Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Beaver Bills

I just printed off the Constitution of Virginia. 56 Pages later (single spaced, roughly 10-pt font, allbeit with a couple intro/end pages), I'm thinking that the General Assembly needs to get its act together and start paring down some of these provisions. Either that or amend Art. XII ("Future Changes") to prevent every Tom Dick and Harry interest group from having a constitutional provision. (Isn't that what the statutes are supposed to be for?) Did you know we have a constitutional provision about oyster beds?

A wise man I know has a term for such provisions: "Beaver Bills."

>>Q: Beaver Bill...Is that what a platypus has?
>>A: No.

He tells the (based on a true) story of a constituent (we'll call him Tom) whose neighbor (we'll call him Dick) was taking down the beaver dams on Dick's property. Dick's property was upstream from Tom. When Dick would remove the beaver dams, the water level on Tom's property would rise. Tom called the police, but there were no laws against removing the beaver dam, so Tom wrote to his representative.

Tom's representative (we'll call him Harry) doesn't care about the beaver problem, yet Harry also recognizes that Tom is an outspoken constituent who could cost Harry at least a couple votes in the next election.

Harry makes a calculated decision. He drafts a Beaver Bill and puts the anti-beaver-dam-removal legislation in it, along with several other bills of the same nature. He doesn't want these to pass, but takes the opportunity to stand up in the G.A. and make a speech about his dedicated constituents and their problems. This shows he really cares. Harry is a hero. He gets to write a reply letter showing he represented their interests and passes the blame for the lack of legislation to his colleagues.

Unfortunately, sometimes Beaver Bills get passed. In our story, Harry does too good a job advocating about the beavers, or perhaps some of the other representatives also have a beaver problem, or perhaps the other representatives aren't listening that day and they certainly don't want to admit that. So now Harry is responsible for a bunch of stupid laws on the books...but nobody will be the wiser (except for some law clerk who decides to read the whole code). That's how we get Beaver Bills.

I'm guessing--based on the length, and on the bits I've skimmed so far--that the VA Constitution is full of Beaver Bills. I will reserve judgment until the end and let you know.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tentative Schedule

I think I have a schedule finalized. More ambitious than I realized it would be, given that there are so many titles that begin with the same title number (e.g., 51.1 and 51.5). When I did my initial estimate, I took Title 67, the last title, and divided by 16 (the number of weeks remaining this year). That lead me to believe there would be less than 5 titles per week. Not so. Eeep! That's a lot of reading!!! I don't want to set myself up for failure, so I will reconsider my schedule at the end of this week.

The weeks are grouped by topic. On the weeks with drier topics and/or a moderately light workload, I tried to include a grab-bag topic. I left the last week of December as a buffer week, when I will be in Canada visiting my in-laws (who go to bed early) and can do catchup if need be. All readings are subject to change.

Tentative Schedule (subject to change):

Week 1 (9/14-9/18):
VA Procedure
Title 1GENERAL PROVISIONS.
Title 8.01CIVIL REMEDIES AND PROCEDURE.
Title 16.1COURTS NOT OF RECORD.
Title 17.1COURTS OF RECORD.
Title 19.2CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.

Grab-bag Topic: Title 49OATHS, AFFIRMATIONS AND BONDS.

Week 2 (9/21-9/25):
Frequent Topics
Title 18.2CRIMES AND OFFENSES GENERALLY.
Title 20DOMESTIC RELATIONS.
Title 66JUVENILE JUSTICE.
VA Structure and Administration
Title 2.2ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT.
Title 9.1COMMONWEALTH PUBLIC SAFETY.

Week 3 (9/28-10/2):

VA Structure and Administration (cont'd.)

Title 15.2COUNTIES, CITIES AND TOWNS.
Title 24.2ELECTIONS.
Title 25.1EMINENT DOMAIN.
Title 27FIRE PROTECTION.
Title 30GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Week 4 (10/5-10/9):
VA Structure and Administration (cont'd.)

Title 58.1TAXATION.

Title 41.1LAND OFFICE.
Title 44MILITARY AND EMERGENCY LAWS.
Title 52POLICE (STATE).
Title 53.1PRISONS AND OTHER METHODS OF CORRECTION.


Week 5 (10/12-10/16):
Law School 101
Title 26FIDUCIARIES GENERALLY.
Title 31GUARDIAN AND WARD.
Title 48NUISANCES.
Title 11CONTRACTS. PROVISIONS.
Title 64.1WILLS AND DECEDENTS' ESTATES.

Grab-bag Topic: Title 57RELIGIOUS AND CHARITABLE MATTERS; CEMETERIES.


Week 6 (10/19-10/23):
Business Entities
Title 12.1STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION.
Title 13.1CORPORATIONS.
Title 50PARTNERSHIPS.

Grab-bag Topic: Title 54.1PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS.


Week 7 (10/26-10/30):
Debtor/Creditor
Title 34HOMESTEAD AND OTHER EXEMPTIONS.
Title 43MECHANICS' AND CERTAIN OTHER LIENS.
Title 55PROPERTY AND CONVEYANCES.

Grab-bag Topic: Title 62.1WATERS OF THE STATE, PORTS AND HARBORS.

Week 8 (11/2-11/6):
UCC
Title 8.111973 [UCC] AMENDATORY ACT - EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITION PROVISIONS.
Title 8.1AUNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE - GENERAL PROVISIONS.
Title 8.2COMMERCIAL CODE - SALES.
Title 8.2ACOMMERCIAL CODE - LEASES.
Title 8.3ACOMMERCIAL CODE - NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS.


Week 9 (11/9-11/13):
UCC (cont'd.)

Title 8.4COMMERCIAL CODE - BANK DEPOSITS AND COLLECTIONS.
Title 8.4ACOMMERCIAL CODE - FUNDS TRANSFERS.
Title 8.5ACOMMERCIAL CODE - LETTERS OF CREDIT.
Title 8.6ACOMMERCIAL CODE - BULK TRANSFERS.

Grab-bag Topic: Title 35.1HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, SUMMER CAMPS, AND CAMPGROUNDS.

Week 10 (11/16-11/20):
UCC (cont'd.)

Title 8.7COMMERCIAL CODE - WAREHOUSE RECEIPTS, BILLS OF LADING AND OTHER DOCUMENTS OF TITLE.

Title 8.8ACOMMERCIAL CODE - INVESTMENT SECURITIES.
Title 8.9ACOMMERCIAL CODE - SECURED TRANSACTIONS.
Title 8.10COMMERCIAL CODE - EFFECTIVE DATE - TRANSITIONAL

Grab-bag Topic: Title 61.1WAREHOUSES, COLD STORAGE AND REFRIGERATED LOCKER PLANTS.

Week 11 (11/23-11/27):
Finance Misc.
Title 6.1BANKING AND FINANCE.
Title 38.2INSURANCE.
Title 51.1PENSIONS, BENEFITS, AND RETIREMENT.
Title 59.1TRADE AND COMMERCE.
Grab-bag Topic: Title 5.1AVIATION.

Week 12 (11/30-12/4):
Nature
Title 10.1CONSERVATION.
Title 21DRAINAGE, SOIL CONSERVATION, SANITATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES DISTRICTS.
Title 28.2FISHERIES AND HABITAT OF THE TIDAL WATERS.
Title 29.1GAME, INLAND FISHERIES AND BOATING.
Title 45.1MINES AND MINING.
Grab-bag Topic: Title 47.1NOTARIES AND OUT-OF-STATE COMMISSIONERS.

Week 13 (12/7-12/11):
Health and Welfare
Title 32.1HEALTH.
Title 36HOUSING.
Title 37.2MENTAL HEALTH, MENTAL RETARDATION, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES.
Title 40.1LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT.
Title 51.5PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.
Title 60.2UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.

Week 14 (12/14-12/18):
Other Public Services
Title 22.1EDUCATION.
Title 23EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Title 33.1HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES AND FERRIES.
Title 42.1LIBRARIES.
Title 46.2MOTOR VEHICLES.
Grab-bag Topic: Title 4.1ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL ACT.

Week 15 (12/21-12/25):
Title 56PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANIES.
Title 63.2WELFARE (SOCIAL SERVICES).
Title 65.2WORKERS' COMPENSATION.
Title 67VIRGINIA ENERGY PLAN.

Week 16 (12/28-12/31):

Buffer

Here goes nothing!







Day 1: Scheduling

Faced with 67 Titles and a (perhaps unrealistic) goal of finishing by the end of 2009, I must be ambitious and thoughtful in my approach to the project.

Step #1: Group everything by topics into weekly chunks.
Step #2: Dig in.
Step #3: Order some lighter reading for bedtime to give my mind a break.

I will let you know later today how it went.