I had my 1st oral argument before the Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday. I have argued before the Court of Appeals before, but this was a different experience. I was surprised by how close the judges were to the attorneys (I was also surprised with attorney John Maley (Richmond native) walked into the courtroom audience with an entire Catholic girls’ school class).

I had prepared every which way - memorizing factual distinctions on relevant cases, etc., but the discussion was more “what-ifs” than grilling the attorneys on the case law. The court staff was very courteous and helpful and the entire experience overall was pleasant - at least compared to the dread I felt leading up to the event. . . .

It was a criminal case and the issue was 4th Amendment - search and seizure. You can catch the whole experience on video, at the Court’s site, here - go to 10/15/2008 and look for Meredith v. State. the argument starts around the 4 minute mark.

On your first visit, you get an official coaster:

Stacy Sneeringer of Wellesley College produced a study released in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics linking large increases in livestock production in a give county to increases in infant mortality in the first month of live:

A 100 percent increase in livestock production in a county being associated with a 7.4 percent increase in infant mortality. Most of this effect occurs within the first twenty-eight days of life. Sneeringer interprets her results as reflecting damage to the fetus, as evidenced by higher rates of neonatal infant mortality, causes of death related to problems in the perinatal period, and lowered Apgar scores.

Science Daily

Date set for megadairy hearing - Palladium-Item IDEM will gather public comment on November 13, 2008 at 6:30PM at the Union County High School on the proposed Union County Dairy CAFO on Mitchell Road. See the permit application here.