Feature Channels: Government and Law

Filters close
Released: 31-Jul-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Administrative Law Expert Levin Testifies Before Congressional Committee
Washington University in St. Louis

Administrative law expert Ronald M. Levin, JD, recently testified before Congress on concerns about the proposed Regulatory Accountability Act. Levin is a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee endorsed the legislation on July 24.

Released: 31-Jul-2013 9:35 AM EDT
Gender Bias a Consequence of Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s Financial Expert Rule?
Georgia Institute of Technology

In 2002, the federal government mandated that corporate boards of directors include at least one “audit committee financial expert” to help avert future accounting scandals. But the title and description of that position may have an unintended negative effect on the gender diversity of corporate boards, argues Seletha Butler, assistant professor of law and ethics at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

Released: 30-Jul-2013 9:05 AM EDT
Taking the Michigan Left on the Road
Wayne State University Division of Research

The median U-turn, otherwise known as the Michigan left turn, has been a great asset in moving traffic safely and efficiently in Michigan for over 50 years. While widely used in Michigan, other states and countries have not adopted the Michigan left turn, in large part because the design is not included in standard manuals and software that highway designers use.

Released: 30-Jul-2013 9:05 AM EDT
Study: Taxing Sugary Beverages Not a Clear Cut Strategy to Reduce Obesity
RTI International

Taxing sugary beverages may help reduce calories from these beverages in the United States, according to a joint study by researchersTaxing sugary beverages may help reduce calories from these beverages in the United States, but the health benefits may be partially offset as consumers substitute with other unhealthy foods, at RTI International, Duke University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Released: 15-Jul-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Food Safety Law Requires Global Partnerships to Succeed
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs full cooperation at every step of the manufacturing and distribution process to ensure food imported into the United States complies with the same safety standards as domestic food, according to a panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo®.

Released: 25-Jun-2013 3:40 PM EDT
SCOTUS Decision Kills “Most Successful Weapon” Against Racial Discrimination in Voting
Washington University in St. Louis

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively kills the most successful weapon our nation has ever produced against racial discrimination in voting, says constitutional and election law expert Gregory Magarian, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. He says the Court’s decision reflects a victory for two big ideas: state power, at the expense of racial justice; and judicial power, at the expense of democracy.

Released: 12-Jun-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Texas A&M Prof: NSA Surveillance Legal, Most Citizens not Targets
Texas A&M University

Supposed “bombshell revelations” about NSA surveillance programs are, at this point, much ado about nothing, says a professor at Texas A&M University.

Released: 13-May-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Supreme Court Decision Closes Loophole in Monsanto’s Business Model
Washington University in St. Louis

The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in Bowman v. Monsanto holds that farmers who lawfully obtain Monsanto’s patented, genetically modified soybeans do not have a right to plant those soybeans and grow a new crop of soybeans without Monsanto’s permission. “The Court closed a potential loophole in Monsanto’s long-standing business model, prevents Monsanto’s customers from setting up ‘farm-factories’ for producing soybeans that could be sold in competition with Monsanto’s soybeans, and it enables Monsanto to continue to earn a reasonable profit on its patented technology,” says Kevin Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis

   
Released: 29-Apr-2013 1:15 PM EDT
Contracted Prisons Cut Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Temple University

Research from Temple University’s Center for Competitive Government finds that privately operated prisons can substantially cut costs while performing at equal or better levels than government-run prisons.

   
Released: 26-Apr-2013 5:00 PM EDT
Pharmacy Organization's Statement on HELP Committee Proposed Pharmaceutical Compounding Bill
ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists)

ASHP is encouraged by provisions in draft legislation released today by the Senate HELP Committee to address regulatory gaps in the oversight of compounding outsourcers. The draft bill creates a boundary between traditional pharmacy compounding and defines a new entity, “compounding manufacturer.”

Released: 23-Apr-2013 1:30 PM EDT
Increasing Surveillance a Dangerous Reaction to Boston Bombings, Says Privacy Law Expert
Washington University in St. Louis

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, some people are calling for an increase in surveillance cameras throughout U.S. cities. “This would be a mistake,” says Neil Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “It would be dangerous to our civil liberties, and it would be bad policy.” Richards gives his personal reaction to the Boston bombings and offers three reasons why increasing the number of surveillance cameras would be an unnecessary response to recent events in a CNN opinion piece, “Surveillance State No Answer to Terror.”

17-Apr-2013 10:30 AM EDT
Should Doctors Be Involved in the Concealed-Weapons Permit Process?
University of North Carolina Health Care System

UNC's Dr. Adam Goldstein and colleagues discuss in the New England Journal of Medicine medical, ethical, and legal concerns about physician involvement in concealed weapons permits. They argue that standards, protocols and new policies are needed for physicians to adequately assess a patient’s physical or mental competency in concealed-weapons permitting.

Released: 12-Apr-2013 3:00 PM EDT
Senate Votes to Limit STOCK Act’s Web-Based Publication of Employees’ Financial Information
Washington University in St. Louis

On Thursday, April 11, the Senate voted to roll back the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, limiting the web-based publication of government employees’ personal financial information. This action comes in response to a federal court ruling that such publication violated employees’ right to privacy and a critical report by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). “The court recognized that the federal employees have a legitimate right to privacy regarding their personal financial information and ruled that the federal government failed to identify a compelling government interest that would justify posting that personal information on the internet,” says Kathleen Clark, JD, government ethics expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

10-Apr-2013 4:45 PM EDT
New Report: California Lags in Fracking Regulations
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

A new report on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in California warns of possible water contamination and seismic activity near drilling sites, unless the oil-extraction method is tightly regulated.

5-Apr-2013 10:00 AM EDT
How Seattle Cancer Care Alliance implemented Washington’s Death with Dignity Act
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

By the end of 2011, most of the 255 Washington residents who received a prescription for lethal medication to end their lives under the state’s Death with Dignity Act had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Of those, 40 were patients at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, part of the Pacific Northwest’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Because several states are considering similar Death with Dignity laws, and because such legislation disproportionately affects cancer patients and their families, SCCA conducted a study to describe the institution’s implementation of the Washington state law and its experience with patients who chose to participate. The study’s findings are published in the April 11, 2013 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Released: 2-Apr-2013 9:00 AM EDT
Three Challenges for the First Amendment
Washington University in St. Louis

A group of some of the country’s top scholars in First Amendment law recently gathered at Washington University in St. Louis to discuss pressing challenges being faced by the first of our Bill of Rights. Three issues rose to the top of the list for Washington University’s first amendment experts: free expression in a digital age; impaired political debate; and weakened rights of groups.

Released: 1-Apr-2013 9:00 AM EDT
The Dangers of Surveillance - It’s Bad, but Why?
Washington University in St. Louis

Surveillance is everywhere, from street corner cameras to the subject of books and movies. “We talk a lot about why surveillance is bad, but we don’t really know why,” says Neil Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “We only have a vague intuition about it, which is why courts don’t protect it. We know we don’t like it, and that it has something to do with privacy, but beyond that, the details can be fuzzy.” Richards’ new article on the topic, “The Danger of Surveillance,” will be published in the next issue of the Harvard Law Review.

Released: 7-Mar-2013 4:40 PM EST
The Importance of Groups: First Amendment Expert Testifies Before United States Commission on Civil Rights
Washington University in St. Louis

John Inazu, JD, first amendment expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, was invited to provide testimony to the United States Commission on Civil Rights briefing on “Peaceful Coexistence? Reconciling Non-discrimination Principles with Civil Liberties.”

Released: 7-Mar-2013 12:00 PM EST
Sequestration Cuts Medicare Reimbursement Beginning April 1
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM)

The federal budget sequester went into effect March 1 after a lack of Congressional action to avoid the automatic spending cuts. Effective April 1, Medicare payments to hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers will be reduced by 2%.



close
3.56567