The Court of Appeals in Washington state recently reversed a conviction because the state prosecutor invoked racist rhetoric at trial. State v. McKenzie, No. 38555-8-III (Wash. Ct. App. Apr. 21, 2022). The opinion’s misconduct analysis is powerful and worth the read. It’s also nice to see the state judiciary’s ongoing commitment in this area. If…
How do you say to your child in the nightNothing is all black but then nothing is all white?How do you say it will all be alrightWhen you know that it mightn’t be true?What do you do? Careful the things you sayChildren will listenCareful the things you doChildren will seeAnd learnChildren may not obeyBut children…
Michigan’s P.A. 2022, No. 36 will be a great law. The Governor signed it yesterday and it will go into effect in 180 days. What it will do: The proof of service for the summons and complaints of civil lawsuits will no longer have to be notarized when served by an adult (who is not…
I’m opting for “progress over perfection” but perhaps you’ve seen the phrase as “progress not perfection.” Same vibe. I’m adding it to my mental toolbox because of two recent examples. Accessibility expert Meryl Evans recently shared an example on LinkedIn: This scenario is exactly why I’ve been pushing for progress, not perfection. A dear friend…
Some courts in Canada and at least one Texas probate court judge are showing how easy it can be to make welcomed user-friendly changes to their day-to-day operations. Ever wonder how to respectfully handle the topic of pronouns? Look to Canada. British Columbia’s provincial and supreme court systems each adopted new rules in late 2020…
The masses embraced the online puzzle Wordle by early January 2022. Launched in October 2021, it had 90 users on November 1. Numbers skyrocketed to 300,000 by the middle of January. Wordle has ensnared the numbers people and the word people, the Scrabble obsessives and the Sudoku fans. It’s easier than the New York Times’s…
It’s second nature for jurors to be instructed and regularly reminded to avoid reading and watching the news while they are sitting in their case. And to not perform their own internet research. Here are Michigan’s Model Civil Jury Instruction 97.21 and a portion of 2.04 M Civ JI 97.21 Caution about Publicity in Cases…
Recent times have humbled us with too many examples of our legal system processes not being more just, fair, or decent. The count feels like it’s growing. We need to start asking and addressing: What are we afraid of? I do not pretend to know the answer. But it often helps to start by recognizing…
A 10-year snapshot of filing activity is now possible with the Michigan Supreme Court clerk’s December 2021 activity post. As is the custom, no commentary about the “why” for any trend is offered. The data is the data.