SBM Blog

State Bar Will Be On the Air on Monday, May 3 for Law Day

State Bar of Michigan officials will commemorate Law Day on Monday, May 3 with a two-hour broadcast on Michigan Talk Network’s “Michael Patrick Shiels in the Morning” and an essay awards luncheon at the Michigan Hall of Justice.

The 2010 Law Day theme is “Law in the 21st Century: Enduring Traditions, Emerging Challenges.”

State Bar President CharlesToy will be joined by Law-Related Education and Public Outreach Committee Chair Jeffrey F. Paulsen of Paulsen Law Firm, Law & the Media Committee Advisor Andrew S. Doctoroff, of Honigman, Miller, Swartz & Cohn, and Director of External Development Candace on “Michael Patrick Shiels in the Morning” from 7 to 9 a.m. During the second hour, listeners can call in legal questions at 1-888-900-9966.

To find the affiliate carrying your show in the area, visit Michigan Talk Network.

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Hearing Resumes for Fifth Attorney in Text Message Scandal

The Attorney Discipline Board resumed a hearing today into possible ethics violations by Valerie Colbert Osamuede, the last of five attorneys to be investigated as the result of the Detroit text message scandal. Today's hearing opened with testimony from Samuel McCargo, who represented former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's attorney and who the Board found guilty of five counts of professional misconduct in March.  McCargo is currently awaiting the Board's determination on his punishment.

For more information see this morning's story in The Detroit News.

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Quiet Revolution in How We Know About, Interact with Our Government

It is a truism that democracy can't flourish when its citizens are ignorant, apathetic, or complacent.  Typically, the news on this score is dispiriting.  As Justice David Souter pointed out in an address to the American Bar Association in August 2009 calling for a revival of civic education, we know from survey results that about two-thirds of the people in the United States cannot even name all three branches of the national government.  

That's what makes a new a new report by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project notable.  It says that 82% of  adults who access the internet have used it to find information on a government website or to complete a transaction.  Thirty-one percent use social media tools to follow government news.  About 40% went online to get data about government spending -- 23% to see how federal stimulus money is being spent, 22% to read or download a piece of legislation, and 14% percent to check campaign contributions. And about 25% of adults have posted comments online about government issues, participated in an online town hall or joined a group that tries to influence policies.

Despite the growing use of the internet, 35% of adults say they prefer to use the telephone and speak to someone when they have to get in touch with the government.

Here's the report.

HT: Hillicon Valley

Who Said This: "Running a Democracy Takes a Certain Amount of Civic Courage"?

No, not the legislators of Ukraine, where eggs were pelted and smoke bombs were set off Tuesday in Parliament.  Answer:  Antonin Scalia, at Wednesday's oral argument Doe v Reed, on the question of whether voters who signed petitions for a referendum to overturn a law allowing same-sex domestic partnerships can keep their names from being posted on the Internet. According to AP's Jesse Holland and other commentators, the Justices seemed skeptical of the call for petitioner privacy.  Tom Goldstein, at ScotusBlog, says "not so fast." He agrees that that the Court will likely affirm  the Ninth Circuit’s refusal to grant the particular injunction now before the Court, but he thinks there is a significant likelihood that the courts will not in the end allow the lists of petition signatories to be released. 

Paternity Writ Large

As lawyering goes, paternity cases used to be a lot more exciting than they are today.  That is a statement of fact, not a lament.  But they continue to be seriously consequential.  Question is, how often is our default assumption of paternity (husband/partner is father of child) likely to be correct?  The answer from social scientists is, to paraphrase, not as likely as you'd like to think.  Who's the Daddy? in The Economist says the level of "non-paternity" lies somewhere between 1% and 30%, with the “best estimate” being in the region of 10%.

Soccer and the Law: Parts 2 and 3

Who knew April was Soccer and the Law Month?  Earlier this week the heart of the legal blogosphere (including SBM Blog) was warmed by the touching story of a 1L who has found success and critical acclaim with a street soccer documentary.  Next comes word that the British high court (whatever it's called) has concluded that schedules of the time and place of soccer matches can be copyrighted.  And finally, even the story of Macomb County lawyers celebrating the revival of a lawyer softball league had a soccer angle.  Said former league commissioner Chuck Trickey,  "We were having problems stocking players. A lot of young lawyers simply weren't interested. A lot of them played soccer in their youth.

Doe v Reed: Right to Privacy versus Public's Right to Know

The U.S. Supreme Court grapples today with the question of whether voters who signed petitions for a referendum to overturn a law allowing same-sex domestic partnerships can keep their names from being posted on the Internet. The signers claimed both a right to anonymous speech and that the posting would subject them to harassment.  In Doe v Reed, they prevailed at the district court level, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. 

Tony Mauro at BLT noted in January:  "the Court has recognized the right of privacy and anonymity in several contexts. In the landmark NAACP v. Alabama in 1958, the Court said the civil rights group could not be compelled to release its membership lists, in the interest of protecting the First Amendment right of association. In McIntyre v. Ohio in 1995, the Court said those circulating campaign literature could not be compelled to identify themselves to the state."  And in February, the Court denied an effort to broadcast a trial on the Proposition 8 ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California. By a 5-4 vote the Court said that those who sought to prevent the broadcast had demonstrated a threat of harm if the trial were broadcast.

This will be the last case argued before Justice Stevens.

Mojave Cross Still Stands but "the law is still the same mess that it was before"

Salazar v Buono , decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last week, allows a giant cross to continue to stand on land in the Mojave Desert given by Congress to the Veterans of Foreign Wars for the purpose of preserving the cross.  The Court's acceptance of the case was keenly watched as an opportunity for the Court to clarify the “endorsement test” for the validity of government speech under the Establishment Clause.  In the end, the decision was 5-4, with six separate decisions.  Eugene Volokh's (Volokh Conspiracy) conclusion?  "The law is still the same mess that it was before."

Revival of Lawyer Softball League Sign of Economic Upturn?

The Macomb Daily has some encouraging news: the  Metro Lawyers softball league is back.  According to the Daily, the league was once hugely popular, but shrunk from 30 to just 8 teams and last year was dormant altogether. Judge Mark Switalski attributes the revival to the recruitment of law students.  This can only be a good sign, we hope.  Back in February we brought you the AmLawDaily post that reported on a fall off in lawyer sports leagues, and attributed the trend to the Great Recession.  See All Work and No Play: Big Downturn in Lawyer Sports Leagues

William Morris Hung, The Ball Players, 1871; oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Today's Ethics Question: Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailings Act

Your client is concerned about not running afoul of the new Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailings Act (passed 416-0 in the House), which prohibits using the word census on the envelope or outside cover or wrapper of a fundraising mailing.  They ask you whether they will be in compliance with the law if their fundraising letters print the word "census" on a letter visible through a glassine window in the envelope but not on the envelope itself. Your answer?  Legal Ethics Forum wants to know.