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"No higher duty, no more solemn responsibility, rests upon this Court, than that of translating into living law and maintaining this constitutional shield deliberately planned and inscribed for the benefit of every human being subject to our Constitution - of whatever race, creed or persuasion." Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black in Chambers v. Florida, 6- S.Ct. 472, at 479.

BRIEF RELIEF

Florida conflict between child support order and temporary relief hearing priority.

Complaint against airline for unreasonable delay in flight and lost/damaged baggage.

Obtain financial and credit information as to business.

Research on pastoral malpractice.

New York - appointment of guardian for mental incompetent.

California - best evidence rule and Evidence Code 1501.

New York - liability of dispatcher service for limousine negligence.

New York Statute of Frauds and real estate contract, part performance.

New York - lease end failure to properly exercise option to renew/extend.

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

Pollitt, Daniel H. Sex in the Oval Office and Cover-Up Under Oath: Impeachable Offense? North Carolina Law Review: November 1998, Vol. 77, No. 1, pgs. 259-282.

Slobogin, Christopher. Psychiatric Evidence in Criminal Trials: To Junk or Not to Junk. William and Mary Law Review: October 1998, Vol. 40, No. 1, pgs. 1-56.

Bix, Brian. Bargaining in the Shadow of Love: The Enforcement of Premarital Agreements and How We Think About Marriage. William and Mary Law Review: October 1998, Vol. 40, No. 1, pgs. 145-208.

Crimm, Nina. An Explanation of the Federal Income Tax Exemption for Charitable Organizations: A Theory of Risk Compensation. Florida Law Review: July 1998, Vol. 50, No. 3, pgs. 419-462.

Rehnquist, William H. All the Laws But One: Civil Liberties in Wartime. Uses case law to explore the fate of civil liberties in time of war. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

MATTERS OF INTEREST

Constitutional Law - Fourth Amendment - Seventh Circuit holds that random drug testing of participants in extracurricular activities does not violate the Fourth Amendment. Todd v. Rush County Schools, 133 F.3d 984 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 119 S.Ct. 68 (1998).

Statute barring interstate transmission of threats does not require proof that a defendant specifically intended his threats to be taken seriously. The Court ruled that the statute only requires proof that the defendant intentionally transmitted a communication that an ordinary recipient would find threatening. United States v. Francis, 97-1531.

U.S. Supreme Court - Notice & Citation - Police Procedure -- When police seize property for a criminal investigation, the Due Process Clause does not require them to provide the owner with notice of state-law remedies for the property’s return. City of West Covina v. Perkins, et al., 1/13/99.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts - A trial court did not err in using the term "moral certainty" to explain reasonable doubt to the jury. The Court acknowledged that the use of the phrase may confuse a jury, but noted that the U.S. Supreme Court had said that "moral certainty" language, if used with language that lends content and meaning to the phrase is not reversible error. Therrien v. Commonwealth, No. SJC -97630, 12/29/98.

Texas Supreme Court - Negligence - Duty -- A company that markets and sells its products through independent contractor distributors and exercises control by requiring in-home demonstration and sales, owes a duty to act reasonably in the exercise of that control. Read v. The Scott Fetzer Company, 12/21/98.

Jury Note Taking - Criminal Procedure -- A trial court has the discretion, but not the obligation to permit note taking by jurors. The court’s discretion must be tempered with cautionary instructions in light of the potential problems that note taking can present during trial. People v. Hues, N.Y., 11/20/98.

Denver (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that plea bargains can be offered in exchange for testimony, reversing a decision that had declared the practice illegal. The full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immunity deals and lesser sentences offered for the testimony of witnesses did not violate federal laws against bribery.

9th Circuit Court of Appeals - Six states asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a recent decision allowing devout Christian landlords to refuse to rent property to unmarried couples. "The court’s decision threatens to roll back...civil rights laws to 19th-century levels. If this ruling stands, it tells landlords...that religious discrimination is acceptable..." Thomas v. Anchorage Equal Rights Commission, 99 C.D.O.S. 414.

2nd Circuit - A federal appeals court took the unusual step this week sanctioning a lawyer, and not his client, for filing a deficient appellate brief in a copyright case. The panel complained that the brief did not cite "a single statute or court decision related to copyright" or "present a coherent legal theory." The Ernst Haas Studio, Inc. v. Palm Press, Inc., 97-9259.