Concurring Opinions ? Lombardo on Legal Archaeology

posted by Frank Pasquale

Paul A. Lombardo published an essay ?Legal Archaeology: Recovering the Stories behind the Cases? in the Fall 2008 issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. ?It reminded me of the wonderful chapters in this volume of ?health law stories.? ?Here are some excerpts that may be of interest:?

?Every lawsuit is a potential drama: a story of conflict, often with victims and villains, leading to justice done or denied. Yet a great deal, if not all, that we learn about the most noteworthy of lawsuits ? the truly great cases ? comes from reading the opinion of an appellate court, written by a judge who never saw the parties of the case, who worked at a time and a place far removed from the events that gave rise to litigation.

Rarely do we admit that the official factual account contained in an appellate opinion may have only the most tenuous relationship to the events that actually led the parties to court. The complex stories ? turning on small facts, seemingly trivial circumstances, and inter-contingent events ? fade away as the ?case? takes on a life of its own as it leaves the court of appeals.

How can a law professor correct this bias? ?Here are some of Lombardo?s suggestions:?

The best starting point for doing legal archaeology is the case record itself. We all begin our investigation of cases by reading an appellate opinion. With some extra effort, we can retrieve the records and briefs that the judges relied on as they wrote that opinion. Of course, the case record that is printed for submission to an appellate tribunal will include only a small portion of the documents that make up the lawsuit?s paper trail.

Much of the material contained in the case record is now filed electronically, and for recent cases, may be available on the Web. But even for most pre-Internet cases, finding the proper repository for all these records is not difficult. A visit to your school?s reference librarian with copies of the articles referenced here should get you started.

Lombardo also suggests consulting newspapers and magazines, professional journals, and material generated by the parties and their lawyers. ?Though some students may complain of ?reading overload,? skillful editing can make the effort to contextualize the cases well worth everyone?s while. ?I also anticipate that internet archives of particular helpful case studies will accumulate over time.

Selected References from Lombardo:

P. Brooks and P. Gewirtz, eds., Law?s Stories: Narrative and Rhetoric in the Law (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997).

J. L. Maute, ?The Value of Legal Archaeology,? Utah Law Review 2000, no. 2 (2000).

D. L. Threedy, ?Legal Archaeology: Excavating Cases, Reconstructing Context,? Tulane Law Review 80, no. 4 (2006)

C. Geertz, ?Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,? in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays.

X-Posted: Health Law Profs.

?January 21, 2012 at 1:51 pm ? Posted?in:?Health Law, Philosophy of Social Science, Teaching ???Print This Post

Source: http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2012/01/lombardo-on-legal-archaeology.html

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Feds grant 1-year extension on birth control rule

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In an election-year decision certain to disappoint religious conservatives, the Obama administration announced Friday that church-affiliated institutions will get only one additional year to meet a new rule to cover birth control free of charge.

Friday's announcement by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius does not apply to houses of worship. Churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship were already exempt from the birth control coverage rule.

But in many cases, other religious-affiliated employers such as hospitals and universities traditionally have not provided any birth control coverage for their employees. They were seeking a broader exemption that would allow them to continue that practice.

The new rule is part of a package of improved preventive services for women under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Birth control is on a list of services that most workplace health plans will have to cover free of charge to employees.

Instead, the one-year extension applies to nonprofit institutions such as church-affiliated hospitals, universities and social service organizations. They will now have until August 1, 2013, to comply. Because of the way health insurance plans work, their employees will not have access to the new coverage until January 1, 2014, in most cases.

Birth control use is virtually universal in the United States, and most employer health plans already cover it, usually with copays for employees. Last year, an advisory panel from the prestigious Institute of Medicine recommended that the government require birth control coverage as preventive care under Obama's law, meaning it would become available free of charge.

Sebelius quickly agreed, issuing a new federal regulation.

But religious groups complained that a conscience exemption included in that rule was too narrowly written. Catholic hospitals, which defied the bishops to support passage of Obama's health care law in Congress, were among those who objected.

Sebelius said her decision Friday was carefully considered.

"I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services," Sebelius said in a statement.

Nonetheless, conservatives in Congress are already pursuing legislation to try to block the regulation. And Republican presidential candidates say they would derail it also, by repealing the health care law if elected.

For most American women, the birth control coverage requirement will take effect sooner. Employer health plans in most cases have to comply by August of this year. Because of the time involved in adding new coverage, that means the majority of women will be able to receive free birth control coverage starting January 1, 2013.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-20-Free%20Birth%20Control-Religious%20Employers/id-d2c04a74645943a4834954d6e1587633

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Romney stance on Dream Act is magnified in Florida (AP)

MIAMI ? Mitt Romney's promise to veto a measure that would create a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants threatens to turn off some Hispanic voters, whose support could be critical in a general election match-up against President Barack Obama.

The issue is gaining prominence as the GOP front-runner heads toward the Jan. 31 primary in Florida, even though most of the state's Hispanics are Puerto Rican or Cuban-American and, thus, aren't affected by U.S. immigration law, nor view it as a priority. Still, it's a state where 13 percent of registered voters are Hispanic, where the nation's largest Spanish-language TV networks are based, and where the nation's third-largest number of illegal immigrants live ? intensifying the focus on Romney's position.

"Latino voters, like all voters in this country, are interested in America being an opportunity nation," Romney said Monday night during a debate in South Carolina, when asked if his promise to veto the so-called Dream Act was alienating voters. "In my view, as long as we communicate to the people of all backgrounds in this country that it can be better, and that America is a land of opportunity, we will get those votes."

Maybe not.

His veto promise ? first made in the days before the Iowa caucuses ? has hit a nerve with prominent Hispanics, and some Republicans worry that the position will turn off the growing number of Latino voters in swing-voting states, particularly in the west, who are now on the fence after backing Obama in 2008. These Republicans suggest that Romney was trying to curry favor with hardline Republican primary voters at the expense of Hispanics whose support he would need come the fall.

"If Romney's the nominee, he's going to have to come to the center and make some decisions about how to resolve that issue," said Republican Herman Echevarria, a Cuban-American who is the CEO of a Miami-based bilingual advertising agency and a longtime local political player. "He's trying to be a conservative candidate. And if you don't become a conservative candidate, you cannot be the candidate of the Republicans. But you cannot be elected president just as a conservative candidate."

Already, there are signs of backlash.

For Colombia native Ana Rodriguez, a Miami-based graphic designer who received political asylum and will become a U.S. citizen this year, Romney's comments are precisely what motivated her to vote ? against him. "Because of what I went through," Rodriguez said, "I want more people (elected) who are interested in supporting immigrants and want a more equal and fair system of immigration."

Florida Dream Act activists, who have been among the most visible in the nation, also are promising to keep the heat on Romney as his campaign comes to the state.

And last week, at El Tropical restaurant in Miami, Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who has endorsed Romney, told a group of mostly Cuban-American GOP primary voters that the former Massachusetts governor was the only candidate who could fix the economy and protect U.S. security interests. Then, a young Colombian immigrant stepped forward and asked Diaz-Balart, who has championed immigrants' rights including the Dream Act, how the congressman could support Romney.

"You have been such a friend to us, I just don't understand," said Juan Rodriguez, a student at Florida International University who was among a half-dozen students who walked from Miami to Washington in the winter to raise awareness of the legislation.

The exchange was caught on tape by several Spanish-language media outlets that reach viewers around the world.

Romney has arguably the toughest immigration position of any of the Republican candidates. Newt Gingrich would give legal status to illegal immigrants who have deep roots in the U.S. and lived otherwise lawfully.

Conversely, Romney has been adamantly opposed to any type of amnesty for illegal immigrants since his first White House run in 2008. Previously, he called reasonable a bipartisan proposal to allow immigrants to seek green cards in exchange for certain penalties, though he says he never officially supported such legislation.

Last year, Romney objected to the Dream Act. But he went further in the days before the Iowa caucuses when asked if he would veto the measure.

"The answer is yes," Romney told voters then.

While he said he does not oppose creating a path for those who serve in the U.S. military to become permanent residents, he also said he doesn't believe such individuals should be able to adjust their status by attending school, nor should they receive in-state tuition.

Since narrowly winning the Iowa caucuses, Romney has been sending Hispanics mixed messages.

He's working to woo Hispanics and convince them he's sincere in fighting their causes, recently launching TV commercials in Florida featuring Cuban-Americans Diaz-Balart and fellow U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, as well as his son Craig speaking in Spanish.

But, in South Carolina, he's also been campaigning with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the leading architect behind the tough Arizona-style immigration laws. Even many Latinos who support tougher immigration laws worry such measures will lead to racial profiling because they give broad leeway to law enforcement to stop anyone whom they suspect of being in the country illegally.

"This is all about his primary right now," said Benjamin Bishin, a University of California, Riverside political science professor who has long studied Cuban-American and other Latino political attitudes.

Jennifer Korn of the center-right group the Hispanic Leadership Network, which is co-hosting a GOP primary debate and Latino conference this month in Florida, said Romney took a risk in alienating Hispanic voters. But, she added, he's also made clear he wants to fix the broader immigration system.

"If he explains it correctly, he definitely has a chance to have the Hispanic community listen to what he has to say," she said.

He seemed to try to do just that during recent debates, saying: "I love legal immigration," but that "to protect our legal immigration system we have got to protect our borders and stop the flood of illegal immigration."

That appeared to be enough for Peter Gonzalez, a Cuban-American commercial attorney and fiscally conservative Democrat.

"It's nice to hear a guy who the media has said is taking a harsh turn to the right on immigration say they love legal immigration," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney_hispanics

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The Nazi's Terrifying Siege of Leningrad Mashed Up With the Actual City [Image Cache]

Sergey Larenkov has published a new series of his amazing World War II photo mashups. This time they are photos of the Nazi's Siege of Leningrad travelling forward in time to the modern city, now called Saint Petersburg. Yesterday, Russia celebrated the day they broke the siege. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4HUeVmwSTl8/the-nazis-terrifying-siege-of-leningrad-mashed-up-with-the-actual-city

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ASUS offers refunds and extended warranties to piqued Prime customers in the UK

If the Ice Cream Sandwich update, bug fixes and piles of apologies from the folks at ASUS just aren't cutting it and you happen to live in the UK, then we've got some good news for you. You are free to take your Transformer Prime back to the shop for a full refund. Don't expect turn around and pick up that updated TF700T with your haul, though, it won't be hitting shelves in merry ol' England till at least June. If you choose to keep your dockable tablet, ASUS will offer an extended warranty of 18 months, just to soothe your panicked mind that wakes you with night terrors about GPS issues and unknown serial numbers.

ASUS offers refunds and extended warranties to piqued Prime customers in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/18/asus-offers-refunds-and-extended-warranties/

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NJ grows jobs in December in public sector (AP)

TRENTON, N.J. ? New Jersey officials say the unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percent in December to 9 percent.

It was the fourth time in the last five months the state's unemployment rate has fallen.

The gains came with public sector employment rising by 2,400 jobs in December ? mostly in local government. Private sector jobs, however, were down by 2,000.

Those figures are reversals from the trends throughout 2011.

Compared with December 2010, New Jersey's unemployment rate was 0.1 percent lower. But there are 39,400 more private-sector jobs and 3,000 fewer public sector jobs.

The preliminary numbers are measured by the United States Bureau of Labor and were released by the state Labor Department.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_unemployment_new_jersey

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Snakes improve search-and-rescue robots: New design uses less energy

ScienceDaily (Jan. 19, 2012) ? Designing an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue missions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough to move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it's restricted from tight spaces. It might also be required to climb slopes of varying inclines. Existing robots can do many of these things, but the majority require large amounts of energy and are prone to overheating. Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new machine by studying the locomotion of a certain type of flexible, efficient animal.

"By using their scales to control frictional properties, snakes are able to move large distances while exerting very little energy," said Hamid Marvi, a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech.

While studying and videotaping the movements of 20 different species at Zoo Atlanta, Marvi developed Scalybot 2, a robot that replicates rectilinear locomotion of snakes. He unveiled the robot this month at the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology (SICB) annual meeting in Charleston, S.C.

"During rectilinear locomotion, a snake doesn't have to bend its body laterally to move," explained Marvi. "Snakes lift their ventral scales and pull themselves forward by sending a muscular traveling wave from head to tail. Rectilinear locomotion is very efficient and is especially useful for crawling within crevices, an invaluable benefit for search-and-rescue robots."

Scalybot 2 can automatically change the angle of its scales when it encounters different terrains and slopes. This adjustment allows the robot to either fight or generate friction. The two-link robot is controlled by a remote-controlled joystick and can move forward and backward using four motors.

"Snakes are highly maligned creatures," said Joe Mendelson, curator of herpetology at Zoo Atlanta. "I really like that Hamid's research is showing the public that snakes can help people."

Marvi's advisor is David Hu, an assistant professor in the Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Biology. Hu and his research team are primarily focused on animal locomotion. They've studied how dogs and other animals shake water off their bodies and how mosquitos fly through rainstorms.

This isn't the first time Hu's lab has looked at snake locomotion. Last summer the team developed Scalybot 1, a two-link climbing robot that replicates concertina locomotion. The push-and-pull, accordion-style movement features alternating scale activity.

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. PHY-0848894). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119101237.htm

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