Monday, December 25, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
The movement to impeach Trump is just beginning
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| Trump speaks about the passage of tax reform legislation |
New York Post, Opinion
By Michael Goodwin
November 24, 2017
Before you settle down for a long winter’s nap with adult visions of sugar plums, consider a key fact about the 2018 midterm elections: We already know what they’re going to be about.
Republicans, thanks to their last-minute tax triumph, will run on a pro-growth agenda. If the middle-class tax cuts work as promised, if the economy cooperates by continuing to expand by 3 percent or more and produces jobs, jobs, jobs, the GOP will have a strong message to sell.
It will need one to protect its narrow margins in Congress, especially because the majority party usually loses seats in the first midterms.
Democrats, on the other hand, have no message, no leader and nothing to brag about. That leaves a vacuum, which is being filled with one idea: impeaching President Trump.
Now if an election that pits tax cuts and job growth vs. impeachment strikes you as crazy, don’t blame me. And, truth be told, you can’t really blame Democratic Party leaders either. They aren’t so much leading their base as following it.
The "resistance" wing is taking over the party and congressional bosses Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi can either jump on the "Impeach" bandwagon — or get run over by it.
They’re capitulating already, as proven by the way Schumer and others reacted to a rumor last week that the president was going to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
Never mind that Trump denied it, and there wasn’t even an anonymous source. It was just a rumor started by one House Democrat who said somebody she knew said something about Trump, so she repeated it to the media.
On cue, the Dem lemmings rushed to the microphones and cameras to warn that Trump would face impeachment if he fired Mueller. It was a sneaky way of sounding a dog whistle without a fact to justify it.
In fact, Schumer et al. would be head over heels with joy if Trump did fire Mueller. That would give their impeachment effort gravitas and make it more appealing to independent voters and even some Republicans.
So while they were warning Trump not to fire Mueller, their hope is that he does.
Politically, all this is catnip to the party’s media handmaidens and gives them something to write about instead of the GOP success at passing tax cuts.
Their nonstop chatter, including on the late-night comedy shows, is helping the impeachment madness break the bounds of the loony left and go mainstream.
In line with other recent polls, Quinnipiac’s latest survey reports that Trump’s national approval is just 37 percent, while 50 percent of voters, including 59 percent of women, believe he should resign — and that’s just over the sexual allegations against him.
Among Democrats, Trump’s resignation was favored by a whopping 85–12 percent, while independents favored it by 52–44 percent.
These numbers are off the charts, and they explain the bosses’ emerging strategy. While they’ll decorate the campaign tree with a few other items, like raising taxes on the wealthy and climate-change scares, removing the president will be their main argument for electing a Democratic Congress.
Not incidentally, notice that the sexual allegations against Trump, although they were made before he defeated Hillary Clinton, have replaced Russia, Russia, Russia as the main justification for impeachment. While the Harvey Weinstein-Charlie Rose tsunami is part of the explanation, the other part is that Dems are giving up on Mueller finding anything significant.
Cynic though I am, I never thought the Dems would go down such a low road.
A year ago, when Trump Derangement Syndrome picked up steam after his victory, I assumed it would last six months at most, and there were times when it seemed to be petering out. The "need to impeach" ads by hedge-funder Tom Steyer struck me as a billionaire’s folly.
But I was making the same mistake about the resistance that others had made about Trump’s electability. I assumed it wouldn’t last because nothing like it ever had.
But it’s clear now that the mob-like motivation isn’t going to disappear. It’s become a steamroller force on the left.
No other idea, whether it’s Bernie Sanders’ Free Stuff agenda, or the racial-ethnic-gender quota-spoils dreams of DNC boss Tom Perez, can match the fervor of the hate-Trump movement. It’s the straw stirring the drink.
Which is what makes it so dangerous. Never in modern times has a major party used impeachment as a pure political weapon.
Yet, assuming Mueller comes up with nothing significant, that’s exactly what Democrats are planning. They will try to win with impeachment what they lost at the ballot box, effectively nullifying the 2016 election.
Which brings me to my final prediction: If you think our politics are nasty now, just wait a few months. The midterm campaign is going to be vicious and dirty beyond belief. Read more
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Veterans Day - Mad World
Mad World, Published on Jun 28, 2014 by Logan Stark
Footage from 3/5's deployment to Sangin, Afghanistan
Song: Mad World by Gary Jules
For the 25 is a documentary film by Logan Stark to memorialize 25 Marines in his unit who died during his seven-month tour in Afghanistan. More than 200 other soldiers were wounded.
On Patrol Magazine, For The 25, by Logan S. Stark
Navy Cross Citation for Sgt Matthew T. Abbate (posthumous)
USA Today, Vet's documentary honors fallen Marines
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
For 98 years, Americans have remembered those who served our country in uniform on 11 November – first as Armistice Day, and then, since 1954 as Veterans Day. In this 99th year of commemoration, the Department of Veterans Affairs is broadening that tradition of observance and appreciation to include both Veterans and Military Families for the entire month of November. President Donald J. Trump Proclaims November 2017 as National Veterans and Military Families Month.
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| Joseph Ambrose |
Wikipedia
Veterans Day is an official United States public holiday, observed annually on November 11, that honors military veterans; that is, persons who served in the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I; major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. The United States previously observed Armistice Day. The U.S. holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. Read more
Photo: World War I veteran Joseph Ambrose attends the dedication parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, killed in the Korean War.
One Veteran's Story: "You Come Back And You Just Don't Feel The Same."
ReasonTV
Published on Nov 12, 2012
Marine veteran Shane Santelli shares his story of deployment in Afghanistan. During his deployment from February to September 2010, Santelli was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED). He has suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as injuries to his spine.
Santelli shares what Veteran's Day means to him. To follow Santelli's story, check out the documentary Picking Up the Pieces. 2 minutes. Produced by Amanda Winkler. Music by Andrew Gaddy.
TEDxAmsterdam, Published on Jan 30, 2012
Peter van Uhm is the Netherlands' chief of defense, but that does not mean he is pro-war. At TEDxAmsterdam he explains how his career is one shaped by a love of peace, not a desire for bloodshed -- and why we need armies if we want peace.
Highlights from Peter van Uhm at TEDxAmsterdam
Why I chose a gun. Link to transcript
"[S]ometimes only a gun can stand between good and evil" (06:45)... "Why has violence decreased?" (09:38)... "[T]he spread of the constitutional state and the introduction, on a large scale, of the state monopoly on the legitimized use of violence -- legitimized by a democratically elected government, legitimized by checks and balances and an independent judicial system. In other words, a state monopoly that has the use of violence well under control." Read more
Injured on the battlefield, but not beaten | Captain Stephanie Verhoef | TEDxKMA
Peter van Uhm
Wikipedia
Petrus Johannes Mathias "Peter" van Uhm (born 15 June 1955) is a Royal Netherlands Army general. He served as Chief of Defence of the Armed forces of the Netherlands from 17 April 2008 until 28 June 2012. He previously served as the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army from 5 September 2005 until 13 March 2008.... Van Uhm's promotion to CHOD was accompanied by personal tragedy as, on 18 April 2008, his son First Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm was killed in a roadside bombing in Uruzgan, the southern province of Afghanistan.[3][4] A spokesman for the Taliban claimed that militants had known about his movements and had targeted him. The Dutch government rejected this claim. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in The Hague: "Our information is that there is no indication of any link between this cowardly deed and the fact that it was the son of the defense chief."[4][5]. Read more
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Wes Moore: How to talk to veterans about the war
TED, Published on May 23, 2014
Wes Moore joined the US Army to pay for college, but the experience became core to who he is. In this heartfelt talk, the the paratrooper and captain—who went on to write "The Other Wes Moore"—explains the shock of returning home from Afghanistan. He shares the single phrase he heard from civilians on repeat, and shows why it's just not sufficient. It's a call for all of us to ask veterans to tell their stories — and listen.
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Emmanuel Bernadin: Why I believe that America should bring back the draft
TED, Published on Jul 5, 2016
Emmanuel talks about his experience joining the military, as well as, his experience coming home from war. The stories of so many veterans demand our attention. Our veterans deserve better.
History of the Tuskegee Airman @8:14 and the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332d Fighter Group
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Former Phila. DA gets 5-year sentence after guilty plea
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| Seth Williams |
American Bar Association News Blog
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Posted October 25, 2017, 9:06 am CDT
Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a single count relating to accepting bribes.
U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond told Williams he had sold his office to "parasites" and humiliated employees in the DA’s office, report the Associated Press and Philly.com. Diamond said Williams’ "profound dishonesty" had to be deterred.
Diamond imposed the five-year sentence and ordered Williams to pay nearly $100,000 in forfeiture and restitution, according to the Philly.com article.
Williams had pleaded guilty during his June corruption trial to using interstate facilities to facilitate bribes from a business owner, in exchange for dismissal of 28 other charges. He had been accused of accepting gifts from two business owners, including a trip to the Dominican Republic. He was also accused of using campaign funds for business expenses and spending money that was intended to pay for his mother’s nursing home care.
During the sentencing, Williams spoke through a statement read by his lawyer. "Rather than holding myself to a higher standard, I squandered that trust placed in me," the statement said. Read more
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Statues of SCOTUS justice who wrote Dred Scott decision are removed
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| A statue of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney |
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Posted August 18, 2017
A statue of the justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision defending slavery was removed from the grounds of the Maryland State House after 145 years in a process that began just after midnight Friday.
It was the second statue of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney removed this week in Maryland, report the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. The city of Baltimore removed a statue of Taney and three Confederate monuments early Wednesday.
Maryland Senate President Thomas Mike Miller Jr. had argued that a public hearing should have been held before a decision was made on removal. Miller had argued that, though Taney had written the decision, he also freed his slaves and had spoken against the practice.
The Constitution Daily has more. Taney’s 1857 opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford held that slaves or slaves’ descendants could not be citizens. The opinion was seen as a factor helping to spur the Civil War.
African-Americans whose ancestors were brought as slaves to this country "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States," Taney wrote.
"On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them."
Before that decision, Taney’s record on slavery was mixed, according to the Constitution Daily. Taney had represented an abolitionist minister in an 1819 trial and in 1820 freed the slaves he had inherited.
On the Supreme Court, Taney joined the majority in the United States v. The Amistad decision supporting slaves who took over their slave ship. The decision found that kidnapped free Africans who were forced into slavery illegally under Spanish laws had a right to freedom.
In another case, however, Taney wrote a concurring opinion agreeing that federal fugitive slave laws applied to states that had their own laws barring the extradition of escaped slaves.
Read more
Related article:
ABAJournal.com: "Descendant of SCOTUS justice publicly apologizes for Dred Scott opinion"
Monday, August 21, 2017
Bannon Was Set for a Graceful Exit. Then Came Charlottesville.
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| Stephen K. Bannon in the Oval Office earlier this year. |
THE NEW YORK TIMES
JEREMY W. PETERS and
MAGGIE HABERMAN
AUG. 20, 2017
WASHINGTON — John F. Kelly, the new White House chief of staff, told Stephen K. Bannon in late July that he needed to go: No need for it to get messy, Mr. Kelly told Mr. Bannon, according to several people with firsthand knowledge of the exchange. The two worked out a mutually amicable departure date for mid-August, with President Trump’s blessing.
But as Mr. Trump struggled last week to contain a growing public furor over his response to a deadly, race-fueled melee in Virginia, Mr. Bannon clashed with Mr. Kelly over how the president should respond. Give no ground to your critics, Mr. Bannon urged the president, with characteristic truculence.
At the same time, New York real estate investor friends told Mr. Trump that the situation with Mr. Bannon was untenable: Steve Roth on Monday, Tom Barrack on Tuesday and Richard LeFrak on Wednesday.
By Thursday, after Mr. Bannon undercut American policy toward North Korea in an interview published by a left-leaning magazine, Mr. Trump himself had concluded that Mr. Bannon was too much of a liability.
By Friday, when he was forced from his job as Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, Mr. Bannon had found himself wholly isolated inside a White House where he once operated with such autonomy that he reported only to the president himself. Read more
- Mother of Woman Killed in Charlottesville Says She Will Not Speak to Trump
- A Guide to the Charlottesville Aftermath
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| Mayor Mike Signer spoke at the Charlottesville meeting |
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By FRANCES ROBLES
AUG. 21, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A melee broke out at the Charlottesville City Council meeting on Monday night, as activists and residents angrily took over the Council chambers and criticized the city’s response to a white supremacist gathering here that left a local woman dead.
It was the Council’s first meeting since the Aug. 11 and 12 rallies that brought hundreds of white supremacists to Charlottesville. White and black residents alike were furious with the police response to the demonstrations, and they faulted officers for not engaging during repeated scuffles. A woman, Heather D. Heyer, was killed when a man drove into counterprotesters.
The meeting started out without incident, but soon several residents began shouting down city officials for allowing the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally to take place. When police officers forcibly removed three people from the Council meeting, the 100 or so people at the meeting broke out into furious chants, screaming "Shame" and "Shut it down!" The three people were issued summonses charging them with disorderly conduct. No injuries were reported.
"I’m outraged!" said Tracy Saxon, 41. "I watched my people get beat and murdered. They let Nazis in here have freedom of speech and they protect them? And we can’t have freedom of speech?"
Two people stood on the dais and unfurled a banner with the words "Blood on your hands!" as council members and the mayor left the room. The residents refused to cede order of the room until the authorities promised to release the residents who had been taken away and let people have their say.
Councilman Wes Bellamy, the only African-American on the Council, was the only member of the council who remained. He negotiated with residents to restore order to the room in exchange for the regular agenda being scrapped and each person getting one minute to speak.
One 35-year resident, Gail Weatherall, called for a citizen-led review of the weekend’s events and the city’s response.
Several speakers criticized the Council for not having heeded warnings to avoid the protest, and promised to vote them out of office. But city officials stressed that they had tried to deny the white supremacist rally, but that a federal court had ruled in the protest organizers’ favor.
"We tried really hard," Mayor Mike Signer said after the meeting resumed and other Council members returned.
"A federal judge forced us to have that rally downtown." Read more
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Trump's lawyer forwards email that 'validates' president's stance on Charlottesville
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Stephanie Francis Ward
Posted August 17, 2017
An email forwarded by President Donald Trump's personal lawyer stated that there’s no difference between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and George Washington, and that the protest group Black Lives Matter has been infiltrated by terrorist organizations.
John Dowd forwarded the email to more than two dozen recipients, including a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security and staff at the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and the Washington Times, the New York Times reports.
The email originally came from Jerome Almon, who reportedly runs several websites alleging government conspiracies including one in which the FBI has been infiltrated by Islamic terrorists.
Among the similarities of Lee and Washington outlined in the email were slave ownership and rebelling against a ruling government. Titled "Information that Validates President Trump on Charlottesville," the email also advocated protecting monuments honoring Confederate soldiers, according to the Washington Post.
Dowd forwarded the email after after Trump stated that "both sides" were to blame for the violence Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left a 32-year-old paralegal dead.
"You’re sticking your nose in my personal email? People send me things. I forward them," Dowd told the New York Times in a phone interview, before hanging up.
The 76-year-old attorney told the Washington Post that he "shares a lot of things with people" and it was unfair to assume that he shared the views expressed in the email.
Almon told the New York Times that he sent Dowd the email last week, following up on a phone call where he claimed to have offered Dowd damaging information about former FBI investigator James B. Comey, who was fired by Trump on May 9.
Almon, who is black, told the newspaper that his email also stated that protesters should "go back to the ghettos and do raise their children and rebuild places like Detroit." Read more
Trump’s Immoral Equivalence Between George Washington and Robert E. Lee
The Daily Beast, by John Avlon, 08.17.17 12:43 PM ET
Historians: Robert E. Lee and George Washington Are Not Equivalent
TIME.com, Olivia B. Waxman
Is Robert E. Lee on the same pedestal as George Washington? Why scholars say no
Christian Science Monitor / Associated Press, by Andrew Dalton, Aug-17-2017
Exploring Robert E. Lee’s connections to George Washington
PBS NEWS HOUR, February 16, 2015 at 6:25 PM EDT
Robert E. Lee was the son of a Revolutionary War hero who was a trusted aide to George Washington. In 1861, after 25 years in the U.S. Army, Lee turned down an offer to command Union forces in the Civil War. That decision is the subject of a new book, "The Man Who Would Not Be Washington." Woodruff talks to author Jonathan Horn about choices that change history.
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Antifa Wikipedia. Antifa is a far-left militant[2] political movement of autonomous, self-described anti-fascist groups in the U.S.
Black Lives Matter (Wikipedia). Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people. BLM regularly holds protests against police killings of black people and broader issues of racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system. Read more
Attorney appointed to represent driver at Charlottesville rally is plaintiff in suit against city
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Stephanie Francis Ward
Posted August 16, 2017
A lawyer appointed to represent a man facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of a counterprotester during a rally of white nationalists and similar groups on Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit that seeks to keep Confederate statues in place in two city parks.
Charles L. "Buddy" Weber Jr., a former Republican candidate for the Charlottesville city council, was appointed as counsel for James Alex Fields Jr. on Monday, the Daily Progress reports. Weber, according to a profile on his law office website, represents "civilians and veterans" in criminal defense matters. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1998 after a 27-year career as a military officer.
Will Lyster, vice president of Friends of C’Ville Monuments, told the Daily Progress that Weber was on a hiking trip with no cellphone service and is expected to return next week.
Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal from Charlottesville, was killed when a car reportedly driven by Fields plowed into a crowd of counterprotestors. The incident occurred after skirmishes in a park containing a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in which opposing groups clashed violently.
Fields, 20, of Maumee, Ohio, made an initial appearance before a judge on Monday and indicated he was unable to afford an attorney. The public defender’s office was conflicted out of taking Fields’ case because an employee was related to someone injured in the crash, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Read more
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Official Website)
Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company... Headquartered in Irving, Texas, the company is the second-largest television station operator in the United States... Wikipedia
Can employees like those who participated in 'Unite the Right' in Charlottesville be fired?
Woman killed in Virginia rally was a born do gooder says mother New York Post, by Max Jaeger, August 13, 2017 Can employees like those who participated in 'Unite the Right' in Charlottesville be fired?
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Stephanie Francis Ward
Posted August 15, 2017, 1:57 pm CDT
Do protestors who appear in photographs and are affiliated with white nationalist and similar groups have job protections in spite of the potential issues they may bring? The issue is complicated, employment lawyers told the National Law Journal.
Various social media feeds, including the one from Twitter user YesYoureRacist, continue to use crowdsourcing to identify protesters from Saturday’s "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one woman dead and dozens injured. Cole White, who was one of those called out, reportedly lost his job at a Berkeley, California, restaurant.
Political views are not a protected class under federal Title VII civil rights protections, the article notes. Government employees do have free speech rights, but they’re limited in the workplace.
Also, an employer could see an employee espousing views that discriminate against people as a Title VII complaint waiting to happen. Social media has intensified the debate, says Richard Cohen, an employment lawyer with FisherBroyles.
"If an employer is watching television news — like what happened [in Charlottesville] — and sees one of his or her employees on either side of the barricades, there is nothing that protects those workers, unless they fall into another protected class," he said.
There may be an exception for speech protections, including speech that’s racist, sexist or discriminatory.
"Whether or not you agree with one or the other or the incident horrified you, it can be argued, at least from a civil rights point of view, it was protected activity," Cohen said.
That could be a stretch, said Foley & Lardner’s Donald Schroeder.
"It’s one thing to engage in a peaceful march, it’s another to engage in bottle throwing and a violent march with slurs and vulgar language," he said. "Could they bring a Title VII case? Sure, but I think it would be extremely difficult to move it forward." Read more
See also: ABA Journal: "Public Employees, Private Speech: 1st Amendment doesn’t always protect government workers"
Free PACER archive adds millions of new documents
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Jason Tashea
Posted August 16, 2017, 11:20 am CDT
Updated: A free archive of federal court documents just got a whole lot bigger.
The Free Law Project, a California-based non-profit, posted every free written opinion and order available on PACER, the federal courts’ document portal. In total, this new collection contains 3.4 million documents from 1.5 million federal district and bankruptcy cases dating back to 1960, the Project explained in a blog post published Tuesday on the organization’s website.
"Today’s news represents a huge milestone for the project and moves the project into a new stage where we’re not only focused on people’s experience while using PACER, but we’re now also focused on providing data to startups, researchers, journalists, lawyers, and the public via our website," Michael Lissner, executive director of the Free Law Project, said in an email.
Over the past year, the Free Law Project "crawled" PACER, an automated process to collect web-based information, to build this collection. They also used a process called optical character recognition (OCR) to read and parse upwards of 400,000 scanned documents to extract the text. These documents are available on the CourtListener website.
This work was made possible by a grant from the Department of Labor and two professors studying employment law at Georgia State University. Charlotte Alexander says she and her colleague were interested in analyzing every federal case where a worker is described as an employee or an independent contractor.
Beyond her research, Alexander also wanted to make the data she used available to the public. "If we used LexisNexis or Westlaw, [the data] would only be able to be used in that discreet research project," she says, explaining that this was why she teamed up with Lissner and the Free Law Project.
With this expanded archive, anyone can access to judges’ decisions without the "restrictive terms and conditions" of for-profit, legal research vendors, explains Alexander.
These new documents were added to the already growing RECAP archive operated by the Free Law Project, which now boasts over 20 million documents from 1.8 million cases on its website. An article from 2015 noted that RECAP had collected 3.2 million documents of the potential 1 billion in PACER at that time.
Alexander and her research partner are working through the documents for their study.
"We’re still assessing how comprehensive the written reports are," she says. "There still may be holes, but this is a giant step forward in terms of access." Read online
Judges should receive anti-bias training, ABA House says
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Lee Rawles
Posted August 15, 2017, 11:52 am CDT
The issue of implicit bias has been a hot topic for the legal community, and combating it has previously been the subject of ABA efforts. New ABA President Hilarie Bass, who began her term at the close of the 2017 ABA Annual Meeting Tuesday, even created a task force to address the issue during her time as head of the Section of Litigation.
On Monday, the ABA House of Delegates approved a resolution calling for anti-bias training to be provided specifically for judges.
The Young Lawyers Division, Judicial Division and Section of Litigation introduced Resolution 121 to urge all courts to provide judicial training and continuing education on implicit bias. It also asks that state and local bar associations "work with courts to offer de-biasing training to judicial officers free of cost and at the convenience of the courts."
Lauren Marsicano with the Young Lawyers Division spoke in favor of the resolution. She recalled being told in law school that even what a judge ate before they ruled on a case could influence their decision. "I hope that they had a great breakfast, now that I’m practicing," she quipped, to laughter from the delegates.
She recalled a quote by Judge Bernice Bouie Donald of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: "All judges view the function of their job through the lens of their experiences."
Marsicano said with additional bias training, she hoped that the worst thing future litigants would have to worry about influencing judges was what they had to eat that day.
The resolution passed with no one speaking in opposition and no audible "no" votes.
Follow along with our full coverage of the 2017 ABA Annual Meeting. Read online
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My comment as nonlawyer:
"...quote by Judge Bernice Bouie Donald of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: "All judges view the function of their job through the lens of their experiences.""
Yes, and Lawyer-Judges are the problem, not what a judge "had to eat that day".
The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System is a book by Professor Benjamin H. Barton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. From Cambridge University Press:
"Virtually all American judges are former lawyers. This book argues that these lawyer-judges instinctively favor the legal profession in their decisions and that this bias has far-reaching and deleterious effects on American law. There are many reasons for this bias, some obvious and some subtle. Fundamentally, it occurs because - regardless of political affiliation, race, or gender - every American judge shares a single characteristic: a career as a lawyer. This shared background results in the lawyer-judge bias. The book begins with a theoretical explanation of why judges naturally favor the interests of the legal profession and follows with case law examples from diverse areas, including legal ethics, criminal procedure, constitutional law, torts, evidence, and the business of law. The book closes with a case study of the Enron fiasco, an argument that the lawyer-judge bias has contributed to the overweening complexity of American law, and suggests some possible solutions."
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=110761614X
Also on YouTube, PJTV: Bias! The Case Against Lawyers and Judges, interview by Glenn Reynolds with Professor Benjamin H. Barton
https://youtu.be/Hbs_3lePAjE
------------------------------------------------------
Go to law school to be a lawyer.
Go to judge school to be a judge.
Go to prosecutor school to be a prosecutor.
The time to help lawyers with mental health services is now, new report says
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Stephanie Francis Ward
Posted August 14, 2017, 12:15 pm CDT
The stigma of attorneys seeking help for mental health disorders needs to be eliminated, according to a report released Monday by various groups, including the American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.
"To be a good lawyer, one has to be a healthy lawyer. Sadly, our profession is falling short when it comes to well-being," states the report (PDF) from the the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being.
It cites a 2016 study done by the commission and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, which found that out of 13,000 lawyers surveyed, between 20.6 and 36.4 percent could be considered problem drinkers. The study also found that 28 percent of those surveyed suffered from depression, and 19 percent had anxiety.
The 73-page report, titled "The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change," also cites a 2016 study of law student well-being. Out of 3,300 students surveyed, 43 percent reported binge drinking at least once in the prior two weeks. The study defined binge drinking as consuming at least four alcoholic drinks in one sitting for women, and at least five in one sitting for men.
The Conference of Chief Justices, which helped develop the report, endorsed its recommendations last week, according to an ABA press release. Other recommendations include partnering with lawyer assistance programs, fostering respectful engagement in the profession and enhancing lawyers’ sense of self-control in their work responsibilities.
"Practices that rob lawyers of a sense of autonomy and control over their schedules and lives are especially harmful to their well-being. Research studies show that high job demands paired with a lack of a sense of control breeds depression and other psychological disorders," the report states. "Research suggests that men in jobs with such characteristics have an elevated risk of alcohol abuse."
Bree Buchanan, director of the State Bar of Texas’ LAP program, and James C. Coyle, attorney regulation counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court, co-chaired the task force. Their report includes action plans with checklists for stakeholders.
"The legal profession is already struggling. Our profession confronts a dwindling market share as the public turns to more accessible, affordable alternative legal service providers. We are at a crossroads," Buchanan and Coyle wrote. "To maintain public confidence in the profession, to meet the need for innovation in how we deliver legal services, to increase access to justice, and to reduce the level of toxicity that has allowed mental health and substance use disorders to fester among our colleagues, we have to act now." Read online
Also see, US Dept. of Justice Investigation Into Mental Health Screening by Fla Supreme Court on Bar Applicants
Monday, August 14, 2017
'Our country needs us, and it needs us now,' Klein tells House of Delegates
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| ABA President Linda Klein/American Bar Association |
ABA Journal Online Daily News
By Lee Rawles
Posted August 14, 2017
ABA President Linda Klein said "the lawyers of America must lead in bringing people together and defending the values that unite us," in a speech to the ABA House of Delegates at the organization's annual meeting Monday in New York City.
Klein began her remarks by drawing attention to Saturday’s rally by white nationalists and similar groups that left a 32-year-old counterprotester dead in Charlottesville, Virginia. Klein had released a statement Sunday.
"We come to New York to celebrate the rule of law, and what do we see?" Klein asked. "We see people filled with hate coming to the hometown of the author of the Declaration of Independence.
"The principles of tolerance and liberty will always prevail over the forces of hatred and racism. Hate will not rule our country; tolerance and lawfulness will. Nothing is more basic to our profession and to our country."
Klein called on all American lawyers to continue the association’s mission to defend liberty and pursue justice.
"Our country needs us, and it needs us now," she said.
Klein began her term in office at the close of the 2016 annual meeting last August. At that time, she had intended to focus on assisting veterans with legal issues; working to ensure children’s access to a quality education; and increasing the resources and tools available to members.
Those were goals that were achieved, and she outlined some of those successes:
• The ABA Veterans Legal Services Initiative was established, and VetLex was launched in partnership with Jones Day to help connect veterans with pro bono attorneys.
• The ABA Commission on the Lawyer’s Role in Assuring Every Child’s Right to a High-Quality Education was established, and it studied how lawyers can contribute to children’s educational opportunities through litigation and volunteering. A printed version of their report will be published shortly.
• ABA Blueprint was launched to assist solo and small firms and provide member-only discounts on firm management products and consultations.
However, the year also brought surprise challenges.
Klein shared an experience she had last August while visiting the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. She met the crew and then was given the opportunity to climb into the "smallest, hottest, fastest plane" she’d ever been in, and be shot off the deck of the carrier via a steam-powered catapult. Only the skill of the crew and laws of physics stood between her and a sharp drop into the ocean.
"So that’s how my year began. And that’s pretty much what it’s been like the whole year through," Klein said to laughter from the audience.
It was the hard work of a "400,000-member aircraft carrier" that helped her navigate that year, Klein says.
Some of the situations that required response during her tenure were attacks on the independence of the judiciary by President Donald Trump, after his travel ban was blocked by courts; a lawsuit filed by the association against the Department of Education to protect the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program; threats to completely defund the Legal Services Corp.; and a plan by Arkansas to execute seven men in 11 days before their lethal injection drugs expired.
"By focusing on the basics, our ABA was prepared and ready," Klein says. "We responded quickly and decisively to the challenge."
One of the successes the ABA had in response to these challenges was with its lobbying efforts on behalf of the Legal Service Corp. Congress is still developing next year’s budget, but the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies has recommended that instead of defunding the LSC, its fiscal 2018 budget should be maintained at $385 million, the same amount the civil legal-aid provider received this year.
At this year’s annual meeting, "It’s Only Fair! An ABA Concert and Rally for the Legal Services Corp." featured Broadway performers, and grateful recipients of legal aid gathered to support the LSC.
For support throughout the year, Klein thanked her family, ABA staff members and her partners at Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, where she is the senior managing shareholder.
"Thank you for a special year," Klein said to the delegates. "Our defining moment—our year." Read more
Follow along with our full coverage of the 2017 ABA Annual Meeting.
Friday, August 4, 2017
E-filing system at Supreme Court will make new filings accessible for free
ABA Journal
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Posted August 3, 2017
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it is adopting an electronic filing system beginning Nov. 13.
The system will make "virtually all new filings" available to the public at no cost, the Supreme Court said in its announcement. The National Law Journal (sub. req.) has a story.
Initially, official filing of documents will continue to be on paper, but parties represented by lawyers will also have to submit electronic versions. Those without lawyers will have their documents scanned by court personnel and made available to the public.
The announcement follows the rollout of the Supreme Court’s redesigned website on July 28. Helpful changes include information about cases being argued on particular days and etiquette information for court visitors, according to a previous National Law Journal story (sub. req.).
Fix The Court, a Supreme Court transparency advocate, reacted to the electronic filing announcement in a statement: "Most federal appeals courts have required electronic filing for years, so I’m pleased the Supreme Court has finally joined its institutional counterparts by implementing this policy," executive director Gabe Roth said.
Roth also said he hopes the change will lead to other improvements, such as live audio for oral arguments and a software-based conflict check system. Read online
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Jill Stein on Trump as a Grave Danger & Why She was at 2015 Moscow Dinner with Putin & Flynn
Democracy Now
By AMY GOODMAN
August 01, 2017
Former Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein assesses the Trump administration’s first six months and responds to questions about an infamous photo that showed her sitting at the same table as Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner in Moscow in 2015.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Posner backs 19-member Supreme Court, comments on 'pompous lawyers'
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| Judge Richard Posner |
Chicago Tribune
By Kim Janssen
July 31, 2017
Posner backs 19-member Supreme Court, comments on 'pompous lawyers'
ABA Journal Online
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Posted August 1, 2017
The U.S. Supreme Court may be too small, according to Judge Richard Posner.
A 19-member court would increase diversity and might have more quality justices, Posner said at a recent talk at the University of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune summarized Posner’s comments.
Posner, a federal judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is the city’s "favorite smarty pants judge," according to the Tribune.
Posner said the high court is "mediocre and highly politicized," echoing past comments that the Supreme Court is "awful" and "a quasi-political body."
Justices and other federal judges are appointed by politicians, with Senate confirmation, Posner pointed out. "Those politicians don’t care about quality beyond a minimum, a very low minimum," he said.
Posner said politicians are more concerned with political leanings of potential judges, as well as the need to appoint "tokens," such as women or Hispanics. "So you end up with mediocre courts that are highly politicized," Posner said (at around 25 minutes, 30 seconds into this video, noted by How Appealing). "In the Supreme Court, we have extremely reactionary Supreme Court justices, appointed by Bush mainly."
Posner didn’t specify George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush. George H.W. Bush appointed Clarence Thomas, while George W. Bush appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.
One idea, voiced by George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, is a 19-member Supreme Court. Posner likes the idea.
"If the Supreme Court was much larger, they might say, ‘Well, OK, we have 19 justices, 12 of them are highly politicized, but we have these extra seven seats, so we’ll appoint some of the people just on basic quality,’ and that would make a big difference," Posner said. In addition, a 19-member court "would inevitably have more diversity," Posner said.
Posner had another suggestion for the judiciary in a recent piece for Slate. He said "there should be mandatory retirement for all judges at a fixed age, probably 80" and there is "no need for octogenarians" on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a new Slate piece, Posner said he believes the quality of lawyers can be very important in a jury’s verdict.
"Very often the lawyers are totally mismatched in quality—by quality, I mean ability to sway a jury," he wrote. "The quality difference need not be intellectual; often it is personality. Some lawyers are simply very good at coming across to a jury as nice—wouldn’t lie, wouldn’t exaggerate—and when such an attorney is up against a mean or pompous lawyer, the nice guy has a big advantage." Read online
Trump reportedly dictated misleading statement about son's meeting with Russian lawyer
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| President Donald Trump with sons Donald Jr. (left) and Eric |
ABA Journal
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Posted August 1, 2017
Advisers to President Donald Trump fear he could face legal jeopardy for allegedly drafting a misleading statement about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer, according to published reports.
Multiple sources tell the Washington Post that Trump dictated the statement on behalf of his son that said the June 2016 meeting was primarily about the adoption of Russian children. ABC followed with its own story about Trump’s involvement, based on two senior level sources.
The full statement drafted for Trump Jr. read: "We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up."
Trump Jr. later released emails showing he was told he would receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton at the meeting. The emails indicated Trump Jr. would receive documents with high-level information that was part of the Russian government’s support for Trump.
According to the Washington Post, advisers worry Trump’s involvement in the statement "leaves him needlessly vulnerable to allegations of a cover-up."
The Post article points out that misleading the public and the media is not a crime. But advisers fear any indication that Trump was trying to hide his campaign’s contact with Russians would draw additional scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller as he looks into possible obstruction of justice.
Lawyers had initially planned to reveal details of the meeting before the story broke, characterizing the meeting as a possible setup by Democrats, according to the Post. But Trump overruled the consensus that there needed to be transparency.
Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow issued this statement about the Post article: "Apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate, and not pertinent."
Trump Jr.’s lawyer, Alan Futerfas, told the Post that he had no evidence to support the theory that Trump had intervened. Drafting a statement, he said, is "a communal situation that involved communications people and various lawyers." Read online
Monday, July 31, 2017
Judge grants inmate his wish for execution warrant
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| Scott Dozier. Nevada Department of Corrections |
ABA Journal
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Posted July 28, 2017 12:31 pm CDT
A Nevada judge has issued an execution warrant for an inmate who wants to end his appeals and so he can be put to death.
Judge Jennifer Togliatti of Clark County on Thursday ordered the execution of Scott Dozier to take place the week of Oct. 16, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. He would be the first inmate executed in Nevada since 2006.
Dozier was sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2002 murder of an Arizona resident whose torso was discovered in a suitcase. Dozier was also convicted of second-degree murder in 2005.
Togliatti asked Dozier whether he was concerned about reported problems with the drugs that could be used in his execution. Dozier said it didn’t change his quest to die, according to the article. "Quite frankly, your honor, all those people ended up dead, and that’s my goal here," Dozier said.
"Once they start, they’re going to get it done one way or another," he said. "Ideally it will not be terrible or painful, but if it is, I’m kind of committed at that point."
Clark County Assistant District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci told the judge that the Department of Corrections says it will get the drugs needed for execution, though one of the drugs in its stockpile expired recently. "I can’t tell you which drug or drugs" will be used, Pesci said.
State law doesn’t provide a protocol for execution drugs, the article reports. Read online
Friday, July 28, 2017
Judge Ann Melinda Craggs Non-Jury Foreclosure Trial
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| Judge Ann Melinda Craggs |
Marion County Judicial Center
110 NW First Avenue
Ocala, Florida 34475
(352) 401-6700
Judicial Assistant: Maria Berrios
Office: (352) 401-6785
Fax: (352) 401-6760
On July 18, 2017 I was taken by ambulance to the hospital after becoming sick during a
non-jury trial on the foreclosure of my home. I was alone and without counsel to represent me.
Presiding Judge Ann Melinda Craggs continued the trial without me and ruled for the bank.
Emergency Petition to Cancel Non-Jury Trial 10:00 AM Today (Fla. Supreme Court docket)
NEIL J. GILLESPIE, ETC. vs. REVERSE MORTGAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Florida Supreme Court, Case No. SC17-1321
AFFIDAVIT OF NEIL J GILLESPIE, Re Non-Jury Home Foreclosure Trial, July 18, 2017
Saturday, July 15, 2017
U.S. Dept. of Justice investigation into mental health screening by Fla. Supreme Court on bar applicants
Dear Mr. Gillespie: This is in response to your April 29, 2015 Freedom of Information Act request, received by the Civil Rights Division, seeking access to records on the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the mental health screening imposed by the Florida Supreme Court on bar applicants.
The records you have requested pertain to an ongoing law enforcement proceeding. After
consideration of the responsive records, I have determined that access to the documents should be denied pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(7)(A), since disclosure thereof could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings. I have further determined that certain information within these records that is exempt from disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C.§552(b)(7)(A) should also be denied pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(5), since the records consist of attorney work product and include intra-agency memoranda containing pre-decisional, deliberative material; and 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(7)(C) since disclosure of information contained in these records could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy...
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners (FBBE) https://www.floridabarexam.org/
The FBBE 2015-16 proposed budget cites a "federal investigation" and a $100,000 increase in attorneys fees: "This is primarily due to the increase in attorney fees with regard to the federal investigation by $100K". (Page 14). "Bob Burgoyne of Norton Rose Fulbright has been retained to represent the board in the federal investigation." (Page 41)
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