Recent Articles

With Apologies, Gone Writin'

E.L. Lipman
February 28, 2009 00:31

With apologies to WTS readers for the long gap between posts - particularly because that gap will grow a little wider still. I have been spending nights and weekends penning a longer monograph (around 10,000 words) on contractor ethics; and it has been a larger undertaking than I first imagined.I...

For Wersal’s Challenges to the Code of Judicial Conduct, Tomorrow is Another Day

E.L. Lipman
February 15, 2009 20:16

I only recently received a copy of the Memorandum Opinion and Order issued by Judge Ann H. Montgomery, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, in Wersal v. Sexton.As readers of these pages will recall, in March of last year, Golden Valley attorney and sometime candidate for...

Session Update: Bills for Administrative Lawyers to Note (and Watch)

E.L. Lipman
February 14, 2009 04:16

HF 347 (Lenczewski) Repeals the Mandatory Retirement Age for Administrative Law Judges.HF 385 / SF 215 (Anderson, B. / Koch and Dille) would establish a Board of Oversight of Human Services Appeals to review “challenges by aggrieved parties to the commissioner's final orders from fair hearings and c...

Our Ratings Wars: Court Puts Advisory Committee to Work on Courtroom Camera Pilot Project

E.L. Lipman
February 13, 2009 23:48

Today, a divided Minnesota Supreme Court directed the Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice to “recommend draft rules establishing a pilot project on cameras in the court that includes … effective mechanisms for measuring the impact of: cameras on the proceedings and on the par...

A New Code of Judicial Conduct! (Minus the Most Worrisome Parts)

E.L. Lipman
January 24, 2009 13:58

By way of an Order issued today, the Minnesota Supreme Court promulgated a revised Code of Judicial Conduct that will take effect on July 1, 2009.The revised Code sets forth “overarching principles of judicial ethics that all judges must observe” and includes specific prohibitions with respect to ex...

I Noticed, Then Commented – Thoughts on a New Application for the Notice and Comment Process

E.L. Lipman
January 20, 2009 18:37

Note: The following essay is slated for publication in the forthcoming Winter Issue of the Minnesota State Bar Association Public Law Newsletter. I thought that this item might likewise be of interest to readers of these pages. At the close of last year, I had a something of an old home...

Board Urges Refusal of Money and Requirements of Adam Walsh Act

E.L. Lipman
January 15, 2009 23:52

The California Sex Offender Management Board recently announced that acceptance of the requirements that are associated with full compliance under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 would be "costly and ill-advised." The 16-member state board oversees community management of...

Sunset Stripped

E.L. Lipman
January 15, 2009 23:44

In an interesting published opinion issued on Tuesday, a panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals set aside the assessment of penalties against a major telecommunications firm, AT&T. Among the issues in the case was whether the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission maintained the authority to...

2008 Snapshot: Charts Depict the Work of OAH's Administrative Law Division

E.L. Lipman
January 14, 2009 00:29

Circulating at the State Capitol these days are two charts which may be of interest to readers of Within the Scope. The first chart documents the nature and number of complaints of unfair campaign practices that were resolved by the Office of Administrative Hearings' Adminstrative Law Division in...

Key Overviews: Recounts and Elections; Energy; the Courts; Metrics for Human Services

E.L. Lipman
January 09, 2009 04:11

With the start of the 86th Session of the Minnesota Legislature, this past Tuesday, legislative committees are turning to a set of marquee issues in “overviews.” Importantly, these overviews could forecast the mechanics of reforms that will be undertaken later this year. Among the hearings that re...