Quotes on Equal Protection & the Rule of Law

It's a little late, but ... Happy Law Day! 

Although the former Bush administration would wish the issue of torture would go away, the facts aren't on their side as the ghosts of history past continue to haunt them. 

ROPER: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!

THOMAS MORE: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

ROPER: I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

THOMAS MORE: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you-where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man's laws, not God's — and if you cut them down —and you're just the man to do it — d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.
Robert Bolt, A Man For All Seasons

• “The rule of law can be wiped out in one misguided, however well-intentioned, generation.”
  William T. Gossett,  Attorneys & the Practice of Law, 1969

• "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. "
  James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 51 (1788)

• "There can be no free society without law administered through an independent judiciary. If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny."
  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, United States v. United Mine Workers (1947)

• "The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law."
  Dwight Eisenhower, an address on the first observance of Law Day, May 5, 1958

Online Legal Resources

It was ol'Abe Lincoln who famously taught himself the law of the land by candlelight in a rustic backwoods Kentucky log cabin.

Today, more light is being shed on the law than ever before with rich online resources providing a virtual college education. Some have been around for years and have become fairly well known for their breadth of information, while others come online just waiting to be discovered.

Just up ahead,  a current snapshot of the most complete online information for armchair lawyers, researchers and others who want to know more about the impact the legal system has on our everyday lives.

NOLO - The online bible for free legal information in the dual areas of consumer and business law including copyright law, landlord-tenant law, bankruptcy, foreclosures, family law and immigration, malpractice, small claims court, and lots more with feature articles and opinion, sample forms and contracts.

FindLaw - Browse over a dozen topics or dig deeper into the subtopic areas (under Accidents and Injuries, for example) to explore the finer points of everything from dog bites to mesothelioma. Also see their Dangerous Products category for an A-Z list of poisonous, unhealthful or questionable products or medications.

Duhaime.org - An online alamanc of interesting, informative and factual information including legal resources by topic, a comprehensive A-Z legal dictionary, a collection of law quotations, and don't miss The Law's Hall of Horror for crime and punishment through the ages.

The Encyclopedia of Everyday Law - A great collection of facts and information on civil rights, disabilities, patient rights, family law, immigration, taxes and related laws and consumer issues.

Virtual Gumshoe - Have fun tracking down vital records, missing persons, cemetaries and obituaries, most wanted lists, voter records, weather history data, historical archives and more nuggets of information freely available online for the curious cyber detective.

How to Avoid Divorce Court - Collaborative Law

First proposed as an innovative solution to the usual "War of the Roses" divorce battles, lawyer Stu Web first proposed the collaborative approach to more amicable, family-friendly divorce proceedings in the 1990's. A decade or more later, collaborative divorce is a solution becoming more and more popular with couples seeking an alternative to very public, and often humiliating,  court cases.

As the name implies, collaborative divorce proceedings naturally became an outgrowth of the skills and talents of any good divorce lawyer, and the roles they often play as legal expert, financial planner, family counselor and friend.

By signing a participation agreement with a specialized collaborative law firm - agreeing to the terms of open and honest communication - couples are given access to not only collaborative law attorneys but other experts in the field of finance, family counseling and child pyschology. 

The agreement that couples sign is unique, in that it demands total cooperation from both sides on pain of breaking the contract, and canceling all negoations. 

In turn, couples are  protected by a proviso forbidding collaborative lawyers from representativing either party in court should traditional divorce proceedings become necessary. In this way,  collaborative law attorneys are incented to work harder to keep the proceedings going forward.

Of course, effective collaboration would likely be a waste of time for childless couples hell bent on a fight over property, or large sums of money. However, for couples who feel the emotional pain is just not worth it, or who want to protect kids from the psychological damage or typically prolonged custody battles, collaboration is often the best resolution for all involved.

More about collaborative law around the Web:

International Academy of Collaborative Professionals - What is collaboative practice? - with related FAQ, glossary of terms and searchable database of collaborative lawyers and mediators.

Collaborative Law FAQ's

Collaborative Practice Articles

Resolution.org.uk

Sexting and Juvenile Law

Meet the new juvenile deliquency issue of the computer age: sexting.

Sexting, or sending out nude photos of oneself or others, is the new fad among teenagers who may send nude photos as a form of high-tech flirting, or merely as a prank to embarass a classmate.

Funny?

Some cops don't so, as child protection laws now prohibit even kids (some as young as 6th graders) from sending, receiving or storing nude photos electronically. Although legislation was originally enacted to protect minors, kids themselves may not be immune to the law, depending on how strongly local jurisdictions want to enforce it.

Part of the problem, some police officials say, is how quickly these photos can be posted on Internet social sites to lure adult stalkers posing as teens, eventually leading to escalated sexting and possible assault, or worse.

Currently, both teachers and law enforcement are raising the alarm on sexting and are warning parents to take a look at their child's cell phone or Facebook page to see if their kids are baring it all online.

Although kids may think nothing of it, parents need to explain the possible consequences of sending nude pictures - which may result in full legal penalties or possible harassment charges from other teens or their parents.

How to stop it? While authorities realize that parents can't keep kids and teens under lock and key, they suggest the old-fashioned way of making kids tow the line: by reminding them of who pays the bills, and by pulling the plug on their computers and cell phones if sexting ever becomes an issue.

More about sexting and the law around the Web:

• "Sexting" could land kids in trouble with the law
  
  
• Should 'sexting' be decriminalized?

Landlord Tenant Law: Evictions

With the economic downturn, searches for legal help regarding eviction law have skyrocketed across the Web.

The most common reason for eviction is, of course, nonpayment of rent, usually by cash-strapped families who can no longer afford to pay.

On the flip side, landlords often are advised to tread lightly when it comes to evicting a tenant. This is not only due to the emotional conflicts involved on both sides, but the legal hassles involved.

Unfortunately, some landlords will simply bypass the courts to take matters - illegally - into their own hands.

The illegal route to eviction

Tenants have rights. Gone are the days when landlords could summarily throw families, furniture and baggage from their homes, but some may still resort to harassment tactics to force tenants from their homes such as:

• Changing the locks
  
• Padlocking the door
  
• Removing the door
  
• Removing your furniture or other property
  
• Turning off utilities
  

Landlords who try these methods (or anything else to keep you out of your apartment) should be reported to the police immediately since in most localities they will be in violation of the law and subject to criminal proceedings.

The legal route to eviction

To legally evict a tenant, landlords must either hire a lawyer or arrange a court date themselves to hear their case. Next, they must notify the tenant at least several days (5-10 in most jurisdictions) in advance of the hearing date. This is to give the tenant time to prepare a defense.

In court, what's a tenants best defense?: Always remaining calm and explaining your side of the story.

If possible, bring the back rent money to court to have the case dismissed. If you paid the rent, bring a receipt. If you have held back rent because your landlord didn't make necessary repairs, be sure to bring photos and any other proof of your landlord's negligence.

If you cannot pay the rent, or the judge otherwise rules in favor of the landlord, be prepared for an eviction warrant and get ready to move. Depending on individual circumstances, the judge may order removal in 72 hours or issue a "stay" to ease any economic hardship.

Why and how to avoid eviction

While the landlord may not report the eviction, it is still a matter of public record which credit agencies or other landlords can easily discover - with a little digging. If eviction isn't bad enough news, the impact that eviction has on your credit rating is similar to that of bankruptcy, effecting your chances of renting in the future or obtaining anytime soon a bank loan or credit card.

Therefore, if you think you may be any chance of losing an eviction case, it is usually in your best interest (as well as the landlord's) to come to a personal agreement, and avoid a court case altogether.