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Massachusetts Readies for Remote Notary Practice
The Massachusetts General Court (our legislature) has passed a bill allowing for notaries to take oaths and acknowledgments in certain circumstances remotely during the state of emergency the Governor declared during the pandemic. I am on record here at Letters Blogatory as generally opposing such laws for a variety of reasons, but in the current……
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Canada v. Merlini: Brief in Opposition Filed
For those of you following the Merlini litigation, the case of the worker injured on the job at the Canadian consulate in Boston, here is the brief in opposition I filed today. Because the other side will get the chance to file one more brief at this stage, I will not comment on the brief……
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Folkman LLC Is Up And Running!
Some personal news for you, readers. I resigned from my last firm in early March. I stuck around for a few weeks to handle a jury trial that, of course, ended up not happening. My reasons for leaving were very good but also not for airing here. Back at the beginning of March, the plan……
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Judge Dismisses Elephant Habeas Petition
As everyone but Steven Wise and the Nonhuman Rights Project expected, a judge in the Bronx dismissed a habeas corpus petition brought on behalf of Happy the Elephant on the grounds that an elephant is not a person with standing to invoke the writ. Before turning to the decision, I’d like to set the stage……
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A Tale of Two Judges
On January 20, Mohammed Hossein brought an action and a petition for a writ habeas corpus in the District Court in Boston seeking relief from imminent removal. He was a young Iranian national studying for a bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University. When he arrived at Logan Airport, the CBP officer revoked his student visa and……