up, Chrysler’s McNabb is among those The euro $1.3262 D 0.0002 News” last week. 5 net income rises 16 percent. 5 returning, and retiring. 11 N B1 WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2013 Inequality JPMorgan Looks to Pay to Settle U.S. Inquiries Warrantless By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG only $1.6 million. In America: and BEN PROTESS JPMorgan is bracing for an even larger Cellphone JPMorgan Chase is pulling out its penalty stemming from shoddy mortgage checkbook to help mend frayed relation- securities it sold to the government. In a Tracking The Data ships with the government. sign that JPMorgan is struggling to pla- But its new and conciliatory approach cate some authorities, people briefed on — a departure for the bank and its leader, the matter said, a housing regulator re- Is Upheld Is Sobering Jamie Dimon, who generally has taken a cently rejected an offer the bank made to hard line with the authorities — is yielding settle those claims. By SOMINI SENGUPTA The good news is that Presi- mixed results. Government officials, The bank is also quietly courting offi- dent Obama appears to have de- stung by the bank’s past displays of hu- cials from the Securities and Exchange In a significant victory for law cided to devote the rest of his bris, may drive up the price of settle- Commission, which is investigating the enforcement, a federal appeals presidency to trying to tackle the ments, or worse, resist the overtures alto- bank’s multibillion-dollar trading loss in court on Tuesday said that gov- forces behind the yawning ineq- gether. London last year, the people say. It is un- ernment authorities could ex- uities that have ham- The hefty payouts started on Tuesday clear whether the S.E.C. investigators are tract historical location data di- EDUARDO strung social and eco- when JPMorgan struck a $410 million set- receptive to JPMorgan’s advances. rectly from telecommunications nomic mobility, erod- tlement with the nation’s top energy reg- The bank’s new approach comes down, carriers without a search war- PORTER ing the living stand- ulator, which had accused the bank of de- at least in part, to dollars and cents. While rant. ards of the middle vising “manipulative schemes” to trans- the settlements are expensive, they pale The closely watched case, in ECONOMIC class. SCENE form “money-losing power plants into in comparison to the sort of legal bills that the United States Court of Ap- The bad news is powerful profit centers.” The agreement come with long — and embarrassing — le- peals for the Fifth Circuit, is the that he may not be up to the task. was a record fine for the Federal Energy gal battles. RICHARD DREW/ASSOCIATED PRESS first ruling that squarely address- Consider the ideas he outlined Regulatory Commission, whose most re- The conciliatory tack also reflects a Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase is trying es the constitutionality of war- during his speech at Knox Col- cent settlement with a big bank totaled Continued on Page 4 to mend relationships with regulators. rantless searches of historical lo- lege last week. Some are old. cation data stored by cellphone Some are new. Some are good, service providers. Ruling 2 to 1, some less so. But the main prob- the court said a warrantless lem with the set is that the politi- search was “not per se unconsti- cally feasible — those that he ar- tutional” because location data ticulated with the most specifici- was “clearly a business record” ty — are the least likely to change and therefore not protected by the nation’s economic dynamics. the Fourth Amendment. Connecting the nation’s The ruling is likely to intensify schools to broadband is a good legislative efforts, already bub- idea. So is tweaking the tax code bling in Congress and in the to help ordinary Americans save states, to consider measures to for retirement. require warrants based on prob- Measured against what the able cause to obtain cellphone lo- president called “the forces that cation data. have conspired against the mid- The appeals court ruling dle class for decades,” however, sharply contrasts with a New they are less than overwhelming. Jersey State Supreme Court opin- The president’s most powerful ion in mid-July that said the po- proposals, by contrast — includ- lice required a warrant to track a ing investment in infrastructure, suspect’s whereabouts in real a higher minimum wage and uni- time. That decision relied on the New Jersey Constitution, where- as the ruling Tuesday in the Fifth Circuit was made on the basis of Inequities that the federal Constitution. The Supreme Court has yet to demand more than a weigh in on whether cellphone location data is protected by the president’s words. Constitution. The case, which was initially brought in Texas, is not expected to go to the Su- preme Court because it is “ex versal preschool for 4-year-olds — remain as unlikely as ever to Continued on Page 8 emerge from the nation’s partisan divide. Many opponents simply reject Mr. Obama’s basic premise. Some researchers on the right of Trade Fight the political spectrum argue that inequality is not, in fact, gaping. Others contend that middle class Over Solar stagnation is a myth concocted FRED R. CONRAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES by the left to justify retro govern- Steven Donzinger won an $18 billion judgment against Chevron for fouling the environment in Ecuador. ment activism à la 1970s. Benefits After the president’s speech, the conservative blogger James Pethokoukis of the American En- A Bystander terprise Institute posted on Twit- An Avenger, on the Defensive ter: “I feel like I am in Middle- By DIANE CARDWELL earth hearing about return of Sauron.” The long-running trade con- Lawyer Who Beat Chevron in Ecuador Faces a Trial of His Own flicts over solar panels between The problem is that weaving China and the United States and modest policy proposals through By CLIFFORD KRAUSS Europe have sown dissatisfaction the tiny spaces allowed by the na- all around, leaving many manu- tion’s partisan stalemate is un- Steven R. Donziger — environmental hero or charla- facturers of solar materials com- likely to bear much fruit. A better tan, depending on whom you talk to — is one of the toughest plaining that the market is still strategy might be to articulate — lawyers around, or slightly crazy. unfair. forcefully — the nature of the Possibly both. But one country not involved in problem and build a political con- For the last two decades Mr. Donziger has been bat- the disputes has already bene- sensus that would ultimately lead tling the Chevron Corporation over an environmental disas- fited from them and, with Satur- to long-delayed changes to Amer- ter that happened in the jungles of Ecuador. Two years ago, day’s agreement between China ican society. he won an $18 billion case against the oil giant, the kind of and the European Union, stands It could go something like this: victory that most lawyers can only dream of. to benefit again: Taiwan. The United States remains But Chevron has yet to pay a penny of the award, and has turned the tables on him. Now, he is defending himself Last October, after finding that among the richest countries in Chinese companies were receiv- the world. National income per against a Chevron lawsuit charging that he masterminded a conspiracy to extort and defraud the corporation. The trial ing unfair government subsidies person trails only that of Norway, and selling their merchandise be- Luxembourg, Singapore, Switz- is scheduled for October. Across a table in his two-bedroom apartment on the RODRIGO BUENDIA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES low the cost of production, the erland and Hong Kong. Yet de- United States imposed tariffs of spite its riches, in many areas the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Mr. Donziger for the first time in recent years spoke publicly about the personal tra- ous following among environmentalists. He and his sup- roughly 24 to 36 percent on im- United States looks surprisingly, porters say he is being vilified — potentially ruined — for ported Chinese panels. But the depressingly backward. vails that he says have engulfed him. He says shadowy men have trailed him. Watched his family. Sat in cars outside his unmasking Chevron’s questionable environmental record. ruling included a major loophole; Infant and maternal mortality Chevron, which is suing him and his associates for damages it applied only to panels made are the highest among advanced home. He had his apartment swept for bugs, but found noth- ing. that could reach billions of dollars, says he is simply a con from Chinese solar cells, the final nations. So is the mortality rate of artist. major components that are as- children under the age of 20. Life All of that might sound like the ravings of a Grade A It is a remarkable turn of events for Mr. Donziger, who sembled into finished modules. expectancy — at birth and at age conspiracy theorist. But Mr. Donziger, who played basket- ball with Barack Obama at Harvard Law School, has a seri- Continued on Page 2 Many manufacturers were 60 — is among the lowest.

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