MONDAY, JULY 24, 2006
Tuesday Edition: Should Jurors Take Notes?
States are taking a new look at rules that cover whether jurors may or may not take notes during trials. States such as Indiana and Massachusetts have already made changes to what juries can and can't do during a trial, and
Michigan is currently considering changes to jury rules.
An
Associated Press story on the topic includes information about public comments, plus links to
proposed jury rules, the
State Bar of Michigan,
Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and references to National Center for State Court's
Center for Jury Studies.
Rules about whether or not juries can take notes in trials differ among states and courts. Here are just a few examples of related stories nationwide and answers to juror FAQs on court Web sites:
Some states are looking into the notion of simplifying jury instructions and editing out the legalese that sometimes confounds juries. Here is an example [PDF] of how to simplify instructions.
For more information, here is a link to the NCSC and links to state courts' Web sites.
NPR covered the story in 2005, when the American Bar Association [PDF] made recommendations for changes to jury rules. Click here for reporter Ari Shapiro's coverage.
Backyard Fire Pits
KTVU in San Francisco aired an interesting story about the rising popularity of those backyard fire pits that you see in magazines and home-improvement stores these days. They have become so popular that health and air quality departments are growing concerned that the smoke from the backyard pits will add to summer pollution problems. Fire departments in the area say they are getting lots of calls from people who smell smoke and call 911.
The Chicago Tribune ran a similar story earlier this month.
State Must Give Inmates Ride to Abortion Clinics
This story intrigues me. The Kansas City (Mo.) Star reported:
Missouri prison officials must provide transportation to inmates seeking abortions even if the mother's life is not in jeopardy, a federal judge ruled [last] Tuesday.
A Missouri Department of Corrections policy instituted last year violated the constitutional rights of incarcerated women who could not otherwise have access to abortion services they legally are entitled to, U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple ruled in Kansas City.
Although only a handful of Missouri inmates seek abortions each year, Tuesday's ruling provides an opportunity to educate prison officials, county officials and female inmates about inmates' rights, said Tony Rothert, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri.
"The right to abortion survives incarceration," Rothert said.
State officials were reviewing the ruling and had not decided whether to appeal, a spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon said.
Gov. Matt Blunt issued a statement urging the attorney general to fight.
This story makes me think of the documentary, "When the Bough Breaks," which examined the issue of women in prison in the late 1990s. Here are tons of resources that could help you get local.
We have covered similar aspects of this story on Al's Morning Meeting:
In the Ear of the Beholder
The next two ideas are from Al's Morning Meeting reader Larry Albert. I had never thought of wind chimes as a noise-pollution issue before, but the people in Kingston, Ontario, certainly have.
The city gets enough complaints about people with loud wind chimes that it actually included wind chimes in its noise-pollution statutes. What are the most frequent noise complaints in your community? How are noise ordinances enforced?
The Kingston Whig-Standard reported:
Kim Leonard, the city's manager of building and licensing and who is responsible for bylaw enforcement, said wind chimes are specifically addressed in the bylaws.
"Some people really like them, and some people really don't," she said [earlier this month].
"This is one of those things that is there to protect people and give them their right to peace and quiet while allowing [the chimes] to continue as long as there are no complaints."
The city's noise bylaw was last reviewed in 2004 and at that time, the city had received enough complaints about wind chimes that they were included, although like a number of provisions, enforcement is complaint-driven.
"It isn't something that we go out and actively enforce," she said.
The bylaw outlaws "operation of any outdoor auditory signaling device, including but not limited to outdoor paging systems, the ringing of bells or gongs, the use of sirens, whistles or chimes, or the production, reproduction or amplification of any similar sounds by electronic means except where required or authorized by law or in accordance with good safety practice."
The fine for contravening the bylaw is $100, she said.
Feeding Homeless Outlawed
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has the story of a new law in the city, which makes feeding the homeless in city parks illegal. Instead of focusing on panhandlers, the law focuses on do-gooders. How do homeless activists in your town feel about this? The paper said:
If someone looks like he could use a meal, be warned: Giving him a sandwich in a Las Vegas park could land you in jail.
The Las Vegas City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that bans providing food or meals to the indigent for free or a nominal fee in parks.
The measure is an attempt to stop so-called "mobile soup kitchens" from operating in parks, where residents say they attract the homeless and render the city facilities unusable by families.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada called the ordinance blatantly unconstitutional, unenforceable and the latest attempt by the city to hide and harass the homeless instead of constructively addressing their plight.
"So the only people who get to eat are those who have enough money? Those who get (government) assistance can't eat at your picnic?" asked ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein. "I've heard of some rather strange and extreme measures from other cities. I've never heard of something like this. It's mind-boggling."
The city's new ordinance, which officials could begin enforcing as early as Friday, defines an indigent as a "person whom a reasonable ordinary person would believe to be entitled to apply for or receive assistance" from the government under state law.
Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has been a vocal advocate of cracking down on the homeless in city parks, dismissed questions about how marshals, who patrol city parks, will identify the homeless in order to enforce the ordinance, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor.
"Certain truths are self-evident," Goodman said. "You know who's homeless."
City officials said they instituted the law in part because of recommendations from some who work with the homeless who say offering food separately from other services, such as counseling and drug treatment, is counterproductive.
Here are some more resources for you as you follow this story:
And some National Homeless Coalition fact sheets [all are in PDF format]:
Bike Repairs and Gas Prices Up
The Wisconsin Rapids (Wis.) Daily Tribunefound that not only are scooter sales way up, but bike repair shops are experiencing major boosts to business these days. People have been dusting off their old bikes as a way to make short trips.
We are always looking for your great ideas.
Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
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