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Archive for the ‘Legislation’ Category

Connecticut in line to become second state to officially sanction same-sex marriage.

Posted in Constitutional Law, Legislation, tagged on April 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The Connecticut General Assembly has drafted legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry after the Connecticut Supreme Court held that the state constitution required the same.  Governor M. Jodi Rell has noted she will sign the bill.  For a full account of the story, click here. Vermont has already passed legislation allowing same-sex marriages.  Massachusetts and [...]

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HB 1611 (to allow internet streaming of committee meetings) fails to make it out of committee.

Posted in Legislation, Politics on March 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »

For a discussion of the problems I found with the bill, click here.  For a discussion of the committee meeting regarding the bill, click here.

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In Focus: Flaw of proposed law to allow internet streaming of house committee meetings.

Posted in In Focus, Legislation, Politics on March 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Legislators have put forward HB 1611, which would allow house committees to broadcast their meetings over the internet, as a measure to increase transparency in committee meetings.  As a techno-nerd, I think this is a great idea (although with a $40,000 a year price tag, I’m not sure this is really the best time to [...]

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Pennsylvania citizens cannot bring lawsuit over 50% pay increase for executive, legislative, and judicial branches, according to Third Circuit.

Posted in Legislation, Politics, Practice & Procedure on March 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

According to the complaint, the Pennsylvania legislature conspired with the executive and judicial branches to pass pay increases for all three branches.  When citizen groups challenged the law, their lawsuit was dismissed because of lack of standing.  Because the citizen groups were complaining of a “generalized, abstract grievance shared by all Pennsylvanians,” they could not [...]

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In Focus: Arkansas’s new animal cruelty law.

Posted in Animal Law, Criminal Law, Legislation on February 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The stated purpose of the Act is to change animal cruelty from a misdemeanor to a felony.  However, animal cruelty (mistreatment, killing, abandonment, etc.) is still only a misdemeanor.  Ark. Code Ann. 5-62-101.  Aggravated animal cruelty (torture) is now a Class D felony.  Ark. Code Ann. 5-62-104.  The Act changes the prohibition against dog fighting [...]

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