Legal and Legislative News

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Bill on home-schooler activities gets Senate OK

Pittsburgh Live

by Alison Knezevich

June 26, 2005

After years of effort by some lawmakers, the state Senate has approved a bill that would require all public schools to let home-schooled students participate in extracurricular activities.

The bill still must pass the House and be signed by Gov. Ed Rendell to become law. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday on a 34-16 vote. The vote is as far as such a proposal has ever gotten in the Senate, even though it has been introduced in various forms for the past 10 years.

"The parents of home-schoolers pay property taxes just like everyone else, and their children should have equal access, just like everyone else," said Sen. Bob Regola, R-Westmoreland, who wrote the bill.

Justices 'erase' key clause from Constitution

World Net Daily

June 24, 2005

Breyer: Any seizure of private property could benefit public

Comments by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer during oral arguments in the landmark Supreme Court property-rights case appear to support Justice Clarence Thomas' assertion that the ruling essentially has erased a key clause from the Constitution's Fifth Amendment.

Former IRS CID Special Agent Joseph Banister Acquitted of Tax Fraud And Conspiracy

Give Me Liberty

June 23, 2005

Government Unable To Prove U.S. Law Requires Income Tax Withholding or Filing

On Thursday June 23, a federal jury found former IRS Criminal Investigative Division (CID) Special Agent and CPA Joseph Banister not guilty of all counts alleging criminal tax fraud and conspiracy related to actions he took on behalf of a California business owner who had openly defied the IRS over several years by stopping withholding of all income and employment taxes from the paychecks of his workers.

A Defeat For Users Of Medical Marijuana

Washington Post

by Charles Lane

June 23, 2005

Supreme Court ruled Monday that the federal government has the power to prosecute the use of marijuana for medical purposes even in states that have enacted their own laws permitting it.

By a vote of 6 to 3, the court ruled that Congress's constitutional authority to regulate the interstate market in drugs, licit or illicit, extends to small, homegrown quantities of doctor-recommended marijuana consumed under California's Compassionate Use Act, which was adopted by an overwhelming majority of voters in 1996.

No-parent health policy remains

Auburn Journal (CA)

by Ryan Sabalow

June 17, 2005

The Nevada Joint Union High School District board of trustees voted this week to keep its policy in which students are allowed to leave school for medical treatment without consulting their parents.

However, the trustees voted 4-1 Wednesday night at Bear River High School to change the policy so that parents would have the option of including unsealed envelopes in their child's file at school. These envelopes would be given to the student to read in the event they choose to exercise their rights to leave class for treatment, said Maggie Deetz, Nevada Union superintendent.

$4.25 million verdict in teen's drowning

The Press Democrat (CA)

by Mike Geniella

June 3, 2005

Jurors say they wanted to send message to Ukiah school district for death during swimming class.

In a stinging rebuke to local school officials, a Mendocino County jury Thursday awarded $4.25 million to the grieving parents of a 13-year-old boy who drowned at the city pool during a 2003 swimming class. The jury, which took less than 90 minutes to reach its unanimous verdict, awarded Sandy and Joe Talamo $250,000 more than their attorneys had sought.

Call Don't Click: Consumer tips

World Privacy Forum

May 26, 2005

Consumer tips for retrieving your federally mandated free credit report. Before you call, click, or mail for your federally mandated free credit report, read these tips to help you avoid potential problems and pitfalls.

Online tip: Do not use a library or public computer to access your free credit report. Shared computers may inadvertently help share your credit report information with others. Only access your report online via your own computer, or a trusted computer.

Online tip: Giving An Email Address is Voluntary - Know that you are not required to give out your email address in order to obtain a federally mandated free credit report.

Ruling limits searches by child welfare workers

post-gazette.com

by Barbara White Stack

May 25, 2005

The duty of child protective agencies to rescue abused children doesn't exempt them from the type of standards police must meet to search homes for evidence of crimes, a state appeals court has ruled.

A three-judge panel of state Superior Court decided last week that caseworkers can't ignore parents' Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable searches. The responsibilities of a child welfare agency "to investigate each and every allegation of child abuse [and] neglect, including visiting the child's home at least once during its investigation, do not trump an individual's constitutional rights,"

Helping children in separating families

NZ City

May 18, 2005

The Government is launching a nationwide programme to help separating parents prevent stress and trauma to their children.

The initiative comes as part of the Budget and will cost $6.2 million over the next four years. The programmes will be run through the Family Court. Justice Minister Phil Goff says it is based on similar successful programmes in the United States and Britain, along with a pilot called Children in the Middle run by the Auckland Family Courts Association last year.

Mental Health Screening in Schools Signals the End of Parental Rights

The Sierra Times

by Nancy Levant

May 16, 2005

In the 2005-2006 school year, all parents will receive written notice of new policies from your children's schools. Many schools will ask you to sign permission slips, allowing school counselors to have conversations with your children.

You will be told how your local schools are now involved in vision and dental screenings, learning disabilities and speech impediment screenings, and other acts of kindness, but watch for the small print or the extra little blurb, which states that your children will also be evaluated for emotional wellness. Watch for wording like “happiness indicators” or “family participation.”

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