f/k/a . . .

  We didn’t get to take Art History at the G.U. School of Foreign Service back in the late 1960’s, so I’m not sure whether I ever “knew” that ancient Greek and Roman statuary used to be painted. But, now I know, thanks to a great article in the latest Harvard Magazine, “Dazzlers: Ancients reborn in bright array” (Nov-Dec 2007), which includes photos of works appearing in the exhibit Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity, which is at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum through January 20, 2008. The exhibit presents 22 painted, full-size copies of Greek and Roman originals.

According to the article, which quotes Susanne Ebbinghaus, Hanfmann curator of ancient art at the Harvard University Art Museums:

   The color reconstructions are based on close examination of the originals and on scientific analysis of the scarce traces of paint remaining on them. Ultraviolet light, says Ebbinghaus, “brings out ‘paint ghosts,’ differences in the surface structure of the stone caused by different paints and by the weathering of the paints. It can often give you an idea of patterns, even if no pigments survive.”

“We now assume that almost all Greek marble sculpture was painted,” she says. “These reconstructions can only be approximations,” but at least they dispel a popular misconception—that most statues of antiquity were plain old white. Plain would not be thought ideal until the Renaissance.

statues in the square
the raised hand of the war hero
fills with snow

………………………….. by George Swede - Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)

The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor presents an excellent mini-history of Halloween today (October 31, 2007). The Celts believed Halloween was the day of the year when spirits, ghosts, faeries, and goblins walked the earth. And, “Historians believe that they dressed up as ghost and goblins to scare away the spirits, and they would put food and wine on their doorstep for the spirits of family members who had come back to visit the home.” Apparently, “Pope Gregory III turned Halloween into a Christian holiday” (but it didn’t quite work out as he planned). Indeed, “It wasn’t until the early 20th century that Halloween became a holiday for children.” However:

“Tonight, about 70 percent of American households will open their doors and offer candy to children, and Halloween parties are becoming increasingly popular among adults. It’s the one day a year that people can freely dress as the opposite gender, as criminals, superheroes, celebrities, animals, or even inanimate objects. But retailers report that the most popular costumes remain some variation on witches, ghosts, and devils.”

With all sorts of grinches out there trying to put a politically-or-religously correct damper on Halloween, we make out annual plea to “let the kids enjoy Halloween“. (You’ll find a bagful of Halloween-themed haiku and senryu by clicking that link.)

halloween twilight
again this year my son waits
alone by the door

easter brunch
his daughter’s hair
a new shade of pink

……………………… by Roberta Beary, The Unworn Necklace (2007)
“halloween twilight” - 1st place, Tokutomi Memorial Haiku Contest 2006
“easter brunch” - Modern Haiku (Fall 2007)

“No Costume No Treat”
goth kids
at my door

…………………….. dagosan - see the original haiga at MagnaPoetsJF

Looking for some theory on why we like scary stories? In “The Horror and the Beauty” (Harvard Magazine, by Craig Lambert, November-December 2007) you can read about Maria Tatar, who “explores the dazzle and the ‘dark side, in fairy tales—and why we read them.” It’s an interesting piece. I find this little glimpse at academia kinda scary:

“Tatar’s passions for the Brothers Grimm and Anne Frank stayed with her, but at Princeton in the late 1960s, she discovered that both were verboten at the graduate level. “The Grimms were off limits because fairy tales were not deemed worthy of scholarly attention,” she explains, “and studying the Holocaust was taboo because it raised too many anxieties about the status of German culture in the academy.”

“Why always the pathological?” Tatar has a ready answer. “It seems so much more interesting than the good, the true, and the beautiful. Trying to understand why things go wrong seems to me more productive than just focusing on what is right.”

winter solstice
our son reads a fairy tale
to his unborn son

sleeping bats–
an echo suggests
the depth of the cave

………………………………………………………. by Peggy Lyles
“winter solstice” - To Hear the Rain (Brooks Books, 20020
“sleeping bats” - Frogpond XXVIII: 3 (2005)

 

It’s traditional to ask what our Halloween costume choice tells us about ourselves. In a twist, a recent New York Times article asks what a candidate’s choice of fashion gear says about their campaign and their psyches. See “Their Looks for Fall 2008” (Oct. 25, 2007).

halloween party –
the shrink can’t decide:
tarts or cheese cake?

…………………………………….. by dagosan -

An all-too-familiar combination of not enough time and not enough energy has the f/k/a Gang feeling particularly cranky today. So, we’re spreading the misery by sharing a quickie-complaint or two (or more) that have been accumulating on our To-Blog list. As usual lately, we’ll be posting in spurts, so come on back later tonight for more.

update (Oct. 30, 2007) We could use an Assignment Editor here at f/k/a — perhaps “TasksterEsq.” Then, we might just remember to remind ourselves and our readers, in a timely manner, of important events, holidays, commemorations, etc. For instance, a nice heads-up would have been helpful about Wellcat.com ’s annual October 30th celebration of Haunted Refrigerator Night — a time to gather your courage and see “what evil lurks in the refrigerators of men . . . and women.” Around our place, some of the fridge to-do notes are haunted (and faded). Last year, f/k/a celebrated Haunted Regrigerator Day with some haiku and senryu, including:

new fridge
the motor’s faint hum
still there

home alone
sniffing leftovers
in the fridge

. . . . . . …………………. . . by Yu Chang - Upstate Dim Sum
from the Haibun “refrigerator” (Am. Haibun and Haiga 2)

october 30th
orange mold creeps across
a long dead rainbow trout

. . . . . . . . . by Ed Markowski
- Modern Haiku (Vol. 37.2, Autumn 2006)

Advanced warning would also have led us to commemorate October 30th as the 8th Create a Great Funeral Day. Thanks to Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg for inventing the event, and penning an accompanying Workbook. Although it’s an activity even less popular with single guys than refrigerator cleaning, I hope to get back to this important topic in the very near future.

Estupido! That’s the first word to come to mind when thinking about a weblawgger who writes more than a dozen posts about sex offenders, and never reads or links to the related commentary by KipEsquire at A Stitch in Haste. Check out his take on Halloween and Sex Offenders, and his thought-provoking look at the issues raised by the registry listing of minors under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, as seen through the Genarlow Wilson case. [Thanks to Ed at Blawg Review for the tip]

baby sparrow–
his face unaware
of his parents’ fights

scrawny frog, fight on!
Issa
to the rescue

………………………. by Kobayashi Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

A few days ago, we offered a big Bronx Cheer to all those New York Yankee fans who couldn’t bring themselves to cheer for the Boston Red Sox in this year’s World Series. The Bronx-Bombing Bad Losers surely went to bed miserable last night, when the Sox won the World Series in just four games, over the Colorado Rockies.

Therefore, although not a Rudy Giuliani fan, I was pleased last week when Rudy, a lifelong Yankee fan, said that he was rooting for the Red Sox, since he always backs the team from the Yankees’ league. It was not at all surprising, however, when the “New York media took Giuliani to task for his team turnabout. In front page placements, the New York Post called the former mayor a ‘Red Coat,’ and the New York Daily News proclaimed him a ‘traitor.’ (See “Giuliani shocks Yankee fans; backs Red Sox in World Series,” CNN.com, October 24, 2007)

October revival
all hands lift
to the foul ball

…………………………………………………………. by Jim Kacian
from - Piedmont Literary Review (Circa 1992)

On the other hand, I was shocked Saturday morning when National Public Radio’s Scot Simon took Giuliani to task for his position. See “New Yorker Rudy Giuliani Claims Boston Red Sox” (Weekend Edition Saturday, October 27, 2007) Simon’s Saturday hour on NPR is the only sports show I’ll keep turned on, if I should find it coming out of my radio. That’s because [although his laugh is really annoying] he usually brings an intelligent, often humorous, sometimes ironic, human-interest approach, to sports coverage. Thus, it was disappointing to hear low-EQ, childish intolerance coming out of Simon’s mouth about Rudy and the Red Sox:

“I don’t feel I have the right or sense to judge another man or woman’s religious faith, sexual orientation, or family relations.

“But I’m sorry: Yankee fans don’t root for the Red Sox. It would be like Sylvester rooting for Tweety. . . .

[T]his week’s declaration that he’s rooting for Boston in the World Series makes Mr. Giuliani sound positively Clintonesque. . . .

“If next year’s elections come down to a Clinton-Giuliani contest, it will be interesting to see two Yankee fans run against each other — claiming that really, they’re Red White Sox Dodgers Tigers Cubs Angels Marlins fans; depending on where they need the electoral votes.”

I’m sorry, Mr. Simon, but there is a great difference between a Clintonesque attempt to be a fan of each team from every electorally important state and the Giuliani decision that, as an American League fan, he wil vote for the AL pennant winner in the World Series — even if it is his Yankees’ historic rival Boston Red Sox. It’s even the politically courageous thing for Rudy to do, since he surely wants New York’s vote in the Presidential election next year (and is unlikely to win the Massachusetts vote under any scenario). Baseball might be a game for men who are still boys, but that doesn’t mean that its fans have to be cry-babies, who never grow up enough to act with grace when a league rival makes it to the World Series.

p.s. For the record: Born in Rochester, NY, I was an avid Yankee fan throughout my childhood, and never switched my allegiance over the decades when I lived out of State. The Yankees are still the nearest big league team to my current home in Schenectady, NY, and — although I don’t pay much attention to baseball during the regular season — I do root for them when they are in the playoffs, despite having gone to law school in the Boston area.

Season’s over, but don’t forget f/k/a’s Baseball Haiku Page.

season’s end
every pennant on the stadium roof
pointing south

first red leaves
i swing late
on a change-up

rainy night
a hole in the radio
where a ballgame should be

………………………………… by ed markowski

October revival
all hands lift
to the foul ball

…………………………………………………………. by Jim Kacian
- from Piedmont Literary Review (Circa 1992)

crack of the bat
the outfielder circles
under the full moon

abandoned ballpark
gopher mound covers
home plate

……………………………………. by George Swede from Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)
“crack of the bat” - Baseball Haiku (2007)

opening day . . .
green of the field
through the ticket gates

……………………………………….………by Randy Brooks - Baseball Haiku (2007);
Past Time (1999)

Like the New York Times, we wonder why Your Editor’s former employer, the Federal Trade Commission is shirking its duty to protect the American consumer from Intel’s apparently misuse of its market power. See “F.T.C. Goes AWOL” (Editorial, Oct. 29, 2007). After noting that European antitrust authorities have accused Intel of “mproperly protecting its stranglehold of the microprocessor market by offering big discounts and rebates to computer makers who minimize the use of processors made by rival Advanced Micro Devices, and punishing those who stray with higher prices,” the NYT complains that the FTC “seems largely unconcerned . .. [and] is still holding back from opening a formal inquiry into the company’s practices.” They opine that:

“The F.T.C.’s Republican majority clearly shares the “starve the regulators and coddle industry” philosophy that has driven the Bush administration for seven years. It is bad for America’s consumers and it is bad for American business.”

If you’d like to learn more about the facts and policy of this case, you’re in luck: The American Antitrust Institute has issued AAI Working Paper #07-10, byNorman Hawker, which is titled “Wintel Under the Antitrust Microscope: A Comparison of the European Intel Case with the U.S. Microsoft Cases” (Oct. 29, 2007). In it, Hawker provides “a briefing that amplifies today’s NY Times editorial calling on the FTC to conduct a formal investigation of Intel.”

FTC Headquarters, Wash, D.C.

third day raking leaves –
the retiree breaks
for lunch

………………………. by david giacalone — see orig. haiga at MagnaPoets Japanese Form (Oct. 29, 2007)

And, why is the FTC spoiling our Halloween fun by warning consumers that “all contact lenses, even those that are cosmetic, require a prescription. Businesses that sell cosmetic lenses without requiring a prescription are violating the law”? Actually, because we do all need a good National Nanny at times. Check out Avoiding an Eyesore: What to Know Before You Buy Cosmetic Contacts.

halloween party –
the shrink dances with a witch
and a cheerleader

Poem: David Giacalone
Photo by Cynthia Miner (1992)

…………………………………………see the orig. haiga at MagnaPoetsJF (Oct. 28, 2007)

mistaken
for a mime –
the vampire ________

Poem: David Giacalone
Photo by Cynthia Miner (1992)

Help from My Friends: You’re invited to help me finish this haiga-haiku at MagnaPoets JF

Sorry, got to run and do a few errands. There will be more kvetsching here later this evening.

leisure time–
in cherry blossom shade
picking fights

escaping the fight outside
my hut’s
fireflies

………………………. by Kobayashi Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

. . . . Richard Susskind, OBE — author of the critically acclaimed “The Future of Law: Facing the Challenges of Information Technology” (1996) and “Transforming the Law: Essays on Technology, Justice, and the Legal Marketplace” (2001) — says a lot of things lawyers really don’t want to hear about the impact of information technology and the increased “commoditisation” of legal services on the future of the profession. You’ve read similar things from the f/k/a Gang over the past four years (usually using smaller words), but neither ethicalEsq nor Prof. Yabut has the OBE, nor have we been called “jurisprudent, legal business guru, government strategist and visionary.” Like, us, however, Susskind has been pretty much ignored by the American legal profession and weblawg community.

“The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the nature of legal services,” by Richard Susskind, OBE (Oxford University Press, due May 2008)

Nonetheless, now that the [London] Times Online is presenting six draft excerpts from Susskind’s forthcoming book, “The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the nature of legal services,” I want to urge lawyers, current and prospective law students, and consumers of legal services to closely read and consider what he has to say. [via LegalBlogWatch, “Are Lawyers Going to Become Obsolete?” (Oct. 23, 2007); and Human Law; and see SLAW.ca (Oct. 23, 2007); “Strategic planning case study: the future of the legal profession,” at David Jacobson’s External Insights; and Rob Millard’s thoughtful post at Adventure in Strategy (Oct. 28, 2007)]

The first excerpt in the End of Lawyers series, dated October 19, 2007, is titled “Legal profession is on the brink of fundamental change.” In it, the IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales says “I write not to bury lawyers but to investigate their future. My aim is to explore the extent to which the role of the traditional lawyer can be sustained in coming years in the face of challenging trends in the legal marketplace and new techniques for the delivery of legal services.” Susskind’s main points are (emphases addes):

• “[T]hese articles will point to a future in which conventional legal advisers will be much less prominent in society than today and, in some walks of life, will have no visibility at all. This, I believe, is where we will be taken by two forces: by a market pull towards commoditisation and by pervasive development and uptake of information technology. Commoditisation and IT will shape and characterise 21st century legal service. “

• “I do not believe lawyers are self-evidently entitled to profit from the law. As I have said before, the law is not there to provide a livelihood for lawyers any more than ill-health exists to offer a living for doctors. . . . And, just as numerous other industries and sectors are having to adapt to broader change, so too should lawyers. “

• This series calls for the growth and the development of a legal profession not by ring-fencing certain categories of work as the exclusive preserve of lawyers; nor by encouraging cartel-like activity which discourages all but lawyers from engaging. Rather, it calls for lawyers, their professional bodies, their policy-makers, and their clients, to think more creatively, imaginatively, and entrepreneurially about the way in which lawyers can and should contribute to our rapidly changing economy and society.

Susskind challenges all lawyers “to ask themselves, with their hands on their hearts, what elements of their current workload could be undertaken differently — more quickly, cheaply, efficiently, or to a higher quality — using alternative methods of working.” And, he predicts that the market:

1. “is increasingly unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers for tasks (guiding, advising, drafting, researching, problem-solving and more) that can equally or better be discharged, directly or indirectly, by smart systems and processes.” And,
2. “will determine that the legal world is over-resourced, it will increasingly drive out inefficiencies and unnecessary friction and, in so doing, we will indeed witness the end of outdated legal practice and the end of outdated lawyers.

In sum, Richard Susskind challenges the legal profession — not to try to prevent change and protect its traditional ways, but — “to find and embrace better, quicker, less costly, more convenient and publicly valued ways of working.”

Rather than publish his new book and then incorporate comments and related changes in a new edition, Susskind has decided to “release the ideas and arguments earlier and incorporate responses into the book.” Therefore, Times Online asks “Will lawyers exist in 100 years?” (Oct. 23, 2007) and asks readers to ” Join the debate” by leaving Comments.

An urgent (if somewhat selfish) request to Richard Susskind: Please start a weblog and bring your insights and commentary about the Future of Lawyers to us every day. For the f/k/a Gang, it gets tiring being just about the only voice speaking realistically and consistently about the evolving market-and-digital revolution. Your presence is much needed, Richard.

Frankly, within the American Bar and its weblawg community, the members who most pride themselves on being future-oriented and “proactive” (and their consultants and coaches) all paint a happy-face future, where they’ll use tactics such as law firm branding, value billing, and price sensitivity (along with a large dollop of psycho babble) to achieve premium pricing and increased income, in the face of marketplace realities, and at the expense of their clients (while, miraculously, satisfying them more, and somehow working fewer hours, freed from the hourly-billing bogeyman). [See, e.g., the f/k/a posts “Brand Lex,” “Internet Websites Encounter the Bar’s Guild Mentality,” “Valuable Debate on the Ethics of Value Billing,” “LexThink (about higher prices)“, and “Pro bono is not the answer to the access problem.” Also, see the SHLEP About page, “Intro to document assembly online,” and “a guide or a guild“.] We need to bring Susskind-style reality, IT expertise and professorial eloquence to the issues that are so important for legal consumers and the cause of civil justice for all.

Whither the American Bar? After three decades watching the legal profession in the USA from the perspective of a competition and consumer advocate, it is difficult to be optimistic that Susskind’s hoped-for introspection will yield progress rather than cartel-style roadblocks to change. Here are a few signs to look for that will help determine whether the American bar is choosing to (or able to) act like a guild protecting its own interests first, or like a learned profession seeking to best serve the public interest in creating a truly accessible and affordable legal system:

• are state court systems allowed to continue to expand their pro se/self-help facilities and services? (see the shlep posts “what have they done for us lately?“, “universal unbundling unfolds in California” — compare: “all bundled up in New York” — and “getting self-help help.”;” and “probate and pro se: whose court is it?,” f/k/a, March 13, 2006)
• is the hopeful “lawyers appreciate pro-se-courts” just a delusion on my part?

• will bar associations choose to act like “a guide or a guild” when it comes to spreading the benefits of digital/IT breakthroughs to consumers of legal services? or do they go the way of America’s Realtors, seeking special laws to protect themselves from unbundling of service and price competition? [See “finding self-help info on bar association websites;” and the post “bar & guild,” which notes that “Most bar groups spend much of their time acting like guilds — promoting the interests of their members, and ‘protecting’ the public from competition, information, innovation and choice.” ] And see, “Internet Websites Encounter the Bar’s Guild Mentality,” where ethicalEsq said in May 2004:

[I]t seems that most lawyers expected a very good lifestyle to come automatically with their J.D., along with high social status. They are angry and worried that the marketplace doesn’t value their services as highly as they had expected, and they are bewildered that society doesn’t give them the anticipated respect. Good intentions of any one individual lawyer can be readily overwhelmed by the demands of partners (at work and home) to keep the income stream flowing. The result, as individuals and as a group, is resistance to any change that threatens to further undermine their financial and social position. As stated with refreshing candor in a recent bar association publication, “the top concerns of the practicing bar are the economics of the practice and the image of the profession.” (Illinois State Bar Association Bar News, June 16, 2003)

• will the federal competition agencies (Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission) continue to advocate for carving a narrow definition of the practice of law, and narrowing the scope of Unlawful Practice of Law statutes and regulations? and, more important, will state legislators and judiciary and bar associations stop ignoring their recommendations? (also see “the Florida Bar and You the People“, “filling in a Quicken Will for a nonagenarian is UPL in S.C“, at shlep)

• are UK-style legal reforms (improved disciplinary systems, entry of nonlawyer firms, etc.) proposed and adopted in the 50+ American legal jurisdictions?

• will the public start demanding to take back the justice system? (see SHLEP’s About Page, which states that “Our courts have become costly, complicated, lawyer-centered bureaucracies, rather than the accessible, client-centered dispute resolution centers they should be. As a result, studies show that 80% or more of the legal needs of the poor and working poor currently are unmet in the United States, while even solid members of the middle class often cannot afford to hire a lawyer when a legal need arises.” But, notes that:

By combining the existence of a literate public with the power of computer technology, with a judiciary that understands that our court system exists for the public (rather than for judges or the bar), and with lawyers willing and able to “unbundle” their services and perform discrete tasks for clients who want to handle their own legal matters, we can now make it possible for self-help to be a viable option for solving most of the legal problems of most Americans.

[Click for information on “divorce self-help,” “bankruptcy law self-help“; “will-making self-help“, and “real estate sale unbundling“.

And, from shlep, see “Cisco turns to legal self-help and unbundling“;”LegalZoom and the future of lawyering“, and “resources at Illinois legal aid online.”]

• Will our political leaders begin to fight for better access to the courts for the majority of Americans who cannot afford legal representation? See “getting politicians to back self-help centers” (shlep, Nov. 16, 2006):

When local politicians are smart enough to see the need for courthouse centers to help the unrepresented litigant, and when they are savvy enough to know that such support can have political advantages, we should see much more being done around the country to give the public the kind of accessible court system that they deserve. Consumers and their advocates need to take this message to their legislators. It is a win-win issue for the public and political leaders who join the cause.

• Are weblawg pundits continuing to dream up ways for lawyers to extract more money from clients without giving them a better product? (for example, scroll to the second item in this prior post) Are they turning the problem of sky-high hourly-billing quotas into an excuse for using alternative billing methods that promise higher fees to lawyers? See “broadening the billable hour debate,” includes an extensive discussion and review of f/k/a posting on the issues, and makes a plea “those who sincerely want to fix what is wrong with hourly billing spend some serious time figuring out how the alternatives will result in fees (and a work environment) that are fair to lawyer, law firm and client — and how they will function within an economy that, if working competitively, can be expected (due to technological breakthroughs and an excess of service providers) to drive prices down to their marginal costs.” Also, see “Valuable Debate on the Ethics of Value Billing,” which responds to Comments about using value billing and percentage-of-the-transaction billing, by noting: “And, see, “The ‘reality’ is that technological advances and efficiencies are expected — in our economy and in basic economic theory — to bring prices down. So is an oversupply of service providers. Your approach seems to be stripping the client of both normal market benefits and fiduciary protection.”

We’ll bring you updates, as Richard Susskind continues to share excerpts from The End of Lawyers at Times Online. We hope, in addition, to announce his new weblawg someday soon.

update: (Oct. 29, 2007): Susskind’s second excerpt is now online. See “A decade on: much changed, much still to unfold,” in which “The author revisits some of the radical predictions he made about technology and legal services in his first book.”

update (Nov. 5, 2007): The third Susskind Excerpt was posted today. In “How the traditional role of lawyers will change” (Nov. 5, 2007), Richard Susskind argues that ‘black letter’ lawyers will give way to multi-disciplinary, ‘hybrid’ advisers. He notes that “If lawyers want to re-invent themselves and carve out new multi-disciplinary roles that allow them to deliver new value, then their commitment to these neighbouring areas of expertise must be deep and our law schools should be gearing up accordingly.” There will be less need for traditional legal advisers, because “new ways of satisfying legal demand will evolve and old inefficiencies will be eliminated.” In addition, Susskind “envisage[s] the emergence of a third grouping: the legal knowledge engineers. These are the highly skilled individuals who will be engaged in the jobs of standardising, systematising and packaging the law. They will be the analysts who reorganise and restructure legal knowledge in a form that can be embodied in smart systems, whether for use by lawyers, para-legals or lay people.”

update (Nov. 13, 2007): See the fourth installment: “Outside investors will demand a very different type of law firm” (Nov. 12, 2007). More detail at the bottom of this post.

Yes, even skeptics can hope — and enjoy another export from the UK, the haiku of Matt Morden, in Wales:

halloween –
part of the moon
follows a bicycle home

harvest festival
small fingers trace
a saint’s name in slate

post inspection
a bean-counter shakes
my cool hand

halloween
thousands of starlings
flux together

………………… by matt morden - Morden Haiku

p.s. Grant Griffiths is hosting Blawg Review #132 on Monday, October 29, and is especially looking for suggestions from lawyers who work out of an at-Home Office. I’m hoping Grant will help a lot of lawyers transition to jobs and careers that not only bring them a better work/life balance, but that better align with the needs of clients in the 21st Century.

update (Oct. 29, 2007): Grant has indeed posted Blawg Review #132 this morning, at his Home Office Lawyer weblog. He’s found quite a few recent blawg posts for your consideration. Grant begins the presentation by saying that “Solo’s, independent practitioners, those that practice law from a home office tend to be innovative. We tend to be out in front. If for no other reason we have no one to answer to. We are the partnership committee. We are the marketing committee and we are the technology committee. For that reason, we tend to adopt new advances in those areas, dare I say, quicker.”

Although the generalization (as always) is surely often on the mark, it is by no means a universal truth — at least not for older solos or for some of the more financially and geographically challenged members of our profession. Being solo amplifies the individual’s personal traits and straits. In many ways, they are a great laboratory for Richard Susskind’s challenge on facing the future as individual lawyers and as a profession.

update: See Susskind’s “End of Lawyers?” series ends with a warning (Nov. 27, 2007)

Tonight’s full moon, which rises at about 6 P.M. on the East Coast, is called the Hunter’s Moon (and sometimes the Blood Moon). As the Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids explains:

“With trees loosing the leaves and fields being harvested, it’s easier for hunters to spot deer and other animals in the wild.”

Mike Lynch reports in his “Star Watch” column this week that tonight’s full moon is the closest and largest of the year. He amplifies:

“This month it works out that the full moon and perigee are at about the same time. Because the full moon is closer to Earth this month, its gravitational tug is a bit stronger. Not only does that have an amplifying effect on ocean tides, but it’s also argued that its effects on people and their behavior may be just a little more profound than a conventional full moon. Be careful out there!”

so orange!
tawny, she corrects
– Blood Moon

…………………………………………………….………….. by dagosan

[click for a larger image, by Lloyd Overcash]

You may recall that three years ago the Hunter’s Moon coincided with a Blood Moon lunar eclipse — and the even-rarer appearance of the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. We did a “live lunar eclipse webcast,”, and then did a “lunar eclipse haiku recap.”

clouds encircle
the full moon
– awaiting the hunter

pumpkin
floating on the river
Hunter’s Moon tonight

………………………………………………….……………………….. by dagosan

[orig.] Although we make no predictions on just when the Colorado Rockies will be eclipsed in World Series 2007 (and bemoan the childish Yankees fans who can’t bring themselves to cheer for the American League pennant-winners), here’s the last poem from dagosan’s 2004 Lunar Eclipse sequence:

out of the shadow
red
stockings

……………………………………………

update (Nov. 1, 2007): For Halloween 2007, 13WHAM.com, the ABC affiliate in Rochester, NY, did a nice balanced piece, “Pastor Questions Sex Offender Halloween Surveillance” (Oct. 31, 2007). The pastor in question is David Hess, of West Henrietta Baptist Church, and the parson.net.  (For a video of the broadcast see YouTube: Sex Offender Halloween Hype.)

In addition, see this CNN article, “Sex offenders locked down, in the dark for Halloween” (CNN.com, Oct. 31, 2007; video), which lists examples of restrictions, but then states:

But some say the sex offender roundups and restrictions are more show than safety.

“There has not been a single case of any child being molested by a convicted sex offender while trick-or-treating,” writes columnist Benjamin Radford on LiveScience.com.

Rebecca Brunger, an Alaska probation officer, told the Anchorage Daily News her state doesn’t put any extra restrictions on sex offenders on Halloween as there’s never been a case there of a trick-or-treater being molested by a registered offender.

Idaho defense attorney Tim Gresback told the Spokesman-Review, in Spokane, Washington, that extra Halloween restrictions on sex offenders are unnecessary.

“Here we’re creating a new police action squad to go out and address a problem that has never manifested itself in the community,” Gresback told the newspaper. He said in 20 years he’d never run across a case of a sex offender attacking a child on Halloween.

update (Oct. 26, 2007): A truly scary Halloween scenario from today’s Schenectady Daily Gazette — an All-Susan-Savage Sex Offender Council.

After writing seventeen lengthy pieces since June about ineffective and unconstitutional sex offender residency restrictions, I’m not the least bit surprised that politicians are again this year making hay for Halloween, by targeting their favorite overblown bogeymen. But, I am disappointed that nothing has changed since our post two years ago “Halloween tricks: pols vs. sex offenders,” when we opined:

The scariest sights I’ve seen so far this trick-or-treat season are the stern faces and contorted postures of politicians, masquerading as super-heroes in the fight to protect our children against a horde of halloween sex offenders. As the New York Times described earlier this week (”Sex Offenders See New Limits for Halloween,” Oct. 26, 2005):

“All across the country this year, local and state authorities are placing registered offenders under one-night curfews or other restrictions out of fear that in only a few days, costumed children asking for candy will be arriving on their doorsteps.”

Here are some of the many examples of governmental action that can be found at Google News:

• “Lawmaker seeks to ban sex offenders from Halloween” (WZZM13 [Grand Rapids, MI], Oct. 22, 2007); “Mich. lawmakers seek changes to sex offender registry” (Detroit Free Press, Oct. 22, 2007)
• “Sex Offenders Can’t Participate In Halloween Activities” (WKRN.com [Nashville, TN] Oct. 18, 2007). Paroled or probationary sex offenders “cannot hand out candy or……treats, cannot decorate their homes for Halloween, cannot accompany children while they trick or treat or wear costumes. They also cannot go to haunted houses, corn mazes, hay rides or any other seasonal activity.”
• “Midlands Law Enforcement to Keep Halloween Safe” (WLTX19 [Colummbia, SC], Oct. 23, 2007)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

• “Bellevue’s proposed sex offender ordinance has public hearing tonight” (GreenBayPressGazette, Oct. 24, 2007)
• “Sex offenders to be checked on Halloween” (Mohave [NV] Daily News, Oct. 23, 2007)
• “A Smith County [TX] Plan Helps Keep Kids Safe From Sex Offenders On Halloween Night” (KLTV.com, Oct. 22, 2007) “Adult Probation workers will hit the streets for the first time on Halloween night, making sure offenders under their supervision are obeying the law.“
• “Sheriff: Keep Children From Sex Offenders’ Homes” (WBBM780 Chicago], Oct. 23, 2007)
  
  

halloween
i only tell the priest
so much

………………………………….…… ed markowski

One practice that seems particularly ill-advised is described in “Maryland police plan no-candy signs” (YahooNews, Oct. 10, 2007; also covered at WizBang):

To discourage contact with children, some registered sex offenders in Maryland will be asked to post signs at their homes that say “No Candy at This Residence,” on Halloween.

That’s right, on a night infamous for roving gangs of youthful tricksters and vandals, Maryland authorities think it’s a good idea to help them figure out which houses to target for an extra prank or two. [Indeed, as I noted in 2005, “These overblown promotional campaigns might be the cause of some ugly vigilantism.”] And, at a time when people fight tax increases that would pay for important school supplies and after-school extracurricular activities, and for public libraries, tax payers will be footing the overtime bill for parole and probation officers to be out in force on the streets, or holding seminars for sex offenders at community centers. I can only reply with words first posted here in October 2005:

There must be a good reason for all this extra protection at Halloween, right? . . .

In “Megan’s Law vs. Halloween” (Oct. 26, 2005), Prawfsblawg’s Dave Hoffman asks cogently whether “the state had empirical evidence of a higher-than-average rate of illegal behavior on Halloween?” Not according to the NYT article, which stated: “In effectively detaining sex offenders on Halloween, most officials say they are not responding to any attacks known to have occurred on past holidays.” For those who don’t trust the Gray Lady:

An editorial from Indiana notes today that: “there are no known attacks of trick-or-treating children on past Halloweens.” (KPC Media Group, “Offender series shows need for open eyes, Oct., 30, 2005). Also, per CBS3.com, the Spokeswoman for the Delaware Department of Corrections “says no Halloween incidents involving sex offenders and trick-or-treaters have been reported in Delaware”

In Allen County, Indiana, Detective Jeff Shimkus has the best advice: “ISo, the main thing we tell parents to never let their child trick or treat alone.” See “Check for Sex Offenders before Halloween” (Indiana News Center, Oct. 22, 2007) If a parent wants to do more, Detective Shimkus adds:

[E]specially on Halloween, parents need to take advantage of the registry websites that allow you to check to see if a registered sex offender does live near your home within a one-mile radius. All you need to do is enter your address and a detailed map pops up. Parents should then choose a trick-or-treating route that obviously doesn’t include those homes. At the end of the year, the registries will be updated to include more detailed maps and safety tips for parents.

Having given sex offender restrictions much more thought over the past two years, I find myself with the same conclusions as for Halloween 2005:

This is not, in my estimation, a close call. The Halloween Sex Bogeyman laws and restrictions have far too many costs, are far too likely to create a false sense of security among parents, and seem certain to have no real effects, other than giving grandstanding politicians a boost in the polls. I hope my fellow weblawgers will voice their opinions, and that parents will keep a close eye on their young children and a skeptical ear when dealing with their teenagers and their politicians this Halloween season.

If you would like to combine fun and safety education, click for the NYS Troopers Halloween Safety Coloring Book.

goblins at the door
in the darkness behind them
a cigarette flares

battery weakened
the low, slow laughter
of a demon

……………………………… by John Stevenson from Some of the Silence

Two more perennial issues have come back to haunt us overnight. Check out:

1. Despite our heroic attempt to bury it two years ago (see “more bad neology: law porn“), the silly phrase “law porn” is once again been dug up by law professors who should know better. See Concurring Opinions. Thankfully, Prof. Ann Bartow tries to put a spike through its heart. However, from under his ghostly sheet of anonymity, the Editor of Blawg Review responds with the eerie “Why ‘Law Porn’?“.
2. This morning, the student-run Illinois Business Law Journal posted “Billable Hours Be Gone: Should the Hourly Billing System Be Replaced?” (Oct. 24, 2007). I am pleased to say the authors from UICL got it right: “Hourly billing is not to blame for the staggering workload, but the fees required of an associate who hopes to make partner one day.” They correctly concluded that: “The demand for ever increasing salaries for everyone from young talent to senior partners makes the 60 hour workweek unlikely to shrink. Until there is enough discord in the profession to demand a better balance, and perhaps some sacrifice in salary, those who venture into life in a big firm can only expect to be pushed to their physical and emotional limits.” They were kind enough to quote Your f/k/a Editor, and I hope that pieces here, such as “broadening the hourly billing debate“, helped them think through this important issue.

Query: Are Prof. Yabut and the rest of the f/k/a Gang the only fans of our Inadvertent Searchee pages? We’re often intrigued by the strange mix of serendipity and opportunity that search engines bring to writing and reading websites. Indeed, they bring over a thousand visitors a day to this humble little weblog — often by mistake, but frequently quite advertently, after we’ve written about a topic that truly troubled or inspired us. So, even if we’re merely entertaining ourselves, the f/k/a Gang plans to continue updating the adventures of the Google and Yahoo querists who land at our site. Below are some of the recent search engine queries that sent errant and avid searchers in our direction.

• [larger] The guy who Googled [farmer goose spanking] might have been your run-of-mill poultry pervert, but if he was looking to learn about Andrew Marsinko’s $7.5 million lawsuit over the use of his image on a greeting card, he actually came to the right place, when he clicked on our “kinky” post, which was the #1 result out of 665,700 for that Search.

• On a related topic, Mr. Goose was probably seeking absolution when he Googled [for the gander]. Clicking on the first result brought him to dagosan’s haibun — short prose piece with a linked haiku — “bad for the gander.” As its title suggests, that gander’s goose was well cooked.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

• We’ve gotten used to being the #1 Google result when someone searches the Italo-American slang word “goomba” or “gumbah.” Even Prof. Yabut was surprised, however, when our discussion of agita and ADD ended up the top result for the rather arcane query [gumba deficit disorder].
• Being inflicted with a short attention span has taught the f/k/a Gang to be quite tolerant of the foibles of others. So, perhaps we earned our #2 slot (out of about 66 million results) in the Google query [how to treat all people], with our preachy post about immigrants and sex offenders. Of course, coming in second place keeps us humble, and might explain why the discussion about disbarring prominent New York attorney Jonathan A. Weinstein was only the #2 result for the search [self-aggrandize].

anniversary
the coolness of sand
under our umbrella

the pond ice
holding its own
midwinter rain

………………… by Tom Painting - from Frogpond XXX:3 (Fall 2007)

• I suppose Your Editor’s reputation for serial napping helps explain our top ranking in the Google search [advantages of sleeping late] — but, we admit that our post might not have been particularly helpful.
• [how do you blush?] is a perfectly respectable question, and we were humbly pleased to have an answer in our recent piece “what makes you blush?,” which was #1 of 2.5 million Google results.
• On the other hand, we surely — despite the aforementioned expertise relating to geese — were surely no help at all for the person who asked about [“restless cows” ]. They had to settle for this dreamy poem from our Honored Guest Poet Laryalee Fraser:
  • restless cows
    head toward the barn -
    milky way
  • ……………………………… by Laryalee Fraser - WHC Beginners

katydid–
caught by someone
waiting for the stars

……………… Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

• Finally, we couldn’t possibly answer the Yahoo! query [how often do lawyers lie?]; but our post about contingency fees probably earned its #1 slot, coming about as close as any of the other 8 million results could have.

Memorial Day–
smoke from far-off fires
makes it hurt to breathe

……………………………………. by Peggy Willis Lyles - from Frogpond XXX:3 (Fall 2007)

afterthought (7 PM): Here are a few Searchee blurbs we inadvertently left out when we posted a few hours ago:

It’s great to have a little venting or ’splainin’ about a pet peeve discovered by readers new to f/k/a. So, we were happy to find the following links on our Referrer page:

• This post was #1 result for the Google search earlier this month for [ironic vs. coincidental]. Go here for our fuller discussion of this topic.
• Earlier today, someone who was wondering about [value billing lawyers] came to see our “value billing and lawyer ethics” (Jan. 28, 2004), thanks to our first-place showing out of about 2 million in that Google search.

   I don’t know if it was a fan of Lemuel Gulliver who was looking for [Lilliput sex], back on Oct. 8th, but mention of the haiku journal The Lilliput Review inadvertently landed our post on Ohio sex offender laws in the second slot in that Google search.

farewell party—
the sweetness of the cake
hard to swallow

……………………………………………… by Gary Hotham - (Missed Appointment, Lilliput Review, Modest Proposal Chapbooks 2007)

Making a tiny splash in the realm of pop culture is always nice. The lyrics from one of our favorite songs and a few lines of verse from a favorite old movie brought f/k/a some visitors this month:

• Harry Belafonte (1956) , Robert Palmer (1976), Rosanne Cash (1979), and C.J. Chenier (1995), among others, have recorded my theme song “Man Smart, Woman Smarter,” the classic tune written by Norman Span (a/k/a King Radio). Someone Googled the sad plight of the little boy and old man: [i can’t do what the big boys do old man sat down he cried too], and found our similar springtime lament, as it was the first result out of about two million.

“I can’t do
what the big boys do” –
Old man sat down, he cried too

Ain’t me, it’s the people that say
The men are leadin’ the women astray
But I say, that the women today
Are smarter than man in every way

• On October 3rd, there were 16 million results to the Google query [they seek him here]. I hope the searcher who clicked on the first result was another fan of “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and Sir Percy Blakeney. and enjoyed our treatment of the movie and poem in the post “they seek him there.”

rusty blades –
she skates backwards
so we can chat

……………. by david giacalone - Frogpond (XXX:3, Fall 2007)

Unseasonably warm weather and unreasonable amounts of sex-offender-related hot air have thrown the f/k/a Gang off our usual content routine. So, this evening, I’m hoping to post more traditional fare. Given my continuing low level of energy and short attention span, I’ll be doing it in spurts. So, please come back later for more (including, an update on our strange and inspiring “inadvertent searchee” results; and new poetry by our Honored Guests from Frogpond).

Two subjects we first focused on in early 2004 were getting attention in cyberspace today:

1. We asked back in March 2004 whether legal marketing is spoofable. Now, Charon QC posts Marketing for Dummies? about an unusual marketing campaign at Eversheds (via Blawg Review #131); and, after the ABAJournal lists 50 ways to market your [small] law practice, Grant Griffiths thinks they forgot a big one, and Above the Law wants to know which of the fifty you think are the most ridiculous.
2. Meanwhile, the New York Times asks and answers “How Many Site Hits? Depends Who’s Counting” (Oct. 22, 2007). Back in Feb. 2004, ethicalEsq wrote “those misleading traffic stats” and “three times nothin’ is . . .“.

 

 

night in the hut
searching on the shelf
. . . katydid

- see our Inadvertent Searchee pages -

 

A little carny incest: The Carnival of the Captitalists #211 is being hosted this week by the Anonymous Editor of Blawg Review (the carnival of law-related weblogs). Although the ubiquitous Ed fears that “this granddaddy of blog carnivals is showing its age–and it’s not pretty,” he scoured the blogiverse for relevant and worthy offerings from recent weblog posting and certainly put some sparkle back on the CotC logo.

– One set of links worth clicking concerns the New York Times “Competing for Clients and paying by the click,” which was covered by Overlawyered.com, TortProfBlog and the WSJ Law Blog.

 

I think I hear him
grumble good morning
and grumble good morning back

…………………………………………………… Barry George, JD, from Frogpond XXX:3 (Fall 2007)

BusinessMeisterGuru: Meanwhile, the one and only David Maister — author of the upcoming Strategy and the Fat Smoker — presents this week’s Blawg Review — it’s #131 at his Passion, People and Principles weblog. Being humble and risk-averse, nonlawyer Maister “focused on issues relating to the business of law, rather than legal matters (which I am not qualified to judge.)” [Of course, I’ve never noticed prior Blawg Review hosts making legal judgments.] David presents recent posts on lawyer Marketing, Leadership, and Economics, and more. I was intrigued by this blurb and clicked on through:

“Michelle Golden, president of Golden Marketing is also an active member of the VeraSage Institute, which is committed to abolishing the billable hour. She reports on the advice given by another consultant on how to implement a value-pricing approach.”

What I found sounded an awful lot like more value-billing b.s. (see this and that prior post, for example), aimed at generating fees even higher than you can get from hourly billing (through what looks like price sensitivity manipulation). Oh, and I wonder if I’m the only one who wonders what the heck this bit of practical advice means: “Assign an intellectual capital task force. This team should inventory intellectual capital, then document, name and package it so that the firm can train to unique processes and price on value, rather than hours multiplied by dollars.”

………………. coming later tonight (unless I get a better offer): haiku from the brand new Frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America: such as

tall spring grasses
a new path leads
to the old path

……………………… by Carolyn Hall

 

10 P.M. Frogpond break:

Alzheimer’s ward
the faded blue numbers
on a resident’s arm

……………………. by Pamela Miller Ness

after all these years
just the blip
of his heart monitor

lime-green moss
blowing from the pine
on the logging truck

……………….. by Michael Dylan Welch

warm day
tractor mud dries
on the country road

………………………….. by Hilary Tann

…………………………………………….. all from Frogpond XXX:3 (Fall 2007)

Plus (coming in the morning), answers to deep questions such as What’s the first Google result for the queries [farmer goose spanking] and [gumba deficit disorder]?

Prof. Yabut is biting his tongue and standing on his head this morning, trying to keep this first glimpse at the workings of the Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses objective and non-hysterical. Please excuse us if we occasionally lapse into polemics or preaching.

On August 23rd, 2007 (see our prior post), the Schenectady County [NY] Legislature took a step back from the draconian sex offender residency laws it had passed in June (as we reported here). However, rather than totally rescinding those laws and fully studying the issues, it chose to continue to impose a 1500-foot residence exclusion zone (around schools, parks, playgrounds, and child care facilities) on all Level 2 and 3 sex offenders, with current residences grandfathered-in. See “Law to protect kids is altered Sex offenders already in county allowed to stay put” (Schenectady Daily Gazette, Aug. 24, 2007; reprinted).

In addition, the Legislature voted to create the Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses, a large committee composed of various office holders and community representatives, which was given the job of studying the overall issue of preventing sex offenses against children, and ordered to report back in 90 days. The Legislature would then have 30 days to act upon the Report.

To be frank, a lot of observers were a bit surprised by the cart-before-the horse(’s ass) nature of the resolution creating the Sex Offense Council (see our prior post). It’s large size (purportedly over 30 members) and short duration seemed to condemn the project to the realm of futility or pathos. But, the public and public-minded civil servants and leaders had little choice but to wait and see. Well, last week — almost two full months into the 90 day mandate period — we got our first chance to watch the SOC process in action.

• On October 16, 2007, Duanesburg Town Supervisor Rene Merrihew received a letter telling her that the first meeting of SOC would be at 4 PM Friday, October 19, 2007, and she informed the Rotterdam [NY] Internet Forum.
• On October 17, JoAnn Schrom, Administrator of the Rotterdam Internet Forum emailed Susan Savage asking for a list of SOC members and inquiring whether the public could attend. Leg. Chair Savage replied that she had forwarded the request to the County Manager, Kathleen Rooney. On the afternoon of October, 18, Ms. Rooney wrote to Ms. Schrom, saying that “the first meeting will be held Friday at 4pm in the McChesney Room of the Central Library” and that “the public is certainly welcome to attend.” She added thather assistant would forward the list of SOC members.

• A list of SOC members was sent to the Moderator of the Rotterdam Info Internet Forum on Thursday, October 18, by Jason Cuthbert, Assistant to the County Manager. Below the fold, at the bottom of this post, I’ve pasted in the 26 names supplied by the County. That may be the full Council.
• It should be noted that there are no outside experts on sex offender management or treatment on the list. In addition, no Legislator who spoke out against having residency restrictions has been named to the Council, which does include Susan Savage, the Legislative Chair, and main proponent of the restrictions. Nor was any member of the public who spoke against the laws included. Instead, at least two of the three “Community Representatives” — Jeffrey Parry and Olivia Adams, local NAACP President, were strong supporters of the law at public hearings.

There was no mention of the meeting in any local media, and I had not recently visited the Rotterdam Forum. However, thanks to a phone call from a friend in rural Schenectady County, who was told about the meeting by a member of SOC, I learned around noon on Friday, October 19, that the first SOC meeting would be held at 4 PM that day. When I arrived for the Meeting shortly before 4 PM, there were no other members of the public/community there. Carl Strock, columnist for the (Schenectady) Daily Gazette appeared just before Mr. Gardner called the meeting to order. Here is what Carl wrote about the SOC’s first meeting:

Carl Strock: The View from Here (Schenectady Sunday Gazette, October 21, 2007, B1)

SEX OFFENDERS

In case you’re wondering how the 29-member task force is doing that was created by the Schenectady County Legislature to make recommendations on sex-offender laws, after the Legislature itself stepped in a big cow pie over the issue, I can tell you it’s doing about as well as its parent body. It started off on Friday with a meeting at the county library that was not announced to the public and was therefore illegal, and the members droned and rambled aimlessly for an hour, the dominant voice being that of a soft-spoken Scotia resident who is the most fanatical on the subject of sex offenders, while assorted probation officers, politicians and bureaucrats basically listened.

Listened to what? To the proposition that we don’t want sex offenders in our community. Mixed in with some reports on how things are done now.

The legislature gave this task force 90 days from Aug. 23 to come up with recommendations on as many as 14 possible local laws to deal with the danger, largely imaginary, posed by those who were once convicted of sex offenses.

At the rate they’re going, I don’t see how they can accomplish their objective in less than 90 years.

When I returned home from the meeting, I put this Comment up at the Rotterdam Internet Forum, describing the event:

Carl Strock and I were the only two members of the public attending the Meeting (there was only room for many a dozen people to observe). Not even half of the committee attended. No judges were there, nor was [Schenectady] Mayor Stratton (who sent an aide).

There was no apparent organization. County Attorney Christopher Gardner chaired the meeting. Carl Strock asked whether the requirements of the Public Meetings laws had been met regarding Notice of the event; he was not given a direct answer. With no introduction or suggestion of future structure for the meetings or the group, Gardner immediately asked the group to discuss Notification — giving no summary of what the issue might be, nor of what problems or benefits or costs increased notification might entail.

Most discouraging is the fact that Community member Jeffrey Parry basically monopolized the discussion and questioning. He made it clear that “we don’t want them in the community.” GPS monitoring is not enough. Parry wanted to know if some form of secured housing could be built for sex offenders, at least for a couple of transitional years. He said “we’re just wasting our time,” if we’re going to allow sex offenders to come and live in our neighborhoods.

A member of DA Carney’s staff. who runs the special victims section, tried to inject a bit of common sense (on the need for a place to live, job, treatment, etc.) and Rene Merrihew also tried a few practical questions, but the meeting was quickly steered back into the ozone.

At this pace, I’d estimate that another 600 or 700 meetings will be needed to cover the many points mandated in the Resolution. Drafting and voting on the issues might take another couple of years. Based solely on the first meeting, there is no reason to expect a useful or enlightened report.

For more detail and perspective, see this account by Rene Merrihew, the Supervisor of the Town of Duanesburg, a member of SOC (who, for instance, insisted that official minutes be kept of the Meeting). I later added a second Comment at the Forum, which concluded:

When Rene asked [County Attorney] Gardner what will happen when people getting out of prison come back and can’t live in the City, he replied that “they presumably had residences when they were arrested,” and therefore — due to grandfathering — they could go back to those residences, if they lived there prior to June 2007. That is an interesting interpretation of the law that I would expect to hear from sex offender advocates and lawyers in the future, but I doubt that Ms. Savage would agree to that interpretation of Legislative Intent.

Clearly, this is a sad start for those who had hoped the Committee would make a good faith attempt to examine residency restrictions. If, however, we had hoped to be able to deride its process and findings, it is a grand beginning.

At the foot of this posting, I have included an excerpt from a Daily Gazette article of Aug. 24, 2007, listing many of the issues and potential laws that the Council has been told to study and report back on. I’ve also included some of the statistics about Sex Offenders in Schenectady County that I were mentioned at the SOC Meeting.

All observers and participants would surely agree that Community Representative Jeffrey Parry, of Scotia, was the most active participant in the first SOC meeting. He first came to our attention at the Public Hearings on the sex offender laws, where he supported strong measures. The Daily Gazette article “Citizens speak on sex offender laws” (Aug. 23, 2007) noted, for example:

“Scotia resident Jeff Parry, who said the law should remain. To address [Niskayuna Supervisor Luke] Smith’s concerns [about the restrictions causing sex offenders to go underground], he said convicts should be punished with 25-year prison sentences if they stop reporting their address.
“We need effective counseling, we need to monitor them and we need to keep them away from society,”

This morning, Mr. Parry was kind enough to leave a thoughtful Comment here at f/k/a, at our earlier posting about the amended laws and establishment of the Council. To assure a broader audience for his Comments, I’m reposting them here:

Comment of Jeff Parry: The Schenectady laws were indeed a flawed attempt to deal with a serious problem. My personal feeling is that the perspective that is advocated in this website is probably mostly correct. Unfortunately the approaches advocated here do nothing to relieve the anxiety of parents or property owners. Rightly or wrongly, the only thing that will remove the stress from the neighborhood is the removal of the offender.

Those who frequent this website may feel that this point of view is hysterical overreaction and ignorant of the facts but it is also the reality on the ground in the affected neighborhoods. A sex offender in a neighborhood leads inevitably to the decline of the neighborhood. Among my peers the checking of the sex offender registry has become a regular part of life and whether it makes sense from an intellectual perspective or not, no one with children who has the means to do otherwise is going to buy property or move into a neighborhood where there are sex offenders.

I don’t know if this ‘irrational fear’ can coexist with a rational approach toward helping/containing sex offenders but I am hopeful that the newly formed “Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses” will explore the issue.

Here are my first thoughts in response to Jeff Parry’s Comment:

Reply by David Giacalone: I very much appreciate your taking the time to help us understand your position, Jeff. We both want to prevent the sexual abuse of children. We appear to disagree on how to do so effectively and lawfully. I believe that our overall approach needs to take into account the benefits that our society receives from enacting laws based on practicality, experience and expertise, rather than simply fear, and from living within the State and federal Constitutions — restrictions on majority rule that are needed to assure that every member of society receives basic civil rights.

Unlike other advocates of strong sex offender residency restrictions, you speak in a calm voice, and I appreciate your demeanor. I have also tried to avoid using the word “hysteria” when talking about proponents of such laws, because the word connotes uncontrollable laughter or crying or raised voices. But, calmness doesn’t necessarily mean that the fear behind the residency restrictions isn’t excessive and perhaps irrational. I don’t deny that “the reality on the ground in the affected neighborhoods” is one of great fear and concern with sex offenders. But, public policy can’t be based on overblown fears of some members of the public, and the desire to “do something” can’t possibly become an excuse for doing something that is likely to be ineffective and counterproductive.

I believe that a fair reading of the literature on this topic makes it clear that your preoccupation is far greater than is warranted by the facts, by experience, and by common sense. The materials cited and discussed in our series of f/k/a sex offender posts convinces me that there is virtually no connection between the block or neighborhood where a sex offender lives and whether he/she reoffends or who the victim is likely to be. (The only connection seems to be that the sex offender is not likely to choose a stranger for a victim who lives nearby.) Furthermore, banishing sex offenders from society and treating them like a group of sub-humans with no rights seems far more likely to increase tendencies toward recidivism than to reduce it.

When a