Archive for the ‘Legal News Highlights’ Category
Health Care Reform Lawsuits – Lawsuit Status and What is Being Challenged
The Washington Post reports, “Twenty-four lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act are working their way through federal courts around the country.” Most of these lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of the legal requirement that most Americans have some sort of health insurance coverage by the year 2014. Legal experts are predicting one of these lawsuits will end up being decided by the United States Supreme Court.
- Summary of the Status on Lawsuits Filed Contesting Various Components of Health Care Reform Law
- Glossary of parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that are being challenged in federal lawsuits around the country.
Republicans Win House Vote On Health Care Reform Repeal
On Wednesday, January 19, 2011, Republicans kept their campaign promise to repeal President Obama’s law on health care reform. In a vote of 245 to 189, Republicans easily won.
The Washington Post reports, “Twenty-four lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act are working their way through federal courts around the country.” Most of these lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of the legal requirement that most Americans have some sort of health insurance coverage by the year 2014. Legal experts are predicting one of these lawsuits will end up being decided by the United States Supreme Court.
What is at risk? If health care reform laws are repealed, we could see insurance companies once again dropping children from parents’ health insurance plans and insurance companies can continue to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions as minor as a history of stomach or headaches. Republicans would also like to see lower caps on damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, currently capped at $250,000 for wrongful death and personal injuries as a result of medical malpractice.
Will new health care laws really be repealed? It seems unlikely that Republicans will succeed in a vote and get the repeal passed by the Democratic controlled Senate.
On a sad note, the vote tally shows one representative not voting: Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford.
Elena Kagan confirmed as 112th U.S. Supreme Court justice
The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan Thursday to the Supreme Court as the 112th justice and just the fourth woman ever to sit on the high court.
According to the The Washington Post, “On a 63-37 vote, Kagan, 50, became President Obama’s second lifetime appointment to the court in the past year — the vote was held 365 days after Justice Sonia Sotomayor won 68 votes for her confirmation as the first Latina justice ever. Five Senate Republicans supported Kagan after a relatively smooth two-and-a-half-month journey from her nomination to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens to winning her appointment.”
Elena Kagan 1977, High School Yearbook Picture. Photo: Hunter College High School
About Elena Kagan
Kagan grew up on 75th and West End Avenue on the Upper West Side of New York City, attending Hunter College High School in the 1970s.
In a New York Times interview, one classmate, Natalie Bowden, recalled the early aspirations of a teenaged Ms. Kagan: to become a Supreme Court justice. “That was a goal from the very beginning,” Ms. Bowden said. “She did talk about it then.” In a group senior year book picture, Ms. Kagan wore a judges robe and held a gavel in her hand.
Her College Education
Kagan earned a Bachelors degree from Princeton University, graduating, summa cum laude in 1981. Two years later, she received her Masters of Philosophy from Worcester College, Oxford University.
In 1986, Kagan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in where she earned her Juris Doctor.
- Biography of Elena Kagan and Professional Qualifications
- Is Elena Kagan a lesbian? Kagan in Gay and Lesbian Rights
Obama administration sues Arizona over immigration laws
Why should attorneys be talking about Arizona’s new law?
It’s hot in searches. Really hot (again) thanks to the Obama administration’s new lawsuit against the state of Arizona.
July 7, 2010: Start typing in “Arizona” in Google’s search box and by the time you get to the letter “z” Google has already suggested three popular searches involving the new immigration laws.
Start typing in “illegal” and of the top 6 Google suggestions, 5 show people are searching on illegal immigration statistics, facts, and pros and cons (usually illegal drugs take the most popular searches.)
In other words, the general public is not only listening to the news – they are searching for more information.
Clever Ways to Capture Traffic
Civil rights attorneys have it easiest, however, any attorney that handles police brutality cases (as do many personal injury lawyers) should be discussing the potential for police harassment, racial profiling in Arizona and how it relates to all citizens – not just those who may look “Mexican.” Tie in recent news into how you would help someone and explain what is illegal and what is not.
Business and commercial real estate attorneys can discuss racial profiling in employment and real estate issues.
And of course, any attorney can tie in what’s happening in Arizona with three other top (hot) searches:
- does state law supersede federal law (note: more people are searching on “supercede” than the correct spelling)
- does state law override federal law
- does state law trump federal law
If your site traffic is slumping, remember, tying in current news can be an effective way to get search engine attention. Analyzing what people are searching on is sort of like search engine profiling. And doing so is not illegal or unethical. It’s business.
San Antonio Texas family sued for truancy after child’s brain surgery
Attorneys are all too familiar with tragic stories of people falsely accused of crimes because they represent clients to see that justice is carried out. As an SEO geek, I deal with sad and disturbing stories only peripherally. But as a mother of three children with disabilities, and, as a long-time disability rights advocate at national level, I have personally dealt with dozens of schools that refuse to help children with a disabilities. Unfortunately, too many cases involving a child who cannot attend school because the school will not provide services end up with parents on the wrong side of the law. When disabled or seriously ill children do not attend schools (for their own safety), schools are often swift to take action against parents. making claims of truancy or child neglect.
In my own limited little world of things legal, I have never seen more blatant disregard and unfair application of the law, than in our public schools. I write to encourage more attorneys to talk openly about such cases so that fewer parents like those of an 8-year-old disabled boy in Texas do not have to fight truancy charges when brain surgery is required.
Austin, Age 8 vs. Uncaring San Antonio School District
San Antonio, TX schools have filed charges against the parents of 8-year-old Austin Besterman. Austin has Arnold-Chiari Malformation, Spina Bifida, and Hydrocephalus. According this his father, William Besterman, “He has a hard time toileting. He has a hard time getting dressed. And he has to have his braces and crutches to walk.” Austin missed school for doctors appointments, surgery to replace a shunt in his brain that drains excess fluid, and because somedays, he just is not feeling well enough to attend school.
This past school year Austin missed 32 days due to his ongoing health battles. Despite documentation provided by doctors, the school claims Austin is just skipping school on many days.
“We do not have sufficient documentation from the parents or the doctor that indicates that this child has this health issue [hydrocephalus],” Pascual Gonzalez refuted.
San Antonio children are permitted up to 20 excused sick days from school each year. But even kids, like Austin, who need an addtional 12 days to have brain surgery and recovery from the procedure don’t get special consideration.
Attorney Hot Topics
If you practice civil rights law, do not forget to write about a year-round hot topic: the rights of students with disabilities and their parents. Public school polices often clash with disability rights laws, and come August, parents will once again be looking to the internet for advice, support, and legal information about their child’s student rights.
Suggested Reading
- Maggie Jane Besterman’s Blog (Austin’s Mother)
- Disabled student’s parents taken to court for school absences
