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Show Serials Order Department University of Utah 84112 City SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH VOLUME 17, NUMBER 190 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1973 Bar Members Grade Dallas Area Jurists interest Rates Held Periling Savings Banks II WOODS, N. H. (ACCN) A combination of fiscal restraint on the part of the federal government and a restoration of In practice, this seems to consist almost exclusively of tightening up the money supply and pushing interest rates to record levels, said Howe, who is also resident of ceilings is necessary in order to revitalize the nations savings and housing markets, John S. Howe, The Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston, BRETTON realistic deposit interest rate president of the National Association of Mutual Savings Banks, has declared. Current economic policy being used to bring inflation under control (is the basic cause of the unprecedented $1.2 billion net deposit outflow suffered by savings banks in July and August, he said. Mass. Bill Gives Women, Minors Surname Choices BOSTON (UPI) Members of the same family could legally be known by three different last names under legislation which appears headed for enactment in Massachusetts? An attempt to kill the bill, which would five married women the right to use their maiden names, failed in the Senate, October 2. The measure has won initial approval a week earlier, Sen. David H. Locke, led the opposition to the bill. His motions to table it inA definitely was defeated offered Sen. William M. redraft, by was Saltonstall, then set for action. In addition to granting married women the right to use their maiden names, the bill calls for three possible surnames for children. The youngsters can be given the fathers name, the mothers name or a combination of the two in hyphenated form. The last procedure is used in Spanishspeaking countries. If the bill becomes law, it would make it possible for a father to bear one name, the mother a second and children a third-th-e hyphenated name. Whats a little kid going to tell his friends?" Locke said. My. fathers name is Jones and mothers name is Miss Smith? This is getting a little silly." Sen. Irving Fishman, quoting Shakespeare, said, A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. . .whats in a name.' Do you need a name to keep a marriage together, he asked. This is an innocent bill, a small change in the law. He said the bill would give women the dignity and recognition they deserve. It is a small step toward recognizing the woman as 21-1- 2. 21-1- 6. an individual. Sen. Mary L Fonseca, D-Fa- ll River, a widow, opposed the bill. I have no desire (o give up my husband's name, and I cant understand why any woman would, she sakl. Fishman said the bill is aimed at breaking the common law tradition which sets up a patriarchal society. 4 Mass. Soaring open market rates at- tract money out of. thrift institutions, he continued, shutting off the flow of mortgage funds and sending the housing industry sliding into decline. The adjustments in Regulation Q announced ceilings July 5 an aggravated already serious situation reducing for savings banks by the protection against disintermediation that previous ceilings and rate differentials had afforded thrift institutions commercial banks, the NAMSB president emphasized. The $1.2 billion net interest deposit outflow, excluding credited to accounts, is more than twiceashighas the previous record h outflow of $539 million experienced by savings banks in September and October of 1966, Howe pointed out. . So in terms of the intensity of vis-a-v- is July-Augu- st two-mont- if not the disintermediation, situation the more is far duration, serious today than it was in 1966, the NAMSB president said. This is ji crisis of major proportions for our industry, and the obvious short- GE question sub-mitte- d groups bylaws should be changed to allow for a periodic poll on the performance of trial judges in the were 1,401 There county. Legal Research responses: 1,177 attorneys said yes," 207 replied in the negative, and 17 had their ballots Company Adds disqualified. There are two reasons for conducting such a poll, the bar associations executive director, Mrs. Joanna Moreland, told this Staff Member PENNSYLVANIA (ACCN) -BNew York of the Stemin ernard Bar has become affiliated with Altman & Weil, Inc. of Ardmore, Pa., according to an announcement made by Robert I. Weil and Mary Ann Altman, principals of the legal research and consulting firm. In making the announcement, Weil said; We are. delighted and. fortunate to have Bernard Sternin as an adjunct consultant to Altman & Weil. He is known throughout the legal profession for his pioneering and innovation in the use of word processing and power typing devices and will greatly add to our in serving organizations of lawyers. Sternin, who formerly was active in the practice of law, has been a paid constulant to IBM Corporation, and has lectured and written extensively on the application of power typing to law practice. He is currently of the Committee on the Use of Modern Technology, Section of Insurance, Negligence and Compensation Law, American Bar Association. an Government Role Christmas In On Rival Boards Pageant Banned - The General Electric Co. has agreed to take steps to prevent any of its directors from serving on the boards of major competing firms, the Federal Trade Commission has announced. The FTC tentatively accepted the agreement in settlement of a complaint it had lodged against GE and Chrysler Corp., because Edmund Littlefield was serving on the boards of both firms. At the time, the FTC said, both companies were major competitors in the air conditioning field and interlocking directorates in such circumstances violate federal laws. Littlefield later resigned from the Chrysler board. Under the agreement announced, October 3, GE agreed not to enter into any interlocking directorates with Chrysler. The to than was whether the added. Directors Serve (UPI) Association. column. ' It will inform the judges, she said. It will let them know where they need to improve. And it wiU inform the voters. If a judge has rated high, it might discourage others from filing WASHINGTON (UPI) - The U.S. Court Appeals has ruled that the continued partgovernments Christmas annual in the icipation pageant of peace held on the ellipse violates principles separating church and state due to the inclusion of a nativity scene. Judge Edward Tamm said the government could eliminate the scene, halt all participation in the event, or continue to participate while making clear it is not of promoting religion. The ruling came in response to a seven-yea- r suit filed by several groups opposed to the us6 of the nativity scene within the pageant. The event is held on the grounds between the White House and the Washington monument, and in- cludes the lighting of the national Christmas tree, usually done by the resident. the courtroom corridors. report card system would bring the criticism out in the open. It might be the very approach which would prod the judge to get with it Lawyers, unlike lay court watchers, would have the competence to evaluate. And most in A judges would probably pay at- tention to.critidsm. . . rather than face a challenger at the next election and encounter opposition from the bar. Judges who are performing as they should (which is far the majority) would be given incentive, through high ratings, to keep up their good work. Another means of inducing trial jurists to be on their best behavior would be videotaping of much to be There's proceedings. said for, and against, replacing court reporters with cameras. One of the pros is that those judges who are.prone to bellow and growl, or otherwise lose their tempers, Perspectives IM By Roger M. Grace against him. If hes had a poor rating, it might encourage a good lawyer to file fra the office. Theres a rivalry between Dallas and Houston. But in this instance, Dallas has copied its competitor. The Houston Bar began issuing report cards last summer. (It, in turn, borrowed the idea from Cincinnati. Evaluations of judges are also made in Dade County, Florida, and in King County, Washington.) In the Houston poll, eight federal and 49 state judges were rated in 11 categories: courtesy, punctuality, knowledge and application of rules of procedure, knowledge and understanding of the law, promptness in rendering decisions, judicial temperament, susceptibility to bias, partiality to particular individuals or groups, age and general character. Just as on a school report card, .there were five possible grades a judge could be assigned in each of the catagories. Rathern than using letter grades, adjectives appeared, ranging from outstanding to attentiveness, Not to Let WASHINGTON members of the local bar. A referendum was submitted last month to the 2,336 lawyers belonging to the Dallas Bar interest rate structure, it has become even more important that the Congress move rapidly he vice-chairm- (See details page 3) Grading the jurists will be differentials. Considering the impact of the new capabilities Supreme Court Decisions Judges in Dallas, Texas, will soon be receiving report cards. term solution in the present emergency is a restoration of realistic' interest rate ceilings and not qualified. There was also a box labelled not rated which the lawyers were to check if they werent familiar with the particular judge. After the 825 responses came in, grades given by the attorneys were averaged for each judge, and a master report card was published in the bar associations bulletin. The idea sounds like a good one. It will produce a more responsible judiciary. There are judges who have quirks. They may be too crusty, too comical, too arrogant, too flexible or too unflexible. Their tendencies might not be such as to justify a censure from the states judicial qualifications commission, but just enough to make lawyers grumble t) would have their conduct on record. Conduct isn't reflected merely by the written word in transcripts. There are instances where fortunately, quite rare judges step outside their roles as jurists and engage in conduct sc outrageous that they should, rightly, be found in contempt of court By having a videotape record, this could become practical. The judicial qualifications commission (or removal commission, or whatever it might be called in the particular jurisdiction) could recommend contempt proceedings to the prosecutor in the judges district. The prosecutor would instigate the proceedings, and a jury would decide the case based on its viewing of the videotape. Only one role which would have to be played by a judge: determining how much of the tape would be relevant to show. The subject of unfit judges is somewhat like venereal disease. At one time, it was not polite to discuss it: Today its recognized that while most judges are able and conscientious, there are exceptions. . . and the legal profession is shirking its duty if it doesnt give consideration to the problem. MADISON, WIS. (UPI)-T- he national Elks dub has filed a federal court action against the Madison Elks chapter, which lost its charter after dropping its whites only membership clause. The lawsuit alleged the Madison Elsks group is infringing on the national Elks trademark by continuing to use the name and insignia even though it has no charter. ' |