BY MICHAEL LEWENZ — Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) statute, which governs auto insurance coverage, was recently amended. And one new provision, in particular, will have potentially a catastrophic impact on thousands of Floridians. The PIP amendment, which took effect January 1, 2013, affects the medical expenses Floridians may have to pay if they find […]
BY PAULINA VALANTY — The Department of Homeland Security announced last fall that it would start considering same-sex partners as family for removal purposes. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the policy shift in a letter, stating that DHS will issue guidelines to its field officers clarifying the term “family relationships” to include “long-term, same-sex partners” […]
BY CUSHLA TALBUT — In the 1873 case of Bradwell v. Illinois, Justice Joseph Bradley famously held that the Illinois Bar was within its rights to deny admission to a woman, Myra Bradwell, solely on the basis of her gender. In an infamous and oft-quoted passage, Justice Bradley pondered the role of women and the […]
BY LACEY STUTZ — On September 5, 2012, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a death warrant for John Errol Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson, who has been on death row for thirty-four years, was convicted and sentenced to death for eight counts of first-degree murder in 1978. Six of the murders were execution-style killings that occurred during […]
BY ZACH LUDENS — In a decision to be reviewed by United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit last month found a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) unconstitutional in Windsor v. United States. DOMA, enacted in the face of the 1996 U.S. Presidential election, defined the terms marriage […]
