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August 14, 2017 by Heather Stevens
Long ago, I had to decide between getting a doctorate in history at Princeton or going to law school at Northwestern. I did not want to risk living in penury and picked the latter. On August 2, the First Circuit issued a decision involving the interface between these two worlds, history and law – or, […]
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August 8, 2017 / August 2, 2017 by Heather Stevens
My last blog entry got me thinking about the general question of justice delayed due to judicial action or inaction. First, I’d like to send a shout out to the Law Court for its concern about delay in Gilbert, discussed in the previous blog, and its overall promptness in practice. Generally speaking, and compared to […]
August 2, 2017 by Heather Stevens
The Law Court recently issued two decisions of note regarding the bailiwick of Maine’s only elected judges, the Probate Court. 1. Bleak (Tiny) House? First, Estate of John W. Gilbert, 2017 ME 175. This case involved the appointment of a referee by the Probate Court (Longley, J.). The wife of a decedent and one of […]
July 24, 2017 by Heather Stevens
Congratulations to our Katy Rand for her victory in Carnicella v. Mercy Hospital, 2017 ME 161. This was a dispute as to whether the defendant employer discriminated against an employee under the Maine Human Rights Act, 5 M.R.S. ss. 4551-4631. The important part of this decision for precedential purposes is at the end, where the […]
July 19, 2017 by Heather Stevens
I don’t talk about appeals I lose, and I do lose some. There’s a new book out with a famous quote from ex-FBI director James Comey as to what prosecutors with perfect records are called – it’s not pretty, because he was making the point that to do your job properly you don’t obsess about […]
July 12, 2017 by Heather Stevens
A few entries ago, regarding the new appellate rules, in discussing the changes relating to the appendix, we noted that with the new rules, the Maine SJC warned folks to make sure that their appendices followed the Rule 8. (New rules) We’ve also blogged before on the Court’s frustration with appendices not put in the right […]
July 7, 2017 by Heather Stevens
The First Circuit issued its decision in Penobscot Nation v. Mills last Friday, affirming the District Court in declaring that the Tribe’s Reservation consisted only of the islands in the Main Stem of the River, and not any of the bed of or waters in the River. The Court vacated the District Court’s second ruling, […]
June 26, 2017 by Heather Stevens
I have returned from a lovely Viking cruise around the Baltic Sea (gravlax galore!) and while I was gone, the Court issued the new appellate rules. We’ve blogged on them before (Hot off the press – the proposed changes to the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure) – here are some highlights of the changes. First, […]
May 31, 2017 by Heather Stevens
The Maine and Massachusetts SJCs have both recently issued multiple SLAPP suit decisions, so let’s compare, contrast and ponder. This is a very long blog entry, so I’ll summarize what’s coming: Both SJCs have long wrestled with this area of the law; One reason why is because the SLAPP statutes are being applied in ways […]
May 24, 2017 by Heather Stevens
As many know, the Maine SJC yesterday issued its unanimous advisory opinion concluding that ranked choice voting is unconstitutional under the Maine Constitution. Opinion of Justices, 2017 ME 100. It’s been the subject of various press stories, e.g.: Maine Supreme Judicial Court rules ranked-choice voting unconstitutional, bangordailynews.com; Maine’s highest court rules ranked-choice voting is unconstitutional, presshearld.com; […]
