Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Gay Rights / Logging / Wal-Mart Bribery


“Plaintiffs are individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds who are in committed same-sex relationships. In 2010 they sued the State of Montana, complaining that they are unable to obtain protections and benefits that are available to similarly situated different-sex couples who marry under State law. Plaintiffs expressly do not challenge Montana law’s restriction of marriage to heterosexual couples, do not seek the opportunity to marry, and do not seek the designation of marriage for their relationships. They contend however that there is a “statutory structure” in Montana law that prohibits them from enjoying “significant relationship and family protections and obligations automatically provided to similarly-situated different-sex couples who marry.””



Forest Products Sold and Harvested from the National Forestsand Grasslands
“Cut and Sold reports show total volumes and values of all convertible forest products sold and harvested from the National Forest System lands and National Grasslands agency-wide, and by organizational unit, on a quarterly basis, and for the full calendar and fiscal years.”







During the course of our investigation, we have learned that Wal-Mart's concerns about potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are not limited to operations in Mexico, but are global in nature. Your outside counsel informed us that, before allegations of bribery in Mexico became public, Wal-Mart retained attorneys to conduct a broad review of the company's anti-corruption policies. This review identified five "first tier" countries "where risk was the greatest." Wal-Mart then conducted a worldwide assessment of the company's anti-corruption policies, culminating in a series of recommendations and policy changes based on those findings.

Monday, December 17, 2012

DUI


“Historically, western rural states have tended to have rates above the national average. One of the reasons is the greater percentage of rural miles travelled which translates to higher average travel speeds. During 2009 (the most current data published by NHTSA), the United States rural fatality rate was 1.96 while the urban fatality rate was 0.73. For the nation, rural fatalities accounted for 57% of the traffic fatalities, while in Montana, 92% of the fatalities in 2009 occurred in rural settings.”