In the News.
on Nov 11, 2009 in Uncategorized Steve Graham wrote a nice blog entry about the change of staff at the Colville Tribal Public Defenders’ Office, it can be viewed here: http://www.grahamlawyerblog.com/2009/11/06/colville-tribal-court-hires-new-attorney-to-lead-defenders-office/ In...

Adjusting from the Private Bar to Public Defense
on Nov 11, 2009 in Uncategorized I was really far more concerned about being in a rural area than the change in practice from private bar to public defender work.  The rural part of things is working itself out nicely, I actually like being rather isolated, in a town where ther...

First visit to the Colville Indian Agency
on Sep 29, 2009 in Uncategorized A wonderful turn out for a day that started rather poorly.  Having just moved and incompletely unpacked, I couldn’t find anything, or get a decent start to the day.  Everything required detective or some kind of extra work; Where’s the...

A new adventure begins
on Sep 23, 2009 in Uncategorized A contract finally agreed, moving trucks reserved, a new house lease signed.  In a few days we will be leaving our home of 11 years in Spokane and embarking on a new chapter in our lives in the shadow of one of the engineering wonders of the wor...

Cathy McMorris, GOP Translator Station KLIE
on Sep 12, 2009 in Uncategorized Anyone who listens to NPR will be familiar with the messages acknowledging the numerous translator stations which carry their broadcasts to the rural reaches of the US.  Cathy McMorris reminds me of one of those translator stations. First of all...

Civil Justice in Washington State
on Sep 4, 2009 in Uncategorized Our nation’s forefathers created the civil justice system as the foundation for a fair and just society. The civil justice system guarantees a fair and independent judiciary, and the right of any citizen to seek justice by a jury of their peers. Me...

One instance where Slow Hiring could be good for the American People
on Sep 3, 2009 in Uncategorized MSNBC is reporting that Justice John Paul Stevens has hired far fewer law clerks than usual, when Justice Souter failure to hire clerks was his first signal that he was considering leaving the court. In response to a question from The Associated Pres...

Congressional Deadlock on how not to provide Health Care (Parody)
on Aug 20, 2009 in Consumer Protection Health Care Reform Parody Printed without any permission whatsoever from The Onion Leaders on both sides of the aisle try to hammer out an agreement on fucking over Americans. WASHINGTON—After months of committee meetings and hundreds of hours of heated debate, the United...

Why is a public option a necessary component of meaningful health care reform?
on Aug 19, 2009 in Consumer Protection Law News and Politics Employer Mandate Health Insurers Individual Mandate Public Option Single Payor Public option is a necessary component because without it the Insurance companies and the medical-industrial complex has already won.  What they want is an individual mandate or employer mandate – they don’t care which, they see that not as...

Fearmongering all the way to Nazi Eugenics and Beck.
on Aug 12, 2009 in Uncategorized Last night I stopped to watch Glenn Beck for a few minutes, I’d read that several companies had pulled their advertising from his show and I was curious about what could possibly be the justification for that .  What I saw was horrifying – a...