Debating The “Jane Doe” Case Without The Facts
Posted: May 16, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: dcf, jane doe, joette katz, juvenile court 1 CommentI finally blew a gasket when actor/playwright Harvey Fierstein, of all people, decided that he knew enough about the facts of Connecticut’s Jane Doe case to write an op-ed in the New York Times. The troubling story of Jane Doe has been the subject of many articles, editorials and op-eds over the past several weeks. Jane Doe is the transgender teen that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) asked a judge for permission to transfer to the York Correctional Institution for Women in Niantic because of her alleged history of physical violence towards other girls and DCF staff.
The transfer of a youth to an adult correctional facility–especially when the youth has not been convicted of a crime–is a very serious and newsworthy issue. It not only warrants, but demands, public attention and debate. Read the rest of this entry »
Arguendo
Posted: May 10, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: arguendo, first amendment, international festival of arts and ideas Leave a commentFolks,
This coming June, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven will present a unique theatrical experience, Arguendo:
In this “wittily inventive” (The New York Times) and “boisterously entertaining” (Entertainment Weekly) show, acclaimed theater ensemble Elevator Repair Service explores the drama emerging from Supreme Court oral arguments in Barnes v. Glen Theatre, a 1991 First Amendment case brought by a group of erotic dancers and the proprietors of the Kitty Kat Lounge in Indiana.
Arguendo is a staging of the case’s entire oral argument verbatim, interspersed with bits of real interviews with the justices, the lawyers and an exotic dancer who traveled all the way from the Déja Vu Club in Saginaw, Michigan to listen to the argument at The Supreme Court.
Each performance will be followed by a post-performance discussion with First Amendment experts. Someone thought I fit that category and invited me to participate in the discussion after the performance on June 21. Check out this preview of the show!
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Posted: May 6, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: crime scene photos, foi, freedom of information Leave a comment
(Used with permission of the CT Post)
Interpreting Administrative Regulations–Part One
Posted: April 20, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: 1-2z, administrative regulations, deference, plain meaning rule Leave a commentI hope everyone who celebrates Easter enjoyed the holiday! Now, back to work.
Last Thursday the Connecticut Supreme Court issued its slip opinion in Sarrazin v. Coastal, Inc., a case concerning the circumstances under which an employee’s “travel time” between his home and work must be treated as compensable work time under state or federal wage and hour law. The case is a must-read for employment lawyers, which I am not. What attracted my interest was the Court’s discussion about how administrative regulations should be interpreted. First, the Court stated that General Statutes section 1-2z–which codifies the “plain meaning rule”–applies to administrative regulations. Second, it concluded that the State Department of Labor’s interpretation of its own administrative regulation (31-60-10) was not entitled to any judicial deference.
I respectfully dissent from both of these conclusions. This post addresses the first issue, to wit, the relevance of section 1-2z to interpreting administrative regulations. A subsequent post will address the issue of deference. Read the rest of this entry »
When Lawyers Sell Their Reputations (And Their Souls)
Posted: March 31, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: bridget kelly, chris christie, george washington bridge, internal investigation, randy mastro Leave a commentA lawyer’s reputation has value. A good reputation serves as a proxy for years of hard work and success in representing clients, particularly in difficult cases. There is nothing wrong, improper or unethical about a lawyer using his or her hard-earned reputation to attract new clients in a highly competitive market for legal services.
But a lawyer needs to be very careful not to sell his soul when a potential client wants to retain his services, not for his skills and experience, but for his reputation. This is particularly true when an individual or a business retains a lawyer to conduct an internal investigation and to issue a public report of his findings and conclusions–like the report recently issued by former federal prosecutor Randy Mastro, a partner with the distinguished firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The report ostensibly clears New Jersey Governor Chris Christie of any wrongdoing in connection with the George Washington Bridge-closure scandal.
Legal Tidbit No. 1 For Journalists: Understanding Damage Allegations In A Complaint
Posted: March 25, 2014 Filed under: General Law, Practice and Procedure | Tags: article III, damages, diversity, federal question, judge judy, jurisdiction Leave a commentOne of the objectives of this blog is to help my friends in the media understand legal issues that aren’t always clear to people without legal training. With that objective in mind, I’d like to take a moment to clear up some confusion about the meaning of allegations in a complaint concerning the amount of damages a plaintiff is seeking.
Is Michael Skakel A “Public Figure?,” Ctd
Posted: March 20, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: defamation, judge bryant, libel, michael skakel, public figure 3 CommentsNancy Grace is not taking Federal District Court Judge Vanessa Bryant’s recent rejection of her motion to dismiss Michael Skakel’s libel suit sitting down. Today she filed a motion asking Judge Bryant to reconsider her ruling.
Lawyers And Time
Posted: March 20, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: billable hours, m. kathleen caveney, time Leave a commentIn December 2001, a fascinating (at least to me anyway) article appeared in the New York Times discussing a just-published law review article by Professor M. Cathleen Kaveny, then of the University of Notre Dame School of Law (and, before that, a colleague of mine at Ropes & Gray in Boston). Cathleen held a dual appointment at the law school and Notre Dame’s divinity school, and the subject of her article was how the “billable hour mentality” distorts a lawyer’s sense of time and how that distorted sense of time shapes a lawyer’s life:
Is Michael Skakel A “Public Figure?”
Posted: March 17, 2014 Filed under: General Law | Tags: defamation, libel, michael skakel, Nancy Grace, public figure, Vanessa Bryant 1 CommentOf course he is.
Let me take a step back now and explain what I’m talking about. Michael Skakel is. . . . Wait, do I even need to tell everyone who he is? If I do, the point I want to make in this post is, well, wrong.
Gov. Malloy Announces Judicial Nominations
Posted: March 14, 2014 Filed under: General Law Leave a commentGovernor Malloy announced today that he is elevating two Superior Court judges to the Appellate Court and is nominating 16 attorneys to fill vacancies on the Superior Court.
Appealingly Brief! 