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Thirty-Nine Years …

October 16, 2020

Thirty-Nine Years …

Mark Rubin

On a lovely Saturday morning in 1981 – as it happens, October 17 – I travelled to Tempe, to Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium – to become a lawyer. (Frank Lloyd Wright designed the building, which was completed in 1950.) With me were my mom and my sisters. (My father, whose father was a lawyer and whose determined nature led me to that place on that morning, was elsewhere.

Grady Gammage uplifts me, always. One of my 10 favorite buildings, easily. And, while the occasion was hardly festive – no balloons or banners or such – the room felt joyous.

We lined up by State Bar numbers, issued alphabetically to new admittees. My number was 007092.

Law

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Ugh!!!

October 3, 2020

Mark Rubin

Ugh!!!

Mark Rubin

I wrote most of a post on Monday and Tuesday morning. It focused on the tax return story. Not quite done, I got wrapped up in life for the rest of the week. The Tuesday Night Sh*t Show. Illness at work. A bad case. Blah, blah, blah. Then, yesterday morning, a sick president and, by late afternoon, an occupant in the Presidential Suite at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

On Friday morning, someone near and dear to me texted me about President Donald J. Trump’s health fiasco. No recent blogs, she inquired. Maybe, I said, and told her I had most of the tax thing done, but that it seemed like fish wrap, after

The Rest of Everything

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Buck up, ever’body!

September 19, 2020

Mark Rubin

Buck up, ever’body!

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RIP

Buck up, ever’body! RBG would not want us crying in our cups, and I think this Court thing-y will turn out okay!

As is Senator Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr. (R – Ky.) – the Senate Majority Leader – plays games. We know this! He sold us a lot of crap in 2016, when he claimed the American people should choose the person who gets the privilege of selecting Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement. Never mind the fact that we chose Barack Obama to work for us from January 20, 2013 to January 20, 2017.

Now, Leader McConnell must come up with a new rationale. That’s easy, he says. The American people chose Donald Trump

Law, The Rest of Everything

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You Reap What You Sow: Trump Edition

September 7, 2020

Mark Rubin

You Reap What You Sow: Trump Edition

President Donald Trump

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7. Survey question. Has Donald J. Trump ever read Galatians? Has he ever heard of Galatians? Can you hear Mr. Trump saying Galatians, as if it was a word he wants to get out of his mouth because it tastes bad?

My mom, of blessed memory, always told us: Everyone gets theirs! Exactly what she meant we will never know. And, for sure, she never read Galatians. But, as Mr. Trump gets his from those who have surrounded him, I know she’s smiling!

Goldberg

Nothing we’ve seen lately should surprise anyone. Jeffrey

Bob Woodward, Donald J. Trump, Jeffrey Goldberg, Michael Cohen

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Dump Election Night Results

September 2, 2020

Mark Rubin

Dump Election Night Results

Mark Rubin

Donald J. Trump messes with our elections with mind bending frequency. On September 2, he told North Carolinians they should mail in a ballot and vote on election day, to test the system. (One more crime Mr. Trump tells people they ought to commit!)

Earlier, he was slamming the USPS, repeatedly … until he wasn’t, when he decided poll workers will count the ballots wrong. Etc., ad nauseum.

Never mind the fact that evidence about mail-in voter fraud does not exist. Sure, people can identify a few cases. How many? I don’t know, but I know dividing the number of convictions by the number of votes over any period will give me a

Donald J. Trump, Landslide Lyndon, Vice President Biden

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COVID-19: Another Update

July 31, 2020

Mark Rubin

COVID-19: Another R&B Update

Mark Rubin

We’re still here! When I updated you all on March 22, I never expected for us to be “at home” 131 days later. Home we are, though, and way behind on our communications.

Leigh and I remain in our homes, almost exclusively. Privilege abounds, as we manage to live our lives and serve our clients with a minimum of inconvenience. Our staff manages the office and Matthew Scarber works in the office, mostly. We limit our contacts with clients and others, have masks and gloves at the ready, and a fancy-dancy sanitizer dispenser at 382 S. Convent Ave.

Our privilege aside, the pandemic has affected the delivery of legal services greatly. Not so much

Law, The Rest of Everything

More Reasons to Vote for Laura Conover

July 12, 2020

Mark Rubin

More Reasons to Vote for Laura Conover

Laura Conover

Hi there. I’m Leigh, and I’m visiting here. I share Mark’s views about the reasons why we need changes at the Pima County Attorney’s Office. I have some more, too.

In our tough economic times, we need a County Attorney who will better steward the substantial sum of money we spend in our community to prosecute criminals. Further, we need someone who will insist on running an office which focuses on justice, as opposed to convictions. Laura Conover meets these requirements.

The Office of the County Attorney as well as the Offices of the Public and Legal Defender serve the people of Pima County in many ways, not least of which

Laura Conover

Law, The Rest of Everything

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Laura Conover for County Attorney

July 11, 2020

Mark Rubin

Laura Conover for County Attorney

Laura Conover

I support Laura Conover for Pima County Attorney. Why requires some background and history.

The Job

A.R.S. 11-532 defines the powers and duties of the County Attorney. It begins thusly: The county attorney is the public prosecutor of the county … . Twelve itemized duties follow. Some large and some not so much. The statute also refers to certain situations and the right to offer civil legal services to other governmental bodies. Those details matter little, though. We live in a county with more than 1,000,000 residents and an office with hundreds of employees, handling thousands of cases every year, The elected County Attorney leads the office. She or he sets and evaluates

Laura Conover

Law, The Rest of Everything

What Would You Do? Covid-19 Edition

June 26, 2020

Mark Rubin

What Would You Do? Covid-19 Edition

Mark Rubin

On Facebook the other day, I engaged in a conversation about masks. I know, I know, I seem bright enough. But, sometimes I’m not!

Anyway, after a discussion with some moderately reasonable But Freedom types, one said: Well, what would you do? Stay tuned, I wrote, thinking I could never express myself adequately in a FB post.

I suspect my inquisitor wanted something simple, which he could knock down quickly. (A few days ago, intemperately, I called out a new business group for kvelling about a kickoff event sans masks or distancing. “You are pathetic,” said one fellow. Blocked.)

So, what would I do? To answer, I must discuss what I would

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The Supreme Court: This Week (6/14 – 6/21/2020)

June 20, 2020

Mark Rubin

The Supreme Court: This Week (6/14 – 6/21/2020)

U.S. Supreme Court Building

A doozy, this week, with plenty to observe! The week began on Monday with the decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, etc. and two related cases (Nos. 17-1618 and 23, and 18-107) aka the Title VII same sex / transgender cases. On Thursday, the Court issued its opinion in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, No. 18-587, the DACA case. Earlier, the Court rejected certiorari writs in 10 Second Amendment cases.

For those who thought they bought the Court when they elected Donald J. Trump, this was a very bad week. But, a good week it was for the rule of

Law, The Rest of Everything