On the late Rogers Stuart

Here is the obituary for George Rogers Clark Stuart, a former VBA president and long-time Southwest Virginia lawyer.

It says in part:

"George Rogers Clark Stuart, age 83, a well-known Abingdon resident, died Aug. 23, 2008.

Mr. Stuart grew up in Abingdon, which was his lifelong residence. His college training was interrupted by three years of military service during World War II, including 18 months with the 1st Infantry Division in Belgium and Germany. During that time, his unit participated in the famous battles of the Bulge and the Bridge at Remagen. Returning home, Stuart completed his education at the University of Virginia Law School. He then engaged in the active practice of law for 40 years, first from 1950 to 1952 with the firm of Burns & Lively in Lebanon, and then with his family firm of Penn, Stuart & Phillips and successors in Abingdon. His specialty was litigation.

During his productive years, Stuart was very active in community affairs. He served as a member and/or officer of the following boards: Industrial Development Authority of Washington County, Barter Foundation, Washington County Red Cross Unit, Glenrochie Country Club, Johnston Memorial Hospital and Washington County National Bank. For 20 years, he was attorney of the Industrial Development Authority, which has been responsible for much of the industrial development in Washington County, Va.
Mr. Stuart served two terms (1970 to 1973) in the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1969, he was elected to the presidency of the Virginia Bar Association. He was a member in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation and the American Law Institute."

Two mysteries

Here are two things I wonder:

1. Why doesn't the website for the Attorney General's office have on it some convenient directory like this one?

2. Why is this directory of lawyers in the Attorney General's office in the local court rules section of the Richmond bar website?

From the archives

A real live e-mail exchange, with a member of the press from years ago:

From: O'Donna Ramsey [mailto:oramsey@coalfield.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 3:24 PM
To: Steve Minor
Subject: Re: Monopolization on the Coalfields Expressway


Steve: Don't you have people to sue?
As you pointed out, monopolizing is probably not the appropriate word, but
that's what they say they are doing. At least that's how committee members
and the Lenowisco planner described it. Glad to hear you're still out
there, and you're still reading the world's best newspaper, even if we do
use the wrong words occasionally. . . .

---------------

O'Donna:

You wrote:

"Plans are to find ways of monopolizing on the expressway and to put those plans into action before the highway gets here, Pound Vision Committee member Kathy Roberson said following a recent meeting."

Are the people of Pound really trying to monopolize on the Coalfields Expressway? I'm not sure what that means. Perhaps the right word is capitalize, or maybe I missed the point altogether. When I was a kid, we monopolized on Mom and Dad's bridge table in the basement (I always wanted to be the banker.)

Still a dedicated reader in Bristol,

Steve Minor

Judge Williams in Travel and Leisure magazine

The September 2008 edition of Travel & Leisure magazine includes this article about Southwest Virginia, and the article includes some substantial reference to Judge Glen Williams.

The print version, just arrived, includes a fine picture of the Judge and his wife in Jonesville.

Evidently, this story was written right after our law clerk reunion in October 2006 - which, by the way, Senator Allen did not attend - but many others did. Maybe after two years it is time for me to hang the group photo on the wall in my office.

When is sugar not sugar

Yesterday's post resulted in the receipt of this story, said to be true:

"An ex-boyfriend was charged with putting sugar in his ex-girlfriend's gas tank. She saw him doing it and called the police. The police stopped his vehicle and found a gallon jug nearly full of sugar. Sugar was found in the girlfriend's gas tank, the car was damaged, sugar was spilt in the defendant's floorboard, etc.

During cross-examination, the clever defense attorney questioned the arresting officer about the gallon jug found in defendant's possession. Defense attorney asked if, in fact, any field tests had been done on the substance to prove that the white substance was sugar. The officer responded 'no, sir.'

The defense attorney, sensing a vulnerable prey, continued by stating 'That's right, officer. You really don't know what that substance is. For all you know, that white substance found in my client's car could be COCAINE, couldn't it?!'"

When is a firearm not a firearm

VLW Blog links here to this opinion from the Court of Appeals, in which the panel of Judges Kelsey and Petty and Senior Judge Bumgardner granted a writ of innocence.

And, the basis was evidence that the firearm was not a firearm.

Which makes me think of a case years ago, where a Bristol lawyer was defending somebody charged with transporting a truckload of marijuana, and he was going to try to prove that the stuff was not marijuana, and I think the plan was that since he had no expert witness he offered to prove this at trial by putting some in the Commonwealth's Attorney's pipe to see what would happen.

On trees and mining

The Bristol paper reports here on last week's proceedings in the Sierra Club case, including some quotes attributed to me.

Then, the same paper published a front-page story in the paper today, with the bold prediction that mountain-top mining will be outlawed by the end of 2009.

So long, Skip Caray

Who knows how many nights I've driven home from Bristol listening to the Braves on the radio, with Skip Caray making the call.

One of his calls that gives me a chill every time I see and hear it replayed on TV is described here, from the 1992 playoffs: "Here comes Bream! Here's the throw to the plate! He iiiiiiiisssssssss ... safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! ... Braves win!"

When he got excited, something exciting really was happening.

Fourth Circuit reverses NLRB on union decertification arising out of Wise County

In NLRB v. Mullican Lumber and Manufacturing, the Fourth Circuit in a published opinion by Judge Niemeyer, joined by Chief Judge Williams and District Judge Williams from Maryland, denied the NLRB's petition for enforcement and granted the company's cross-petition for review, concluding that the unfair labor practice charges against Mullican over its facility in Norton were deficient because the company had sufficient evidence that the majority of its employees there no longer wanted to be represented by the UMWA.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

"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

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

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

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?

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

On the voters of Appalachia

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

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

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

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.

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

The insignificance of Miller-Jenkins

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

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

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.

The vice of moderate legislation

Justice Kennedy's opinion for the majority in Kennedy v. Louisiana might inspire some legislators (like the ones we read about from Virginia and Tennessee) to reject moderation in matters governed by the Eighth Amendment.

The legislators might say to themselves, we all need to take the extreme view on this, otherwise the Supreme Court will get the wrong idea the next time it surveys the views of "society."

Papa Joe Smiddy documentary

It says here that U.Va.-Wise has released a documentary on DVD of the life and times of Joe Smiddy.

Here is one of the best Joe Smiddy stories.

Here is one place where you can buy a "Butter Beans" CD, which is mainly what I like to listen to when I am riding in Dad's truck. This bean story has the lyrics.

Using the VLW archives

In last week's Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Paul Fletcher posed this hypothetical:

"My client just got served with papers filed by a lawyer named Steven R. Minor with the firm of Elliott, Lawson & Minor in Bristol. I don’t know this guy. How can I get some information about him and his practice?"

One of his answers was to check the archives on VLW.

That could work, evidently those archives include my name in connection with 26 opinions.

A fellow I know in Charlottesville told me a while back that he often sees my name in Lawyers Weekly. I said yes, but not all of those cases are worth bragging about, such as the one where the Virginia Court of Appeals held that I didn't miss that deadline, after all.

Fourth Circuit rejects claim to school district's information distribution system for issue advocacy

In Page v. Lexington County School District, the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Niemeyer, joined by Chief Judge Williams and Judge Duncan, affirmed the entry of summary judgment on the section 1983 claims of a citizen who sued for equal access to the school district's "information distribution system" that the district had used to oppose legislation the plaintiff favored.

The amici supporting the appellee include the Virginia School Boards Association.

If you do Virginia appeals, you must read this

Steve Emmert has an article up these days on his site that I take to mean that the Virginia Supreme Court is cracking down on procedural defaults. Similarly, VLW Blog has this post quoting Justice Keenan, who acknowledged that more Virginia appeals are getting sunk on procedural defaults.

Norfolk paper comes to Wise County

This article about the power plant in the works at Virginia City quotes one side talking about the other as saying this: "wrong on so many levels." Actually, all sides say that about their opponents all the time.

Some of the discourse reminds me of my grandmother's opposition to the federal prison in Lee County - she didn't want a bunch of escaped federal inmates running up and down Route 58.

Vote on him, I dare you

The Asheville paper has this recap of the status of the nomination to the Fourth Circuit of Judge Conrad from North Carolina, who is not to be confused with the Judge Conrad from Virginia or the tough-guy actor.

Who leaked the Ahmad Bradshaw story?

The Bristol paper and others have discovered that Ahmad Bradshaw is in jail here in Abingdon, which prompted his old football coach at Bluefield to denounce whoever it was that caused this to get into the newspapers.

The Bristol paper reported this:

"Graham football coach and athletic director Doug Marrs adamantly stood by Bradshaw, calling the player’s legal troubles the direct result of a concerted attempt by 'individuals who build themselves up by making other people look bad.'

'It’s an attempt by an anonymous mole to discredit [Bradshaw],' Marrs said. 'I bet you cannot find out who released [the information to the police]. Have you seen anywhere where he violated his parole? It doesn’t make sense. It’s extremely complicated.

'All I can tell you is ... there’s animosity. It’s just … there are people who make it, I guess, their job to try to ruin to other people’s lives. That’s the way I see it.'

. . .

'I promise you this: Graham High School would not have retired [Bradshaw’s] jersey if we had thought he’d have done something that would discredit [Graham],' Marrs said.

'He truly does not deserve this. He doesn’t deserve this. And you know what? I did stuff when I was 12 or 13 years old [that] I could probably still be in jail for. But I never played in the Super Bowl. I don’t get people wherever jealous of me.'"

The Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act

This post considers the Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act, H.R. 6258, introduced by Rick Boucher, which provides for an industry-funded, non-government "Carbon Storage Research Corporation."

He said it

"So Mr. Obama, if you're going to call for 'the highest-speed broadband access' can you please stop pussyfooting around like just about everyone else and start acknowledging that that means getting a fiber strand strung to every building in America?"

Geoff Daily, Apprising

Santos, Santos, Santos

The Bristol paper reported here that Chief Judge Jones is trying to figure out the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Santos, before deciding what to do in the case of the Lee County dentist.

Maybe the dentist's lawyer will sign up for this seminar, the ad for which says of Santos and Cuellar v. U.S.: "The Court's opinions vindicate the criminal defense bar's long and loud criticisms that money-laundering charges were being 'tacked-on,' 'added-on,' and threatened in order to induce pleas and rack up higher sentences."

On the late Harry Hall

This morning, Dana spotted a brief notice in the morning paper that Harry Hall has died.

Harry Hall is just about the best guy from Bristol I ever met. The deacon at St. Anne's, he was part of our marriage preparation, way back when, and a good friend of mine ever since. When he ended a mass, it sounded like the voice of Moses. He worked all the time, even when he was sick, like when there was a fire at the church and he just laughed at the idea that he should just be a cheerleader on the sidelines. He laughed at most everything, and made everyone else laugh with him. Seeing him in the church or out and about always lit me up.

I'll miss him.

Best U.S. Open story

I still like the story reported here and here and elsewhere about Tony Romo, Matt Lauer, Justin Timberlake, and a fellow from Nebraska with cancer, trying to break 100 on Friday at Torrey Pines. The dude from Nebraska shot 114 and savored it all, sounds like.

I probably can't break a hundred anywhere that doesn't have plastic grass and windmills. The last round of golf in May, though, playing captain's choice in Nancy Dickenson's Relay for Life tournament we made a lot of lengthy par putts and finished 10 from the back and 10 from the front (i.e., next to last at +1). Tim Hudson from over on the Tennessee side was playing behind us and said he thought we were going to break out the champagne when we got up and down for par on our first hole (from the wrong side of the creek).

And, the horse you rode in on

Here and elsewhere it says that Andrea Mitchell, from the gang of happy idiots at MSNBC, has apologized for her characterization of the people of Bristol, Virginia, on the occasion of the visit by Obama last week.

Another of that sorry bunch, Chris Matthews, will be at the Bristol library a few weeks before the election. His rant this morning, as I understood it, was that the United States is like the sinking Titanic, and voters will have to decide whether to stay on the ship with McCain or jump into the life boats with Obama.

The Fourth Circuit: fewer judges equals fewer arguments

Here is the take of one of the Volokh Conspirators on the state of the Fourth Circuit, still missing too many judges, and the subject of the cover story in this month's ABA Journal.

Sell assets, not stock?

In Andrews v. Browne, the Virginia Supreme Court held that the sale of 100% of the stock of a closely-held corporation is subject to the Virginia Securities Act.

That other Buchanan County case

The Supreme Court decided on Friday in Levisa Coal v. Consolidation Coal that Consol's lease did not give it the right to "store excess water" on the leased premises from coal mining on other property, reversing the Buchanan County circuit court.

The case was argued for the appellant by Scott Sexton from Gentry Locke, with Monica Monday and some lawyers from the Street Law Firm on brief. Well done.

On the Tennessee side

The Kingsport paper has this disturbing story about a good lawyer who made one or more bad mistakes.

It begins:

"A former Johnson City attorney who pleaded guilty to attempted forgery for signing a client’s name to a probation hearing waiver ended up losing his law license, his practice, his home and cars."

Judge Weckstein a candidate for Virginia Supreme Court

The Roanoke Times has this article that says Judge Clifford Weckstein is a candidate for the vacant position on the Virginia Supreme Court.

The article cites Steve Emmert who bemoans the circumstances that might reduce the field of candidates, but if Judge Weckstein is in the running, that's evidence that there may be quality if not quantity.

The same circumstances cited by Steve might prevent anyone from being selected as the juvenile and domestic relations district judge to succeed Judge Farmer in the 29th district - rare is the lawyer willing to chuck in his or her practice for what may be a very temporary judgeship.

No kidding

I just saw this picture that my dad posted somewhere.

Some people are (still) surprised to learn that the proprietor of Appalachian Resources, also the Rose Hill blogger, is my sister.

Last week's case

Here are the stories from the newspapers:

Daniel Gilbert, Bristol Herald-Courier -

Buchanan County Seeks To Recover Money It Says It Lost Due To Bribery Scandal

Federal Jury Is Deciding Liability In Buchanan County, Va., Bribery Case

Contractors To Pay $500,000 To Buchanan County In ‘Coon Dog’ Case

Laurence Hammack, Roanoke Times -

Big Coon Dog lawsuit trees little cash

The big case

Well, the jury verdict was $500,000, and not on the RICO counts. That's less than I had hoped, but better than nothing.

It was pretty exciting, I'll write more about it one of these days.

Head games

On Friday night, opposing counsel sent me a note that said quit working so hard.

I laughed and told some people about this note, and one of them asked me about that other lawyer, and I said he's a bulldog.

And, the reply was, then he's in trouble, because he's a bulldog but this is a coondog case.

That might be my swing thought for the week, or maybe this.

Ex-judge Shull speaks out

Daniel Gilbert had this lengthy article, with Mickey Shull's thoughts on what happened to him, that he lost his judgeship.

There are some parts of the article I don't like, but it is definitely worth reading, to ponder the many ironies.

Previously, I posted my thoughts here.

On T. Keister Greer

The Roanoke paper reports here on the interesting life and times of the Rocky Mount lawyer, who wrote about the Franklin County moonshine case, as described here, tried in Harrisonburg before Judge John Paul.

Why quit before November?

Senator Clinton cites the example of the assassination of Robert Kennedy as a reason why she should not stop her campaign.

Following this same logic, perhaps after the convention, she will continue to campaign, citing the possibility that Obama has not disclosed prior hospitalization for mental illness, as in the case of the vice-presidential nominee in 1972.

Back out of prison

Yesterday at the Ashland, KY, prison camp, we deposed Ray Blankenship, who is the former chairman of the board of supervisors from Buchanan County, and we had a court reporter, and videographer, and they were two women from Lexington, and on his way out, the witness/inmate gave them a nod and told them he was particularly glad they came by to see him.

Sprung from the prison, I rolled on down to Paintsville, to draw on the good karma (hey, we're undefeated in Johnson County) and the good company of Roger Massengale, who had many tall tales, then went on to Norton and got the latest BBQ from Elsey Harris. It was a full day.

The 25th reunion year

This is, I am reminded, the 25th year after graduation from high school, and I've heard there will be a reunion.

Those who knew me then might say, as some have, that my life has proceeded according to plans that were made in junior high, more or less. I might say the same thing, more or less, by the bare preponderance of the evidence. There's a handwritten essay in the archives from Mr. Sieber's 8th grade English class, or was it 7th grade, in which I wrote how I was going to become a lawyer.

Next door to Mr. Sieber's room, more or less, was Mr. Feiler's room, where he taught 8th grade civics. In his class I first learned the case of Marbury v. Madison. Indeed, in his classroom, there was an old stash of books, soon to be trashed, called Constitutional Analysis, and I took one home (by extraconstitutional means?) and still have it. That would have been more like 30 years ago. I saw Mr. Feiler at a baseball game in 1988, the summer spent clerking at the Barley Snyder firm, and he said he knew all along that I would become a lawyer.

The last time I was in contact with any of my old teachers (other than Ed Stout) was Coach Borden, who taught 9th grade English. "You people don't know how to edit," he declared in those days, "you look at the page and think, 'These are my words, I love them.'" When I saw that he was retiring from coaching basketball, I e-mailed him and told him that I have recalled his admonition many times since, since writing is mainly what I do, and good advice on writing never grows old. He wrote back that he could well recall that I was never at a loss for words.

I saw a piece on the Golf Channel the other day where the question before the panel was would you rather play a pro-am with Tiger Woods or with your mom, and one guy answered his mom, since she had been dead for some years and his dad in particular would like to see her. If I could play a pro-am with one of my high school teachers, it would be the old grey-bearded English teacher with whom I conspired for a couple of years, and who died before his daughters married, two sisters who were both cheerleaders and who both were cursed with the same unfortunate nose and who married on the same day - and I would skip the golf and send him on to see them.

I guess the teachers, particularly those no longer of this earth, don't come to the reunions, and since my tale would hold no mystery to my friends, I won't be at the reunion of the Conestoga Valley class of '83. Besides which, my dad got food poisoning at his 25th reunion.

Stuff I've missed

Justice Agee was confirmed to the Fourth Circuit, as reported here and elsewhere.

Julie Dudley took over as head of the United States Attorney's office, reported here.

All this while I've been driving back and forth to Grundy, and plotting my next trip which is to a federal prison.

Just in time for the election

Here's the decision from the California Supreme Court, in which the divided Court declared that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection clause of the state constitution - notwithstanding the statewide referendum on the definition of marriage from only eight years ago.

I am reminded of my post from Election Day, 2004, relating a discussion I had with a guy I know as he was driving to vote, and "[h]e said he would flip the switch for Bush, even though he is mostly a Democrat, and even though he mostly aspires to Christian charity and good will, because there are two things he can't abide, and those are gay marriage and Arab terrorists. (Actually, his phrasing was somewhat more colorful, and it made me recollect the comedian who declares, there are three things I can't tolerate: bigotry, intolerance, and midgets.)"

And this post on the eve of the election in 2006, explaining my "no" vote, and offering this view - "I think most of the claims of both the "yes" and "no" advocates in Virginia were completely bogus, and that many of the people engaged in such advocacy knew full well that were they were saying was bogus but said it anyway to try to get votes for their side."

There's much that's bogus in that California Supreme Court opinion.

More on West Virginia

According to CNN:

Logan County - Clinton 84%, Obama 11%
Mercer County - Clinton 72%, Obama 21%
Mingo County - Clinton 88%, Obama 8%
Raleigh County - Clinton 66%, Obama 26%

All that seems about what you'd guess based on Buchanan and Tazewell counties in Virginia.

She said it

"From potheads to prostitutes to public urinators, they get it all in General District Court.

I highly recommend a few hours there, especially if you can no longer afford movie tickets. Shoot, sometimes there's even nudity."

Kerry Dougherty, in the Norfolk paper.

I have discussed with some people who know that the same is true on the Virginia Court of Appeals, that all manner of human activity passes through there.

What to expect from West Virginia

I haven't been to West Virginia in a while, but I recall that in the Virginia primary back in February, there were these results in some Southwest Virginia counties that border on West Virginia:

Buchanan County - Clinton 89.91%, Obama 9.09%

Tazewell County - Clinton 78.32%, Obama 19.22%

I don't expect Obama to do much better in Logan County or Mingo County, but maybe he will in Raleigh and Mercer counties. That's as far as my crystal ball goes.

My link went bad, but this is still a great story, about the county official who supposedly asked for $3,500 for the 1960 West Virginia primary and got $35,000 from the Kennedy campaign. Another version of the same tale is told here.

Cert granted in Bell case from Virginia

An order came down from the U.S. Supreme Court today granting certiorari on the first issue in what is now called Bell v. Kelly, the post-conviction appeals of the Winchester murder case.

The AP has this report, and SCOTUSBlog has this post with links to the court filings.

The first issue in the petition is this: "Did the Fourth Circuit err when, in conflict with decisions of the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, it applied the deferential standard of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), which is reserved for claims 'adjudicated on the merits' in state court, to evaluate a claim predicated on evidence of prejudice the state court refused to consider and that was properly received for the first time in a federal evidentiary hearing?"

So, a plunge into the savage heart of standard of review jurisprudence.

On Jennifer McClellan

I read here and elsewhere that superdelegate Jennifer McClellan switched over to Obama, which is good because I'd think her otherwise incomprehensible support for Ms. Clinton would be an albatross around her neck for the rest of her career.

I mean, if a couple of old timers like Rick Boucher and Tim Kaine figured that one out months ago, you'd think that Ms. McClellan would have been quicker to do the math. How super can a delegate be who wasn't supporting the likely (and history-making) nominee, who carried the Virginia primary (and the precincts of her own district) by a landslide, had the support of the old school Governor and the senior Congressman, raised $300 million, and was never married to Bill Clinton?

Wow, President Bush nominates SW Virginia's own Judge Conrad for Fourth Circuit

It is reported here and elsewhere that President Bush has nominated Judge Glen Conrad of the W.D. Va. to a vacancy on the Fourth Circuit.

The article says in part:

"The White House announced Thursday that Bush had nominated Glen E. Conrad to the Richmond, Va.-based appeals court, which has handled some of the country's biggest terrorism cases.

Conrad has been a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia since 2003.

If confirmed by the Senate, Conrad would fill the seat of H. Emory Widener Jr., who died last year."

The Roanoke paper has this story, which notes: "With the Conrad nomination, the president has five nominees pending for the five vacant seats on the 4th Circuit."

As noted here, "There are now two Conrad nominations pending for the Fourth Circuit, the other being that of Judge Robert Conrad." As reported here, Judge G. Conrad has been approved by Senator Webb, and so his nomination might proceed apace in the manner of Justice Agee.

One of the Confirm Them commenters notes: "The confirmations of Agee and G. Conrad, though, will likely doom the nominations of R. Conrad and Matthews."

I wonder if this news has Magistrate Judges Urbanski and Sargent maybe snapping their fingers and shuffling their feet.

No kidding

Not too long ago, I was arguing about something and invoked the goose and gander rule, of which I have previously written here. I have heard Magistrate Judge Sargent say that the goose and gander rule "is good law" in the Western District.

The state court judge in ruling on the point declared essentially this: "I won't invoke cliches like Mr. Minor, but I've decided to give him another bite of the apple."

Interesting

Hunton & Williams lawyer Tom Slater is the new president of the VMI board of visitors. I often tell stories of a case I had with him long ago. Every experience I ever had with a Hunton & Williams lawyer has generated a few stories, going back to the first one I ever met, a fellow named Jim Farnham who did an amazing job trying a products liability case about a riding mower, before Judge Williams when I was a law clerk. I can remember it like it was yesterday.

This article deals with the interesting and recurring issue of litigation between a local government and its board of zoning appeals. I guess it means that Staunton is catching up to Fairfax County.

This article says some watchdog group gives Virginia a D for judicial accountability, based on criteria that are not entirely clear. The article says: "The researchers rated each jurisdiction on the degree of public access to complaints against judges; the severity of sanctions; the availability of online information about disciplinary proceedings; the percentage of non-lawyers involved in the sanctioning process; the level of financial disclosure required of judges; whether people are free to speak publicly about complaints they file; and the strictness of limits on reimbursements, compensation and honoraria for privately sponsored trips by judges."

This story says a Christiansburg developer has sued some people over what was said about him on a blog, which I checked out and it led me eventually to this page with an interactive map of the Falling Branch industrial park, and if you scroll on the map down to the big water tank and keep going you can see the little house with the big bushes where Grandma and Grandpa Conrad lived, and their barn, and Uncle Joe's house, all of which seems like a safer topic for a blogger than the lawsuit of the guy suing the bloggers.

This article on one of the lawyer boards says the Virginia Tech shootings may lead the General Assembly to increase the $100,000 cap under the Virginia Tort Claims Act, and links to this Washington Post story. Of course, at common law, the de facto cap was $0, I suspect, as it still is today in some respects and for some defendants, such as counties.

The Daily Press had this interesting report about the status of desegregation orders that required school busing in Newport News, still in place after 37 years.

The online ABA Journal has picked up on the locally-notorious federal court disciplinary case against a Knoxville lawyer, calling him the Lawyer Who Wouldn’t Stop Talking.

New magistrate judge to serve in Southwest Virginia

This order says that in recognition of the caseload coming out of the Cumberland Gap park, a magistrate judge shall be empowered to handle cases from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia - and it will be any full-time magistrate judge from the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Grad student's suit fails to pass

In Brown v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, Judge Moon granted the motion to dismiss from the defendants in a case filed by an ex-graduate student.

And, it is a case study of the hurdles to stating a claim against a state school: (1) there is some talk about Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, which provides cover to district courts wanting to move on lame complaints at the pleadings stage; (2) the Eleventh Amendment bars relief against the University as an agency of the Commonwealth - (query, why doesn't the same rule apply to local school boards?); (3) qualified immunity protects individuals in all but the clearest cases of constitutional violations; (4) on a Due Process claim, what procedural process is due is not much, at least not for academic dismissals, or even disciplinary dismissals; and (5) you can't actually rely on representations in a student handbook that are qualified by the customary disclaimer.

He said it

"When Justice Agee is confirmed as a federal circuit judge, the Fourth Circuit will have fewer vacancies than at the end of the Clinton administration."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, on the occasion of last week's Judiciary Committee hearing for Justice Agee's nomination to the Fourth Circuit. His comments are taken to mean that Justice Agee will be confirmed this month, as suggested here and here, even though he will be cutting line ahead of others less fortunate.

With Justice Agee's apparent success in Washington, behind him begins the speculation over his successor, such as this piece by Jeff Shapiro, which says that maybe there can be a big political deal involving Agee's seat on the Supreme Court and the vacancy on the State Corporation Commission - the one that would have been filled already, says Shapiro, but for internecine bickering among the Republicans.

And, this committee may have to meet, which is excellent, because I enjoy listening to lawyers like Glenn Pulley and Taz Ellett, every chance I get.

Max and Gina

Max Lawson and his girlfriend Gina, who both have worked here off and on, have this website about their wedding, coming up next month.

They mailed the invitations with postage bearing their photo and web address, made here.

Chief Judge Jones rejects liberty interest claim

The Constitution protects against deprivations of life, liberty, and property without due process of law.

Somewhere along the way came the notion that the concept of liberty includes freedom from being bad-mouthed by the government, but there's more to it than that, as evidenced by the ruling in April by Judge Jones in Etter v. Spencer.

The only such claim that I can recall getting anywhere was in the case of the NCAA compliance officer thrown under the bus by Marshall University, and even in that case there was a dissent from Judge Widener.

Voice of Cavaliers quits

This piece by Doug Doughty says that Mac McDonald has resigned.

Maybe they will rehire Warren Swain away from the Ohio U. Bobcats.

Oops, someone on the boards has already suggested this.

On Conrad and Matthews

It says here that Senators Spector and McConnell are trying to shame Chairman Leahy into scheduling hearings on Fourth Circuit nominees Conrad and Matthews.

Davis gets past committee

Mark S. Davis has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation to a seat on the E.D. Va., according to this report, which says the other pending E.D. Va. nomination is still waiting action.

Rehearing in the spam case

It is reported in this Media General story that the Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to a rehearing in the case of the man convicted under the spam statute, the subject of a 4-3 decision by the Court.

Christiansburg lawyer indicted for forgery

The Roanoke paper has this article on the forgery indictment against attorney Gerard Raymond Marks.

The article notes:

"In September, Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter issued an order indefinitely barring Marks from practicing in the 27th Circuit, which includes the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe, and the city of Radford.

The order gave no reason for Showalter's decision.

Three months later, the Virginia State Bar suspended Marks' license to practice law for failure to comply with a subpoena duces tecum -- an official request ordering a witness to appear and to bring specified documents or records."

He said it

"I expect the Judiciary Committee and the Senate will proceed promptly to consider and confirm Justice Agee’s nomination with the support of Senator Warner and Senator Webb."

Senator Leahy, April 3, 2008.

Justice Agee to the front of the line

Justice Agee's nomination now has a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee set for May 1, which has some Republicans complaining about the lack of hearings for those who were nominated before him.

Ah, the evil zombies

"The appointment of the receiver removed the wrongdoer from the scene. The corporations were no more Douglas's evil zombies. Freed from his spell they became entitled to the return of the moneys-for the benefit not of Douglas but of innocent investors-that Douglas had made the corporations divert to unauthorized purposes."

Posner, J., in Scholes v. Lehmann, 56 F.3d 750 (7th Cir. 1995).

Now, how can I work an "evil zombies" reference into the brief I've been working on? It might not be a problem.

On Judge Farmer's position

Daniel Gilbert has this article about the legislature failure to fill the juvenile judgeship in the 29th district.

As regards the prospect that the circuit court judges will reappoint Judge Farmer, Senator Puckett is quoted as saying, somewhat ominously, "The judges in the 29th Circuit could have an opportunity to reappoint him if they think I’ve made a bad judgment."

Someone told me the other day that Judge Farmer cannot be reappointed by the judges, per some provision in the Code, but I can't find any such limitation. See, e.g., Va. Code 16.1-69.9:2.

Three federal appeals court judges before Memorial Day?

This post and this post, among others, say there is a deal in the Senate to confirm three judges to the United States Courts of Appeals before Memorial Day, later this month.

The unknown - which ones.

Sort of a Virginia book I got in Charlottesville

Playing with Wikipedia, I wrote the little article on a judge of the W.D. Va. named Alexander Rives, who was the brother of William Cabell Rives, who was the grandfather of Amelie Rives, whose marriage to John Armstrong Chanler is the subject of Archie and Amelie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age, by Donna M. Lucey.

Having read the book, I would say that it is a somewhat lame account of a fascinating story. I say lame by contrast with the account of the family of the Roosevelts in Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt, from about the same era, or by contrast with the account of Virginia history as for example in the Virginius Dabney book, which I have been reading.

Part of the book is about the litigation by Chanler over his sanity. He escaped from the asylum and hid out in Virginia, then turned up and had some kind of hearing in Virginia, where his lawyers included Micajah Woods, the Commonwealth's attorney in Charlottesville, another interesting character from that era. According to this account in the New York Times of Chanler's reappearance, his lawyers were Woods and John W. Daniel and Armistead Gordon from Virginia, and Augustus Van Wyck from New York.

Ms. Rives was kin somehow to Thomas Nelson Page, another well-known Virginia lawyer, who was a co-author of at least one book with Gordon, who like Woods was a president of the Virginia Bar Association.

The General Assembly has spoken

In Southwest Virginia, as someone told me a while back, Judge Pat Johnson got the circuit court job in the 29th circuit, Greg Matney from Tazewell County got the general district court job, and nobody got Judge Farmer's job on the juvenile court, which may mean that he gets to keep it until next year.

And, John Cook got in for Lynchburg circuit court, along with Ludwig and Wilson up in Staunton and Harrisonburg. Those were the ones I was following.

Evidently, they punted on the State Corporation Commission, plus I can't tell how many of the local judgeships, besides the juvenile court position in the Dickenson/Buchanan/Tazewell/Russell district.

But, they did find time to commend Judge Wood, and rightly so.

Virginia wins again

Today in Virginia v. Moore, the Commonwealth won before the United States Supreme Court. In an opinion by Justice Scalia, with Justice Ginsburg concurring separately in the judgment, the Supreme Court reversed the Virginia Supreme Court's decision in Moore v. Com., which reversed (unanimously) the Virginia Court of Appeals decision en banc in Moore v. Com., which (with Elder, Benton, Fitzpatrick, and Frank dissenting) reversed the panel decision in Moore v. Com., which reversed the conviction in the trial court.

The issue was "whether a police officer violates the Fourth Amendment by making an arrest based on probable cause but prohibited by state law." The Court's answer is no. So, Moore's conviction is affirmed.

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSBlog has this post about the decision. AP writer Pete Yost has this article about the decision.

UPDATE: The commenter below says the conviction could still be overturned back in the state courts on state law grounds.

State law grounds, such as what, I wonder - the Virginia Constitution? Not likely. Justice Ginsburg's concurring opinion says plainly, "Virginia law does not demand the suppression of evidence seized by an officer who arrests when he should have issued a summons." If that's true, the proceedings on remand may not be very interesting.

On ex parte contact with ex-employees

I read the opinion by Judge Kiser in Bryant v. Yorktowne Cabinetry, granting summary judgment in a Title VII case.

The opinion referenced an earlier decision by Magistrate Judge Urbanski that I missed. In this earlier Bryant v. Yorktowne Cabinetry, Judge Urbanski denied the defendant's motion for an order prohibiting ex parte contact between the plaintiff and the defendant's former employees, distinguishing the earlier decision by Judge Sargent in Armsey v. Medshares Management Services, Inc., 184 F.R.D. 569 (W.D. Va. 1998), based on the plaintiff's representation that "that she does not intend to impute liability on [the corporate defendant] through the statements, actions or omissions of [the former H.R. person] or other former employees, but was simply seeking to discover the facts of the case, including the identities of persons involved." In Armsey, the purpose of the ex parte communications was to obtain facts from them that would be binding on the defendant for purposes of establishing liability.

Interesting.

I saw an appeals court judge on the street today

She said, put that on your blog.

And why not? That doesn't happen every day, or even every year.

Last year, my wife saw this judge and her gang one afternoon, and she told me later that family was having more fun than anyone else at the Homestead that day. Good for them.

On concealed weapon permits

This article in the Bristol paper makes it look like Judge Freeman is adding some extra-statutory factors in his disposition of concealed weapon permit cases in Smyth County.

The article didn't say why the two guys over age 75 decided now was the time to get a permit. It did say the Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court in one case (the case is online but the opinion is not) and that Senator Puckett, who has already derailed the reappointment of District Judge Farmer because of "complaints" about him, has received complaints (and made a complaint) about Judge Freeman.

I never heard of Senator Puckett as judicial watchdog before the Democrats took the Senate, why is that I wonder? From what I know of him, I'd say he's trying to do the right thing, but he ought to caucus privately with somebody like Del. Joe Johnson about matters such as this.

Important decision for small business

In Jennings v. Kay Jennings Family Limited Partnership, issued last week, the Virginia Supreme Court took on for the first time the meaning of the requirements to bring a derivative action under Va. Code 50-73.62.

That section says: "A limited partner may bring an action in the right of a limited partnership to recover a judgment in its favor to the same extent that a stockholder may bring an action for a derivative suit under the Stock Corporation Act, Chapter 9 (§ 13.1-601 et seq.) of Title 13.1. Such action may be brought if general partners with authority to do so have refused to bring the action or if an effort to cause those general partners to bring the action is not likely to succeed. The derivative action may not be maintained if it appears that the plaintiff does not fairly and adequately represent the interests of the limited partners and the partnership in enforcing the right of the partnership."

In the Corporation Act, the relevant statute, Va. Code 13.1-672.1, provides: "A. A shareholder shall not commence or maintain a derivative proceeding unless the shareholder:

1. Was a shareholder of the corporation at the time of the act or omission complained of;

2. Became a shareholder through transfer by operation of law from one who was a shareholder at that time; or

3. Became a shareholder before public disclosure and without knowledge of the act or omission complained of; and

4. Fairly and adequately represents the interests of the corporation in enforcing the right of the corporation."

At the request of both sides, the Court in Jennings looked to the discussion of the federal rule dealing with derivative actions, FRCP 23.1, as discussed in Davis v. Comed, Inc., 619 F.2d 588 (6th Cir. 1980), and like cases - and so it did, which in itself is interesting.

The trial court's decision to deny standing was affirmed, because of the would-be plaintiff's adverse economic interests, even though not directly related to the claim at issue, and because the other owners opposed the litigation, even though the other owners were few. The Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff/appellant's arguments against the way these factors were analyzed.

I think this decision will apply to corporation cases under Va. Code 13.1-672.1, although that Code section contains an additional substantive element, that the shareholder "[b]ecame a shareholder before public disclosure and without knowledge of the act or omission complained of." This provision is not in FRCP 23.1, and not to my knowledge in any version of the Model Business Corporation Act.

The significance of this decision, viewed through the prism of the latest cases where I am dealing with these issues, is that the shareholder who breaks off to go and compete against his old company should not be allowed to use derivative actions as a weapon of competition. The innocents who are not out stealing the business from the company would not be similarly disqualified from standing to proceed with the derivative action.

More Brownlee articles

Here are other articles about John Brownlee moving on, from the BLT, Rocktown Weekly, the Roanoke Times, the Richmond paper, and The Hook.

I discussed this over breakfast at Bodo's with Dana. She said that if he runs in 2009, she will let me put up a sign for him in the front yard.

Where's Waldo?

We're in Charlottesville this weekend, but didn't make it anywhere near the Rotunda, or wherever it is that Waldo Jaquith does his webmastering.

Instead, we're roughing it out here at the Boar's Head, up from Birdwood.

Years ago, I was playing golf with Scott Michaux at the newly-opened Birdwood course, when he made his first eagle on the second hole or whatever is the first par 5 alongside the lake, but he said the joy of the moment was somewhat dulled by the fact that I scored a 12.

If you're quick enough, you can check out this latest column from Young Scottie.

UPDATE: On Saturday, we went down to the Grounds, and ambled through all ten of the Pavilion gardens, where all was in bloom, and in the process snuck behind "Hotel A," which is where Waldo J. actually works.

And that's good, one less thing - no interruptions over there from Cavalier Man on Saturdays in the fall - like that time he smote the Yellow Jacket in the Dome Room, with the aid of The Coach.

Brownlee to resign

The Roanoke paper reports that John Brownlee is moving on from his position as U.S. Attorney. The article does not say what he plans to do next.

End the moratorium

The Supreme Court has ruled on the lethal injection case that has been holding up death penalty cases in Virginia and elsewhere, the opinion issued today in Baze v. Rees (argued on January 7) is here. And, the vote was 7-2, or maybe it was 2-1-2-1-1-2.

So, I guess the Governor's moratorium, based on the pendency of Baze, will be undone.

UPDATE: Undone it was, according to the Attorney General, Bob McDonnell, who says this:

“The Supreme Court has rejected a procedural challenge to Kentucky’s administration of lethal injection. Now that the Court has ruled, the Governor has rightly lifted his moratorium on executions in Virginia. This office will continue, as always, to defend the Commonwealth's authority to carry out the sentences handed down by Virginia courts, and the constitutionality of Virginia’s duly enacted statutes.”

The "coalfield" article in today's WSJ

I've seen a few articles like this one in other places. It begins: "The race for the Democratic nomination hinges on a handful of states where coal is still king," and goes on to make some point about the Virginia City power plant.

Not much going on here

I've got the trial coming up in June in the Buchanan County RICO case, and so it consumes much of my waking hours.

But - I have written a few more Wikipedia entries. Some of them are on this partial list of delegates to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901-02. A more complete list of the delegates is here.

That Convention included a high-powered bunch of past, present, or future U.S. Senators, Congressmen, Governors, judges of the Virginia Supreme Court and lower courts, Attorneys General of Virginia, and more than a half-dozen Virginia State Bar Association presidents. It was, so far as I can tell, a collection of the best and the brightest of Virginia's lawyers, for that time. The far Southwest Virginians included Rufus Ayers, Preston W. Campbell, James B. Richmond, and Henry Carter Stuart, plus a Gillespie from Tazewell, a Lincoln from Marion, a Summers from Bristol, and Judge Orr from Lee County. They got together for the main purpose of doing away with the voting rights of black people. They accomplished their purpose by means of the literacy test and poll tax, and the like. When they were done, figuring that black voters would be opposed, they declared the new Constitution ratified, without a vote of the people.

And, racism was only part of it, the other part was to keep down the Republicans and the ex-Readjusters who had been getting the black vote.

I guess I knew all that, but it seems more real to me than before I started picking at it.