More than 200 new laws take effect in Oklahoma

Oklahoma authorities today can begin towing cars of any drivers stopped for traffic violations who don't have insurance or who have been barred from driving.

House Bill 2331, which allows law enforcement officers to seize uninsured cars or vehicles of unlicensed drivers, is among slightly more than 200 new laws going into effect today.

The law requires officers verify compliance with the compulsory insurance law through an online program for all traffic stops. A driver cannot be stopped under the law for the sole purpose of checking for insurance.

A few other traffic-related laws taking effect include allowing motorcyclists and bicyclists to go through red lights in some instances and a ban on using hand-held electronic devices while driving with a learner's permit or a graduated driver's license.

If a driver on a learner's permit or graduated license is talking on a cell phone, text messaging or in any way engaged in using a hand-held device, officers can issue a citation.

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Controversial Hobbit law passes

The Government's controversial "Hobbit law" has finally passed in to law - but Labour says it is so badly written that it will do the opposite of what Warner Bros and the Government want.

The Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill was moved under urgency yesterday afternoon and has passed its third and final reading this afternoon.

National, ACT, the Maori Party and UnitedFuture supported the bill. Labour and the Green Party voted against it.

It is designed to stop film contractors switching over to an employee, claiming extra rights.

However, Labour MP Charles Chauvel said the bill would create more litigation, not less.

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Internet predator statute blocked

A federal judge blocked yesterday a new state Internet obscenity law meant to shield children from sexually explicit material, ruling that the statute was written so broadly that it would criminalize legitimate websites and general electronic communication.

The decision was celebrated by civil rights advocates, but it frustrated prosecutors who have encountered difficulty in convicting Internet predators under outdated laws that fail to cover new technologies.

“Due to this preliminary injunction, we are unable to enforce this much needed law,’’ said Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, whose office prosecuted the online predator case that led to yesterday’s ruling.

In that case, a Beverly man was convicted of sending sexually explicit instant messages to a deputy sheriff posing as a 13-year-old girl. But the convictions were overturned in February by the Supreme Judicial Court, which said Massachusetts law did not cover Internet communication and urged the Legislature to update the statute.

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Federal court makes decision on Arizona immigration law

A federal appeals court has ruled against an Arizona law that requires residents to prove their U.S. citizenship to register to vote, but upheld a part of the same law that mandates residents to show identification before voting.

The decision made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday was part of an ongoing court battle surrounding Arizona's Proposition 200.

Arizona passed the law in 2004, prompting legal challenges.

Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer and Secretary of State Ken Bennett blasted the court's decision Tuesday in a joint statement.

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a simple, common sense protection approved by Arizona voters requiring that all individuals provide evidence of U.S. citizenship prior to registering to vote. This decision is an outrage and a slap in the face to all Arizonans who care about the integrity of their elections," the statement said.

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'Super Drunk' Law Takes Effect October 31

If you are arrested for drunk driving and it's your first time, you can lose your license, pay a fine or get jail time but if you're super drunk, you're looking at much bigger penalties.

"The high BAC bill targets first time offenders who register a .17 or above," said Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings, III.

That is more than twice the legal limit. A third of all drunk driving arrests in Michigan result in blood alcohol contents of .17 and above. The new "super drunk" category of the law combats a growing problem.

"When we arrest people who are drinking and driving we're finding that blood alcohol limits are going up," said Inspector Gene Adamczyk of the Michigan State Police.

Starting October 31st, if a person gets convicted of driving super drunk the penalties increase to include: Up to 180 days in jail, a fine of at least $200, up to one year license suspension, points on your driving record, up to 360 hours of community service and mandatory rehabilitation.

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Centre rules out relook at civil nuclear liability law

A Florida Senate committee has recommended making it tougher for political candidates to switch or leave parties in mid-campaign, a move spurred by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's bolt from the Republican Party to run as an independent for U.S. Senate.

The Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee also calls for a "sore-loser statute" that would prohibit party-affiliated candidates who lose a primary from re-entering the race as in independent.

"The issue is whether Florida law regarding candidates who change political parties while running for office is unambiguous and expansive enough to promote the state's interests in political stability and maintaining integrity in the various routes to the ballot," said a report released this month by the committee. "After careful review, some changes appear worthy of consideration."

The panel cited other states, including California and Colorado, that have stricter election laws regarding candidates switching or leaving parties.

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Federal Grants Give $2.7 Million to Minnehaha County Law Enforcement

Nearly 3 million dollars going towards improving Sioux Falls law enforcement. Officials say they have the 2009 stimulus package to thank for that money.

KDLT's Jesse Batson shows us how that money has been spent so far and what improvements are still to come in the future.

City, county and state officials say local law enforcement will soon be stronger and more efficient.

Nine new police officers were hired to the Sioux Falls Police Dept, thanks to $1.9 million in federal grants. The Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office received over 8-hundred thousand dollars of their own.

"Even though Minnehaha County didn't receive COPS Grant funded positions, we certainly were recipients of the Byrne JAG Grant Stimulus funds, which were very beneficial to us," said Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead.

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New Law to Provide Breast Cancer Patients With More Information

NEW YORK—Hospitals will be required to inform breast cancer patients about all of their options regarding reconstructive surgery starting January 1, 2011, on account of the new law passed earlier this year.

While insurance companies already cover reconstructive surgery under the current state and federal law, the new legislation will ensure that women undergoing mastectomy, lymph node dissection, or lumpectomy are given the necessary information regarding their breast reconstructive surgery options.

State Senate President Malcolm A. Smith said the law is designed to limit disparity by providing education.

“This law guarantees that when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, she will be given more information that clearly explains her rights to coverage and her options as they relate to reconstruction,” said Smith in a statement.

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Study: Teen crashes down due to GDL law

A new study shows crashes involving teenaged drivers in Delaware are down 30 % since the state's graduated driver's license law took effect in 1999.

The study, done by the University of Delaware, also shows late-night driving by 16-year-olds is down by 59 %.

The study also attributes the drop in crashes to parental supervision requirements and other restrictions placed on younger drivers, including limits on the number of passengers a teen can have in their car, a ban on cell phone use and a requirement that teens with learner's permits wear their seatbelts in order to keep the permits.

To see the study's findings, go to ohs.delaware.gov and click on "teen driving".

Ruling on Health Law Is Due by End of Year

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge said Monday that he would rule by the end of the year on the constitutionality of the new health care law, as lawyers for the Obama administration and the Commonwealth of Virginia debated whether the entire 2,700-page act should be invalidated if a key provision is struck down. 

In a nearly three-hour hearing, a lawyer for the commonwealth argued that if Judge Henry E. Hudson of Federal District Court finds unconstitutional the provision that requires Americans to have health insurance, he should declare the entire law void until the Supreme Court can review it. The lawyer noted that in writing the legislation, Congress failed to include “severability” language to specify that the rest of the law would survive.

The Justice Department concedes that some of the most essential insurance changes, including requiring insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions, will have to be scrapped if the coverage requirement loses in the courts. The administration maintains that the regulations can work only if everyone is required to have coverage, so people will not simply wait until they get sick to buy policies.

But the federal government’s lawyers argued on Monday that other provisions, like the vast expansion of Medicaid eligibility, could survive, and that the judge should keep the law in effect during the appeals process.

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Ghana to get Petroleum Law before budget is read

The Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill and Petroleum Revenue Management Bill would be passed before the budget for 2011 would be read in November, this year.

Mr. Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader in Parliament, said when Parliament resumes sitting on Oct. 19, efforts would be made to ensure that those bills are passed.

He, therefore, urged the committee working on the bills to expedite action to get the bills ready for the House to debate on them so that it would have time to scrutinize the budget without interruption.

Mr. Cletus Avoka said this at a three-day workshop, organized by the Parliamentary Centre, with support from the Revenue Watch Initiative and the Canadian Parliamentary Centre for a section of Parliamentarians.

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Indonesia revokes book-ban law

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Constitutional Court has struck down a law on book-banning that has been used to stifle dissent, in a landmark ruling welcomed by historians, authors and rights activists.

For more than 4 decades since the days of former President Suharto, the Attorney-General's office could unilaterally prohibit publication or distribution of books deemed "offensive" or a "threat to public order".

But the court ruled on Wednesday such power should rest with a judicial court.

"The sole authority of the Attorney-General to ban the distribution of printed materials without due process of law is a characteristic of an authoritarian state and not a law-based state like Indonesia," Constitutional Justice Muhammad Alim said, the Jakarta Post reported.

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Changes to parole law fail

House and Senate Republicans failed in their attempts to get the Legislature to reconsider part of a parole law that passed last session.

As legislators returned to Concord yesterday to reconsider 5 bills vetoed by Gov. John Lynch, Republican leaders in both chambers tried to introduce new legislation to amend the parole law. Because the rules do not allow new legislation to be introduced on veto day, the Republicans had to suspend the rules. The House voted against suspending the rules, 193-143. The Senate rejected the motion 14-10. In both cases, the votes were largely along party lines, with Democrats opposed to bringing the parole bill, Senate Bill 500, back.

"As a father, grandfather and state senator who presides over some of the most dangerous, crime-filled neighborhoods in the city of Manchester, I can stand here today and tell you S.B. 500 makes New Hampshire a safer place than it was before this bill was enacted," said Manchester Democratic Sen. Lou D'Allesandro. "This bill does more than we've ever done before to address recidivism."

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Duke can use trees for power plant fuel

Duke Energy will be able to use whole trees harvested for power plant fuel, the N.C. Utilities Commission says.

A commission order Monday clarified the type of wood that may be used under the state's 2007 renewable-energy law. Wood is part of a broad category of organic fuels called biomass that will play a large role in helping utilities meet the state green-energy mandate.

Utilities, environmental advocates and the wood-products industry had awaited the decision. All have an interest in whether the state's forests, long used for lumber and wood products, could also be used to make electricity.

Duke had argued that the state green-energy law allowed any type of wood to be burned, including whole trees chipped into fuel. Limiting it to the "wood waste" referred to in the law would not provide enough fuel for power plants, the utility said.

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Error in pension law thwarts mayor's plan

The Legislature must correct an error in Act 44, last year's pension system overhaul, if Pittsburgh is to raise the parking tax next year as part of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposed lease of parking facilities.

Among other provisions affecting municipalities statewide, Act 44 gave Pittsburgh officials until the end of this year to get the city pension fund 50 % funded. Otherwise, the state would take it over.

As an incentive to act, the law says Pittsburgh can increase its parking tax from 37.5 % to 40 % if it leases or sells parking assets and uses the proceeds to help the pension fund.

But the law says the proceeds must be deposited with the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, the entity that already manages 900 municipal pension plans. Instead, officials said, the law should say that Pittsburgh can raise the parking tax if it sells or leases the parking assets and applies the proceeds to the city pension fund.

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Israel adopts law forcing citizens to pledge allegiance to a ‘Jewish state’

JERUSALEM  - The Israeli government voted Sunday afternoon on a draft to amend a law which requires all candidates for Israeli citizenship to give a pledge of allegiance to the “Jewish and democratic state of Israel”.

A report issued by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 22 ministers voted in favor of the draft to amend the law, against 8 others who opposed.

Israeli efforts to adjust the citizenship law to a law of allegiance to Israel sparked reactions by analysts and politicians, who have confirmed that the decision goes against international norms and laws.

Benjamin Netanyahu said today that the law of allegiance to Israel reflects the compendium of Zionist principles and nature of the Israeli state.

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French burqa law clears final legal hurdle

PARIS, October 8 (UPI) -- France's top constitutional authority has ruled a law that outlaws wearing a burqa or other Islamic face covering in public is constitutional.

The law, which was overwhelmingly approved in both houses of the French legislature, is set to take effect next spring, CNN reported. Wearing such apparel would be punishable by a fine of as much as $190 and offenders would be required to attend a citizenship course.

The fine for forcing a woman to wear a burqa or a niqab -- a veil that exposes only the eyes -- will be $19,000. The French government said forcing women to wear such items is "a new form of enslavement that the republic cannot accept on its soil," CNN said.

The French Constitutional Council found the punishment provided under the law is not disproportionate and doesn’t prevent the free exercise of religion in a place of worship, CNN said.

A survey conducted this year by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found 82 % of those polled approved of a ban and 17 % disapproved.

Amnesty International has criticized the ban, saying it would violate European human rights law.

Law enforcement's limits in wiretapping the Internet

WIRETAPPING THE Internet is nothing new. Law enforcement agencies for years have been able to seize information from communications providers, as long as they obtain a court order.

But new technologies have hampered law enforcement officials' ability to quickly retrieve information that a judge has determined they are entitled to.

A few problems appear to have relatively easy fixes. For instance, some e-mail services are not subject to the wiretap law because their parent companies are classified as information services and not as communications providers.

A change in the statute to include all e-mail -- regardless of the classification of the parent company -- should bring such products into the fold.

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Oil industry aids effort to suspend CA climate law

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With major contributions from the oil industry, supporters of a ballot initiative to suspend California's landmark greenhouse gas emissions law reported a fundraising tally Tuesday of more than $5.2 million in the past 3 months.

The numbers disclosed by the Yes on 23 campaign reflected the continued backing of three out-of-state oil companies — Valero Corp. and Tesoro Corp. of Texas, and Flint Hills Resources, a Wichita, Kan.-based company owned by Koch Industries.

The companies contributed a combined $5 million during the period ending September 30.

In all, the campaign has raised $8.3 million during the first nine months of the year and has $3.1 million remaining cash on hand.

Opponents of the initiative said they expected the petroleum industry to keep pouring money into Proposition 23 before the November 2 vote.

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Online name suppression laws to be tightened

A notice-and-take-down provision for internet hosts and ISPs that facilitate breach of Court name-suppression orders is part of planned changes to the law governing suppression of name and other details of defendants, victims and witnesses. The planned changes were announced by Justice Minister Simon Power today.

Reform follows a Law Commission paper on suppression and include “introducing a new offence to capture New Zealand-based internet service providers or content hosts who do not remove locally hosted suppressed information which they know is in breach of a suppression order, and who fail to block access or remove it as soon as reasonably practicable.”

The suggested reforms will also increase the penalties for breach of name-suppression and evidence-suppression orders. The maximum fine for organizations that breach suppression goes up from $5,000 to $100,000.

For individuals breaching suppression orders the maximum term of imprisonment will be doubled, from 3 months to 6 months. “Judges will also be able to impose a fine of their discretion in lieu of imprisonment if the circumstances warrant it,” says Power. The current maximum fine is $1,000.

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Supreme Court is told human law should reflect God's law

WASHINGTON (AP) - 5 of the 9 U.S. Supreme Court justices have been told at the annual Red Mass for the legal profession that they're subject to a higher law.

On the eve of their new term, Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer sat in the front row of St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, along with Vice President Joseph Biden.

In the homily, Vatican Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia indirectly denounced abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage. He said laws must reflect divine principles, including what he called "the inviolability of innocent life from conception to natural death" and "the sanctity of marriage."

He said the legal profession is charged with protecting rights that come from God, not from government.

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