Delathought Ducks for Deep Cover

I was saddened today to see that a fellow Delaware Blogger has been forced to close his/her blogging. I was sad because of a sense of loss as to our right to freedom of speech.

For fear of reprisals, Delathought indicates that he/she must give up this right. When Delathought gives up this right each of us, you and I, lose a little of ours.

I don't know what the issue is - who Delathought is said to have exposed - and frankly I couldn't care less. Part of it seems like an ongoing drama of petty politics. And politics are so disgusting that I can't bear to read as much about it as I should, in the fulfillment of my civic duties.

As long as Delathought was lawfully and responsibly exercising this right, then I support it. If instead there was maliciousness involved, then by dang it's a good thing it stopped.

The free (and responsible) exercise of our rights to free speech is our most important defense from tyranny and oppression. And if you think that there are not those in our government that would leap at the opportunity to oppress us, then you just haven't been paying attention.

I for one, would rather see your blog up and running constructively criticizing me, than to see someone sink into silence for fear of reprisals upon family and friends. But I am sometimes a realist too, and if necessary to protect my family and friends I like to think I could bring myself to shut up. It's a balance of idealism and realism that we each must at some point strike.

Attorney General Hopefuls Blast Prison Defense Hiring

An election for Attorney General of Delaware looms on the horizon, and the candidates both appear to be fairly well qualified for the position. Long time Delaware Prosecutor Ferris Wharton, and bright younger hopeful Beau Biden both seem to be inspired choices from their parties to fill the role of chief administrative lawyer for the State.

I was happy to see an article in the Wilmington News Journal which asked both about a recent hiring by the State of Delaware of an Attorney to help the State in an investigation of Delaware's Prison system.

Both responded the way I hoped they would, in Top prosecutor hopefuls blast D.C. lawyer hire, with intelligent and reasonable arguments why outside counsel probably wasn't appropriate or necessary, especially at $425 an hour.

This is the campaign that I want to see from both sides - thoughtful, intelligent expressions and sharing of opinions on issues that matter.

It's not necessarily what we've been getting so far.

There's been some sniping from one side that the other candidate isn't experienced enough for the position, and it's the kind of dirty campaigning that I'm not sure they should really be proud of engaging in.

We see a "Paid for by the Republican State Committee of Delaware" at the bottom of a site titled Beau Biden for Delaware Attorney General ? Beau's Not Ready. I don't think that this kind of site is really necessary, nor does it make the Republican State Committee of Delaware look all that good.

One of the things that the "Beau's not ready" page does is question his qualifications on the basis of the fact that he could not hold the position of Family Court Judge (five years bar membership required), Arbitrator in Superior Court Civil Cases (five years bar membership required), or preceptor (mentor) to a law school graduate hoping to become a member of Delaware's Bar (ten years bar membership required).

I want to explore those "qualifications" briefly.

They are based upon length of time as a member of Delaware's Bar. So, a lawyer who becomes a member of Delaware's bar and handles only real estate settlement cases for ten years would be qualified for any of those positions under that definition of "qualifications." But, they just might not be qualified to be an administrator of a large law department prosecuting criminal cases, and civil disputes.

If a retiring Supreme Court Justice of the United States moved to Delaware, he or she also wouldn't be qualified to hold the position of Delaware's Attorney General according to the "Beau's not ready" page.

Those standards for Family Court Judge, Arbitrator, and Preceptor have different motivations behind them than the standards that are set for Attorney General of the State of Delaware. Under the requirements for Attorney General, the person running doesn't even have to be a lawyer. Yet, how unlikely would it be that a political party would put someone up for contention for that office who was so unqualified that they couldn't even make a race of it?

I'm happy to hear statements on the issues from both candidates. As for the determination that either candidate isn't ready for the position, maybe it's better for both parties to let the people voting make that determination on their own.

New Crime Deterrent

Rockdale, Australia , a suburb of Sydney, has a new plan to keep kids from loitering in public parking lots: blasting Barry Manilow songs over a loudspeaker. The Guardian is reporting that the town council has decided to annoy teen hooligans (or "hoons" as they are known in Australia) with mellow songs like "Mandy" and "I Write the Songs" after a similar experiment was successful using Bing Crosby to keep teens from congregating in a shopping mall.

If you are able to convince your own town council to try this experiment, Amazon.com has a wide range of Manilow albums to choose from.

Movement towards Medicaid reform

There is an ever-so-slow movement towards Medicaid reform in some states, which allows the elderly or infirmed individual to stay at home with subsidized care rather than mandating nursing home residence.

A recent Wall Street Journal article, as presented by the American Association of People with Disabilities, shows us several States' rational changes to allow this common sense option.

Going to Court for Nothing: Consumer Activists in CCP

A couple of years ago, we wrote about a small group that protested at Christiana Mall, in Buy Nothing and Get Arrested
.

The activists returned to the same mall this past November, to protest consumerism, and were arrested again. Two members of the group were set to appear in the Court of Common Pleas this morning.

The attorney representing the members of the group, Joe Hurley, informed the Wilmington News Journal that he would be asking for a continuance on todays' trial for two of the members, so that all four cases could be combined into one.

The group started a web site, and have been collecting money for their legal defense through the site. If you would like to find out more about them, and why they are protesting, they also have a new blog: Much Ado About Nothing.

The "Buy Nothing Day" movement seems to have spawned more than a couple of protests this past winter. Adbusters.org, which has been promoting the event has pictures and stories from more protests around the globe: Buy Nothing Day 2005.

Delaware's Restrictions on Freedom of Information in Federal Court Today

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request is an interesting beast. Sometimes it's the only way to get information in a timely manner from a government agency.

There's a Federal Act for the Federal Government, and individual Freedom of Information Act requests for the states. After working for the courts in Delaware for a number of years, I saw more than a couple of Federal Freedom of Information Act requests directed at Delaware agencies. I can't tell you how they were treated ultimately, since I was responsible for passing those along, instead of making any decisions at all upon them. But, ideally FOIA requests for State Information should follow the state law governing it.

There's an issue with Delaware's Freedom of Information Act that presently has a review of the law in Federal Court right now. It was only available to residents of the State of Delaware, when a Federal District Court Judge decided that the restriction to state residents was inappropriate and unconstitutional.

In a State like Delaware, where so many Fortune 500 companies are incorporated, it's likely that information requests made to Delaware's Government will arrive from residents of other states. The request at the heart of this dispute involved an activist who had questions regarding a merger of two financial companies. His request was denied because he lived in New York. He brought the case to Federal court, where that limitation was removed.

The Delaware Department of Justice appealed that decision, and a three judge panel held oral arguments on the issue. Is this type of restriction an unconstitutional limitation on interstate commerce? See: Judges skeptical of Delaware's limits on public records access.

I don't understand the restriction myself. Maybe someone could articulate a reason for it to me. It sounds like the judges asking the Delaware Attorney present were having problems with that, too.

Common Cause Forum to Discuss Family Court Records

A forum hosted by the Delaware branch of Common Cause tomorrow will take a close look at Delaware's Family Court, their secrecy, and some allegations involving record keeping in the Court.

The meeting will be held at the Dover Public Library, located at 45 South State Street, Dover, Delaware. It begins at noon.

The Delaware Court Reform Initiative will also be involved in the meeting.

Testimony received at the meeting tomorrow will be forwarded to the State's Family Law Commission, for their meeting on Thursday, so if you attend and would like to speak, you may want to bring a copy or your testimony on paper so that it can be forwarded to the State agency.

Delaware Watch has a copy of the Press Release issued by Common Cause about the meeting.

(note: Issues with our Blogger software caused the posting of this message to be delayed a number of days, and after the forum meeting. The Wilmington News Journal reported on the meeting on Tuesday, and around 35 people attended, many of them bringing stories with them of their court events in Family Court. The Family Law Commission meeting is today, and maybe some of the testimony from Monday's forum will persuade a reaction of some type. Apologies for the delay.)