considers Archives - Home Safety Tech Pros

Florida considers exception to lawyer confidentiality rule to protect minor clients

homesafetytechpros — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 07:57:10 +0000

Ethics

Florida considers exception to lawyer confidentiality rule to protect minor clients

February 5, 2025, 3:59 pm CST

The Florida Bar’s board of governors could propose an ethics rule change as early as March that would allow lawyers to disclose confidential information to protect minor clients from harm. (Image from Shutterstock)

The Florida Bar’s board of governors could propose an ethics rule change as early as March that would allow lawyers to disclose confidential information to protect minor clients from harm.

The board of governors’ rules committee presented the proposed amendment to the ethics rule on lawyer confidentiality at a January board meeting, the Florida Bar News reports.

The proposed amendment adds a new section to Florida Bar Rule 4-1.6 “permitting a lawyer to disclose confidential information to protect a minor client from a substantial risk of danger or harm,” the article reports.

The rules committee acted after the Florida Supreme Court asked the board of governors to propose revisions by May 1, according to the article. In a Nov. 12 letter, the state supreme court referred to a 2013 appellate decision that quashed a judge’s order for attorneys ad litem to reveal the location of a minor client who ran away from foster care. The minor had requested confidentiality.

The Florida Third District Court of Appeal said in R.L.R. v. State it could not “carve out an altogether new exception to the attorney-client privilege,” which is a job for the legislature or possibly the Florida Bar, the appeals court said.

The Florida Supreme Court will make the final decision on a rule change, the Florida Bar News article reports.

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Utah considers allowing law grads to choose apprenticeship rather than bar exam

homesafetytechpros — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 10:17:54 +0000

Bar Exam

Utah considers allowing law grads to choose apprenticeship rather than bar exam

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 7, 2024, 1:21 pm CST

The Utah Supreme Court is seeking comment on a proposal to allow law grads to become lawyers without taking the bar exam. (Image from Shutterstock)

The Utah Supreme Court is seeking comment on a proposal to allow law grads to become lawyers without taking the bar exam.

The plan released Monday gives law graduates two options to obtain a law license: They can pass the bar exam, or they can complete “alternate path” requirements. Both options also require a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam.

Those who choose the alternate path must have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school within the last five years, must have successfully completed several listed law school courses, and must complete 240 “supervised practice hours” under a supervising attorney.

The Utah Supreme Court is inviting comments through Dec. 19, Reuters reports. The state supreme court acted in response to a 2023 proposal of its Bar Admissions Working Group.

One of the working group members is Catherine Bramble, a professor at Brigham Young University’s law school. She told Reuters that she hopes that the alternate path program “could be implemented as soon as next summer.”

Other states with apprenticeship pathways are Oregon, Washington and Arizona, according to Reuters.

Bar exam does little to ensure attorney competence, say lawyers in diploma privilege state

Judicial task force will take deep look at legal ed, bar admissions

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Colorado Supreme Court considers whether habeas petition can free zoo elephants

homesafetytechpros — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 01:54:34 +0000

Animal Law

Colorado Supreme Court considers whether habeas petition can free zoo elephants

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 30, 2024, 2:09 pm CDT

The Colorado Supreme Court considered last week whether five wild-born zoo elephants should be considered “persons” entitled to seek liberty through a habeas corpus petition. (Photo from Shutterstock)

The Colorado Supreme Court considered last week whether five wild-born zoo elephants should be considered “persons” entitled to seek liberty through a habeas corpus petition.

During oral arguments Oct. 24, Colorado justices “seemed highly skeptical” of the argument presented by Jake Davis, a lawyer for the nonprofit Nonhuman Rights Project, according to Colorado Public Radio.

The Associated Press, KOAA News and Colorado Politics also have coverage.

Justice Melissa Hart questioned whether a ruling for the elephants could lead to the emancipation of people’s pets, according to the AP.

“How do I know when it stops?” Hart asked.

Davis argued that the zoo elephants are in a unique position, according to Colorado Politics.

“The dog’s place is your couch,” he said. “Elephants are wild animals. They exist entirely separate and apart from human society.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a June 2023 habeas petition on behalf of elephants Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, which are on display at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Nonhuman Rights Project wants to send the elephants to a sanctuary where they can roam freely.

“It is time for Colorado common law to evolve to allow the elephants at CMZ to obtain habeas corpus relief from their inherently unjust confinement,” the group said in the petition.

The Nonhuman Rights Project sought freedom for the elephants under Colorado’s common law of habeas corpus, rather than under the state’s habeas statute, which uses the term “person,” according to the group’s description of the case at its website.

Judge Eric Bentley of El Paso County, Colorado, tossed the habeas petition in December 2023 but denied the zoo’s request for attorney fees, saying the habeas petition “represents a good-faith attempt to establish a new theory of law in Colorado.”

Bentley said the elephants lack standing to bring a habeas petition, but even if they had standing, they are not unlawfully confined. He acknowledged that the Nonhuman Rights Project had “made a persuasive case that elephants are entitled to be treated with the dignity befitting their species” but said the proper forum for a remedy is in the legislature.

Happy the elephant isn’t a person entitled to freedom from detention, top state court rules

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Man who swung bat at cops on Jan. 6 considers plea deal:

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 02:59:07 +0000

Emanuel Jackson (Photos from court documents)

A man seen in video striking officers with a metal baseball bat during the U.S. Capitol riots and saying he was “not there for Trump” is considering a plea deal in his case, court documents said.

The U.S. Justice Department has submitted a plea offer to Emanuel Jackson. He was charged with assaulting an officer of the United States, assaulting an officer of the United States with a deadly or dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry and physical violence on restricted building or grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Defense attorneys are reviewing the offer, and a plea hearing is set for May 10, according to the court docket.

Jackson joined rioters as they tried to break through the barricaded doorway of the Senate wing entrance on the west side of the Capitol building, authorities said. Thousands of Donald Trump supporters were there that day protesting Congress certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.

Video surveillance footage captures Jackson making a fist and repeatedly striking a Capitol officer while trying to enter the building, officials said. Authorities said video footage shows Jackson — in a black hooded sweatshirt, a tan military-style backpack, and a light blue surgical mask on his face — repeatedly striking a group of officers with a metal baseball bat.

In an interview with Baltimore’s CBS affiliate WJZ-TV on Jan. 6, he said, “I had a bat. They were pepper spraying people. Then, they got me in the eye.” Asked why he was there, Jackson said he was “fighting for America. We’ve been taken over by globalists, by the Chinese. Fighting for America. I’m not here for Trump. I’m here for America.”

Police allegedly linked Jackson through social media posts showing him swinging the bat. He turned himself in on Jan. 18, 2021, confessed to participating in the protest and identified himself in video and photos, officials said.

In arguing against pretrial detention, Brandi Harden, his defense attorney, described him in court documents as recently homeless, said he had no criminal record, that there were no reports of injuries to officers by him and he voluntarily surrendered when he learned he was wanted.

While in custody, the lawyer said, he allegedly admitted he was there on Jan. 6, identified himself in photos and videos, and “bizarrely rambled in a social media video” about why he was there.

The lawyer argued that while the case against him is serious, the circumstances of the offense must be viewed “through the lens of an event inspired by the President of the United States.”

She also argued that the government exhibits “paint a picture of a mentally challenged teenager” inspired by “inflammatory propaganda.”

“Apparently unaware that a public video admission to criminal conduct at the U.S. Capitol could strip him of the right to vote, Mr. Jackson oddly explains that he has ‘learned a lesson’ from not voting in the 2020 presidential election, (‘because I thought my vote didn’t count’) ensuring that he would ‘vote in future elections.””

She said in court documents he had been on track to graduate from high school in the spring of 2021 but was suddenly faced with homelessness after his mother lost her housing. She moved into a women’s shelter, and he was forced to temporarily move in with his brother, who his lawyer wrote was “an unwilling caregiver” who became overwhelmed with his brother’s care shortly after moving in.

“Mr. Jackson has been diagnosed with several mental health conditions that limit his ability to perform the most basic daily functions,” she wrote.

Prosecutors said his actions that day were violent and he posed a danger to the community.

Prosecutors said he was part of a large mob that outnumbered law enforcement at the Senate wing entrance. They said he was part of a group that tore out windows, ripped open the blocked entrance, and attacked law enforcement. They noted he was allegedly seen striking an officer with his fist several times before the mob forced their way inside and overran the law enforcement, officials said.

“The defendant’s assaultive behavior in part allowed the large mob of individuals to successfully breach the U.S. Capitol, putting additional law enforcement officers and members and staff of Congress at grave risk,” court documents said. “The defendant’s actions allowed other rioters to commit multiple other criminal acts inside the building.”

They argued that was just the beginning of his unlawful conduct and said he got a bat shortly before 4:50 that day.

“Not content with assaulting law enforcement officers with his fists, the defendant physically assaulted law enforcement officers with the bat in order to regain entry,” court documents said. “The defendant’s actions were violent, criminal, and represented a further dangerous escalation aimed at allowing other violent rioters to unlawfully enter the U.S. Capitol. Officers could have easily been seriously injured, if not killed, by his repeated downward blows with the baseball bat.”

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