The American Film Institute announced its nominees for the top 100 movie quotes. The 400 excerpts include: MELVIN UDALL You make me want to be a better man. AS GOOD AS IT GETS SUGARPUSS O’SHEA I love him because he’s…
The when and how of teaching volunteering
The New York Times sees children helping and asks when should volunteering and community service begin. David M. Herszenhorn writes (excerpt): Marvin W. Berkowitz, a developmental psychologist and professor of character education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, recommends that…
Red states, blue states, marriage and divorce rates
The New York Times looks at divorce rates, highest in those areas where many conservative Christians live (Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas) and lowest in the Northeast (Massachusetts), and the possible explanations for these findings. Pam Belluck writes (excerpt): “Some people…
Writing from the heart
The New York Times gets Judy Blume talking about writing. Jennifer Goldblatt writes (excerpt): “I didn’t know what I was doing,” Ms. Blume said “I was just free to write spontaneously, from the inside and not worry about what I…
Frames of Mind
New tax laws challenge the conventional wisdom about where to invest retirement savings. When it comes to Uncle Sam’s cut of your nest egg, you can pay now or later. Even recent tax legislation hasn’t altered that. What have changed…
Always remembering the human beings behind the case number
The Grand Rapids Press notes the passing of Judge Woodrow Alexander Yared (excerpt): “He exemplified what our legal system should be. If you were a winner or a loser in his court, you felt you had your day in court,”…
Who wants to be a millionaire?
Findlaw/AP published notice of an ex-wife’s firesale of a $250 million divorce judgment, collectible from the Saudi royal family (excerpt): After battling for more than 20 years to collect the court-ordered judgment, Diana Bilinelli said she has decided to sell…
The compatibility fallacy
Wall Street Journal Online/Yahoo helps us give up the fight to stop fighting. Hilary Stout writes (excerpt): Years of relationship studies by some leading figures in the field make it increasingly clear that most couples, whether they’re happy or unhappy,…
Police, PPOs and procedural due process
The New York Times covers the Supreme Court’s acceptance of a case challenging a police failure to enforce a protective order (Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, No. 04-278). Linda Greenhouse writes (excerpt): The case will require the Supreme Court…
Battle of the Experts?
The recently-issued McGregor case (unpublished per curiam decision of the Court of Appeals, issued September 30, 2004, Docket No. 247257) proved to be an interesting read. It was yet another case from Kent County, which was surprising to me, as…
Correlating sex and satisfaction
ABCnews reveals Primetime Live’s polling results on sex in America. Gary Langer, Cheryl Arnedt and Dalia Sussman write (excerpt): Satisfaction, in particular, matters: People who are satisfied with their sex lives are considerably more likely in turn to be satisfied…
Conforming judgment
The Michigan Supreme Court vacated the court of appeals decision in Zak v. Zak (Case No. SC: 126023-4; September 24, 2004). The court determined that: (1) in settlement, the parties could treat the severance payment as income, not property; and…
Fault or no-fault
Findlaw includes an update on the movement in New York toward “true no-fault divorce,” noting the practical effects of making divorces hard to get (out-of-state divorces, dishonesty, perjury, fraud). In Michigan, we see legislative efforts every year in the opposite…
Hip and whizzo
BBC News lists 101 words that came into common use in the last 101 years: A study of when new words became common during the past century has had some surprising findings, such as the word “celebs” being used in…
Giving notice to parties in default
By ADM File No. 2004-09 the Michigan Supreme Court has amended MRC 2.603 (default and default judgment), effective January 1, 2005. The stated intent was to clarify “some ambiguities created by the former rule’s inconsistent usage of ‘default,’ ‘default judgment,’…
Declining modification of prior bad acts rule
The Justices action on 2001-51 – Proposed Amendment of Rule 404 of the Michigan Rules of Evidence provides an interesting diversity in approaches to the problem of domestic violence prosecutions, including wedges between usual allies. Excerpts: Kelly: I am unwilling…
Reflections on a “debasing, ultra-demoralizing, un-American and inhuman leprosy”
The Detroit Free Press includes the personal account of life and death for her interracial great-grandparents. Desiree Cooper writes: When Logan died in 1936, Mary and their children stood outside the church, forbidden to attend the funeral. Because he left…
Leading questions
The New York Times uses the presidential debates between Bush and Kerry to teach a trial advocacy lesson on the difference between direct examination and cross examination. Christopher Scanlan writes (excerpt): Unlike its rhetorical opposite, the closed-ended question, which limits…
Public advocacy
The Family Law Section posts its positions on various legislative efforts on the web. The recent positions include: SB0702 Children, adoption SB0935 Family law, marriage & divorce SB0960 Pre-divorce Program SB0961 Marriage Preservation Tax Credit SB0962 Tax Credit for Marriage…
Bullying: Why does it matter? What can we do?
In any given school population, 25% of students are involved in bullying behavior either as a perpetrator or victim. Social scientists have determined that most school shooters were victims of bullying. 63% of students surveyed indicate that they would learn…