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Bar News - April 23, 2004 Morning Mail Also Finds Court’s Pro Se Efforts ‘Troubling’ Three Cheers for Attorney Diana Bolander, whose letter, entitled "Court’s Pro Se Recommendations are Troubling," appeared in the March 5 edition of Bar News. I whole-heartedly agree with her observations and concerns about an apparent court-promoted effort to create and fund a dual system of justice for our court system: one for those who choose to have an attorney and one for those who don’t. Please understand that it is not being suggested that we abandon such worthwhile indigent and low-income programs as legal aid services, public defender’s office, pro bono, and/or reduced fees referral programs. But the judicial creating of guidance and assistance staffing and/or simplified rules to accommodate pro se litigants is, in my considered opinion, a misallocation of scarce resources and a potential violation of the equal protection clause for many people who seek access to the courts of the State of New Hampshire. Kris E. Durmer Member Support of Ted Jordan Memorial Race Appreciated The New England Handicapped Sports’ Association (NEHSA) hosted its 18th Annual Corporate Ski Challenge on March 13, 2004 at the Mt. Sunapee Resort in Newbury. The Challenge is an annual fundraising event to support NEHSA’s ongoing mission of providing adaptive recreational opportunities for the disabled throughout New England. It consists of teams of four racers running two races on a modified giant slalom course and then attending a barbecue lunch and an awards ceremony. A number of NH Bar Association members have been major supporters of this event. Since 2002, the name of the race has been the Ted Jordan Memorial Race, in memory of Ted Jordan, a Nashua attorney who succumbed to cancer two years ago. During the awards ceremony, teams sponsored by NHBA members dominated the field, including: Fastest Racer, Matt Regan with a time of 20.33, sponsored by Abramson, Brown and Dugan; Second Fastest Female Racer, Leslie "Jet" Johnson, an attorney, with a time of 24.44; Fastest Snow Boarder, Rich "Hey Dude" Sullivan; and Fastest Attorney, Bob "Bode" Parodi with a time of 24.38, all sponsored by Jordan, Maynard and Parodi. The Fastest Team in the Legal Division was "Almost Abramson, Brown and Dugan" with a combined time of 64.45. In addition to the two teams sponsored by Jordan, Maynard and Parodi and the two teams entered by Abramson, Brown and Dugan, other teams who contended included: Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green; Prunier, Leonard & Prolman; and The Law Offices of Paul S. Moore. The State of New Hampshire Superior Court team consisted of the Hon. William J. Groff, the Hon. Arthur D. Brennan, the Hon. Michael Gardner, and Wendy Branch. Even though the Superior Court Team (also known as "Harmless Errors") did not have a first place finish, there were no continuances granted on the mountain that day. Many members of the NH Bar pulled together to help a very worthy cause that enables the New England Handicapped Sports Association to bring adaptive social recreational programs to disabled children, veterans, and other citizens throughout the New Hampshire/New England area. On behalf of the New England Handicapped Sports Association, its members, volunteers and students, we wish to thank the Hon. Paul S. Moore, Kenneth Brown, and Robert Parodi for their time and effort in supporting this event. Karen Driscoll, NEHSA President A Pitch for NHCLU Foundation Lawyers might consider including among their charitable donations one to the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union Foundation. The Foundation is the non-profit arm of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union and supports the Union’s educational and litigation programs. The Union is the only New Hampshire entity which has as its sole mission the defense of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States and of the equivalent provisions of the NH State Constitution. The Union has, in the past two years, initiated or entered as amicus a number of civil rights’ cases and won two victories at the Supreme Court. In NHCLU v. City of Manchester the Supreme Court ruled that the City of Manchester is required, pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law, to give the Union access to photographs taken by its police officers of people who were stopped and voluntarily photographed, but not arrested. In Starr v. Governor the Court reversed a dismissal of a prisoner’s challenge to the 5 percent surcharge on sales at the prison commissary, ruling that the surcharge violates the New Hampshire Constitution as a tax which is disproportionately applied. Lawyers for the Union joined those for the Reproductive Freedom Project of the ACLU and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in the recent successful challenge to the parental notification law. The legal work in Union cases is done pro bono by members of the New Hampshire Bar. It would be fitting for their colleagues to match their work for civil rights and civil liberties with a donation supporting its continuation. Wiltrud R. Mott-Smith One Judge, One Case – A Win for All I applaud Judge Lynn’s order which identifies a responsible judge for each case filed in the superior court. I believe this is a win for both the judiciary and the public. Judges will take more pride in their judicial product and litigants won’t have to guess which judges will be next in line to deal with their cases. Even though this change has been an obvious choice ever since we ceased the circuit riding assignment of judges, the reform didn’t happen until Judge Lynn’s order. I for one think it will have wide (and appreciative) acceptance. Paul McEachern A Thank You Note from Judge Murphy It goes without saying how surprised and honored I was by the presence of so many of my colleagues on the bench and members of the bar at my retirement dinner last month. My family and I enjoyed the fun-filled festivities immensely and we are sincerely grateful to all involved. Walter L. Murphy Open Adoption Records vs. Privacy I am an Ohio attorney concerned about privacy issues, particularly regarding adoption disclosure legislation. The legal community has taken disparate positions on such legislation. I wanted to briefly give you my impressions of Senate Bill 335. Ohio had a retroactive access bill (clearly doomed) which was proposed and debated in the early 1990s. It gave birth mothers, along with adoptees, access to identifying information without vetoes. It was easy to point out that persons with criminal records and involuntary terminations could disrupt middle class families. Similar legislation was defeated in many other states. In Tennessee and Oregon adoptee-centered access bills with contact vetoes have now passed and withstood appeal. It is difficult to take a position on this type of legislation. Since improving the prospects of children is a core purpose of the institution, who can argue with adult adoptees claiming deprivation? The problem is that adoptive parents and birth parents have invested lifetimes creating family structures with boundaries unique to their own religious and cultural strictures. I have had situations where I have argued to promote someone’s sense of well being, but I feel that the dignity of families is worth endorsement by the whole legal community. Please take a position on this issue as to value or alternative safeguards. I don’t think anyone could seriously believe, with multiple interstate migrations, remarriage and name changes, that many birth parents will not be divested of the privacy they want if a duty to file a veto is the only protection. Even if all the parties are bound by an "adoptive triad" stakeholder status, they are clients of licensed attorneys and often, licensed social workers. Beyond the social contract rationale for supporting privacy in adoption practice, there is the professionalism aspect. No matter how much "sugar" unauthorized searchers put in their language (and many have the equivalent of a five-year Dale Carnegie course), they are going to complicate clients’ lives. Michael L. Wolpert
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