Summer 2002

DEPARTMENTS

• President's Column: Casemaker: The Most Significant Member Benefit . . . Ever!. . . Matthew F. Valerio, Esq.
  "The Vermont Bar Association has recently entered into a contract to provide the most significant member benefit in the history of the Association..."
• From the Executive Director. . . Robert M. Paolini, Esq.
  "I know you have read a lot recently about the VBA's becoming part of the Casemaker Consortium.  So why am I writing about the same thing?..."
• Lex et Ratio: All the Decent Drapery of Life, Rudely Torn Off . . . Kevin F. Ryan, Esq.
  "On April 16, 2002, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, a case brought by civil liberties groups to challenge the provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 (CPPA) that dealt with so-called 'virtual child pornography.'..."
• Ruminations: A Different Kind of Sunday. . . Paul S. Gillies, Esq.
  "In the Bible, a man gathers sticks on a Sunday, is discovered, accused, convicted and then immediately put to death by stoning, with the approval of the law.  That story irritated Ethan Allen, Vermont's favorite deist...."
• Yankee Justice: The Lighter Side of Vermont Law - Sterry Robinson Waterman - From Small Town Lawyer to Big City Judge . . . Virginia C. Downs
  "Born in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1901, Sterry Waterman moved with his family to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1911.  He graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy in 1918, and from Dartmouth College in 1922...."

FEATURES

• Speech to Vermont Bar Association on the State of the Judiciary, March 8, 2002 . . . Chief Justice Jeffrey L. Amestoy
  "In September 1999 the Commission on the Future of Vermont's Justice System issued its Report.  I began the final portion of that Report - entitled 'Into the Future' as follows:..."
• Personal Faith and the Practice of Law - A talk given at Vermont Law School, March 14, 2002 . . . Hon. Ernest W. Gibson, III, Associate Justice (ret.)
  "You win a big case or achieve a favorable settlement and recover both damages and legal fees for your client. Cause for celebration?..."
• Daubert Revisited. . . Albert G. Besser, Esq.
  "In the landmark case, Baker v. State, the Vermont Supreme Court opined that same sex couples could not be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation..."

SPECIAL FOCUS: DISABILITY LAW

• Introduction . . . Guest Editors: Marilyn A. Mahusky, Esq. & Joseph A. Reinert, Esq.
  "The Disability Law Committee of the Vermont Bar Association is pleased to author a series of articles dedicated exclusively to disability-related issues...."
• U.S. Supreme Court ADA Review: A Shifting Landscape . . . Joseph A. Reinert, Esq. & Marilyn A. Mahusky, Esq.
  "Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions under the American with Disabilities Act ("ADA") have significantly changed the landscape for individuals with disabilities and their families, and in turn for attorneys with a focus on disability law...."
• Erosion of Civil Rights Enforcement: Judicial Constriction of the Civil Rights and Disability Law Bar . . . O. Whitman Smith, Esq.
  "Less than two decades into the Rehnquist era of Supreme Court jurisprudence, a discernable pattern has emerged with respect to the law governing awards of attorneys' fees in civil rights litigation in general and in the representation of individuals with disabilities in particular...."
• Discipline for Students with Disabilites: Ensuring Both School Safety and Access to Education . . . Eileen M. Blackwood, Esq.
  "School safety is a critically important issue, on that has forced its way into public awareness with the tragedy at Columbine High School and subsequent publicized events...."
• Therapeutic Justice: Our Commitment Process Could Stand a Second Look . . . Hon. George K. Belcher
  "On Friday, John was going to court. He had been in the Vermont State Hospital for the past year after burning down his apartment..."
• The Necessity of Individual Rights and Procedural Justice in the Civil Commitment Process: A Response to the Notion of "Therapeutic Justice" . . . John J. McCullough, III, Esq. & Joseph A. Reinert, Esq.
  "P.J. was aforty-eight year old former math teacher who was prosecuted for unlawful trespass...."
• State v. Bean: The Insanity Defense and the Right to Proceed Pro Se . . . Anna Saxman, Esq.
  "This article briefly describes the law pertaining to the representation of probably insane defendants who may object to raising the insanity defense and who wish to represent themselves...."
• Standards for Appointment of Guardians and Guardians Ad Litem, Determination of Criminal Incompetence, and the Raising of the Insanity Defense . . . Barbara Prine, Esq.
  "Early in my career at the Disability Law Project, I was assigned to work with a client with cognitive limitations who had been charged with committing a crime...."
• Ethical Considerations When Representing a Client Who Is "Under a Disability" . . . Beth A. Danon, Esq.
  "An attorney is subject to specific ethical requirements when representing a client whose decision making capacity is impaired whether due to a psychiatric disability, cognitive impairment, minority, or problems associated with aging...."
  
  

OPEN THE DOORS OF JUSTICE, FEDERAL ESSAY CONTEST PRIZE WINNERS 

• 2002 Essay Contest Prize Winners
  "Students from throughout Vermont were honored at the Vermont Bar Association's Mid-Year Meeting on March 7, 2002...."