Happy September!

Friday’s questions are here. The answers follow today’s Honor Roll.

Honor Roll

  • Matthew Anderson, Pratt Vreeland Kennelly Martin & White
  • Andrew Delaney, Martin Delaney & Ricci
  • Stephen Ellis, Paul Frank + Collins
  • Bob Grundstein
  • Margo Howland, Esq.
  • Glenn Jarrett, Jarrett/Hoyt
  • Douglas Keehn, Assistant Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud & Residential Abuse Unit
  • Jeanne Kennedy, Mother of the Blogger
  • John T. Leddy, McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan
  • Tom Little, Vermont Student Assistance Corporation
  • Michael Mand, Double Helix Law
  • Jack McCullough, Project Director, Mental Health Law Project, Vermont Legal Aid
  • Hal Miller, First American Title Insurance Company, So Cal Branch
  • Herb Ogden, Esq.
  • Patrick Olmstead, Patrick Olmstead Law
  • Justin St. James, Office of General Counsel, Vermont State Treasurer
  • Honorable John Valente, Vermont Superior Judge
  • Thomas G. Wilkinson, Cozen O’Connor

ANSWERS

Question 1

Last summer, I shared the story of my first ever appearance in court.  I was doing my internship at the Office of the Chittenden County State’s Attorney. A defendant had been charged with ­­______ While Intoxicated. The defendant was arrested and charged after Vermont State Police stopped the defendant to perform a safety check.

Defense counsel moved to dismiss, arguing that VSP had no basis to stop the defendant. I helped with the response and was allowed to argue it.  My argument was that because federal authorities could’ve stopped the defendant for any reason or no reason, the defendant had no reasonable expectation that VSP wouldn’t do the same.  The judge disagreed and granted the defense motion.

0-1 before my career officially began! Story of my life.

Anyhow, what summertime activity properly fills-in-the-blank that’s above? That is, the defendant was charged with ________ While Intoxicated.

  • A. Mowing
  • B. Hiking
  • C. Boating.  As I recounted in The Ground Round Greenhorn, the Coast Guard has jurisdiction over Lake Champlain.
  • D. Setting off Fireworks

Question 2

Flashback to the summer of 1977. Imagine that you were a criminal defense lawyer assigned to represent a client who, in real-life, is an alleged serial killer who dominated the summer headlines. At one of the crime scenes, police discovered a letter written by your client and in which your client referred to himself by a particular name. 

Flash forward to 1999.  Spike Lee produces and directs a movie that is a fictional account of the effect of your client’s crime spree on a group of friends who lived in the Bronx.  The title of the movie is a play on your client’s self-appointed moniker.

The name of the movie is Summer of _____.

Or, if you’re not a movie buff, here’s how I’ll phrase the question.

Because of the real-life case used in above, many states have passed laws that prohibit convicted criminals from profiting from their crimes. Such statutes are often referred to as “Son of ___ laws.”

(the same name fills in each blank.)  SAM.  Referring to convicted serial killer David Berkowitz.

Question 3

According to the American Bar Association, music copyright law is “unique, costly, difficult, and complex.”  Thus, with the duty of competence in mind, be careful before jumping in.

Imagine you are either competent to practice music copyright law or, consistent with Comment 4 to V.R.Pr.C. 1.1, you accepted representation knowing that the “requisite level of competence could be achieved by reasonable preparation.” Further image that the representation you accepted was related to the relatively recent music copyright dispute between Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.

The dispute involved similarities between Rodrigo’s hit dejà vu and a song that Swift released two years prior. Interestingly, there was no dispute that Swift’s song did not infringe on Banarama’s property rights.

Fill in the blank: the common name of the Taylor Swift and Bananarama songs to which I refer is __________ Summer.

  • A.           Boys of.  (Don Henley)
  • B.           Cruel. Rolling Stone wrote about the alleged feud here
  • C.           Hot Girl. (Megan Thee Stallion)
  • D.           I Know What You Did Last. (Movie Franchise)

Question 4

Category: New England Islands.

he United States Supreme Court takes a summer recess. Last month, the Supreme Court Historical Society posted Still at Work: How the Justices Spend Their Summer Months. The post includes this anecdote:

  • “Justice William J. Brennan would drive to _______ in the summer, and he had to book a car ferry a year in advance. He never missed those ferry rides, but there were occasional Terms of the Court in the 1970s when he missed the last couple of days of issuing the last opinions of the year from the bench.  His clerks reviewed and summarized the cert petitions in DC until Brennan returned on Labor Day, sending Court business to _______ for Brennan to work on.”

Name the island that properly fills in both blanks.  NANTUCKET.  The website is here.

Question 5

The answer has nothing to do with summer. Rather, this is a standard Question 5.

Justice Jackson recently made headlines for a dissent in which she charged a majority of the United States Supreme Court with having played a particular game. The game is from a comic strip and is named for one of the comic strip’s two main characters.

Last November, I dedicated the intro to a Friday quiz to the comic strip. I noted that Younger Me often wanted to be one of the characters. I also noted that my mom probably empathized/sympathized with the character’s mom. Then, I shared my single favorite strip from the entire series, observing that it reminded me of “lawyers being lawyerly.” Here’s the dialogue:

  • Title Character 1:  I saw a sign on restaurant door that said, “no shoes, no shirt, no service.”
  • Title Character 1: But it didn’t say anything about PANTS! If I went in wearing shoes and a shirt but no pants, they’d have to serve me!
  • Title Character 2:  They’d probably serve you with a court summons.
  • Title Character 1: (while removing his pants) C’mon. Let’s see if mom will take us out for dinner.

Returning to Justice Jackson’s reference to a game from the comic strip, the game’s only rule is that players can never play it the same way twice.

What’s the name of the comic strip?  Calvin & Hobbes

Bonus: what’s the name of the comic strip’s game that Justice Jackson recently charged the majority with playing? Calvinball