I have been woefully negligent in maintaining this blog over the past few months. But if I forget to mention everything else, I at least need to express my support for the peoples of Chile and Haiti. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
-NF
Entries categorized as ‘Uncategorized’
Belated: Chile and Haiti
March 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Categories: Chile · haiti
Tagged: Chile, earthquake, haiti
Lula Has the Right Stuff
March 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment
At least, that’s my basic impression. See this piece as an example of how Lula is bridging two worlds, taking a reasoned approach, and still acting with an appropriate level of independence. Am I giving him too much credit?
-NF
Categories: Uncategorized
Venezuela makes deal with Chevron
February 13, 2010 · Leave a Comment
This past Wednesday, Venezuela assigned the rights to exploit a massive oil block to a consortium led by Chevron. Although Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, will retain a 60% stake in the revenues, the deal with Chevron is symbollically important. Is Chavez compromising his anti-U.S. stance as the going gets tough economically (Venezuela has had a very rough go of it this past year)? That’s what some are claiming. But Chavez can just point to PDVSA’s 60% stake, right?
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Chavez, Chevron, oil, PDVSA, Venezuela
If You Think Zelaya’s Ouster Was Legit . . .
July 31, 2009 · Leave a Comment
. . . you should read this. Not exactly reflective of a government that believes it’s in the right.
-NF
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: coup, Honduras, Zelaya
Is It Really a Coup?
July 1, 2009 · 7 Comments
It is to me, but reader Joe isn’t the only one to question that conclusion.
-NF
Hat Tip: The Right Coast
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: coup, Honduras, Zelaya
For Once, Hemispheric Unity
June 30, 2009 · 1 Comment
Unfortunately it comes at a high cost–the coup in Honduras. I commend this article in The New York Times to any readers who may still have doubts about the legitimacy of toppling the Zelaya administration by military force. In democracies, policy differences are resolved through elections. And if a leader breaks the law, well, there are legal channels for handling that. The fact that this coup had the apparent approval of court and congress makes little difference in the final analysis. Those institutions aren’t above the law either.
-NF
UPDATE: Make that global unity? The UN has also sided with Zelaya.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: coup, Honduras, Zelaya
Coup in Honduras
June 28, 2009 · 9 Comments
The big news out of Latin America today is the coup in Honduras. Soldiers stormed into the house of President Mel Zelaya in the early morning hours and rousted him from his bed at gunpoint. Zelaya was forced to leave the country; he’s now in Costa Rica.
Coups were relatively common in Latin America over the first eight decades of the 20th Century, but there were many signs that the region had turned a corner. Peaceful transitions of power, through the ballot box and legal channels, became the rule rather than the exception. Let’s hope this latest event is just an isolated incident–one step back but not symbolic of a regressive trend. We condemn this coup in no uncertain terms.
-NF
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: coup, Honduras, Mel Zelaya
Conference Alert
May 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The Michigan State University College of Law will be hosting a conference this September on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Speakers, including a number of leading law professors, will evaluate both the success of the Declaration and the obstacles it faces. Click here for more information. My only knock: it would be nice to see a speaker from Latin America. At any rate, kudos to MSU.
-NF
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: indian law conference, Indian rights, indigenous law conference, indigenous rights, MSU College of Law, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
This Is Really Crazy
May 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The LA Times has a story today about authorities seizing and deporting people in the middle of immigration cases–at the courthouse! What seems to be happening is this: A person immigrates to the U.S. illegally and is deported pursuant to a court order. So far, so good. Then the person reenters the U.S.–again illegally. At that point immigration authorities have two options: (1) they can reinstate the deportation order and remove the alien on their own; or (2) they can file a fresh charge and start a new case for deportation or other relief in court. If they go with the latter option, it seems pretty clear that they have to let the court do its business. In other words, immigration authorities can’t change their minds mid-way through a case and decide to go the quick and dirty route. But that’s apparently what they are doing, choosing to “reinstate” the previously issued deportation order because the court process is taking too long. And, in at least some cases, ICE agents have done the round-up at the downtown LA courthouse. The Times story doesn’t indicate the frequency with which this is happening, but it’s causing outrage nonetheless. Retired immigration judge Gilbert Gembacz said
immigration agents are “asserting power and authority they do not have” by arresting immigrants in the courthouse before proceedings are completed.
“They are acting in a way that demonstrates contempt toward the Immigration Court,” he said. “They are acting like immigration judges have no purpose.”
Strong words, but I tend to agree.
-NF
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Deportation, Immigration, Immigration law, Immigration policy
A Primer on Global Electronic Discovery
May 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Normally when I receive my free copy of the California Bar Journal, I skim it but don’t actually read the articles. A piece in this month’s edition, however, caught my eye. In “Beijing, Buenos Aires and Beyond,” Michael Swarz discusses the framework that U.S. courts use for the discoverability of internationally located electronically stored information (ESI). Sometimes the FRCP governs; sometimes the Hague Convention. Swarz discusses the factors that courts must consider, identified by the Supreme Court in Aerospatiale, when deciding which set of rules to apply. In big-time civil litigation in U.S. courts, discovery is the name of the game–and knowing how to get that discovery is paramount. So if you’re a California lawyer who litigates cases involving internationally located ESI, you should probably give this a read. If you take the self-assessment test included in the Journal, you get MCLE credit to boot. Not bad for a free publication.
-NF
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: ESI, global electronic discovery, international discovery, international litigation, internationally located ESI
