I’m not going to go into any detail or comment much on the latest decision rejecting the Argus Leader’s efforts to dismiss Dan Scott’s libel suit against it and executive editor Randell Beck. (The opinion is available in PDF format here thanks to PP.) Suffice it to say that the written opinion reflects [...]
March 27, 2008 – 10:39 am
I don’t normally blog from work but this morning’s mail contained a decision from the state Supreme Court on what is probably the biggest case I’ve argued there. The Court ruled in our favor, finding the state’s current tax on insurance premiums constitutional. Why is that important? The premium tax brings in [...]
January 17, 2008 – 12:52 pm
Global warming is a focus of a new South Dakota Supreme Court decision. In it, the Court unanimously upholds the permitting of a new coal-fired electric generating plant in northeast South Dakota. While the Court acknowledges the potential threat of global warming, it says decisions in this area rest with the executive and [...]
December 26, 2007 – 7:47 am
No, this isn’t what I got for Christmas, let alone a smooth transition from Christmas cheer to real life. Still, at least two items of legal interest have been in the Argus recently that I believe deserve some comment or explication.
The most recent is that a judge refused to dismiss Dan Scott’s libel action [...]
December 6, 2007 – 3:46 pm
Best way to take a break from a South Dakota Supreme Court brief that’s consuming most of your time? Perhaps a new decision by the Court that has absolutely nothing to do with your case but interest Internet denizens.
In the decision, handed down Wednesday, the Court applies case law every lawyer recalls from the [...]
September 25, 2007 – 7:43 am
I know things have leaned too much toward the political here recently but my recent comment about the O.J. Simpson book and the marketplace of ideas and events transpiring since then got me in a philosophic mode. It’s something I’ve contemplated before but I am becoming more and more convinced that one of the [...]
September 19, 2007 – 12:37 pm
Tim Johnson’s return to the U.S. Senate gave him a chance to perhaps undo what I consider one of his worst votes. He took advantage of that chance, at least on the surface.
In 2006, Johnson voted for the Military Commissions Act (and Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin was one of only 32 House Democrats to vote [...]
September 17, 2007 – 7:54 pm
Bill Harlan caught something I missed. Turns out that Frank Pommersheim, from whom I took Indian Law at the USD Law School, and his wife, Anne Dunham, are two of the “Camden 28.”
For those not familiar with the term, the Camden 28 refers to 28 individuals who were arrested for breaking into a [...]
August 20, 2007 – 8:51 pm
A brief deviation into the political because it reflects some of the societal and legal ramifications of post-9/11 thought in America.
I’ll admit I’m a bit behind on this, simply noting the vote when it occurred. But Sam Hurst, a RCJ citizen columnist , prompted me with his thoughts on U.S. Rep. Herseth-Sandlin’s vote on [...]
August 17, 2007 – 7:48 am
The chance, however small, that our law firm might somehow become involved in the defamation lawsuit Dan Scott started this week against the Argus Leader and its editor, Randell Beck, demands circumspection. Thus, I won’t discuss or assess the merits of any allegations, the personalities or my personal views. Still, informed public discussion [...]
I try to stay away from the political but this issue deals as much with the practice of law. Sen. John Thune is getting front page headlines for the defeat of comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate. While I, too, thought the bill was, at best, a horrible band aid approach falling far [...]
Shortly before the 2004 election, I opined that the most important race to win was the presidential election. One of the reasons was the potential ramifications of Bush being able to make appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. That fear appears to be turning to reality now.
After winning the election, Bush appointed Chief [...]
January 29, 2007 – 12:51 pm
I’m not suggesting there is anything afoul here, just unusual and coincidental.
Virtually every attorney gets mail from prison inmates, whether because they represent them or unsolicited. Last month, I got a letter from an inmate I was appointed to represent in a habeas corpus action. The letter didn’t make any sense as it [...]
December 20, 2006 – 6:00 pm
Book bloggers, including those who simply post reviews at Amazon, get blasted occasionally. Sometimes mainstream media reviewers assert that internet-only reviewers simply “enjoy shooting off their mouths” and their work amounts to “the degradation of literary taste.” Even some book bloggers themselves raise questions about whether there is an ethical obligation to disclose [...]
November 9, 2006 – 5:28 pm
No, not as in “Diana Ross and.” The South Dakota Supremes.
In a decision handed down today, the Supreme Court helped Kevin Costner keep the Midnight Star casino in Deadwood going and saved him hundreds of thousands of dollars in the dissolution of a limited partnership that currently operates the it. From a legal [...]
Category Archives: 
BlogoSquare