Law Library Articles
Top 10 Blog Articles of 2010
2010 was full of extreme highs and lows. The year began with Haiti suffering from a massive earthquake and ended with Prince William announcing his engagement to Kate Middleton. In other news, China became the world’s second largest economy, while a bankrupt Greece received a bailout from the European Union.
LegalMatch covered other significant legal news and law topics in its blog that affected American all over the country. New divorce laws and proposed drug statutes were explained, and important lawsuits involving video game addiction, employment discrimination, and bully-induced suicides were discussed.
1. New York Finally Adopts No Fault Divorce
Some marriages do not last “until death do us part,” as exhibited by Kris Humphries’ and Kim Kardashian’s 72 day-long marriage beginning in October 2010. It used to be that one of the spouses had to take the blame for the divorce. Fortunately for Kris and Kim, people anywhere in the nation can now get a divorce without anyone being at fault for causing the divorce.
2. Most Employment Discrimination Lawsuits Don’t Net Much Money
If you have ever been discriminated against while working for a big corporation, you may have wanted to get justice through a lawsuit. After all, what better way to stick it to the man than to make them pay you a fortune? Unfortunately, statistics have proven that most employment discrimination lawsuits do not end in huge payouts to the plaintiffs.
3. Prop 19 How Legalized Marijuana Could Affect California and the US
For some people, the perfect world would include legalized recreational use of marijuana shops as numerous as Starbucks. Other people think that completely legalizing marijuana would lead to a nation full of crack addicts. While legalization may cut down on petty marijuana crimes, it may cause an increase in other drug crimes.
4. Concerns Linger Over Temporary Maintenance Guidelines in New York No Fault Divorce Law
A trophy spouse’s main fear is that their wealthy spouse will divorce them and leave them penniless. Fortunately for the trophy spouses of America, many state have laws that require the wealthy spouse to pay a maintenance fee. However, New York’s law governing the temporary maintenance fee is too complicated to reassure a trophy spouse.
5. Can Immigrants with a Criminal Record Still Become US Citizens?
No one wants to live in a country that is known as the refuge for serial killers and pedophiles. That is why some criminals are barred from ever becoming American citizens. However, the American government has no problem overlooking certain minor crimes if the person applying for citizenship is relatively harmless.
6. Child Support and Orthodontic Expenses
Neglecting teeth maintenance can be fatal, as one Ohio man found out when he died from a tooth infection in 2011. Therefore, paying for orthodontics may be part of court-ordered child support because a court may see it as necessary for the child’s health.
7. Are Bullies Legally Responsible for the Death of their Victim?
Bullying is a serious problem among teenagers. Even the premises of movies like “Mean Girls” and television shows like “Glee” are based entirely on teen bullying. Recently, courts have been more willing to make bullies pay for what they have done when the bullying leads to the victim’s death.
8. Video Game Addiction Is Apparently a Real Thing
“My Strange Addiction” has proven that you can get addicted to just about anything. One of the more prevalent addictions in today’s society is to video games. Thus, people are suing video game companies for not providing a warning that video games can cause an addiction, just like cigarettes or alcohol.
9. Courtroom Etiquette – Like Dinner Etiquette Only More Terrifying
Normally if a person behaves improperly in public, they are just seen as rude. Anyone who behaves improperly in a courtroom runs the risk of having to pay a fine to the court or even spend time in jail. Luckily, there are some basic rules of etiquette that apply to almost every courtroom, no matter which state you are in.
10. Criminals: You Can’t Let the Victim Slap You as Part of a Plea Bargain
Victims of crimes may want to beat the perpetrators of those crimes into a bloody pulp in retaliation. They may even want to insist that such a beating be part of the plea bargain offered to the defendant. Fortunately for criminal defendants, victims cannot have a public beating included in any plea bargain.
