2023, Uncategorized, Words

What A Difference A Word Makes

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The regulatory board I am a member of is governed by two legal documents, the North Dakota Administrative Code and the North Dakota Century Code. The difference between the two is that only the Legislature can amend the Century Code, and we as a board can amend the Administrative Code after we jump through a bunch of hoops.

Our board needs to make some changes to the Administrative Code because of some things that occurred during the last legislative session , and I am sure glad we have an attorney to help us with the language. Saying that the board “shall” do something, as opposed to the board “may” do something makes a difference in how we can apply rules and regulations to individuals and circumstances. We want “may” more than we want “shall”.

I was really surprised to hear our lawyer tell us that the reason he didn’t capitalize abbreviations for entities such as APA (the American Psychological Association) in the language for our administrative rules changes is that the Legislature doesn’t allow capital letters for entities’ abbreviations in laws. I found that so odd. He had no good explanation for it.

Once the Legislative Rules Committee (note the capitals) approves our Administrative Code changes, we have to pay to have an announcement in all the newspapers in North Dakota that changes to our Administrative Code are being proposed, and that there will be a hearing for public comment on the changes. That means that Husband and I will sit in some room in our town either at my work, the public library, or some other room I can rent for an hour for no one to show up and make comments. After that, it becomes law.

Have you ever protested proposed legislation? When has a word made a difference for you? What kind of a lawyer would you have wanted to be?

34 thoughts on “What A Difference A Word Makes”

  1. i was a big protester in the 60’s and early 70’s in viet nam
    university of minnesota at the northrop mall and coffman union taking to washington and university avenue with hippies carrying bandannas to wet down when the tear gas was launched
    mayor charlie stenvig was big on quashing protests
    malcom moos was a sorry u of m president.
    it was more a social get together than an angry mob but rotc was the target and taking over buildings was a thing to do
    and hey … we stopped the war

    i was seriously considering becoming a criminal lawyer at that time. the rampant injustice pissed me off and i thought i was just the guy to bang heads with the hired hands at the da’s office. it dawned on me that if i wanted to immerse myself in misery frustration and mumbo jumbo lawyering was just the thing. i decided to do people business instead.
    i love word stuff
    it’s near how a correct word can make a difference

    so what does it add up to cost wise for taxpayers to take out an add in every newspaper in north dakota and rent a room to have the public able to come to?

    i hear the north dakota governor will be a better than most talking head at the debate tonight

    the republican circus will be on parade and the words will be mumbled with hopes to convince the free fall party that one of the candidates can lead us through these turbulent times.

    the new demographic that the republican party is now now 60-70% non college graduate white guys is a different presentation than the one that you used to associate with the Republicans, appealing to bankers, lawyers and CEOs
    now you’re appealing to white supremacists, bowling shirt, fringe, and other dissatisfied pick up truck drivers

    I guess the 1% figured out that they needed to have 49 more percent to go along with. It didn’t know where to find them and figured that these groups would be the easiest ones to go for. It started out with religion keeping Mexicans on the other side of the border and guns, and proceeded to where we are today tomorrow I’m really looking forward to the Thursday. Interesting discussion as it will be coming up without mentioning he who cannot be mentions name during debate tonight, Chris Christie might be the most refreshing thing out there.

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  3. Not too many people are going to protest how our board reinstates the licenses of psychogists whose licenses have been expired for more than 12 months, or how we oversee the Sanford psychology interns in Fargo. Some boards probably would have folks show up to the public meetings for, say, changes to eminent domain practices. My board isn’t too controversial.

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    1. If we have a crowd (more than 4 in the audience) at our township meetings, there must be something they’re upset about.
      Like you, our board isn’t very controversial most of the time. Just every now and then.

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I have expressed opinions to legislators about child welfare and mental health legislation. I am not sure if I have protested though. If I am given a chance to protest some Supreme Court opinions, especially about Women’s Reproductive Health, I will be out on the pavement with a protest sign, to be sure. That is not legislation, but it is a priority of mine. I find the recent decisions of the supremes to be of concern and I will express my concern via protest. I could go on all day about this.

    The weather events of the last 2 days have triggered a migraine and body aches, so I am laying low today because everything hurts.

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  6. I have been to and spoken at three hearings on highway construction issues. There were several people speaking at each. It was clear they were uninterested in what we had to say. A few years ago MNDumb would not listen to the city of Mankato and cut traffic flow in pieces, which now they have fixed. But now they are putting in roundabouts anywhere they please without hearings for any of these changes.
    Clyde

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    2. i am in favor of roundabouts but i do feel bad when i see the passive drivers off to the side after being crunched by a in you face pushy bmw/keep/vw/land rover jerk

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  7. Since I’m on our townboard, I have had lawyers tell us the difference between ‘Shall’ and ‘may’. And they also say ‘less is more’ when writing ordinances and such. If you start specifying things, you better specify EVERYTHING.

    I couldn’t be a lawyer. I hate listening to someone talk that much.

    I have expressed my displeasure with some things.

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  8. The word shall: when I was in school they insisted there was a difference between will and shall. Shall exists only in law and for the pompous

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  9. For several years I was the local union president.I often faced the wrath of teachers and board members. Several times I stood before the board in public meetings while one or two of them raged me. I would ask Are you done now? Then I would explain that I could not change the contract, that we could not agree to ignore the contract or that we could agree to a new paragraph or even a single new in the contract by state law. Then the whimpy superintendent would say that was right. Often I faced the same thing with teachers. I once threatened to sue two board members to get them back in line.

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    1. A county auditor near Bismarck recently threatened to refuse to pay county commissioners if they didn’t approve her county budget. She was totally out of line, but she got her frustration with the commission out in public.

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  10. My junior high was right next to Webster College. When the college students went on strike to protest Vietnam, my parents gave me permission to skip school for two days. So my first official protest was when I was in seventh grade. I was also a ‘No Nukes’ gal for a few years, especially after I moved to the Twin Cities. No arrests.

    I never aspired to be an attorney, despite it being a dear wish of my father. I did work in his office for three summers and a couple of winter breaks when I was in college and there was no kind of law I saw that appealed to me. Certainly not personal injury or corporate or criminal… not even my father’s specialty, which was condemnation law..

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      1. When the city/county/state comes through and want to add a lane to an existing road or lay down a new road, they “condemn” your strip of property and then offer you money for it. Usually pathetically little. Your only recourse is to take them to court and argue that your land is worth more than they are offering. My father was excellent at this and even wrote some of the still existing case law.

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  11. Husband and I now read aloud now, almost daily. One element of aphasia is the tendency to say the opposite of what is meant (or read), so once in a while I will have him repeat a phrase in which he either inserted or omitted a “not”. Upon repetition, he does it correctly.
    So there is a little piece of paper in the glove compartment for him to show someone if he were every stopped while driving solo somewhere. Saying the opposite of what you mean could be problematic when talking to, say, an Officer of the law…

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