Research Associates
	Volume 11, Number 1       Our 22nd Year   January, 2003

“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.” -- Sir Francis Bacon

“Knowledge is power. (Ipsa Scietia Potestas Est) -- Sir Francis Bacon

“In time a profession is like a marriage, we cease to note anything but its inconveniences. -- Balzac (1799-1850)

MATTERS OF INTEREST

U.S. Supreme Court

SPRIETSMA v. MERCURY MARINE (12/3/02 No. 01-706)
A state common law tort action seeking damages from the manufacturer of an outboard motor, after a boating accident, is not pre-empted by either 1) the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 or 2) a Coast Guard decision as to regulation of propeller guards.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/01706.html

New York Court of Appeals

PEOPLE v. JACKSON, 1 No. 157 (N.Y. December 12, 2002)
A suspicionless police roadblock stop of a motor vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment, where asserted purposes of the roadblock were related only to general crime control. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/ny/cases/app/157opn02.pdf

PEOPLE v. GEE, 4 No. 162 (N.Y. December 12, 2002)
A robbery conviction is affirmed, despite the government's failure notice of a store clerk's viewing of a surveillance tape, because there was no issue or inquiry as to defendant's identity at the time of the viewing.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/ny/cases/app/162opn02.pdf

MOSHER-SIMONS v. COUNTY OF ALLEGANY, 4 No. 161 (N.Y. December 12, 2002)
A county is entitled to judicial immunity to a claim that it inadequately performed a court-ordered pre-placement home study evaluation, in assessing potential custodians for a child.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/ny/cases/app/161opn02.pdf
 

2nd Circuit Court of Appeals

IN RE: MADDIGAN, No. 01-5061 (2d Cir. December 9, 2002)
The bankruptcy court correctly read a family court order of legal fees as creating a debt owed to a child that is "in the nature of support," thus this debt is nondischargeable in bankruptcy pursuant to 11 U.S.C. section 523(a)(5).
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/2nd/015061.html
 

US v. QUINONES, No. 02-1403/05 (2d Cir. December 10, 2002)
The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 does not violate substantive and procedural due process rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Eighth Amendment claims are foreclosed by Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976). http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/2nd/021403.html
 

3rd Circuit Court of Appeals

CHADWICK v. JANECKA, No. 02-1173, December 4, 2002
A state court decision, finding that confinement for civil contempt for refusal to comply with an order directing payment into an escrow account did not cease to be coercive where petitioner was able to comply but refused to do so, was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of federal law.

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

US v. WESTMORELAND 12/3/02, No. 01-3870
The initial disclosure of a crime to one’s spouse is covered by the marital communications privilege, but if the spouse later joins the conspiracy, communications from that point are not protected. Erroneous admission of statements here was harmless.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/7th/013870p.pdf
 

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

Scenes of chief executives in coats, ties, and handcuffs have been playing out for months in Manhattan as a kind of regularly scheduled perp walk for the privileged, setting off an intense debate in legal circles about the purpose and fairness of the parading of the handcuffed.

Go to Article from The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/26/nyregion/26PERP.html?dlbk
 

Daphne Eviatar, “Is Litigation a Blight, or Built In?” New York Times, Nov. 23, 2002.

Matt Herrington, “How Does the Law of War Apply When Terrorism Is Prevalent? A Review of George Fletcher's Romantics at War.”

Attorney Matt Herrington reviews Columbia law professor George Fletcher's recent book, Romantics At War. Romantics at War discusses, among other topics, military tribunals, "unlawful combatants," Nuremberg, the German saboteur case on which the Bush Administration has heavily relied, and the general question of how the laws of war have adapted (or not adapted) to the modern world, with its concept of "war crimes," and its persistent problems with terrorism.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/books/reviews/20021206_herrington.html
 

Legally Relevant – Internet Legal Research Websites

Constitutions, Statutes and Codes
Links to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code, the constitutions and statutes of the 50 states, uniform laws enacted in the individual states, the U.C.C. and the rules of conduct governing lawyers.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/statutes.html
 

Death Penalty, Capital Punishment, Ethics, Punishment

Besides surveying the print and electronic literature, it also includes some thoughtful and well-stated suggestions for discussion questions and term paper topics.
http://ethics.acusd.edu/Applied/deathpenalty/
 

Drugs and Alcohol

The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information of the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration provides a bibliographic database on substance abuse prevention issues and sociological issues pertaining to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use.
http://www.health.org/dbases/search.aspx?db=1
 

BRIEF RELIEF MATTERS

1. Employment agreement for service organization with restrictive covenant.
2. Lemon Law complaint for used car.
3. New York brief on mandamus, prohibition, 5th Amendment, due process.
4. Federal Court Complaint for breach of contract by travel service.
5. Michigan Statute of Limitations issue in legal malpractice.
6. California issue of reduction of child support based on decreased income of supporting parent.