Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Firefighters in Reverse Discrimination Case

Case: Ricci v. DeStefano. A group of New Haven, CT firefighters who were tested for evaluation for promotions, and scored higher than minorities who took the same test, initiated a lawsuit in 2003 when the City of New Haven threw out the test results, fearing a lawsuit by the minority firefighters. The plaintiffs alleged reverse discrimination had occurred, and the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision agreed with them, overturning a previous 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "Fear of litigation alone cannot justify the City's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions."

Massachusetts Erroneous Convictions Law

Yesterday, in Guzman v. Commonwealth, the Appeals Court provided guidance on section 1(B) of MGL c.258D, which provides for relief for the erroneously convicted under certain circumstances.

The court ruled that eligibility under 1(B)(ii) for those who have been granted judicial relief "on grounds which tend to establish the[ir] innocence," means "no more and no less than grounds resting upon facts and circumstances probative of the proposition that the claimant did not commit the crime." Therefore, the plaintiff's claim was allowed to go forward.

The court went on to explain that this was simply a decision on the threshold issue of eligibility to proceed, since that was the issue that was briefed, but that factual innocence may be an appropriate issue for summary judgment in such cases. "We recognize, as a theoretical matter, that there could well be instances where the Commonwealth would be entitled to judgment as matter of law (e.g., summary judgment or directed verdict) on the actual innocence issue. The question presented would be whether, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the claimant, a jury could find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the plaintiff did not commit the crime. "

Deferred First-Year Associates May Serve as Law Clerks

Due to the current fiscal crisis, the Massachusetts courts are unable to hire law clerks for next year. The Chief Justice for Administration and Management asked for an ethics opinion on whether the courts could "accept as volunteer interns law firm associates who have had their September 2009 start dates deferred and who will be receiving stipends and/or health benefits from their respective law firms during the deferral periods."

The SJC Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion on June 9, 2009, indicating that first year associates of law firms whose employment has been deferred would be permitted to serve the court as volunteer law clerks under a double-blind system. Judges would not know what firm employs the law clerk, the law firm could not acknowledge their participation in the program, and the law clerks themselves could not share the name of their employer, "in print or electronically, including on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, during the period they work for the judges of the Trial Court."

SJC clarifies Vacation as wages

The SJC in a recent ruling has made it clear that employees must be paid for earned vacation upon termination. In Electronic Data Systems vs. the Attorney General, the court ruled that chapter 149 sec. 148 "requires such an employee to be paid for unused vacation time remaining at the time of involuntary discharge..." The policy of the corporation contravened the statute. The Attorney General's office had long interpreted the statute in that way. For more information on related topics, see our page on termination, wages, as well as our page on unemployment.

The Site is Back Up

Our transition to the new design is complete, and the site is fully functional once again. Because every page has moved (and the search function won't work well until Google re-indexes the site), here's some basic information to help in your navigation:

Click on Law by Subject for our "Law About" subject guides, popular name table and forms.

Click on Law by Source for cases, regulations, court rules, executive orders, town bylaws, and any other primary law.

Click on Library Locations and Services for library addresses, hours, phone numbers, etc., policies and services.

You'll also find more self-explanatory buttons for Databases, the Library Catalog and more.

If you can't locate the information you need, ask us. We'll be happy to help you find what you're looking for.

Anti-Smoking Legislation

The Watertown Tab & Press has a handy summary of pending anti-smoking legislation in Massachusetts in their June 12 edition. While you'll need to scroll down a bit to see it, in a section called "Tobacco Crackdown" the paper lists a number of pending bills, including proposals prohibiting:

• smoking within 25 feet of the door of a public building (H 2162)
• people under 18 from buying, possessing or smoking tobacco (H 3593)
• sale of flavored cigarettes (H 2076)
• smoking in a car with children (H3475)
• smoking by anyone anywhere (H 2129)

Information on existing smoking laws is available at our Law About Smoking.

FDA Oversight of Tobacco

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, HR1256, passed the House last week by a vote of 307-97 and is headed to conference committee. The bill would give the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products.

Website Redesign

Our website has been undergoing a major redesign in order to make it more handicapped accessible. On Saturday and Sunday June 20-21, the old site will come down and the new site will go up in its place. Because the blog and all the web pages will be down for a period of time that weekend, we will try to provide information on twitter about how to access our catalog and databases, which are hosted remotely.

Nearly every page on the site will remain on the site in the new design, but everything is moving. If you link to our site and would like to know where a given page will be as of June 21, please let us know and we can give you the new URL.

Open House at Worcester Law Library

Please join us on Thursday June 4, 2009 from 2-4 for an open house at the beautiful new Worcester Law Library at 184 Main Street in Worcester. See some pictures of the library at Flickr to get inspired!

IOLTA Guidelines Amended

The Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Guidelines have been amended effective July 1, 2009. The amendments provide "clearer language about proper investment of IOLTA funds reserved in a stabilization fund. In Sections 5(d), 5(e) and 4(c), [the amendments provide] a more complete Guideline regarding the amounts of funds that may be reserved by and how such funds are to be accounted for by the three charities which receive IOLTA funds. In Sections 5(e), 5(f), 4(a) and 4(b), [the amendments provide] related procedural changes to reflect the new Guidelines."

Finding Attorney General Opinions and Bid Protest Decisions

Older Attorney General Opinions are available online from the State Library, or in print in any of the Trial Court Law Libraries.

As of October 2001, there have been no formal Attorney General Opinions issued.  However, the Bid Protest Unit of the AG’s Fair Labor Division regularly issues decisions, pursuant to G. L. c. 149 § 44A et seq., resolving protests regarding public bidding procedures.  If you need any of these decisions, call the Law Library at the Office of the Attorney General at 617-963-2098.

Black's Law Dictionary for the iPhone

West has unveiled an app for the iPhone for the 8th edition of Black's Law Dictionary. The app sells for $49.95. For the record, the 9th edition is being published in hard copy in June, and we were quoted $75.00. No news on whether they plan to update it to the 9th any time soon.
See the West promo on their blog.
It could come in handy for those on the fly questions...

Limited Representation Expanded

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has issued an order expanding the availability of limited assistance representation to courts beyond those included in the pilot project. Originally, attorneys were permitted to assist self-represented litigants in the Hampden, Suffolk and Norfolk Probate and Family Courts without taking on full representation. The program proved so successful that the SJC has decided to permit limited representation in any court in which it is authorized by that court department's Chief Justice, with the approval of the Chief Justice for Administration and Management. The order includes applicable forms and is effective May 1, 2009.

Worcester Law Library Move

The Worcester Law Library has begun the process of moving down the street to their new location, but the library is still open and happy to serve you at its current location in the old courthouse at 2 Main Street. Because things are somewhat chaotic, you may want to call ahead to 508-753-1312 before visiting.

Road laws updated for bicycles

Chapter 525 of the acts of 2008 amend existing laws regarding bicycles on the roads. The law will require law enforcement to be trained in bicycle safety enforcement. It will target both the actions of bicyclists, as well as drivers that endanger cyclists. Bicycles are expected to follow the rules of the road, although there are a few exceptions. They must stay on the right hand side of the road, but can pass a car on the right when it is safe to do so.

The state does not expect the training to be implemented until 2010, but the law is in effect today.

We also have a page on traffic violations for other laws.

Retrievelaw is Working Once Again

Retrievelaw is back! We apologize for the inconvenience earlier today.

Moses Tumbles

WHDH reports that the statutue of Moses in the Worcester courthouse was knocked over by an irate man yesterday and is badly damaged. The statue stood in the old courthouse for nearly one hundred years and was just refurbished and installed in the new location a few weeks ago (See pictures of the move on our flickr site).  It is not yet known if the statute can be repaired.

Money and Divorce Brown Bag Lunch

Susan Miller of Aurora Financial Advisors will present Money and Divorce: Challenges in Tough Economic Times at the Norfolk Law Library Wednesday April 29 from 12:30-2:00. She will focus on:

• Tax implications of alimony/child support arrangements
  
• Options for division of equity in marital home
  
• Capital gains issues
  
• Issues regarding division of financial assets
  

Pre-registration is not necessary. Bring your lunch, beverages will be provided. Contact the library for directions or more information.

Do you want to be a lawyer?

The National Conference of Bar Examiners has made the 2009 edition of Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements available for free download at http://www.ncbex.org/comprehensive-guide-to-bar-admissions/

IRS guidance on recovering taxes on false Ponzi profits

The IRS has issued rules which offer some relief for victims of the Bernard Madoff swindle and other like schemes. Although full recovery of losses isn't expected, taxpayers will be able to claim money lost as "theft losses" rather than regular investment losses. The rules apply to cases where the authorities have alleged fraud. Taxpayers can deduct 95% of their net investment minus any recoveries made through the other sources.
According to the commissioner "the investor generally can claim a theft loss deduction not only for the net amount invested, but also for the so-called “fictitious income” that the promoter of the scheme credited to the investor’s account and on which the investor reported as income on his or her tax returns for years prior to discovery of the theft."
Taxpayes will not be able to amend prior tax returns.
The Commissioner's comments which are on the web summarize the the rules here. The revenue ruling is available as well as the revenue procedure.