Saturday, January 24, 2009

RBA Rule of Law Project-- SIGN UP ASAP

The following is an excerpt from an email from Mike Pace, President of the Virginia Bar Association and Past President of the Roanoke Bar Association:

The Virginia Bar Association is sponsoring an exciting new project funded by the Virginia Law Foundation, beginning with a pilot program in Roanoke City, Salem and Roanoke County middle schools on February 18, 2009. The purpose of this project is to better educate middle school students in Virginia about the rule of law in America, and the need to protect it in order to preserve the rights and freedoms we enjoy as American citizens. The VBA Rule of Law Project is consistent with the Virginia Standards of Learning, and is funded by a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.

We need 35 lawyers or judges to make it work. It is unlikely, however that all volunteers will be able to commit to teaching all of the classes with one teacher. To do this comfortably, we need 50 - 60 volunteers.

Each volunteer is asked to attend one training session on either February 3, 4 or 12 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the sixth floor Conference Center at Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, SunTrust Plaza, 10 Franklin Road, S.E., Roanoke, Virginia.

Please contact Mike Pace by Thursday, January 29 if you would like to volunteer.

Friday, January 16, 2009

The Roanoke Valley Drug Court

I had the pleasure of attending my second Roanoke Valley Drug Court graduation this week. The Roanoke Times was there to cover the event. As you may know, the Drug Court takes applications from certain eligible non-violent felony offenders, who are given the opportunity to have their charges dismissed in return for a minimum eight months of intensive monitoring, counseling, 12-step programs, and payment of fines and restitution.

Roanoke's drug court was the first in the Commonwealth, and was started by Judge Diane Strickland. The Roanoke Valley Drug Court has the most participants of any drug court in the state. The Court is a proven success, with a re-arrest rate of less than half the re-arrest rate of non-participants.

Although the Drug Court is facing support shortages, due to budget cuts from the Department of Corrections, the Court is still a going concern with plans for the future. The Drug Court could face further budget cuts during this legislative session, so let your legislator know your position on the issue.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Save the Dates

We kicked off 2009 with a very good meeting featuring Jay Warren of WSLS, an anchorman who happens to be a pretty astute political reporter. Jay's visit generated some long overdue media coverage for one of our membership meetings (Thanks to Hank Bostwick for the piece). We have a lot going on this year; please get these dates on your calendar:

February 10: Membership meeting with Professor James I. "Bud" Robertson
February 18: RBA Members teach the VBA's Rule of Law Classes in area schools
February 27: Roanoke Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference
March 10: Membership Meeting with Dr. Gerald R. McDermott
April 14: Membership Meeting with Annual Legislative Update
May 1: Roanoke Bar Association Foundation Gala and Law Day Celebration