Habeas Corpus and Guantanamo

Your Guantánamo Moment from Yale Law School on Vimeo.
P. Sabin Willett discusses his moment of revelation as an attorney, and those moments that will come for the next generation of lawyers Oct. 24, 2011, at Yale Law School.

This video is an interesting discussion by a lawyer who represented some of the Uyghur detainees on habeas corpus and detainee treatment act appeals. I think anyone who has done at least some defense work can relate to his experience in many respects. 

The Law Office of Kurt T. Koehler, 308 1/2 S. State Street Ann Arbor, Michigan (MI) 48198 (Washtenaw County); Copyright 2012 by Kurt Koehler

Federal Student Loan Collections Article

The Detroit Free Press has an interesting article today about the methods the federal government uses to collect student loans in certain jurisdictions including the Eastern District of Michigan.  In jurisdictions where the federal government hires private lawyers on a contingency basis (based on money actually collected) to file student debt default lawsuits there are far more lawsuits filed than in jurisdictions where it does not.  The article notes that the government collects about 80 cents on every dollar owed when the cases go into the court system.  The fact that student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy likely contributes to this number.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121007/NEWS06/310070254/Beware-metro-Detroit-The-feds-are-out-and-looking-for-payback-on-late-student-loans?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

s/ Kurt Koehler
308 1/2 S. State Street Suite 36
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48198
(Washtenaw County)

Plain Language

Below is an amusing article about legislative attempts to make administrative agencies and Departments of the federal government write in plain language. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 attempted to mandate this, but that is not likely to happen quickly especially in the military related departments. Passive language and acronyms tend to obscure things very quickly. The legal profession isn't much better at it. 

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/19/12840181-government-gobbledygook-its-dying-a-slow-painful-death?lite
http://www.cantondailyledger.com/news/x1914867724/Plain-language-law-off-to-a-spotty-start
http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/index.cfm
http://centerforplainlanguage.org/resources/plain-writing-laws/plain-writing-act-of-2010/
Executive Order 13563 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-01-21/pdf/2011-1385.pdf
Executive Order 12866 http://www.plainlanguage.gov/populartopics/regulations/eo12866.pdf
Executive Order 12988 http://www.plainlanguage.gov/populartopics/regulations/eo12988.pdf

s/ Kurt Koehler
308 1/2 S. State Street Suite 36
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48198
(Washtenaw County)