You never know what you might learn when you search the blogs for Oregon legal news. For example, here’s a useful post:
Oregon Employers Should Take Care with Employee Payroll Deductions
There are more, and not just local bloggers (or blawgers if you prefer) commenting on Oregon law. Here is a quick way to search the blawgers who have signed up with this search tool:
So, how do you find out if a bill has become a law or where it is in the legislative process?
With the Oregon Legislature in session now, take this opportunity to explore the Legislature’s online resources for bill-tracking. It may be more interesting than you expect!
If this sounds familiar, it is. I’ve blogged several times about the legislative process, most recently here. But the more people who learn about law-making, the more people will participate in the process and the less likely we will have problems like this:
Visit California Court of Appeal Associate Justice William Bedsworth, at his A Criminal Waste of Space column. You’ll be glad you did – I think.
(Previous links to A Criminal Waste of Space, and archives, are here.)
A recent case in libel reminded me of the proverb: the greater the truth, the greater the libel
(This proverb/quote has been attributed to Lord Mansfield and others, but also has roots in the doctrines of calumny and detraction, where, in lay terms, it’s worse to say something bad about a person if the thing is true than if it’s untrue, because you can’t retract it without telling a lie. Go ahead and have Google run a search on the words calumny detraction to see more or if you are interested in scholarly research on the subject, visit a law or theological library.)
From Media Law blog: “Think You Know Libel Law? Think Again:
“A bedrock principle of libel law is that truth is an absolute defense. If what you say about someone is true, the person cannot win a libel case against you, even if you defame them. The federal appeals court in Boston put a jackhammer to the bedrock this week. In Noonan v. Staples, it ruled that even a true statement can be subject to a libel lawsuit if it was said with actual malice. In so deciding, the three-judge panel did an about face, reversing its own earlier decision in the same case. You need not be superstitious to appreciate the import of this Friday the 13th ruling. It is the most dangerous libel decision in decades. The decision puts a crack in the bedrock that threatens to undermine free speech….” (read full post)
The incarcerated-wealthy have hard-time coaches – why not everyone else? Say what you will (and I bet there is a lot to say), this story is very interesting, very funny (in a very dark sort of way), and a whole lot provocative. (And, I posted before about a Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual, but need to update the link to this .)
About to do time? Meet your best pal: Real estate scammers and other first-timers get a crash course in prison survival from enterprising ex-cons, by Mike Anton, February 27, 2009, Los Angeles Times.
Oregon Legal Research Blog