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Southwest Virginia Law Blog

Items of interest to lawyers in Southwest Virginia and beyond.
By Steven R. Minor

Post Frequency: 2.3/day

Last Entry: July 09, 2020 at 12:40:00

Interesting

Posted on July 21, 2008
Here from the Chicago Tribune is another book review of Judge Martin Clark's latest book.Here is a profile of Circuit Court Judge John Cook, after two months on the bench.The Bristol paper has this report on the airport easement case that Jim Elliott and Lucas Hobbs from this office have appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.

On the book by Judge Hudson of the E.D. Va.

Posted on July 14, 2008
Here on the VTLA website is a very interesting book review by Wyatt Durrette of the new book by his good friend, Judge Henry Hudson of the E.D. Va.I have heard Judge Hudson speak only once, at the Judicial Conference.

Bad news

Posted on July 12, 2008
Colon cancer has taken away Tony Snow, who suffered for years from colitis, which poses the same cancer risk as Crohn's disease according to articles like this one.

One thing I would do if I had a motorcycle

Posted on July 12, 2008
I would join up with the first annual "Fire in the Hole" ride and rally, which covers this route:? Highway 19 South to Alternate Route 58 West to Norton, VA.? Highway 23 South to Big Stone Gap. VA.? 1ft STOP: Powell Valley High School, Big Stone Gap. VA...

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LA Times review of third novel from Judge Clark

Posted on July 09, 2008
Here is a review in the LA Times of the latest from Circuit Court Judge Martin Clark, called The Legal Limit.

Interesting for other reasons

Posted on July 06, 2008
I have now read In the Kingdom of Coal: An American Family and the Rock That Changed the World, and it is not quite what I expected, but interesting nonetheless to the extent it is a history of Westmoreland Coal and the families behind it, including some history of their operations in Wise County, and of a family of miners whose later generations include the former Dodger and Red pitcher, Tim Belcher...

But, they beat the Wahoos every now and then

Posted on July 05, 2008
This post about the litigation between the University of Louisville and Duke over the cancellation of some football games raises some questions on the issue of what college football teams are of "similar stature" to the generally lousy Blue Devils.And, the answer viewed one way is, Duke's no good so all are of "similar stature" or better, or viewed another way, Duke's no good and so few are of "similar stature" or worse.

Rick Sincere reports again from Monticello

Posted on July 04, 2008
Here is this year's report from Rick Sincere on the W.D. Va.'s naturalization ceremony at Monticello, attended today by President Bush.

Good one, gang

Posted on July 04, 2008
As Jerry Fuhrman points out here, it would appear that whoever wrote (or edited) the editorial on July 4th in the Bristol paper cannot subtract 1776 from 2008. My computer says the difference is 232.The editorial begins: "At the ripe old age of 222 years, our great country remains more united than divided...

No incorporation of Second Amendment in Fourth Circuit?

Posted on July 03, 2008
"It is well settled law in this circuit that the Second Amendment does not apply to the States. Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 252 (4th Cir. 1999). Because the Second Amendment does not apply to the States, neither a state law nor a local ordinance can run afoul of any right guaranteed by the Second Amendment...

He said it

Posted on July 02, 2008
Rich Lowry, on Justice Kennedy:"[T]he Supreme Court is divided between four liberals, four conservatives and one self-important man who can't differentiate between his inner compass and the nation's fundamental law."

Chief Judge Jones dismisses several counts in Dr. Shelburne case

Posted on July 01, 2008
In U.S. v. Shelburne, Chief Judge Jones of the W.D. Va. struck several of the counts of which Dr. Shelburne was convicted earlier at trial, in a case related to "a scheme to defraud Medicaid by submitting bills for services that were not performed, were paid for by others, or were not medically necessary...

The Church where I was married

Posted on June 29, 2008
When I got married at the Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, the Jesuit priest (who is no longer a priest) suggested privately that he would not be too strict about who took Communion.The same church is where the funeral mass for Tim Russert was held...

More pro se litigants?

Posted on June 29, 2008
The Norfolk paper has this article on the perceived rise in the number of litigants representing themselves.

On the voters of Appalachia

Posted on June 29, 2008
Here is a pointless piece from Newsweek, a guy named Steve who grew up in Western Virginia and later was a student at the College of William & Mary. (If you can imagine such a person.) Is some of it missing, or is it sort of a parody? I wonder.It says in part, "In a close election come November, the difference between President McCain and President Obama could come down to me and my people: a bunch of ornery, racist, coal-minin', banjo-pickin', Scots-Irish hillbillies clinging to our guns and religion on the side of some Godforsaken, moonshine-soaked ridge in West Virginia...

The ruling on the constitutionality of Va. Code 57-9

Posted on June 28, 2008
Here is the opinion by Judge Randy Bellows of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, 49 pages on the constitutionality of Va. Code 57-9 as applied to the Episcopal church cases.

That thing adjudicated

Posted on June 28, 2008
In the latest VBA Journal, Judge Kelsey of the Court of Appeals has a somewhat provocative article on res judicata and Rule 1:6 as a response to the perceived defects of the Supreme Court's analysis in Davis v. Marshall Homes, Inc., 265 Va. 159, 576 S...

Peer-to-peer network administrator convicted in W.D. Va. for pirating copyrighted material

Posted on June 28, 2008
The United States Department of Justice issued this press release detailing the conviction on Thursday in Big Stone Gap of a peer-to-peer network administrator for pirating movies and such.The press release says: "The case is the first criminal conviction after jury trial for P2P copyright infringement...

President Bush to attend session of W.D. Va.

Posted on June 28, 2008
The Charlottesville paper reports here that President Bush will attend the naturalization event at Monticello on the 4th.

The insignificance of Miller-Jenkins

Posted on June 26, 2008
This article on Findlaw, titled "The Virginia Supreme Court Enforces Vermont's Custody and Visitation Order Regarding a Same-Sex Couple's Child: Why an Anti-Same-Sex-Marriage State Recognized a Same-Sex Union For This Purpose", points out that the recent Supreme Court case was decided on technical grounds, and even so came with a warning from the Chief Justice in his separate opinion that might be a preview of how he (if not others) would decide future cases on the merits.

On the right of the people to keep and bear arms

Posted on June 26, 2008
The Supreme Court decided today by a 5-4 vote in the D.C. v. Heller case, that the "people" in the Second Amendment include "all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset" and to "bear arms" was used back in the day to "refer to the carrying of weapons outside of an organized militia.

One for Kurt Pomrenke fans

Posted on June 26, 2008
Here are the father of the bride and the bride, his daughter Sarah, whom I think of as the little blonde Pomrenke girl.Most places I go, from Grundy to Norfolk, somebody knows Kurt.

The vice of moderate legislation

Posted on June 25, 2008
Justice Kennedy's opinion for the majority in Kennedy v. Louisiana might inspire some legislators (like the ones we read about from Virginia and Tennessee) to reject moderation in matters governed by the Eighth Amendment.The legislators might say to themselves, we all need to take the extreme view on this, otherwise the Supreme Court will get the wrong idea the next time it surveys the views of "society...

Papa Joe Smiddy documentary

Posted on June 24, 2008
It says here that U.Va.-Wise has released a documentary on DVD of the life and times of Joe Smiddy.Here is one of the best Joe Smiddy stories.Here is one place where you can buy a "Butter Beans" CD, which is mainly what I like to listen to when I am writing in Dad's truck...

Using the VLW archives

Posted on June 23, 2008
In last week's Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Paul Fletcher posed this hypothetical:"My client just got served with papers filed by a lawyer named Steven R. Minor with the firm of Elliott, Lawson & Minor in Bristol. I don?t know this guy. How can I get some information about him and his practice?"One of his answers was to check the archives on VLW...

Fourth Circuit rejects claim to school district's information distribution system for issue advocacy

Posted on June 23, 2008
In Page v. Lexington County School District, the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Niemeyer, joined by Chief Judge Williams and Judge Duncan, affirmed the entry of summary judgment on the section 1983 claims of a citizen who sued for equal access to the school district's "information distribution system" that the district had used to oppose legislation the plaintiff favored...

If you do Virginia appeals, you must read this

Posted on June 23, 2008
Steve Emmert has an article up these days on his site that I take to mean that the Virginia Supreme Court is cracking down on procedural defaults. Similarly, VLW Blog has this post quoting Justice Keenan, who acknowledged that more Virginia appeals are getting sunk on procedural defaults.

Norfolk paper comes to Wise County

Posted on June 22, 2008
This article about the power plant in the works at Virginia City quotes one side talking about the other as saying this: "wrong on so many levels." Actually, all sides say that about their opponents all the time.Some of the discourse reminds me of my grandmother's opposition to the federal prison in Lee County - she didn't want a bunch of escaped federal inmates running up and down Route 58.

Vote on him, I dare you

Posted on June 21, 2008
The Asheville paper has this recap of the status of the nomination to the Fourth Circuit of Judge Conrad from North Carolina, who is not to be confused with the Judge Conrad from Virginia or the tough-guy actor.

Who leaked the Ahmad Bradshaw story?

Posted on June 21, 2008
The Bristol paper and others have discovered that Ahmad Bradshaw is in jail here in Abingdon, which prompted his old football coach at Bluefield to denounce whoever it was that caused this to get into the newspapers.The Bristol paper reported this:"Graham football coach and athletic director Doug Marrs adamantly stood by Bradshaw, calling the player?s legal troubles the direct result of a concerted attempt by 'individuals who build themselves up by making other people look bad...

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