Kentucky Law Review

Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2009

This year is winding to a close, and Diane and I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Remember that when you give, you receive. 

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and we will now turn down the lights here at this and our other blogs to spend time with our family and loved ones.

The lights will be back on after the first of the year.

And as always, please keep our soldiers and sailors and airmen here and abroad in your prayers this Christmas.   To them and their families, I am reminded of "The Soldiers' Night Before Christmas".  Many have written and modified this, but I am linking to the one from LTC Bruce Lovely from 1993 who was serving in Korea since his covers all those in uniform.

APPEALS: Appeal in Kentucky Internet Gambling to be Heard Friday

From PocketFive.com:

Appeal in Kentucky Internet Gambling to be Heard Friday
PocketFives.com - USA

HISTORY: A Kentucky Connection with Henry Clay Is Noted in One of the Treason Trials of Aaron Burr in the book "Why Burr's Treason Trial is Relevant Today"

Here is a historical moment showing a Kentucky connection in one of the Aaron Burr treason trials.  The blog post is a book review found at George Mason University's History News Network.  Burr was stopped in Kentucky and a young Henry Clay was able to convince the grand jury there was no grounds for the indictment of treason. Click on the post for information to order the book.

Why Burr's Treason Trial Is Relevant Today
By Peter Charles Hoffer

Mr. Hoffer is Distinguished Research Professor, Department of History, University of Georgia. He is the author of The Treason Trials of Aaron Burr (paperback, 2008).

In the next year, the public opinion will have occasion to revisit President George W. Bush’s attempts to ferret out and punish suspected terrorists. The president made it clear, before any trials at law occurred, that he thought the detainees were guilty. Some of the initiatives taken by his appointees, for example Department of Justice in-house rulings on the use of torture, have already been exposed to the public criticism. The prison camp at Guantanamo may or may not be disbanded, depending on who wins the presidential election this November. While much of the present controversy stems from 9/11, the basic questions of the relationship between the presidency and the High Court, and presidential pre-judgment of suspected threats to national security, has a precedent in the first years of our Republic. Before and during the treason trials of Aaron Burr, President Thomas Jefferson adopted a stance strikingly similar to that of President Bush.

* * *

Burr was nowhere near New Orleans, nor did he have an army at hand. Instead, he was defending himself in a Kentucky federal court against the charge of treason. Young Henry Clay spoke for Burr, and convinced a grand jury that there was no grounds for an indictment. Burr then gathered up a small band of friends and on a handful of flatboats began to travel to lands on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi that he had bought for development. But Jefferson’s land was long and those who would help him eager to catch and detain Burr. When he arrived near Natchez, he once again had to defend himself against a charge of treason. Again a grand jury refused to find a true bill.

PUBLIC SERVICE: Spring Forward, Fall Back, and Change all the batteries in your smoke detectors and CO Alarms

My wife is a nurse, and she follows a routine at work, with patients, with me, and at home.

Here's one that works.

Every year when we move the clocks back one hour, we go through the house and put in new batteries in the alarms, smoke and CO detectors. [Actually, she holds the ladder and tells me what to do; but it is a team effort!]

You should do that too!

LAWLAPALOOZA: Battle of the Legal Bands at Phoenix Hill Tavern on Thursday Night (Oct. 2) to benefit charity!!!

Don't forget that Lawlapalooza 2008, the Louisville law community's fourth annual battle of the bands, is tomorrow night, Oct. 2, at the Phoenix Hill Tavern.

Doors open at 6:00 pm, and the first band begins at 6:30.  Tickets are $25 at the door or just $20 in advance.  Purchase advance tickets online at www.law.louisville.edu/lawlapalooza.

Lawlapalooza is presented by the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and the Phoenix Hill Tavern and benefits the Judge Ellen B. Ewing Foundation.  The Ewing Foundation provides summer fellowships for UofL law students to work in the areas of family law, domestic violence and spouse abuse, and HIV/AIDS.

Join us for a memorable evening of fun, fellowship and great music.  Watch the Lawlapalooza 2008 commercial: http://media.law.louisville.edu/node/61.

Ky Courts: Prosecutors will appeal ruling in stabbing death case

Prosecutors will appeal ruling in stabbing death case [www.kentucky.com]
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Prosecutors say they will appeal a ruling that could give a new trial to a man convicted of manslaughter in a 2004 case.

Michael J. Stone was one of five white defendants charged with murder in the stabbing death of Lamartez Griffen, 17, who was black. Stone was convicted of manslaughter and tampering with evidence and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

An all-white jury acquitted the other four men of the most serious charges. The men said they had acted in self-defense when Griffin and other men attacked them.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 opinion last week that Stone should be tried again because jurors heard prejudicial testimony from a police detective. The court found that a detective's testimony during the trial included information from a defendant's police statement that was barred from the trial.

The Jefferson County commonwealth's attorney's office said it would appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Federal: "Judge opens Kentucky to wine shipments" [Courier Journal by David Goetz]

Judge opens Kentucky to wine shipments [Courier Journal by David Goetz]

Small wineries inside and outside Kentucky can ship products anywhere in the state, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, if they have a state license. The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson in Louisville, said the state cannot enforce the criminal statute against out-of-state wineries shipping into Kentucky. The ruling also strikes down provisions of current Kentucky law requiring consumers who want wine shipped to order it in person.

Click here for Judge Simpson's Memorandum  and HERE for Order on Motion for Judgment on Pleadings

Announcements: 2006 ACLU of Kentucky Annual Meeting - Apr. 2, 2006 Sunday

2006 ACLU of Kentucky Annual Meeting Faces of Freedom
Sunday, April 2 - 2 to 4 p.m.
Louisville Urban League
1535 West Broadway

Meet the clients and attorneys who have stood up for freedom in the past year.

Hear a State of the Union from ACLU of Kentucky staff.

Meet and elect new ACLU of Kentucky Board members.

(You may participate in the election of the Board of Directors if your ACLU membership dues have been paid within the last 18 months.)

Reception immediately following.

REPOST: Attorneys STILL Needed to Judge Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament at EKU

Lawyers are Needed for Moot Court Competition.  This information is posted at the request of the program.  Your help is appreciated. 

On October 22 and 23, 2005 , EKU will once again host the Sanders Invitational Mock Trial Tournament, a well-regarded annual event that draws competitors from across the nation. It is sponsored by Northern Kentucky attorney and EKU Distinguished Alumnus Bob Sanders.

In order to make this event a success, EKU needs the assistance of judges, attorneys and law students from across the state. Approximately 26 teams from across the nation will participate, requiring us to fill over 150 judging slots. The EKU Mock Trial Program urgently requests your help in educating these future attorneys.

Each round lasts approximately three hours and is preceded by a 30-minute judge orientation session. Volunteer judges will receive a rules packet in advance, but are not expected to review case materials. Attorneys are eligible for two hours of Kentucky CLE credit for volunteering their time. CLE forms will be available on site at the tournament. You need not have mock trial or litigation experience to serve as a judge. All judges will receive a confirmation card upon receipt of the sign-up information, a full packet containing rules, a schedule and maps approximately 10 days prior to the tournament and a confirmation phone call the week of the tournament. The tournament is held on the EKU campus in Richmond. Snacks or a light meal will be provided during each orientation session. And there will be coffee!

Judges may sign up for one, two, three or four rounds. You may sign up for as many rounds as your schedule permits and may judge multiple rounds. We prefer as many as possible, but will take whatever time you can give!

In the past, student participants have offered favorable evaluations of tournaments hosted by EKU, particularly with regard to the quality of the judging. We hope to maintain that reputation for providing thoughtful and valuable feedback from well-qualified judges, with your help.

If you would like to serve, please return this email with the following information or fax the information to 859-622-8019:

Name:
Address
Phone Number
Fax Number

Rounds

__ Round I, Saturday, October 22, 9:00-12:30pm

__ Round II, Saturday, October 22, 2:00-5:30pm

__Round III, Sunday, October 23, 8:00-11:30am

__Round IV, Sunday, October 23, 1:00-4:30pm

For more information about the event, please contact Mock Trial Program Director, Sara Zeigler, at Sara.Zeigler@eku.edu or at 859-622-5931.

For information on the tournament schedule, local restaurants and lodging, please visit the tournament web site (still being updated) at www.people.eku.edu/zeiglers/tournament.htm

Sara L. Zeigler, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Political Science
Interim Chair, Department of Government
Eastern Kentucky University
859-622-5931
www.people.eku.edu/zeiglers/

On-Line Kentucky Law-related Stories

• From on-line Courier-Journal:
• Defendants: Informant asked about massage parlor case
  To her co-workers and employers, Kyong Smith was just a kitchen worker at a Louisville spa who, like them, had been charged in a massive prostitution case.
• Coal-sludge spill lawsuit will go to trial Monday in E. Ky.

  A trial is scheduled to begin Monday in a lawsuit filed by people whose property was covered in coal sludge five years ago in one of the South's worst ecological disasters.
• Law firm chief suffers head injury in crash

  Louisville lawyer Kevin Hable, the managing partner of Wyatt Tarrant & Combs, suffered a "significant" head injury when his vehicle was hit Aug. 8 by a TARC bus, but the law firm's interim leader says he's recovering.
• Stop Domestic Violence event is Sunday

  The second annual Stop Domestic Violence 5K Run/Walk will be Sunday at Iroquois Park, off New Cut Road. The Center for Women and Families and the Louisville section of the National Council of Jewish Women are sponsors.

  Registration on the day of the race will start at noon. A competitive 5K Run/Walk for women only will begin at 2 p.m., followed at 2:15 by a 5K Family Walk for women, men, girls and boys.

  The run/walk will be free for children 6 and younger, $12 for ages 7-12 and $18 for others who register by Saturday. The entry fee is $25 for people 7 and older who register on race day. Participants are encouraged to obtain pledges to help survivors of domestic violence. For registration information, call 581-7212 or check online at www.active.com.

From Kentucky.com / Herald-Leader:

• Druen links Fletcher, 'hit list'
  Governor says allegations untrue
  By Ryan Alessi, HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU
  Transportation Cabinet officials presented the memo that became the notorious "hit list" to top administration members while in Gov. Ernie Fletcher's presence, according to a deposition of a key player in the state hiring investigation.
• New trial for former police chief
  ASSOCIATED PRESS
• Property damage suit begins in Martin sludge spill
  By Roger Alford, ASSOCIATED PRESS
• Water case won't skip to high court early - 9/15/2005 03:01 AM EDT
  HERALD-LEADER STAFF REPORT