They've got everything but spell-check

Checking the fancy website (by local standards) for my home county, I see the headline, "County of Washington, Virgina."

This week's Virginia Supreme Court opinions

Here are the summaries from the Court's website and here is Steve Emmert's review.

I may take a look at them myself later on this weekend.

McDonnell went to Bishop Ireton

One thing I never knew before I read this Post profile on Bob McDonnell was that he went to Bishop Ireton and his father still lives in Northern Virginia. (Two of my buds in law school went to Ireton.)

I'm not sure, though, whether that will help him get my wife's family's votes, since she and her sister went to O'Connell.

Brian Patton says Linda Tiller to run against Bud Phillips

Brian Patton says here that Russell County attorney Linda Tiller is said to be the Republican candidate to run against Del. Phillips. I know Ms. Tiller a little bit from a case way back when.

If my memory is correct, some years back, her husband Jerry Tiller ran as an independent in the Commonwealth's Attorney's race in Russell County, which surely didn't help the Republican candidate, who is now a federal magistrate judge. I never did hear what all that was about. Was that ten years ago? I can't remember.

VaElections.com

I've not yet decided what to make of the new website, VaElections.com. Check it out.

Richmond lawyer, cancer patient, blogger

102704 is the blog of Richmond lawyer Jim Guy about his experience with cancer, and is written up here in the Richmond paper.

The first post I read gives some cause for optimism, as it concludes with his answer to those "have asked me how long I'm going to keep the blog going. I'm not sure. I'm looking for a point where I can sign off, saying "and he lived happily ever after." It's hard to say when that will be, but I hope I'll know it when I see it."

Reading other posts, I must confess, selfishly, it occurs to me that Crohn's disease by contrast is a walk in the park. Good luck and good health to you, Jim.

The Washington County teacher who taught about creationism on the side

Findlaw News picked up Creationism Teacher Is Told to Stop, about a science teacher down the road at John Battle, between here and Bristol.

AWOL on Friday

On Friday, I went to this seminar of the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia, which included some excellent presentations by John Rife of the Linebarger Goggan firm (tax collection specialists) and Greg Haley from Gentry Locke.

Then, I went to the investitute of Judge Isaac St. Clair Freeman as the new judge of the 28th Judicial Circuit, which was held at the much-restored Lincoln Theater in Marion.

Then, I stopped by to sample the fare at Miller's Market at the junction of Rte. 80 and U.S. 11 at Exit 24. My friends there have got the stuff, go eat some.

The South's earliest law school?

From the soon-to-open Charleston School of Law website: "In February 1826, The Forensic Club offered lectures in the law to begin what essentially was the South's earliest law school."

From the law school of the College of William & Mary: "The Chair of Law at William & Mary, created in 1779 by the Board of Visitors at the urging of Thomas Jefferson, was the first established in the United States. The first occupant of the Chair was George Wythe, in whose offices studied Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, James Monroe and Henry Clay. Wythe, a leader in the struggle for independence, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention. He became a powerful force in the development of American legal education. During the decade of his professorship, he developed a comprehensive course of law study which emphasized the acquisition of practical skills in such areas as legislative drafting and oral advocacy. "

Who can be criminally liable for violating HIPAA

Here, via the HIPAAblog, is a Justice Department memo about the scope of the criminal enforcement provisions of HIPAA.

HIPAA has entered the legal vocabulary with almost the same ubiquity as terms like "the IRS", and even beyond those such as "CERCLA" and "COBRA."

They probably went wild and broke out the Grape Nehi down at the Southern Appeal

Front and center for Judge Pryor's confirmation have also been Steve and the gang at Southern Appeal, and no doubt they were more than pleased to report here today's cloture vote. With Pryor's situation resolved, the Southern Appealers may have to cut back their blogging to 4 days a week.

Motion to dismiss denied in Waffle House discrimination case

This story about a case in the E.D. Va. begins: "A federal court has refused to dismiss an equal-rights lawsuit claiming the staff of a Virginia Waffle House restaurant discriminated against five minority customers when they were served grits laced with flies."

The new book on Christiansburg

The Roanoke paper has this article on the new book, Christiansburg (Images of America: Virginia), my mom's hometown.

On the Fourth Circuit's partial birth abortion ruling and the elections

AFP has this article in which various pundits opine that, notwithstanding the fears of some Democrats, the recent ruling against the 2003 Virginia law banning partial birth abortion will not energize pro-life voters, because there is no one on the ballot to blame; instead, voters will blame "the justices of the Fourth Circuit" (or something like that).

If so, the issue might be more important if Senator Warner runs for re-election, since unlike state government officials, he has some say in who gets to be on the federal courts of appeals, especially some seats on the Fourth Circuit.

Norfolk paper likes Judge Humphreys for DNA review, tells him how to do it

The Norfolk paper in this editorial comments favorably on the selection of Court of Appeals Judge Humphreys to head a review into the state crime lab's handling of DNA cases and proceeds with a checklist of things for him to do.

Scott County electoral board backs Ms. Kilgore

Here in the Roanoke paper is an article that says the new members of the Scott County electoral board, with a majority by law being Democrats, have endorsed the good works of the country registrar of voters, Ms. Kilgore.

UPDATE: I don't know why I wrote "Republicans" earlier, sorry about that. The makeup of the electoral board is tied to the outcome of the last governor's election. Va. Code § 24.2-106 ("In the appointment of the electoral board, representation shall be given to each of the two political parties having the highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. Two electoral board members shall be of the political party that cast the highest number of votes for Governor at that election.")

Perhaps I was having some kind of flashback to a hard-fought electoral board case from about 10 years ago.

Carrying on about Crawford

In Hodges v. Com., the Court of Appeals in an opinion by Judge Elder, joined by Judges Frank and Humphreys, rejected, among other things, the defendant's constitutional arguments about the use of hearsay evidence to convict him, construing the Supreme Court's recent application of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).

More on the dispute over who is the Floyd County prosecutor when the elected officer is off to Iraq

The Roanoke paper reports here on oral argument before the Virginia Supreme Court in the dispute of who gets to be the prosecutor in Floyd County.

The state association of commonwealth's attorneys has taken the side of the incumbent, while the local bar association wants one of their own picked as the replacement for the incumbent.

No jurisdiction in Court of Appeals to consider propriety of remand order in administrative law case

In Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation v. Lancaster, the Court of Appeals in an opinion by Judge Benton concluded that it had no subject matter jurisdiction of what it concluded was an appeal of a non-final order remanding a disciplinary matter back from the circuit court to the state agency.

225 unreturned calls?

In this story from the Bristol paper, an accused murderer "complained that he made 225 calls to attorney Barry Proctor's office that went unreturned."

I imagine Mr. Proctor, a good guy and good lawyer who has done very well in representing defendants in a high profile murder cases that come to mind, was not entirely displeased when the court let him out of the case.

117 pages from Judge Sargent in the ex-Paramont employees pension case

Without commenting on the merits of the opinion by Magistrate Judge Sargent in Adams v. Brinks, its length gave me occasion to recollect that I once filed a brief that was 105 pages long.

Some time later, I confessed to the judge that even my wife had chided me over the contradiction between a 105 page paper and calling it a "brief." He replied: "well, did she also say what would be perfectly obvious to everyone else, which is that there's no way you expect the judge to read all that, do you?" I had no response. Fortunately, someone must have found the good parts, as the motion was granted.

The Rolling Stones in Charlottesville, now this?

I'm not sure what to make of this statement, from RollingStone magazine online: "Sirius satellite radio will air an exclusive JIMMY BUFFETT concert live from Bristol, Virginia, on June 15th to launch its new Radio Margaritaville channel."

UPDATE: Of course, it was a typo. The concert is at the Nissan Pavilion, in Bristow, Virginia, outside of Manassas.

I saw Buffett in Charlottesville, some time or another, way back when.

I greatly enjoyed the recent WSJ article about Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett.

First judgment for Virginia under federal Do Not Call

It says here: "A Newport News, Va., firm has been ordered to pay $196,000 for violating the federal Do Not Call law. Virginia Attorney General Judith Jagdmann said it was the first time Virginia has prosecuted a company under the federal statute."

Federal employment cases by the numbers

Via LawMemo Employment law blog, I see that in How Employment Discrimination Plaintiffs Fare in Federal Court by Kevin Clermont, Stewart Schwab, downloadable via SSRN, the authors conclude regarding federal court employment discrimination plaintiffs that "relatively often, the numerous plaintiffs must pursue their claims all the way through trial, which is usually a jury trial; at both pretrial and trial these plaintiffs lose disproportionately often, in all the various types of employment discrimination cases; and employment discrimination litigants appeal more often than other litigants, with the defendants doing far better on those appeals than the plaintiffs."

Two dash or not two dash

In this free story from VLW are reported plans to reorganize the Virginia Code in 2007, including a move from a "one dash system" (e.g., § 2.2-3119) to a "two dash system" (perhaps, e.g., § 2-31-19). In other words, Virginia is taking a bold leap to, er, be like Tennessee.

Congressman Boucher on DTV

In this article, Congressman Boucher explains that there will be no law requiring the changeover to digital television without the inclusion of a subsidy for poor, rural, analog television owners to get a $50 set-top converter box.

Predicting gridlock for the West Virginia part of Interstate 81

This article reports some expert's forecast that traffic will soon grind to a halt on the stretch of Interstate 81 in West Virginia, which according to this page is a distance of 23 miles.

I knew that high school yearbook editing experience would come in handy some day

Once again, victory in the Commonwealth Conservative Caption Contest.

The answer on medical marijuana and interstate commerce

Regarding the medical marijuana case, in October 2003, I wrote in this post: "How will they distinguish the Agricultural Adjustment Act case from 1942?"

And, from today's decision in Gonzalez v. Raich, we know the answer is, Wickard is controlling, the federal power to regulate interstate commerce trumps whatever rights a state has to legalize medical marijuana.

I heard Marc Bernier's token liberal commentator, Ellen Ratner, wailing and moaning about this decision this morning on the radio. Perhaps she can't figure out which side of the bread has the butter on it; this reaffirmation of federal power is a "victory" for the "liberals," all of whom plus Justice Kennedy joined in the majority opinion in the case. Ellen shrieked, "this [medical marijuana] will never pass Congress!" The only solution for those who agree this is a problem is to vote in a different Congress. I don't see why she expected the Court to help on a question like this one, where the federal power is so entrenched in New Deal-affirming precedent.

Two sets of online polling figures

From SteveBaril.com:

Do you think it is unethical and should be illegal for legislators to represent paying clients before state agencies? (2044 total votes)

Yes,It's unethical and should be illegal - 70.5%

No, It's ethical and should remain legal - 29.5%

From the Augusta Free Press Election 2005:

Who should be the next attorney general in Virginia? (365 votes total)

Steve Baril 12%
Creigh Deeds 33%
Robert McDonnell 54%
Other 1%

Ex-U.Va. football coach in Berlin

During a break in the action at The Memorial, I flipped over to the NFL Europe game, and the coach looks familiar. That's the old U.Va. guy, I thought. What was his name? The answer is Rick Lantz, and evidently he's still going strong over there (even though his team the Thunder lost to Cologne in the game broadcast this afternoon).

By gosh, the course where they played the Memorial just looks fantastic. Add that to the list of golf tournaments I'd like to go see.

They could nail me for this every day of the week

It says here in the Fredericksburg paper:

"I came across a story about a preacher who in 1923 was arrested and convicted in Newport News for singing religious songs too loudly while driving through town in his car. The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the conviction."

Heartwarming tale of federal practice in Eastern KY

From 3L post, I see that I'm not the only one who took note of the comment by Judge Hood of the E.D. Ky. in this Post article that he's proudly packing heat.

Does Judge Hood still come to Pikeville, I wonder.

Save a burger for Jerry

I finally read (and heard) here the actual details of the Cookouts for Kilgore on June 7. (I guess I'm slow.)

The message is that Mr. Kilgore will join the cookout people via a conference call with a special guest.

I hope none of the Kaine people try to listen in on the call.

Only in the Appalachian League

As reported in this Johnson City Press story, a while back, City Council member and then mayor Pete Paduch tried and failed to get into a Johnson City Cardinals game without paying, and later confessed that he did not have the $3 for a ticket. Now, the Cardinals are planning a promotion based on this story:

"Foundation President Jeff Banyas said the JCSF officials figured they might be able to turn all of that negative attention into a plus this year by promoting the Aug. 8 game against the Bluefield Orioles as Mayor’s Night, during which all fans may enter free if they tell ticket booth workers, 'I don’t have $3.'"

Funky headlines for this AG story

Under the headline, "Neophyte Claims Inroads in Va. Race, Lt. Governor Contest Shows GOP Divide," the Washington Post has this story about the race between Steve Baril and Bob McDonnell.

It looks like they took a headline for a Bolling-Connaughton story and put it on a Baril-McDonnell story.

Alien invasion

It says here in the Richmond paper that the National Republican Party is getting ready to send in a bunch of its professionals to help out Virginia Republicans in this fall's elections.

On whether and how judges write their own opinions

Which Judges Write Their Opinions (and Should We Care)? by Stephen Choi, Gaurang Gulati, available for download via SSRN, deals with the interesting topic of whether it is possible to figure out which judges do most of their own writing, and what is the usefulness of knowing who all contributed to the writing of opinions.

The article notes that postings on the Greedy Clerks message board indicate "that Judges Posner, Easterbrook, Garza, and Niemeyer are among those federal circuit judges most likely to author their own opinions."

Summer camp for Mountain Justice activists

The Roanoke paper reports here on the Mountain Justice Summer training camp.

The article says:

"If bumper stickers can be trusted, the group is against nuclear war, against logging in national forests and, most of all, against mountaintop removal mining. This is what they plan to spend their summer fighting, and they were here for lessons in everything from Appalachian culture to sending coded messages and creeping through the woods to observe mine operations."

Why a young woman from rural Eastern Virginia wants to become a lawyer

This story explains why a high school valedictorian has declared that she wants to become "a different kind of lawyer."

Tom DeLay retains Richmond lawyer Cullen

The Richmond paper reports here that Congressman Tom Delay has hired McGuireWoods lawyer Richard Cullen, a former Attorney General of Virginia, to help get out of trouble in Washington.

Here's one for the sentencing guidelines debate

The Norfolk paper reports here that a convicted bigamist was sentenced to 60 days in jail, even though the guidelines indicated probation. The prosecutor was calling for five years in prison.

Steve Baril might say this case shows the guideliness need reform. Bob McDonnell might say this case shows the judges don't let the guidelines get in the way of doing justice.

Or, they might both laugh and say nothing, or vow that as Attorney General, each would continue the fight against bigamy in the Commonwealth.

More on the politics of federal judicial nominations

On Friday, the Washington Post had this article that says the Bush administration is about to send up names for the remaining federal court vacancies. In the Fourth Circuit, the nominations of Judges Boyle and Haynes are somewhat in limbo, and there remains the task of a nominee to replace Judge Murnaghan. Also, the Baltimore Sun had this article with more speculation about candidates for the Supreme Court, again mentioning Judges Wilkinson and Luttig of the Fourth Circuit.

Lee Smith on Grundy in the Washington Post

Here in the Washington Post (of all places) are the reflections of SW Virginia literary grande dame Lee Smith on the evolution of the Town of Grundy.

The article makes me think of Dad telling me, after noticing the empty streets in Jonesville as he drove back from Rose Hill one weekend, that when he was growing up in Lee County, everybody went to town on Saturday night, to see and be seen.

I must confess that I've probably read no more than two of Lee Smith's books.

Calling all swamis

Commonwealth Conservative and Raising Kane, in a rare bipartisan agreement, are holding a joint Crystal Ball contest to see who can best pick the outcome of the upcoming primaries.

Remember, you've got to play to win.

Looking at the Republican LG candidate websites

With less than two weeks before the primary vote, it has occurred to me to actually study the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, about whom I know just about nothing.

I've searched BillBolling.com and can't find where it says that he has ever held a job, except for a link to this page. That's a minus. Also, he complains that Connaughton Begins Negative And Dishonest Tv Ads And Mail Program. Another minus for whining. He has many fine endorsements, including Senator Wampler, and several pages with his ideas, plus and plus. He has sort of a calendar of events, another plus. Using Soople, I found 11 Southwest Virginia references within Bill Bolling.com.

The Sean Connaughton website does not really collect endorsements in one place, which is a minus. He says here that he has been endorsed by SW Virginia legal stalwarts Marcus McClung and Nick Compton, which is a plus with the Appalachian School of Law Republican alumni sector of the electorate (assuming there are more than two). His website is very detailed on his background and accomplishments but has only one page of ideas, which is a plus and a minus. Using Soople, I found 9 Southwest Virginia references within connaughton4ltgov.com.

Still more reasons why the rest of the state can stay home on Election Day

On the continuing theme that Southwest Virginia voters will decide the outcome of this year's statewide elections, via Salt Lick, here is a Roanoke TV news report about why the gubernatorial candidates keep coming back to Southwest Virginia.

Effects of the judgeship deal on the fortunes of Sen. Graham from SC

In South Carolina, Lindsay Graham made himself famous from the House impeachment hearings, and got elected Senator. This Power Line post ponders, among other things, whether Senator Graham will lose votes back home because of his joinder in the filibuster-avoiding deal, and in particular, whether he will take sides with the Democrats if and when Fourth Circuit nominee William J. Haynes comes before the Senate for a vote, or a filibuster, as the case may be.

The Washington Post and others on the partial birth abortion ruling

Here the Washington Post writes about the Fourth Circuit panel's split decision on the constitutionality of the 2003 Virginia partial birth infanticide statute, including some speculation about whether the Commonwealth will seek rehearing en banc and what the en banc court might do.

Judge Michael and Judge Motz, the two judges in the majority, are the Fourth Circuit's version of left-wingers, which means not especially but relatively liberal.

Here is the story from the Richmond paper, and here is the story from the Norfolk paper. The latter quotes Del. Marshall as saying, "They are finding excuses to say that someone who is 90 percent born is not living . . . They’re talking about abortion; we’re talking about life."

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSBlog has this interesting post on the case, which begins: "A decision by the Fourth Circuit on Friday may set the stage for the next test in the Supreme Court of the constitutionality of laws that ban so-called 'partial birth' abortions." Mr. Denniston adds this:

"Another significant facet of the majority ruling was that it made clear, for the first time, that the Fourth Circuit does not apply in the abortion context the normal rule for judging facial challenges to statutes. The so-called “Salerno” rule says that a facial challenge may succeed only if there is proof that in no set of circumstances can a law be applied constitutionally. There is a split in the circuits on whether the Salerno approach does govern in cases involving facial challenges to abortion laws, and some analysts had counted the Fourth Circuit among the minority of courts applying Salerno to such cases. Friday’s ruling concludes just the opposite. (This is an issue the Supreme Court itself will be confronting in its next Term, because the Justices on May 23 agreed to hear it in the New Hampshire abortion case, Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England [04-1144]. That case, however, involves a parental notice abortion law, not a “partial-birth” statute.)"

Steve Emmert in his commentary opines that it is "very unlikely, though not impossible, that the Court would grant an en banc rehearing." One possible reason why he may be right, is that Judges Wilkinson and Luttig are among the Top 20 candidates for the Supreme Court. Their friends and supporters might not want them to have to rule in an en banc abortion case at this time, in the manner suggested by the plot of the fictional Ninth Circuit Judge and Supreme Court nominee Caroline Clark Masters in Richard North Patterson's novel, Protect and Defend.

Judge Humphreys to head DNA review

The Richmond paper reports here that Governor Warner has appointed Judge Humphreys of the Court of Appeals, a former prosecutor, to head a group that is looking into the state's DNA testing in a series of criminal investigations.

Fourth Circuit panel rules Virginia partial birth abortion statute is unconstitutional

In Richmond Medical Center v. Hicks, the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Michael, joined by Judge Motz, and with a very lengthy dissenting opinion by Judge Niemeyer, affirmed the earlier decision by Judge Williams of the E.D. Va. that a Virginia statute from 2003 aimed at prohibiting "partial birth abortion" is unconstitutional because it contains no exception related to the health of the mother.

Judge Niemeyer's dissent concludes: "Can we not see that our discussions and the law we make in striking down Virginia’s prohibition are unfit for the laws of a people of liberty? I wonder with befuddlement, fear, and sadness, how we can so joyfully celebrate the birth of a child, so zealously protect an infant and a mother who is pregnant, so reverently wonder about how human life begins, grows, and develops, and at the same time write to strike down a law to preserve a right to destroy a partially born infant. If the disconnect is explained by personal convenience, then we must reason that all morality is personal, without commonality and source. The product of such chaos is unfathomable."

The demise of the Subway sub club

Snopes.com confirms here that the Subway sub club was done in by counterfeiters:

"Ever since the 1980s, Subway customers have received a stamp for every six-inch sandwich purchased (two stamps for a foot-long); filling up a Sub Club card with the requisite number of stamps entitles the customer to a free sandwich. Alas, by the end of September 2005 the Sub Club will be no more, another victim of technology which makes counterfeiting coupons and proof-of-purchase stamps on home computer equipment all too easy."

The first Subway I ever went to was run by some Vietnamese people in Cherrydale in Arlington and I thought it was such a novel and fantastic idea. Now, Abingdon has three of them.

On being a Scrabble hustler

Will Baude goes off at some length on the sanctity of the rules of Scrabble in this post.

It brings to mind a beach trip, years ago, during which my sister-in-law called me "the Scrabble hustler." I think that means I could beat Minnesota Fats at Scrabble.

UPDATE: Evidently, it's a guy thing, according to this commentary in the NY Times.

ACLU wins case about wearing rebel flag apparel to school in WV

Via Brian Peterson, a Charleston paper writes here of a decision by federal judge Copenhaver that a public school's dress code prohibiting the wearing of clothes bearing the rebel flag was overly broad.

Measuring damages caused by cows in part of a cornfield

Via ContractsProf Blog, here is an interesting case from Colorado about proving damages to part of a cornfield.

NASCAR vs. the NFL

This AntitrustProf Blog post cites an article that theorizes that sports leagues with more integration like NASCAR are more efficient than those with a bunch of independents, like the NFL.

The article is called Antitrust and Inefficient Joint Ventures: Why Sports Leagues Should Look More Like McDonald's and Less Like the United Nations. Now, so far as I know, the NFL has lost just about every antitrust case brought against it - even the USFL got their $1 award.

Meet me tomorrow at the junction of State and Euclid

Snopes.com says here that Krispy Kreme will gave away a donut to (paying) customers tomorrow, citing this press release.

Why not nominate Judge Posner to the Supreme Court

Instapundit takes on whether Judge Posner should be nominated to the Supreme Court.

Judge Posner might be the first to say he is but one among many, as he wrote: " may be living in the golden age of the federal appellate judiciary. There may never have been a time when so large a fraction of federal judges were outstanding." (Or so I quoted him in this post.)

Sandefur hangs them up

It says here that Timothy Sandefur is shutting down his blog, one of my favorites.

One of my favorite posts of my own was this one, pointing out the incongruity in using the term "free money" to describe an Ayn Rand writing contest. T.S. was equally amused.

Ode to Elsey's Barbecue

From Merriam Webster, ambrosia is defined as: "(1)(a): the food of the Greek and Roman gods, (b): the ointment or perfume of the gods; (2): something extremely pleasing to taste or smell."

Elsey Harris has got one of these, and the cooked pig they (Elsey and his Kamado barbecue) produce is positively ambrosial. I made a special trip to Wise County yesterday to get my meager share.

What about legislator/lawyers?

In this speech, AG candidate Steve Baril says his opponent Bob McDonnell should not be representing clients before state agencies while he is a member of the House of Delegates.

Of course, the General Assembly has various means of control not only over state agencies, but also state courts, and law enforcement officials at every level. If it is wrong for lawyer-legislators to appear before state agencies, how is it any better for them to appear in any of the state courts? Traditionally, that is what they have done - Joe Johnson represents this district in the House, and previously Judge Jones, Congressman Boucher, and former Bristol Commonwealth's attorney George Warren represented this area in the Senate. (The point being that they were and are all lawyers and gentlemen of high ethical standards, whose political careers flowed from their success as lawyers, rather than the other way 'round.)

What's unusual about this year's statewide candidates is that so many of them (e.g., Peterson, Connaughton, Baril, and Kilgore) are affiliated with national or international law firms - the kind that are among the usual suspects as players in the lobbying world, and not merely in Richmond.

G. Gray calls for Ms. Kilgore to resign

The Roanoke paper reports here and the Bristol/MG papers report here, and the Kingsport paper reports here that Clintwood lawyer Gerald Gray has published a letter asking for the resignation of Wille Mae Kilgore as the registrar of voters for Scott County.

The letter hit the reporters in conjunction with the June 1 announcement of the candidacy of Mr. Gray's client, Rex McCarty, to oppose Terry Kilgore for his seat in the House of Delegates.

I must say this, I never wrote a letter that made news in the Kingsport, Roanoke, and MG papers all on the same day, so Mr. Gray ought to get an extra bonus from his client for his work on this matter.

New degree program that will put Virginia Tech over the top

The Roanoke paper writes here: "Virginia Tech officials signed an agreement Wednesday with the operators of a four-star Caribbean resort that could allow select students to simultaneously earn college credit while getting a tan."

On the use of courtroom graphics in Virginia

Here is a defense-oriented account of the use by trial lawyers of courtroom graphics in a recent trial in Fairfax County, which evidently has at least one high tech courtroom.

The Legal Food Frenzy

It says here that some law firms in Southeastern Virginia have been engaging in a "Legal Food Frenzy."

I was amused to see that one sentence says this: "Along with firms like Williams Mullen and Huff, Poole & Mahoney are public legal offices like the Portsmouth city attorney’s office and the Norfolk public defender’s office."

Williams Mullen is the firm of Mr. Baril, and Huff Poole etc. I think is the firm of Bob McDonnell (and also of Tim Richardson, among whose classmates I was one in college and law school).

Two more summaries on the candidates for the Republican nomination for AG

This article by Christina Nuckols for the Norfolk paper about Steve Baril and Bob McDonnell is sort of a fair summary of the main points that have come across in the media during the campaign.

It does not mention some other things, like tort reform or where their money comes from, that might be of interest to some voters. This article by Tammie Smith in today's Richmond paper fills in some of that gap.

In this post, Barnie Day says that "Main Street Republicans" like Baril because, well, he is a Main Street lawyer, which I always thought was the main part of his appeal, although his campaign has not made it a point of emphasis in any way that I have noticed, preferring more populist themes. Strangely, Day points out that McDonnell is tied to Pat Robertson, without mentioning that Jerry Falwell was an early supporter of Baril.

Virginia lawyer profile

Here is an interesting profile of lawyer Karen Raschke, now CEO of the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood, formerly staff attorney in the chief staff attorney's office at the Virginia Court of Appeals.

Who is this blogger?

After reading this post, among the others from this blog, I wonder again whether the author is an appeals court judge in Virginia - or, I should say, it makes me wonder which of Virginia's appellate judges would be most likely to have a blog. I have some ideas about this, but for once I'll keep them to myself.

Pick one of us

It says here that the position of the lawyers of Floyd County should be named the interim prosecutor while the elected Commonwealth's Attorney serves in Iraq.

More on Judges Wilkinson and Luttig as candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court

The AP reports here on the prospects to replace Chief Justice Rehnquist, which prompted the RIchmond paper to reprint this report on Judge Wilkinson and this report on Judge Luttig, both of the Fourth Circuit and both from Virginia.

On the better brain

This article called "11 steps to a better brain" makes me think I should go have a yogurt with berries then go take a nap.

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope

In this Roanoke Times article, erstwhile Republican turned independent gubernatorial candidate Sen. Russell Potts declared: "A Kilgore-Bolling-McDonnell ticket would be the most extreme, right-wing ticket in Virginia history." Potts cast his absentee ballot in the Republican primary for Fitch-Connaughton-Baril.

SST calls this "some sort of Jedi reverse psychology mindtrick." Phil at Bacon's says this endorsement erodes the efforts of Connaughton and Baril "to run as conservatives."

At least they've both got careers

Via SST, I read this Fredericksburg.com story that says Steve Baril is calling Bob McDonnell "a career politician" while Bob McDonnell is calling Steve Baril "a career trial lawyer."

My own view is that these are both silly, self-destructive comments, since they are both politicians and trial lawyers, running for an office that requires some skill as a politician and as a lawyer.

Don't write like my brother

Via this Salt Lick post, I read this E&P article that says the Norfolk paper, otherwise opposed to censorship and limitations on free speech, have canned the newspaper column of the Car Talk guys.

Judge Humphreys on judicial selection in Virginia

Earlier this month, Judge Humphreys of the Virginia Court of Appeals wrote for the Richmond paper this commentary, in which he said, among other things:

"Selecting judges who are consciously biased for or against a particular agenda in a process that ignores the truth, the law, and judicial ethics cannot be healthy for any judicial system. Judges who are well qualified by temperament and experience and who will faithfully follow the law rather than their supporters' agenda should logically be preferred in any court system. Yet in states where judges are popularly elected, the only question the selection process answers is which agenda will accompany the judge to court.

Virginia is one healthy step removed from the states that choose judges this way. Here, judges are neither elected directly by the voters nor appointed by the Governor but rather are chosen by the people's representatives in both houses of the legislature. This is not to say that Virginia's system is without warts or blemishes, but our judiciary has indisputably avoided the chronic corruption and perceived bias problems that have plagued the court systems of states where the judges are popularly elected.

Legislators can and should vote their conscience on whether a judge should be appointed or reappointed based upon professional credentials and independent performance evaluations. They do no service to the law or the public when their vote is based upon the outcome of an individual case. Fortunately, most legislators realize that if equality under the law is to mean anything, judges must faithfully and consistently apply laws and constitutional protections even when the result is unpopular."

Will there be web piracy cases brought in SW Virginia?

The Kingsport paper reports here that a local assistant U.S. attorney "could not 'confirm or deny' a report by the Associated Press that, among the 10 cities nationwide where federal search warrants were executed involving the alleged high-tech piracy of copyright materials, two of them were Wise and Clintwood."

International rural conference coming to Abingdon

Here is the website for the upcoming conference of the International Rural Network and the Rural Policy Policy Institute, to be held in Abingdon, June 19-24.

Steve Igo of the Kingsport paper had this report, in which he says: "The goal of the conference is to bring together rural practitioners, policymakers and researchers from around the globe to address place-based innovations in health, education, competitiveness, entrepreneurship and cultural sustainability."

Sort of like a blog on what your Congressman has got cooking

The Plogress Report for Rick Boucher shows the progress of bills Congressman Boucher has sponsored or co-sponsored.

On the NLRB nominees

This post says the Senate should promptly confirm Ron Meisburg and Dennis Walsh to the National Labor Relations Board.

Mr. Meisburg is one of the ablest and most amusing lawyers I ever met, and besides which he went to Carson-Newman and Louisville.

That one headed toward the podium is my niece

When she was a month old, she came to my college graduation, and last night I was pleased to attend her high school graduation (notwithstanding my inability to take good photos from afar). 

Reporter's privilege in Virginia

This outline purports to describe the state of the law in Virginia regarding whether reporters can claim a privilege against being compelled to testify about information they learned from confidential sources.

This news article from Utah describes efforts to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether a similar "privilege" obtains in federal criminal cases.

Reverberations from the '84 Stafford campaign

This Sic Semper Tyrannis post details how a bunch of the young people who worked on the unsuccessful campaign of the late Jeff Stafford against Rick Boucher in 1984 became Virginia Republican VIPs.

Somewhere in the archives in the basement is the college paper I wrote about that race - they lost despite being on the ballot with Reagan and Warner, and with Boucher only a one-term incumbent, and even though there were something like a dozen debates. Reading of the pep of Stafford's staffers causes me to marvel once again at the outcome of that campaign.

In what circuit was that Moses case?

According to this report on oral argument in an intellectual property/First Amendment case involving the use of Jerry Falwell's name, Falwell's lawyer is quoted as saying, "It's been wrong to steal since Moses came down from the mountain."

The rest of the state shouldn't even bother to vote

In this Chris Graham Accentgate story, one pundit says: "Southwest Virginia may be where this election is decided."

The WV Grinch mask case

Here prosecutors explain their decision to prosecutor a man for wearing a mask of The Grinch on the streets of Wheeling, WV.

I suppose if it turns out he was not actually wearing a mask, but just looked like The Grinch, that would be a defense.

Court of appeals in Bristol on June 2

Here is the docket for cases to be heard by a panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals in Bristol on June 2.

New defense strategy - hope plaintiff's counsel shows up late

According to the LA Times, Tardy Attorney Costs Students Lawsuit "U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour last week threw out a $40-million civil rights lawsuit against a local school district after . . . an attorney for the plaintiffs, was late to a pretrial hearing. [The attorney] said he was five minutes tardy; others said it was more like 20 minutes."

Another lawyer in the case was quoted as saying: "You can be late to your own wedding, but don't be late to federal court."

Bristol paper sues Bristol VA for 911 tape with call from murder suspect

Without dislocating any shoulders, the Bristol paper reports on itself here as having filed a fantastically important FOIA case against the City of Bristol for the 911 tape of the call from the woman who is accused of murdering her son.

I was intrigued by the part at the end, where the City Attorney said no one called him about the FOIA response - which makes me think the City Manager decided to render a legal opinion for the City without the aid of counsel, and might or might not have whiffed it.

On perfection by the Kingsport paper

In this article, the Kingsport paper reports on the resignation of a member of the Lee County School Board.

So far as I am aware, the newspaper never once correctly spelled the outgoing member's last name.

The Barils in SW Virginia

It says here the Baril campaign will be in Blacksburg tomorrow, Bristol on Thursday morning, and Norton on Thursday night.

I'm tied up or I would go check him out.

I asked somebody the other day, who I should pull for, Baril or McDonnell. And, so-and-so said such-and-such lawyers we know in SW Virginia are against McDonnell because he supports tort reform, implying that Baril does not. I would not have guessed that there was any difference between the candidates on this issue.

Another great victory

Here one of my entries was declared the Supreme Champion in Commonwealth Conservative's latest caption contest.

If JB was a judge I appeared before, no doubt he would dismiss my briefs as further exercises in creative writing.

SW Virginia prison officials take note

Here is told the tale of how prison officials in Tasmania secured the release of a guard held hostage by the inmates - in exchange for 15 pizzas.

Fourth Circuit approves local jail fee of $1 per day for pretrial detainees

In Slade v. Hampton Roads Regional Jail, the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Williams, joined by Judge Wilkinson and District Judge Floyd, approved the practice allowed by Virginia statute of the regional jail charging a fee to the inmates as applied to pretrial detainees, because the fee is not a criminal punishment.

What of the Fourth Circuit in all this?

Wondering what will become of the nominations of Haynes and Boyle, I see here in the NY Times where it says: "Democratic officials said an unwritten aspect of the pact was that two nominees not named in the deal - Brett M. Kavanaugh and William J. Haynes - would not be confirmed and would be turned aside either at the committee level or on the floor."

This statement, if true, would seem to indicate that the run of Mr. Haynes to succeed Judge Widener will soon be at an end.

I was under the impression that Judge Boyle also was among the seven in the current group, apparently that is not so.

NY Times checks out college dropout in Chilhowie

This article reprinted from the NY Times profiles the struggle of a young man from Smyth County to decide what to do about college.

The oddest part was this: "He talked about how he could become an elementary school teacher. The job would take up 180 days, not 280. Teachers do not usually get laid off or lose their pensions."

Former AG and Governor Gilmore endorses McDonnell

The Richmond paper reports here that former Governor Gilmore has endorsed Del. Bob McDonnell to be the Republican nominee for Attorney General.

One thing about Gilmore - I never heard anyone say that he is soft on crime or public safety issues.

Chief Judge Jones denies motion to dismiss in section 1983 of prison guard who filed for workers comp

In Reed v. Sword, Chief Judge Jones ruled that the plaintiff should be given a chance to prove his claims that the termination of his employment as a corrections officer was in violation of his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, where he claimed that after he filed a workers' compensaiton claim, he was denied re-employment without procedural due process and in violation of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause.

When is Princeton cheaper than U.Va.

This Newsday article is about a student from Richmond who found Princeton to be more affordable than the University of Virginia.

My secret plan to go to Memphis

JQ writes here that the Liberty Bowl (in Memphis) might get an ACC tie-in.

It's better than Boise, and I want to check out this place.

Lights out, nobody's home

When I read this article, I thought it should be retitled, what does a fourth-year Virginia Governor do. The answer is, lots of road trips. Evidently, Governor Warner had to stay home a lot for several years, and so he is under his quota.