Category Archives: Law: Everything Else

Recently re-elected Senator Craig Thomas has died.

Here, for the ghoulishly curious, is the relevant part W.S. § 22-18-111, the relevant Wyoming law on how a vacant Senate seat gets filled:

(i) If a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator or in any state office other than the office of justice of the supreme court and the office of district court judge, the governor shall immediately notify in writing the chairman of the state central committee of the political party which the last incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. The chairman shall call a meeting of the state central committee to be held not later than fifteen (15) days after he receives notice of the vacancy. At the meeting the state central committee shall select and transmit to the governor the names of three (3) persons qualified to fill the vacancy. Within five (5) days after receiving these three (3) names, the governor shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment of one (1) of the three (3) to hold the office.

So the state GOP proposes three names, the (Democratic) Governor picks one.

However, if I read the following correctly, the appointed Senator serves only until a special election (held at the next general election) to determine who will fill out the rest of the term:

Any vacancy in any other elective office in the state except representative in congress or the board of trustees of a school or community college district, shall be filled by the governing body, or as otherwise provided in this section, by appointment of a temporary successor to serve until a successor for the remainder of the unexpired term is elected at the next general election and takes office on the first Monday of the following January.

Congressional representatives have their own statute. I presume the next general election is November 2008, but invite correction if there is one earlier.

Talk left has found one of the devils in the details of the new immigration reform proposal: Here Come the Detention Camps: Immigration Legislation:

Among the provisions of the compromise immigration bill is one calling for the building of more detention camps.

Reading this LA Times story about how Law & Order reruns might have to be pulled if Fred Thompson runs for President made me wonder. If stations are so afraid of having to give equal time for other candidates that they'd rather pull the episodes, then surely it would be economically rational for the studios to put a routine “no running for office” clause in actors' contracts that would apply so long as the reruns are showing?

My question is whether that term would be enforceable: would it be against public policy? Or maybe fall to the same sort of doctrines that disfavor non-compete clauses that last more than a few months to (at most) a couple of years?

Employment law is not my thing, but I bet someone reading this could hazard an answer.

The Law Blog Question of the Day: What’s the deal with lawyers who wear bow ties?

What kind of a question is that?

Bow ties, in addition to being natty, take less storage space in your closet. Plus it is very hard to spill soup on them, reducing cleaning costs (and, given that silk is so hard to clean, reducing the risk of ruining a favorite tie).

And Justice Stevens wears them.

What more do you need to know?

The only times I wear one of those long flappy things are for funerals (bow ties are too cheerful for funerals) and before trial courts (juries, and even trial court judges may have unpredictable reactions).