Soudní novinky 16/1-3 (V Libanonu tají ledy)

Premiéra v novém roce! A pěkně ostrá:

• Time: Supreme Court Hears Case That Could Deal Blow to Unions ("A Supreme Court case argued Monday could significantly weaken government unions across the country. If the justices rule in favor of the plaintiffs in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, every state in the country will essentially become a “right-to-work” state, where employees who choose not to belong to a public union won’t have to give it fees of any kind." Scalia tradičně: “Why do you think the union would not survive without these fees charged?” Scalia asked a lawyer for the defendants, (..). The so-called “free rider problem,” which holds that individual workers have little incentive to join a union and pay dues if they know they’ll be covered by the contract the union negotiates regardless, was only briefly discussed during arguments. (..) In 2014, for instance, the court ruled in a 5-4 decision, in which Scalia joined the majority, that private sector home health care workers in Illinois could not be forced to pay any dues for collective bargaining if they were not union members. (..) But the plaintiffs say concerns about free riders shouldn’t trump their right to free speech. They take issue with some of the things that the California Teachers Association charged them for as part of their collective bargaining, including most of the cost of a LGBT conference.")
• Adam Liptak: Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Florida Death Penalty ("The Supreme Court struck down an aspect of Florida’s capital punishment system on Tuesday, saying it did not give jurors a sufficient role in deciding whether defendants should be put to death. (..) A 2004 Supreme Court decision indicated that, at least in federal court, rulings like the one issued Tuesday would not apply retroactively to inmates whose convictions are final. (..) After the Florida Supreme Court ordered Mr. Hurst resentenced, a second jury recommended a death sentence by a 7-to-5 vote in 2012. The judge then independently considered the evidence concerning punishment and concluded that Mr. Hurst should be executed. That procedure was unconstitutional, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for seven justices in the new decision. “The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,” she wrote. “A jury’s mere recommendation is not enough.”")
• Vandenberg - Grono: Modern-day slaves are suing the traffickers ("The dirty secret of today's human trafficking is that almost no one is held accountable. Modern-day slavery, particularly in the transnational supply chains of major international corporations, is too often a risk-free proposition.(..) The reporting highlighted the widespread violence, forced labor, and human trafficking that taint the supply chain delivering seafood to European and American supermarket shelves. Burmese fisherman enslaved on Thai fishing boats reported long hours with no pay, brutal whippings with toxic sting ray tails, and shackling to boats for those men thought to be flight risks. These powerful reports provoked outrage -- but they did not spark criminal prosecutions. Governments have spectacularly failed to prosecute those engaged in modern-day slavery, despite their rhetorical commitment to fight these abuses, particularly in the supply chains of corporations. But rhetoric is not accountability. Words will not end -- or even deter -- these abuses. Litigation will. Changing the cost-benefit calculations of corporations will drive action. (..) In the United States, federal law permits trafficking victims to recover damages from traffickers and those who "knowingly benefit" financially from the crimes. Victims have filed more than 150 cases since 2003, recovering millions of dollars in damages.")
• Překvapení z Blízkého východu: "A court in Lebanon has ruled that a transgender man can legally change his gender to male in the nation's civil registry, marking a landmark step in transgender rights in the Middle Eastern nation, (..) He suffered from a gender identity disorder and the "operation was a medical necessity to relieve him from his suffering that had been present throughout his life," the court said (..). A person's right "to receive the necessary treatment for any physical and psychological illness is a fundamental and natural one," the ruling said."Here what is important in the decision is that it was stated as a matter of fundamental rights. It was not stated as a matter of humanitarian policy or for clemency purposes," (..) The appeals court issued the ruling in September but its decision was only recently publicized, local media and activists said."
• Pěkné povídání o soudních trablech jedné z nejmocnějších žen světa (Christine Lagarde, hlava IMF).