December, 2011

Published on: December 12, 2011

Does the Oregon Legislature’s 2011 HB 2712 Strangle Local Courts?

By Laura Orr

“Editorial: State strangles local courts,” by Jad Lemhouse and Joe Charter Democrat Herald.com, December 7, 2011:

When over-hauling criminal procedures in HB 2712, the 2011 Legislature reduced traffic fines and enlarged judicial discretion over such offenses. However, a new “priority payment” to the State in HB 2712 threatens the viability of many municipal and justice courts. The children’s fable of the “goose that laid golden eggs” describes similar prospects for local courts: Strangulation by revenue transfer to the state.

Section 6b of HB 2712 creates a $60 replacement fine for the $37 Unitary Assessment. This section requires that $60 (or the amount of the fine if the fine is less than $60) be paid “to the state before any other distribution of the fine is made.”

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Published on: December 10, 2011

Judges and Self-represented Litigants: Implications of Turner v. Rogers

By Laura Orr

When and how should a judge intervene when parties represent themselves in court?

Richard Zorza has published an article on the subject in the ABA Judges Journal, which you can link to from Zorza’s Access to Justice blog post:

Maximizing the Impact of Turner v. Rogers — Judges’ Journal Article on Courtroom Best Practices

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Published on: December 7, 2011

How to Find Free Digital Books (other than Amazon, Kindle, etc.)

By Laura Orr

This isn’t a complete list but these are good places to start your search for full-text digital books – but don’t forget your local libraries and librarians.

First, sometimes you need good bibliographic info (e.g. correct spelling of author name, exact title, etc.) before you begin your search for the full-text. Worldcat dot org is a good catalog to find that info. Your own Oregon public library may have a full-service subscription version you can use.

Second: General web search engines will index the contents of many of these repositories, but not all content.

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Published on: December 7, 2011

Lawyer Blogs and the ABA Journal Blawg 100

By Laura Orr

You don’t have to vote for your favorite blogs unless you want to, but if you were thinking about blogging and want to look at how other lawyers blog, the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 is a great list of examples.

Published on: December 7, 2011

Jury Finds Oregon Attorney Defamed by Blogger

By Laura Orr

Oregonian article, Dec 6 & 7, 2011: “‘Investigative blogger’ doesn’t get journalist’s protection, Portland judge rules,” by Jeff Manning, The Oregonian:

“A federal jury has ruled an “investigative blogger” defamed a central Oregon attorney in a case that raises questions about press protections and the nature of the press itself in the Internet age.

The jury found that Crystal Cox, a real estate agent and blogger from Eureka, Mont., defamed Kevin Padrick when she accused him of tax fraud, bribery and other crimes….” [Link to full Oregonian article.]

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