Commentary: Montana channels Custer in fighting ‘Citizens United’
By Scott Forsyth
POSTED: May 22, 2012
Tags: Commentary
In 1876, in the territory of Montana, Gen. George Custer pursued glory along the Little Bighorn River. He divided his troops and greatly underestimated the strength of his adversary, Sitting Bull. We know the outcome. Ironically, in death Custer achieved his greatest glory. Montana joined the Union in 1889. One hundred and twenty two years [...]
Commentary: Vermont takes symbolic stand with first fracking ban
By John Stodder Jr.
POSTED: May 21, 2012
Tags: Commentary, fracking ban, Vermont
If the much-hyped dream of U.S. energy independence must involve hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) to extract natural gas from shale deposits deep underneath the surface of the earth, the State of Vermont wants no part of it. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a law May 16 banning fracking, a practice that involves injecting [...]
Commentary: Public speaking is anything but natural for most 
By Ambrose Clancy
POSTED: May 21, 2012
Tags: Commentary, public speaking
Kathy Easterson started stressing the night before her ordeal was scheduled. The tech support expert for a told several people what she was attempting so she wouldn’t bail and let them down. Attractive, personable and intelligent, Easterson sat in a back row at the EZ Speakers Toastmasters Club, a once-a-week midday meeting at the H. [...]
Commentary: Could your practice be a virtual success?
By Edward Poll
POSTED: May 15, 2012
Tags: Commentary
The Internet has created a revolution in the way that lawyers and clients interact. The most familiar form of the online revolution’s impact on small and solo law firms is the use of the Internet for everything from websites and blogs to client updates and webinars. Social networking allows lawyers to access literally a world [...]
Commentary: Ninth Circuit to reconsider GPS tracking/privacy case
By Scott Forsyth
POSTED: May 8, 2012
Tags: Commentary
Conservatives accuse the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, of having a liberal bias and being prone to reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court. You could not tell the bias from a 2010 decision, which was a resounding victory for law enforcement. Agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency suspected one Juan Pineda-Morena [...]
Commentary: Raise the Bar appeal asks attorneys to give back
By Elizabeth A. Wolford
POSTED: May 1, 2012
Tags: Commentary, Foundation of the Monroe County Bar, Raise The Bar
For those who were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Law Day luncheon on April 24, the words of Kenneth Lewis’ rap song probably resonated with you all day and even into the next day. Kenneth created his rap song to thank the “Lawyers” for supporting his attendance at Peace Camp. He is [...]
Commentary: When a departure is not really a departure
By Jill A. Apa
POSTED: April 30, 2012
Tags: Commentary
Apparently, leaving the United States to travel abroad does not always equate to a departure. As crazy-making as that sounds, this is essentially how the Board of Immigration Appeals justified its recent decision in Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012). The Arrabally opinion centers on the applicability of the unlawful [...]
Commentary: Protecting against cyber threats, but at what cost?
By Scott Forsyth
POSTED: April 24, 2012
Tags: Commentary
This week is Cyber Security Week. To commemorate it, the House of Representatives will likely pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Many large telecommunication and Web companies, such as Facebook and IBM, support the bill. In this day, what can be more virtuous than wanting to protect individuals, businesses and governments from [...]
Commentary: Judges, elections and fundraising
By Scott Forsyth
POSTED: April 10, 2012
Tags: Commentary
The telephone rings. You pick it up. The caller identifies herself as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, whom you know or want to know. She is running for re-election and asks you to contribute $5,000 to her campaign. You sigh, knowing money is “the mother’s milk of electoral success” and the ask is protected speech. You say [...]
Commentary: Market and economy continue in uptrend
By Dolan Media Newswires
POSTED: April 9, 2012
Tags: Commentary
For the first quarter of 2012, markets showed strong growth. The S&P was up 12.1 percent, 6.2 percent from the same time a year ago. The Dow was up 8.1 percent, 7.2 percent from a year ago, and the NASDAQ was up 18.7 percent, 11.2 percent from a year earlier. However, volumes were light — [...]
Commentary: How social media has shaped the case of Trayvon Martin
By John Stodder Jr.
POSTED: April 5, 2012
Tags: Commentary
In the killing of Trayvon Martin, the angel and the devil of social media have discovered the perfect battlefield. Without social media, the Feb. 26 killing of Martin, an unarmed, black 17-year-old in Sanford, Fla., probably would have remained forever a four-paragraph news brief in the local newspaper. On that rainy night, Martin was walking [...]
Commentary: Study: Fracking doesn’t pose groundwater risks
By John Stodder Jr.
POSTED: April 2, 2012
Tags: Commentary
In a possible foreshadowing of long-awaited findings by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin has found “no direct link to reports of groundwater contamination” from the controversial natural gas extraction method known as fracking. According to project leader Charles Groat, “From what we’ve seen so far, many [...]
