Last week’s threat of a federal government shutdown had this country in a tizzy over political gamesmanship. Which benefits would be cut? Federal funds for women’s healthcare, including abortions? Would military families endure missing paychecks and delayed life insurance payments for loved ones killed in action? A last-minute ‘compromise’ meant that one of these happened.
I’m sure you’ve heard by now: the government is going to run out of money and “shut down” if Congress can’t agree on a budget before midnight tonight. Yes, Courtney, but how will it affect me?
Plenty of outlets are covering how this will affect the general public. Let’s talk about what our readers care about.
Last week, The New York Times published Arriving as Pregnant Tourists, Leaving with American Babies, a report that offered an interesting peek at a San Gabriel maternity center that catered to pregnant mothers from China. While the article focused on the immigration law aspects of this practice, I wanted to delve into some other issues that were not covered.
Recently, our Justia friend (and my Law Librarian-Hero) Mary Minow mentioned that she traveled to Sacramento to testify in front of the California State Senate on Senate Bill (“SB”) 445. The proposed bill seeks to amend the California Public Records Act by updating privacy protections for public library patrons as it pertains to the use of computers and online resources.
While I’ve been able to spend some more time reading up on the Bill, and I encourage you to all to do the same, I actually wanted to focus this post on citizen (i.e., not lobbyist) participation as it applies to the drafting of state and federal laws. The reason Mary was up in Sacramento voicing her support for SB 445 is because she won a “There Oughta to be a Bill” contest, sponsored by California State Senator Joe Simitian. Senator Simitian has sponsored this contest since 2001 and, to date, 16 winning ideas proposed by California residents have been signed into law.
Last month was Mad March Legalness over at Justia. Here’s a rundown of last month’s highest scoring lawyers on Justia Answers, and our most popular Onward blog and Facebook posts.
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It has come to our attention that the teen pop sensations Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have infringed on our service mark by adopting the celebrity couple moniker “Justia,” following in the tradition of pop culture couples such as Brangelina and Bennifer.
Twitter libel (‘twibel’) cases are growing. Courtney Love just paid $430,000 to settle a twibel case filed by a fashion designer who accused the rocker of defaming her in a series of tweets with incredible accusations. A Welsh politician in the U.K. recently admitted to twibeling his city council opponent on election day. The cost of his settlement? Damages of £3,000, plus £50,000 in legal fees.
Although we’re not aware of any twibel case that went to verdict, we’re confident that day will inevitably come.