Month: September 2015
Orlando Fl Bail Bonds – An Abortion Option Returns to El Paso After Long Legal Battle
Source : Texasobserver
By : Alexa Garcia-Ditta
Category : Orlando Bail Bondsman, Orlando Fl Bail Bonds
For the last 17 months, West Texans seeking abortion services have had two options: travel hundreds of miles to a San Antonio clinic, or cross the state line into New Mexico for the procedure. Now, after a prolonged legal and bureaucratic battle over provisions of Texas’ omnibus anti-abortion law, an El Paso abortion clinic has reopened and will provide abortion and other reproductive health services beginning next week. Reproductive Services closed in April 2014 after its physician lost her admitting privileges at a local hospital, one of the new requirements under House Bill 2, the omnibus law passed in 2013. That restriction, plus another that mandates Texas abortion clinics make expensive modifications to their facilities to in order to operate as ambulatory surgical centers, is at the heart of an ongoing legal challenge to the constitutionality of the law. Reproductive Services is one of several independent abortion providers suing the state.
Alyssah Roth, board president of the nascent West Fund, which provides financial assistance to West Texans seeking abortions, said the clinic’s reopening means West Texans won’t have to leave the state for care. She said patients who call her organization’s hotline have so far predominantly gone to the newly opened Whole Woman’s Health in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for their abortions. While attorneys for the state have argued that going to New Mexico is an acceptable option for West Texans, and thereby maintain that the law does not create significant obstacles to accessing care, plaintiffs say that that forcing women to travel for an abortion services creates an undue burden by adding practical and logistical barriers such as transportation costs and child care expenses. “Even though [Las Cruces] is only half an hour away, some people still don’t have cars, or have time to take off work,” Roth said. “Some people can’t leave Texas.”
In addition to abortion care, Reproductive Services will provide family planning, contraception and gynecological care. Historically, the clinic has served approximately 2,000 patients per year. “[Reproductive Services] will be more a low-cost facility where people can go … versus a primary care doctor,” Roth said.
Two years’ worth of legal back-and-forth over HB 2 has put abortion access across Texas in limbo. Since the law began to take effect in October 2013, more than half of the state’s abortion clinics have shuttered, leaving regions such as the Panhandle, East Texas and parts of the Texas-Mexico border without a legal abortion provider. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has twice upheld the law’s admitting privileges and ASC restrictions, but two emergency interventions by the Supreme Court of the United States have temporarily blocked HB 2 from taking full effect. The most recent decision from the high court left in place a lower federal court’s injunction halting the surgical center requirement statewide and blocking the admitting privileges requirement from taking effect at Reproductive Services in El Paso and Whole Woman’s Health in McAllen.
After initially denying Reproductive Services a license to reopen following the Supreme Court’s injunction, the Texas Department of State Health Services reversed its decision in late August when an Austin federal judge threatened to hold the agency in contempt of court. “Reproductive Services reopening their doors means the women of El Paso and West Texas can once again access safe and legal reproductive health care options that they need and deserve,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. The New York organization is representing Reproductive Services and other Texas abortion providers in the case against HB 2. In late August, the Center for Reproductive Rights formally asked the Supreme Court to take up its case against HB 2. A decision from the high court is expected in October.
Read More : texasobserver.org/an-abortion-option-returns-to-el-paso-after-long-legal-battle/
Orlando Bail Bondsman – Legal drinking age of 18 tied to high school dropout rate
Source : Science Daily
By : Press Release
Category : Orlando Bail Bondsman, Orlando Fl Bail Bonds
Although there have been calls to lower the legal drinking age from 21, a new study raises the possibility that it could have the unintended effect of boosting the high school dropout rate. The report, published in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, looked back at high school dropout rates in the 1970s to mid-80s — a time when many U.S. states lowered the age at which young people could legally buy alcohol.
Researchers found that when the minimum drinking age was lowered to 18, high school dropout rates rose by 4 to 13 percent, depending on the data source. Black and Hispanic students — who were already more vulnerable to dropping out — appeared more affected than white students.
The findings do not prove that the 18 drinking age was to blame, according to lead researcher Andrew Plunk, Ph.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School, in Norfolk. However, he said, state drinking-age policies would likely be unrelated to the personal factors that put kids at risk of drinking problems or dropping out.
Plus, Plunk explained, states made those policy changes based on national trends at the time — mainly, the belief that with the voting age lowered to 18, the legal drinking age should drop, too. So it’s unlikely that other events happening within states would explain the connection to high school dropout rates. And why would the legal drinking age matter when it comes to high school dropout rates? “The minimum legal drinking age changes how easy it is for a young person to get alcohol,” Plunk said. “In places where it was lowered to 18, it’s likely that more high school students were able to get alcohol from their friends.” And for certain vulnerable kids, that access might lower their chances of finishing high school. Policies that allowed 18-year-olds to buy alcohol showed a particular impact on minority students, as well as young people whose parents had drinking problems. In that latter group, the dropout rate rose by 40 percent.
In the mid-1980s, federal legislation returned the legal drinking age to 21 nationwide. However, there is an ongoing debate about lowering it again — largely as a way to combat clandestine binge drinking on college campuses. The argument is that college students who can legally buy alcohol at bars and restaurants will drink more responsibly.
But Plunk said that debate is missing something: What might the effects be in high schools? “I think this study gives us some idea of what could happen if we lower the legal drinking age,” Plunk said. “It suggests to me that we’d see this same dropout phenomenon again.”
Read More : sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150928082140.htm
Orlando Bail Bonds – Uber seeks legal advice after New South Wales suspends registration of 40 cars
Source : The Guardian
By : Australian Associated Press
Category : Orlando Bail Bond, Orlando Bail Bonds
Uber says it is “shocked” and seeking legal advice after 40 of its New South Wales drivers had their vehicle registration suspended. Roads and Maritime Services director of safety and compliance Peter Wells said the government was cracking down on those who allowed their vehicles to be used for illegal ride-sharing. Taxi drivers have called on state governments to ensure Uber drivers pay the same licence and registration fees as they do.
Taxi and hire car services must have authorised and accredited operators and a licensed and insured vehicle, an RMS spokesman confirmed on Monday. Uber said it was waiting for the NSW government to sensibly regulate the industry. “We are shocked that the Roads and Maritime Services did not appear to show these drivers any due process and we are reviewing the legal options to reverse this decision,” Uber said on Monday.
Wells said the suspensions were only the latest moves against illegal services. “Thousands of dollars in fines have already been issued to drivers offering illegal ride-sharing activities and compliance actions will continue,” he said. “If drivers continue to offer illegal ride-sharing services, they will continue to risk registration suspensions and fines.” The 40 UberX suspensions will take effect from midnight on Wednesday for three months. If a suspended vehicle is found on the road after 1 October, the vehicle is deemed unregistered and uninsured, with penalties of $637 for each offence, increasing to about $2,200 if heard in court, the RMS spokesman said. An independent taskforce has been established by the NSW government to assess the future of the taxi, hire car and ride-sharing industry.
Read More : theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/28/uber-seeks-legal-advice-after-40-new-south-wales-drivers-suspended
Orlando Bail Bond – Aldermen already trying to restrict newly legal food carts
Source : Chicago Tribune
By : Hal Dardick and John Byrne
Category : Orlando Bail Bond, Orlando Bail Bonds
Chicago food cart vendors who have operated in the legal shadows for many decades soon will have the option of going legit under a new ordinance that won City Council approval Thursday, even as two aldermen took the first steps toward banning them on some of the city’s tonier streets. The vendors, who sell tamales, cut fruit, corn on the cob known as elotes and other items primarily in Latino neighborhoods, would have to pay $350 to get a license to operate once the ordinance goes into effect in 30 days.
The food would have to be prepared in commercial kitchens, and the carts would have to move along to another location at least once every two hours. Despite those and other restrictions, many vendors backed the new ordinance put forward by Ald. Roberto Maldonado, 26th, who said he has been a longtime buyer of tamales from them Sundays after church. But if Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, and Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, have their way, the carts won’t get to operate in some potentially lucrative locations.
Reilly introduced an ordinance to ban them along Michigan Avenue from Roosevelt Road to Oak Street, on Rush Street from Pearson Street to Division Street and in many other upscale areas in his downtown ward. Attempts to reach him for comment were not successful. Tunney moved to ban them around Wrigley Field, much like other food vendors who are not allowed to set up shop on those streets, as well as some of the other busy streets with lots of shops and restaurants in his ward. “There’s no room,” said Bennett Lawson, Tunney’s chief of staff, who said the sidewalks are narrow and already packed with cafes and pedestrians. “It’s just too contested.” The ordinance does allow aldermen to determine where carts cannot be placed for health and safety reasons or to avoid traffic congestion. “I do hope the City Council holds themselves to that standard,” said Elizabeth Kregor, director of the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago, a group that has advocated on behalf of food cart vendors. “If restaurants have sidewalk cafes, you have to wonder if the streets are too narrow for vendors.”
The council also approved borrowing up to $500 million, with $225 million of that money going to pay off long-term debt in a frowned-upon practice known as scoop and toss. That pushes debt off into the future at higher cost, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has vowed to phase that out over the next four years. Next year, he will reduce scoop and toss to $125 million, Emanuel said this week.
In other council action:
• Aldermen also signed off on an ordinance proposed by Emanuel that would allow developers to construct more buildings with fewer or no parking spaces. It extends the distance from train stations and shopping thoroughfares where those buildings can go up. Aldermen at first resisted but are now on board after Emanuel gave them more control over the approval process.
• Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno, 1st, introduced an amendment to his disposable plastic bag ban ordinance that went into effect this summer at large Chicago stores. The changes would increase the minimum thickness of the reusable plastic bags stores are allowed to provide for shoppers under the ban, from 2.25 mm thick to at least 10 mm thick.
That comes after Moreno complained that some stores were trying to skirt the spirit of the ban by simply replacing the old plastic bags with reusable ones that met the minimum requirements. Moreno also wants to outlaw so-called “compostable plastic bags” as a possibility for stores until residents have access to curbside compost collection. And he wants to require stores to submit weekly reports showing what types of bags were used for each sale.
• Freshman Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, proposed an ordinance that would put a halt to cost-of-living increases for the salaries of the 50 City Council members, who get those raises unless they file paperwork to reject them. Aldermen make anywhere from $105,000 to $117,000. Rosa also proposed cutting the salaries of all city workers who make more than $100,000.
• In a largely symbolic move, 42 aldermen signed on to sponsor an ordinance calling on the state and city boards of education to place a moratorium on new charter schools. Critics say charter schools drain money away from neighborhood schools run by the Chicago Public Schools.
Read More : chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-chicago-city-council-meeting-met-0925-20150924-story.html
Orlando Bail – Is Space Mining Legal?
Source : Pop Sci
By : Sarah Fecht
Category : Orange County Fl Bailbonds, Orlando Bail
A controversial bill would give companies the right to own natural resources in space, and it may pass in the Senate by the end of September
If mankind is ever to become an interplanetary species, our outward expansion across the solar system probably can’t be fueled by NASA funding alone. Why did the first humans venture out of Africa? What made the Europeans sail into the unknown? What drove Americans to expand across the continent? Curiosity and an adventurous spirit, yes, but more importantly: resources–be they riches, food, or fertile farmland. Similarly, resources may be the only thing that can lure us from the comforts of Earth. Mining for lunar water could make it up to 90 percent cheaper to colonize the moon. And extracting platinum and other minerals from asteroids could propel mankind to travel beyond low Earth orbit. At least two companies—Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries—are openly planning to mine asteroids. The former has already launched a simple test vehicle into low Earth orbit, with more planned. Both companies have a long way to go before their technologies will be able to visit an asteroid, assess what valuable resources it contains, and then extract those resources and deliver them back to Earth. First the companies need to clear a major legal obstacle. The Outer Space Treaty, which the U.S., Russia, and a number of other countries have signed, specifically states that nations can’t own territory in space. “Outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States,” the treaty says. “Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”
But what does that mean for a private company?
“There is no clear-cut answer as to whether [private mining in space] is legal or not,” says Frans von der Dunk, a space law professor at the University of Nebraska. “It depends on your interpretation of certain rather broad statements in the Outer Space Treaty, and it depends on your particular interests.” In May, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would give asteroid mining companies property rights to the minerals they extract from space. Called the Space Act of 2015, the bill now awaits the Senate’s decision. If the decision isn’t made by the end of September or shortly thereafter, an expiring moratorium will give the Federal Aviation Administration permission to begin regulating commercial spaceflight—something conservatives have wanted to postpone so that the fledgling industry could have some time to grow. Von der Dunk predicts the Senate will pass the bill by the end of October. After that, President Obama will have the opportunity to sign it into law or veto it. The bill (which is similar to last year’s stalled ASTEROIDS Act) says that resources extracted from asteroids and other objects in space belong to the person or company who extracts them. It also would require space mining companies to “avoid causing harmful interference in outer space,” and allows a company to sue others who cause “harmful interference” to space mining ventures. “It’s a very succinct act,” says Von der Dunk. “That is one reason why I don’t foresee many complications.” Nonetheless, it’s causing a bit of an uproar in the international community, says Michael Listner, lawyer and founder of the consulting firm Space Law and Policy Solutions.
International Concerns
Planetary Resources is pleased with the bill. “The SPACE Act of 2015 is a very good foundation for future asteroid resource activities,” a spokesperson told Popular Science. “If the bill passed tomorrow it would explicitly state a government position that has been implied for decades. The law would provide clarity and move this entire industry ahead very quickly.” But not everyone is enthusiastic about it. In an article in the journal Space Policy, Fabio Tronchetti, a lawyer at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China, argues that the Space Act of 2015 would violate the Outer Space Treaty.
He writes: In essence, Tronchetti argues that if the U.S. passes this bill, it will confer rights to space companies that the U.S. doesn’t have the power to give. Tronchetti also points out that the bill’s concept of ‘harmful interference’ isn’t defined, and could potentially be used to create exclusion zones around mining operations. That would go against the nature of the treaty, whose goal was to make sure space remains the “province of all mankind,” open for exploration by everyone. Although von der Dunk says that even though he doesn’t see anything in the current version that clearly violates international law, it could still cause concerns overseas. “Russia and China might consider using this as another example of the economic aggression of the U.S. and going ahead of the international law,” he says. The space mining debate probably should have started with international discussions, Tronchetti and von der Dunk agree, before going to the House and Senate. But international consensus has been hard to come by in the past. The 1979 Moon Agreement, for example, would have limited mining in space to international governing bodies. Over the years, 16 nations have signed on to the treaty, but none of the major space-faring nations have agreed to it. Von der Dunk says it’s too late for those discussions now. “It would take years and lead to a watered-down version. We’re probably going to go ahead with this.”
What’s The Rush?
Michael Listner has some major qualms with the bill in its current form. It requires the President to assess the international impacts of space mining and set up a regulatory structure for it within 180 days of signing the bill into law, but has no vision beyond those 180 days. “It’s a short-term bill,” says Listner. “I don’t think it goes far enough.”
For example, what is the licensing process for a company that wants to mine asteroids? Although issues such as this could be addressed in the President’s 180-day report, that report, Tronchetti writes, “might not be a sufficient step to fill in the gap resulting from a near-absolute absence of a national regulatory framework governing private mining activities on asteroids.”
He goes on: “There are just too many questions,” says Listner. “It conjures rights out of thin air, and has no supporting infrastructure.”
Read More : popsci.com/it-could-soon-be-legal-to-mine-asteroids
Orange County Fl Bailbonds – French Law That Banned UberPop Service Survives Legal Challenge
Source : New York Times
By : MARK SCOTT
Category : Orange County Fl Bailbonds, Orlando Bail
The Constitutional Council in France upheld on Tuesday a law that banned Uber’s low-cost ride-hailing service, a much-awaited decision that underscores how national courts are enforcing limits on the company’s expansion into new markets. The decision from the council upheld a section of a transportation law approved by the French Parliament late in 2014. The law included a ban on the company’s UberPop ride-booking service, which used drivers who did not have a professional license to pick up paying passengers. UberPop is cheaper than Uber’s standard offering. The council rejected Uber’s argument that the law would have also made ride-sharing illegal, affecting an accepted form of reducing travel costs for many people in France. The council said in its decision that ride-sharing was unaffected and that the law and the ban “conformed to the Constitution.”
The ruling follows violent protests from Paris to Marseille by many French taxi unions. The protesters had argued that UberPop represented unfair competition for standard taxi services and did not comply with strict transportation rules. It is unclear what the practical consequences of Tuesday’s ruling will be. In July, the company suspended its UberPop service in France until the Constitutional Council made its decision. An Uber spokesman, Gareth Mead, said that the company was disappointed by the decision but that it would not have much immediate impact on its current business in France.
“We suspended UberPop in light of the risk of violence to our riders and driver partners and we will maintain this suspension — the majority of our business continues unaffected,” Mr. Mead said. He added that there were more legal cases and decisions in the pipeline and that while the Constitutional Council had upheld the transportation law, that ruling cleared the way for the other cases against Uber to proceed. For instance, a French local court declined last year to ban UberPop. That case went before the Paris Court of Appeal and was suspended pending the Constitutional Council’s ruling. The case will now go forward, Mr. Mead said.
Two Uber executives in France are set to stand trial on Sept. 30 on behalf of the company in connection with charges including “deceptive commercial practices” and illegally organizing taxi services through UberPop. The company has been on a recent charm offensive in France after it was caught off-guard by the violent opposition to UberPop, which allows anyone with a car to pick up passengers through the company’s smartphone application. Uber has claimed that the transportation law, which bars drivers who lack professional licenses from picking up passengers, unfairly benefits taxis and should be repealed. Parisian taxi drivers say they must pay as much as $270,000 for a license to operate and argue that Uber has the unfair edge.
The company, which is now valued by investors at roughly $50 billion, has faced regulatory problems in many places it operates, including the United States and South Korea. Its service, which allows people to hail a ride via an app, has expanded to more than 300 cities in over 50 countries. In many countries, policy makers and taxi unions have argued that the company does not follow local transportation and safety rules. Regulators also have raised concerns over Uber’s working practices, as the service relies on drivers who are independent contractors, not full-time employees.
Uber has often continued to offer its services despite legal demands that it stop operating. It also has brought legal challenges against regulators when it believes they are hindering the company’s growth. Unlike Airbnb, the home-rental company, which has actively built a relationship with French policy makers, Uber initially failed to foster close connections with policy makers when it expanded into France in late 2011, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. In recent months, however, Uber executives have contacted many of France’s leading politicians in an attempt to counter claims that some of the company’s services are illegal, though some lawmakers remain skeptical over the company’s aims. “Modernity is innovation, the quality of service, the sharing economy,” said Bernard Cazeneuve, France’s interior minister, after the anti-Uber demonstrations in July. “It is not black-market jobs and clandestine work organized against the rule of law by Uber.”
To counter opposition in France and other European countries, Uber has started to lobby the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, to weigh in on whether nations have the right to ban the company’s offerings. A Spanish judge also recently referred a case against Uber to Europe’s highest court, which will now decide whether the company is a transportation service, which would force it to follow existing rules, or a mere digital service, which would give the company greater leeway. As Uber’s legal challenges mount, the company’s executives have stressed their willingness to use European courts to fight against the perceived dominance of the region’s taxi industry. “If governments take decisions that we believe are contrary to European law, then of course we will have to decide what to do next,” Mark MacGann, Uber’s head of European policy, recently told reporters when asked about potential future legal action. “Regulation in some countries was written decades ago before we all carried smartphones in our pockets.”
Read more : nytimes.com/2015/09/23/technology/french-law-that-banned-uberpop-service-survives-legal-challenge.html
Orange County Fl Bail Bondsman – Volkswagen Faces More Legal Fallout
Source : The Salt Trade Tribune
By : Karin Matussek Bloomberg News
Category : Orange County Fl Bail Bond , Orange County Fl Bail Bondsman
Volkswagen’s legal problems started in the United States, but the world’s biggest carmaker is finding the fallout over its cheating on U.S. environmental tests is extending to its home market. The German company’s shares lost nearly a quarter of their value Monday in Frankfurt, and financial regulator Bafin is looking at possible violations of German rules. VW also faces legal threats from investors and environmental groups.
“Like in comparable cases, with strong share movements we look at the VW stock as to insider trading, market manipulation, and ad-hoc disclosure rules,” Bafin spokeswoman Anja Schuchhardt said in an email. “But this is a matter of routine.” The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company admitted to fitting its U.S. diesel vehicles with software that turns on full pollution controls only when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday. With 482,000 autos part of the case, the U.S. fine could total more than $18 billion.
During normal driving, the cars with the software — known as a “defeat device” — would pollute 10 times to 40 times the legal limits, the EPA estimated. The discrepancy emerged after the International Council on Clean Transportation commissioned real-world emissions tests of diesel vehicles including a Jetta and Passat, then compared them to lab results. VW halted sales of the models involved on Sunday and said it’s cooperating with the probe and ordered its own external investigation. Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn, who has led the company since 2007, said he was “deeply sorry” for breaking the public’s trust and that VW would do “everything necessary in order to reverse the damage this has caused.”
Andreas Tilp, a lawyer representing investors in German court, says VW may have to pay damages to stockholders in Germany if the allegations of U.S. authorities are upheld. Investors may seek to recover losses incurred because of the stock’s decline. “We’re convinced that VW failed to properly inform the markets and is liable to investors who can seek billions,” Tilp said. “Concealing for years the immense risks of the pollution manipulation and the U.S. probes is a violation of capital market rules.”
Volkswagen spokesman Claus-Peter Tiemann said he can’t comment on the German legal developments and referred to Winterkorn’s earlier comments. Environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe said it will sue carmakers to have diesel vehicles removed from the streets starting 2016. It will also take legal action to have Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority revoke licenses for the vehicles. While rules on emissions are similar in the U.S. and Germany, the Federal Motor Transport Authority isn’t properly controlling its implementation, Juergen Resch, DUH’s director, said in an e-mailed statement. The German agency isn’t controlling pollution, and should use recalls in case of violations of environmental rules, Resch said. The Federal Motor Transport Authority’s press office didn’t reply to an email seeking comment.
Read more: sltrib.com/home/2976359-155/vw-faces-more-legal-fallout-
Orange County Fl Bail Bond – Should the Sex Trade Be Legal?
Source : Learning English
By : Press Article
Category : Orange County Fl Bail Bond , Orange County Fl Bail Bondsman
It is said to be the oldest way to make money – trading sex for money, or prostitution. And a long-standing question surrounding sex work is — should it be legal? An international human rights group is now trying to answer that question. Amnesty International has suggested a way of improving the human rights of sex workers – by decriminalizing sex work. The rights group says if people are not arrested for sex work, they would not be forced to live outside the law. Sex workers would no longer be seen and treated as “criminals.” This would give them more power when dealing with police and other law authorities. However, many human rights activists do not agree that this will help the lives of sex workers. They say the proposal of Amnesty will legalize the abuse and mistreatment of these workers.
One of the most vocal opponents of decriminalizing sex work is Cindy McCain.
Ms. McCain heads the Human Trafficking Advisory Council at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. She has been a leader in the effort to end the illegal movement of people, usually for the purpose of forced labor or prostitution. Ms. McCain says there are ways to help the complex problem of human trafficking. But, she adds, decriminalization is not one of them. She explains that many adult sex workers started out as exploited children. Often, children are sold as sex slaves or they are kidnapped to work in the sex trades. In a 2014 interview, Ms. McCain says that child sex trafficking is a “low risk and high reward” business. To show how high the rewards are in the U.S., Ms. McCain states how much a pimp, a man who controls and profits from sex workers, can make per child, per year. She uses numbers from an organization in the United States called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or as she calls it “NCMEC.” “NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) also estimates that a pimp can make between $150,000 and $200,000 per child per year. The average pimp has four to six little girls.” In an interview with VOA, Ms. McCain said that legalizing prostitution and other sex work is not the right way to protect these people. She says she believes that criminalizing those who pay for sex is the right approach.
Critics say decriminalization sends the wrong message
In a recent Washington Post story, Ms. McCain says the sex industry is not safe. Sex workers in many countries often face violence. She says the suggestion by Amnesty International to decriminalize sex work tells women, men and children that sex work is a safe and acceptable choice for work. It also tells those who pay for sex that they have the human right to do so. Cindy McCain says sex traffickers are criminals and need to be treated like criminals. Ms. McCain explains that sex traffickers are often linked to organized crime. The people who traffic humans may also traffic guns, drugs and illegal animal parts, she says. And when they traffic children they are also involved in child abuse. So, these people need to be treated like criminals, she stresses. As an example, Ms. McCain talks about her trip to Georgia and other surrounding countries. She says that in those areas organized crime is heavily involved in the sex trade.
How war affects sex trades and human trafficking
Ms. McCain says the effects of war on a country are, of course, severe. But, the effects on women and children, she adds, are extremely severe. Ms. McCain says that the sex trade is destroying communities. She says in Georgia, Kosovo and other post-conflict countries, you can plainly see how war affects sex trafficking and how that affects a community – there are fewer young women. War also creates refugees. And refugees who have no money and who have fled their homes risk becoming victims of sex trafficking. Ms. McCain says the migrant crisis that is happening now in Europe could lead to an increase in sex trafficking.
Amnesty stands by its suggestion of decriminalization
However, Amnesty International says keeping sex trades illegal only increases a sex worker’s exposure to violence. Making the sex trade a criminal offense also violates a sex worker’s human rights. Amnesty says it chose to support decriminalization after talking with many groups involved in the issue — sex workers, HIV agencies, activists for women’s rights and gay rights, anti-trafficking groups and leading academics. There is one very important difference in this conversation. Amnesty strongly states that it does not consider a woman who is forced to sell sex to be a sex worker.Ms. McCain and other human rights activists argue that decriminalizing sex work puts those in the industry in greater danger. Decriminalization will take away the authority to go after those who use and abuse people for personal profit. These same activists say such a policy of decriminalization would be a step backward in the fight against human trafficking worldwide.
Read more: learningenglish.voanews.com/content/should-prositution-be-legal/2966481.html
Bail In Orlando Fl – Court blocks sales of some older Samsung phones in legal win for Apple
Source : JS Online
By : Associated Press
Category : Bail In Orlando, Bail In Orlando Fl
A federal appeals court is blocking Samsung Electronics from selling some of its older smartphones in the United States in the latest twist to a long-running legal battle over how much of the devices’ technology was copied from Apple’s iPhone. The ruling issued Thursday by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., vindicates Apple but might not hurt Samsung too much. That’s because it applies to phones that are no longer popular. The most recent phone affected by the injunction, the Galaxy S3, was released in 2012 — long enough ago to be eclipsed by slicker smartphones in the rapidly evolving market for mobile technology. Samsung recently began selling the Galaxy S6, which was unaffected by Thursday’s decision. Samsung also could revise the features covered by the injunction, something that the company has previously indicated that it might do if prodded by the courts.
Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have been locked in a bitter feud for years over the patents covering a variety of features commonly used in many smartphones. The acrimony dates back to the reign of Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs, who contended that Google had ripped off the iPhone’s innovations to use in Android, a free mobile operating system that Samsung uses in its smartphones. Samsung emerged as Apple’s biggest rival in the smartphone market, making it the target of a legal onslaught that has continued long after Jobs’ death nearly four years ago.
Juries in two separate federal court trials in San Jose, Calif., decided that some of the features in Samsung’s phones and tablets infringed on Apple’s patents covering iPhone innovations. Apple has been awarded more than $600 million in damages so far, but Samsung still is pursuing appeals that could reduce the amount owed. In a 2-1 vote, the appeals court issuing Thursday’s injunction concluded that Apple was being harmed by Samsung’s infringement on patents for iPhone’s slide-to-lock screen and autocorrect feature. The court also concluded that protecting Apple’s intellectual rights wouldn’t harm the public welfare. “Apple does not seek to enjoin the sale of lifesaving drugs, but to prevent Samsung from profiting from the unauthorized use of infringing features in its cellphones and tablets,” U.S. Federal Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore wrote in the majority opinion.
Read more: jsonline.com/business/court-blocks-sales-of-some-older-samsung-phones-in-legal-win-for-apple-b99579072z1-328134571.html
Bail In Orlando – Legal, ethical response needed from US, Europe on Mideast refugee crisis
Source : News Stanford
By : Clifton B. Parker
Category : Bail In Orlando, Bail In Orlando Fl
The United States should join Europe in providing safe havens for the Middle East refugees, a Stanford expert says.James Cavallaro, a Stanford professor of law, says that a globally coordinated humanitarian response is required to deal with the hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in Europe from the war-torn Middle East. He is the director of the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic and head of the Stanford Human Rights Center. Cavallaro, who wrote a recent blog post on the issue, recently spoke to the Stanford News Service about the refugee crisis:
European governments can act aggressively to provide a coordinated response to ensure that every person entering Europe is provided with the guarantees that international law requires and recommends: non-return; emergency relief, as needed; cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and an individualized determination of whether the person qualifies for refugee status. First and foremost, European states are bound by Article 33 (1) of the 1951 Convention, which requires that “No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”
That is a minimum required by international law. Beyond that, there should be structural changes that allow Europe to respond legally and ethically to future crises. Reinforcing maritime fleets to respond to drownings; closing borders, as several states have recently done; or prosecuting migrants, as Hungary has threatened, however, are not adequate responses to the crisis. A coordinated, humanitarian strategy is what is needed.
Can the United States do anything?
The United States can do an enormous amount of good – or not – to respond to this crisis. For context, it should be noted there is the view that the United States is responsible for the destabilization of Iraq and Syria. From this assessment, a clear moral and legal responsibility to provide for those fleeing the chaos would be due. Whatever you may think about that assertion, there is, no doubt, a great deal more that the United States could do in terms of providing for the many refugees of the crisis. Recently, the U.S. Secretary of State pledged to increase the number of refugees (from the entire world) it takes in from 70,000 to 100,000 a year. While of enormous consequence to the 30,000 additional refugees, these numbers are relatively small when compared with the burden other states shoulder. Sources place the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey at 1.9 million, in Lebanon at 1.1 million and in Jordan at 630,000. In addition to receiving more refugees, there is much more that can be done by the United States and other powerful nations to enable people to prosper in their home states.
Why is the crisis just hitting Europe now?
This is due to a series of factors coming together in a highly visible part of the world: Europe. For one, there is the permanent global crisis, caused by wars, conflict, severe economic deprivation and other disruptions. Last year, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) placed the number of those forcibly displaced worldwide at an unprecedented 59.5 million – up from 51.2 million people in 2013. Flows of migrants and refugees have undoubtedly increased regionally because of the war in Syria, the rise of ISIL and the resulting unrest in the region. The Mediterranean has long been a route through which migrants and refugees have attempted to enter Europe in search of stability, safety and opportunities. Their journey, however, has been far from safe. The International Organization for Migration reports that in 2015, 2,748 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean (of a total of 3,776 deaths of migrants worldwide).
In addition to the desirability of Europe, another important “push” factor has been the intensification of the crisis in Syria and Iraq. The civil war in Syria has been going on for several years now, and the latest war in Iraq began with the U.S. invasion in 2003. But the rise of the Islamic State, which can be traced to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, among other factors, is relatively recent. Extreme abuses by the Assad regime, combined with the increase in strength of the Islamic State and its control of large swaths of territory, have led hundreds of thousands to flee Syria. For years, those refugees, and others from Iraq, have gone to neighboring countries. But increasingly, more are fleeing through Turkey and into the European Union.
What’s the difference between a refugee and a migrant?
Often, those who favor restrictive immigration policies will refer to those fleeing situations of war and violence as “migrants,” while those who favor more humane responses will term those seeking resettlement “refugees.” “Migrant” is a broader, more generic term that may refer to any person who transits from one area to another, generally (though not always) across borders. In international law, a migrant worker, for instance, is a person who has left his or her home state. A refugee, by contrast, is a person who flees danger and seeks protection. The relevant standard, from the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, establishes that a refugee is someone who is outside of her or his country of origin and unable to return because of “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” Another important term is “IDP,” which stands for internally displaced person. This is someone who flees a situation of danger or instability but remains within her or his own country. Like refugee, IDP is a legal term, with legal consequences that flow from the classification. Generally, the main consequence is that states are barred from forcibly returning individuals to situations of great risk of harm.
Read more: news.stanford.edu/news/2015/september/refugees-global-ethics-091615.html
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