August 2011 Archives

Here at FindLaw, we understand the pressures of being a legal professional - most of us are recovering lawyers - so we want to help by tossing you that preferred life preserver of the legal profession, the short list.

Today’s offering: five things to know about disaster preparedness plans.

The D.C. Quake of 2011 closed all of Washington’s federal courts and most local courts, according to the ABA Journal. While the courts were back in business on Wednesday, federal employees were offered the option of taking leave or working from home.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a challenge to the DC Sex Offender Registry on Tuesday.

In its decision, the court concluded that the registry was not created as a punitive measure, thus mandatory registration for sex offenders convicted before the registry's enactment was not an ex post facto punishment.

Melvin Jones suffers from a variety of health problems. He alleges that, by 2004, he was unable to perform the tasks required — including lifting and driving — for the jobs he previously held. Since he could no longer work, he applied for disability benefits under the Social Security Act.

In the course of his disability benefits evaluations, Jones saw three doctors. Two noted his extensive back and leg pain; one of those determined that Jones could not work. The third doctor, to whom Jones was referred by the Social Security Administration (SSA), said Jones had full abilities for work-related activities. SSA denied Jones’ request for disability benefits.

Public assistance programs lead to increased abortion rates, rampant disease, and chronic wasting ... among elk and bison.

In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service developed a plan to stop the outbreak of disease and manage the elk and bison populations in Wyoming. Part of this plan included ending a longstanding agency practice of feeding these animals during the winter.

The Defenders of Wildlife challenged the plan in federal court under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claiming that the plan's failure to commit to a deadline for ending supplemental feeding was arbitrary and capricious.