segunda-feira, 7 de fevereiro de 2011

Legal English: Health Care Reform

The Florida District Court Ruling: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/20110131VINSON_HEALTH.pdf

http://www.flnd.uscourts.gov/announcements/documents/10cv91doc151.pdf

All filings in this case:
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/florida/flndce/3:2010cv00091/57507/
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The Law:

Public Law 111 - 148 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ148/pdf/PLAW-111publ148.pdf

Public Law 111 - 152 - Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ152/pdf/PLAW-111publ152.pdf

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NPR Health Care Reform Challenge / Florida Case
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/01/133395324/Florida-Judge-Strikes-Down-Health-Care-Overhaul

PBS Newshour / As Health Reform Challenges Proceed, States Face Big Decisions
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june11/healthcare_02-02.html

Wall Street Journal LAW: Judge Rejects Health Law

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703439504576116361022463224.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read#articleTabs%3Darticle

Bloomberg coverage:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-01/health-care-law-goes-to-appeals-courts-as-states-differ-on-statute-s-scope.html

The Commerce Clause: http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/commerce_clause

How about severability?
http://www.dorfonlaw.org/2010/09/severabilitys-double-edged-sword.html

Justice Department Health Care Reform Page:
http://www.justice.gov/healthcare/

In 2010

Newshour: Health Reform Law Faces Fresh Legal, Political Obstacles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSGAivO6bX8

Newshour: Virginia vs. ObamaCare; the judge's ruling (pt. 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SujJKvU9c-k

The Virginia Decision: http://documents.nytimes.com/health-care-law-ruled-unconstitutional?ref=policy

quarta-feira, 1 de dezembro de 2010

Legal English: Criminal Procedure Review

Complete the statements using the words given:




__________ each have their own criminal codes, defining types of conduct that constitute crimes. GOVERNMENTS



While state constitutions and procedural rules may increase the protection afforded to criminal defendants, they may not __________ CONSTITUTION

The U.S. Constitution, the Federal Rules and the federal court system's interpretations of both provide guidance and procedural canons that law enforcement must follow. Failure to follow such procedure may result in __________ EVIDENCE/SUSPECT



__________ requires police to make criminal defendants aware of their rights prior to the defendant making any statements if the government intends to use those statements as evidence against the defendant. PROCESS



Law enforcement also must abide by the confines of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits the government from performing __________ UNREASONABLE



In order to avoid illegally searching or seizing the property of a suspect, law enforcement personnel typically obtain __________ SEARCH





The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees criminal defendants the right to __________ SPEEDY



The criminal justice system provides for an impartial jury by permitting both sides to utilize __________ during jury selection. CHALLENGES



Due Process requires that criminal defendants receive __________, and it further commands that defendants have the right to __________ FAIR/WITNESSES



The Fifth Amendment, through the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits states from __________ FACTS



Trying to avoid convicting an innocent defendant at all costs, the law only permits the prosecution to overcome the defendant's presumption of innocence if they can show __________ DOUBT



Once a trial begins, the U.S. Constitution affords further rights to criminal defendants. One such right includes the right to __________ WITNESSES



The Sixth Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to __________ COUNSEL



At all times during the trial, the defendant enjoys a right of not having to __________ SELF





Put the stages of criminal trial in order:



(_____) PRE-TRIAL HEARING

(_____) BAIL

(_____) SENTENCING

(_____) PRELIMINARY HEARING

(_____) ARRAIGNMENT

(_____) TRIAL

segunda-feira, 29 de novembro de 2010

Legal English: American Needle Vocab.

NFLP ______________ an exclusive license to ____________ Reebok International Ltd. to produce and sell trademarked headwear for all 32 teams. When ___________’s license was not renewed, it filed this ___________ alleging that the agreements between respondents violated the Sherman Act, §1 of which makes “[e]very contract, combination . . . or, conspiracy, in restraint of trade” illegal. Respondents answered that they were incapable of ___________ within§1’s meaning because the NFL and its teams are, in antitrust law ___________, a single entity with respect to the conduct challenged. The District Court granted respondents ___________ judgment, and the Seventh Circuit ________________.

respondent - petitioner – granted – restraint - action - jargon - affirmed - conspiring - entity - summary





Held: The alleged ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________ related to licensing of _______________ property constitutes _____________ action that is not ________________ beyond §1’s coverage. Pp. 4–20.

(a) The meaning of “contract, combination . . . , or, conspiracy” in §1 of the Sherman Act is ______________ by the Act’s “ ‘basic distinction between concerted and independent action.’ ”

concerted - informed - conduct - intellectual – categorically



“[c]oncerted activity ______________ is fraught with _______________ risk” _____________ as it “_________________ the marketplace of independent centers of ____________________ that competition assumes and demands,”

insofar - anticompetitive - inherently - decisionmaking - deprives



…less risk of ______________ a firm’s necessary conduct and leaves courts to examine only _______________ agreements. An arrangement must therefore _____________ concerted action in order to be a “contract, combination . . . or, conspiracy” under §1. Pp. 4–6.

discrete - deterring - embody



In determining whether there is concerted action under §1, the Court has ___________ formalistic distinctions, such as whether the alleged conspirators are legally distinct ____________, in favor of a ______________consideration of how they actually operate. The Court has repeatedly found instances in which members of a legally single entity ______________§1 when the entity was controlled by a group of competitors and served, in essence, as a _____________ for ongoing concerted activity. See, e.g., United States v. Sealy, Inc., 388 U. S. 350, 352–356. Conversely, the Court has found that although the entities may be “separate” for purposes of incorporation or formal title, if they are controlled by a single center of ________________ and they control a single _______________ of economic power, an agreement between them does not constitute a “contract, combination . . . or, conspiracy.”

entities - conversely - eschewed - vehicle - aggregation - decisionmaking - functional - violated