Mckee v. Laurion Case Study Analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mckee v. Laurion Analysis - Case Study Example The first statement he allegedly made was that he said when he did not find the patient in ICU, he took time to find out whether he had been transferred on died. Secondly, he allegedly affirmed that 44% of patients with haemorrhagic stroke die within 30 days. Thirdly, he allegedly dismissed patient saying he does not matter if the gown was on the back.                  Cases of defamation are often determined by courts based on plaintiff ability to prove that the said or written words amounted to significant falsity and quoted out of malice. The case as ruled by Minnesota State court had dismissed the suit saying the claims by Laurion showed substantial degree of truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The law application was most controversial in the case. The appellate court found that the lower court erred by ruling in favor of Laurion. According to the law, there was no genuine issue of material on falsity of the statements and as such the website post was found to have had ill motives because they lack material evidence.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The appellate court on reversing lower court decision identified that the post made by Laurion carried defamation sentiment because he did not prove that the statement by the doctor carried malice or falsehood. The determination of the case is based on ability to show that the post act of malice or had unethical connotation.

Law Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law Questions - Essay Example The International Terrorism Act of 1990 2. The Patriots Act 3. The UN Convention on International Terrorism 3 There are various definitions attached to terrorism. The United Nations, the Arab Convention and the European Convention all give divergent definitions to the term ‘terrorism’. The UN’s definition to terrorism is more descriptive of the acts that may be cited as terrorism acts. It adopts a broad description of acts that may be interpreted to be acts of terrorism by its members. This includes unlawful actions, including against civilians, carried out with an intention of causing serious bodily harm or the taking of hostages to induce a state of terror to the public. It therefore offers a broad definition to the term that allows other criminal acts against the state or citizens, which have not yet been classified as terrorist acts, to be categorized as terrorist acts. The Arab Convention on the other hand adopts a more liberal definition to terrorism. It def ines terrorism to encompass not only acts, but also threat of criminal action against the state or citizens of a given country. The convention also recognizes that terrorist threats may also be directed to the environment in an attempt to jeopardize national resources. The European convention adopts an imprecise definition to terrorism. ... 4 The yunis case amplifies America’s renewed efforts to curb international terrorism by employing the new antiterrorism laws. The case demonstrated the acceptance of recent international law principles of extraterritorial jurisdiction that give room for the prosecution of terrorists in US soil. It encompasses the international law principle that terrorism is an act condemned internationally and as such, terrorist suspects can be prosecuted in any national jurisdiction of the world. The Noriega case illustrated the application of domestic criminal laws universally to prosecute criminal activities committed outside the United States. The court relied on the international law principle of extended territorial jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the US national borders, whose effects had far-reaching consequences on American soil. The Yousef case illustrated the use of extraterritorial jurisdiction to prosecute the accused with charges of terrorism and conspiracy to commit criminal and terrorist acts within the territory of the United States. All the aforementioned cases are regarded as progressive cases as they form a future model for prosecuting terrorists within the US territory. They further show the expanded use of both the domestic law and international law to combat efficiently the threat of terrorism in America. 5 The Moussaoui case is important because it illustrates the success of the criminal justice system in trying and convicting suspected terrorists. It also shows that the best way to follow in promoting national security is reaffirmation of the values of the justice system. Moussaui wanted to review his confession to which the prosecution was opposed to such

The Reproductive Health Bill

The Reproductive Health Bill Public opinion is the aggregate of individual dispositions and beliefs with regards to important issues. Public opinion holds great importance in democracies because a democracy, by its very definition, connotes a form of government that is responsive to the people. Democracy is most often defined as a set of procedures and institutions intended to make the holders of political power directly responsible to the electorates. The quality of democratic government is measured by the responsiveness of public policymakers to the preferences of the mass public. For that reason, public opinion will always play an important role in policy-making process in the Philippines, a democratic country. Views and opinions of the general public should be taken into consideration in formulating, passing and implementing a policy. Hence, stakeholders and interests groups roles are very vital in affecting policy outcomes since stakeholders and interest groups are the means through which public opinion is brought in the Halls of the Congress. In view of this, the government is faced with the need to balance the conflicting views of different stakeholders, interest and pressure groups in the decision-making process. This is clearly exemplified in the controversial Reproductive Health bill. This paper studies the different stakeholders involved in the Reproductive Health Bill and the degree in which they affect policy outcome based on the resources and resource mobilization capacities they have. The first part of this paper includes definition and the presentation of health and population situation in the Philippines. The second part focuses with the provisions, debates and proponent of RH bill. The third part provides an analysis of the different stakeholders and resources and resource mobilization capacity that they have. Lastly, the examination of how these stakeholders and interest groups can actually affect policy outcome and the degree on which they affect it. The controversy of RH bill led to many implications. Reproductive health is now a byword that enthralled the public attention. Therefore, there is a need to define the term based on a standard definition. Reproductive health addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life. Reproductive health implies that people are able to have a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so (World Health Organization). Although this appears to be the only definition of the term in any international document, the definition implicitly implies that reproductive health includes the right of men and women to be informed of and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation of their choice, and the right of access to appropriate health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant (International Conference on Population and Development, 1994). Of the eight Millennium Development Goals, achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015 is one of the two targets of Goal 5, Improving Maternal Health. Due to this, a comprehensive study of the reproductive health in the Philippines is greatly needed and in turn, to develop and actually implement a policy that will give Filipinos equal chances to the right to reproductive health and develop programs that will seek to address problems related to reproductive health in the country. Over the past 30 years, developing countries population have rise up almost twice the rate of those in the developed and advanced countries. As an effect, a number of people have caught up with high infant mortality, low life expectancy, disease, malnutrition and illiteracy. Rapid population growth causes difficulties in managing economic and social changes, including the balancing of the fruits of economic development efforts (Leverage International, 2011). Governments of the Third World countries and as well as of those developed nations recognized that the measurement of economic development is not based only on economic indicators such as income distribution but also by the quality of life of its people (Leverage International, 2011). Philippines, as a developing country, experiences rapid population growth. According to the 2007 Census by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the Philippine population was 88.57 million and the estimated population as of 2010 is 94.3 million and this made the country as the 12th most populous country in the world. This high population results to high infant mortality rate which is 19.94% in 2010. In addition to this, the lifetime risk of maternal death in the Philippines is 1 in every 140, according to United Nations International Children Emergency Funds State of the Worlds Children 2009 report. Each day, about 11 Filipino mothers or 4,500 each year die because of hypertensive disorders, severe hemorrhage or other labor- or abortion-related problems. The country is also part of a group of 68 countries where 97% of worldwide maternal, neonatal and child health deaths occur. Moreover, the county is witnessing the fastest spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in its history. Five new HIV cases are recorded everyday according to the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health. High infant mortality rate, high maternal mortality rate and a number of HIV cases are not the only problems that the Philippines is experiencing in relation to reproductive health. Because of the lack of a concrete reproductive health and family planning policy and program in the country, unwanted pregnancy incidences become high. Due to this, Filipino women are forced to undergo induced abortion as one of the methods that they use to meet their reproductive goals. Although abortion is illegal in the Philippines, and despite the potential harmful consequences of an unsafe abortion for womens health and life, many women resort to abortion to meet their family-size goals or to space births (The Guttmacher Institute, 2003). The Incidence of Induced Abortion in the Philippines: Current Level and Recent Trends (2005), a study conducted by Fatima Juarez, Josefina Cabigon, Susheela Singh, and Rubina Hussain for the Guttmacher Institute revealed the following: Six in 10 Filipino women say they have experienced an unintended pregnancy at some point in their lives. About 1.43 million pregnancies each yearnearly half of all pregnancies in the Philippinesare unintended. Some 54% of women who have ended an unintended pregnancy by abortion were not using any family planning method when they conceived. Of those who were practicing contraception, three-fourths were using a traditional method. The average Filipino woman wants 2.5 children. In order to achieve that goal, she must spend more than 19 years using effective contraceptive methods. However, nearly half of all married women of reproductive age have an unmet need for effective contraceptionthat is, they are sexually active, are able to have children, do not want a child soon or ever, but are not using any form of contraception or are using traditional methods, which have high failure rates. Aside from induced abortion that can lead to deaths, other problem due to the lack of reproductive health policy is the risk of acquiring cervical cancer. The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually-transmitted, wart-forming virus that has been implicated in causing cancer of the cervix. This is the most common cancer in women secondary to breast cancer (Department of Health, 2008). Due to these findings and other statistics such as high infant and mortality rates, these imply that there is an immense need for a policy to ensure the right to reproductive health in the Philippines. Although reproductive health has long been considered a basic universal human right, this right remains elusive and illusory for millions of Filipinos, especially the poor. The first comprehensive version of reproductive health bill, House Bill 8110 or The Integrated Population and Development Act of 1999 was filed in the 11th Congress. Twelve years after, the country still does not have a reproductive health policy and the issue of the current reproductive health bills remains a heated and controversial issue as the first RH bill. Today, the struggle of RH advocates still continues for the passage of a comprehensive reproductive health bill. House Bill 4244 or The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011 is the most recent version of a reproductive health bill that was filed in the 15th Congress. H.B. 4244 is popularly known as the consolidated RH bill in substitution to the other reproductive health bills that are pending in the Congress. The other reproductive health bills are as follows: House Bill 96 (Rep. Edcel Lagman) An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development and for Other Purposes House Bill 101 (Rep. Janette Garin) An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population Development and for Other Purposes House Bill 513 (Reps. Kaka Bag-ao and Warden Bello of Akbayan Partylist) An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development and for Other Purposes House Bill 1160 (Rep. Rodolfo Biazon) An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and for Other Purposes House Bill 1520 (Rep. Judy Syjuco) An Act to Protect the Right of the People to Information on Reproductive Health Care House Bill 3368 (Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela Womens Party) An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health for Women and Development and for Other Purposes H.B 4244s objectives are as follows: To uphold and promote respect for life, informed choice, birth spacing and responsible parenthood in conformity with internationally recognized human rights standards. To guarantee universal access to medically-safe, legal and quality reproductive health care services and relevant information even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children. To realize these goals, the consolidated RH Bill has the following key provisions: Mandates the Department of Health (DOH) and Local Health Units in cities and municipalities shall serve as the lead agencies for the implementation of this act. Mandates the Population Commission, to be an attached agency of the Department of Health, shall serve as a coordinating body in the implementation of this Act. Provides for the creation of an enabling environment for women and couples to make an informed choice regarding the family planning method that is best suited to their needs and personal convictions. The LGUs and the DOH shall ensure that a Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health, including maternal and neonatal health care kits and services will be given proper attention in crisis situations such as disasters and humanitarian crises. Provides for a maternal death review in LGUs, national and local government hospitals and other public health units to decrease the incidence of maternal deaths. Products and supplies for modern family planning methods shall be part of the National Drug Formulary and the same shall be included in the regular purchase of essential medicines and supplies of all national and local hospitals and other government health units. Ensures the availability of hospital-based family planning methods such as tubal ligation, vasectomy and intrauterine device insertion in all national and local government hospitals, except in specialty hospitals. Provides for a Mobile Health Care Service in every Congressional District to deliver health care goods and services. Provides Mandatory Age-appropriate Reproductive Health Education starting from Grade 5 to Fourth Year High School to develop the youth into responsible adults. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shall ensure that employees respect the reproductive health rights of workers. Mandates private and nongovernment reproductive health care service providers to provide at least forty-eight (48) hours annually of reproductive health services free of charge to indigent and low income patients, especially to pregnant adolescents. Mandates cities and municipalities to provide sexual and reproductive health programs for persons with disabilities (PWDs). Mandates the inclusion of the topics on responsible parenthood, family planning, breastfeeding and infant nutrition as essential part of the information given by local Family Planning office to all applicants for marriage license. Mandates no less than 10% increase in the honoraria of community-based volunteer workers, such as the barangay health workers, upon successful completion of training on the delivery of reproductive health care services. Creation of Congressional Oversight Committee (COC) which shall be composed of five (5) members each from the Senate and from the House of Representatives which shall monitor and ensure the effective implementation of this Act, determine the inherent weakness and loopholes in the law, recommend the necessary remedial legislation or administrative measures and perform such other duties and functions as may be necessary to attain the objectives of this Act. Penalizes the violator of this Act from one month to six months imprisonment or a fine ranging from ten thousand to fifty thousand pesos or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the Court. H.B 4244 covers all other six pending RH bills in the Congress but despite the clear purpose of the bill, the enactment of RH bill is long overdue. On the other hand, RH bill advocates see the passage of the consolidated RH bill in the 15th Congress since it was already approved by the House Committee on Population and Family Relations last February 1 and it was also approved by the Committee on Appropriations with a vote of 20-3. Last March 8 which is incidentally the International Womens Day, RH bill reached the plenary. Biliran Representative Rogelio Espina, chairman of the Committee on Population and Family Relations, delivered his sponsorship speech on Committee Report 664. Three of the six sponsors of the bill also delivered speeches urging for its passage Minority Leader and Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, Gabriela partylist Representative Luz Ilagan and Akbayan partylist Representative Arlene Kaka Bag-ao. Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III ordered Health Secreaty Enrique Ona to draft the Responsible Parenthood Bill that would perhaps serve as a middle ground between RH advocates and the Church. Moreover, the President did also not include RH bill as part of his list of policy priorities after the Church issued a pastoral letter entitled Choosing Life, Rejecting RH Bill. Though Rep. Lagman believes that the Malacaà ±ang-sponsored version of the RH bill would not be able take the place of a more comprehensive RH bill since it is limited to the issue of family planning and responsible parenthood. Moreover, Health Secretary Ona is a known advocate of reproductive health and family planning. His public pronouncements have confirmed that he, like his predecessor Sec. Espie Cabral, is unwavering in his belief that RH is a basic human right. Because of this, Cong. Lagman believes that the crafting of the Responsible Parenthood bill would and should not delay the passage of the consolida ted RH bill. Cong. Edcel Lagman of the First District of Albay is the principal author of the consolidated RH bill. According to him, the incidences of infant and maternal mortality in his own district are within the range of the national average. As a solution, they have set up lying-in clinics and birthing centers in the upland and island barangays of the first district of Albay so as to ensure that mothers in far flung barangays can be given emergency and basic obstetric care. However, the problem of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity goes beyond the First District of Albay. The preventable deaths of mothers and children happen on a national scale so the need to formulate a national policy on reproductive health is imperative. Although he is a Catholic he believes that like many other Catholics in the country, they can be good Catholics and still support a measure like RH bill that puts a premium on quality of life and the protection and fulfilment of the basic human rights to reproductive health and sustainable human development. He also noted that the word catholic when used as an adjective means all-embracing, forward-looking and liberal. The antonym of catholic is conservative, narrow-minded and intolerant. That is why it is very ironic that the Catholic Church particularly the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) strongly opposes RH bill. Rep. Lagman is also the newly-elect chair of one of the ruling party in the country, the Lakas Kampi Catholic Muslim Democrats (CMD). However, because of the nature of the party system in the Philippines, this position in his party would not guarantee the passage of RH bill. According to him, his colleagues are free to support or oppose an issue as they see fit. Members of his party are not required to vote for or support RH bill. It is interesting to note that the former President and the incumbent representative of the second district of Pampanga, Rep. Gloria Arroyo, who is a member of the Lakas Kampi CMD is known to be a critic of RH bill. In line with this, the conflicting views on RH bill do not only occur inside Congress. Central to the issue of RH bill is the political dynamics of the numerous actors involved in affecting the passage of the said bill. The different stakeholders and interest groups play important roles in the deliberation of the policy. This put the challenge to the legislators to balance and to be able to reconcile the conflicting views of these stakeholders and interest groups. But how did citizens start to participate in the decision-making process? Due to influx of information, there came a higher level of consciousness among citizens. Peoples desire to participate in decision-making process amplified. People demand more of representation and participation in the government. In less complex times, elected representation was a sufficient means for most citizens to participate in government. Recently, for a number of reasons, including the diversity of citizens cultural heritage, needs, values, and interests, that has been changing and of course, the changes brought about by modernization, there is now a strong desire for citizens to be involved broadly in governance and directly in policy decisions. Governments, especially in developing countries, are very vulnerable and they are being assessed based on their economic and political performance. And one of the bases of a governments political performance is its capacity to provide venues for peoples participation and involvement. Hence, views and opinions of the general public should be taken into consideration in formulating, passing and implementing a policy. For this reason, one of the biggest challenges which government faces is the need to balance the conflicting views of different interest groups in a particular policy. This problem is very much observed in the issue of coming up with a reproductive health policy in the Philippines. Conflicting views and opinions from numerous actors and stakeholders in the reproductive health bill have always marred the passage of the said bill. Certain sectors and segments of the population will definitely be affected upon the implementation of the said policy and they also have different views regarding the passage of RH bill. However, the stakeholders who have the resources to influence or actually determine the success or failure of the reproductive health bill are the Roman Catholic Church, the women sector and pharmaceutical companies in the country. The table below shows an analysis of the four primary stakeholders in the RH bill. From the stakeholders listed above, the Catholic Church and organized women groups are the primary actors in the debate in adopting a reproductive health policy in the country because they are the most visible in terms of their campaign for or against the said policy. The Catholic Church is the main critic of the reproductive health bill because it argues that the policy is anti-life because it promotes the use of modern contraception measures. Also, it argues that RH bill does not really address poverty. In the researchers interview with Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz and Carmelo Cruz, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News Editor, they said that the Catholic Churchs judgment in the political performance of former President Ferdinand Marcos that significantly contribute for making EDSA People Power I happened in 1986 is the same as their opposition to the six pending reproductive health bills in the Congress. Their opposition to the immoral regime of Pres. Marcos is the same as their opposition to an immoral policy, the reproductive health bill. (This was also written in CBCPs Pastoral Letter entitled Choosing Life, Rejecting RH bill issued last January 30, 2011.) Moreover, they believe that it is not the poor Filipino people who will benefit from the implementation of the reproductive health bill but the foreign owners of transnational pharmaceutical companies who will supply modern contraceptives. They also believe that if a reproductive health bill will be enacted into law, it will paved the way for the introduction and passage of other policies such as policies on divorce, mercy killing and same sex marriage. The Catholic Church believes that the passage of a reproductive health bill will deteriorate the authentic human values and as well as the Filipino cultural values in accordance to the teachings of the Church. Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz said that although reproductive health bill can lessen infant and maternal mortality, he argued that the reason behind infant and maternal mortality and morbidity is poverty and inaccessible to basic health care services. According to him, health care services are inaccessible to poor families because of bad governance and corruption, services are not delivered to poor communities because public official corrupt the money that is intended for communities welfare. For these reasons, the solution to infant and maternal mortality in the country is not the reproductive health bill, the solution needs to focus to the root causes of the problem which is bad governance and poverty. However, the Catholic hierarchy said that is not against the elimination of violence against women, the treatment of breast cancer, maternal and child health and nutrition and other elements of RH. It is only against making modern family planning methods available to women and couples and the teaching of sexuality and RH education to the youth. The Church believes that RH bill would violate the teachings of the Church specifically the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae which is the basis of the Church teaching that contraceptives are intrinsically evil. The Church has been firm in its stand against RH bill. The Church is having dialogues to the current administration to turn down RH bills that are pending in Congress. Moreover, the Church through its archdioceses and dioceses consults representatives from each district for them to be convinced not to vote for RH bill. Also, the CBCP issues statements to inform the public why RH bill should not be enacted into law. And what is more important is the impact of the Catholic Church in shaping or influencing public opinion since majority of Filipinos are Catholics. Some officials are threatened that their stand regarding the issue on RH bill might affect their political careers. Because of the strong opposition of the Catholic Church to adopt a reproductive health policy in the country and the resources it has to affect the decisions of public officials, the passage of the bill becomes impossible despite the need for a reproductive health policy in the country. Last January 30, CBCP issued a pastoral letter against RH bill. As an effect, the President did not include RH bill from among the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Councils policy measures that probably would unduly delay again the passage of RH bill. If the Catholic Church strongly oppose RH bill, organized womens groups tell the other side of the story. Womens organizations such as Gabriela Womens Party and Likhaan Center for Womens Health Inc. stalwartly campaign for the passage of RH bill. These RH advocate groups believe that the rights of people to reproductive health do not depend on a few powerful men deciding the fate of women (Likhaan, 2011). In the explanatory note of House Bill 3368 introduced by Gabriela Womens Party, it states that Filipino women do not have to die at childbirth just because they are poor, they do not have to suffer from undiagnosed cervical, breast, vulvar, ovarian or similar cancers of the reproductive system just because they do not have access to adequately staffed and equipped public health facilities Women do not have to suffer from untreated uterine fibroid or such similar conditions just because diagnostic procedures are costly, women should not die at childbirth because their infants need th em for optimum care, love and affection if children are to grow up to realize their full potential as productive and responsible members of our society. Due to these reasons, access to reproductive health programs, resources and services for marginalized women needs to be guaranteed by the government. A national reproductive health policy is seen to offer health care services that will basically benefit women, especially the marginalized. Advancing reproductive health rights in a comprehensive, available, accessible, acceptable, and democratic manner is a long overdue mandate of the Philippine government to its female population given the social and economic realities in the country. Hence, the approval of legislators to pass RH bill is indispensable (Likhaan, 2011). According to Junice Demeterio-Melgar, the executive director of Likhaan and Secretary-General of Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN), family planning will save the lives of mothers because family planning changes the composition of child-bearing. This means that pregnancies in women who are considered at a higher risk of dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes will be dramatically reduced. These are women who are too young, too old, have had too many children or have had unremitting pregnancies. Medical experts have stated that pregnancy in women below 18 or above 35 is considered high risk. They have also emphasized that womens bodies need anywhere from two to three years to fully recover from the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth. Moreover, the World Health Organization concludes that if women have information and access to contraceptives and are taught to use them properly, the fall in maternal mortality is likely to be even greater than the fall in the pregnancy rate. With their struggle for the passage of RH bill, womens groups tied up with other RH advocates to pressure legislators to pass RH bill. Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN), which has forty-three (43) national organizations with no less than 10,000 members in grassroots communities nationwide, continues to have dialogues with the President and with their recent dialogue, RHAN reminded the President about his Social Contract, which included a commitment to responsible parenthood based on informed choice and support to poor families. RHAN, specifically Likhaan, is disappointed with the Presidents decision to resort to a Responsible Parenthood Bill instead of a more comprehensive RH bill. According to them, further dialogues of the President to CBCP will trap his administration into delay and inaction, or push it to drop the freedom of choice principle in the Presidents promise of responsible parenthood since the Church will always disagree to any RH bill because its opposition to RH is based on the core principle of human life, it is clear that immovable religious beliefs are the bedrock of the bishops opposition to RH as pointed out by the recent CBCPs pastoral letter. Further dialogues or consultations will never change the stance of the Catholic Church. Aside from dialogues, advocates continue to hold fora and debates on the issues of RH and human development from schools and universities to service clubs and community-based organizations. In addition, they hold mobilizations and rallies in front of Congress to pressure legislators to enact the said bill. Both stakeholders prove to be significant and effective in their campaign for or against RH bill. However, the Church as an established and one of the most powerful institutions in the country which affect public opinion has an advantage in affecting the outcome of the said policy. However, RH advocates do not only have the superiority of numbers but they also have the superiority of arguments. Although the Church has the capacity to influence or even shape public opinion, perhaps the case on the debate on RH bill is isolated. Recent survey results show that majority of Filipino and Filipino Catholics support RH bill. Although the RH critics say that people are only misinformed about the content of the measure, advocates say that the capacity of Filipinos to understand an issue like RH, responsible parenthood and population and development should not be underestimated. People support the RH bill because they realize how important it is to become a responsible parent. Filipinos also believe that is not only important for them to be able to plan and space their children, it is equally important that the State provide information on and access to all forms of family planning methods. The following data are results of SWS and Pulse Asia surveys: Social Weather Station (October 2008) 71% of Filipinos are in favor of the RH bill; 76% of Filipinos agree that there should be a law requiring government to teach family planning to the youth; and 68% believe that there should be a law requiring government to distribute legal contraceptives like condoms, pills and IUDs Pulse Asia (February 2010) 93% of Filipinos consider it important to have the ability to plan their families; 82% of Filipinos believe government should teach couples about all methods of family planning; Another 82% of Filipinos say that it is the governments duty to provide the people with knowledge, services, and materials on all methods of family planning; 75% of Filipinos consider it important that a candidate for election includes modern family planning in the program of action he will pursue; 64% of Filipinos will vote for candidates who publicly promote modern methods of family planning with only 6% saying that they will not vote for such candidates. The rest were undecided; and A considerable majority of Filipinos (63%) want the RH bill to be passed into law with only 8% expressing opposition to the measure. Even Catholics have spoken: They want the RH bill passed. 68% of Catholics believe that government

Federalism in Canada Essays -- Canadian History, Politics

Since federalism was introduced as an aspect of Canadian political identity, the country has undergone multiple changes as to how federalism works; in other words, over the decades the federal and provincial governments have not always acted in the same way as they do now. Canada, for example, once experienced quasi-federalism, where the provinces are made subordinate to Ottawa. Currently we are in an era of what has been coined â€Å"collaborative federalism†. Essentially, as the title would suggest, it implies that the federal and provincial levels of government work together more closely to enact and make policy changes. Unfortunately, this era of collaborative federalism may be ending sooner rather than later – in the past couple decades, the federal and provincial governments have been known to squabble over any and all policy changes in sectors such as health, the environment and fiscal issues. Generally, one would assume that in a regime employing collaborative federalism there would be a certain amount of collaboration. Lately, it seems as though the only time policy changes can take place the federal government is needed to work unilaterally. One area in which collaborative federalism has been nonexistent and unilateral federalism has prevailed and positively affected policy changes is in the Post-Secondary Education (PSE) sector. As Bakvis writes, â€Å"the transformation of Canada’s university system†¦ came about largely through the effort of the federal government alone,† (Bakvis 205). There are a few key abnormalities to this statement, one being pertinent to the CA 1867. When one looks at the constitution, under sections 91 and 92, anyone remotely well-versed in Canadian politics would know that those two sections outline w... ...210). To conclude, in the present Canadians are seeing change in PSE funding policies begin to come from the provinces. Due to the fact that â€Å"when Ottawa went against the grain and launched the Millennium Scholarship programs, provincial feathers, especially Quebec’s, were immediately ruffled,† provinces such as Quebec and British Columbia, among others, were motivated to â€Å"set up their own research funding agencies with the view to [maximize] the likelihood of obtaining funds from Ottawa,† (Bakvis 216). As for the legitimacy of cooperative federalism in Canada today, it seems as though executive federalism itself is turning largely paternalistic – at least in the sense of PSE. More often than not, in PSE funding, the federal government has taken the initiative while â€Å"one set of executives – those from provincial governments – was largely absent,† (Bakvis 218).

Teachers’ Knowledge of Legal Issues Surrounding Students’ Rights

Even though lawsuits against teachers have multiplied over the last decade, teacher preparation institutions and educational leaders across our nation have yet to recognize teachers' knowledge of school law as an area that should be at the top of the priority list for improvement in teacher training. Although this new, legally influenced educational environment has not developed overnight, it has quickly become an area that demands attention among teachers, administrators, and other constituencies. The overabundance of litigation in the United States of America illustrates the legal complexity of the nation and the litigious nature of its citizenry. Accordingly, individuals entering the teaching profession should be equipped with the legal knowledge necessary to protect themselves and the students with whom they have contact. The purpose of this study is to explore some of the underlying legislation and literature that depicts the legal issues surrounding students' rights and how these issues are interrelated to teachers’ knowledge of school law. Through the information provided in this paper, it is evident that insight into knowledge of school law among teachers is an issue that is increasingly important to educators and educational leaders in United States. Introduction In 1989, the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) surveyed principals and school attorneys to determine the impact of legal issues on the educational setting. The study revealed that 58% of the participants noted changes in school-related programs due to liability concerns and nine percent of respondents reported having been involved in lawsuits or settlements (Sherman, 2000). Only a decade later, the ATRA conducted a similar investigation in which 64% of the respondents reported a difference in school-related programs as a result of liability concerns and 31% of participants reported being involved in lawsuits or settlements (Sherman, 2000). In 1999 ATRA reported that nearly one-third of all high school principals have been involved in a lawsuit in the last two years, compared to only nine percent, 10 years ago. (Sherman, 2000). Further, Affinity Insurance Services (2003) reported that, â€Å"the number of lawsuits filed against teachers and other education professionals has increased at an alarming rate -over 270% in the last ten years† (p. 2). These findings clearly illustrate the severity of the issue under investigation and highlight the need for corrective and preventative measures aimed at reducing the regularity of litigation within the educational environment. Although this research speaks for itself, public sentiment toward filing suits against educators is at the crux of the issue. Stern (2001) reported that for some students and parents, a good lawyer is as important as good grades. Furthermore, Sorokin (2002) stated that society has become increasingly litigious and the law is used only for personal benefit, especially in the educational setting. Recently, the National Center for Policy Analysis (2003) reported that the rising tide of lawsuits against educators over the last decade has made school discipline difficult, reduced opportunities for students, and consumed many educational resources. Fischer, Schimmel, and Kelly (2003) state that â€Å"today's schools function in a complex legal environment, and a wide range of legal issues influence the lives of teachers, students, parents, and administrators† (p. vii). Currently, the No Child Left Behind legislation asserts that teachers are protected from most lawsuits if they act within their responsibilities. However, the problem arises in the issue of whether teachers have adequate legal knowledge upon which to define their responsibilities, and subsequently base their decisions for action or behavior. Additionally, educators operate in environments that are open-systems that are subject to the influence of countless extraneous variables. This makes educational policy and daily procedures more difficult to define; thus, complicating teachers' responsibilities (McCarthy et al. , 2004). For these reasons, it would seem that knowledge of legal responsibilities and legal rights would be at the forefront of professional preparation for preservice educators or professional development for inservice educators. Legal issues surrounding students' rights Knowledge of students' rights is at the forefront of lawfulness as an educator. Although rights of students are very important to educators, maintaining orderliness and authority by teachers and other school officials is also a top priority for educational systems. Thus, educators are granted broad powers to establish rules and regulations governing student conduct in the educational setting (Essex, 1999). This power of authority is not absolute; rather it must be exercised with reasonableness and the focus must stay on maintaining order and peace. However, because students continue to test the limits of their personal freedoms in public schools, frequent collisions arise as educators strive to maintain educational environments that are highly conducive to learning (McCarthy et al. , 2004). In dealing with these issues, the courts have generally considered the reasonableness clause as a basis for case decisions. In 1969, the United States Supreme Court handed down a historic decision that challenged the reasonableness consideration, in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), the court ruled that neither teachers nor students lose their constitutional rights to freedom of expression when they enter the public schools. The First Amendment guarantees that the federal government cannot abridge personal freedoms. Thus, the Supreme Court ruled that through the Fourteenth Amendment state governments, including Boards of Education, cannot abridge citizens of such freedoms. Consequently, educators have been faced with the increased challenge of maintaining effective educational environments while ensuring personal freedoms (Essex, 1999). Freedom of speech and expression is granted by the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution that states, in part, that â€Å"Congress shall make no law †¦ abridging the freedom of speech, or of press or of the rights of peoples to peacefully assemble. † The court has stated that First Amendment rights must receive protection in the educational setting â€Å"if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principals of our government as mere platitudes† (West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 1943). A multitude of additional court cases has set precedence in the area of students' rights. However, the court has recognized that â€Å"the constitutional rights of students in public school are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings† (Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 1986). Thus, freedom of speech and expression is open to limitation by policies that are reasonabl y designed based on the conditions of the educational setting (Fischer, Schimmel, and Kelly, 2003). Taking this legislation into consideration, educators should be knowledgeable of situations in which constitutional freedoms do not prevail. â€Å"Defamatory, obscene, vulgar, and inflammatory expression are not protected in the public school context† (McCarthy et al. 2004, p. 115). As a result of Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), school authorities can limit students' freedom of expression in school publications and other school-related activities as long as the limits are based on legitimate educational concerns. In commenting on the utilization of this judicial decision, Rosen (2002) states that â€Å"administrators with a militaristic bent have no better weapon in their arsenal†¦ † In general, however, courts have endorsed the notion that educators should limit students' freedoms of expression and press only when their actions cause disruption to the educational environment (Essex, 1999). Student-initiated clubs have become very common in the educational setting. Lee (2002) asserts that joining a group that is unified in vision and in action can soothe the difficulties that many alienated students may experience. But, because the nature of some clubs has caused controversy, litigation has ensued. Although freedom of association is not specifically protected under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court has ruled that freedom of association is â€Å"implicit in the freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition† (Healy v. James, 1972). The issue, however, arises in the nature of the association that is taken by the students. Public school students have sought legal espousal for secret societies or closed-membership clubs through the assertion that these associations are supported by First Amendment freedoms. However, the courts have upheld rulings by school officials prohibiting student membership in secret societies (Burkitt v. School District No. 1 Multnomah County, 1952). Conversely, student-initiated organizations with open membership are receptive to support under the First Amendment. Accordingly, courts have held that if a public high school allows student associations to meet during noninstructional time, the access policy for such meetings by other groups must be neutral in relation to association content (Dixon v. Beresh, 1973). Due to the legislation resulting from such issues, Congress enacted the Equal Access Act (EAA) in 1984, that confirmed that if a federally assisted secondary school creates an open forum for noncurricular student groups to meet during noninstractional time, it must not deny access to specific groups based on religious, political, or other content of the groups' meeting (Fischer, Schimmel, and Kelly, 2003). School officials may only limit meetings that th reaten to disrupt the educational environment. As mentioned earlier in this literature review, the establishment of an open forum has been challenged by the Establishment clause when association is of a religious nature (Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 1990). Reflection on this legislation raises the issue of whether or not the creation of an open forum is in the best interest of the school. Fortunately, under the EAA, school districts do retain the option of restricting access to only curriculum related association, rather than creating a limited open forum for student-initiated association. Regardless of the choice, teachers must be aware of the school district's decision and the underlying obligations of this decision in order to avoid instances of controversy when dealing with student-initiated clubs (Imber & Van Geel, 2000). Freedom of appearance on behalf of students has led to regular litigation in the past. Appearance is of great importance to most students. However, when fads and fashion lead to disruptions in the learning environment, controversy usually follows. Although freedom of appearance has been considered an extension of symbolic expression, which is protected under the First Amendment, the courts have reached contradictory conclusions over this issue (Essex, 1999). In 1982, the court determined that restrictions on student appearance constitute â€Å"a reasonable means of furthering the school board's undeniable interest in teaching hygiene, instilling discipline, asserting authority, and compelling uniformity† (Domico v. Rapides Parish School Board, 1982). Although students have asserted that attire is a means of expression protected under the First Amendment, courts have held that attire can be regulated if it is deemed â€Å"immodest, disruptive, or unsanitary† (Richards v. Thurston, 1970). More stringent restrictions on attire, in the form of uniform policies, have been established in some school systems in order to eliminate gang-related attire, reduce violence, and improve school climate by removing the emphasis placed on attire, thereby enhancing the emphasis on academics (Del Stover, 1996). However, courts have reached contradictory conclusions concerning the constitutionality of mandated school uniform policies. Thus, in order to avoid potential litigation, educators must ensure that a legitimate educational justification is underlying any regulation related to students' appearance and teachers must enforce uniform policies based solely upon these established justifications in order to avoid litigation (McCarthy et al. , 2004). Extracurricular activities are integral components of the majority of public school across the nation. In 1975, Goss v. Lopez established that once a state provides public education, students cannot be denied access to this education without due process of law. Although courts have historically held that extracurricular activities are fundamental in the educational system, the current view stipulates that conditions may be attached to participation in such activities. However, litigation has been contradictory because, â€Å"courts have not agreed regarding procedural protections that must be provided when students face suspension or expulsion from extracurricular activities† (McCarthy et al. 2004, p. 135). Due to these insubstantial rulings, school authorities may not be required to provide formal due process procedures prior to the suspension of a student from extracurricular activities. Nevertheless, if the school district has a policy for suspending students from extracurricular activities, school authorities must abide by this policy, in such instances, an informal hearing and documentation of the underlying rationale for the action is advisable. Suspension based on academic standing, age, conduct, extracurricular participation fees, individual skill, school attendance, residence, and a number of other conditions have been left to the discretion of school district authorities (Imber & Van Geel, 2000). Policies concerning these considerations should be clearly written, they should be communicated to students, teachers, and parents, they should be based on sound educational rationale, and they should be enforced in an indiscriminating manner. Educators should ensure that suspension or denial of participation in extracurricular activities is based on established policy in order to avoid litigation in this area. Conclusion In this litigious society, to protect themselves and the students they teach, teachers should have ample knowledge of school law. Determining the level of knowledge of school law and the importance that teachers place on this knowledge is important so that college officials, school administrators, and teachers can make decisions focused on improving knowledge in deficient areas, such as legal issues pertaining to students' rights. Educating particular groups to increase law knowledge will remain a great challenge for universities officials, school administrators, and teachers because no one person or group of people is like that of another and because no one person or group shares the same educational or practical experiences. Knowledge of the law pertaining to students' rights is of extreme importance to educators because â€Å"by their very nature schools are places where students often wish to express their ideas through speech and other means† (Imber & Van Geel, 2000, p. 37). Thus, teachers should be prepared to lawfully allow students to exercise their constitutional rights while maintaining the structure and integrity of the educational system. In doing so, students will experience an enriched educational environment based upon diversity of ideals, respect for self and others, and, most importantly, the liberties granted by the U. S. Constitution that have defined our nation and its citizenry.

Com 156 Research Plan

Associate Level Material Appendix D Research Plan As part of your research plan, you must first draft a research question for your research paper that will guide the rest of your writing. A research question, which is more specific and focused than a general topic, is the question that your research paper will be answering. For example, if your general area of interest is social security, a possible research question might ask â€Å"How can low-income families save more money if the United States had a reformed social security plan that includes personal retirement accounts? As you develop a research question, keep in mind that you will need to research sources to support your topic. Do not pick a one-sided question that will limit your research. Instead, develop a research question that lends itself to further exploration and debate—a question for which you genuinely want to know the answer. Try to pick a research question that is neither too broad, which covers too much, or too narrow, which covers too little. It should be broad enough to be discussed in a short research paper. What is your general topic or area of interest? What is it about your general topic of interest that interests you? What questions do you have about the topic that you would like to investigate? List them. Would any of the questions you listed about the topic make a good subject for a research paper? Pick or adapt one question and make it into a research question. Why do you think this research question will be appropriate for a research paper? How is your research question significant or relevant to a wider community? What background information provides the preliminary grounds for your research? What are some expert or authoritative sources of information on this research question? What type of materials will you need to review for your research paper? What procedures will you follow to conduct your research? What difficulties do you anticipate in conducting your research?