Disciplinary Report Released for New Jersey Attorneys

The Office of Attorney Ethics has released its annual disciplinary report. Here are some of the highlights of the report. Go to the judiciary page of New Jersey for full report. It gives the number of attorneys who practice her, by county and the number of attorneys who have been disciplined as well as been disbarred:

1. Despite losing some 6,000 attorneys from its rolls as a result of administrative disbarments, the December 2007 attorney population in the State stood at 82,893. This represents more than a 2.4% increase from 2006. This total provides one attorney for every 106 people our State with a population of 8,685, 920.

2. Almost 57% of the lawyers admitted to practice in New Jersey were admitted since 1991. A full 72% of New Jersey attorneys have been admitted since 1986. By contrast, only 483 lawyers remain who were admitted to practice before the year 1951.

3. Approximately 30% of New Jersey lawyers range in age from 40 to 49. A further 27% are between 30 and 39.

4. About 68% of New Jersey attorneys are also admitted to practice in another State, mostly in New York and Pennsylvania.

5. Just over 41% of New Jersey lawyers are engaged in the private practice of law, a total of just over 34,000. One third of these are in solo-practices.

6. The largest number of private practitioners is in Essex County (5240), followed by Camden (3818), Bergen (3793) and Morris 3151). Salem County has the fewest practitioners with only 57.

7. There were 1,722,166 attorneys licensed to practice law in the United States on July 1st of 2007. New Jersey ranked 7th in the country and had 4.62% of the national attorney population at that time.

8. A total of 1553 ethics grievances were filed against the lawyers in active practice in the State in 2007. Approximately 2.38% of the attorneys in active practice were subject to the filing of a grievance. This represented an increase of 8.7% in the number of filings.

9. Final discipline in 2007 included 31 disbarments, 33 suspension from practice, 13 censures, 25 reprimands and 19 admonitions.

10. As in prior years, discipline was imposed in most instances for knowing misappropriation of client funds, followed by a gross pattern of neglect, other money issues and criminal offenses.

Gore's New 300 Million Dollar, Three Year Climate Change Inititative

Go to the website.

The Entire North Carolina Delegation Set to Endorse Obama

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is expected to endorse Sen. Obama Monday, according to a Democrat familiar with her plans. Meanwhile, North Carolina's seven Democratic House members are poised to endorse Sen. Obama as a group -- just one has so far -- before that state's May 6 primary, several Democrats say.

This also comes as news of Hillary Clinton's campaign is strapped for cash and not paying her vendors. Also news from Gallup yesterday that Barack Obama for the first time has opened up a ten point lead over Mrs. Clinton. Is this the perfect storm coalescing behind Mr. Obama? I still think there is no way she drops out before Pennsylvania or Indiana and North Carolina primary. I just don't see it. Also the Obama camp is now officially declaring victory in Texas because of the delegates he won in the cacuses. The delegate conventions were held this weekend.

Bill Maher Puts it into Perspective

When Barack Obama didn't hear Reverend Wright say those awful things about America, he still should have rushed the stage, smite Reverend Wright with the cross, and left the church. If there's anything the right wing can agree on, it's that. And that gays are going hell, right after they suck them off in the airport bathroom.

But it raises an obvious question, one that I haven't heard asked, which is strange because it's so obvious: If you leave a church when the head of the church says bad things about America, what do you do when your church hierarchy is caught up in a systematic and decades-long sex abuse scandal? And did I mention the people being sexually abused were children? Hundreds of them?

How about when the head of that church, or Pope, associated with and promoted members of the clergy who not only facilitated the sexual abuse and rape of hundreds and hundreds of children, but engaged in a decades-long cover-up of those crimes?

Reverend Wright associated with Farrakhan. The Pope works with Cardinal Law. Which is worse? Isn't it the man who shuffled "priests" like Shanley and Geoghan and many others from parish to parish with the full knowledge of their crimes, and then claimed he had no idea?
Yes, by Sean Hannity's own logic, Catholics like him, en masse, would be expected to abandon their church. Which shouldn't be a problem, because they worship Reagan anyway.

The Tide is Turning

Gallup Poll 50 - 42 Obama

Bob Casey endorsement

Patrick Leahy calls for Clinton to step aside

Watch this stunning and beautiful video:

Hillary Clinton and Bosnia: You Decide

Here is a video from talking points memo regarding the Bosnia misstatements on the part of Hillary Clinton. The more I see it I don't think they were misstatements, but I think she lied, pure and simple. I don't know why though. How and why did she think she could get away with this? It doesn't make sense. It also doesn't make sense that she would forget though. What do you think?

ACLU Seeking Sanction Against New Jersey DOC For Witness Tampering and Retaliation

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey filed court papers today requesting that the New Jersey Superior Court impose sanctions against the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) for witness tampering, official misconduct and violations of court rules.

The ACLU's motion for sanctions charges that the DOC obtained false and misleading statements from women prisoners about conditions in the prison in an attempt to defend the prison against claims of inhumane treatment. A female prisoner who exposed the DOC's misconduct reports being beaten as a result.

The ACLU asserts that James Drumm, Assistant Administrator of the New Jersey State Prison, offered female prisoners reductions in their disciplinary sentences in exchange for making false statements describing women's prison conditions in the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) - a men's supermax prison - as better than they were.

This is the latest chapter in Jones v Hayman, an ACLU class action lawsuit against the DOC challenging the improper transfer of a group of women to the men's prison and subjecting them to inhumane and virtual lock-down conditions.

Some of the prisoners allege that that if they wrote a letter saying good things about the prison, then their time in segregation would be cut. Unbelievable. A prisoner (Thomas) alleges the day she spoke with ACLU attorneys she received a brutal beating that seemed retaliatory. During the beating, the Guard said: "You have a big mouth" and called her a "nigger with no home training." Thomas also alleges that, following the beating, Drumm told her, "You're causing problems in my institution," and that she should "stop causing trouble."

Read the rest of the article here as the ACLU also charges them with witness tampering and retaliation, if that is not obvious from the facts.

This is not surprising seeing how the guards and many of the folks inside prisons treat people. Because, these guards forget that they are actually people. We often visit prisoners and the guards are arrogant and act like they are doing us a favor just to get to talk to our clients. One guard yesterday held up a visit of a social worker to her client for forty-five minutes because no one told him she was coming. So, he refused her entrance. Luckily, he was dealing with the wrong person. She sat in a chair and told him, "I am not leaving until I see my client." Eventually, requesting to see his supervisor, gaining entry. This "person's" immigration status and time in America hung in the balance, not that he would give a damn.

I say go ACLU. Expose these thugs for what they are worth.

CBC on the rising violence in Iraq: A Three Day Deadline

See a real news report from the Canadian Broadcasting Network. These are not terrorists or extremists, they are Iraqis. It is sad when you can get better news on your own country's foreign policy outside these borders.

Olbermann Gives Walmart Worst Person in the World

Walmart sued a handicapped woman (and won) for money she received in a lawsuit that she received after obtaining brain damage. Olbermann slices and dices them.

Legal Services of New Jersey in Severe Crisis

Word is coming quickly that Legal Services may be in jeopardy of losing nearly half of its IOLTA funding. Half. IOLTA is funded through lawyer trust accounts and is a complicated formula of which is ebbs and flows with the housing market that is tumbling and the projections are that Legal Services could face severe cuts soon.

This is bad news for poor people in New Jersey, while not a perfect organization without Legal Services hundreds of thousands of poor people would not get the civil legal help they deserve. From evictions, consumer law, family and more expansive law such as voting rights, environmental justice, family representation, New Jersey residents will be at a severe disadvantage if the recession continues to spiral.

Here is a hoping a democrat gets elected, that we end this disastrous war that costs Americans $12 Billion dollars a month, that we stop allowing corporations to leech from us. The latest: “A sweeping five-month investigation into the collapse of one of the nation’s largest subprime lenders points a finger at a possible new culprit in the mortgage mess: the accountants.” New Century Financial, whose failure came at the start of the credit crisis, “engaged in ’significant improper and imprudent practices’ that were condoned and enabled by auditors at the accounting firm KPMG.”

We need justice now for the people, not for the corporations.

Iraq Continues to Fall into Violence

Heavy fighting continued for a second day Wednesday in two of Iraq’s largest cities, as Iraqi ground forces and helicopters mounted a huge operation to break the grip of the Shiite militias controlling Basra, and Iraqi forces clashed with militias in Baghdad. The fighting threatened to destabilize a long-term truce that had helped reduce the level of violence in the five-year-old Iraq war.

The Prime Minister has ordered the insurgents to disarm within 72 hours. A spokesman for the Iraqi military said 40 people had been killed and 200 wounded in the two days of fighting in the southern city of Basra, according to The Associated Press.

Muqtadr Al Sadr is warning of a release of the Mehdi Army fighters and word is he has already done so. This is bad news for Iraq. The cease fire has been the main reason for the curb in violence. This clearly shows why we must withdraw our troops as soon as possible. This is a civil war and military operations will do nothing in the long-term to curb the violence. It must be done by the political players in Iraq. This is bad news.

Clinton Camp Pushing Wright Story

The Clinton camp began making an issue of the Jeremiah Wright situation today, not surprisingly. As it started to fade from our memory, the Clintons retrieve it. She said she would not have sat in the pews while Rev. Wright said such things. And then here is an interview given in Ireland of a finance committee chair of the Clintons stating their true opinions.

This is well worth the listen. I think this story is beginning to turn. People are starting to say, ok enough with this story. We have all heard friends say things we disagree with...

Iraq War Journal: Cease Fire May Be Unraveling

Iraqi security forces battled the Mehdi Army militia in Basra on Tuesday in a drive to win control of the southern oil city, but violence appeared to be spreading to Baghdad and other cities.

Police and health workers said at least 12 people were killed in the fighting in districts of central and northern Basra where Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army has a strong presence.

Last month Muqtadr Al Sadr re-issued a cease fire for the Mehdi Army, extending a six month cease in fighting that began in August of 07. This has been the primary reason for the reduction in violence in Iraq. There is word and evidence it is unraveling.

"There are clashes in the streets. Bullets are coming from everywhere and we can hear the sound of rocket explosions. This has been going on since dawn," resident Jamil told Reuters by telephone as he cowered in his home.

Sadr's main complaint is U.S. and Iraqi forces exploited the cease fire to carry out indiscriminate arrests. In a statement read out by a senior aide on Tuesday, Sadr called on Iraqis to stage sit-ins all over Iraq and said he would declare a "civil revolt" if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi security forces continued. He also threatened a "third step", but said it was to early to announce what it would be.

From Reuters:

Sadr's followers launched what they called "a civil disobedience campaign" in Baghdad on Monday, forcing store-owners to close in several districts.

Pro-Sadr students forced Mustansiriya University in Baghdad to close on Tuesday. Members of Sadr's movement said the protest would spread to other towns and cities from Wednesday.
Police sources said Sadr supporters seized control of five districts in the southern town of Kut on Tuesday after clashes between gunmen and police.

In Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces sealed off the Mehdi Army stronghold of Sadr City, a sprawling slum of 2 million people, after the militia ordered police and soldiers off the streets.
Police said fighting erupted in several Sadr City neighbourhoods between Mehdi Army fighters and the Badr Organisation, the armed wing of a rival Shi'ite faction.

Baghdad's Green Zone, the government and diplomatic compound, was hit by several salvoes of rockets during the day. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said they had been fired from Sadr City.

Outsourcing for the 21st Century : Child Care

Bush's War

As we hit 4,000 soldiers dead in Iraq this movie reminds us of why this war should have never been waged. Brilliant.

WHAT'S A VALOMILK?

ok, since yesterday was easter (aka my reason to eat more than normal amounts of chocolate), here's an ode to valomilk, (see russell sifers above, owner of the small family operation in kansas) my new favorite old time candy...

since my post on schoko bananen, i've gorged on those treats, had enough and then longed to find a new obsession. and i officially end my allegiance to cadbury cream eggs... bought a bunch on sale... each one was a disappointment. the product is obviously smaller year after year but that once original sweet, creamy egg center that i craved, is no more. the taste is overly chemical, it's not creamy enough, but rather congealed or half cream/half corn syrupy. gross! same goes for those "used-to-be-yummy" russell stover raspberry/truffle/strawberry/coconut flavored eggs.

et voila... valomilk is my new candy of choice, with all natural ingredients and not produced by some big conglomerate or an indie company that sold out to the big guy... the valomilk website is kitschy and old school, heavy with nostalgic marketing & family history... but what's with the name???

from the website: The name VALOMILK DIP came from: V for real vanilla, ALO from marshmallow, MILK to describe it as creamy and DIP because it was hand dipped (hand made). The name for “The Original Flowing Center Candy Cup” was later shortened to VALOMILK.

4,000 U.S. Soldiers Killed: A Grim Milestone

Four thousand soldiers have been killed after four U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb blast in southern Baghdad late Sunday, raising the death toll for American forces since start of the war to 4,000, according to the Pentagon. See Michael Ware discuss this grm milestone. It will be well worth your time. He has been a hero in a sea of capitulators.

Additionally, across Iraq yesterday 57 lives were taken in suicide bombings and other attacks; insurgents pounded the Green Zone as well.

A Slap on the Wrist? Not Even.

Who is responsible for the recession that the people of America find themselves in? One could say we all are, but I would venture to say some way more than others? Bear Sterns is only the latest symptom of a sickness: getting one over on someone else, and then, when it backfires, crying out for governmental help. The multinational titans who turn red at the word "intervention," were the first to call out for help from Dubai, the Fed, and anywhere else. And the Bush administration, always a lover of the business elite, obligingly baild them out in the name of saving 'our collective shirts.' But what is to prevent the cycle from repeating itself? What will stop Multimillionaire executives from playing Russiona Roulette again with the people of America?Here is a little of what Friday's New York Times had to say:

How can one feel sorry for James Cayne? The potential losses of the chairman and former chief executive of Bear Stearns must rank up there with the biggest in modern history. The value of his stake in Bear Stearns collapsed from about $1 billion a year ago to as little as $14 million at the price JPMorgan Chase offered for the teetering bank on Sunday.

Still, Mr. Cayne was paid some $40 million in cash between 2004 and 2006, the last year on record, as well as stocks and options. In the past few years, he has sold shares worth millions more. There should be financial accountability for the man who led Bear Stearns as it gorged on dubious subprime securities to boost its profits and share price, helping to set up one of the biggest financial collapses since the savings-and-loan crisis in the 1980s. Some might argue that he should have lost it all.

But that’s not how it works. The ongoing bailout of the financial system by the Federal Reserve underscores the extent to which financial barons socialize the costs of private bets gone bad.

Compared to the cold shoulder given to struggling homeowners, the cash and attention lavished by the government on the nation’s financial titans provides telling insight into the priorities of the Bush administration.

Indeed, the pain that is being inflicted on financial-industry executives as a result of their own actions and decisions is not proving much of an encouragement. Rather, the knuckle-rapping seems only to encourage bankers to make up for any losses they may suffer by finding another way to navigate their companies, the financial system and the economy into the next maelstrom — from Internet stocks to what the industry calls zero-down, negative amortization, no-doc, adjustable-rate mortgages.

The costs of such a lopsided system of incentives are by now clear. Better regulation of mortgage markets would help avoid repeating current excesses. But more fundamental correctives are needed to curb financiers’ appetite for walking a tightrope. Some economists have suggested making their remuneration contingent on the performance of their investments over several years — releasing their compensation gradually.

That’s an idea worth studying. Certainly, trying to put specific limits on bankers’ salaries is a nonstarter. But until bankers face a real risk of losing their shirts, they will continue blithely ratcheting up the risks to collect the rewards while letting the rest of us carry the bag when their punts go bad.

Scummy Bill Clinton Does it Again

Did not Bill just say it was a "mugging" by the media on his race comments. He is an idiot and these comments are not by accident. He basically calls McCain and Hillary Patriots and leaves us to wonder just what Barack is...scummy, scummy, scummy...

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