Still more on one space v. two spaces

Via this week's Blawg Review, I learned of AdamsDrafting, which has this post siding with the one space camp, of which I am a member.

It says in part:

"The Chicago Manual of Style 2.12 (15th ed. 2003) says 'A single character space, not two spaces, should be left after periods at the ends of sentences (both in manuscript and in final, published form) and after colons.' To my mind, that settles it, but I’ll note that The Associated Press Stylebook (2004) also calls for one space. So does Bill Walsh’s Lapsing into a Comma (2000). . . .

Of course, law firms and most lawyers are wedded to two spaces. It would be a mistake to assume that this is the result of a reasoned decision. Instead, you can attribute it to the same oblivious conservatism that has caused them to perpetuate any number of other deficient usages.

As the online Chicago Style Q&A states, there's no evidence that using two spaces makes text easier to read. Consequently, the only conceivable defense of the practice is that it's harmless. But as also noted in the Chicago Style Q&A, using two spaces is inefficient, requiring an extra keystroke for every sentence, and is harder to control, in that any document created using the two-space rule is likely to contain a 'a smattering of instances of both three spaces and one space after a period, and two spaces in the middle of sentences.'

So if you're still using two spaces, stop it - your credibility is at stake!"

Plaintiff/counter-defendant cannot remove case based on federal question in counterclaim

In Great Eastern Resort Association v. Bluegreen Corporation, Judge Wilson ordered the remand of a case where the original plaintiff sued some former employees in state court, the employees counterclaimed under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the original plaintiff filed a notice of removal based on the counterclaim.

Can you even bring a counterclaim under the FLSA in state court? Maybe so.

Maybe he needed a referral from my wife's uncle

In Underwood v. U.S., on the petitioner's claim for post-judgment relief from his conviction, Judge Wilson concludes his opinion with these words:

"Underwood, who is not an uneducated man stubbornly states, apparently for effect: 'my lawyer done me wrong.' Yet, here the facts are equally as stubborn, and his lawyer is simply that, a lawyer. He is not a magician. He cannot make the stubborn facts disappear."

The uncle, by the way, is the author of Inclined Toward Magic: Encounters With Books, Collectors, and Conjurors, which I think is his mostly first-person account of a lifetime of collecting books about magic. He also put together a book called Wizard Exposed: Magic Tricks by and Interviews With Harry Houdini Howard Thurston and Other Past Masters of Magic. Many years ago, we had dinner at the in-laws with David and one of his old magician buddies, who then performed a few magic tricks, successfully and without damage to persons or property.

Pain doctor's conviction affirmed

In U.S. v. McIver, the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Duncan affirmed the conviction of a physician for over-prescribing pain medication.

The facts of the case prompted this insightful Loblaw post, which says in part:

"A doctor getting prosecuted for overprescribing narcotics? That’s pretty common. But what’s uncommon – I hope – in this Fourth Circuit appeal is how the defendant got caught. A patient’s insurance company contacted the DEA because the patient was filling so many prescriptions for oxycodone. I suppose that is one way to keep insurance costs down."

Bear Bryant and civil rights

Today's Bristol paper had an article on the local author of Career in Crisis: Paul "Bear" Bryant And the 1971 Season of Change, David Briley, a professor at ETSU. The article is here, and it is far better than average for the otherwise incompetent Bristol paper.

It notes: "The scholarly accent to Career In Crisis is based around a lawsuit that was filed by the Afro-American Student Association. The association filed a lawsuit against Bryant, the University of Alabama, its board of trustees, chairman of the executive committee, university president and secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare on July 2, 1969."

As I've written elsewhere, the first bowl game I recall was the 1973 Sugar Bowl.