Legal Advice Blog: Legal Advice, Case Insights, & Local Law Information

Voting is one of our most precious American rights, but yet many of us do not understand the process by which our President, the leader of the free world, is selected. Many of the Founding Fathers were well schooled in ancient history and its lessons. So, it is no accident that the structure of the Electoral College can be traced to the Centurial Assembly system of the Roman Republic. Under that system, the adult male citizens of Rome were divided, according to their wealth, into groups of 100 (called Centuries). Each group of 100 was entitled to cast only one vote either in favor or against proposals submitted to them by the Roman Senate. In the Electoral College system, the States serve as the Centurial groups (though they are not, of course, based on wealth), and the number of votes per State is determined by the size of each State's Congressional delegation. The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states. Direct election was rejected not because the Framers of the Constitution doubted public intelligence, but rather because they feared that without sufficient information about candidates from outside their State, people would naturally vote for a "favorite son" from their own State or region.  Many of the founders believed that the electors would be able to insure that only a qualified person becomes President. They believed that with the Electoral College no one would be able to manipulate the citizenry. It would act as check on an electorate that might be duped. The founders also believed that the Electoral College had the advantage of being a group that met only once and thus could not be manipulated over time by foreign governments or others. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Each state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators. Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is allocated three electors and treated like a state for purposes of the Electoral College. The process for selecting Electors varies throughout the United States. Generally, the political parties nominate Electors. On Election Day, the voters in each State choose the Electors by casting votes for the presidential candidate of their choice. The winning candidate in each State—except in Nebraska and Maine, is awarded all of the State’s Electors. In Nebraska and Maine, the state winner receives two Electors and the winner of each congressional district receives one Elector. This system permits the Electors from Nebraska and Maine to be awarded to more than one candidate. There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States. Some States (not Pennsylvania), however, require Electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. These pledges fall into two categories—Electors bound by State law and those bound by pledges to political parties. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that Electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees. Some State laws provide that so-called "faithless Electors"; may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged. Since the founding of the Electoral College, there have been 156 faithless Electors.  Seventy-one of these votes were changed because the original candidate died before the day on which the Electoral College cast their votes.  Three of the votes were not cast at all. These three Electors chose to abstain from casting their Electoral vote for any candidate.  The other 82 Electoral votes were changed on the personal initiative of the Elector. Sometimes Electors changed their votes in large groups, such as when 23 Virginia Electors acted together in 1836. Many times, these Electors stood alone in their decision. Four times in our Nation's history the President won the election despite not having the popular vote. In 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected president despite not winning either the popular vote or the electoral vote. Andrew Jackson was the winner in both categories. Jackson received 38,000 more popular votes than Adams, and beat him in the electoral vote 99 to 84. Despite his victories, Jackson didn’t reach the majority 131 votes needed in the Electoral College to be declared president. In fact, neither candidate did. The decision went to the House of Representatives, which voted Adams into the White House. In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes won the election (by a margin of one electoral vote), but he lost the popular vote by more than 250,000 ballots to Samuel J. Tilden. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison received 233 electoral votes to Grover Cleveland’s 168, winning the presidency. But Harrison lost the popular vote by more than 90,000 votes. In 2000, George W. Bush was declared the winner of the general election and became the 43rd president, but he didn’t win the popular vote either. Al Gore holds that distinction, garnering about 540,000 more votes than Bush. However, Bush won the electoral vote, 271 to 266. Throughout our history as a nation however, more than 99 percent of Electors have voted as pledged. Please go out and vote.  Your vote does matter!

Medical records are a very important source of information for the work we do every day at Bordas & Bordas. In nursing home and medical malpractice cases, the proof of the negligence is often contained in the medical records.  In our trucking disaster cases, the severe and significant injuries suffered by our clients are documented in those records as well. Some people might not realize it, but the law guarantees a person’s access to their own medical records.  As long as the request is properly made and, in most cases, a reasonable fee is paid, a healthcare provider cannot deny a person’s access to their own medical records.  If the healthcare provider refuses to comply with a legitimate request, the law allows the patient to utilize to the court system to guarantee access. The ability to request records extends not only to the patient, but to any duly authorized representative, which provides one more reason, among many others, to consider drafting a health care power of attorney.  In situations where the patient has died, the power to request medical records resides in the duly appointed representative of the decedent’s estate. However, just because a health care provider supplies some of the medical records doesn’t mean they have turned over everything.  Fortunately, we have a very experienced staff that knows what to look for.  Are there missing lab results?  Are all of the nurses’ notes included in the production?  Did we get all of the relevant admissions or just some of them?  It is often the case that we will have to seek out additional or supplemental records that were not produced the first time around. Fortunately, the law guarantees patients and their representatives access to these records, which can often make the all the difference in the case.

A little while ago, I started doing something that I wish I had started doing years ago. Every time I go to a game, concert or event, I save my ticket and pin it to a corkboard in my basement.  I got the idea when I was cleaning out some drawers a few years ago and came across some of the tickets that I had saved in a Ziploc bag.  Back then I wasn’t saving everything.  Just some tickets from some of the more memorable events I’ve attended.  Some of them were old Army-Navy tickets.  Some of them were Notre Dame football tickets from when I was in law school.  It didn’t seem right to throw them away, so I kept them and began to pin them up. Over the years, I’ve collected some pretty good ones.  Whenever I’m traveling, I like to attend minor league baseball games if at all possible.  So far, I have tickets saved from some pretty unusual teams like the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Las Vegas 51s, the Durham Bulls, the Lowell Spinners, the Columbus Clippers, the Harrisburg Senators, the Hagerstown Suns and many more. Whether it’s a ticket from a game, a concert, the zoo, the aquarium, a show or another type of event, I save them all.  Each one of the tickets reminds me of where I was, what I was doing and who I was with at the time. My favorite ticket is my ticket to the 1982 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Montreal.  My parents saved that one for me because I was just 11 years old when we went to the game.  I grew up in Burlington, Vt., which isn’t too far from Montreal.  My parents took me up there and I can still remember it.  That ticket is especially valuable because the host team, the Expos, doesn’t even exist anymore. Collecting these tickets is a fun hobby.  I wish I had started sooner.  I’m also afraid that my hobby is about to come to an end.  More and more tickets don’t exist in hard copy anymore.  Like so many other things, they exist on our phones.  It’s probably not too many more years before you just can’t get a paper ticket anymore.

On the most recent episode of The Jamie Bordas Show, Jamie did a great job of explaining the dangers that exist when kids take to social media to disparage others through what we might call cyber-bullying. As Jamie pointed out the problems are real, very personal and serious, both for the victim and, potentially, for the bully. What we as parents might be underestimating, however, are the dangers posed when our kids post something about themselves on social media. In addition to all of the other concerns, things that might look funny now might not look so good when our kids are applying for college or a job someday. It is simply true that many prospective employers will look closely at an applicant’s social media presence before making a hiring decision.  Texts, pictures and videos that might have seemed funny to the applicant’s high school friends won’t look so cute anymore in the eyes of a potential boss. I was reminded of this recently when I saw some remarkable quotes from Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt.  Mr. Schmidt believes that the day will come when the law allows every young person to change their name just to get away from their embarrassing pasts on social media.  As he stated, "I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time." What a shame it would be if it ever came to be true that a significant number of young people had to literally change their names to distance themselves from their own past just to get away from embarrassing or stupid Facebook posts.  I am certainly going to encourage my kids to be careful what they post about themselves on social media.  It’s also part of being a good friend not to preserve and publish things about somebody else that might end up being embarrassing down the road. All of this technology is great.  We have to remain aware, though, of what could happen to our kids if every move they make and every embarrassing or dumb thing they do is preserved forever on the Internet.

Time travel may not be possible but my nephew, Bryan, managed to pull off the next best thing. When we were visiting together recently, he took an old recipe that’s been in our family for generations and whipped up one of my all-time favorites.  We’ve always called it “ice box cake.”  You begin with cookies--real, homemade, mouth-watering sugar cookies.  The cookies are layered in a baking pan.  Between the layers you pour a filling made with pineapple and other sweets.  Then the whole thing is frozen and topped with whipped cream.  Trust me when I say it’s delicious! Sitting and eating a piece of icebox cake with my family brought back a flood of childhood memories.  When I was growing up, the house rule was that you always got to pick your birthday meal.  Invariably, I would pick icebox cake for my dessert.  What I remember most is how exasperated my mom would get when she was fixing the cookies.  The dough had to be rolled and chilled for an hour or so.  But, honestly, I couldn’t wait.  I loved eating the cookie dough.  So I would sneak into the kitchen, and then, with ninja-like skill, I would steal a big hunk of cookie dough from the refrigerator.  Eventually, my mom waved the white flag of surrender.  Whenever she made icebox cake, she actually began doubling the recipe for the cookies so I could eat my fill of cookie dough. My mom passed away a few months ago.  It’s funny how something as simple as a piece of cake can play with your emotions.  In my mind’s eye, I could see my mom cooking dinner like she did every day.  Always busy.  Always smiling.  It stirred up a warm, contented feeling.  I could also see my mom chasing me out of the kitchen, which happened quite often when I was a teenager.  Sometimes she emphasized the point by waving a wooden spoon.  Just thinking about it brought a smile to my face. I’m grateful to Bryan for deciding to fix my favorite cake.  I’m sure he did it as a tribute to my mom.  I can tell you it was a high-flying success.  But more than that, it was also a golden ticket to my past.  Thanks for the trip through time, Bryan!

For anyone who was fortunate enough to turn legal during the disco era, it was great fun! There were so many clubs to go to. Tin Pan Alley and The Palace were my favorite weekend hangouts. We would go to one on Friday night and the other one on Saturday night. The floors flashed to the beat of the music. We danced the night away and never left before last call. Although I barely got to experience disco, I managed to squeak in the last year or so before it faded out of existence. What a time we had! The music was great! Also, one of my favorite songs was born during that time. “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang. It was released in September 1979 and was a whopping 14 minutes long. My friends and I danced through every moment of it. I still love it and will dance every time I hear it! Also, Best. Lyrics. Ever! Although it wasn’t the first rap song, it was the most defining to me because it was the beginning of my love of rap music. Just for a little rap trivia, The Fatback Band had the first rap song released, but because everyone thought that rap was just a flash in the pan and no one thought it would become mainstream, it was on the B-side. Once it became popular, it was switched to the A-side. For all you young folks out there, back in the day we bought records (vinyl) with music on both sides. The most popular song was labeled the “A” side and the less popular was the “B” side. Fast-forward too many years to feel comfortable and I still love rap. There are many rappers on my play list that I enjoy but my favorites are LL Cool J, Dr. Dre, Drake (before auto-tune, although I still have his latest album), Nicki Minaj and Eminem. Music has always been a part of my life. I do everything to the beat of music. I clean the house, I drive my car and I exercise to rap. There’s just something about it that energizes me and keeps me going. Once I plug in, cleaning and workouts are a breeze. Do I get made fun of because I love rap music? Absolutely! Do I care? No. Many years down the road you may see me walking along with my cane, but you can bet I’ll still be rocking my ear buds listening to my favorite rap artists. Music doesn’t have an age limit, and I refuse to be limited in any of my musical choices because of the number of years I’ve lived.

I love parades and went to Wheeling’s parade for more years than I care to admit. And since Wheeling changed their parade to include lights, I have helped decorate a few floats and been in a couple of the parades with one or both of my kids.  According to online records, Wheeling’s first parade was in 1930.  In those early years, it was estimated that 100,000 spectators (dressed to the nines, mind you) came out—or jammed the streets of downtown Wheeling—to revel in all that is good about a wonderful tradition that continues today.  Wheeling’s parades have showcased all the area schools, including, at one time or another, some of Wheeling’s high schools—Wheeling High, Triadelphia High, Warwood High, Lincoln High and Linsly Military Institute, along with all our surrounding community schools in West Virginia and Ohio. Our parade would not be a parade without all the beautifully decorated floats, of course, Santa Claus and especially the school bands.  I love hearing a band in the distance and was always disappointed when they passed and happened to be taking a break.   Many clubs, businesses, organizations, hospitals, local fire departments and all those wonderful dance studios participate.  The little ones in their cute (and not so warm) costumes are adorable.   And don’t forget the beautiful horses—which there was always a more than aromatic, nasty mess left on the streets.  I always felt bad for those bands and participants that had to walk behind the horses—not so nice.  At one time I don’t think they had anyone following the horses as they do today to pick up after them.  But, nonetheless, I love horses in parades. I admit it has been a couple of years since I went to Wheeling’s parade and just stayed home in the warmth and comfort of watching it on TV.  But this year I plan on attending.  One of the memories that has stayed with me is WVU’s band coming to Wheeling.  I could not wait to see them and was disappointed that they did not come every year.  If you have not heard, they are coming to Wheeling this year!  It is one thing to see them on the football field in all their glory—they are so, so good.  It is even more stunning to hear them coming in the distance at a parade and then watch as they parade by— impressive, just impressive! So if you love bands, especially The Pride of West Virginia, make plans for Wheeling’s parade this year because we are in for a treat.  This year’s Fantasy in Lights Parade is set for Friday, Nov. 18.   Something else to be proud of is the fact that The Pride of West Virginia has been invited, for the first time, to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. That parade is at 9 a.m., Nov. 24.  Don’t miss it.

I don’t like to call it a “Bucket List.” I call it a “Living My Life List.” A couple of years ago, I turned 50 and went skydiving with two good friends. That’s when I knew it was time to start living my life to its fullest and to do the things I would have never done while my children were young and needed their mum.  Now that one son is in his mid-20s and the other boy just turned 30, I feel it’s time for my husband and I to do things we have always wanted to do (within reason, of course). Two events that are on my list are both are in New York City - seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and watching the ball drop in Time Square on New Years Eve. I’m not much of a crowd person and neither is my husband, but I would love to experience the excitement and energy of the crowds at these two events. At the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I want to see all of the balloons, singers, dancers and stars who ride on the floats and the bands! Who doesn’t love a good band?  Our own Pride of West Virginia, the WVU Marching Band, will be in the parade this year. What an honor for them to represent our wild and wonderful state. If I couldn’t be down on the street watching the parade, I would hope to view it from the best hotel room New York City has to offer. The same thing goes for New Years Eve. To watch these two once in a lifetime events would make me so happy. In light of these ideas, my husband asked me if I’ve ever given thought to where the attendees at these events go to the restroom. When he asked me that question, it shed a new light on being down in the crowd.  Once again, it is the excitement of it all that makes me want to experience these things.  Even if I have to stay in my hotel room and watch, I can at least say I was there. I hope to someday have these events crossed off of my “Living my Life” list. After these, it will be on to the next events that I want to do. Rock on, people. Rock on.

As Halloween is quickly approaching and I get prepared to celebrate this fun holiday with my daughter, I cannot help but look back and reflect on my favorite childhood memories of Halloween. Halloween was done much differently when I was a young girl than it is now. For instance, there was no specific time frame set such as there is now, typically 6-8 p.m.  Therefore, we would start at sundown and go to the houses that had lights on.  We would trick-or-treat until we were too tired to walk any longer or until all the lights in the neighborhood were off.  Sometimes that would last until 10 p.m.!  To ensure we had a sack big enough to hold all of our loot, we would bring pillowcases with us to dump all of our goodies in. Once trick-or- treating was over, we would take our candy home and our parents would inspect it to make sure it was safe to eat.  They would usually throw out the candy apples or any homemade goodies to ensure our treats were all safe. We were quite creative with our costumes.  When I was trick-or-treating with my family and friends, a lot of our costumes were homemade.  There was everything from ghosts in torn up bedsheets and white face paint to zombies with ripped up clothes and bloody face paint.  If you happened to have a store bought costume, it consisted of basically just a plastic mask and a matching outfit.  Today’s costumes have much more to them with added accessories such as wigs, jewelry, slippers and crowns for princesses, and swords, numb chucks and other toy accessories for your bad guys and super heroes. While the times have changed, and we now have curfews to help keep kids safe and more creative costumes to make the Halloween experience more fun, there are a few things that have remained the same.  Folks still carve pumpkins and light them up for festive and creative Halloween decoration.  Another thing that hasn’t seemed to change the Halloween experience is the weather --it’s usually cold or rainy. To all of my fellow trick-or-treaters, stay safe, warm and remember to have fun!  Have a Happy Halloween!

I can’t remember the last time I missed a trick-or-treat night. Having children ranging from age 28 all the way down to seven, and if I include my own childhood, well, I’ve rarely missed a trick or treat night.  To be perfectly frank, I gave birth to my third child on Oct. 26, and I was sure to take my first two children out for their trick-or-treat the day I was released from the hospital.  I may not have moved as quickly as they would have liked, but I wasn’t missing out on their exciting night. My brother and his wife came to Wheeling this past weekend with their sons.  We took my nephews and my youngest daughter to Boo at the Zoo at Oglebay Park.  The excitement is one thing that never changes and brings back happy memories of each and every Halloween.  Some of these were fairly warm evenings and some we battled the snow, but all of them ended up being a memories that have not gone forgotten. As a child growing up, we always made our own costumes.  In general, we would be witches, vampires, the standard ghouls and goblins.  Now that there are so many options from the local stores and websites, every child can be just about whoever they want to be and get to walk in the shoes of some of their favorite characters for a day. My youngest daughter has never wanted to be anything scary.  She usually chooses a Disney Princess of some sort, and this year it was Ariel from The Little Mermaid.  My nephews, chose superheroes and their little outfits had built in muscles. The costumes we saw throughout the park were amazing. Walking around the zoo on the chilly Saturday afternoon was such a delightful experience. They proudly showed their costumes. Both of the boys had a little bit of the superhero personality of the character they adorned, and my daughter showed off her best Ariel singing voice, to whomever would listen, to go along with each “trick-or-treat” and “thank you” that came from her mouth. The older children, of course, are planning on Fright Night at Kennywood Park and the Wells Township Haunted House. I enjoy a good scare, but nothing can beat the sparkle on the faces of the children when they come to life as a character they admire. Whether you choose a happy Halloween or a spooky one, may you all have a safe journey through the mysterious evening.

There’s nothing quite like this time of year. All around us we see and feel change—not only in the temperatures, but the trees and flowers that go from being brilliantly colored to bare and dying. While the foliage is dying around us, many communities come alive this time of year in support of their high school football teams. There’s nothing like sitting under those Friday night lights supporting your hometown team. The scents and chill of the fall season in the air, and there is a sense of anticipation and excitement for the upcoming football game. Although I am more of a basketball fan, football truly is the All-American sport. Who sits out in the pouring rain and freezing temperatures to watch a game? A football fan. Who takes their shirt off in freezing temperatures and paints their chest their school colors? A football fan. I am very proudly from the Cameron, W.Va. area and am proud to be a Cameron Dragon. I am so happy for the wonderful season that our coaches, players, cheerleaders and community are getting to experience right now. It has been a long time coming. I am more proud of the fact that even though we are having a winning season this year, our tiny little community always seems to rally around our kids and coaches to support them through both wins and loses. I think many of the local schools in the surrounding area get a lot of support from their communities as well, which is great. Whether they are having a winning or losing season, the players and cheerleaders work hard, often year round, to be the best that they can be, and coaches have a thankless job at times. They sacrifice time with their families and friends, put in countless hours, occasionally deal with irate parents, all while trying to mold a young person into being the best athlete, and person they can possibly be. Many times they leave an impression or have a positive impact on that young person that goes beyond the football field. I hope that we, as fans, can remember how much time and dedication our young people and coaches have put into their sport, and support them in both good times and in bad. They deserve it! For now, I can’t wait to sit under the Friday night lights this week and root for my team—Go Dragons!

Have you received a flu or shingles vaccine? Over the years, I have had mixed feelings on both, but they have become the norm for many. Just what do we know about these vaccinations? Let’s see…the shingles vaccine contains a weakened chickenpox virus that primes your immune system to defend against the disease. The flu vaccine covers only certain strains. None of them guarantee total protection from these viruses.  It’s obvious why a person would wonder what he or she should do? In all actuality, these vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body within days or weeks after the injection(s).  At that point, the antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are in the vaccine.  I guess a little bit of something bad can be something good.  In some cases, you may not be prevented from contracting the virus, but may have a much more weakened version of it had you not gotten the shots. There are actually a wide range of different vaccines and some are specific to certain age groups.  Some are designed for timing of an exposure, but in whatever manner or form, it can actually become a lifesaving vaccination, particularly in the very young, elderly or those with compromised immune systems.  On the flipside, some vaccines just aren’t good for people with certain health conditions. I encourage you to take a few moments and talk to your healthcare providers.  Do some research and ask the questions that you need answered and feel comfortable enough to make that important decision for you and your family. Regardless of what you decide, keep in mind that the flu and shingles viruses can become very serious matters rather quickly. I am weighing my pros and cons, but there is one thing I am certain of is that I sure am fortunate to be in a country where I have healthcare options and the ability to make those decisions because these are available to me and my family.