The VLW Blog

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says district courts have the same authority to impose sanctions as circuit courts under both Virginia Code § 8.01-271.1 and their inherent authority to protect the public and the judicial process.

Cuccinelli reached that conclusion in an opinion requested by Barbara J. Gaden, chief judge of the Richmond General District Court.

Gaden expressed two concerns in her request: a pro se litigant with a history of filing harassing and frivolous litigation and individuals who engage in the unauthorized practice of law or attorneys who engage in unprofessional or unethical conduct.

She said she wants to be sure she has the authority to impose a requirement that the pro se litigant cannot file cases in her court without prior review by the court, a practice used frequently in federal court and, less commonly, state courts.

Gaden said she sought assurance that she can bar a lawyer or litigant from appearing in her court if she determines, after a hearing, that he or she has engaged in the unauthorized practice of law or unprofessional or unethical conduct.

Cuccinelli responded that § 8.01-271.1 is not limited to circuit courts so district courts have the authority to impose a pre-filing requirement under it.

Although the Supreme Court of Virginia has at times limited its discussion of the inherent authority of courts to courts of record, its rationale has been the need to protect and the courts. “The need to protect the public and the integrity of the judicial process is no less in district courts than in other courts,” Cuccinelli wrote.
By Alan Cooper

Roanoke Valley lawyers used to reminding clients to turn off their cellphones when they go to court soon will have to tell the clients to leave the phones at home.

A new policy for the 23rd Circuit (Roanoke City, Roanoke County and Salem) bars possession and use of electronic devices for the general public. The previous standing order required only that cellphones be turned off in and near courtrooms.

Chief Judge William Broadhurst said enforcement of the new no-cellphone order will begin Nov. 1 to allow for signs to advise the public.

The language of the order has been expanded to cover cameras and text capabilities as well as voice communication. “It takes care of just about anything we can think of that can transmit information out of the courthouse,” Broadhurst said.

Lawyers are excepted from the rule, but using an electronic device in a courtroom still is forbidden without express permission.

By Peter Vieth

Mark Rubin, a senior advisor to former Gov. Tim Kaine, yesterday became the chief lobbyist for Virginia Commonwealth University.

Rubin’s official title is executive director government relations, slightly different than that of his predecessor, Don Gehring, who was vice president for government relations, but VCU spokeswoman Pam Lepley said Rubin’s duties will be essentially the same.

She said Rubin will be the primary representative for both the university and its health system in their dealings with local, state and federal governments. “He’s very well respected in all those areas.”

Before joining Kaine’s staff, Rubin was a partner for many years in the firm of Shuford, Rubin & Gibney, where he lobbied for the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, among others, and a mediator with The McCammon Group.

By Alan Cooper

The Supreme Court of Virginia today selected Justice Cynthia D. Kinser to be the first woman to serve as chief justice of the court.

Kinser is third in seniority on the court to the current chief, Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., and Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr. Hassell will step down on Jan. 31 after eight years as the state’s chief judicial officer. He will remain as one of the court’s seven justices. Koontz has reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 and must leave the court next year.

Kinser was appointed to the court in 1997 by Gov. George Allen after the General Assembly was unable to agree on a candidate to replace Justice Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr.

Read the full story here.

By Alan Cooper

Altria spent the most in the last legislative year in lobbying Virginia public officials, according to the annual report by the Virginia Public Access Project. The holding company that has Philip Morris USA as its principal asset spent $328,848, according to VPAP.

A name that isn’t but so well known, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, was next at $311,942. NVTC says it is the membership association for the Northern Virginia technology community.

Rounding out the top five are more familiar suspects: Verizon at $259,071, the Virginia Association of Health Plans at $246,461, and Dominion at $241,959.

Those five are clearly the big dogs in the lobbying game because there’s a drop of almost $100,000 to the next entity, the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. In fact, there’s a bigger drop between fifth and sixth place than there is between the VADA at $146,419 and the 25th largest contributor, the Virginia Independent Power Producers at $92,306.

Here’s a link to the top 25 spenders.

VPAP warns that its numbers aren’t but so reliable. “Lobbyist disclosure laws are general in nature and therefore, in practice, lobbyists report expenditures in different ways,” the organization says. The state had 885 registered lobbyists for the May 2009 to April 2010 reporting period.

We warn you that once you click on one of the numbers and start drilling down through the links to individual lobbyists and types of expenditures, a morning can disappear pretty quickly.
By Alan Cooper

Virginia State Bar disciplinary charges against former York County assistant prosecutor Cathy Krinick have been dropped in the wake of dismissal of a companion case against commonwealth’s attorney Eileen Addison.

VSB Counsel Edward Davis confirmed the head of a three-judge panel has signed the order dismissing charges against Krinick, who is now in private practice in Newport News.

Last month, the judicial panel dismissed the case against Addison after a hearing into charges she improperly coached a slow-witted witness in a death penalty case.

By Peter Vieth

A group of Richmond music lovers charged with violation of the city’s new noise ordinance are willing to risk conviction to get a ruling on their claim that the law is unconstitutional.

“What happened in this case was inexcusable,” said Steven Benjamin, attorney for the defendants, who were charged after six police officers allegedly “raided” a house where a band was playing on Easter Sunday.

Benjamin said he had prepared to argue Monday before General District Judge Phillip Hairston that the recently enacted city noise ordinance runs afoul of the First Amendment. He expressed frustration that a newly assigned assistant city attorney appeared in court admittedly unprepared for battle on the constitutional issues.

Benjamin said the judge offered to toss the case, given the city’s failure to timely oppose Benjamin’s motion. Benjamin said his clients want more than acquittal, however. “They’re in it to vindicate everybody’s rights,” he said.

The challenge to the Richmond noise ordinance now is set for Oct. 18.

Among other things, the ordinance makes it a class 2 misdemeanor to play a musical instrument after 11 p.m. that is plainly audible to any person other than the operator.

By Peter Vieth

Retired Albemarle County Circuit Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. has sided with the University of Virginia in its effort to block Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s investigation of records from a climate change researcher.

In a letter opinion today, Peatross finds the attorney general failed to set forth an objective basis to support his issuance of a civil investigative demand to UVa. The opinion allows Cuccinelli the option of trying again with a more specific request for documents.

Peatross’ decision was hailed by the object of the AG’s investigation, climatology professor Michael Mann. “It is a victory not just for me and the university, but for all scientists who live in fear that they may be subject to a politically motivated witch hunt when their research findings prove inconvenient to powerful vested interests,” Mann told The Daily Progress.

Mann researched climate change at UVA from 1999 to 2005. Cuccinelli is investigating whether Mann fraudulently obtained government research grants by falsifying climate change data.

In a news release, Cuccinelli said that he is pleased with other aspects of the Peatross opinion. The judge ruled UVa may properly be served with a CID and the attorney general may investigate grants made to professors with commonwealth funds. “We are going to issue a new CID that conforms to the judge’s ruling,” Cuccinelli said in the release.

By Peter Vieth

A second panel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today upheld a special master’s finding that there is no connection between autism and a mercury-based preservative in the measles-mumps rubella vaccine.

The first panel issued its opinion in May. Judge Pauline Newman was the only judge on both panels, but she was not the author of either opinion.

Some parents contend that their children were normal until they took the vaccine and then developed symptoms of autism. If a link could be established, the parents would be entitled to compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.

A hat tip to the Blog of the Legal Times, which has more detail and links to an article about the controversy.
By Alan Cooper

A group of tenants attacked in a letter from Roanoke white supremacist Bill White has won a jury verdict against White and his American National Socialist Workers Party in a federal civil trial. The jury awarded compensatory damages of $265,000 against White and $280,000 against the party on Aug. 27.

Based on a jury finding, the victims of White’s vitriol can attach his assets despite his bankruptcy, reports The Roanoke Times.

White is serving time for criminal convictions for sending threatening messages to various targets. He appears to own several rental properties in Roanoke, according to an online tax database.

By Peter Vieth