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Court: Montana minimizes impact of mining near Yellowstone
Events and Seminars |
2018/06/01 10:21
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A gold exploration proposal near Yellowstone National Park faced a significant setback as a judge blamed Montana officials for understating the potential for mining to harm land, water and wildlife.
The ruling released Friday means the Montana Department of Environmental Quality would have to conduct a lengthy environmental review before Lucky Minerals can proceed.
The Vancouver, Canada, company received approval last year to begin searching for gold, copper and other minerals at 23 locations in Emigrant Gulch, a picturesque area of steep mountains and dense forest in south-central Montana's Paradise Valley. It has a long history of small-scale mining.
The results of the exploration work would guide the company's future plans for commercial-scale mining.
Environmental groups sued over the project last year on behalf of local residents, who are concerned mining could reduce tourism and pollute the nearby Yellowstone River.
State Judge Brenda R. Gilbert agreed with the environmentalists that state officials gave too much deference to the company in considering the project and ignored evidence that water supplies could be damaged.
The agency also should have looked more closely at the project's impacts on grizzly bears and wolverines and considered the broader implications if Lucky Minerals expands onto federal lands, Gilbert said.
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Trump administration backs PLO in victims' high court appeal
Events and Seminars |
2018/04/01 11:36
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Despite its bumpy relationship with the Palestinians, the Trump administration is siding with the Palestine Liberation Organization in urging the Supreme Court to reject an appeal from American victims of terrorist attacks in the Middle East more than a decade ago.
The victims are asking the high court to reinstate a $654 million verdict against the PLO and Palestinian Authority in connection with attacks in Israel in 2002 and 2004 that killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more.
The case was scheduled to be considered at the justices’ private conference on Thursday. A decision to reject the appeal could come as early as Monday. If the court decides to hear the case, it could say so by the middle of this month.
The federal appeals court in New York tossed out the verdict in 2016. It said U.S. courts can’t consider lawsuits against foreign-based groups over random attacks that were not aimed at the United States.
The victims sued under the Anti-Terrorism Act, signed into law in 1992. The law was passed to open U.S. courts to victims of international terrorism, spurred by the killing of American Leon Klinghoffer during a 1985 terrorist attack aboard the Achille Lauro cruise ship.
The victims argued that offices the Palestinians maintain in the nation’s capital to promote their cause in speeches and media appearances and to retain lobbyists were sufficient to allow the lawsuit in an American court. The appeals court disagreed.
In late June, the justices asked the administration to weigh in on the case, as they often do in cases with foreign policy implications. The Justice Department filed its brief eight months later, saying there was nothing in the appeals court ruling to “warrant this court’s intervention at this time.”
In unusually strong language for a Supreme Court filing, Theodore Olson, the lawyer for the victims, wrote, “The government is not being square with the court.” Olson said the administration was being cagey about its view of the law, even after the lower court cut back on its use by attack victims to try to hold groups financially liable. |
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High court: Held immigrants can't get periodic bond hearings
Events and Seminars |
2018/03/04 21:51
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The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that immigrants the government has detained and is considering deporting aren't entitled by law to periodic bond hearings.
The case is a class-action lawsuit brought by immigrants who've spent long periods in custody. The group includes some people facing deportation because they've committed a crime and others who arrived at the border seeking asylum.
The San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had ruled for the immigrants, saying that under immigration law they had a right to periodic bond hearings. The court said the immigrants generally should get bond hearings after six months in detention, and then every six months if they continue to be held.
But the Supreme Court reversed that decision Tuesday and sided with the Trump administration, which had argued against the ruling, a position also taken by the Obama administration.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for five justices that immigration law doesn't require periodic bond hearings. But the justices sent the case back to the appeals court to consider whether the case should continue as a class action and the immigrants' arguments that the provisions of immigration law they are challenging are unconstitutional.
But Justice Stephen Breyer, writing a dissenting opinion joined by two other liberal-leaning justices on the court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said he would have read the provisions of immigration law to require hearings for people detained for a prolonged period of time.
"The bail questions before us are technical but at heart they are simple," Breyer wrote. "We need only recall the words of the Declaration of Independence, in particular its insistence that all men and women have 'certain unalienable Rights,' and that among them is the right to 'Liberty,'" he wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case on behalf of the immigrants, had previously said that about 34,000 immigrants are being detained on any given day in the United States, and 90 percent of immigrants' cases are resolved within six months. But some cases take much longer.
In the case before the justices, Mexican immigrant Alejandro Rodriguez was detained for more than three years without a bond hearing. He was fighting deportation after being convicted of misdemeanor drug possession and joyriding, and was ultimately released and allowed to stay in the United States. |
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California parents face new charges in kids' torture case
Events and Seminars |
2018/02/25 21:52
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A Southern California couple suspected of starving and shackling some of their 13 children pleaded not guilty Friday to new charges of child abuse.
David and Louise Turpin previously entered not-guilty pleas to torture and a raft of other charges and are being held on $12 million bail.
Louise Turpin also pleaded not guilty to a new count of felony assault.
Louise Turpin, dressed in a blouse and blazer, looked intently at more than a dozen reporters in the courtroom. David Turpin, wearing a blazer, tie and black-rimmed glasses, kept his eyes on the judge during the hearing. Both said little except to agree to a May preliminary hearing.
The couple was arrested last month after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the family's home in Perris, California, and called 911. Authorities said the home reeked of human waste and evidence of starvation was obvious, with the oldest sibling weighing only 82 pounds.
The case drew international media attention and shocked neighbors who said they rarely saw the children, who appeared to be skinny, pale and reserved.
Authorities said the abuse was so long-running the children's growth was stunted. They said the couple shackled the children to furniture as punishment and had them live a nocturnal lifestyle.
The children, who range in age from 2 to 29, were hospitalized immediately after their rescue and since then Riverside County authorities, who obtained temporary conservatorship over the adults, have declined to discuss their whereabouts or condition.
Attorneys representing the adult siblings told CBS News, however, that the seven are living at Corona Medical Center, where they have an outdoor area for sports and exercise, and are making decisions on their own for the first time.
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Proposition 8 Ruling Figures Prominently in ABA Programming
Events and Seminars |
2010/08/07 08:39
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| As the American Bar Association Annual Meeting opened yesterday, one of the first conference programs was titled “Same-Sex Marriage — Moving Beyond State Courts.” The discussion occurred shortly after Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the Proposition 8 initiative was unconstitutional.
Speaking to the decision, ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm noted, “The ruling of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certainly points out what a very significant legal issue or series of issues marriage equality raises. We know that marriage equality impacts issues in families’ lives — taxation, succession, custody of children, breakup and others.”
Panelists of the program were to include Ted Olson, who argued the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger that challenged the constitutional validity of Proposition 8, but given the ruling’s timing, Olson was unable to attend. Therese Stewart, San Francisco chief deputy city attorney, spoke in his stead.
Stewart pointed out that evidence and research have shown that there is no difference in children being able to function whether raised by opposite sex parents or parents of the same sex. People’s feelings on morality and immortality should not be the basis of law, said Stewart.
Gill v. OPM, in contrast, focused on federal recognition of couples who are already married, specifically Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act dealing will federal benefits. Mary Bonauto, who argued that case, cited that marriage equality is not only about benefits but is as much about responsibilities, providing the example of conditioning eligibility for benefits on financial means.
Raymond Marshall, former president of the Bar Association of San Francisco and the State Bar of California, who moderated the program asked why marriage was sought, rather than civil unions or some other arrangement. “Words matter. Names matter,” stressed Stewart. “Everyone knows what marriage means.”
When asked why lawyers and courts should be involved, Bonauto succinctly stated that marriage is a legal institution. In days gone by, interracial marriages have been prohibited as have inmate marriages.
Lawyers and courts are important, argued panelists — Beth Robinson, an expert on state court marriage equality cases, also spoke — but the court of public opinion is also critical. “I’m not sanguine about young people favoring [marriage equality],” said Stewart. Popular opinions are fluid.
One attendee asked whether contracts entered into by committed individuals were being challenged. The number of gaps that need filing in order to address all needs are too onerous. “No paper I could draft” could address them all, noted Robinson.
Marshall emphasized that — in the spirit of the American Bar Association — program planners invited speakers on both sides of the issue to take part in the session, but did not receive any acceptances from the other side.
The Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association runs through Aug. 10. During the meeting of its policymaking House of Delegates on Aug. 9 – 10, the association will consider a recommendation dealing with marriage equality.
The recommendation, as it is being brought to the House, reads, “[T]he American Bar Association urges state, territorial and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry.”
Lamm noted, “As the nation's largest organization of lawyers, we in fact need to consider these issues because it impacts the lives of the public. We will be debating them on Monday and this certainly helps to inform our debate.”
More than 20 entities of the ABA as well as state and local bars are bringing the measure to the House of Delegates. The ABA, with nearly 400,000 members, is the largest voluntary professional association in the world. |
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ABA Annual Meeting Begins in San Francisco
Events and Seminars |
2010/08/05 08:36
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| Addressing a legal services landscape transformed by the struggling economy, globalization of business and rapid advances in technology is top of mind for America’s legal community as the nation’s largest lawyers’ organization today opened the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Leading nearly 1,500 programs and events at the Moscone Convention Center and surrounding venues is “20/20 Vision: The Impact of Technology and Globalization on Ethics for the 21st Century Lawyer,” a program later today that will bring together a panel led by San Francisco lawyer Judith Miller to explore the implications of a rapidly changing legal profession.
“The way we do business today is almost completely different as a result of technology and the globalization of law practice—instantaneously communicating with people around the world on the Internet and searching for information with just a few words typed on a computer. We can’t ignore that our world has changed. We need to be leaders in dealing with the change,” said ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm, explaining the need for a fresh examination of lawyer regulations. Guidance for the legal profession as it deals with the new realities of law practice is one of Lamm’s areas of focus, and the program will draw from work of the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20, a group Lamm established last year to address the impact of technology and globalization. In addition to the “20/20 Vision” program, the ABA has more than a dozen other sessions examining the intersection of technology and law practice, ranging from those on managing e-discovery costs, creating social media policies and other practice-related concerns, to programs that take a more macro view of the legal profession, such as a session on Friday, “Justice 12.0—Is There an App for That?” that will make predictions on legal services 30 years from now. The impact of the down economy on law practice and the justice system also guides programming at the 2010 meeting. “Law Firm Legal Aid,” a program today from the ABA Center for Pro Bono, explores the probable loss of volunteer lawyers that law firms made available for legal aid programs over the past year while business slowed. A panel will examine the ramifications on the justice system when law firms return to their business as usual. The possible reduction in pro bono assistance from law firms comes as more Americans than ever struggle with legal issues such as foreclosure, even as the economy shows signs of improving. Victor M. Fortuno, president of the Legal Services Corporation and Rebekah Diller, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, are among panelists who will lead a discussion today on developing response strategies to problems related to access to justice during “Crisis in Representation!” Panelists will specifically look at a report from the ABA Coalition for Justice last month that found that the bad economy and a large number of judicial vacancies are widening the justice gap, affecting middle-class Americans as well as those with low-incomes. Also weighing in on the crisis in legal services is Laurence Tribe, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently created Access to Justice Initiative, who will discuss improving the availability and quality of indigent defense in a conversation on Saturday with Norman Lefstein, professor and dean emeritus of Indiana University School of Law, and Virginia Sloan, president of The Constitution Project. Among other programming related to enhancing access to justice, “Enforcing a Right to Counsel for Children: The Time is Now” includes a criminal justice panel led by Miami lawyer Hilarie Bass that will explore ways to remove barriers that prevent lawyers from representing children in dependency court. “This program is an example of the ABA identifying issues that are falling through the cracks. All too often we read in the papers about disasters for foster children after they happen. The ABA is taking the initiative to look at what can be done to prevent these crises from occurring,” explained Lamm of the Thursday session. “This program is focused on improving the system for foster children by looking at best practices for lawyers representing our most vulnerable citizens.” Other programs addressing indigent defense include the Friday session “Stepping Up for Justice for Veterans as They Stand Down,” an examination of emerging best practices on serving veterans, such as Veteran Treatment Courts that aim to reduce recidivism. The ABA Annual Meeting continues through Aug. 10. |
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ABA inspires lawyers to remain committed to human rights
Events and Seminars |
2010/06/18 03:44
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In today’s speech to the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Conference in Italy, American Bar Association House of Delegates Chair William C. Hubbard inspired lawyers to re-commit themselves to the hard work of protecting human rights and strengthening the rule of law. Hubbard said, “Lawyers and human rights advocates struggle with crises old and new … against genocide and mass atrocities and their consequences. … We struggle against terrorism while seeking to protect due process for the accused. … We struggle to help the corporate sector make a positive impact on human rights and remedy conditions that compromise basic human dignity for workers. … We struggle to secure the human rights of women and girls and combat all forms of violence against women. … From wherever we come … lawyers speak the same language. We defend liberty for all. We pursue equal justice for the mighty and the lowly. We share a mission and a common sense of purpose, and we have much work before us.” Hubbard represented the ABA at today’s meeting at the request of association President Carolyn B. Lamm. He presented his remarks to international lawyers and legal scholars convening in Rome to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. He stressed the essential connection between a country’s rule of law and its citizens’ daily quality of life. “The ABA has long endorsed the founding documents of modern human rights law and supported the international community in its efforts to extend basic legal protections to all people. … In fact, the ABA regards the promotion of universal human rights and the rule of law as part of its core mission as an organization,” said Hubbard. Hubbard outlined the ABA’s role in establishing three key entities to track human rights and rule of law around the world: the ABA’s Center for Human Rights, the Rule of Law Initiative and the now independent World Justice Project with its ever-growing Rule of Law Index. With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. Follow the latest ABA news and updates at www.abanow.org. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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