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Local Government Law in a Nutshell (Nutshell Series)
David J. McCarthy , and Laurie Reynolds Manufacturer: West Group ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0314264892 |
Book Description
Reliable source of local government law features added emphasis on finance, including special tax districts and the implications of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Discusses taxation, borrowing, and updating in the area of 1983. A review of each rule is included, accompanied by expert explanation of its underlying concepts.
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The Montana State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States)
Larry M. Elison , and Fritz Snyder Manufacturer: Greenwood Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0313273464 |
Book Description
Montana's idealistic state constitution was created during the politically turbulent early 1970s. Progressive and innovative, but also pragmatic, this constitutional newcomer combines a strong concern for individual rights, personal liberty, and individual dignity while seeking to keep government open and responsive to the will of the people of Montana. It also stresses rights to a clean and healthful environment. This is the first reference work to provide an in-depth analysis of the text, meaning, and legal interpretations of Montana's constitution. This book will be of interest to legal scholars and practicing attorneys, as well as students of constitutional development and interpretation, state government, and the history of the western US. It is also an excellent research tool for those interested in Montana's constitutional history and case law, and includes a comprehensive bibliographic essay dealing with available primary and secondary research sources.
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The Hawaii State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States)
Anne Feder Lee Manufacturer: Greenwood Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0313279500 |
Book Description
Although it is the youngest state, Hawaii has a long history of constitution-making dating back to its days as a monarchy, republic, and a territory. Lee's work is the first history of the Hawaii Constitution with text and scholarly analysis on an article-by-article basis. Political scientists, lawyers, and historians will find this history, professional analysis, text, bibliographical essay, table of cases, and index easily accessible for varied research purposes. This one-volume work details the history of Hawaii's constitution-making from 1840 to the present. The state constitution that was drafted in 1950 and became effective in 1959, and its subsequent amendments (especially those made in 1968 and 1978) are analyzed. The bibliographical essay highlights major sources on Hawaii's constitutional history and development and on interpretations of specific constitutional provisions. The table of cases outlines the important cases to date on the constitution.
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Media Diversity and Localism: Meaning and Metrics (LEA's Communication Series)
Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0805855483 |
Book Description
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Local Government Law, 2nd Ed. (Hornbook Series and Other Textbooks)
Osborne, Jr. Reynolds Manufacturer: West Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0314237380 |
Book Description
Local Government Law provides an overview of the operations and the inter-relationships of the various levels of government in this country, with the emphasis on local units. First, there is a discussion of local governmental units. Attention is then turned to the forms of government within such units. The text goes on to cover the relationship of local governments to the state and federal; local units, including the units, powers, limitations on those powers, and forms local legislative action may take; the three most important ingredients in the local government-territory, people, and money; the activities of local government; and finally, means for holding local governments liable and/or making them responsive to their citizens. In each of the 31 chapters, an effort has been made to discuss those topics most often covered in law school courses in Local Government Law. Reynold's Local Government Law provides an exhaustive, yet single-volume, treatment of the development of American law of local government, the current laws, the major existing problems, and the discernible trends.
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The New Jersey State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States)
Robert F. Williams Manufacturer: Greenwood Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items: ASIN: 0313262454 |
Book Description
Robert F. Williams launches our new series "Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States" with this guide to the New Jersey State Constitution. The New Jersey Constitution is strictly a basic constitutional document, not a code of laws. It remains unblemished and envied. State constitutions have been referred to as `mine(s) of instruction for the natural history of democratic communities.' This in-depth study of New Jersey's constitutional development provides an important insight into the broader issues of New Jersey's political, economic, and social growth. In Part I Williams traces the constitutional development from statehood in 1776 followed by a thorough analysis of the current constitution in Part II. With forewords by G. Alan Tarr and former New Jersey Governor and Chief Justice Richard J. Hughes, Williams' The New Jersey State Constitution: A Reference Guide covers the historical development of the constitutions of 1776, 1844, the Constitutional Commission of 1873, and the current constitution written in 1947. The volume then provides a section-by-section analysis of the present day constitution.Customer Reviews:
How This Caused NJ's Current Problems.......2002-09-26
The Origin of NJ's Problems.......2002-09-24
While many other states revised their Constitution in the 1820s to incorporate separation of powers, and checks and balances, NJ did nothing until 1844. The 1844 Constitution placed a bill of rights at the beginning. Property requirements were eliminated for voting by white males. The governor was now elected, had veto power, and appointed judges and other officials (p.8). There was now a method for amending the constitution. No debt could be created without approval by the voters. Slavery was still legal (p.9). The 1873 Constitutional Commission recommended a long series of changes. It provided for a "thorough and efficient system of free public schools", and that property be assessed "according to its true value". The governor would appoint trial judges, they would no be elected by the people (p.10).
De Tocqueville (and others) explained that a governor could not succeed to a second term in order to limit their power. Governors lusted for more power, and criticized this ban. The book mentions "the need for a stronger governor" but provides NO FACTS to justify this! Is this another example of academic censorship? The "Edge Draft" proposed a new constitution, but it was soundly defeated; the book censors the reasons why (p.15). It also doesn't tell what pressure was used to make everyone fall into line behind Driscoll's proposal (p.16).
The voting public was unaware that the elimination of "true value" and its replacement by a "uniform standard" would create continually rising property taxes. Note how this is also censored here. The newly powerful and still unelected NJ Supreme Court claimed absolute power; there would be no legislative control on the court system (p.17)! Next the code words "uniform standard" was interpreted to create an increasingly regressive property tax system. (Was this the secret agenda behind the 1947 constitution?) In 1974 the people turned down casino gambling; in 1976 it passed. Academic censorship again fails to tell how this trick was done.
New Jersey has averaged a new constitution about every 50 years (p.18). Is it due for a new one? Will the NJ Ruling Class ever allow a more democratic constitution?
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Beat the Cops: The Guide to Fighting Your Traffic Ticket and Winning
Alex Carroll Manufacturer: AceCo Publishers ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0963464116 |
Customer Reviews:
outdated.......2005-07-18
A Good Introductory Title, But Shouldn't Be Your Only Source.......2004-04-10
As someone who has received in excess of ten traffic citations in the last five years, I had to learn how to beat the cops at their own game if I wanted to be able to legally operate a motor vehicle. Most of my citations were for speeding and I have beaten 6 of the 8 that I received. The two that I lost were the first two that I received.
I have taken cases to appeals court and won. This book doesn't cover appeals and other important topics. It also provides precious little information on the preparation of pleadings - a critical skill any veteran traffic citation contester must know inside and out.
Its a good introductory title, but it should not be your only source of information.
This book is OK but there ARE better out there..........2003-12-01
Beat the Cops: The Guide to Fighting Your Traffic Ticket and.......2003-08-10
WOW This actually works trust me.......2003-04-01
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Adoption Politics: Bastard Nation and Ballot Initiative 58
E. Wayne Carp Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items: Accessories:
ASIN: 0700613056 |
Book Description
The passage of Measure 58 in Oregon in 1998 was a milestone in adoption reform. For the first time in U.S. history a grassroots initiative restored the legal right of adopted adults to request and receive their original birth certificates. Within a day after the law went into effect, nearly 2,400 adoptees had applied for these previously sealed records, elevating their right to know over a birth mother's right to privacy.E. Wayne Carp, a nationally respected authority on adoption history, now reveals the efforts of the radical adoptee rights organization Bastard Nation to pass this milestone initiative. He has written an intimate history of a passionately proposed and opposed initiative that has the potential to revolutionize the adoption reform movement nationwide.
Carp follows the campaign from its inception through the hard-fought signature drives of proponents Helen Hill and Shea Grimm to the electoral campaign and ensuing court battles. The opposition was formidable: government officials, adoption agencies, news media, the ACLU, religious organizations, and ad-hoc citizen political groups. Using correspondence and his own candid interviews with all the key players, Carp shows how both sides mobilized their constituencies and formed their strategies. In describing challenges to Measure 58's constitutionality, Carp reveals legal arguments that were never publicized by the Oregon media and remained unknown to the American public until now--issues centering on privacy rights that are crucial to understanding both sides of the controversy and the hazards of initiative politics.
As Carp shows, Measure 58 was important because it framed the issue of adoption reform in terms of civil rights and equal protection of the law rather than in terms of psychological needs or medical necessity. The resulting law now gives adult adoptees access to birth certificates but it also allows birth mothers to indicate whether or not they wish to be contacted. Carp not only chronicles a milestone initiative and a model piece of legislation for other states to emulate, he also proposes a sensible way to cut the Gordian Knot that bedevils adoption reform today.
Customer Reviews:
Adoption Politics Gets it Right.......2004-04-12
In his introduction to Adoption Politics, Carp says: "In blending adopted adults' access to their original birth certificates with a protection for the birth mothers' right to privacy through a contact preference form (without legal penalties for violation), Measure 58 should be viewed as a model piece of legislation for other states to emulate." (p. 3-4)
And in the conclusion: "It [a coalition of adoption activists, adoption agencies and social workers] would not only confirm that a new age is dawning, but also that this new age makes it imperative to give adult adoptees access to their original birth certificates. It would be a clarion call that in the world of adoption it is time to look with fresh eyes at an old institution." (p. 169)
I do have to disagree with several points, though, such as the following in the conclusion: "But to achieve this goal nationwide, Bastard Nation and its supporters must free themselves of ideological blinders and recognize that adoption agencies do not constitute a single, monolithic 'adoption industry.' They must recognize that, either out of altruism or self-interest, the majority of adoption agencies support openness in adoption, including open records. ... The NCFA [National Council for Adoption]...will become increasingly isolated." (p.168)
I think BN does recognize that. The "adoption industry" usage was appropriate political rhetoric for our ballot initiative campaign in Oregon. On the other hand, in California, for example, many adoption agencies joined the CA Open Coalition in its legislative push for open records for adult adoptees, at BN's urging. One has to recognize that the neutrality of Oregon's Right to Life and Catholic Charities was extremely fortunate and unusual, and not something BN can count on elsewhere. In many states Catholic Charities is one of our biggest foes.
I was dismayed by the imputation of anti-birth mother sentiment to BN as a whole on p. 109 ("BN's dislike of birth mothers"), explained by the fact that "some adopted adults harbored resentment toward their birth mothers, whom they viewed as having callously abandoned them." I can't argue that some adoptees didn't/don't feel that way, but it was unjust to tar the organization as a whole with that sentiment. Nothing in Bastard Nation's policy, strategy or tactics reflects such a bias.
In regard to his discussion of the controversial use of the term "birth whore": the book states that "e-mail messages from Bastard Nation members ... that frequently referred to birth mothers as 'birth whores'" were found on the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup, alt.adoption, by members of the Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon, which opposed Measure 58. (p. 86) Carp does say in a footnote that this term wasn't used on BEST (BN's internal e-mail listserv) or in BN publications or in public during the campaign (can you imagine?!), and that the organization wasn't a home for "virulent anti-birth mother beliefs," having several respected birth mothers as members, but he doesn't put those many messages on alt.adoption into any kind of context. (p. 194-195) Only one person used that term seriously, and she wasn't a Bastard Nation member for long. The vast majority of posts were from BN members and others who objected to her use of that term, and several were posts in which BN birth mothers themselves used the term as a joke, as in someone's calling herself the leader of Birth Whore Nation. It is really too bad that this kind of misinterpretation has found its way into this book since one of the points we've always tried to make is that the struggle for open records isn't one of adoptees vs. birth mothers, but of all of us (enlightened adoptive parents as well) against the dinosaur faction of the industry as represented most strongly by the NCFA.
On the whole, though, very well done! The roller coaster excitement of those days was vividly brought back to me, the feeling of making history in adoption reform. The case on both sides is fairly presented, and the legal explanations are exceptionally lucid. (...)
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Contempt of Court: The Turn Of-The-Century Lynching That Launched 100 Years of Federalism
Mark Curriden , and Leroy Phillips Manufacturer: Faber & Faber ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0571199526 |
Amazon.com
Prior to 1906, the U.S. Supreme Court had never tried a criminal case--and the high court had yet to assert its power over state criminal courts. That was all to change after the events of a cold January night earlier that year in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Blond, beautiful, 21-year-old Nevada Taylor had hopped on one of Chattanooga's new electric trolleys after work. Before she could reach home, the young woman was waylaid and raped by an unknown assailant. At first Taylor couldn't describe her attacker to town sheriff Joseph Shipp, as she hadn't seen the man clearly, but she soon became convinced he was "a Negro with a soft, kind voice." In just 17 days, a drifter dubbed a "Negro fiend" by the Chattanooga News had been hastily arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang.Two idealistic black lawyers intervened, filing appeals to the state and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court, citing the numerous rights denied the most-likely innocent Ed Johnson. (One of the attorneys said of the suspect, "But for the will of God, that is me.") The high court agreed to hear the appeal, staying the Tennessee execution. But back in Chattanooga, the politically minded Sheriff Shipp looked the other way as a bloodthirsty crowd of hundreds broke Johnson out of jail, beat him brutally, and lynched him on the county bridge.
Mark Curriden, a legal writer for the Dallas Morning News, and Leroy Phillips, a Chattanooga trial attorney, have painstakingly researched and vividly recounted the events of this oft-overlooked but significant episode in America's legal history, from the details of the original crime to the eventual federal conviction of Shipp and members of the lynch mob for contempt. A superb combination of journalistic storytelling and academic rigor. --Paul Hughes
Book Description
The case by which the U.S. Supreme Court declared itself the highest court in the land.When Ed Johnson, a black man, was wrongly convicted in 1906 of rape and sentenced to death in Tennessee, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan issued a stay of execution, declaring that Johnson's right to a fair trial had been violated and that he had been railroaded through the criminal justice system. The interference of the Supreme Court was not well received back in Chattanooga. A violent mob answered this federal "interference" by dragging Johnson from his jail cell, beating him, and hanging him from a bridge. Local police did nothing to prevent the lynching, nor were any members of the mob arrested. For the first and only time in history, an enraged Supreme Court conducted a criminal trial to enforce its authority. It brought criminal contempt of court charges against the sheriff, his deputies, and members of the lynch mob.
The first book written about these highly charged events, Contempt of Court raises issues of federalism versus states' rights that are as timely today as they were ninety years ago. Johnson's case led to a precedent-setting criminal trial that is unique in the annals of American jurisprudence. Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips's riveting tale will prove essential reading for all interested in understanding how American justice works.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic book for law or history geeks!.......2007-03-08
Must Read.......2005-06-14
Excellent book.......2003-11-10
Scary moments of our past.......2003-03-10
Powerful history of the Law and Racisim.......2003-02-19
Then two Black lawyers take up the case. The Supreme Court is horrified at the gross miscarriage of justice, and issues a stay. But the mob, with the Sheriff's apparent approval, decides the legal process is just taking too long, and lynches the defendant.
Contempt of Court tells this story in great detail, bringing all of the characters to life. A fascinating history of the role racism played in the courts at the turn of the century.
But the heart of the book is what followed the lynching. Unlike most cases which were quickly forgotten, the Supreme Court itself instituted contempt charges against the Sheriff for failing to carry out its stay of execution. This is the one and only contempt proceeding ever tried in the Supreme Court itself. It also marked the first time the federal courts had ever sought to review a state court criminal proceeding--setting the stage for such well known rules as "Miranda" and the exclusionary rule.
I completely agree with the blurb on the book's cover. This volume belongs on the shelf next to Simple Justice and Gideon's Trumpet.
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Local Government Law: Cases and Materials (University Casebook Series)
Lynn A. Baker , and Clayton P. Gillette Manufacturer: Foundation Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1587787423 |
Book Description
(From the Preface)Throughout these materials, we ask the questions that have been the focus of this book from its first edition: To what extent should local governments be permitted autonomously to to define their objectives? Who gets which services within within a community, and who should make those decisions? Who pays for the services that are provided? What kind of legal constraints are necessary to permit one jurisdiction from exploiting another? What kinds of legal entitlements should be used to assist those who cannot easily migrate to jurisdictions that they would find more hospitable? What are the motivations of local government officials?
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