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EPA looking at a full plate this year
Environmental |
2008/01/28 05:27
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The Environmental Protection Agency has a busy calendar in 2008 with possible rulemakings and proposed regulations on airborne lead, underground carbon dioxide storage and fuel standards in the works.
But as the agency deals with these and other environmental concerns, a single, divisive issue has crept into nearly every agency discussion and proceeding: emissions regulations.
"2008 could be an unexpectedly busy year for EPA," according to a policy brief from Van Ness Feldman, a Washington, D.C. law firm. "It will be drafting a registry rule while finalizing a low carbon fuel standard and federal vehicle standards. At the same time, it will face legal challenges from California and the other states whose vehicle regulation plans it thwarted."
The reference to California is at the heart of the agency's latest run-in with lawmakers over emissions regulations. The EPA informed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Democrat, late last year that it planned to deny the state's request to impose strict carbon dioxide emissions standards on vehicle tailpipe emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The hot-button issue of climate change and the question of how aggressively the government should work to regulate greenhouse gas emissions are dominating the regulatory and policy landscape and have turned the agency's interactions with Congress into high political drama.
The matter came to a head recently when a Senate panel swore in EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and took turns drilling the official on his decision denying California's request. Fences weren't mended as Johnson calmly and repeatedly defended his decision.
Jeffrey Holmstead, a 20-year veteran of EPA who also headed the agency's office responsible for overseeing clean air issues, said a 2007 Supreme Court ruling against the agency for refusing to regulate new-vehicle emissions means that the agency will continue to wrestle with emissions regulations at every turn.
"That really dominates everything that goes on now," Holmstead said. "And it's certainly going to affect everything EPA does...as far forward as you can imagine...probably for the next 20 years."
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U.S. Supreme Court to hear city man's case
Court Watch |
2008/01/28 03:41
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The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear arguments in the Indianapolis case of a man who wants to be his own lawyer.
The justices will hear Ahmad Edwards' case March 26. In 2005, Edwards was convicted in Marion Superior Court of attempted murder and other charges in a 1999 lunch-hour shooting outside Circle Centre mall.
A judge ruled him competent to stand trial but said mental illness prevented him from being able to represent himself. Indiana courts overturned the conviction, and the Indiana attorney general's office asked the high court to take up the case.
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California universal health care plan in doubt
Health Care |
2008/01/27 12:00
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California may be losing its chance to set the U.S. agenda for providing health care to millions of uninsured because a bill backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger aiming to do just that is on its deathbed, state lawmakers said on Friday.
California's Republican governor has made medical insurance legislation a top priority and the bill before the state Senate, which votes on Monday, is a compromise crafted with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, the top lawmaker of the Democrat-led chamber.
But some senators say they have heard enough to vote no on the legislation, which would require all Californians to have health insurance, either through private providers or a subsidized state pool funded by taxes on cigarettes, hospitals and employers.
Millions lack medical insurance in the United States and California's efforts to provide it are being closely watched because it has has the largest state population and major political clout. In addition, the issue is front and center in a presidential election year when voters are anxious about rising health-care costs.
While the state Assembly was eager to advance the bill, the Democrat-led Senate is very much undecided.
"Once fully implemented, over 70 percent of California's 5.1 million uninsured, most of whom are low-income working individuals and their families, including 800,000 children, will no longer be uninsured for health care," according to a statement on the bill from Nunez's office.
Republicans in the Senate's minority fear the bill will require near- and long-term tax increases, while Democrats in the Senate are concerned the bill is too vague to make good on its goals and could cost far more than initial estimates.
Schwarzenegger's administration is hopeful those concerns can be overcome by Monday's vote.
"We're continuing to talk, continuing to work," said Sabrina Lockhart, a spokeswoman for the governor. "This is a comprehensive plan that reflects hundreds of hours of work, if not thousands of hours, lots of compromise and feedback."
If the Senate approves the plan and Schwarzenegger signs it, voters would be asked to vote on it.
With a state budget deficit expected for the remainder of California's current fiscal year and the next year starting in July, California cannot afford an ambitious medical insurance experiment, said Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock. |
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Oregon court rejects circumcision case
Breaking Legal News |
2008/01/27 07:01
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The wishes of a 12-year-old boy should be considered in a dispute between his divorced parents about whether he should be circumcised, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Friday. The father, James Boldt, converted to Judaism in 2004 and wants the boy to be circumcised as part of the faith. The mother, Lia Boldt, appealed to the high court, saying the operation could harm her son physically and psychologically. The state Supreme Court ruled that earlier court decisions failed to determine whether the boy wanted the circumcision, as his father contended, or opposed it, as his mother alleged. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court to answer that question. If the trial court finds the child agrees to be circumcised, the Supreme Court said, it should deny the mother's requests. But if the trial court finds the child opposes the circumcision, the court has to determine if it will affect the father's ability to care for the child. The custody dispute began when the child was 4 and the circumcision issue began three years ago when he was 9. James Boldt, a lawyer, is representing himself, had no comment, his office said. The attorney for both sides also declined to comment. The case has drawn attention from Jewish groups concerned that the Oregon court might restrict the practice. A group called Doctors Opposing Circumcision backs the mother. The courts have steered clear of religious or medical issues, focusing on the questions of custody and care of the child. One constitutional law professor who has been following the case called it "a reasonable ruling." "I think what may be delicate and tricky is ... how much we can trust what the 12-year-old says, given the circumstances," said Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond. "He likely feels some pressure from (his parents)." More than a million U.S. infants are circumcised each year, but circumcising adults or teens remains relatively rare. A urologist who met with the boy submitted an affidavit that said the procedure would cause him minor discomfort for about three days but not interfere with his normal activities, the Supreme Court's decision said. |
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Class-action status approved in suit against Dow
Class Action |
2008/01/26 19:34
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A citizen lawsuit alleging damages caused by contamination from Dow Chemical Co. should become a class action, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a decision released Friday. Those who sued the chemical giant claim that dioxin from Dow's Midland plant got into the Tittabawassee River and contaminated their properties, reducing home values and making homes hard to sell.
The lawsuit seeks to cover anyone who lives in the 100-year floodplain, which could be as many as 2,000 people, the court said.The case has dragged in the courts since it was filed in March 2003. "This appeal took two years," said Kathy Henry, one of the plaintiffs. "We're glad about the appeals court ruling, but it's been cruel to make residents wait this long." A spokesman for Dow said the company is reviewing the opinion. "We continue to believe that the trial court erred in granting class certification," Scot Wheeler said. "Among other things, the trial court ignored evidence that upwards of one-third of the residential properties sampled showed no contamination." Since the lawsuit was filed, hot spots of dioxin have been found in the Saginaw River. An earlier ruling in the case dismissed the residents' demand to make Dow pay for medical monitoring for potential health problems. Dow contends a University of Michigan study shows that people who live in contaminated areas do not show higher levels of dioxin in their blood than people who don't live near the river. |
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Judith Regan Lawsuit Settled Is Settled
Legal Business |
2008/01/26 19:30
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The war is over: Judith Regan, the publisher fired in the wake of her efforts to release O.J. Simpson's hypothetical "confession," has settled her $100 million lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. "The parties are pleased that they have reached an equitable, confidential settlement, with no admission of liability by any party," according to a joint statement issued Friday. "I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with so many gifted people and am looking forward to my next venture," Regan, who filed a $100 million defamation suit last November, said in a statement. Regan's ReganBooks imprint at HarperCollins published a long list of racy best sellers, including Jose Canseco's "Juiced" and Jenna Jameson's "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star." But she was fired in December 2006, less than a month after Murdoch canceled her plans to publish O.J. Simpson's allegedly fictional murder confession, "If I Did It." The book and a companion Fox television interview were greeted with widespread public outrage. "Ms. Regan is a talented publisher who created many award-winning and best-selling books during her twelve and a half years at the company," the company said in a statement. "News Corp. thanks Ms. Regan for her outstanding contributions and wishes her continued success." At the time of her firing, when she still had more than two years on her contract, News Corp. alleged that Regan made anti-Semitic comments to a company lawyer during an angry telephone conversation. "This charge was completely fabricated," according to Regan's lawsuit. "After carefully considering the matter, we accept Ms. Regan's position that she did not say anything that was anti-Semitic in nature, and further believe that Ms. Regan is not anti-Semitic," News Corp. said Friday. Regan had also accused her former employers of asking her to lie to federal investigators about Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner who was once her lover, and had tried to smear her. Regan said the smear campaign stems from her past intimate relationship with Kerik, who was police commissioner under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and from the political agenda of News Corp. Giuliani, a Republican, appointed Kerik police commissioner and recommended him to President Bush for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Kerik had to withdraw his nomination after it was revealed he had not reported the wages he paid to a nanny. He was indicted last November, days before Regan filed her lawsuit, on counts including accusations of lying to the White House and filing false income tax returns. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. |
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Henry honored as new chief judge
Legal Careers News |
2008/01/26 14:26
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Oklahoman Robert Henry was honored Friday as the new chief judge of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Henry’s investiture ceremony was held Friday at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Henry is a former Oklahoma attorney general and legislator. He was appointed to the appeals court by President Clinton in 1994. Leading up to the ceremony this week, judicial panels from the Denver-based federal appellate court heard oral arguments at the OU law school and at the Oklahoma City University School of Law.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor participated in Henry’s investiture ceremony. Breyer presented the Henry Family Lecture at OU Thursday, and spoke to OCU law school faculty and students Friday morning.
Henry, a cousin of Gov. Brad Henry, was dean of the OCU law school in 1993-1994. He served in the state House of Representatives from 1976-1986, and was attorney general from 1987-1992. Henry was in private practice from 1977-1987. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from OU. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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