General Litigation
| Standards of Review for Appeals of Federal Administrative Hearing Decisions |
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| Federal agencies make administrative decisions in regulatory, entitlement, and enforcement cases. The agency can make an informal decision or hold a formal administrative hearing in a case. If the person or company affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the agency's decision, the decision is subject to review by a higher level within the agency or by a court. This article discusses the standards of review applied by a court in evaluating federal administrative agency decisions. More... |
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| Domestic Violence, Firearms, and the Courts |
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| Domestic violence against women is increasingly common in the United States. The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, estimates that at least one million violent crimes are committed against former spouses or intimate partners each year. The vast majority of these victims are women. Prior domestic violence and the abuser's access to a firearm greatly increase the likelihood that a female intimate partner will become a homicide victim. More... |
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| Alternative Dispute Resolution |
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| Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) refers to an informal process for deciding civil disputes outside of the courtroom. The two main forms of ADR are mediation and arbitration. Any type of civil dispute, including product liability actions, contract suits, and probate cases, can be mediated or arbitrated. More... |
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| Judicial Accountability |
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| Judges take an oath of office to follow and apply the law faithfully. In certain cases, judges find themselves in a dilemma--that of faithfully applying a law that conflicts with the judge's own beliefs, principles, or sense of justice. In addition to taking an oath to uphold the law, judicial ethics and judicial precedent require a judge to follow prior case law on matters that have been decided by higher courts. More... |
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| Mental Health Courts |
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| Specialized courts, called mental health courts, have been set up to deal with individuals entering the criminal justice system who have mental illness or a mental disability. Currently, about 30 states have mental health courts in selected jurisdictions. Juvenile mental health courts, handling delinquency cases involving mentally ill juveniles, are planned in some states.
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