Fla - A Small Victory for Health Care Reform

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Wednesday September 01, 2010 · 6:06 AM PDT

2010/09/01 · 06:06

The Florida Supreme Court yesterday struck a proposed state constitutional amendment from the November ballot. The proposed amendment would have prohibited Florida from participating in the federal health care reform program.

Florida has two ways of getting a proposed amendment on the ballot -- by petition, or by an act of the legislature. This one was placed there by the Republican legislature. It would have forbidden any law that compels participation by an individual, employer, or heath care provider in any health care plan.

But that's not what the ballot would have said.

webacknow

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Thursday June 17, 2010 · 10:27 AM PDT

2010/06/17 · 10:27

A new decision by the Florida Supreme Court today recognizes the rights of commercial fishermen to bring claims for damages against polluters. This right exists even if the fishermen do not own any polluted property. This case may open the door for claims by Florida's fishermen and perhaps other businesses and workers who are suffering as a result of this disaster.

The case has been pending for a while. It doesn't arise out of the BP catastrophe, but it has tremendous ramifications for what is happening to the fishermen along our coast. It opens the courthouse door for Florida's commercial fishermen to claim damages from BP for their loss of business. (Of course, BP and Halliburton will probably argue in court that these state law claims are pre-empted by federal admiralty law, which is not my bailiwick, but I hope they will be proved wrong).

This is my first diary, so I hope y'all will find it useful and give me some encouragement and suggestions.

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Fla - A Small Victory for Health Care Reform

Fla Supreme Court recognizes Fishermen's Pollution Claims