By Asher Hawkins

For the second time in as many months, a local law-enforcement agency has served Twitter with a subpoena that instructs the micro-blog network to hand over information on a suspected rabble-rouser of the Occupy persuasion and warns not to tell anyone – not even the tweet-happy revolutionary being investigated – about the subpoena’s existence.

And once again, despite the ominous-sounding language directing Twitter to keep schtum, within days of receipt of the subpoena, a copy has gone up on Scribd. Hardly surprising, as Twitter’s law-enforcement guidelines make clear that Twitter prefers to notify users when their account information is being sought by prosecutors. Notifying tweeters they’re being investigated allows them to try to have the subpoenas quashed — before Twitter has to comply.

Laudable, perhaps. But is Twitter’s subpoena-notification policy as courageous as some media have made it out to be?   Read more »

By Ryan Morrison

Welfare tends to be a polarizing issue in America. Whether you believe welfare recipients are (a) little more than lazy drug addicts suckling at the teat of America’s hard-working middle class, (b) that they are good people who have temporarily fallen on hard times, or (c) something in between, you probably have a strong opinion on the subject.

I’m a news junkie and consume with gusto, from media outlets highbrow and lowbrow alike. And it seems to me that choice (a) is, more and more, the go-to thinking of many of us above the poverty line.

“Taxpayers have a vested interest in making sure that their hard-earned tax dollars are not being used to subsidize drug addiction,” says Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, GA. And to date, 32 states, have decided the best solution to this problem is to drug test potential welfare recipients.

Governor Rick Scott of Florida, who championed the idea of bringing drug tests to Floridian welfare recipients, recently signed a bill into law that would do just that. Since July, new applicants for welfare in Florida must not only take a drug test to receive benefits, but they have had to foot the bill, and are reimbursed if they pass. If they fail they must wait one year to reapply for benefits. Meantime, at the federal level Senator David Vitter, R-Louisiana, is sponsoring the Drug Free Families Act of 2011, which would require all 50 states to drug-test welfare applicants.

Never mind that the notion that taxpayers are funding welfare recipients’ drug habits has been proven untrue. Never mind that the monthly government aid that welfare recipients receive would seem a pittance to most readers of this article:  $180 for a single person or $364 for a family of four.

Never mind that such drug tests may be unconstitutional.   Read more »

By Alison Parker

I have been active, healthy, and fit my whole life.  As a young girl I tried out every sport to see what would stick — from softball, soccer and basketball, to gymnastics, cheerleading and dancing. I caught the running bug as a teenager, and since starting law school I have competed in triathlons. The truth is, I just don’t feel in touch with myself if I’m not active.  It helps keep me sane.

But though I never suffered from a serious weight problem personally,  I grew up with a keen understanding of the struggles overweight children endure –my mother, an avid runner, nutritionist, and registered dietician, specializes in treating them.

“After spending a decade in a pediatric clinic for overweight children, none of the children I saw had an endocrine (read: genetic) problem for their obesity,” Kathryn Parker, (mom) told me, when I asked about the role of nature versus nurture in overweight children. “As a mother it was clear to me that children don’t have purchasing power and they don’t have any say of what food is brought into the home.” She further believes that a child’s weight problem will only worsen if the parents don’t take action.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, which translates to being about 30 pounds overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 17% of our children and adolescents aged 2-19 are obese. Obesity can lead to problems like heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes — and diabetes can lead to complications such as amputations, blindness and kidney failure. One out of three children born after 2000 will develop diabetes in her lifetime if current lifestyle trends continue.

Obesity can also scar a child psychologically. A current classmate of mine struggled with obesity as a child and young adult; although she is slim now, the emotional wounds will never fully heal. “Kids were really cruel growing up,” she said. “They’d call me ‘fatty boombaladdy.’ Eating was like an escape from my problems, but it was also the cause of my problems. It was a vicious cycle.”

The severe and long-term damage done to children who are allowed to become obese is being recognized by our legal system.  As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, some courts are ordering a change in custody if a child is obese. This got LASIS wondering, under what circumstances does a court step in to change the living arrangements of an obese child?   Read more »

By Halina Schiffman-Shilo

I really do. The 14^th Amendment is by far my favorite part of the Constitution, particularly Section 1, so let’s read it together:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

I love this amendment because it gets to the essence of what we as Americans hold dear. It sets the parameters on citizenship, safeguards against government tyranny, and ensures that everyone receives equal protection under the law. It’s race-neutral, gender-neutral, and class and creed-neutral. It casts a blind eye over differences in the backgrounds of American citizens and declares us all protected.

So you can understand why these news articles a few weeks ago about a Florida lawsuit caught my interest.

It seems that Florida’s Board of Education has a policy of barring American citizens who live in Florida from receiving in-state tuition if their parents cannot prove they legally immigrated here.  This policy received national attention when a group of U.S. born, American students in Florida, whose parents have questionable immigration status, sued the Florida Commissioner of Education and the Chancellor of the State University System under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Because their parents cannot prove legal immigration, these Florida students are forced to pay out-of-state tuition at their state schools. Though many news outlets have reported on the passionate opinions this case evokes on both sides, they haven’t delved into the legal arguments involved. So LASIS will.

Read more »

By Nadia-Elysse Harris

Behind the scenes footage of R&B singer Ryan Leslie on his European tour last November showed the frantic moments immediately following the loss of his laptop. At the end of the clip, a written statement turned Mr. Leslie’s laptop search into a real life treasure hunt:

“In the interest of retrieving the invaluable intellectual property contained in his laptop and hard drive, Mr. Leslie has increased the reward offer from $20 thousand to $1 million.”

Apparently the singer had been creating material for his new album when a bag containing his laptop, $10 thousand in cash, and his passport disappeared in Cologne, Germany.  Word of the hefty reward sparked interest across the web, but when no one heard anything further from the singer on the subject, it was assumed that his effort to retrieve his lost belongings had been futile.

That was, until 52-year-old Armin Augstein filed suit on October 24 in the New York Southern District Court. (Though the laptop was lost and found in Germany, diversity jurisdiction allows Mr. Augstein to sue in U.S. federal court.) claiming that he’d found the laptop while walking his dog nearly ten miles away from Cologne. He brought the laptop to the police who, in turn, returned it to Mr. Leslie. Mr. Augstein further claims that he repeatedly tried to contact the musician, but never heard back from him with the reward.  Now he’s seeking the $1 million reward that Mr. Leslie promised, plus interest.

The NY Daily News reported the suit and did not lend much credence to the merits of Mrs. Augstein’s case. But LASIS believes that Mr. Augstein’s suit is a strong one, and that Mr. Leslie, who graduated Harvard with a degree in Government, should use his smarts and settle out of court instead of getting caught up in a trial and legal fees.  Here’s why:   Read more »