Legislation & Lobbying

Class Action Curbs Defeated in Calif.

A bill to restrict class action suits has been defeated in the California legislature. The bill would have allowed defendants to appeal decisions to certify a class and to contact each class member to offer a settlement, according to the Recorder. It also would have switched responsibility to pay for…

May 10, 2007 12:40 PM CDT

High Court: Irish Teen has Right to UK Abortion

An Irish court has ruled that a pregnant 17-year-old who is in the care of the government has the right to travel to England for a legal abortion, as some 7,000 of Irish women do annually. Abortion is illegal in Ireland, except to save the life of the mother. Social…

May 10, 2007 12:16 AM CDT

Md. Has First Statewide ‘Living Wage’ Law

Maryland’s governor signed the nation’s first statewide “living wage” law this week, requiring state contractors to pay workers at least $8.50 per hour and $11.30 per hour in expensive urban areas. There are similar local ordinances elsewhere in the country, but worker rights advocates say this is the first statewide…

May 9, 2007 11:59 PM CDT

‘New Sanctuary’ Churches Aid Illegal Immigrants

Churches in five major cities throughout the country are joining in a “New Sanctuary Movement” intended to help illegal immigrants. It will include efforts to provide legal help and other assistance, but at least some of the churches plan eventually to offer shelter within their buildings to one illegal immigrant…

May 9, 2007 7:27 PM CDT

Credit Freeze Laws Battle ID Theft

Some states are battling identity theft with laws that allow consumers to freeze their credit reports. Identity thieves can’t establish new credit lines if they can’t access reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus, a Washington Post story explains. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia authorize freezes, according…

May 9, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

NJ May End Death Penalty, Other States Too?

In a move that could be influential elsewhere, New Jersey legislators will start considering this week whether to abolish the state’s death penalty and may well do so. If that happens, it will be the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 that a state…

May 8, 2007 8:33 PM CDT

Child Rape Death Penalty a Legislative ‘Tsunami’

Texas is a state known for its aggressive prosecution of death penalty cases and frequent executions, but even here some feel proposed legislation to provide for capital punishment of child rapists may go too far. Nonetheless, it is not the first such bill, reports Time magazine, citing already-on-the-books child rape…

May 7, 2007 11:52 PM CDT

New Zealand Vets Ask Billions re Agent Orange

New Zealand veterans of the Vietnam War reportedly may sue their government for billions of dollars in compensation for injuries allegedly caused by use of the dioxin-containing defoliant Agent Orange. The suit would focus on allegations that government officials from the time of the war to the present day have…

May 7, 2007 8:09 PM CDT

Study: Costly Megan’s Law May be Ineffective

A groundbreaking – and costly – New Jersey law intended to help protect children against convicted sex offenders may not actually be making much of a difference, a recent study suggests. Although such crimes have dropped in the wake of the pioneering 1994 law, which has served as a model…

May 7, 2007 6:32 PM CDT

Open Adoption Laws for Three-Parent Families

A woman who is thinking about moving to Washington, D.C. to attend law school soon is already on the forefront of a cutting-edge legislative development. The biological mother of a young boy, she would like to move there in order to be closer to the adoptive family with whom he…

May 5, 2007 1:22 AM CDT

Bills Would Increase Access to DNA Evidence

A former bank teller exonerated of rape by DNA evidence spoke at a news conference yesterday in support of new laws making it easier for inmates to prove their innocence. Bills pending in New York would regulate storage of DNA crime evidence and give judges more authority to order DNA…

May 4, 2007 2:17 PM CDT

Bush Threatens Abortion Vetoes

President Bush says he will veto any bills that support abortion with taxpayer dollars. One pending appropriations bill bars discussion of abortion in family planning clinics in developing nations. Abortion groups want to remove the ban from the legislation, according to the New York Times. A spokesman for House Speaker,…

May 4, 2007 1:24 PM CDT

House Passes Hate Crimes Bill

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would expand the definition of hate crimes to cover wrongdoing motivated by a victim’s “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity” or disability. President Bush has threatened a veto if the measure passes the Senate, calling expansion of the law “unnecessary and constitutionally…

May 4, 2007 1:11 PM CDT

Bush Threatens Veto of Hate Crimes Bill

President Bush is threatening to veto a bill that expands hate crimes legislation to protect against crimes motivated by gender or sexual orientation.

May 3, 2007 7:21 PM CDT

Law Prof Pushes Poker as Game of Skill

A Harvard law professor is strategizing with professional poker players in an effort to show that poker is a game of skill rather than chance. Charles Nesson is just an amateur player. But he told the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) he seeks to “legitimate poker,” a game that is…

May 3, 2007 2:00 PM CDT