Articles Posted in Legal News & Commentary

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TED Talk: “How to Put the Power of Law in People’s Hands”

Summary:
“What can you do when the wheels of justice don’t turn fast enough? Or when they don’t turn at all? Vivek Maru is working to transform the relationship between people and law, turning law from an abstraction or threat into something that everyone can understand, use and shape. Instead of relying solely on lawyers, Maru started a global network of community paralegals, or barefoot lawyers, who serve in their own communities and break the law down into simple terms to help people find solutions….” [Link to Vivek Maru’s TED Talk Reading List, and link to more TED Talks on justice, law, and crime.]

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We are all immigrants (except of course for Native Americans, and maybe even they too were immigrants thousands of years ago):

BBC News: Larry Nassar case: Who is Judge Rosemarie Aquilina? (1/24/18)

“The judge who has sentenced disgraced USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar has given a voice to over 150 women who chose to confront their abuser face-to-face….

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ICYMI (October 2017):  From Richard Zorza’s Access to Justice blog post:

“Roberts Choice of Garland to Head Executive Committee of Federal Judicial Conference is a Huge ATJ Opportunity,“ posted on November 23, 2017, by Richard Zorza:

Excerpt:

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“How parents can protect their young athletes from the Larry Nassars of the world,” by Julie DiCaro January 22.

Horrifying excerpt:

“... Nassar, who rose to prominence while working with USA Gymnastics, began abusing Stephens when she was 6 years old. She reported the abuse when she was 12, only to find that her parents didn’t believe her.…” [Link to full Washington Post article.]

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Another fab find by the excellent folks at AALL’s KnowItAALL service (you can subscribe to it, free):

Article: “DNA from an escaped slave who ended up in Iceland ID’d in his descendants: The genetic jigsaw puzzle of an ex-slave in Iceland,” by Cathleen O’Grady, Ars Technica, 1/16/2018.

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Article: “Cell Service: Inside the World of Prison Librarians,” by Jake Rossen, January 11, 2018, at Mental Floss dot com:

Excerpt:

‘…. The escapism afforded by the books can dilute the urge to pass time by engaging in criminal behavior. Libraries can even prepare prisoners for reentry into society after release, arming them with knowledge to pursue careers.

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Remember the 1989-1992 George HW Bush and Dan Quayle “White House Council on Competitiveness”?

It does not have a website (or even a Wikipedia page – do not confuse other competitiveness councils with the GHW Bush, D Quayle White House Council on Competitiveness, which was dissolved in 1993. (White House webpages, and all others, were in short supply back then, in fact virtually non-existent.)

It also should not be confused with the former White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs inside the Office of Management and Budget.

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Scotland’s voters in favor of a second vote for independence have purchased the mothballed U.S. Declaration of Independence.

A Scottish “man on the street” was heard to say, “they weren’t using it anymore anyway, so we bought it. Americans will sell anything for the right price – their liberty, independence, health, and their children’s welfare – and it was going for a song, so we sang. We did refrain from offering them our bagpipes, which might have, ur, scotched the deal.”

Read more about Scotland and its Brexit fall-out, aka Scotch Eggsit, Scoot, Votey McVoteface, and more:

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In a case that will be of interest for those following the Children’s Trust lawsuit:

“In New Zealand, Lands and Rivers Can Be People (Legally Speaking),” by Bryant Rousseau, July 13, 2016

“Can a stretch of land be a person in the eyes of the law? Can a body of water?

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“Lack of Oxford Comma Costs Maine Company Millions in Overtime Dispute,” by Daniel Victor, March 16, 2017, New York Times.

“A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on a debate that has bitterly divided friends, families and foes: The dreaded — or totally necessary — Oxford comma, perhaps the most polarizing of punctuation marks.

What ensued in The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and in a 29-page court decision handed down on Monday, was an exercise in high-stakes grammar pedantry that could cost a dairy company in Portland, Me., an estimated $10 million….” [Link to full NYT article.]

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