Legal System – Page 5 – Perpetual Adoration

July 4, 2015

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Restoring Freedom of Religion in America

In November 2011, 70 businesses and professional organizations added their names to a legal brief that was filed in a case that was in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The businesses and organizations were recruited by a law firm that had been hired to file a “friend of the court” brief. The purpose of the brief was to encourage the court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

April 25, 2015

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Dumb Behavior

I recently filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy case for a client who owed a significant amount of money to some local loan shark companies. (I call payday and title loan companies “loan shark companies” because they routinely charge up to 300% interest per year on money that is loaned to customers.) My client also had several thousand dollars in accumulated debt that he owed to credit card companies and medical providers. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call my client “Jim.”

November 22, 2014

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A Saint’s View of a Political Controversy

There is a political storm brewing in Washington, D.C., that will eventually turn into a destructive hurricane. While various multinational corporations, in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are pushing for a change in our laws to allow foreigners to bypass our current federal immigration system, the typical American taxpayer is outraged by the prospect of millions of additional foreigners being allowed to come into our country. Despite federal prohibitions, many of these foreigners will also be allowed to receive free food stamps, medical care, and a publicly funded education.

June 21, 2014

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Social Media and Marriage

There’s a new trend that’s been developing among couples who are getting married. They are signing prenuptial agreements that prohibit their partners from posting nude or embarrassing photos on the Internet. A prenuptial agreement has been traditionally defined as a written contract that is signed by a couple prior to marriage. The agreement provides that in the event of a divorce, the couple will be allowed to retain the property that each of them acquired during the marriage.

April 26, 2014

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What Lovers Often Do

August 31, 2013

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Do You Ever Experience Fear?

The first auto accident injury case that I tried in front of a jury was in 1985, two years after I opened my law practice. Prior to the beginning of jury selection, the insurance defense attorney and I sat down in the judge’s office to discuss the case. When the judge asked us if there was any way we could settle the case, the defense attorney explained that we had attempted to negotiate a settlement, but we were still $3,000 apart.

July 27, 2013

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A Catholic Judge Meets the Eternal Judge

I can remember it like it was yesterday — my first hearing before a judge that involved a significant legal issue. I was 26 years old, and it was during my first year of practicing law (1983). The day before the hearing, I received a telephone call from John Mathers, the attorney I was renting an office from. He was out of the state on business and wasn’t going to be back in time to attend the hearing. He asked me to cover the hearing for him, told me where I could find the file, and explained the issues in the case.

July 20, 2013

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A Dress Code For The Courtroom

One day about 20 years ago, I needed to have a court order signed by one of the judges at the Peoria County Courthouse. I walked over to the courthouse from my downtown office. When I entered the courtroom, the only people present were the judge and a local area attorney. As soon as I walked up to the judge to ask him to sign the order, he said, “Where’s your jacket?”

July 6, 2013

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The American Way

Last week, I reread two documents: the U.S. Constitution, which was written more than 200 years ago, and The Communist Manifesto, which was written more than 150 years ago. James Madison and the other authors of the Constitution were primarily concerned with guaranteeing the freedom and liberty of all Americans by placing severe limitations on the power of the federal government. Karl Marx, the author of The Communist Manifesto, mapped out what would become a blueprint for dictators whose primary aim was to achieve power by exercising complete control over the lives of their citizens.