Compensation for certain undiagnosed illnesses--VA. Final rule

This document adopts as a final rule the provisions of an interim final rule which amended the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations regarding compensation for disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses suffered by Persian Gulf Veterans. This amendment is necessary to expand the period within which such disabilities must become manifest to a compensable degree in order for entitlement for compensation to be established. The intended effect of this amendment is to ensure that veterans with compensable disabilities due to undiagnosed illnesses that may be related to active service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War may qualify for benefits.     

Extension of the presumptive period for compensation for Gulf War veterans. Final rule

This document affirms an amendment to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulation regarding compensation for disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses suffered by veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War. This amendment is necessary to extend the presumptive period for qualifying chronic disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses that must become manifest to a compensable degree in order that entitlement for compensation be established. The intended effect of this amendment is to provide consistency in VA adjudication policy and preserve certain rights afforded to Persian Gulf War veterans and ensure fairness for current and future Persian Gulf War veterans.     

Extension of the presumptive period for compensation for Gulf War veterans. Interim final rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule to amend its adjudication regulations regarding compensation for disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses suffered by veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War. This amendment is necessary to extend the presumptive period for qualifying chronic disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses that must become manifest to a compensable degree in order that entitlement for compensation be established. The intended effect of this amendment is to provide consistency in VA adjudication policy and preserve certain rights afforded to Persian Gulf War veterans and ensure fairness for current and future Persian Gulf War veterans.     

Compensation for certain undiagnosed illnesses--VA. Final rule

This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations to authorize compensation for disabilities resulting from the undiagnosed illnesses of Persian Gulf veterans. This amendment provides the necessary regulatory framework to allow the Secretary to pay compensation under the authority granted by the Persian Gulf War.     

The Notion of Consent to Sexual Activity for Persons with Mental Disabilities

This paper seeks to examine the notion of consent to sexual activity as it is applied to situations involving persons with mental disabilities both by both medical professionals and the law. This will be achieved by analysing sexuality and consent through the lens of disability theory and subsequently by including feminist theories on the notion of consent and of sexual activity generally where this serves to assist in coming to a genuine assessment of the nature and existence of consent to sexual activity for persons with mental disabilities. It is concluded that in order to ensure that genuine substantive consent to sexual activity on the part of the persons with mental illnesses is accurately assessed at both a civil and criminal level, a fusion of both feminist and disability theory into such assessments and adjudications is vital.     

Walking the line: Specialized and standard probation officer perspectives on supervising probationers with serious mental illnesses

Specialized probation programs were developed to more effectively address the unique needs of probationers with serious mental illnesses. Probation officers are tasked with serving both law enforcement and rehabilitative functions, and officers play an important gatekeeper function in helping probationers with serious mental illnesses avoid long incarceration sentences. The purpose of this paper was to explore specialized and standard probation officers' work in supervising probationers with serious mental illnesses. Twenty-one probation officers (11 specialized and 10 standard) participated in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analyses examined: 1 — beliefs on the relationship between mental illness and crime; 2 — purpose of specialized and standard probation units; and 3 — approaches to supervising probationers with serious mental illnesses. Implications for developing more effective probation supervision programs are discussed.     

Psychodynamic and social development of neurotic patients applying for disability compensation: a catamnestic study

Neurotic illnesses in which the desire for compensation or pensioning complicates the picture must not always take an unfavorable course. Prognostic criteria allowing definitive projections for individual cases are not available. The award or denial of compensation--in a group comparison--has no influence on the neurotic symptomatology. There are no differences in the psychodynamic and social histories of those subjects who apply for a pension because of the inability to work and those who claim compensation following an external trauma. In one-fourth of the subjects who were examined in connection with accidental or war injury, conspicuous personality characteristics could be demonstrated for the time preceding the incident. Satisfactory therapeutic possibilities for the group of neurotic applicants for disability compensation or pensions are not yet available.     

Potential for Bias in MMPI-2 Assessments Using the Fake Bad Scale (FBS)

The Fake Bad Scale (FBS), developed to identify malingering of emotional distress among claimants seeking compensation for personal injuries, was recently added to the MMPI-2 scoring materials, resulting in its widespread dissemination across the various clinical settings that use the MMPI-2 in psychological evaluations. We examine: (1) questions of item bias in the FBS; (2) how malingering and nonmalingering groups are identified in FBS studies, including whether the research has been broadly inclusive and fully represents the populations assessed by the MMPI-2; (3) the reliability and validity of the FBS; (4) the highly variable recommendations for raw score cut-offs and how they relate to T scores; (5) two inpatient groups [men in a tertiary care Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VA) unit and women in an eating disorders program] who may be inappropriately labeled as malingering by the FBS; (6) the publisher’s statement on use of the FBS; and (7) a Frye hearing in Florida where the FBS was excluded from expert testimony, one of three so far. We raise questions about its potential bias against people with disabilities and physical illnesses, women, individuals exposed to highly traumatic situations, and those motivated to present themselves in a favorable light. Psychologists using the FBS for making decisions about clients’ motivations need to be aware of the serious problems with the scale’s use and the cases of its inadmissibility in court.     

Dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits for survivors of former prisoners of war rated totally disabled at time of death. Final rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its adjudication regulation regarding benefits for survivors of former prisoners of war who were rated totally disabled at the time of death. This amendment is necessary to conform the regulation to the authorizing statutory provision. The effect of this amendment is to liberalize the eligibility criteria for dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) based on the death of a former prisoner of war whose service-connected disabilities had been continuously rated totally disabling for at least 1 year when he or she died.     

Self-report rates of physical and sexual violence among Spanish inmates by mental illness and gender

High rates of mental illnesses and victimization have been reported for prison populations. This study estimates physical and sexual victimization rates (inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate) for people with and without mental illnesses residing in Spanish prisons. A random sample of 2484 male and 225 female inmates was drawn from eight prisons in Spain. Self-report data were collected on victimization, mental illness and sociodemographic characteristics. Prevalence rates of physical and sexual victimization during the past six months in prison among men with mental illnesses were higher than for men without reported mental illnesses (39.1% vs. 16.4% and 8.6% vs. 3.3%, respectively). Similar comparative results were found for women with and without mental illnesses (29.7% vs. 17.5% and 13.3% vs. 10.3%, respectively). A positive association was found between mental illnesses and victimization. This evidence suggests the need for integrated trauma treatment and proactive steps to protect incarcerated persons from violence during incarceration.     

Co-occurring serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders as predictors of assaultive infraction charges among adult male jail inmates

This study used self-report data from 4642 adult male jail inmates to test the hypothesis that inmates with co-occurring serious mental illnesses (SMIs) and substance use disorders (SUDs) (i.e. co-occurring disorders) would report having been officially charged for assaulting staff or inmates more often than inmates without co-occurring disorders. Negative binomial regression indicated that relative to inmates with neither SMI nor SUDs, assault charges were most likely to be reported by inmates with co-occurring SMI and substance abuse, co-occurring SMI and substance dependence, and only substance abuse, respectively (ps ≤ .01). Having been charged with assault was also strongly associated with assault victimization before and while incarcerated (ps ≤ .05). This article concludes with recommendations for jail policies and future research.     

轻罪重判国家赔偿责任的证立及其类型化

刑事审判实践中,对于轻罪重判是否赔偿,处理结果不一,原因在于对《国家赔偿法》第17条第(三)项以及最高人民法院、最高人民检察院《关于办理刑事赔偿案件适用法律若干问题的解释》第6条的不同理解。轻罪重判是对权利的侵害,在加强人权司法保障、强化权力运行制约监督的时代背景下,应该对《国家赔偿法》立法原意予以检讨,对轻罪重判的被告人予以赔偿。制度操作上,可以将轻罪重判的赔偿分为管制的赔偿、有期徒刑改判较短期限的赔偿、重判死刑且已执行的赔偿以及轻罪重判附加刑的赔偿,在此类型化区分的基础上对赔偿的项目、赔偿的方式以及计算标准进行设计。     

Atypical Accommodations for Employees with Psychiatric Disabilities

People with psychiatric disabilities often need atypical accommodations to participate in today's workforce. Some of these accommodations, including structural and social changes in the workplace, can address biases against people with psychiatric disabilities, while others ameliorate deficits that may affect performance or interaction with others. Many courts have denied requests for such accommodations based on employers' assumptions about performance or the direct threats purportedly posed by people with psychiatric disabilities. By challenging these assumptions, which can be influenced by stigma and stereotypes, and by enforcing an employer's duty to interact regarding potential accommodations, employees with psychiatric disabilities could benefit from structural and social accommodations. Courts should consider social science research in determining which nontraditional accommodations may be reasonable and whether the employer can establish that they impose any undue hardship. Such consideration will expand opportunities for people with psychiatric disabilities in the workplace without unduly interfering with employers' interests.     

刑事被害人国家补偿的理论分析及制度构建——以刑事诉讼过程中的检察环节为视角

检察机关对犯罪嫌疑人作出不批准逮捕或者不起诉决定后,刑事案件诉讼程序即告终止,也就在法律上(而不是从事实上)排除了犯罪嫌疑人的存在,致使被害人无法通过诉讼程序获得赔偿。在检察环节,对刑事被害人进行国家补偿,既保障了被害人的人权,又可以促进社会的和谐稳定。     

Digital Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities in China Under COVID-19: How Far Has China Come?

This article reviews social regulatory and redistributive policies in China that aim at fostering digital inclusion of persons with disabilities. We examine the emerging Chinese policies and how China has responded to the impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on digital inclusion in terms of redistribution, market regulation, involvement of persons with disabilities and disabled people’s organizations (DPOs), and awareness-raising campaigns. The policy review demonstrates that the Chinese policy framework contains a few redistributive initiatives, for example, cash transfer programs, and free distribution of information and communications technology (ICT). These have the potential to increase the uptake of ICT among persons with disabilities. The Chinese policy framework also includes provisions to ensure consultation with individual persons with disabilities and DPOs in the deliberation and implementation of ICT accessibility policies. While China has initiated awareness-raising campaigns among market actors about the importance of digital inclusion, so far, the Chinese government has adopted little legal regulation of the market to foster accessibility to ICT. The article thus argues that some of the limitations may be due to the way state–market relations have developed since the economy opened up in 1978. Apart from the growing benefits of several cash transfer programs, we have not seen major changes or adjustments to the current policy framework during the efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on digital inclusion.     

Determining adjusted income in HUD programs serving persons with disabilities: requiring mandatory deductions for certain expenses; and disallowance for earned income. Office of the Secretary, HUD. Final rule

This final rule amends HUD's regulations in part 5, subpart F, to include additional HUD programs in the list of programs that must make certain deductions in calculating a family's adjusted income. These deductions primarily address expenses related to a person's disability, for example medical expenses or attendant care expenses. The purpose of this amendment is to expand the benefits of these deductions to persons with disabilities served by HUD programs not currently covered by part 5, subpart F. Second, this rule adds a new regulatory section to part 5 to require for some but not all of these same programs the disallowance of increases in income as a result of earnings by persons with disabilities. HUD believes that making these deductions and disallowance available to persons with disabilities through as many HUD programs as possible will assist persons with disabilities in obtaining and retaining employment, which is an important step toward economic self-sufficiency. This rule follows publication of a August 21, 2000 proposed rule, and takes into consideration public comments received on the rule.     

德国环境损害赔偿法律问题初探

德国环境损害赔偿立法的历史悠久,其相应的法律法规较完备。针对其环境侵权损害赔偿的立法,德国理论界根据环境侵权损害赔偿责任产生的基础将之分为三类:即以容忍为前提的牺牲性责任、危险性责任和一般侵权责任。德国环境损害赔偿立法以改善受害人的法律地位、侧重人身损害赔偿以及重视对生态破坏的赔偿为主要价值取向。目前,德国正准备制定一部统一的环境损害赔偿法,德国的这一做法对于和德国环境损害赔偿立法较相似的我国来说,具有非常重要的借鉴意义。     

Robotic prostheses as products enhancing the rights of people with disabilities. Reconsidering the structure of liability rules

The term ‘robot’ refers to a wide variety of devices, serving very different purposes. The case of robotic prostheses is considered here. After defining such devices, and briefly describing the technical peculiarities that characterize their functioning and distinguish them from traditional implants, their relevance with respect to the fundamental rights of people with disabilities is considered. Pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a claim is made that favouring the development of said applications may be required to subscribing states. In light of such considerations, the liability regime – namely that emerging from the Defective Product Directive – is analysed, in the attempt to determine – with a prospective analysis – the impact that said rules are likely to have on their development. The technology-chilling effect and the anticipated extremely complex evidentiary burden the user would have to face in order to obtain compensation lead us to conclude that legal reform is advisable. Some alternatives are considered, and in particular that of the development of a – partially – state-funded no-fault plan, intended to allow more ex ante certainty for producers and researchers (favouring the development of said devices), and prompt and adequate compensation to the victim in case an accident occurs.     

CURRENT TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHINESE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons is the first social security legislation in China, with more than 50 laws directly related to the legal protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and career development for people with disabilities. In terms of employment protections for people with disabilities, it is important to focus on effective legal implementation, utilizing legal rulings to limit employment discrimination against people with disabilities. Educational protections are an important precondition for enabling people with disabilities to live with dignity; it should be guaranteed that people with disabilities are provided “reasonable accommodation” in educational conditions. A barrier-free environment is a necessary condition for social integration of people with disabilities. At the same time, it also benefits other members of the society such as the elderly. Through rehabilitation and exercise, most people with disabilities can return to the society to a significant degree. China should gradually expand the legislative scope of rehabilitation service fee reductions and legal categories of auxiliary appliances, issuing guiding documents that provide specifications for the relevant “dormant” legal provisions.     

Compensation for workplace injury leading to suicide in Australia

Workplace-related death by suicide raises a number of difficult issues in the context of workers compensation. On first reading, workers compensation statutes usually prevent recovery of compensation where an injury is self-inflicted, suggesting that compensation for suicide will be excluded. Additionally, compensation is usually denied when the nexus between employment and injury is broken which is frequently the defence to any claim by the dependants of workers who takes their own life following a work injury. This article examines the Australian landscape in relation to the evolution of principles that apply to consideration of workers compensation claims where suicide is an element.