"Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than on opinions in physics or geometry." -- Thomas Jefferson (1779).

"Believe me, we are not oracles. We are easily capable of making mistakes. We hope each one of the nine of us, when we're there, that our mistakes will not be too terrible." -- Justice Stephen Breyer.

MATTERS OF INTEREST

Supreme Court US v. RUIZ, No. 01-595 (U.S.S.C. June 24, 2002) The Constitution does not require that the government disclose material impeachment evidence, or affirmative defense information, prior to entering a plea agreement with a defendant. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/01595.html

BD. OF EDUC. OF INDEP. SCH. DIST. NO. 92 OF POTTAWATAMIE COUNTY v. EARLS, No. 01-332 (U.S.S.C. June 27, 2002) A policy, requiring students participating in extracurricular activities to consent to drug testing, reasonably furthers the district's important interest in preventing and deterring drug use by students and does not violate the Fourth Amendment. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/01332.html

RING v. ARIZONA, No. 01-488 (U.S.S.C. June 24, 2002) The state of Arizona's enumerated aggravating factors, which allow for imposition of the death penalty, amount to "the functional equivalent of an element of a greater offense," which must be found by a jury under Apprendi, and may not be determined by a sentencing judge. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/01488.html

ZELMAN v. SIMMONS-HARRIS, No. 00-1751 (U.S.S.C. June 27, 2002) A program giving educational choices and aid to certain students attending both religious and non-religious public and private schools, enacted for the valid secular purpose of providing educational assistance to poor children, is one of true "private choice" and does not offend the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/001751.html

REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MINNESOTA v. WHITE, No. 01-521(U.S.S.C. June 27, 2002) A canon of judicial conduct, prohibiting a candidate for judicial office from "announcing his or her views on disputed legal or political issues," violates the First Amendment; the canon is not "narrowly tailored" to serve impartiality, the pursuit of which is not a compelling state interest. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/01521.html

New York Court of Appeals PEOPLE v. HARRIS, No. 80 (N.Y. July 09, 2002) The post-death-notice plea bargaining provisions of the death penalty statute, in effect at the time of defendant's trial, impermissibly discouraged the assertion of defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, thus a sentence of death is unconstitutional. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=ny&vol=I02&invol=0087

TOURE v. AVIS RENT-A-CAR SYS., INC., 1 No. 69, 4 No. 94, 4 No. 95 (N.Y. July 09, 2002) In order to meet the "serious injury" threshold under the "No-Fault Law," Insurance Law section 5102(d), a plaintiff may use 1) an expert's numeric percentage of lost range of motion, or 2) an expert's qualitative assessment, using an objective basis and comparison to normal function or use of the affected body part or system. To read the full text of this opinion, go to: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=ny&vol=I02&invol=0085

5th Circuit In re: First City Bancorporation, 282 F.3d 864 (5th Cir. 2002) If you call the other attorney such things as a weak, pussyfooting deadhead or a hayseed who has been mentally dead for ten years, you can get sanctioned for $25,000 even if you do believe that talking tough can get more money for your clients.

California Appellate Diosdado v. Diosdado, 97 Cal. App.4th 470, 118 Cal. Rptr.2d 494 (2002) Wayward husband and wife entered into marital agreement that next time husband strayed, it would cost him $50,000 in liquidated damages. Husband strayed, wife sued for divorce and damages, but husband didn't have to pay. Clause was unenforceable as against policy because it injected fault into no-fault divorce.

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

Martin H. Belsky, ed. The Rehnquist Court: A Retrospective. A collection of analyses by a wide range of lawyers, judges and other court-watchers, providing no analysis of statutory or regulatory jurisprudence, but only of constitutional decisions and decision-making.

Kermit L. Hall, ed. The Oxford Companion to American Law. A comprehensive legal reference, covering both process and substance. A clearly organized tour through the significant personalities, events, institutions, and doctrines of American law.

Michael E. Tigar. Fighting Injustice (American Bar Association 2002). Part memoir, part legal treatise, part litigation how-to, and part social manifesto. It recounts the highlights of a brilliant career in the law and the personal and political forces that shaped it.

Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section(CCIPS). Searching and seizing computers and obtaining electronic evidence in criminal investigations. DOJ's treatise about electronic evidence, useful in civil cases also.

BRIEF RELIEF MATTERS IN PROGRESS

1. Memo in opposition to N.Y. motion for summary judgment based on no-fault threshold.
2. Issue in N.C. as to unjust enrichment and restitution.
3. N.Y. motion to dismiss indictment based upon hearsay of uncertified deposition of defendant from civil matters. 
4. N.Y. research regarding "Bump Notice" in real estate contract and notice.
5. N.Y. and effect of typographical error in pronoun in mortgage instrument.