Google takes us all to law school
You can now search
Google Scholar to find opinions by searching specific cases (like Gideon v. Wainwright) or topics (like free speech). You can type a phrase like "right to counsel" and get results for cases in which such a phrase is in included.
Google thinks being able to search these opinions will empower average citizens by helping them learn more about the laws that govern them.
The Official Google Blog has more details
here.
Low-wage workers are often cheated, study says
Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the
minimum wage, according to a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, also found that 68% of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week.
In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries (including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing), the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15% loss in pay.
The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8% of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries.
Read the study, "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers,"
here.
Can a wiki help homeless services collaborate?
Tampa Bay Homeless Resource is a collaborative website for advocates, service providers, government and citizens to share and find help, services, resources, news and volunteer opportunities to help end homelessness in Tampa Bay.
Started by the
Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County to be a vast collection of Tampa Bay homeless resources and information. The wiki is a new evolution of how all individuals and agencies helping the homeless can get together and share information efficiently and quickly. This resource is volunteer-driven and is freely edited by any user.
Check out the wiki
here.
Suspect in homeless man's murder allowed
to leave his house for one hour a day
Joel Boner (center) was attacked outside his tent at an Ocoee homeless camp and stabbed in the back as many as seven times.For three months, murder suspect John Hawthorne has been confined to his family's Ocoee home, forbidden to go even on the front porch.
Now Orange-Osceola Circuit Chief Judge Belvin Perry has eased up on his restrictions -- a little.
Hawthorne, 19, is allowed to leave his house, but only an hour a day and only up to 50 yards away.
When making his decision, Perry mentioned that inmates at the Orange County Jail are allowed outside in a recreation yard for an hour a day.
Read the
Orlando Sentinel report
here. And check out the
post at Willoughby Mariano's Orlando Homicide Report.
See previous posts
here and
here. And don't miss
Justice for Joel Boner.
30 years later, she finds her father
living on the streets of St. Petersburg
For decades, Carl Schmidlin kept a photo of a daughter he hadn’t seen in 30 years. He lost the photo but has reconnected with the daughter.Jenna Lombardi was 3 when Carl Schmidlin left. She didn't know he even existed until she was 12, didn't start looking for him until she was 18. She would spend more than a decade searching, wondering what had become of him.
Her search ended at a park in downtown St. Petersburg.
Schmidlin, 57, says after he and Lombardi's mom divorced, he bounced from job to job — a wastewater treatment plant, machinery factories, telemarketing companies.
Drinking got in the way. He spent more than four years in prison for selling cocaine.
The whole time, he wondered about the little girl he barely knew.
He never looked for her, thinking she was better off without him, he says. His only real link was a Polaroid photograph, taken on her sixth birthday at a backyard patio table.
A couple of weeks ago, he stashed the photo in a backpack beside a women's health clinic. When he returned from a prayer vigil, the bag was gone, and so was everything in it — his seizure medication, his ID cards, the photo of his daughter.
Read the
St. Petersburg Times article
here.
“I’m proud to go to jail for housing the homeless”
A defiant Dan de Vaul stretched out his arms and let deputies place handcuffs on him before being led out of the courtroom.A Central California rancher who houses homeless people on his property has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for safety violations.
Dan de Vaul, 66, was offered probation, but chose jail instead.
The terms of probation, which would bar him from breaking any laws, would prevent him from sheltering about 30 people who reside at his ranch -- known as
Sunny Acres -- and participate in a sober living recovery program, de Vaul said.
"I'm proud to go to jail for housing the homeless," de Vaul said before the hearing.
A jury convicted him of two misdemeanors for violating building and safety codes. Building inspectors said a stucco barn he converted to temporary housing on the 72-acre ranch did not meet current fire codes. He also was cited for failing to remove material and vehicles from his property.
De Vaul's ranch
provides services and sober living for the large population of homeless residents of San Luis Obispo County who can't go into shelters, said his attorney, Jeffrey Stulberg.
"Dan has filled that gap by providing free counseling services, free dentist visits, mainstreaming some of these folks back into society with jobs and apartments," he said.
Read the
Los Angeles Times report
here.
Update: Dan de Vaul has been released from jail. One of the jurors who convicted him paid a $500 bail bond. Defense attorney Jeffrey Stulberg said the juror, Mary Partin of Atascadero, felt pressured to vote guilty even though she believed de Vaul was innocent.
Update #2: Read a volunteer's explanation of how and why Sunny Acres works
here.
Update #3: SLO Homeless (thoughtful, as always) thinks both sides are in the right, but both sides are also all in the wrong.
Church sells Tiffany window to help the homeless
The stained glass window depicts St. John the Divine and was created by the Tiffany Studios. It was installed in the church in 1896.Proceeds from the sale of a
Tiffany stained glass window will be used to repair a church's leaking roof so it can continue to host a winter shelter for people who need a place to sleep and a warm meal.
Members of First Baptist Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, voted by a 4-to-1 margin to sell the historic stained glass window. While the decision was heartbreaking for many of the church members, it served to emphasize the sacrifices they are willing to make to lend a helping hand to those in their community, said Rev. Susan Andrews.
An antique dealer who specializes in stained glass estimates the window could fetch anywhere between $40,000 and $60,000 at auction.
Read the
Brattleboro Reformer report
here.
But how do I tweet without my cellphone?
A federal judge has
banned tweeting in his courtroom, ruling that it violates Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53.
*When I go to the federal courthouse in Orlando, I have to leave my cellphone in the car (unless I've obtained a special order from one of the judges in advance). But then I've known for years that
in Florida, the rules are different.
Thanks to
ACS Blog for the link.
---------------
* Rule 53 says: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.
UN investigator accuses US
of shameful neglect of homeless
A United Nations special investigator has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis.
Raquel Rolnik, the
UN special rapporteur for the right to adequate housing, who has just completed a seven-city tour of America, said it was shameful that a country as wealthy as the US was not spending more money on lifting its citizens out of homelessness and substandard, overcrowded housing.
Read the
Guardian report
here.
---------------
* My friend and colleague G.W. Rolle -- who took me on an amazing tour of the streets of St. Petersburg -- was chosen to speak to the UN investigator.
Why a church is banned from feeding the needy
The kitchen is closed at a Phoenix church that fed the homeless.
CrossRoads United Methodist Church lost an appeal over a city ordinance that bans charity dining halls in residential neighborhoods.
The hearing officer, retired Arizona Supreme Court Justice Robert Corcoran, ruled that feeding the homeless at a place of worship can be banned by city ordinance. The decision affects all Phoenix churches with underlying residential zoning and is effective immediately.
City officials maintained that CrossRoads violated Phoenix zoning code by feeding the poor and homeless on its property, a use that can occur only in commercial or industrial zones.
In its appeal, CrossRoads said it is not operating as a charity dining hall because it is a church. Church officials maintained that its actions were protected by the
First Amendment and the federal
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
The controversy over the weekly pancake worship service arose last spring after neighbors complained about an increase of homeless people sleeping and loitering in alleys, incidents of burglary, aggressive panhandling, vandalism, public intoxication, prostitution and public urination. Parents of preschool students on the church campus complained that their children encountered transients in school hallways.
Read the
Arizona Republic report
here. And read Pastor Dottie Escobedo-Frank's reaction to the ruling
here.
Vote for the 13th juror!
Do laws against camping in public spaces
amount to cruel and unusual punishment?
Seven homeless Boise residents are suing the city and the police department, saying that rules against camping in public spaces amount to cruel and unusual punishment in a city where shelters are overflowing.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, echoes similar cases popping up around the nation, all targeting rules that advocates say amount to the criminalization of homelessness.
On any given night, the suit contends, between 2,000 and 4,500 people are homeless in Idaho's capital city, and only about 700 of them will be able to get a bed or a mat on the floor in one of the area's shelters.
The others have no choice but to violate city ordinances against camping or sleeping in public, the filing states.
"Boise police officers routinely issue camping citations to homeless residents for sleeping, sitting, or talking with friends in public places -- activities non-homeless residents have the freedom to engage in without fear of police interference," the group writes in the lawsuit, filed in the names of Janet F. Bell, Brian S. Carson, Craig Fox, Robert Martin, Lawrence Lee Smith, Robert Anderson and Pamela S. Hawkins.
Read the
Idaho Statesman report
here.
Court ruling "basically knocks our legal
arguments out right underneath us"
Johnny Lee Smith holds a sign asking for donations as he stands on the side of a road in Medford, Oregon.The city of Medford, Oregon, has backed away from appealing a court decision that found the city's panhandling law unconstitutional. But the city's police chief told council members a new proposal to control begging is in the works.
"The 9th Circuit Court made a ruling that basically knocks our legal arguments out right underneath us," said City Attorney Lori Cooper.
The federal appeals court ruled the city of Seattle
violated the free speech rights of a street performer named Michael James Berger by requiring that he obtain a permit before seeking donations in public places.
The Medford council voted in May to challenge an order by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Mejia that found the city's law against begging unconstitutional. By a unanimous vote, council members voted to drop the appeal after hearing they likely wouldn't win and could be liable for court costs.
Read the
Mail Tribune report
here. And see previous post
here.
Business owners plan memorial for homeless man
Business owners in Fort Lauderdale repeatedly tried to convince Douglas Schutt to stop boozing and living outdoors, but he refused.Business owners on Las Olas Boulevard knew him as a helpful, homeless man who washed cars and did other cleaning chores in exchange for a few dollars.
Douglas Schutt, 58, died Sept. 9 from a head injury he sustained in an accident, the Broward Medical Examiner's Office said.
Schutt didn't have family available to oversee funeral arrangements. But vendors he befriended over the years paid $550 to have his body cremated. They're gathering this morning to spread his ashes across the New River, the waterway where he enjoyed fishing.
Read the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel article
here.
Jury awards $41K to homeless victim of frat shooting
A jury awarded $41,421.06 in damages to a homeless man who was shot by an Oregon State University fraternity member in 2006. Dennis Sanderson, who since has found lodging, will receive $6,421.06 for his medical expenses and $35,000 for non-economic damages.
The jury found that the Association of Alpha Beta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho of OSU and former fraternity member Joshua Grimes, who shot Sanderson, were the ones responsible for the damages.
On Oct. 14, 2006, Sanderson was in the alley behind the AGR house, looking for cans in a trash container. Grimes, now 22, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon for shooting Sanderson with a .22 caliber rifle.
Read the
Corvallis News Gazette report
here. Ans see previous post
here.
Teens plead not guilty in YouTube beatdown
of homeless man
Two teen-agers charged with an attack on a homeless man in Pompano Beach that was filmed and posted online have pleaded not guilty.
Those men -- Nicholas Bakum, 19, of Lighthouse Point, and William Sleight, 19, of Deerfield Beach -- are among four suspects accused of roughing up 54-year-old James Cunningham. Sleight allegedly filmed the attack on his cellphone as the three other men taunted, smacked, pushed, dragged, and yelled at Cunningham.
Bakum's lawyer, James Stark, argued authorities have portrayed the incident inaccurately. "Just take a close look at the video," he said. "There's nothing even close to a vicious beating."
Sleight's lawyer, Bradley Collins, said the charges against Sleight are unwarranted, saying Sleight never touched Cunningham. He said he is looking into whether Cunningham was a trespasser the day of the incident.
In response to the lawyers' comments, Dani Moschella, a spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff's Office, said: "I'm going to let the video speak for itself."
Read the
Miami Herald report
here. And see previous post
here.
A twisted tale of government
getting in its own way
To see a twisted tale of government getting in its own way, look no further than Palm Beach County's efforts to turn $7.5 million in federal stimulus money into a homeless center.
Federal restrictions on the
Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant are so confining as to make success nearly impossible.
West Palm Beach has a surplus building, a former medical office complex well situated to serve the homeless. The city, based on an appraisal, agreed to sell it to the county for $1.48 million. But the county conducted two additional appraisals that put the price at $2 million. The federal government requires the county to offer $2 million, even though the city already has said that it would accept $1.48 million.
And there's more stimulus red tape to unsnarl. Read the
Palm Beach Post editorial
here.
Holidays soup up the debate
about feeding Gainesville's homeless
Public outcry against city laws limiting how many destitute people can be served at any one location is reverberating in Gainesville as the city's largest meal provider on Thanksgiving and Christmas grapples with a 130-meal limit.
Kent Vann, executive director of the St. Francis House homeless shelter and soup kitchen, said his agency historically has fed 400 to 500 people each holiday meal.
Holiday meals for the needy are a 25-year tradition at
St. Francis House, with hundreds gathering at the downtown homeless shelter and soup kitchen for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This year, however, a new location will have to be found for that tradition, as city laws restricting the number of destitute individuals who can be served meals by churches and social service agencies are being enforced for the first time since the laws were written in the early '90s.
Read the
Gainesville Sun article
here.
