National Week Recognizes Probation, Parole Officers

From the Ithaca Journal:

The American Probation and Parole Association has declared July 17 as a week of recognition for the work done by probation and parole officers providing supervision to offenders in the community. And for very good reason: There are more than 120,000 people on probation alone in New York. This number is more than the combined total of parolees and individuals incarcerated in the prison system. Probation is the largest alternative-to-incarceration program available to the courts and provides a crucial service in the justice system….

Probation officers are agents of the court and are responsible for ensuring that court- ordered conditions are met. To do this, probation officers provide direction, guidance and mentoring in face-to-face supervision appointments.

More on the role of probation and correctional alternatives in the justice system can be found here.

Indictment Dismissed in Ithaca Hospital Assault Case

From Fingerlakes1:

A Tompkins County Judge has dismissed the indictment against one of the men accused of participating in an attempted gang assault at Cayuga Medical Center in May 2010.

In a decision dated Wednesday (July 13, 2011) Judge John Rowley ruled that the assistant district attorney who presented the case against James Marshall to the grand jury failed to provide sufficient evidence of Marshall’s involvement and "violated his duty of ‘fair dealing to the accused."

Rowley’s decision came after Marshall’s attorney, Steven Getman, filed motions to dismiss the case for lack of evidence and due to defective grand jury proceedings. As part of that motion, Getman had argued that the prosecution did not provide the grand jury with evidence of Marshall’s repeated denials of guilt to the police.

New guide to New York's gay marriage law

With the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York, gay and lesbian couples will have the opportunity to get marriage licenses beginning July 24.

In anticipation of the many questions surrounding the new law, an online guide has been set up to address some of these concerns.

The guide offers legal advice from attorneys, and goes over the basic rules surrounding the same sex marriage law, including:

• applying for a marriage license;
• the rights and responsibilities conferred by marriage;
• the implications of the law’s religious exemptions; and
• limitations imposed by the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The guide is currently available here.

The Documents You Need Before You Die

The Wall Street Journal has printed a list of the 25 documents you need before you die. They include:

• An original will;
• Proof of ownership for major assets, such as real property and motor vehicles;
• A complete listing of all bank accounts;
• A durable health-care power-of-attorney form;
• Life insurance policies and retirement accounts;
• Marriage and/or divorce papers.

The Journal also gives some advice on where to store these items. However, the laws of each state vary and, in certain jurisdictions, the locations suggested could create legal problems for your heirs.

Therefore, while everyone is strongly encouraged to locate and/or prepare these documents, anyone reading this list should make sure to consult with a competent attorney of their own choosing before following all the advice in this article.

A Failing Report Card: New York’s Civic Illiteracy

According to a new study, New Yorkers are seriously lacking in their knowledge of government, politics and the U.S. Constitution. Among the responses:

• Fewer than two in ten New Yorkers believe they are actually very familiar with the document.

• Sixty-two percent of respondents incorrectly believe that the president, not Congress, has the power to declare war.

• Two out of five New Yorkers could not identify which branch of government makes laws.

More on the study here.

Bar association to improve law school jobs data

According to the New York Daily Record:

[T]he American Bar Association’s Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar is requiring law schools to provide more detailed job and salary information on the questionnaire they provide to the ABA. The expanded information to be required is in the areas of employment status, employer type and employer location.

Two recent Vanderbilt law School graduates, Patrick Lynch and Kyle McEntee, started Law School Transparency in 2010 to obtain more accurate job information for prospective law students. The problem, they say, isn’t with falsified data, it’s with misleading information.

Regarding job status, information on the type of job obtained will include whether the job requires bar passage, is a job for which a law degree is preferred or just what type of job the graduate is in. More specific unemployment status will also be included as well as information regarding jobs funded by the law school. Information on where graduates find the most work will be included, as well as state-specific salary information.

The expanded information from the questionnaires will be published in the ABA’s LSAC Guide in June 2012.

Law students, like all consumers, deserve transparency and accuracy from providers of services. Educators, including law schools, should have a special duty to provide accurate information to their consumers/students. I applaud the American Bar Association for working towards greater accuracy in this area.

Memorial Day: New York State Senate passes bills to assist active military

The New York State Senate has passed two new bills, aimed at protecting the parental rights of our military members:

Bill S.3228 prevents the courts from considering the potential for a military service deployment as a detrimental factor when determining parental custody of a child. So long as the parent provides a suitable child care plan for the period of deployment, under the bill, the courts would not be able to infringe upon that parent’s custodial rights, helping more families of service members to stay together.

Bill S.3192 allows a parent to designate a short-term military service guardian, when necessary, during the period in which a custodial parent will be on active military duty. This guardian would only be designated if there is not another parent who has joint custody of the child, a parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, whose whereabouts are known, and who is willing to make the day-to-day decisions for the child.

The bills have been forwarded to the State Assembly for approval. If passed by the Assembly, the bills would then be forwarded to the governor for further action.

Memorial Day: Drive Safely and Avoid Traffic Tickets

With Memorial Day weekend starting Friday, attorney Steven Getman is reminding motorists to practice safe driving habits on New York State roads.

“Memorial Day weekend is a heavily traveled period,” Getman said. “Not only does this increase the chances for accidents, but state and local police will be out in full force.”

Troopers are already are in the midst of the "Buckle Up New York: Click It or Ticket" campaign, Getman noted. In addition, he warned, "sobriety saturation patrols" will be on the roads this holiday weekend looking for drunken drivers.

Other police officers will be keeping an eye out drivers who are texting or talking on their cell phones, Getman said.

“The best way to avoid traffic tickets is to drive safely and obey the law,” Getman explained. “However, if a motorist does get a ticket—or worse, into an accident--he or she should make sure to contact a competent attorney to discuss his or her legal rights and responsibilities.”

For more information on this weekend's traffic safety initiatives, click here.

New Decisions from the N.Y. Court of Appeals

New York State’s highest court has issued a number of decisions this week on civil and criminal law.

The cases cover a number of issues, including the privacy of medical records, a criminal defendant's right to a public trial and whether the police are required to interview witnesses after overhearing potentially exculpatory statements.

Decisions of the New York State Court of Appeals are binding on all lower courts within the state. The decisions are available to the public and can be found at the court’s website.

Federal Law May Force Obama to Make Bin Laden Pics Public

A number of news organizations, including AP, Fox and NPR, are claiming a federal open government law requires the White House to make public the photographs of a deceased Osama Bin Laden.

According to the Atlantic Monthly:

"Pictures of Osama bin Laden and other images from that mission would have compelling news value and public interest," said Dick Meyer, executive editor for news at NPR. "I can foresee circumstances or arguments that would lead us to refrain from publishing the images if we were to get them, but NPR should be in a position to make that decision and not simply accept the government's action."

The National Law Journal notes that national security claims might make the news groups’ difficult, but cites experts who say that the government may, ultimately, have to release the pictures, under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):

"Theoretically, they could win," said Scott Hodes, who from 1998 to 2002 was the acting unit chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Section's litigation unit and is now a solo practitioner in Washington. "It will not be an easy decision. There are reasons on both sides."

The FOIA requires that all federal agency records be accessible to the public unless there exists a specific exemption....

In addition to news organizations, a number of groups have announces plans to file suit to obtain the materials, including the open government group Judicial Watch.

"President Obama's decision not to release the bin Laden photos is at odds with his promises to make his administration the most transparent in history," wrote the group. "Judicial Watch hopes its FOIA requests will provide a mechanism to release these records in an orderly fashion in compliance with the FOIA law. President Obama's reluctance to spike the football is not a lawful reason for withholding these historic public documents from the American people."

In recent history, from the Pentagon Papers to Wikileaks, the need to balance national security against the right of the citizens to open government is an ongoing, and important, public policy issue. Ultimately, as is so often the case, the issue will likely be decided in the courts.