U.S. Industries v. Director: "claim" versus "condition" in the analysis of workers' compensation cases

Under most workers' compensation statutes, an injury must "arise out of " and "in the course of" employment in order to qualify as a compensable disability. In U.S. Industries v. Director, the Supreme Court held that the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act must be strictly construed to avoid transforming the compensation system into a form of social insurance. In U.S. Industries, the Court denied a disability claim based on an arthritic condition which was manifested while the worker was at home in bed. This Note contends that the Supreme Court neglected to consider pertinent medical realities when analyzing the causation question. Thus, the decision undermines the overall rationale behind workers' compensation legislation. Nonetheless, the Note argues that the case does not relax the requirement of adequately scrutinizing the causative elements underlying any reasonable claim for disability benefits. An analysis adequately accommodating both medical and legal facts, instead of relying upon the vagaries of statutory interpretation, is necessary to improve the efficiency and fairness of workers' compensation disability determinations.     

刑法中“其他”及“等”略考

刑法条文是以语言为载体来表达一定立法意图的.因而,刑法用语对于理解刑法条文之规定具有重要意义.但是,刑法中大量的"其他"与"等"这些不确定内容词语的使用造成了刑法的确定性下降,对罪刑法定原则构成了威胁.本文以详细的统计数字为基础,考察了刑法中"其他"与"等"的使用情况、存在的问题;并对减少"其他"与"等"的使用、"其他"与"等"的解释权作了探讨.     

Esophageal-atrial fistula resulting in systemic "meat and vegetable" emboli.

An 85-year-old demented woman died in the state hospital and her death was investigated by our office, based on allegations of neglect. At autopsy, a feeding catheter was found passed through an esophageal-atrial fistula into the left atrium. Fragments of striated muscle and plant wall (cellulose) embolized to the systemic organs including heart, kidney, and brain. Her dilated esophagus suggests a premortem esophageal motility disorder that contributed to the formation of the fistula. This is the first reported case of an esophageal-atrial fistula in the medical literature.     

美国"反网域霸占法"确立的域名争议规则

近两年来 ,域名争议及其解决逐渐成为包括中国在内的国际社会的媒体大加炒作的话题。 1 999年1 0月 2 4日 ,国际互联网域名系统最高管理机构ＩＣＡＮＮ公布了《统一域名争议解决政策 (ＵｎｉｆｏｒｍＤｏ ｍａｉｎＮａｍｅＤｉｓｐｕｔｅＲｅｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎＰｏｌｉｃｙ ,简称ＵＤＲＰ)》及《统一域名争议解决政策实施规则 (ＲｕｌｅｓｆｏｒＵｎｉ ｆｏｒｍＤｏｍａｉｎＮａｍｅＤｉｓｐｕｔｅＲｅｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎＰｏｌｉｃｙ)》 ,由此拉开了以明确的“规范”及建立在规范基础上的“制度”解决互联网域名争议的序幕。美国国会则于 1 99…     

"工作过程"与美国工伤认定——兼评我国工伤认定的不足与完善

在美国,通常只有发生于"工作过程"的伤害才可以受到工伤赔偿的保护.我国<工伤保险条例>在工伤认定的规定上存在缺陷,可借鉴美国的理念和判例做相应的修改.实践中,我国也应借鉴美国的理论和判例,对与工作存在模糊关系的伤害是否属于工伤做出准确的裁判.     

我国国际私法关于“公共秩序”立法的审视

"公共秩序"是国际私法上一项必不可少的制度,但它的内涵和外延却具有相当大的弹性和模糊性,这一特性既可以说是它天生的缺陷,更可以说是它的生命力之所在.就当前采用这一制度的各国立法司法实践与国际立法的重要走势及对这种走势的科学分析来看,中国目前的立法将"公共秩序"表述为"社会公共利益"是不准确的,有关立法与司法实践中存在种种不当,须加以改进.     

Anterior thoracic wall trauma in elderly homicide victims. The "CPR defense"

During the course of medicolegal postmortem examinations, forensic pathologists often encounter the sequelae of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that was administered by medical and paramedical personnel. A wide variety of CPR-related injuries have been described since the institution nearly 30 years ago of this now common-place emergency technique. The forensic pathologist must be aware of both typical and unusual CPR-related trauma patterns in order to differentiate between injury produced during emergency therapy procedures and injury sustained through other mechanisms (for example, during an assault or an accident). This article describes two recent separate and unrelated incidents in which an elderly woman was murdered. In each instance, bony injuries of the anterior thoracic wall structures were identified during the autopsy. Defense attorneys in each case attempted to use these injuries as proof that their accused clients had performed external cardiac massage on their victims, thus indicating that the homicides had not been intentional, and that the perpetrators showed remorse. These cases are presented, with a discussion of the typical features of CPR-related thoracic wall trauma as compared with willfully inflicted injury.