Legal Juice

Although we seem to live in a time where the law is routinely ignored (warrantless wiretapping anyone?), Vermont? Yes, the state of lawlessness has hit Vermont. Seems the Health Commissioner is required by law to be a doctor. Not surprisingly, there is an exception for an "acting" Commissioner, as in "the person is only occupying the position temporarily, to ensure continuity" until so

Well sir, Nurse Sharon Moffat, a/k/a Health Commissioner Sharon Moffat, has been "acting" the part since June 2006! Nothing against Ms. Moffat, but certainly the law was enacted for a reason. (By the way, a bill introduced to change it did not even make it out of committee!) No sweat, said Vermont's attorney general, who stated that he doesn't know of any time limit on how long someone can retain the "acting" title. So much for the law, at least the spirit of it anyway.