Oregon Student Interns and Internships

Steve Duin had an interesting column in the March 30, 2010, Oregonian, (dated 3/29/10 on the website) about student internships and he makes a point few know, i.e. there are laws about such things. And one of the Commenters makes another important point, about the role of the educational institution that set up the internship, though sometimes there is no “middle-man” and the intern needs to do his or her own research.

“The insidious rise in unpaid internships can run afoul of federal guidelines,” by Steve Duin, The Oregonian, March 29, 2010

Excerpt: ‘A good friend of my daughter's asked for my advice last week about an internship ….
The six-month internship required that this college grad spend 20 hours a week building the online issue of the monthly magazine, writing stories, editing video, cropping photographs, crafting headlines and formatting the events calendar....
...
Those internships abound when the economy is flat-lining because companies take advantage of young workers who decide an additional entry on the resume is better than another summer with the Xbox.

But the unpaid labor is also problematic when states follow the federal guidelines, as Oregon and Washington do, in determining whether the intern must be compensated….
…
Roberts and Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries could point me to only three successful wage claims for bogus internships, against Centron Solar, Design for Home and Cart De Frisco International Inc., a food-cart operation.
…
If you're interning without pay in an uglier one, call Christine Hammond at BOLI's Wage and Hour Division at 971-673-0837, or call Washington L&I toll-free at 866-219-7321. Or if all else fails, call me.’ (Link to full Duin column.)

For more about student interships, see Students dot Gov (under Internships) and check with your school's career counseling office. If you're not a student and want to research internships, check online but also check with local job placement services for advice. For example, see the list at the Multnomah County public library.

Book and Conversation: Revenge and Forgiveness

If the law is about anything, it is about revenge and forgiveness. It is, of course, about more than that, but underneath much of the law's most intractable problems (not uncommonly found in areas of immigration, criminal law, and torts, to name only 3) you will usually find these two instincts, which may be more primal than you once thought:

Speaking of Faith guest Michael McCullough, author of "Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct" with host Krista Tippett, in their Sunday, March 28th, 2010, interview:

“Michael McCullough describes science that helps us comprehend how revenge came to have a purpose in human life. At the same time, he stresses, science is also revealing that human beings are more instinctively equipped for forgiveness than we've perhaps given ourselves credit for. Knowing this suggests ways to calm the revenge instinct in ourselves and others and embolden the forgiveness intuition." (Link to full website.)

If you don’t listen to Speaking of Faith, you are missing some wonderful radio. The host has conversations with scientists, doctors, science fiction writers (among other book authors), spiritual leaders from Buddhists to Yogis, parents of special children (in the broadest possible sense), and dozens and dozens of others. The interviews are enlightening, funny, provocative, and most certainly beautiful. It has crossed my mind that Speaking of Faith host, Krista Tippett, as different as her style is, would be a worthy successor to Bill Moyers. But right now, we have both of them, intellectual riches indeed.

How to Find Oregon PECBR Cases

What is the PECBR? It stands for the "Public Employer Collective Bargaining Reporter.”

We usually get the question in the form of, “what is 21 PECBR 673 and where do I find it?”

1) These citations refer to Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) orders. They may also be called opinions or decisions or rulings. They come from the Employment Relations Board.

2) Most small or even medium-size Oregon law libraries do not have these PECBR orders in full-text format and often just call the ERB in Salem at 503-378-3807 and ask for a copy. But some libraries do have them so phone your local law library to find out.

3) Orders before 2004 are not online. Copies of ERB Board Orders are published in books entitled "Public Employer Collective Bargaining Reporter" or simply PECBR.

4) Board Orders from 2004 to the present are available online, at the ERB website.

5) The ERB has a library in Salem, which has copies of this reporter available. It is open to the public and contains all decisions of the Board, the Oregon Court of Appeals, the Oregon Supreme Court, as well as Oregon Revised Statutes, Labor Arbitration Reports (to 1996), Labor Relations Reference Manual (to 1996), and other labor law research materials.

6) NW Arbitration publishes a digest/summary of ERB and court decisions (PECBA Digest). To purchase the PECBA Digest, please contact Northwest Arbitration, Ltd., PO Box 80847 Portland OR 97280. Telephone: 503-957-2255.

7) Full text PECBR Reports are published by a Washington State publisher (Samir): Telephone: 360-256-8679.

For more information about the Oregon ERB, call them in Salem at 503-378-3807.

Oregon Public Law Libraries: Most Frequently Made Referrals

Each Oregon county law library could list its own FAQ (frequently asked questions) referrals, but here are mine:

1) Landlord-tenant law:
a )The Landlord-Tenant info at Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO). Click on Housing for most current brochures and information flyers.
b) The Oregon State Bar Landlord-Tenant webpage and a list of legal aid contacts.
c) Oregon state government website

2) Find Your Legislator (Elected Officials) (from the Oregon Legislature’s website)

3) Elders in Action

4) Washington County Disability, Aging, and Veterans Services (and its counterparts in other counties)

5) Disability Rights Oregon

6) Oregon Better Business Bureau

7) Oregon Attorney General, Consumer Protection (and the Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Complaint Hotline):

“At the Oregon Department of Justice we believe a well informed consumer is less likely to become a victim of consumer fraud. In an effort to provide more resources to Oregon consumers we offer this on-line database of complaints submitted to our Consumer Hotline.

The database of consumer complaints is derived from consumer contacts since January 1, 2008 and is for information only. This database may not offer a completely accurate or comprehensive account of every incident….” (Link to AG website.)

Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Complaints telephone:

“For consumer-related matters, call the Attorney General's Consumer Hotline between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

378-4320 from Salem
229-5576 from Portland (toll free)
1-877-877-9392 elsewhere in Oregon (toll free)”

Additional Oregon AG contacts.

8) Other FAQ for legal research resources involve guardianships, third-party adoptions, school law, garnishment, criminal procedure, juvenile rights, and a few others I'll write about in a future blog post.

Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Complaint Database

You can now search a database of complaints to the Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Complaint Hotline.

“At the Oregon Department of Justice we believe a well informed consumer is less likely to become a victim of consumer fraud. In an effort to provide more resources to Oregon consumers we offer this on-line database of complaints submitted to our Consumer Hotline.

The database of consumer complaints is derived from consumer contacts since January 1, 2008 and is for information only. This database may not offer a completely accurate or comprehensive account of every incident….” (Link to AG website.)

Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Complaints telephone:

“For consumer-related matters, call the Attorney General's Consumer Hotline between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

378-4320 from Salem
229-5576 from Portland (toll free)
1-877-877-9392 elsewhere in Oregon (toll free)”

Additional Oregon AG contacts.

Oregon HB 3612, the Governor, and a Non-Signing Statement

Re: 2010 HB 3612 (relating to additional property taxes) (html or PDF)

You’ve heard of Presidential signing statements.

Here is a sample of an Oregon Governor’s non-signing statement, which you can also link to from the Governor’s website on Legislative Actions: see Legislative Approval Without Signature

As you know, bills can become law without the Governor’s signature, if the bill is not signed within 30 days of it being placed on his desk, so to speak, at the end of a legislative session. (I’m oversimplifying here so bear with me. For a full description of the legislative process in Oregon, visit the Legislature’s How an Idea Becomes a Law.)

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) in Oregon: Updates

Update to previous posts on Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) resources (see also under Veterans):

1) Verification of military status (online verification) and certificates by mail.

2) American Bar Association Legal Assistance for Military Personnel (LAMP)

3) Oregon State Bar (OSB) Military Assistance Panel

4) Oregon county government veterans services, e.g. Washington County DAVS

5) Locating Veterans and Service Members and Military Homefront (DOD) and MilSpouse

(And, a special thank you to the Lane County Law Librarian for alerting me to some of these recent URL changes.)

Oregon Laws on Domestic Violence and the Workplace

2007 SB 946 (2007 Oregon Laws, Chapter 180) created new protections for victims of domestic violence, requiring reasonable safety measures to protect employees at work or in connection with their work.

Read more:

1) Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industry (BOLI) Domestic Violence in the Workplace flyer.

2) Governor of Oregon, Executive Order No. Eo 07 - 17, Domestic Violence In The Workplace

3) Oregon Domestic Violence Links

4) More information can be found at the Oregon Domestic Violence Resource Center. See also their Workplace and domestic violence webpages.

Oregon State Office Closures (Furlough Days) in 2010

Most Oregon state offices will close on Friday, March 19, and 26,500 state employees will take mandatory unpaid furloughs on that day. Other


Check with Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) (and the list of other furlough days) or the department that provides the services you need to find out if they will be open on the furlough day(s).

More information about Oregon state agency furlough days.

"Oregon’s Death Row": An Online and On Air Discussion: OPB’s “Think Out Loud”

On the day that Richard Serrano will be sentenced to death by a judge and jury, March 16, 2010:

OPB’s Think Out Loud will broadcast the program "Oregon’s Death Row": “A jury unanimously found that Ricardo Serrano should be put to death for murdering Melody Dang and her two sons. Washington County Circuit Court Judge Steven Price will formally sentence Serrano on Tuesday. Serrano is poised to become the 33rd man on Oregon's death row. If history is any guide, he'll be likely to stay there for a while….” (Link to Oregon’s Death Row.)

Think Out Loud programs are also aired weekday evening at 9 p.m. on OPB radio (and you can find their archives at their website).

How to Dispose of Used Law Books: More Ideas

In an era of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (which for some of us began in the 1970's), lawyers and law librarians also look for ways to dispose of law books green-fully, so to speak.

Here are some new book recycling ideas, which are terrific supplements to my 2006 guide on How to Dispose of Used Law Books:

From the Law Librarian Blog post: What To Do With the Debris of the Shed West Era, visit:

1) Creative Uses for Old Law Books and

2) More Creative Uses for Old Law Books and

3) Old Law Books Are Not Garbage, They're Art.

Fixing a Broken Legal System: from the TED Conference

If you’ve never viewed the short film-clips at the TED Conference, here’s a link to one that is Business-Related, rather than just inspirational, funny, provocative, or otherwise highly watchable:

Four Ways to Fix a Broken Legal System: 2010 TED Video of Philip Howard's Presentation

Visit TED on a rainy, snowy, sunny, icy, warm, hot, cold, or just plain any old afternoon for some addictive idea-mongering:

TED: Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

(Thanks to Law Librarian Blog for the lead!)

Law dot Gov Update

For those of us who can’t wait for Law dot Gov to become a [virtual] reality, the Law Librarian Blog keeps us in the loop with periodic status updates: LAW.GOV's Core Specifications Task Force Meeting Set for May 26

A Human Book, not an eBook: What if You Could Borrow a Legal Scholar (from your library) for an Hour?

I loved this story. It’s not the first time a library has offered this service, but it becomes more intriguing every time I hear about the service. I live in a region of the country that is rich in great people and excellent public libraries, but every community has fascinating people and maybe even a small library could do this. Maybe one could even Rent-a-Lawyer to raise money for a good cause?

Library of humans: Guelph University lends people for 30-minute talks on prejudice, by Macleans.ca, March 5th, 2010

‘When Chris Langley volunteered to help out with a project at his university library last year, he didn’t imagine he’d wind up becoming a book. The 25-year-old master’s student was intrigued by the notion of a human library, a space in which prospective readers scheduled half-hour time slots with real people and engaged in direct conversations about prejudice.

As an atheist, Langley felt his views and experience could help fill a niche in the library’s catalogue and immediately put himself into circulation. The last-minute addition proved a popular attraction, with all but one of his available time slots filling up over a two-day stretch. The atheist book was back on shelves for the 2010 edition of the human library, which began Thursday at the University of Guelph. The man behind the cover is keen to re-engage with readers on an issue he feels is often misunderstood. “The prejudice I feel is invisible. It’s more a stigma attached to the label,” Langley said in a telephone interview from the university campus. “We’re thought of as evil, callous and even shallow.”…’
…
Guelph staff member Lisbeth Sider had her preconceived notions challenged last year when she checked out a book entitled “Sri Lankan Conflict Survivor.” Expecting to hear harrowing tales of domestic terrorism, Sider instead listened to accounts of rebels who treated those on the opposing side with relative kindness despite their profound political differences. “It’s not all black and white,” she said. “You expect one thing and when you come out of it the reality is something very different.”

Such shifts in perspective are what the human library is all about, according to Mike Ridley, the university’s head librarian. By bringing in books who were willing to engage in candid conversations on difficult subjects, organizers strove to turn the library into a place where taboos were cast aside and meaningful engagement was promoted among members of the campus community and beyond....’ (Link to full story.)

(Thanks to Library Link of the Day for the story lead.)

Can a Judge Keep an Opinion out of Westlaw and Lexis?

From Legal Research Plus: Judge says keep this opinion out of Westlaw and Lexis

" On December 21, 2009 Judge A. Howard Matz, of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, issued an 7-page order in the case of POM Wonderful LLC v. Welch Foods, Inc.. This opinion includes, among other things, a discussion of standing under the California Unfair Competition Act and the California False Advertising Act. At the end of the document, the judge writes: “This Order is not intended for publication or for inclusion in the databases of Westlaw or LEXIS.” (emphasis mine)..." (link to full blog post)

The Comment to the blog post notes that the order does appear on Westlaw, though not on Lexis, at least at the time of the posting of the Comment.

How to Find Oregon Base Fines (Traffic)

I know, I know. The OJD website is just not that easy to navigate, and it often drops you into holes you can’t get out of without having to return to Oz (or Google), but it is the best place to find current and official Oregon Base Fines.

Here are some tips:

1) Visit the OJD website
a) Click on Materials and Resources
b) Click on Court Rules
c) Click on the drop down menu
d) Select Base Fine Summary and click on View to read the PDF.
e) Voila!

2) You can also make a direct link to the Base Fines Schedules, when the link works, which is has been doing lately.

3) Some Oregon County Circuit Court websites will link to the latest Base Fine Schedule, but you may run into the same problem as above, so contact your Circuit Court directly if you have questions.

4) You can also use Google (or other search engine of choice) to search for Oregon Base Fines, but make sure the result you get is the current schedule, not 2006 or 1999. I also prefer to use official sites, e.g. dot gov, so if you use an unofficial one, e.g. dot org or dot com, check with your court to make sure the information is accurate.

The Barking Dog Next Door

This is a legal reference question that comes up again and again and again and .....

What can I do about my neighbor’s barking dog?

It depends, of course, but don’t go crazy. There are usually ways to deal with the problem, although it takes tact, persistence, more tact, creativity, collaboration, and sheer, uh, doggedness.

Remember, a constantly barking dog is not a happy dog and you are likely doing a good deed, at least for the dog, and even sometimes for the owner.

Also, if the dog is driving you crazy, it’s likely driving other neighbors crazy, too. So be dogged, but positive, helpful, and in short, a good neighbor.

Sometimes it takes a village to quell a dog: I’ve known of situations where the owner was just overwhelmed. Neighbors came to the rescue by offering lunchtime or after-school dog walks.

But not all situations are that simple and convivial, so lets look at other options:

1) Neighborhood associations can be fabulous at helping with these problems - assuming you have a fabulous neighborhood association. (Some of us are lucky that way.) If you have one, call them.

2) Local law: You may live in a place where there are laws about barking dogs (and crowing roosters, peacocks, etc.). Call your local government information line to find out who or what office handles noise, animal, or related nuisance complaints.

Tip: If you’re at the end of your rope, take a deep breath. Good manners will usually help your cause. If you can’t figure out who to call, and don’t waste your valuable time wandering around websites if you’re just steaming. Call your Mayor, City Administrator, or City Commissioner and ask directly.

3) Animal Law: Sometimes a barking dog is a sign of animal neglect or related problems. Even if your local elected officials don’t know what to do, or don’t care, your pet-centric community associations may know exactly what you can and can’t do. Start calling around for referrals: vets offices, animal shelters, animal law specialists, and others may be able to refer you.

4) I’m a librarian so of course will recommend books, which you can find at the usual places (libraries and bookstores):

Both of these are from Nolo Press:

a) “Every Dog's Legal Guide: A Must-Have Book for Your Owner,” by Mary Randolph, J.D., (type dog law into the Nolo Press search box and get lots more than just a book!):

b) “Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise,” by Attorney Cora Jordan (type neighbor law into the Nolo Press search box and get lots more than just a book!):


Previous OLR blog posts on dog law.

Oregon Non-Attorney Notaries May Not Advertise or Serve as a “Notario Publico”

Unlike their powers in some other counties, a non-attorney notary in Oregon (and in most of the U.S.) may not provide attorney or attorney-like services:

Excerpts from the Oregon Notary Guide (or link from the SoS Notary Services website):

1) “Chapter 3-Misconduct, Liability & Protecting Yourself

Non-attorney notaries public must not give legal advice. Do not tell people which legal procedure to do, how to do it, or what they need to do to get a legal action accomplished. You may think you know what to do, but you open yourself to a lawsuit even if you are right. The Oregon State Bar takes a dim view of unlicensed individuals giving out legal advice. This also applies to notarial certificates. As you’ll see, a notary may not suggest or select notarial certificates for people. Rather, he or she performs a particular notarization at the direction of the requesting individual.

Notaries public must not prepare documents. Don’t fill out documents or finish drafting them, even as a favor. It takes an attorney to know what is legally appropriate for a document.”

2) “Chapter 1-Notaries in History

In Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin American countries, notaries retain many of their attorney-like powers. In the United States, however, notaries are most important for merely witnessing documents drafted by someone else. This disparity in notary authority is the reason Oregon has a law against advertising as a “Notario Publico”, which conveys to Spanish-speaking individuals vastly different powers than notaries have in this state. “A person may not use the term “notario publico” or any equivalent non-English term, in any business card, advertisement, notice, sign or in any other manner that misrepresents the authority of a notary public.” ORS 194.162 (5).

Even within the United States, the duties and responsibilities of a notary public vary greatly from state to state. Oregon law states “A notary may not make representations to have powers, qualifications, rights or privileges that the office of notary does not have including the power to counsel on immigration matters.” ORS 194.162 (2). It is essential, therefore, to become familiar with Oregon’s notary laws and rules even if you have previously served as a notary in another state.”

3) Find additional information at the Oregon Secretary of State’s Notary Public Services website.

a) Oregon Notary Guide (or link from the SoS Notary Services website):

b) Notary Qualifications.

Administrative Law : The 2010 OARs are In The Building: Ecru?

Our new print set of the 2010 Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) came today - it’s ecru. We always try and guess the color of the binding (as we do with the ORS).

(The SoS and the Legislature should get a little action going with pre-publication binding-color betting - more fun than the lottery for us wonkish types. This is about as exciting as it gets with law library décor action when you work in the public sector.)

I was hoping for gold/yellow binding; colleagues were going for greens and blues. My point: any color is better than no color (ecru?). It is such dry reading that one needs a warm glow to keep awake while reading it.

(Law students today think they are lucky. In the old days, law students were required to take Administrative Law. As painful as that was for some of us (though not all - it is the rare Admin Law Professor who is memorable for all the right reasons, excellent teaching, or so I hear), but I doubt many of us regret that we were forced to take admin law. Admin law does show up on bar exams so there really is no getting away from it.)

Anyway, the arrival of the OAR is a reason to post, finally, some “in the blog pipeline” information about Oregon administrative law. (Yes, it's online, but that's even less fun than using the print version, though I suspect you could play music in the background and change the color and size of the font.)

The Birth of the OAR

Did you ever wonder how the OAR comes into being? (Ha ha. I know - not in this lifetime, but I'm going to tell you anyway.)

I won’t answer all your administrative law questions today, but will try a birds and bees approach, i.e. a gentle glide into a messy, but very interesting, area of law:

Keep in mind that your administrative law fork has two prongs. (Yes, I know I’m mixing my metaphors, what with the birds, bees, gliding, and now forks, but bear with me (no, not that bear)):

1) First, you have the administrative laws themselves (rules, regulations, decisions, orders, directives, etc.): Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR)

2) Second, you have the Administrative Procedure Acts (aka APA) (state or federal, as the case may be). In Oregon, you have:

a) the "Oregon Administrative Procedure Act: (Oregon APA), which you’ll find in the ORS, and

b) in the “Attorney General's Administrative Law Manual and Uniform and Model Rules of Procedure Under the APA” (January 2008 is the latest edition, but the 2010 will be out soon). You can buy it from the Oregon Attorney General’s office or you can read it at law libraries and online Oregon AG Model Rules of Procedure.

The OAR and the Oregon APA really have more of a "the chicken or the egg" relationship, so don't put too much weight on those "first" and "second" designations. Stick with the 2 fork-prongs characterization, so to speak.

I could also tell you a little about the history of the Oregon APA, but I won't torture you. Here’s a good place to start if you are so inclined:

"Oregon Administrative Procedure Act: An Essay on State Administrative Rulemaking Procedure Reform," by David B. Frohnmayer, 58 Oregon Law Review 411 (1980)

That’s enough for one day - whew. If you’re not tantalized then I recommend you select another legal specialty, e.g. uh, hmmm, er ... honestly now. There are few areas of law that don’t require you to know something about administrative law. You may not need to know a lot about it, but you need to know something.

Book: Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars From Gutenberg to Gates

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a February 21, 2010, article about this book:

"Yo, Ho, Ho, and a Digital Scrum: History shows that intellectual property is more complex than either its creators or copiers care to admit, says a Chicago scholar, by Jeffrey R. Young"

Excerpt:

“The history of publishing is swimming with pirates—far more than Adrian Johns expected when he started hunting through the archives for them. And he thinks their stories may hold keys to understanding the latest battles over digital publishing—and the future of the book.

Johns, a historian at the University of Chicago, has done much of his hunting from his office here, which is packed so high with books that the professor bought a rolling ladder to keep them in easy reach. He can rattle off a long list of noted pirates through the years:

Alexander Pope accused "pyrates" of publishing unauthorized copies of his work in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, a man known as the "king of the pirates" used the then-new technology of photolithography to spread cheap reprints of popular sheet music. In the 1950s, a pirate music label named Jolly Roger issued recordings by Louis Armstrong and other jazz greats from LP's that the major labels were no longer publishing. A similar label put out opera recordings smuggled from the Soviet bloc….” (Link to full article.)

Other links to copyright law resources, here and here.

Miranda Warnings: On the Internet, No One Knows you’re A Police Detective

Right to Counsel and the Right to Remain Silent AND the Importance of Reading the Full Case

There are no shortcuts to thorough legal research:

The Oregon Court of Appeals OJD Media Release summary ( 3/3/10), says this, which is concise and perfectly accurate:

“State of Oregon, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John Richard Davis, Defendant-Respondent. Wollheim, P. J.

The trial court granted defendant's motion to suppress because, after the police officer received notice that defendant invoked his right to remain silent under Article I, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution, the officer employed an agent to further question defendant. The state appeals, arguing that defendant's invocation did not implicate any constitutional right to remain silent when defendant was not in a compelling setting.

Held: When a person, not in a compelling setting, unequivocally invokes the right to remain silent as to an ongoing investigation conducted by a police officer, and the officer is personally aware of the invocation, any evidence that is obtained by the police officer in violation of the person's invocation must be suppressed. Affirmed.”

But if you don't follow through and read the full case, you miss important details, not to mention the interesting stuff. Here’s a link to and excerpts from the full case:

State v. John Richard Davis (A138968), filed 3/3/10 (Oregon Court of Appeals)

".... We ultimately conclude that the police officer's "pretext communications" violated defendant's right to remain silent. However, we start by explaining the policies behind the right to counsel to set context for the right to remain silent. We do that because those two constitutional rights are interrelated....
…
Here, defendant's attorney unequivocally invoked defendant's right to remain silent by sending the detective a letter. The invocation was specific to the detective's investigation into allegations that defendant had sexually abused his stepdaughter. By the letter that defendant's attorney mailed, the detective personally knew that defendant invoked his right to remain silent. The letter, by itself, did nothing to prevent or stop the detective from lawfully conducting the investigation. In fact, the detective lawfully continued the investigation for eight months after receiving the letter. However, once the detective decided to contact defendant, the letter served to limit the means by which the detective could make contact. The detective could contact defendant through his counsel. Instead, the detective obtained computer software to communicate with defendant and recruited the stepdaughter to make the "pretext communications" with defendant. The stepdaughter agreed and acted as the detective's agent. See State v. Smith, 310 Or 1, 13, 791 P2d 836 (1990) ("[I]f the police were directly or indirectly involved to a sufficient extent in initiating, planning, controlling or supporting [the informant's] activities, the exclusionary protection would apply."). Then, the detective communicated with defendant, through the stepdaughter, for the purpose of conducting the investigation. On those facts, the detective's actions violated defendant's constitutional right to remain silent under Article I, section 12.(4)

Accordingly, the trial court did not err in granting defendant's motion to suppress statements that the state obtained while subverting defendant's right to remain silent.(5)

Affirmed." (Link to full case)

Thursday, March 4: Free Showing: “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Portland, Oregon)

Meet up with old and new friends and Benefit for the Campaign for Equal Justice:

You are invited to a free showing of the AFI's choice of the best legal movie of all time:

To Kill a Mockingbird

When: Thursday, March 4, 2010
Where: Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland.

(Drive, walk, bus (75, 77, 12), MAX (Blue/Red/Green lines: Hollywood)

Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; movie starts at 7:00 p.m.

The event is organized by the Associates Committee of the Campaign for Equal Justice, and sponsored by the MBA Young Lawyers Section, the OSB Oregon New Lawyers Division and In2itive Technologies.

Admission is free; suggested $10 donation at the door. Spread the word.

West (Thomson-Reuters) Shipping Empty Boxes

As much as this sounds like something from The Onion, it’s not! Of course the fact that it is a true story makes it all the funnier.

Apparently, perhaps in an attempt to reduce shipping costs or lower the injury rate among mail and stockroom employees and mail carriers, Thomson-Reuters is shipping empty boxes to their customers.

Is it a deep plot, maybe to encourage law librarians to pack up, move away, and stop crabbing about big publishers and their antics?

Their response is that they have “examined our processes” and believe “inadequate carton glue” is largely to blame. Of course book feeders (electronic, not human) play a role, not to mention the USPS (though I’m not sure how they are to blame for sealed, empty boxes being given to them).

There IS Joy in the Morning!

(Thanks to my fellow law librarians and our excellent listserves and blogs for the Empty Box Saga.)

Justice Bedsworth: A Bridge [Too Far Out] Named James Brown

It’s not my fault if you fall over laughing and hurt yourself, but I can say it will probably be worth it:

Excerpt: ‘I have no idea why the James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge is here.(4) What I know is that in 1993, the town voted to name their new bridge after James Brown. He came and christened it with a rendition of “I Feel Good,” and now all the ranchers who do business in this cow town (the ski resort is way up the hill; very few skiers use the bridge) pass by or over a bridge named not after Merle Haggard or George Strait or Garth Brooks, but James Brown….
…
You want to know what it’s like to be a peace officer in a small town in Colorado? Here are a few excerpts from Steamboat Today’s police log: “Tuesday, January 19, 12:15 a.m.: Steamboat Springs Police Department officers stopped a drunken pedestrian at 11th Street and Lincoln Avenue. Officers reportedly saw the man walking down the street carrying a pole used to hold velvet waiting line ropes. The man reportedly was extremely intoxicated and could not give them an address or the name of a sober friend, so officers took him to detox for the night. Officers could not immediately determine where the pole came from.”…’ (link to full article: Law Enforcement for the Soul... Center, by Justice William W. Bedsworth)

Read other Justice Bedsworth’s “Criminal Waste of Space” columns (over at the OC Bar Association)