Last rights. In sickness and in health, more people are taking life's biggest decision away from doctors and into their own hands

When dying is all that awaits them, more and more people are choosing certain death now rather than uncertain life on medical support systems. But the decision seldom comes easy, as a Newsweek reporter discovers during three weeks with the doctors, nurses, patients and families in an intensive-care ward. A best-selling guide to suicide fires debate over when it is right to let life go--and who should make that choice when the patient no longer can.     

Money madness. Are private psychiatric hospitals resorting to kidnapping in their quest for paying patients?

In their zeal for lucrative insurance reimbursement, some private psychiatric hospitals seem to have gone over the edge themselves. A number of these institutions, critics charge, use outright coercion to commit and retain patients. Now some formerly abducted "recruits" are fighting back with lawsuits.     

趁早逮住内心正在滚动的雪球

虚假友情使我们贪图荣誉，追逐知识、财富以及珍爱毫无节制的东西，像我们肢体一般的东西，也非追逐奢侈享乐的不得体的友谊，这样的友谊像常春藤常见的情况，不会腐蚀并摧毁它     

中国证据法改革者面临的选择—— 从《联邦证据规则》与《加州证据法典》之对比中获得的启示

美国《联邦证据规则》作为英美成文证据法的典范,常常受到我国学者的青睐.但该规则并非可资借鉴的唯一美国模式.生效于1967年的《加州证据法典》被普遍认为在对普通法规则的修正方面获得了成功.其影响不仅限于加州地区,而且美国《联邦证据规则》中许多条款都曾以《加州证据法典》中的相应规定为范本.但在许多情况下,《加州证据法典》与《联邦联邦规则》在调整同一问题的规定之间也存在着明显的差异,它们体现了起草者不同的政策选择.理解这些差异有助于中国证据法改革者做出最契合本国文化和法律价值观的证据性选择.     

美国法律视域中的枪支和暴力问题

枪支持有和使用是美国刑事政策领域和宪法领域的重要问题。最近两起涉枪事件也说明了持枪数和普遍性有所区别,以及家中和公共场所内的私人持枪权的区分。在历史上,美国对于枪支的管制一直存在,本质上就是公共案件和个人权益的平衡问题。最近几年,法院的判例为政府管制枪支提出了新的要求。