Running from the Law?

Here's your chance to get some fresh air and exercise while supporting a truly wonderful cause!

Welcome, Southeast Asia!

We have some new visitors from southeast Asia, which is exciting. And we've hung on to our European friends, especially France. (Interesting election yesterday, France. Please, please learn from our example!) You're all among friends here!

United States	43
France	8
South Korea	5
Portugal	5
United Kingdom	2
Spain	1
Indonesia	1

Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference

Starting Sunday, the Lafayette community will be hosting the annual Greater Lafayette Holocause Remembrance Conference. The conference lasts for several days, and includes speakers, a film series, and a play at McCutcheon High School. Events are open to the public, and (as far as I can tell) free. They are also very thought-provoking. (And yes, since refugee resettlement is a current legal topic, and a couple of events are specifically looking at legal issues surrounding refugee resettlement, every event is eligible for engagement points, for those of you who need a little extra incentive.

You can see the flyer for the whole week's activities here.

What They REALLY Want Is a Paralegal

I spotted the following job opening at the Tippecanoe County website yesterday:

Position:  Part Time Communication Officer

Location:  Lafayette, IN

POSITION:                 Communication Officer  DEPARTMENT:        Sheriff/E 911 SALARY:                    up to $16.30 per hour   ESSENTIAL DUTIES:    Receives emergency calls, gathers maximum amount of information in minimum amount of time, determines appropriate response, and dispatches Department officers and other emergency personnel, such as Indiana State Police, Emergency Medical Services, and Fire.  Receives non-emergency calls, determines nature of call, responds to inquiries, routes caller to appropriate person, takes messages, or dispatches personnel, such as County and State Highway, Animal Control and Conservation Officers, wreckers, Coroner and Child Protective Services.  Monitors radio frequency activities of various other law enforcement and public safety agencies within the county and surrounding counties, and notifies and/or dispatches local emergency personnel as situations demand.  Regularly communicates with field units, assessing unit safety and need for backup, dispatching backup units and other emergency personnel as necessary.  Receives teletypes pertaining to, but not limited to, criminal histories, driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations, gun permits, runaways, missing persons, and stolen property.  Maintains accurate records/logs of all complaints, restraining and protective orders, and warrants served and recalled.  Maintains complete and accurate log of all radio traffic calls, assigns unit(s), follow up on disposition of call, and enters information on log sheet.  Answers alarms and dispatches police officers for local businesses and residences.  May clock jail personnel in/out, and periodically assist with jail operations in absence of Jail Officers and/or Matron, such as monitoring security cameras, operating control board, communicating with inmates and booking female detainees.  Periodically attends prescribed training programs as required.  Dispatches notices regarding Fire and EMS training and meetings.  Performs related duties as assigned.   JOB REQUIREMENTS: High school diploma or GED.  Ability to acquire/maintain required certifications, including IDACS Communications, Emergency Medical Dispatch, and First Responder/CPR.  Ability to meet all Department hiring and retention requirements, including incumbent not posing a direct threat to the health and safety of other individuals in the work place.  Working knowledge of and ability to make practical application of customary practices, procedures, rules and regulations of the Department and County, and area law enforcement, EMS and fire demands.  Ability to accurately record all information as required.  Ability to maintain confidentiality of Department information as required.  Working knowledge of standard English grammar, spelling and punctuation, and ability to type with speed and accuracy and properly use assigned equipment, including radio console, computer, typewriter, fax machine, Enhanced 911 system, intercom phone, Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), copier, tape recorder, dictaphone, and paging systems.  Ability to physically perform the essential duties of the position, including sitting for long periods with little or no opportunity for breaks during shift, and above average split-ear hearing with ability to decipher information received simultaneously.  Ability to effectively listen, comprehend, and communicate with co-workers, other County departments, various law enforcement agencies and emergency response agencies, and the public during varied emergency and non-emergency situations, including being sensitive to professional ethics, gender, cultural diversities and disabilities.  Ability to successfully and professionally obtain proper information, take control of hysterical, hostile, and/or misinformed individuals, and clearly and calmly respond during emergency/stressful situations.  Ability to take authoritative action as situations demand, appropriately dispatch personnel, condense large amount of information into coherent remarks.  Thorough knowledge of County geography and ability to use and understand maps.  Working knowledge of and ability to properly use radio frequencies, codes, procedures and limitations, and a variety of acronyms and codes.  Ability to work alone and with others in a team environment with minimum supervision and work on several tasks at the same time, often under time pressure.  Ability to work irregular, evening, weekend, and/or extended hours as directed or required. *   *   *   *   * Those yellow-highlighted sections just scream Paralegal to me. That's what we work on here. Not posing a direct threat to the health and safety of other individuals in the workplace? Well, that's on you. If you're interested, apply via the Tippecanoe County website. (You're paralegal students--YOU find it.) If you're interested in a part-time job that does not explicitly require you to avoid posing a direct threat to your coworkers, the courthouse is looking for another paralegal student or two. Contact me to apply for that.

Interruptions on the Supreme Court

A new study that's making waves in the legal community has found that female US Supreme Court justices are three times more likely to be interrupted than their male counterparts. Who's doing the interrupting? Yep, usually their male counterparts. But sometimes attorneys arguing before the Court are interrupting them.

Both of these facts are remarkable. The first is remarkable because it indicates that even at the highest levels of power, women aren't treated with the respect accorded men.

The second is remarkable because a guide for attorneys arguing before the Court advises them not to interrupt a justice. It's not a hard and fast rule per se, but it is a rule of decorum. And decorum is pretty important to the Supremes. So who's in charge of enforcing the rules--of decorum and otherwise--at the Supreme Court?

Chief Justice Roberts. Mister Chief Justice Roberts.

Notably, Mister Chief Justice Roberts is also the second most likely of the currently sitting justices to interrupt his female colleagues. (No stats on J. Gorsuch yet.)

Well, if that don't get your panties in a bunch, your panties don't bunch as easily as mine do.

You can read a more detailed analysis of the study--with a link to the 73-page law review article that started it all--here.

Welcome, Europe!

Okay, last week was another first, as far as I know. We had more visitors from Europe than from North America. And while France still holds a special place in our collective heart, we are expanding our tendrils throughout the European continent. Wow!

United States	26
France	12
Spain	8
Germany	7
Portugal	3
United Kingdom	1
Italy	1
Sweden	1
Ukraine	1

An Easter-themed Humorous Legal Story

No kidding. The essay at the link is at the intersection of legal humor and religious humor. If you have no sense of humor about either or both topics, you really should not click on the link. However, if you do have a sense of humor about both law and religion, it's probably okay.

http://abovethelaw.com/2017/04/jesus-had-a-terrible-public-defender/

Ken Weller

Ken Weller was the head of Legal Aid in Lafayette for many years, and represented thousands of parents in CHINS (child abuse and neglect cases). We worked together frequently when I was working for DCS, and he was one of the most dogged attorneys I've known. He told me once, "No one wakes up in the morning and says, 'I'm going to abuse my kid today.' These are people who want to be good parents, but have something getting in the way. My job is to help them get whatever it is out of the way, by getting them the time and the resources to do that."

Ken passed away recently. The Lafayette Journal and Courier has a wonderful article about him today. You can access it here.

Homelessness: A More Helpful Way to Respond

The Lafayette Police Department is putting on a free public presentation about homelessness and the most effective ways to help the homeless. The presentation is free, but seats are limited. You can reserve your ticket through brownpaper tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2919452

From the Brownpapertickets website:

The Lafayette Police Department, in cooperation with City of Lafayette Economic Development, is providing free public training on April 27th at 6:30 to 7:30 pm. 

A cardboard sign with a simple plea for help. What is the best way to respond?  What resources are available to persons without a home?  Could giving money actually make things worse?  Is it even lawful to panhandle in Lafayette?  Join us for a frank dialogue about responding to homelessness in our community.

This Q+A with the Lafayette Police Department, PATH/Street Outreach workers and the Purdue Street Team will cover a range of topics concerning to citizens of Greater Lafayette.  Participants will be given info on how to respond in ways that lead to positive outcomes.

Seating is limited to 114 people.

Welcome, Portugal!

Portugal! I'm pretty sure that's new. Glad you could join us. (Stay strong, France.)

United States	41
Portugal	25
France	7
Finland	2
Ukraine	2
Australia	1
Spain	1

Hively v. Ivy Tech

Ivy Tech made legal history yesterday, largely by losing a court case in the Federal Circuit Court for the 7th Circuit. In Hively v. Ivy Tech, Ms. Hively, an adjunct (at another campus, as far as I know) claimed that Ivy Tech failed to give her a full-time position because she is a lesbian.

I have not read the briefs in the case. I have worked at Ivy Tech for a few years now, full-time, and I can state that full-time positions are few and far between. It is a common complaint of the faculty that this college relies too much on adjuncts. Even the state agency tasked with overseeing the college has started mumbling something similar.

In any event, Ivy Tech's first line of defense--and correctly, from a legal standpoint--was to deny that there is any right to be free of employment discrimination on the basis of one's sexual orientation.

I say correctly not because I agree, or think that's how it should be, but because if Ivy Tech could prove this, it would be the quickest and most economical way to end the lawsuit. So that's what it did.

And in fact, the district court ruled in Ivy Tech's favor. But on appeal, the 7th Circuit reversed, and said that there is a federal right to be free of employment discrimination on the basis of one's sexual orientation--the first time a federal circuit court has done so.

Ivy Tech announced yesterday that it would not be appealing that order. The case will be remanded for a trial on the merits. As I hinted above, given how rarely anyone gets a full-time position here, I believe Ms. Hively has her work cut out for her. With full-time positions coming up only once in a blue moon, they tend to be very competitive when they arise.

So there's the law part of this entry. Now for the fun part. Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit has a national reputation as an independent thinker, shall we say. He was appointed by Pres. Reagan (a republican, for those of you too young to be sure), but has gradually skewed left of center over time--although there's no telling which way he'll rule on anything. (Interestingly, federal judges, who have lifetime tenures, do have a documented tendency to skew left to some degree after their appointments. Some of our most liberal federal judges were appointed by republican presidents, much to their chagrin. I do not know if anyone has figured out why this is.)

Anyway, Judge Posner wrote a concurring opinion, which was covered by Above the Law, one of the legal blogs I follow. The blog's coverage--and Posner's late-night responses, follow:

Competing with these lines for the most fun part of Judge Posner’s opinion is what I’d describe as a list of his Favorite Gays of All Time (p. 31):

We now understand that homosexual men and women (and also bisexuals, defined as having both homosexual and heterosexual orientations) are normal in the ways that count, and beyond that have made many outstanding intellectual and cultural contributions to society (think for example of Tchaikovsky, Oscar Wilde, Jane Addams, André Gide, Thomas Mann, Marlene Dietrich, Bayard Rustin, Alan Turing, Alec Guinness, Leonard Bernstein, Van Cliburn, and James Baldwin—a very partial list).

A very partial list indeed! Where’s Leonardo da Vinci? Alexander the Great? Elton John? It’s an idiosyncratic collection, to say the least.

UPDATE (11:32 p.m.): Judge Posner’s response: “I think Alexander was bisexual. But yes, Leonardo could have been included. I just reeled off the names that came first to mind.”

UPDATE (11:49 p.m.): Additional comment from Judge Posner: “I’m very embarrassed to have omitted Elton John! I love his music. He’s my favorite popular musician. I can do without Alexander but not without Elton John.”

Now you know what keeps Judge Posner up at night.

Sundquist v. Bank of America

Yesterday in Property, we discussed the rather stunning case of Sundquist v. Bank of America. This federal bankruptcy court decision from California has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster movie, although I remain unconvinced that Denzel Washington will play the part of lead attorney.

By request, here is a link to the case:

Sometimes the little guy wins. (And wins big.)

Lunch & Learn about the Heroin Epidemic

Next week's lunch at the YWCA sounds really interesting.

Heroin Addiction in Our Community

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Lunch served at 11:30am
Networking 11:45 am - 12 pm
Presentation 12 pm - 1 pm 

The April Network Lunch will feature WLPD Chief Jason Dombkowski, LPD Chief Pat Flannelly, and Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington. They will discuss the issue of heroin abuse and addiction which has become an epidemic across the country. The cost of the lunch is $15. Please call the YWCA at 765-742-0075 to reserve your space no later than noon on Monday, April 10.

    

Thank you to the Network Lunch Sponsors
Soller Baker Funeral Homes - Spring 2017 Series Sponsor
American Senior Communities
Dr. Roger and Beth Bangs
Centier Bank
Westminster Village 





Mailing Address:
YWCA Greater Lafayette
605 N. 6th Street
Lafayette, IN 47901
US

Contact Name: YWCA Greater Lafayette
Telephone Number: 765.742.0075

Thoughts for the beginning of the week

Yeah, this is just going to be a random collection of stuff. But I've learned that if I break it down into separate articles, you might need to scroll, and you just don't do that.

1. Legal Society meeting tomorrow in Ivy 1132. I believe we are electing officers. Warning: you need not be present to win. 
2. There's a humorous violinist performing on campus Wednesday at 4:30. Bring the kids, get some engagement points, have a good laugh. 
3. Last week, a liberal arts faculty member paid me (and you!) the nicest compliment: "When I receive an extremely well-written paper, I assume the student who wrote it is one of yours." 😄 All that red ink is paying off. Thanks for making us all look good!
4. Thursday, April 6--3 days from now--Purdue Graduate Student Government is hosting Jonathan Rauch to talk about Minorities and Free Speech. The talk is free and open to the public. It will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Pharmacy Building, Room 172. Rauch is the author of six books, including Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought. 

International Visitors

If this keeps up, I'm going to have to start writing this blog in Russian.

Fun fact (for those of you who know me)--I can say only a handful of words in Russian: da (yes); nyet (no); spacibo (thank you); and [spelling phonetically] cheripa (turtle).

Russia

64

United States

24

France

4

Germany

1

Hungary

1