All Over Albany

Judges to discuss "inner workings" of the Court of Appeals at Albany Law

Judges from the New York State Court of Appeals -- the state's highest court -- will be at Albany Law March 21 for an event titled "The New York Court of Appeals: The Untold Secrets of Eagle Street."* The judges will "discuss the court's procedure and inner workings."

All of the court's current judges are schedule to participate: Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Judge Victoria Graffeo, Judge Susan Phillips Read, Judge Robert Smith, Judge Eugene Pigott, Jr., Judge Jenny Rivera. (Rivera was confirmed just this past month.)

The event is from 5-7 pm in Albany Law School's Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom. It's free and open to the public. It's part of the Albany Law Review's annual Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke State Constitutional Commentary Symposium.

*Because, you know, the court is on Eagle Street in Albany. It's across Pine Street from Albany City Hall.

Albany Law advertises on AOA.

Lawsuit against Albany Law dismissed

A New York Supreme Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which recent graduates of Albany Law School alleged the school misrepresented employment statistics about its graduates. [Reuters]

The school's employment stats include grads who are working in jobs that are either part time or don't require a law degree -- and the plaintiffs argued that is a deceptive business practice. [New York Law Journal] From the decision by judge Richard Platkin (himself an Albany Law alum) [New York Law Journal]:

Here, the alleged deceptive acts or practices are directed principally at college graduates deciding whether to pursue a legal education at ALS ... These individuals are called upon to decide whether to pursue a legal education and, if so, which law school to attend. While highly consequential in their own right, these decisions generally are intertwined with an individual's choice of career. Thus, in considering a reasonable consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances, the Court is mindful that it is dealing with a reasonably well-educated (though not necessarily sophisticated) group of consumers who are called upon to make major life decisions. As such, this case is unlike those involving representations made to the general public in connection with the sale of modestly priced consumer goods (cf. Guggenheimer v Ginzburg, 43 NY2d 268, 273 [1977] [sale of dictionary]).

Also from the decision:

(there's more)

Sandra Fluke at Albany Law

A symposium at Albany Law School October 11 -- "From the Page to the Pill: Women's Reproductive Rights and the Law" -- will include Sandra Fluke.

The national spotlight found Fluke earlier this year after House Republicans didn't let her testify at a committee meeting on conscience clauses in health care. House Democrats then let her speak at a different committee meeting. Fluke spoke about the cost of contraceptives and the lack of coverage for them on the student plan at Georgetown, where she was a law student at the time (she's since graduated). Then Rush Limbaugh happened. Then the whole situation blew up.

Fluke was one of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month.

The full lineup of speakers and panelists for the symposium, which is organized by the Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology, is after the jump. From the blurbage for the event:

The panelists will be divided into two panels. The first will focus on whether or not the law can and should mandate health insurance provider coverage of women's contraceptives, and the second will focus on legislation currently affecting women's reproductive rights.

The event is from 1-5 pm at Albany Law. It's free and open to the public.

(there's more)

Violence, Vulgarity, Lies

The Albany Law Review has a symposium on free speech issues -- "Violence, Vulgarity, Lies ... and the Importance of 21st Century Free Speech" -- coming up September 27 at Albany Law. And it looks like it's gathered a solid lineup of speakers, including:

Floyd Abrams, First Amendment lawyer, whose wins before the U.S. Supreme Court range from the Pentagon Papers to Citizens United

Dean Alan B. Morrison, George Washington School of Law, who co-founded the Public Citizen Litigation Group with Ralph Nader and who has argued more than 20 cases before the Supreme Court

Susan Herman, President, American Civil Liberties Union, and author, Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of American Democracy

Robert O'Neil, former President, University of Virginia, and founder, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

Ronald Collins, Harold S. Shefelman Scholar, University of Washington School of Law

Robert D. Richards, founding co-director, Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment, and John & Ann Curley Professor of First Amendment Studies at Penn State

Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent, The New York Times

The symposium is free and open to the public.

Yep, Albany Law does advertise on AOA.

Really, who needs another toaster?

This is cool: when Martha Kronholm and Frank Moscowitz got married last fall they registered not for gifts, but for donations -- to the health law clinic at Albany Law School. Said Martha Kronholm in an article published by the school:

"We never wanted to prompt any of our guests for a gift of any kind, just coming to the wedding and sharing in the day was more than enough ... But for people who wanted to give us a gift, my husband and I were confident that our guests would happily redirect their generosity to a great cause."

According to the clinic's web site, "The Health Law Clinic is designed to teach student interns to identify and address the legal issues which poor individuals living with chronic health conditions often face."

You might know Martha and Frank by another name: Princess Mabel. The two musicians have been a part of the local music scene for a long time. They moved to Brooklyn in 2008 after Martha graduated from Albany Law and got a job at a firm in Manhattan.

According to the ALS article, the wedding gift donations were matched by the firm -- and the money has gone toward a fund to endow an annual award for a health law clinic student.

photo: Ben Karis-Nix / Collar City Records

More budget reaction, power almost completely restored, Kennedy goes upstate, Pine Hills residents upset about crime, police say penis guy wasn't wearing shirt or shoes

A Siena poll reports that 78 percent of people polled support raising taxes on people making $1 million a year or more as a way to help cover the state's budget gap. The Paterson budget plan currently doesn't include such a tax. [SRI]

There's some question as to whether the Luther Forest chip fab would still qualify for all its tax breaks under the Paterson budget plan's proposed adjustment to the Empire Zone program. Yesterday the state approve the transfer of $650 million in incentives from AMD to the spin-off company that will be building the fab. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Proposed cuts to state subsidies for Amtrak could halt service between Albany and Montreal. The line that runs between Rutland and Albany could also be in jeopardy, which -- when combined with the possible cut of the Montreal route -- would mean the station in Saratoga Springs would be left with no trains. [TU]

Liquor store owners are upset by David Paterson's proposal to let supermarkets sell wine. They say rules prohibiting them from owning more than one location and from staying open late will hurt their ability to compete with the supermarket chains. [TU]

Almost 2,000 homes in the Capital Region are still without power. A National Grid spokesperson said the ice storm was like "our version of a hurricane." [Daily Gazette] [Daily Gazette]

Caroline Kennedy made stops in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo yesterday as part of her non-campaign campaign for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. She also may -- or may not -- have said she'd be running for the seat in 2010 if she's not appointed. [NYT] [AP/TU]

(there's more)