"Bodie ghost town" by PDPhoto.org. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons. People who enjoy ghost towns have been known to visit one of California’s most famous examples: Bodie, in Mono County. High above the treeline and subject to brutal eastern Sierra Nevada winters, Bodie is a well-preserved gem of a town. The site of a gold strike before fires decimated much of it, a small portion of Bodie still stands today. Its interiors are covered in dust and memories and, they claim, left just as they were when the state deemed it a state park in 1962. In fact, California coined a new term to describe its upkeep of the town: “arrested decay.” It’s ... Read More >
Oct 15
Think Before You Treat: 3 Spooky Halloween Laws
You could say that the Senate is a bit of a graveyard. After all, there are over 300 bills waiting there for action, but only 33% will be enacted by Congress for December in the first year of a session. There's also checks and balances to consider, too. After a proposed amendment makes it all the way through Congress, it must then be ratified by three-fourths of the states. That's a lot of federal statutes falling into their graves. Even scarier are some of those laws that actually do make it out alive. Here are just a few spooky legal statutes recent law research found! No Priest Costumes in Alabama. It's not just certain towns and ... Read More >
Oct 5
1968 Federal Law Basis for Pocket-Dial Decision
1968 Federal Law basis for Pocket-Dial Decision: In July, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in part in Huff v. Spaw, a matter in which the listening and recording of a 91 minute pocket-dial was determined to not be eavesdropping. James Huff, chairman of the Kenton County, Kentucky, Airport Board, had the unfortunate luck of discussing firing the airport’s CEO at length, all while the recipient of his pocket-dial, the CEO’s executive assistant, listened and recorded. Huff alleged, among other things, that the executive assistant violated Title 18, section 2511(1)(a) of the United States Code, which relates to ... Read More >
Oct 5
A Look at Physician-Assisted Death Laws
Update: Governor Brown has signed the bill. One of the most controversial pieces of legislation currently on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk is the “End of Life Option Act,” which would allow physicians to prescribe lethal medication to patients who meet residency, life expectancy and other requirements. Wait, didn’t that measure stall earlier this summer? It did. In January, similar provisions were introduced in Senate Bill 128 of 2015. While that bill passed three Senate policy committees, it ended up stalling in the Assembly Committee on Health. (It was set for hearings twice this summer, but both hearings were canceled at the ... Read More >
Sep 25
But what does it mean? The ‘gut and stuff’
But what does it mean? is an occasional series where we here at Legislative Intent Service explore the meanings of some legislative terms. Today we explore a slang term: The “gut and stuff,” or the “gut and amend.” In general, “gut and stuff” legislation was amended such that the Legislature “gutted” a bill’s original provisions, then “stuffed” the bill with wholly new ones. The particulars of this practice may change from state to state. For example, in Oregon a “gut and stuff” bill has been given entirely new language, but must remain similar enough to the original bill’s subject matter as to still fall “under the measure’s ... Read More >
Sep 23
Criminal Mayhem: No Laughing Matter
Criminal Mayhem: No Laughing Matter: Our latest blog post addresses the history of the crime of mayhem and aggravated mayhem. While the Allstate Commercials might make you think of tailgating gone wrong, dropped cell phones and teenaged drivers, the actual crime of mayhem is much gristlier. From the Mouths of Governors --- When researching California bills more than 50 years old, we frequently look to the Governor’s inaugural and biennial addresses for guidance on legislative priorities and historical context. These speeches also serve as reminders that there are few “new” problems in government. Recently, a project led me to Governor H. ... Read More >