Under his leadership, the Peer-Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program concentrates on groundbreaking research relevant to both the military and the Alzheimer’s community, particularly better understanding traumatic brain injury and its association to … (Read Full Article Here)

Even people who are jailed for minor offenses can be subjected to strip searches by jailers, the Supreme Court said Monday, rejecting a challenge from a New Jersey man who argued it’s unconstitutional to force everyone to strip down for inspection[,]” including comments by NACDL National Security Counsel Mason Clutter. COTUS: Strip Searches in Jail Okay

A House panel has given the green light to a bill that would overhaul what critics say is the state’s antiquated alimony law.

Rep. Ritch Workman’s bill (HB 549) Thursday cleared the House Judiciary Committee by a 17-1 vote. The Melbourne Republican said the measure would ensure alimony is fair to both ex-spouses. (Read Full Article Here)

In a fledgling crime career cut short by ineptitude, Arvel Crawford left three men dead on the pavement, detectives say. (Read Full Article Here)

Kody Brown is a proud polygamist, and a relatively famous one. Now Mr. Brown, his four wives and 16 children and stepchildren are going to court to keep from being punished for it. (Read Full Article Here)

By Doug Beam

In our fast paced, technology driven society, we think that we can cheat time by spurning sleep.

One leading journalist and entrepreneur, Arianna Huffington, thinks otherwise. When seeking inspiration., she goes to sleep. “There are many, many great ideas locked inside of us,” she says in an interview for FastCompany.com, June 2011, at 88. “We just need to close our eyes to see them.”

Consistent with this philosophy, there are three nap rooms in the offices of the Huffington Post Media Group (HuffPo). Ms. Huffington is responsible for the editorial aspects of HuffPo and oversees nearly 1,300 writers.

Somehow, I met Don Stockton shortly after I opened my solo law practice in 1988. Don was from Tullahoma, Tennessee, and was unlike any investigator and process server I had met or have met since. There was just something special about him.

He conducted investigations in my cases and helped me formulate trial strategies. I had served as a prosecutor for a number of years and he had law enforcement experience.He knew how to work a case. He had a way with people and they opened up to him. Since they liked him, they were more likely to come to court on short notice to testify so we could present the best possible case for our clients.

Thanks to Don, we helped many clients.

Today, I went to Don’s memorial service in Melbourne, Florida. I learned that Don was born on June 20, 1931, in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He died on April 12, 2011, in Melbourne. The Brownlie-Maxwell Chapel was overflowing with people.

Don was a Mason and a Shriner. His Masonic brothers from the local lodge came to honor him. They spoke of how special Don was and the many contributions he had made to the community. He was given a “full” Masonic funeral service. Don would have appreciated these heartfelt words from the Masonic chaplain:

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even forevermore.

Rev. Glenn Stockton, formerly the senior pastor of Cavalry Chapel, delivered an inspiring eulogy. His daughter-in-law sang “How Great Thou Art” (George Beverly Shea would have been proud!). Rev. Stockton shared words from the Bible and noted that Don had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior three months after he and his wife, Elizabeth, were married. That was 55 years ago. Rev. Stockton said that Don had walked from one room here on Earth to another room in Heaven and that he was with the Lord.

Don was a University of Tennessee fan and loved the Big Orange and Rocky Top. As a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, I enjoyed the camaraderie of a fellow Big Orange fan. We often talked about the great “three states of Tennessee.”

Never afraid of trying something new, Don was the first person I knew who purchased a “brick” or “bag” cellular phone. He was generous and allowed me to use it when we traveled on cases although the price per minute was bordering on exorbitant.

When we traveled throughout Florida on my cases, we had great times and found many a barbecue pit along the roadways of Florida. I remember in particular one meal Don and I had at Jimmie Joe’s Barbecue in Melbourne Beach. A deliberate eater (Don likely never suffered from indigestion), Don was enjoying some pulled pork along with sides of creamy cole slaw, hush puppies, baked beans and garlic toast, when he decided to pour some of the house homemade hot barbecue sauce on his pork. After taking a few bites, Don looked at me and said, “Man, that is some good hot sauce. The top of my head is itching!” We both burst out laughing. To this day, I think of Don when I am enjoying a particularly good house homemade hot barbecue sauce.

Don knew about priorities and loved God, the United States (he was a veteran) and his family. His friends knew that they could always count on Don.

The following poem was printed in the memorial service program and I share it with you:

Don’t cry for me now
I’m free.
I’ve walked the path
God laid for me.
If you love me
let me go.
When it’s your time
you will know.
Don’t be sad
dry your eyes.
It really hurts
to hear your cries.
I love you all
as you can see.
But my time has come and now I’m free.

Melissa Powell

Don, my friend and colleague, you will be missed. You left this world a better place.

Doug Beam

Arizona Lawmakers Push New Round Of Immigration Restrictions – Arizona lawmakers are proposing a sweeping package of immigration restrictions that might make the controversial measures the state approved last year, which the Obama administration went to court to block, look mild….The measures would compel school officials to ask for proof of citizenship for students and require hospitals to similarly ask for papers for those receiving non-emergency care. Illegal immigrants would be blocked from obtaining any state licenses, including those for marriage. Landlords would be forced to evict the entire family from public housing if one illegal immigrant were found living in a unit. Illegal immigrants found driving would face 30 days in jail and forfeit the vehicle to the state.

dougbeam.com

Court officials are hoping to escape deep cuts as legislators look at a $3.6 billion budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year. During an interview Friday with The Ledger’s editorial board, Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady, a former congressman and state legislator from Lakeland, spoke about the impending legislative session. He said he was sympathetic to lawmakers who must create a balanced budget in a dire economy, but that the courts are struggling. “We are really at the point where we are struggling with the caseload we have and the demands on the system,” he said. Canady wrote an opinion Thursday [Feb. 17] that Florida needs an additional 80 judges, but acknowledged getting new judges won’t be feasible given the state’s tough economy complete with more than 1 million Floridians unemployed and budget deficits.

Canady Hopes Florida Courts Escape Cuts – The Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Feb. 19, 2011.

dougbeam.com

Why ‘Watson’ Matters To Lawyers – Computer’s artificial intelligence could be a boon to legal research — and might even come in handy in the courtroom.

dougbeam.com

As Identity Theft Eases, don’t Buck that Trend – There’s some good news and some bad news about identity theft.

dougbeam.com

AG of Ill. Sues Over Pension Board’s OK of Benefits to Disgraced Police Commander – After a pension board’s OK last month of a $3,000-a-month pension to a former Chicago police commander accused of playing a leading role in alleged widespread torture of suspects by his officers decades ago, the state attorney general has stepped into the fray. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued today to block the pension payments to Jon Burge, 63, contending that they are illegal under state law, the Chicago Tribune reports.

dougbeam.com

The New York Times (2/5, B5, Andrews) reported in “Patient Money” that “given the prevalence of chronic pain — often defined as recurrent pain that lasts more than three to six months — you might expect that by now medical science would have figured out how to alleviate it and that health insurers would routinely cover its treatment.” Unfortunately, “insurance coverage for many types of pain management treatment is often inadequate, say advocates and physicians who treat it. Medication and interventional therapies…are more likely to be routinely covered than physical or behavioral therapy.” What’s more, pain management is complicated, and patient response to therapies varies considerably. The column provided advice on how to appeal a denied claim for behavioral or physical therapy related to chronic pain.

dougbeam.com

Mistake one might have been misspelling “curcuit court.” Mistake two was probably invoking the names of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, President Obama, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson in a document the authors dubbed a “sealed order.” The couple run Stone, Colman & Gonzalez Arbitration, a debt collection firm, from a suburban Boynton Beach house. Already being investigated by The Florida Bar for practicing law without a license, Blanchi and William Dugatkin could face criminal charges for allegedly trying to pass off the strange document as the work of a circuit judge.

Investigators See Bizarre ‘Chutzpah’ in Fake Legal Action, Debt Collection – The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, Feb. 6, 2011.

dougbeam.com

Public relations is great, but there’s no public relations like winning.
 
Tom Landry

dougbeam.com

After Mother Jones broke the story, the Republicans give up their bid to rewrite the meaning of rape in an anti-abortion bill.

Mother Jones, February 6, 2011

dougbeam.com

Why several countries want to let people censor personal data on the Web, like Google searches on you.

The Atlantic, February 6, 2011

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Judges must rule before trial on claims of immunity from prosecution under Florida’s “stand-your-ground” law, which permits the use of deadly force for self-defense, the Florida Supreme Court said Thursday [Dec. 16]. The justices ruled 7-0 that Clarence Dennis had wrongly been denied a pretrial hearing on his stand-your-ground claim in Okeechobee County, but they still upheld his felony battery conviction and five-year prison sentence. It was a harmless error because a jury later found Dennis guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” Chief Justice Charles Canady wrote for the court.

Florida Today, http://www.floridatoday.com

dougbeam.com

The following column by Diane Bullock (http://www.minyanville.com/special-features/articles/metlife-us-solider-death-benefit-scandal/8/3/2010/id/29434) reveals how insurers receive a colossal payday when an insured American soldier dies:

The insurance industry has hit moral bottom, said Diane Bullock. “In a massive, industrywide scandal perpetrated against military families,” several life insurers, including  MetLife (MET), Prudential (PRU) , Genworth Financial Inc (GNW) , Guardian Life of America, AXA SA, MONY Life Insurance Co, New York Life Insurance Co, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co, and Unum Group (UNM) , are being investigated by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for allegedly defrauding and shortchanging the beneficiaries of fallen servicemen and women.

Here’s how the legal scam works: When a soldier dies, his life-insurance beneficiaries receive “a sympathy-tinged letter” from the insurer informing them that their $400,000 death benefit is being held in a safe, interest-bearing account. Only in the fine print does the insurer disclose that the account isn’t government-insured and may be earning as little as 0.5 percent interest. And there’s no mention that the insurer is pocketing returns of 5 percent or more by investing the benefit in high-yielding instruments.

The insuarnce companies under investigation deny wrongdoing, but California Rep. Linda Sanchez has proposed legislation to eliminate the practice. It can’t come soon enough. The death of any U.S. soldier should be “a national tragedy,” not a “colossal payday” for insurers.

“Business, Best columns,” The Week, August 13, 2010, at page 42.

dougbeam.com