Jennifer Barton Todd Bickel Vincent Borst Marshall K. Brown William A. Castle, Jr. Catherine A. Cooke Kimberly A. Doucas Richard H. Fimoff Andrés J. Gallegos Richard L. Gayle Barry Glazer Howard S. Golden R. Kymn Harp Crystal L. Kontny Andrew W. Lapin James M. Mainzer Eric G. Patt Stephen P. Patt Nathaniel J. Pomrenze Diana H. Psarras Arthur Radke Jeffrey M. Randall Andrew M. Sachs Paul T. Saharack Edward S. Salomon Daniel C. Shapiro Donna M. Shaw Caroline S. Smith Scott D. Spears Richard Lee Stavins Tracy E. Stevenson Robert J. Trizna Robert McKenna Winter Alan J. Wolf Larry N. Woodard IN THIS ISSUE RSP GLENVIEW 2222 Chestnut Ave. | Ste. 101 Glenview, Illinois 60026 Tel 847.729.7300 Fax 847.729.7390 RSP CHICAGO 25 East Washington St. | Ste. 1000 Chicago, Illinois 60602 Tel 312.782.9000 Fax 312.782.6690 Article by: JENNIFER BARTON | 312.456.0361 | [email protected]Animal lovers were recently elated that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus agreed to pay a $270,000 fine for mistreatment of performing animals. “The Greatest Show on Earth,” or is it? "The greatest show on Earth," or is it? COVER STORY The National Anthem law: why The Star-Spangled Banner? PAGE FOUR Health care power of attorney – A darn good idea. PAGE TWO Conventional wisdom, urban legends, RSP news, recent announcements, and more… PAGE FIVE RSP is moving on April 2nd. PAGE SIX Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd. | Attorneys at Law The Difference is Clear ® The Question (answer on page five) Name the four towns that have been the capital city of Illinois. The last one is too easy: Springfield. So, name the other three. (hint: Chicago is not one) CHICAGO LORE For more information, visit us online at www.rsplaw.com RSP ATTORNEYS The fine was assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the federal Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. sec. 2131. This law was enacted in 1966 to protect animals used for exhibition purposes in carnivals, circuses and zoos, and to insure that they are treated humanely. The statute requires those animals to be “handled with care; not caused any trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm or unnecessary discomfort; and to have sufficient space to make normal postural and social adjustments.” Some say there should be a law requiring that all people be as well-treated. Over the years, individuals have claimed on-going abuse of circus animals and have tried suing Ringling Brothers to enforce the Animal Welfare Act, but always without success. Typically, courts held that only the U.S. Government, not individuals, may sue to enforce this law. The government then did little or nothing to enforce the law. The current U.S. Department of Agriculture is finally taking an aggressive approach to enforcing this statute. Animal lovers are rejoicing. Government haters are despondent.
Animal lovers were recently elated that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus agreed to pay a $270,000 fine for mistreatment of performing animals.
“The Greatest Show on Earth,” or is it?
"The greatest show on Earth," or is it?
COVER STORY
The National Anthem law: why The Star-Spangled Banner?
PAGE FOUR
Health care power of attorney – A darn good idea.
PAGE TWO
Conventional wisdom, urban legends, RSP news, recent announcements, and more…
PAGE FIVE
RSP is moving on April 2nd.
PAGE SIX
Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd. | Attorneys at Law The Difference is Clear ®
The Question (answer on page five)
Name the four towns that have been the capital city of Illinois. The last one is too easy: Springfield. So, name the other three. (hint: Chicago is not one)
CHICAGOLORE
For more information, visit us online at www.rsplaw.com
RSP ATTORNEYS
The fine was assessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the
federal Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. sec. 2131. This law was enacted in
1966 to protect animals used for exhibition purposes in carnivals, circuses
and zoos, and to insure that they are treated humanely.
The statute requires those animals to be “handled with care; not caused any
trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm or unnecessary discomfort; and
to have sufficient space to make normal postural and social adjustments.”
Some say there should be a law requiring that all people be as well-treated.
Over the years, individuals have claimed on-going abuse of circus animals and
have tried suing Ringling Brothers to enforce the Animal Welfare Act, but
always without success. Typically, courts held that only the U.S. Government,
not individuals, may sue to enforce this law. The government then did little or
nothing to enforce the law.
The current U.S. Department of Agriculture is finally taking an aggressive
approach to enforcing this statute. Animal lovers are rejoicing. Government
haters are despondent.
The answers to these four ques-
tions are: “yes,” “yes,” “yes,”
and “yes.” Having a health care
power of attorney avoids many
potential problems.
A health care power of attorney
delegates to someone, referred to
as your agent, the power to make
medical decisions on your behalf
if you become incapacitated.
You are considered incapacitated
when a physician has examined
you and says in writing that you
lack decision making capacity.
So long as you are not incapaci-
tated, the agent has no power
whatsoever to act.
Of course, if you do not have
a health care power of attorney,
you will still receive medical
treatment while you are not
incapacitated. The problem arises
when you become incapable of
making your own medical deci-
sions. In that situation, if the
course of medical treatment is
not clear, your physician may not
want to risk performing difficult
medical procedures that could
result in a lawsuit if the results
are unfavorable. Absent an emer-
gency situation, some medical
providers will decline to perform
major surgery, despite assurances
from spouses and children.
The physician will insist on
either patient consent – which
might itself be invalid if signed
by the patient when he or she
is incapacitated – or a power of
attorney for health care and the
consent of the agent.
If the patient is incapacitated and
there is no health care power of
attorney, the physician may insist
on a court proceeding appointing
a guardian who can then sign the
consent form. That can be costly
and time consuming.
A health care power of attor-
ney is not just for the sick and
elderly. Every individual of 18
years or older should have one.
Imagine the frustration of being
denied decision making ability
for your 18 year old child who
has sustained serious injury and
is temporarily incapacitated.
Without the health care power of attorney, you have no authority to act on his or her behalf.
Likewise, a marriage or civil union does not grant medical decision making powers to the spouse or domestic partner. These situations do not occur often but neither do house fires, yet most people carry fire insurance.
Those who already have a health care power of attorney should review them from time to time and ask whether it reflects current thinking. A power of attorney for health care written 20 years ago when your children were much younger may have named your parents, siblings or friends to be your agent.
Do you still want those individuals to be your agent or would you now prefer to designate your 30
Is a health care power of attorney really necessary? If you are married, do you really need one? If you just turned 18 and are healthy, do you really need one? Should they be reviewed and updated?
The National Anthem Law: Why The Star-Spangled Banner?
Here’s the story of how our national anthem was enacted into federal law, and a little bit about some of the losing candidates.
Until 1931, America had no offi-cial national anthem. Various patriotic songs served as a kind of pseudo-national anthem. Among those songs, and some of their familiar lyrics, were:
The Battle Hymn of the Republic. “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
America. “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty. Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died. Land of the Pilgrim’s pride. From every mountain side, let freedom ring.”
Yankee Doodle. “Father and I went down to camp along with Captain Goodin’ and there we saw the men and boys as thick as hasty puddin’.”
Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean. “Oh Columbia the gem of the ocean. The home of the brave and the free. The shrine of each patriot’s devotion. A world offers homage to thee.... Three cheers for the red, white and blue.”
Hail, Columbia. This once popu-lar patriotic song has fallen into such disuse today that we could not find even one familiar lyric to quote.
And then there’s the contender that was the most melodious, the easiest to sing, with the most intelligible and beloved lyrics:
America the Beautiful. “O beauti-ful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple moun-tain majesties, above the fruited plain. America. America. God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brother-hood, from sea to shining sea.”
And finally, we come to the song that was the least melodious, the most difficult to sing, and with the most unintelligible and least beloved lyrics – a song with lyrics written by a lawyer, no less, set to the music of an old English drinking song:
The Star-Spangled Banner. “Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light. What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming.”
Out of all this, how did we finally get a law establishing an official national anthem? It started in 1861, a month after the Civil War began. A committee of prominent citizens was formed to select an official national anthem for the Union.
After considering over 1,200 submissions and being unable to agree on one, the committee disbanded with no selection and no recommendation.
During the ensuing four years of the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic was sort of the unofficial anthem of the North, probably because it was believed to be Lincoln’s favorite. Two songs, Dixie (actual title: Dixie’s Land) and To Arms, To Arms, were each sort of an unofficial anthem of the South. Just as there was never an official anthem of the Union, no law was ever enacted designating an offi-cial anthem of the Confederacy.
Fast forward now to 1893. That year, Catherine Lee Bates, an instructor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, travelled to Chicago to see the World’s Columbian Exposition (the alabaster city) and then on to Colorado, to ride to the top of Pike’s Peak. There, while standing on top of a purple mountain majesty, and looking down on some amber waves of grain, she wrote the words of her immortal poem, America the Beautiful – without music.
The poem was published that year and became an instant popular hit. (Yes, in those days, a poem with no music could become a popular hit.) In 1910, Miss Bates’ poem was matched with the music of a then obscure hymn, “Materna,” that had been composed in 1888 by Samuel Ward of Newark, NJ. Ward had died in 1903.
(continued…)
FOUR
The match was perfect: the poem and the song each had alternating lines of eight-six-eight-six-eight-six beats. (Go ahead, count them.) Bates’ wonderful poem now served as the lyrics to a stirring melodious song, and America the Beautiful (the Materna title was quickly dropped) began to be touted as a candidate for national anthem of the United States.
But declaring any song to be the official national anthem would require an act of Congress, and you know how quickly those guys move on anything. Beginning in 1912, different bills were introduced at nearly every session to try to enact a statute declaring one song to be the official national anthem of the U.S. But, surprise, surprise, Congress was unable to agree on which song to name. For 18 years, every bill died in commit-tee, without coming to the floor of either house for a vote.
Then in 1930, it finally happened: the House of Representatives passed a bill declaring one song to be the official national anthem of the United States. In 1931, the Senate concurred, and President Herbert Hoover signed the bill into law. Despite massive sentiment for Bates and Ward’s America the Beautiful, the statute that was enacted named Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner as the official national anthem. 36 U.S.C. sec. 301.
Why the Star-Spangled Banner? No one today knows for certain, but there are lots of theories. One theory is that because the song is associated with the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812, the Maryland congressional delega-tion steamrolled the bill. Another is that the U.S. military favored the Star-Spangled Banner, which is much more militaristic than any other candidate. Another theory is, well, Congress could only pick one song as the anthem, and unfortunately they just didn’t pick the best one.
So, for better or for worse, the Star-Spangled Banner became and is the official national anthem. But the most beloved patriotic song in America, hands-down, is still America the Beautiful. Does anyone get tears in her eyes when singing the Star-Spangled Banner?
But there’s not a dry eye in the house when everyone is singing America the Beautiful, on key.
Why, you might ask, wasn’t Irving Berlin’s beloved God Bless America in the running for national anthem in 1931? It was written long before, in 1918, and is melodious with stirring lyrics. Unfortunately, the song was not released publicly by Berlin until 1938, seven years too late to be a candidate.
Over the years since 1931, bills have been introduced periodically in Congress in a futile effort to change the national anthem, but none made it out of committee. Among the sentimental favorites that have no chance of ever being chosen: This Land Is Your Land, Shenandoah, and everyone’s perennial favorite, America the Beautiful.
Francis Scott Key’s original manuscript copy of his “Star-Spangled Banner” poem, now on display at the Maryland Historical Society.
By your beloved dynamic duo : RICHARD LEE STAVINS AND LARRY N. WOODARD
Recent Announcements & Conventional Wisdom
The Answer (to our quiz on page one)
The three Illinois capital cities before Springfield were: Kaskaskia, Vandalia and Centralia.CHICAGO
LORE
The publication of this legal newsletter by Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd. is not intended as a solicitation of representation, but rather is a service to clients, other professionals and friends of the law firm. Written entirely by members of the firm, we welcome any comments or questions about topics covered in this issue. This newsletter is not intended as a replacement for individualized legal advice. The contents of this publication may be quoted or reproduced if credit is given to the source.
Crystal Kontny spoke on problems with short sales of real estate before a panel of the banking division of the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation.
Andrés Gallegos authored and presented a paper entitled “Improving Health Care Access for Persons with Disabilities” at the annual meeting of the American Health Lawyers Association in Boston.
Tracy Stevenson has been appointed co-chair and representative of the Illinois Defense Counsel for the North Central Region Trial Academy to be held in Indiana this Spring.
Jennifer Barton is a new associate attorney with Robbins, Salomon & Patt. Jenny graduated from John Marshall Law School in 2011 and immediately passed the Illinois bar exam. And, along with Robert Winter, Jenny authored an article on the Illinois eavesdropping statute in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
Larry Woodard authored “Contractor Enhancement Claims in Mechanics Lien Cases: a Smaller Sliver of Pie?” in the January 2012 issue of the Illinois Bar Journal.
Caroline Smith is a founding member of the gift planning advisory committee of the Advocate Charitable Foundation, an organization that supports philanthropic health care.
Kymn Harp and Larry Woodard were appointed to the adjunct law faculty of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago to teach in the business transac-tions extern program. Kymn was also named as a Super Lawyer 2012 in real estate matters.
Paul Saharack is a member of the governmental affairs committee of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
GREAT URBAN LEGENDS OF THE LAW
#1. Fact or Fiction? In America, the government may not take private property for itself.
:: FICTION ::
Like every government everywhere in the world, the U.S. Government and every state and local govern-ment have the absolute right to take for themselves any private property.
What separates America from most other govern-ments throughout the world is that in this country any government that takes private property has to pay for it, and the payment must be the fair market value, not some nominal or token amount. U.S. Constitution, Amendment 5.
Governments everywhere in America are constantly taking private property, and paying fair compensation for it.
#2. Fact or Fiction? It’s illegal to have someone else’s emails sent to you without that other person’s permission.
:: FACT ::
The Federal Wiretap Act makes it a crime, punish-able by up to five years imprisonment, to intercept or to even try to intercept any electronic communi-cation. 18 U.S.C. sec. 2511(1)(a).
This statute was enacted in 1968, long before any-one heard of emails, but it is currently being used by U.S. attorneys to prosecute and convict people who attempt to monitor someone else’s electronic mail, especially at work. U.S. v. Szymuszkiewicz, 622 F.3d 701.
WORDS TO LIVE BY
“What they call improper commingling on Wall Street is what we call stealing on Main Street.” – Dean Tofteland
Minnesota farmer who lost $100,000 in a Wall Street commingling of assets scandal.
ROBBINS, SALOMON & PATT, LTD.25 East Washington St. | Ste. 1000Chicago, Illinois 60602
After 27 years at 25 East Washington Street, Robbins, Salomon & Patt will be moving its offices to a new location, 180 North LaSalle Street, Suite 3300, on April 2, 2012. With the growth of the number of lawyers in the firm, we outgrew our existing space and need more room.
Ironically, with the increasing demise of law books and increasing on-line location of what used to be found in books, our law library to store and shelve all those books will be physically smaller than it was 27 years ago. We expect the next generation will ask, “What’s a book?”
RSP is Moving on April 2ndITEM OF NOTE
Landlords in Cook County are now required to change or re-key the locks to every vacated apartment before a new tenant moves in. 765 ILCS 705/15. As always there is a small premises exemption: owner-occupied buildings with less than five apartments need not comply.
If the landlord is not exempt and fails to comply and there is a theft from the apartment, the landlord is liable to the tenant for the value of everything stolen.
Landlords who fail to comply can be sure that their tenants will contend that the Hope diamond and a brand new Ferrari were each stolen from the tenant’s burglarized apartment.
Article by: LARRY N. WOODARD
It’s Always Something: Mandatory Changing of the Locks
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