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U.S. Supreme Court to Rule on Obamacare

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act, which mandates health insurance for individuals. If the Court strikes down the requirement to obtain health insurance, then the constitutionality of the entire Act will need to be examined.

The justices also agreed to decide if the Act’s expansion of Medicaid is an infringement on states’ rights. Lower courts have ruled both ways on this controversial political issue and it will be in the spotlight during reelection campaigning. A decision is expected to be handed down next June.

Sources:
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-11-14/politics/politics_health-care_1_oral-arguments-health-care-reform-law-affordable-care-act?_s=PM:POLITICS
http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-obamacare-concise-guide-100200064.html

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide if Warrant is Needed to Track Suspects With GPS

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case involving important privacy issues surrounding police placement of GPS tracking devices on suspects’ vehicles without a search warrant. Opponents argue that such use of GPDS tracking devices violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. A lower appeals court had overturned the drug dealing conviction of Antoine Jones based on the warrantlesss use of a GPS device on his vehicle.

The justices expressed concerns that technology use would create a 1984 Orwellian scenario:

If you win this case, there is nothing preventing you from monitoring the movements of every citizen of the United States 24 hours a day,” said Justice Stephen Breyer.

“If you win, you produce something that sounds like ‘1984,’” a reference to the George Orwell novel.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor worried the surveillance could increase as technology improves.

Under the reasoning used by the government, she said, “it would be OK to take a computer chip and put it on somebody’s overcoat and follow them” without a warrant or “track people with smartphones.”

Ther defense attorney argued that allowing the evidence to be used in court would give police “the capacity to engage in a grave abuse of liberties.”

Leckar said the use of the tracking device was “an unreasonable invasion of privacy” and that police must obtain a warrant to avoid a constitutional violation.

“What is the difference between following somebody for 12 hours and monitoring someone using GPS for 12 hours?” asked Justice Samuel Alito.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/gps-case-us-court-debates-1984-scenario-183646283.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/us-usa-police-gps-idUSTRE7A36BS20111104

Sexual Harassment Claims Leveled at Cain

Politico has reported that two women who worked at the National Restaurant Association where Republican presidential nominee Herman Cain was the CEO were paid settlements to quiet sexual harassment claims. Cain has admitted that he was accused of sexual harassment in the 1990s but insisted the allegations were without merit.

Conservative supporters of Cain are comparing the claims to Anita Hill’s claims against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. However, there was no documentary evidence to support Anita Hill’s claims like there appears to be in the womens’ settlement with Cain.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/supporting-cain-gop-evokes-thomas-hearings-063515247.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/1031/Herman-Cain-harassment-allegations-why-they-re-not-Clarence-Thomas-redux

Social Worker Denied Worker’s Comp for $2.5 Million in Medical Bills After Trying to Rescue Joplin Tornado Victims

Mark Lindquist, a social worker in Joplin, Missouri, nearly died trying to rescue three developmentally disabled adults during the Joplin tornado that destroyed over 7,0000 homes. Linquist, 51, made little more than minimum wage at the group home where he worked and couldn’t afford health insurance.

After using his body to shield some of the patients, he was later found near death in the rubble. Doctors are astounded at his recovery, which comes after $2.5 million worth of medical expenses. However, his worker’s compensation claim was denied, on the basis that the risk he faced was no different than that to the general public. Legislators are calling for a review of his claim.

Sources:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/social_worker_who_nearly_died.html
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/10/16/mo-man-finds-love-again-after-deadly-may-tornado/

Moammar Gadhafi Reported Killed

The Libyan dicator, Moammar Gadhafi, is reported to have been killed. He was considered the world’s most wanted man. Gadhafi had been on the run for weeks after being chased out of Tripoli by NATO bombers and rebel troops.

Officials in Libya’s transitional government said he was captured and possibly killed when revolutionary forces overthrew his hometown, Sirte. It’s still possible the Gadhafi supporters who escaped could still continue the fight and attempt to organize an insurgency using large cache of hidden weapons Gadhafi was believed to have hidden in the remote southern desert.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-officials-gadhafi-captured-possibly-killed-125418057.html

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-dictator-moammar-gadhafi-dead-rebels-claim-122438187.html

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Put Two Fathers on Birth Certificate

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a federal appeals court ruling that upheld Louisiana’s refusal to name two fathers as parents on a birth certificate. The child was adopted by an unmarried gay couple in New York. However, when the parents sought to amend the Louisiana birth certificate, the state of Louisiana refused to issue an amended birth certificate because the state only recognizes adoptions by married couples, regardless of sexual orienatation.

It was argued that the New York adoption should be recognized by Louisiana under the full faith and credit clause in the U.S. Constitution. The court disagreed, finding that the full faith and credit clause only applied to acts of state courts, not state offficals. In addition to Louisiana, 12 other states prohibit adoption by unmarried couples.

Sources: http://news.yahoo.com/us-high-court-rejects-gay-couples-adoption-bid-232002303.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/1011/Supreme-Court-rejects-appeal-in-gay-couple-s-adoption-case/(page)/1

U.S. Supreme Court Likely to Hear Obama Healthcare Case

The U.S. Justice Department has declined to appeal its case involving the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s healthcare law to the U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit. The healthcare law includes a mandate that Americans buy health insurance or face a penalty, which was found to be unconstitutional in August by a three-judge panel of the court.

By not appealing the case to the U.S. Appeals Court, the case is now on a faster track to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The healthcare law has been a controversial issue and it could be decided by the high court next summer, in the middle of Obama’s re-election campaign.

Sources: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-healthcare-law-headed-supreme-court-220021953.html
http://www.latimes.com/sns-rt-usa-healthcarecourt-update-1s1e78p1so-20110926,0,4133350.story

Military Lifts Ban on Gays

The U.S. military has decided to let gays openly serve in the armed forces. This is a break from the current policy, commonly known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” under which gays can serve as long as they don’t openly acknowledge their sexual orientation and their leaders are not allowed to ask.

All pending investigations, discharges and other administrative proceedings related to a service member’s homosexuality that were begun under the Clinton-era law will be halted. Service members who were discharged under the 18 year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law will be allowed to re-enlist, but will not be given priority over others with prior military experience who are also seeking to re-enlist.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/repeal-gay-ban-causing-few-waves-military-070236711.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/us/after-toiling-in-shadows-to-end-dont-ask-dont-tell-1st-lt-josh-seefried-greets-a-new-era.html?_r=1&hp

Obama Picks More Minorities and Women as Judges

President Obama has broken with tradition and selected primarily minorities and women to fill judicial positions. Over 70 percent of Obama’s confirmed judicial nominees were not the traditional white male usually selected for the position. This compares with much lower percentages of minorities and women selected by his predecessors-Bill Clinton (48.1 percent) and George W. Bush (32.9 percent).

Due to Obama, there are now three women sitting on the Supreme Court for the first time in history. Among these three women is Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina confirmed to be on the Supreme Court. The Obama administration has also named the first openly gay male to a federal judgeship.

Sources:

http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/
http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7mkShm9O0SsAkKBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEybzJzNHY5BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGUjVfNzI-/SIG=131c31fff/EXP=1315960466/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama

Duchess Gives Up Fortune to Avoid Legal Battle Over Marriage

The Duchess of Alba, estimated to be worth $850 million and $5 billion, reportedly has agreed to give her fortune to her children to prove her intent to marry is based on love. The duchess, age 85, plans to marry Alfonso Diez, a civil servant who is 24 years younger.

The Spanish duchess’s six children had opposed the wedding. The duchess’ children were all from her first marriage to Pedro Luis Martinez de Irujo y Artazcoz, son of the Duke of Sotomayor. After he died in 1972, the duchess remarried 6 years later to a onetime Jesuit priest named Jesus Aguirre y Ortiz de Zarate. He passed away in 2001. The duchess has been friends with Diez for several years.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, her eldest son Carlos will inherit the Liria Palace in Madrid and the Monterrey Palace in Salamanca. Her other palaces and thousands of hectares of land will be divided between her children and eight grandchildren, the report said.

According to Guinness World Records, Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva, born in Madrid’s Palacio de Liria, has more titles than any noble on Earth, being a duchess seven times over, a countess 22 times and a marquesa 24. As head of the 539-year-old House of Alba, her privileges include not having to kneel before the Pope and the right to ride on horseback into Seville cathedral.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/wealthy-duchess-gives-fortune-away-marry-212956415.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14441498
http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/people/duchess-with-most-titles-on-earth-ditches-her-riches-in-name-of-love-20110808-1ijbs.html#ixzz1UYYRKdT7


Inside Duchess Gives Up Fortune to Avoid Legal Battle Over Marriage