A perspective on data collection that emphasizes dignity would bring the nature of these transactions into the open . . . when this is all done secretly and without sufficient concern for the transactions that occur between parties who are all deserving of basic respect and dignity, everyone loses.
The thousands of evictions since the collapse of the housing bubble are one of the most tragic consequences of’ Spain’s private debt crisis. Although the crisis hit hard in both the U.S. and many European countries, the case of Spain is particularly striking. Residential mortgages in Spain are generally recourse loans, meaning that if the homeowner stops making payments, the creditor can take both the property and other assets.
Last week, a former unpaid intern sued her former employer for violating federal and state minimum wage laws. Over one million Americans work as interns each year, and over half are not paid. Many of these unpaid positions should be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act, but a lack of enforcement has allowed such non-payment to persist.
Last month, a federal court in Michigan had the opportunity to confront the constitutional problems that sex offender registries present. The court ducked them by resolving the case on a narrow question of statutory interpretation, missing the chance to examine whether the registrations are constitutionally acceptable.
In the upcoming weeks, the legislators of my home state of North Carolina will be faced with a dilemma: how
On November 15th, New York Supreme Court Judge Michael D. Stallman denied an application by Occupy Wall Street protesters for a temporary restraining order preventing police from removing them from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan. Judge Stallman found that the First Amendment does not extend to the protesters’ practice of camping in the park overnight.
Turnaround for Children, a New York-based nonprofit, has been partnering directly with high-poverty schools and districts to transform the physical and emotional environments in which children spend the school day.
Many studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between the number of women in any given legislature or policy-making body and the extent to which that body takes up issues deemed important for women. On Sunday, the newly-formed United Nations entity, UN Women, announced that it was accepting applications for grants, with a focus on projects seeking to empower women in Arab countries transitioning to democracy. It’s only where real action occurs that women start to be empowered and involved in a way that strengthens a country’s democracy, making it responsive to the needs of all its population, not just the men.
A significant part of the challenge of preventing “at-risk” high school students from dropping out involves providing these students with
Last Thursday, a federal judge in Kansas denied the ACLU’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a state law that bars insurance plans from covering elective abortions unless women or their employers purchase a separate rider calculated to cover all associated costs. The law is a clear step in the wrong direction for ensuring that a woman’s choice is protected. In spite of the courts denial, however, all is not lost.
In October, California will become the first state in the country to implement a publicly-funded pilot program that provides appointment of counsel to very low-income persons in certain civil proceedings where basic human needs are at stake. While the Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), that criminal defendants have a right to counsel based on the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, that decision does not extend to civil cases. California’s Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (AB 509), signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in October 2009, marks a trend in a number of states to address this need for counsel in cases where basic human needs are on the line.
