227 Judges

227I Appointment, Qualification, and Tenure

227k11 Removal or Discipline

227k11(2) k. Standards, Canons, or Codes of Conduct, in General.

No one is compelled to serve as a judge, but once an individual offers himself or herself for service, that individual accepts the calling with full knowledge of certain limitations upon speech and actions in order to serve the greater good; a calling to public service is not without sacrifice, including the acceptance of limitations on constitutionally granted privileges.
Mississippi Comm’n on Judicial Performance v. Osborne, 2009 WL 1691557 (Miss. June 18, 2009)

350H Sentencing and Punishment

350HVII Cruel and Unusual Punishment in General

350HVII(H) Conditions of Confinement

350Hk1548 k. Use of force.

It is pain, not injury, that is the touchstone of a prisoner’s Eighth Amendment excessive force claim.
Hendrickson v. Cooper, 589 F.3d 887 (7th Cir. 2009)

Suggested by Nancy Postula; United States District Court: Urbana, IL

361 Statutes

361VI Construction and Operation

361VI(A) General Rules of Construction

361k212 Presumptions to Aid Construction

361k212.4 k. Useless or Meaningless Legislation.

It is always presumed that legislature will not enact a meaningless or useless statute.
In re Dostert, 324 S.E.2d 402 (W. Va. 1984)

Suggested by Marie Erickson; Law Library of Louisiana; New Orleans, LA

413 Workers’ Compensation

413XX Effect of Act on Other Statutory or Common-Law Rights of Action and Defenses

413XX(A) Between Employer and Employee

413XX(A)1 Exclusiveness of Remedies Afforded by Acts

413k2084 k. In General.

The Workers’ Compensation Act provides employees suffering from work-related accidental injuries, regardless of fault, with a certain, efficient, and dignified form of compensation, and, in exchange, employees abandon common law remedies, thereby relieving employers from the vagaries of tort liability.
Parry v. Allstate Ins. Co., 408 Md. 130, 968 A.2d 1053

410 Witnesses

410III Examination

410III(A) Taking Testimony in General

The requirements that a witness testify under oath, and that testimony is given under penalty of perjury, discourage lying, by reminding the witness of punishment by both supernatural and temporal powers.
Smith v. State, 944 A.2d 505 (Md. 2008)

106 Courts

106II(G) Rules of Decision

106k88 Previous Decisions as Controlling or as Precedents

106k91 Decisions of Higher Court or Court of Last Resort

106k91(1) k. Highest Appellate Court.

Neither superior court nor any lower court may dismiss a Supreme Court decision as a “miracle result,” particularly in a criminal case, since to ignore decision of court of last resort would be contrary not only to hierarchy of judicial authority but to presumption of innocence.
Rambo v. Comm’r of Police, 447 A.2d 279 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1982)

Suggested by Sarah Tomlinson; Carbon County law clerk; Jim Thorpe, PA

281 Obscenity

281k6 k. Obscene Exhibitions, Acts, and Conduct.

Act of defendant in extending middle finger of his right hand, palm inward, in an upright position toward a state trooper in a gesture known as “the finger” was likely to provoke anger, but it was not likely to arouse sexual desire and was not, therefore, obscene within statute governing offense of making an obscene gesture.
State v. Anonymous, 377 A.2d 1342 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1977)

Suggested by Ken Laska; Segal & Laska, LLC; Plainville, CT

45 Attorney and Client

45II Retainer and Authority

45k87 Commencement and Conduct of Litigation

45k89 k. Bringing or Defending and Dismissal of Action.

Lawyer should know his clients when he files a suit.
In re Vill. of Harvester, 185 N.E.2d 369 (Ill. App. Ct. 1962)

Suggested by Ed Grassé; Busse, Busse & Grassé, P.C.; Chicago, IL

361 Statutes

361VI Construction and Operation

361VI(A) General Rules of Construction

361k227 k. Construction as Mandatory or Directory.

According to context and surrounding circumstances, a statutory “shall” is to be read as “may” and vice versa.
Comcoa, Inc. v. Coe, 587 So. 2d 474 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1991)

Suggested by John Carter; Court Administration; Naples, FL

118A Declaratory Judgment

118AI Nature and Grounds in General

118AI(A) In General

118Ak2 k. Object and Purpose.

Object of declaratory judgment is to permit determination of controversy before obligations are repudiated or rights are violated; its purpose is to permit one who is walking in the dark to ascertain where he is and where he is going, to turn on the light before he steps rather than after he has stepped in a hole.
Farm & Home Life Ins. Co. v. Skelton, 510 S.E.2d 76 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998)

Suggested by Jill Bergquist, West Cases Classifier