Archive for December 19, 2007
The Rodneys: 2007 edition
Dec 19th
Yeah, I don’t normally talk about these “blawg” awards, but here’s one I can get behind: The Public Defender Blogger Awards. Criminal defense blawgs are usually ignored in the year end blawg-awards, and the unique subset of public defender blogs are ignored further still. So to rectify that, PD Stuff created “The Rodneys” last year (appropriately named for Rodney Dangerfield, who “got no respect”).
With the year coming to an end, the second annual Rodneys are around the corner and the nomination process is underway. If you read some of the same blogs as I do (and I know a few of you do), I encourage you to go over to PD Stuff and take a look at the Rodneys. Perhaps you will discover some wonderful new blogs that you’d like to follow.
For now, they’re accepting nominations of PD blogs in the various categories and voting starts next week. I’ll link to the voting when it starts and I will keep reminding you folks to vote.
So here are the categories thus far:
Nomination Threads:
- Best New PD Blog
- Best Blog by a Female PD
- Best Blog by a Male PD
- Best Blog by a PD that has nothing to do with the job
- Best Blog by a PD that deals with the law
Give it a look and if you like it, spread the word!
Santa baby
Dec 19th
This holiday season hasn’t been kind to Santa. First, we had the Santa that was pied in the face. Then there was the Santa in Brazil whose helicopter was shot. Not to be outdone by drug traffickers, a young lady in CT decided to up the ante and grope Santa (or so it is alleged).
Sandrama Lamy inappropriately touched a 65-year-old worker dressed as Santa on Saturday while sitting on his lap, police said. She is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault and breach of peace, both misdemeanors.
Lamy is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Danbury Jan. 3. She was released on a promise to appear.
She denies it. Even fictional Santas don’t have it easy: Last night’s episode [Spoiler Alert!] of Nip/Tuck featured a Santa who was shot through the face by an angry child (or so it seemed).
Dan Schwartz at the CT Employment Law Blog is all over him it this story. Additional thanks to Corr. Sent for the other two Santa stories.
Image license info here
Listserves: I don’t know if they’re evil, but they’re damn entertaining
Dec 19th
In light of very recent events on a listserve, this post by Carolyn Elefant at MyShingle is particularly amusing (to me). She writes:
Lombardi argues that trial association listserves must do a better job of monitoring the lists to weed out or discourage “inexperienced lawyers” who “con their way into a case” and use the listserve as a fallback.
I don’t agree with Lombardi. In my view, the availability of a listserve doesn’t give lawyers added incentive to take cases beyond their competency. Even before listserves, lawyers accepted cases beyond their skills for a variety of reasons: sometimes to gain experience, sometimes because of greed and sometimes because they don’t even know that they’re out of their depth. Rather than exacerbate this problems, listserves offer a solution, by serving as a lifeline to lawyers in over their head. Cutting lawyers’ access to listserves will guarantee that they’ll be flying blind in a case, which will harm the client even more.
I don’t participate in listserves, although I am subscribed to a few. For the most part, I find the discussion there instructive. Of course, there are messages posted to the listserve that defy description and leave you either agape or aghast. I do think that Lombardi above has a point – a listserve should be a forum for discussion of ideas, not repeated pleas for help. It should be a place where you can get feedback on ideas that you have for a defense or theory of a case. I’m not sure I’d go as far as Carolyn in saying that they are a lifeline. If you’re relying on a listserve to prop up your representation, then I worry about your client.
Overall, though, the listserves are just another part of my daily reading along with blogs – a way for me to be introduced to things I didn’t know and for an occasional chuckle.
Yikes. I didn’t intend this to be a real post, but there you are. Scott has more.
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