BLACK LETTER law may not be that black

BLACK LETTER LAW may not be that black
Source: New York Times article by Adam Liptak

In an article captioned "Final Word on U.S. Law Isn’t: Supreme Court Keeps Editing" that appeared in the New York Times dated May 24, 2014, Adam Liptak introduces the subject to the reader as follows:

“WASHINGTON — The [United States] Supreme Court has been quietly revising its decisions years after they were issued, altering the law of the land without public notice. The revisions include “truly substantive changes in factual statements and legal reasoning,” said Richard J. Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard and the author of a new study examining the phenomenon.”

Professor Lazarus’ article, now in draft, is scheduled for publication in the December 2014 issue of the Harvard Law Review.

Mr. Liptak’s article is posted on the Internet at:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/us/final-word-on-us-law-isnt-supreme-court-keeps-editing.html?from=us

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Lying to investigators

Lying to investigators
2014 NY Slip Op 03623, Appellate Division, First Department

A New York Police Officer challenged her dismissal from her position as a police officer. The Appellate Division unanimously denied her petition, noting that “The penalty of dismissal does not shock the conscience in that petitioner was found to have engaged in serious misconduct, and admitted other less serious charges committed during her short career as a police officer”.

The court found that there was substantial evidence to support finding her guilty of certain disciplinary charges, including her admissions that she lied to federal agents conducting a drug trafficking investigation.

In Bryson v. United States, 396 U.S. 64 (1969), the United States Supreme Court said: "Our legal system provides methods for challenging the Government's right to ask questions - lying is not one of them. A citizen may decline to answer the question, or answer it honestly, but he cannot with impunity knowingly and willfully answer with a falsehood."

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Teacher’s prior unblemished record of service did not mitigate imposing termination as the penalty after being found guilty of professional misconduct and other charges

Teacher’s prior unblemished record of service did not mitigate imposing termination as the   penalty after being found guilty of professional misconduct and other charges

2014 NY Slip Op 03210, Appellate Division, First Department

A tenured schoolteacher [Teacher] was found guilty of a number of disciplinary charges alleging professional misconduct, neglect of duty, failure to follow procedures and carry out duties, and incompetent and inefficient service during two school years over a two-year period.

Teacher challenged the Department of Education’s decision to terminate her. Supreme Court vacated the termination and remanded the matter to the Department for its determination of a lesser penalty.

The Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s ruling, noting that the Hearing Officer upheld many of the charges and specifications lodged against Teacher, which findings were not challenged on appeal.

Furthermore, said the court, the evidence showed that notwithstanding Teacher's prior unblemished record of service, she continued to blame others and refused to accept responsibility for her failure to effectively manage her classroom and deliver effective instruction and was unwilling to implement any of the school administration's suggestions for improvement.

The Appellate Division held that under the circumstances the penalty of termination “does not shock one's sense of fairness,” applying the so-called Pell standard [Pell v Board of Education, 34 NY2d 222].

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A Reasonable Disciplinary Penalty Under the Circumstances - A 600+ page guide to penalties imposed on public employees in New York State found guilty of selected acts of misconduct. For more information, click on http://booklocker.com/books/7401.html

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