410 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2016
  2. Dec 2015
    1. They suggested that the CHA’s heat infra-structures conjoined wastefulness and neglect in ways that encouraged tenants’attachments to heat and, with respect to heat consumption, placed them perma-nently beyond practices of self-sufficiency

      I completely agree with this statement. They were unable to control levels of heat within their homes so when it consistently stayed too hot, they opened windows to let in cold air... hello.. That's like having your sprinklers on for your yard when it's pouring rain outside.. and there's a drought.

  3. Oct 2015
    1. At the heart of the situation is an often-overlooked distinction between undocumented foreign workers who were recruited by the Dominican state or by companies, and those who crossed the border illegally and lack a valid visa. While every government has a sovereign right to document and count its foreign workers, in this case the process fails to distinguish between different categories of migrants: the unlawful and the undocumented.

      A look at the immigration/deportation conflict between the Dominican and Haiti, and the confusion many are undergoing, through personal stories.

  4. Jan 2015
  5. Feb 2014
    1. Does the Texas statute violate a constitutional right to have an abortion?
    1. Issue Presented: Formulate the main issue or issues in the case in the form of questions, preferably with a yes or no answer, which will help you more clearly state the holding in the next section of the case brief.
    1. Beginning the issue with “are” or “is” often leads to a clearer and more concise expression of the issue than beginning it with “may,” “can,” “does,” or “should.” The latter beginnings may lead to vague or ambiguous versions of the issue. Examine the following alternative statements of the judicial issue from Aiken Industries, Inc. (TC, 1971), acq.: Issue 2 (Poor): Are the interest payments exempt from the withholding tax? Issue 2 (Poor): Should the taxpayer exempt the interest payments from withholding tax? In the first version of issue 2 above, to which interest payments and which withholding tax is the writer referring? The issue does not stand alone since it cannot be precisely understood apart from separately reading the brief�s facts. The extreme brevity leads to ambiguity. In the second version, the question can be interpreted as a moral or judgment issue rather than a legal one. Whether the taxpayer should do (or should not do) something may be a very different issue than the legal question of what the law requires. A legal brief, however, should focus on the latter. Rewriting issue 2 as follows leads to a clearer expression of the precise issue: Issue 2 (Better): Are interest payments exempt from the U.S. 30% withholding tax when paid to an entity established in a tax treaty country for no apparent purpose other than to escape taxation on the interest received?

      Extreme brevity leads to ambiguity. The summary of the issue should be written to avoid opening the question to interpretation as a moral or judgment issue; instead focus on the legal question.

    2. Issues should be stated so that they “stand alone.” That is, issues should be completely understandable without reference to the facts or other sections of the brief or judicial decision. Use of the definite article “the” indicates that the issue does not stand alone when it alludes to prior information.

      The summary of the issue should "stand alone" or be self-contained such that enough context and background is included in the summary to not have to refer to the document it came from.

      I think this is an important pattern to use elsewhere, as well.

    1. antive issue : A substantive statement of the issue consists of two parts -- i. the point of law in dispute ii. the key facts of the case re lating to that point of law in dispute (legally relevant facts) You must include the key facts from the case so that the issue is specific to that case. Typically, the disputed issue involves how the court applied some element of the pertinent rule to the facts of the specific case. Resolving the issue will determine the court’s disposition of the case.
      • the point of law in dispute
      • the key facts of the case relating to that point of law in dispute (legally relevant facts)