SW Virginia law blog

Oliver Hill's old home in Roanoke to become legal aid office

2008-07-22T12:54:00.000-04:00

The Roanoke paper reports here that a childhood home of civil rights litigator Oliver Hill will become an office for Blue Ridge Legal Services.

More on the Dr. Shelburne case

2008-07-22T12:51:00.000-04:00

Here is a anti-prosecution post about the Shelburne case, and here is the latest from the Bristol paper, about how the U.S. has noticed an appeal on the money laundering charges that were thrown out based on the Santos decision.

Just in case you were wondering

2008-07-22T12:44:00.000-04:00

A panel of the D.C. Circuit has held in Adams v. Rice that "engaging in sexual relations" qualifies as a "major life activity" for purposes of the Rehabilitation Act.

Interesting

2008-07-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

Here from the Chicago Tribune is another book review of Judge Martin Clark's latest book.

Here is a profile of Circuit Court Judge John Cook, after two months on the bench.

The Bristol paper has this report on the airport easement case that Jim Elliott and Lucas Hobbs from this office have appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.

On the book by Judge Hudson of the E.D. Va.

2008-07-14T08:29:00.000-04:00

Here on the VTLA website is a very interesting book review by Wyatt Durrette of the new book by his good friend, Judge Henry Hudson of the E.D. Va.

I have heard Judge Hudson speak only once, at the Judicial Conference.

Bad news

2008-07-12T13:20:00.000-04:00

Colon cancer has taken away Tony Snow, who suffered for years from colitis, which poses the same cancer risk as Crohn's disease according to articles like this one.

One thing I would do if I had a motorcycle

2008-07-12T12:36:00.001-04:00

I would join up with the first annual "Fire in the Hole" ride and rally, which covers this route:

• Highway 19 South to Alternate Route 58 West to Norton, VA.
• Highway 23 South to Big Stone Gap. VA.
• 1ft STOP: Powell Valley High School, Big Stone Gap. VA. (Rest/Fuel Break)
• Can you ride the TUNNEL? Must get through it to Highway 25E into Middlesboro, KY.
• 2nd STOP: Lunch break (several restaurants and gas stations).
• Route 119 North into Harlan and Whitesburg. KY.
• 3'd STOP: Letcher County Central High School. Stretch/Refreshments.
• Highway 23 South back into Norton. VA.
• Alternate Route 58 East to Moccasin Valley Rd. Route 613, Lebanon. VA.

And, I might pass the word to a few bikers I know, including Robbie Boggs, and Mike Abbott, and that woman lawyer down in Knoxville.

But then, I don't have a motorcycle, or even one of these.

LA Times review of third novel from Judge Clark

2008-07-09T12:29:00.000-04:00

Here is a review in the LA Times of the latest from Circuit Court Judge Martin Clark, called The Legal Limit.

Interesting for other reasons

2008-07-06T20:08:00.001-04:00

I have now read In the Kingdom of Coal: An American Family and the Rock That Changed the World, and it is not quite what I expected, but interesting nonetheless to the extent it is a history of Westmoreland Coal and the families behind it, including some history of their operations in Wise County, and of a family of miners whose later generations include the former Dodger and Red pitcher, Tim Belcher.

The book declares that one year Belcher made more money in major league baseball than the net of Westmoreland selling coal.

But, they beat the Wahoos every now and then

2008-07-05T15:44:00.000-04:00

This post about the litigation between the University of Louisville and Duke over the cancellation of some football games raises some questions on the issue of what college football teams are of "similar stature" to the generally lousy Blue Devils.

And, the answer viewed one way is, Duke's no good so all are of "similar stature" or better, or viewed another way, Duke's no good and so few are of "similar stature" or worse.

Rick Sincere reports again from Monticello

2008-07-04T14:51:00.000-04:00

Here is this year's report from Rick Sincere on the W.D. Va.'s naturalization ceremony at Monticello, attended today by President Bush.

Good one, gang

2008-07-04T14:15:00.002-04:00

As Jerry Fuhrman points out here, it would appear that whoever wrote (or edited) the editorial on July 4th in the Bristol paper cannot subtract 1776 from 2008. My computer says the difference is 232.

The editorial begins: "At the ripe old age of 222 years, our great country remains more united than divided. That’s a pretty amazing feat – given the high-decible shouting in this election year."

The Boston Herald did the same thing, as it says here: "Even those for whom citizenship is not an immediate option, come here each year for the economic opportunities provided by this nation where for 222 years “all men” have been declared “created equal” and “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”"

Perhaps some truths are less self-evident than others.

No incorporation of Second Amendment in Fourth Circuit?

2008-07-03T15:41:00.001-04:00

"It is well settled law in this circuit that the Second Amendment does not apply to the States. Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 252 (4th Cir. 1999). Because the Second Amendment does not apply to the States, neither a state law nor a local ordinance can run afoul of any right guaranteed by the Second Amendment."

Judge Morgan of the E.D. Va., in Szymecki v. City of Norfolk, Docket No. 2:08cv142, Opinion and Order of June 27, 2008.

A while back, Timothy Sandefur had this post on incorporation, one of several. The concept always makes me think of Abe Fortas played by Jose Ferrer arguing the right to counsel before the Supreme Court in the movie version of Gideon's Trumpet.

He said it

2008-07-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

Rich Lowry, on Justice Kennedy:

"[T]he Supreme Court is divided between four liberals, four conservatives and one self-important man who can't differentiate between his inner compass and the nation's fundamental law."

Chief Judge Jones dismisses several counts in Dr. Shelburne case

2008-07-01T16:08:00.000-04:00

In U.S. v. Shelburne, Chief Judge Jones of the W.D. Va. struck several of the counts of which Dr. Shelburne was convicted earlier at trial, in a case related to "a scheme to defraud Medicaid by submitting bills for services that were not performed, were paid for by others, or were not medically necessary."

Part of the opinion involves the application of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding what are the "proceeds" of illegal activity for purposes of money laundering, in United States v. Santos.

The Church where I was married

2008-06-29T17:01:00.000-04:00

When I got married at the Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, the Jesuit priest (who is no longer a priest) suggested privately that he would not be too strict about who took Communion.

The same church is where the funeral mass for Tim Russert was held. The Post reporter Sally Quinn has drawn fire for taking communion there on that occasion.

Before our wedding I told one of my relatives, who was concerned about alcoholic beverages, that not only were the Southern Baptists not required to drink wine at a wedding mass, but they weren't allowed to have any.

More pro se litigants?

2008-06-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

The Norfolk paper has this article on the perceived rise in the number of litigants representing themselves.

On the voters of Appalachia

2008-06-29T10:55:00.000-04:00

Here is a pointless piece from Newsweek, a guy named Steve who grew up in Western Virginia and later was a student at the College of William & Mary. (If you can imagine such a person.) Is some of it missing, or is it sort of a parody? I wonder.

It says in part, "In a close election come November, the difference between President McCain and President Obama could come down to me and my people: a bunch of ornery, racist, coal-minin', banjo-pickin', Scots-Irish hillbillies clinging to our guns and religion on the side of some Godforsaken, moonshine-soaked ridge in West Virginia."

The ruling on the constitutionality of Va. Code 57-9

2008-06-28T19:59:00.000-04:00

Here is the opinion by Judge Randy Bellows of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, 49 pages on the constitutionality of Va. Code 57-9 as applied to the Episcopal church cases.

That thing adjudicated

2008-06-28T19:27:00.000-04:00

In the latest VBA Journal, Judge Kelsey of the Court of Appeals has a somewhat provocative article on res judicata and Rule 1:6 as a response to the perceived defects of the Supreme Court's analysis in Davis v. Marshall Homes, Inc., 265 Va. 159, 576 S.E.2d 504 (2003).

And, I'm not sure that I entirely agree with it, which usually means that it doesn't fit with some cockamamie theory that I have been cooking up about a particular case.

Peer-to-peer network administrator convicted in W.D. Va. for pirating copyrighted material

2008-06-28T13:54:00.000-04:00

The United States Department of Justice issued this press release detailing the conviction on Thursday in Big Stone Gap of a peer-to-peer network administrator for pirating movies and such.

The press release says: "The case is the first criminal conviction after jury trial for P2P copyright infringement. Dove’s conviction is the eighth conviction resulting from Operation D-Elite, a nationwide federal crackdown against the illegal distribution of copyrighted movies, software, games and music over P2P networks employing the BitTorrent file distribution technology."

President Bush to attend session of W.D. Va.

2008-06-28T13:47:00.000-04:00

The Charlottesville paper reports here that President Bush will attend the naturalization event at Monticello on the 4th.

The insignificance of Miller-Jenkins

2008-06-26T15:07:00.000-04:00

This article on Findlaw, titled "The Virginia Supreme Court Enforces Vermont's Custody and Visitation Order Regarding a Same-Sex Couple's Child: Why an Anti-Same-Sex-Marriage State Recognized a Same-Sex Union For This Purpose", points out that the recent Supreme Court case was decided on technical grounds, and even so came with a warning from the Chief Justice in his separate opinion that might be a preview of how he (if not others) would decide future cases on the merits.

On the right of the people to keep and bear arms

2008-06-26T13:43:00.000-04:00

The Supreme Court decided today by a 5-4 vote in the D.C. v. Heller case, that the "people" in the Second Amendment include "all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset" and to "bear arms" was used back in the day to "refer to the carrying of weapons outside of an organized militia.

One for Kurt Pomrenke fans

2008-06-26T12:52:00.000-04:00

Here are the father of the bride and the bride, his daughter Sarah, whom I think of as the little blonde Pomrenke girl.

Most places I go, from Grundy to Norfolk, somebody knows Kurt.