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Let’s Be Honest
by David Ziemer on May 14, 2008 09:15 CDT
During her address to the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association last month, Judge Diane S. Sykes related the following anecdote from the Constitutional Convention on the issue of how to choose judges:Click for more | Comments
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Inside the Jury Room
by David Ziemer on May 8, 2008 14:52 CDT
As a writer for a legal journal, I’d love to write an inside scoop of what goes on in a jury room. But, alas, every time I’ve been called for jury duty, I managed to get myself removed by one attorney or another with his peremptory strikes.Click for more | Comments
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An easier solution
by David Ziemer on April 30, 2008 15:30 CDT
After the 2000 election, in which Bush won the Electoral College, but Gore won more popular votes, some persons dissatisfied with the results called for an end to the electoral college.
This week, State Bar President Thomas Basting was displeased with the results of the Bar’s election for President-Elect. Predictably, he proposed a PLAN to change how we elect our bar leaders.Click for more | Comments (4)
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Student Speech
on April 24, 2008 14:42 CDT
Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit may or may not write the most well-reasoned opinion in any given case, but it is a pretty sure bet that, among competing opinions, his will be the most eloquent.Click for more | Comments
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Election will show Wisconsin lawyers support voluntary bar
by David Ziemer on April 14, 2008 13:00 CDT
The ballots for state bar elections have now arrived. Approximately two-thirds of the state’s attorneys will throw them away, if previous elections provide an accurate forecast of the future. Of those who do vote, a little more than half will vote for one of the bar’s two candidates, and a little less than half will vote for Douglas Kammer, who is running on a one-issue platform: the end of the mandatory bar.Click for more | Comments (5)
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Power Trip
by David Ziemer on March 28, 2008 13:17 CDT
Yet another group of officious intermeddlers has decided that it has the responsibility to decide what information Wisconsin’s citizens may be permitted to hear during elections.Click for more | Comments (2)
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Ruling for defense or prosecution doesn’t matter – application of law is key
by David Ziemer on March 21, 2008 14:25 CDT
Every case heard by any justice or judge is to be decided on its own facts. There is nothing inherently wrong with a justice ruling in favor of criminal defendants 100 percent of the time; there is nothing inherently wrong with a justice ruling in favor of criminal defendants 0 percent of the time.Click for more | Comments (1)
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Membership in political parties is no big deal
by David Ziemer on March 17, 2008 11:06 CDT
Should judges and judicial candidates be allowed to be members of political parties?Click for more | Comments (2)
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Federal corporate law would be folly
by David Ziemer on March 4, 2008 12:55 CST
Apparently, there are some misguided folks out there who would like to enact a federal corporate law that would displace the various state laws.Click for more | Comments
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Amendment limits ability to get federal judges as speakers
by David Ziemer on February 26, 2008 14:08 CST
One of Wisconsin’s U.S. senators, Russell Feingold, is engaged in a mission that borders on demagoguery.Click for more | Comments (6)
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Planned Parenthood release misleads about Wisconsin law
by David Ziemer on February 15, 2008 14:48 CST
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is currently distributing a misleading press release concerning the Wisconsin Statutes.Click for more | Comments (6)
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State Jury Instructions Should Be Free
by David Ziemer on February 4, 2008 12:20 CST
It seems to me that standard jury instructions should be free of charge, available on the internet, and neither private parties nor non-profit groups should be able to copyright them and charge for them.Click for more | Comments (4)
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Eliminating judicial elections is not the answer
by David Ziemer on January 18, 2008 15:33 CST
An opinion piece by the Wisconsin State Journal’s editorial board, which ran Jan. 12, proposes getting rid of judicial elections, in favor of selection by a “non-partisan committee” that would forward several names to the governor based on “merit.”Click for more | Comments
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Isn’t it ironic?
by David Ziemer on December 6, 2007 14:40 CST
The State Bar has launched what it claims is a “bi-partisan” Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee.Click for more | Comments
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I stand with the private bar
by David Ziemer on November 30, 2007 07:39 CST
I share the motivations behind AB576, which would make more persons eligible for representation by the State Public Defender.Click for more | Comments (1)
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Is state funding for indigents in civil cases constitutional?
by David Ziemer on November 6, 2007 14:17 CST
The recently enacted state budget includes $1 million for the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation Inc. (WisTAF), which will make grants to programs that provide civil legal services to indigent persons.Click for more | Comments
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Bar should not limit ability to seek presidency
by David Ziemer on October 29, 2007 19:17 CST
The State Bar of Wisconsin currently rotates its president-elect among three areas: Milwaukee; Madison; and out-state. Each year, it selects two candidates from one of the three regions, and the membership votes.Click for more | Comments
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David Ziemer Bio
on October 30, 2007 13:39 CST
David Ziemer is news editor of the Wisconsin Law Journal. After practicing law in Milwaukee for nine years, he joined the Law Journal staff full-time in 2000.Click for more | Comments
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