Academic literature on the topic 'District Court settings'

Inventions are tangible. Yet patents comprise words, and words are imprecise. Thus, disputes over patents involve a process known as “claim construction,” which formally clarifies the meaning of a patent claim’s words and, therefore, the scope of the underlying property right. Adversarial claim construction commonly occurs in various Article III and Article I settings, such as district courts or the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). When these proceedings ignore each other’s claim constructions, a patent’s scope can become inconsistent and unpredictable. The doctrine of issue preclusion could help with this problem. The Supreme Court recently reemphasized in B & B Hardware v. Hargis Industries that administrative decisions can have issue preclusive effect. But district courts and the PTAB use formally different legal standards in claim construction, where the district court takes a narrower view of a patent’s scope. This Note contends that a claim construction determination made by the PTAB under the “broadest reasonable interpretation” standard should, indeed, be the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim. To facilitate uniformity and public notice, issue preclusion should be applied such that the PTAB’s “broadest reasonable interpretation” is an outer interpretive bound of a patent’s scope in subsequent district court litigation.

Judicial promotion of mediation has been identified as an important way to encourage and increase the amount of commercial mediation in New Zealand. This latest contribution to the New Zealand Commercial Mediation Study (NZCMS) explores the views of District and High Court judges in relation to the use of mediation in their courts. Comparisons are made with earlier NZCMS studies, including the controversial issue of mandatory mediation. While the judiciary is well placed to increase the amount of commercial mediation in New Zealand, this paper concludes that it is unlikely that this potential will be realised under the current civil procedure settings. District and High Court judges possess a good understanding of mediation and its benefits but also prioritise party autonomy in choosing whether to undertake mediation or not.

Bullying is a common occurrence in U.S.’s schools and is currently at the forefront of national attention. Unfortunately, students with disabilities are frequently the targets of peer-on-peer bullying. The purpose of this article is to examine the legal ramifications when students with disabilities are bullied in school settings. We address court cases, state educational agency decisions, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) guidance, and Office of Civil Rights (OCR) rulings that have held that bullying may violate Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. School personnel must address the bullying of students with disabilities in a quick and efficient manner. In fact, these decisions show that when bullying is not stopped, school district officials and personnel may be subjecting their school districts to legal risks. We end by proposing how school district officials can develop legally sound policies for identifying, investigating, and responding to incidences of bullying of students with disabilities.

This article investigates how civil court judges practice meta-expertise in cases that feature contradictory and inconclusive medical expertise. The empirical case study consists of a sample of eleven Helsinki district court verdicts from 2014–2017, drawn from a larger number of similar traffic insurance compensation cases. The case-type features a medical controversy concerning traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnostics. I contend that the difficulties judges face in evaluating the medical expertise result from epistemic asymmetries between legal and medical professionals. This study highlights the importance of explaining and understanding how judges overcome uncertainty and discriminate between expert positions. Drawing from earlier studies on meta-expertise and judges’ practice of evaluating expertise in court, I introduce the concept ‘socio-technical review’ to describe judges’ practice of facilitating highly technical and esoteric scientific expertise to needs of judicial decision making. I argue that socio-technical review is a special form of practicing meta-expertise, which effectively allows meta-experts to manage epistemic asymmetries. In examining how meta-expertise is practiced in the TBI case-type, the paper contributes to general sociological understanding of decision-making under uncertainty and suggests further studies in comparable settings.

Inclusion, the philosophy of placing all children with disabilities in regular education settings, is easily the most discussed and controversial education reform issue since the 1975 passage of PL 94-142, Education of Handicapped Children Act (EHA). However, inclusion is never mentioned in the original EHA or the updated PL 101-476, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (e.g., Sherrill, 1994; Stein, 1994). What is discussed in IDEA as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is the “continuum of least restrictive environments” (LRE). The purpose of this paper is to (a) review United States federal laws regarding inclusion and LRE, most notably IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; (b) review recent U.S. court cases regarding inclusion and LRE including three landmark cases: Roncker v. Walter (Ohio) (1983), Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education (Texas) (1989), and Sacramento Unified School District, Board of Education v. Rachel H. (California) (1994); and (c) apply these federal laws and court decisions to physical education placement.

Abstract The choice of setting is an important element in dramatic works, one that is often aligned with the definition of character or genre. Restoration comedy has traditionally been associated with London settings, particularly with the fashionable new areas of court and town, frequented by the higher classes: St James's Park, the Mulberry Garden, the Mall, or Covent Garden. Such an assumption, however, rests largely on a view of the comic production of Restoration England which used to foreground the work of a small group of canonical playwrights like Etherege, Wycherley, and Congreve. To revise this notion, the kind of quantitative analysis facilitated by the cataloguing work of the Restoration Comedy Project can prove very useful. This article discusses the difficulties faced in the process of determining the scene of the plays and builds on the data already collected for the period 1660–1682 to trace the topography of Restoration comedy. A review of this information yields a more diverse landscape than is usually taken for granted. Only half of the plays are set in London and barely half of those lay scenes in the genteel areas of the town. Moreover, an examination of the Covent Garden comedies shows that, after the Great Fire, this district is not represented as the exclusive preserve of the gentry, but as the home of a substantial number of citizen characters too.

Background/Context The lack of court-ordered support for race-based policies that maintain and create integrated schools has forced communities of color to seek other avenues to obtain equitable education, such as school choice. Individual states and the federal government, as seen in grant provisions through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, are encouraging the expansion of choice at the very time that options for increasing student diversity, particularly racial diversity, are being narrowed by the courts. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The article uses critical race theory to examine the outcomes of specific school reforms, based on market theory models of school choice, that were designed to alleviate schooling inequities in urban districts. Setting The context of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serves as a microcosm of urban districts that have embraced school choice to create more equitable schooling options. Milwaukee, like most metropolitan areas, has a history of court-ordered desegregation that served as a temporary solution to racially segregated schools. Given the federal and district court turn from supporting race-based desegregation policies in schools, Milwaukee and other metropolitan districts are looking for new models to serve students of color in their districts and cities. Research Design This article is a conceptual paper that incorporates data from a variety of sources to support the authors’ conclusions. Data Collection and Analysis Data for this project were taken from the U.S. Census Bureau, documents from newly created small high schools, such as Web sites and curriculum designs; current newspaper articles discussing issues of small high schools; archival newspaper articles documenting the creation of the 1990 choice and charter programs; professional experiences as a member of the Bill and Melinda Gates institutional selection and small-school team support system; and an empirical study that documents teachers’ attempts to provide curriculum and instruction in newly created small schools. Conclusions/Recommendations In combination, these data sources tell the story of market theory reforms that will continue to struggle to meet reformists’ goals to serve all Milwaukee populations so long as policy makers and the courts continue to deny the irrefutable power that race and class exercise in parental choice in U.S. urban schools.

Karaha Bodas case is a notorious case which demonstrates how is unpredictable of the Indonesian court’s practice when facing cases related to arbitration. This case shows various aberrations of the principles that have been commonly accepted in international commercial arbitration but distorted in practice, especially in Indonesia, therefore many experts in the field of international commercial arbitration always mention this case as a “pathology” in international commercial arbitration.[1] This article will examine the interaction between the attempt to set aside of the award, while on the other hand the successful party requests for enforcement in other jurisdictions. The discussion will be focused on the standings of the U.S. courts toward the annulment proceeding in and the judgement of the District Court of Central Jakarta. The findings in this article show that the U.S. courts – like any other jurisdictions – disobeyed the judgement of the annulment which was rendered by Indonesian court, because Indonesian courts were the secondary jurisdiction. In addition, the courts in which the enforcement sought may have discretion whether they will or will not enforce an award which has been vacated in the country of origin. The discretion is guaranteed under the New York Convention 1958.

This research aims to find out how implementation of the diversion of the perpetrators of the abuse of narcotic drugs by using the method of the approach of restorative justice by involving the perpetrator, the victim, the family of the offender or the victim, community counselors and professionals. The research method used is the normative legal research with approach of legislation, articles as well as the doctrine or the views from experts associated with the diversion and narcotic in children. With regard to the handling of child abuse of narcotic drugs, the problems in this thesis is the arrangement of diversion by law about the criminal justice system of the child and the application of diversion through approach restorative justice in the criminal offence of child perpetrator of abuse of narcotic. The settings regarding diversion here is actually a settling criminal acts with children outside of the criminal justice process. Where the diversion can be carried out against the perpetrator of the crime that the threat of punishment of less than 7 (seven) years and is not a repetition of the crime. Against the application of the abuse of narcotics diversion for children conducted through deliberation in accordance whit the provisions of article 8 of law about the criminal justice system so that children can make a deal with diversion consider the child’s interests, in this case intended to avoid and keep children from the judicial process. In terms of the results of the diversion agreement already agreed upon with the parties where the implementation of the outcome of the diversion agreement would of course also have to be monitored both from the elderly, the environment, and investigators also rehabilitation center to ascertain if the result of the diversion deal was already done by the child and reported to the Chairman of the District Court where the implementation of such diversion is implemented.

The ongoing debates over the legitimacy of judicial review-the power of courts to strike down unconstitutional statutes-as well as the evolving school of thought called "popular constitutionalism, " are characterized by a preoccupation with the Supreme Court as the embodiment of judicial power This is a striking shortcoming in prevailing constitutional theory, given the fact that in the United States, inferior courts engage in constitutional adjudication and in acts of judicial review on a daily basis, in ways that are importantly different from the familiar practices of the Supreme Court. The Article breaks down this monolithic concept of "the courts" by shifting the focus to the lower levels of the judicial system. Trial court adjudication is revealed to hold a unique transformative potential for constitutionalism: the possible enhancement of civic participation, public deliberation, and value pluralism in the process of creating constitutional meanings. The Article presents an argument for "inferiorizing" judicial review, i.e., relegating the power of judicial review to the federal district courts, and removing the Supreme Court from this practice. The inferiorizing model-a procedurally simple, though conceptually radical, jurisdictional shift-is shown to have a redeeming potential for judicial review as a democratically legitimate means of enforcing constitutional rights; while at the same time providing a robust institutional setting for the exercise of popular constitutionalism. Although it would be very difficult to bring about a full inferiorizing shift in constitutional adjudication, the Article exposes the possibilities for democracy-enhancing institutional innovation; these possibilities become available to constitutional actors once the institutional diversity of courts is recognized.

Described in this thesis is research that examined the influence of courtroom symbolism on jurors' ability to focus on the evidence presented in a criminal trial. This research is unique as participants were 'real' jurors who had, at the time of participation in the research, recently completed deliberations on a District Court trial. To date no other research has explored the interaction between symbolism in the courtroom and the juror experience. The broad research question examined in this research was: Do symbolic elements in the courtroom environment draw juror attention away from the evidence being presented?. Three theories drawn from environmental psychology were utilised in this research (i.e., environmental uncertainty theory, environmental arousal theory and environmental load theory). Additionally, Rapoport's (1983, 1990) theory, which was drawn from the architectural field of knowledge, was utilised. Rapoport's theory facilitated the measurement of symbolism in the form of environmental cues found in the courtroom. To address the broad research question, eight subordinate research questions were formulated those being: (1) Do trait anxiety and court related factors influence the amount of attention jurors pay to the elements of the courtroom environment?, (2) Do trait anxiety and court related factors influence the effect on jurors of the attention they paid to the elements of the courtroom environment?, (3) Do trait anxiety and court related factors influence the sense of stress or arousal in jurors?, (4) Is there an association between attention paid by jurors to the environmental cues found in the courtroom, their ability to perform their role as a juror and their sense of appreciation for the function of the law?, (5) Is there an association between attention paid by jurors to the environmental cues in the courtroom and a state of elevated stress?, (6) Does the amount of attention paid by jurors to environmental cues found in the courtroom diminish over time?, (7) Does the effect on jurors of the attention they paid to the environmental cues in the courtroom diminish over time? and, (8) Does the amount of stress jurors experience diminish over time?. The eight research questions were addressed in two studies. The first involved a survey of jurors who had completed deliberations in District Court trials in Brisbane and Cairns during the period 19th July, 2001 and 18th July, 2002 (N=192). This study examined the amount of attention jurors paid to four elements of the courtroom environment (i.e., the courtroom design, the appearance and behaviour of court officials, the appearance and behaviour of those associated with the offence and the task of being a juror). Also examined in this study was the influence on jurors of the attention they paid to the elements of the courtroom environment. Juror experience of state anxiety as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] (Spielberger, 1983) was also examined. Additionally, the influence of trait anxiety as measured by the STAI (Spielberger, 1983) and court related factors (i.e., location of trial, prior jury experience, nature of the offence and length of trial) on the juror experience was examined. Two time frames were examined (i.e., initial contact with the courtroom and midpoint of juror experience) which allowed the examination of the influence of time on the juror experience. Interviews with jurors who had completed the survey (N=19) comprised the second study. This study allowed jurors to describe their experience on a jury from a more personal perspective. The elements of the juror experience that distracted and reinforced their ability to focus on the evidence and facilitated a sense of appreciation for the function of the law were discussed. Also discussed were the elements of the juror experience that caused jurors to experience anxiety. Overall, the findings of this research indicated that although symbolism in the courtroom was linked to juror anxiety, this was positive and facilitated juror attention to the evidence and a sense of respect for the criminal justice system. That anxiety experienced by jurors facilitated their focus on the evidence is consistent with environmental arousal theory in that for optimum performance one must experience a certain level of arousal. Also confirmed by the findings of this research is environmental load theory, an element of which predicts that jurors will be task driven when experiencing environmental load. That these two theories are linked by an underlying construct is evidenced by the findings of this research. These findings open up possibilities for future theoretical research using environmental arousal theory and environmental load theory. The findings of this research also suggest that jurors found the symbolism in the courtroom environment distracting and that some elements of the juror experience were onerous and stressful. However, previous experience in the courtroom and lower trait anxiety moderated these factors. Consequently, consistent with the results of this research courts might benefit from implementing an orientation program for prospective jurors such that they are familiarised with the courtroom environment. Such a program would moderate any distress experienced by jurors. In the context of such adjustments by the courts, the influence of symbolism in the courtroom are considered beneficial to the juror experience and there is no need for the courts to alter the courtroom setting or robing practices of lawyers.

The Western myth of the genius individualizes, and thus distracts, from the social processes that enable innovation. Chapter 3 looks into the social underpinning of creativity. Maya society grew and diversified over the course of the Classic period. Even hinterland villages changed economically as well as sociopolitically and provided individuals with opportunities to advance their interests. These changes can, for instance, be observed when we examine educational techniques: book and situated learning are contrasting approaches. In the former, learning takes place in a hierarchical environment; in the latter, apprentices observe and imitate masters in a work-related setting. Maya learning tends to be embedded in communities of practice. Imitation facilitates the meta-awareness that forms the foundation of creativity.

How do personal memorials and mortuary ritual mediate between competing sociopolitical identities in times of political change? The mid-eighth century BCE stele of the royal official Katumuwa bears a banquet scene and Sam’alian (Aramaic) inscription describing a large inaugural sacrifice and feast to be followed by smaller annual celebra- tions. It was found in 2008 at Zincirli, Turkey, capital of the Iron Age kingdom of Sam’al, in a mortuary chapel adjacent to a neighborhood shrine in a residential area. As a member of the “intermediate” elite, Katumuwa was one of the links between the people of Sam’al and their king, a favorite vassal of the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III. Just as the As- syrian king attempted to ensure the loyalty of his vassals through a blend of honors, gifts, and surveillance that cultivated a cosmopolitan imperial identity, the art and architecture of Zincirli show that the last kings of Sam’al before its annexation used the same tactics with local elites to shore up support for their pro-Assyrian policies at home. Katumuwa’s reference to the king, his court dress and cosmopolitan luxury items, his apparent residence in a new elite residential district, and his emulation of royal mortuary ritual suggest that to an extent he embraced his membership in this exclusive courtly stratum. At the same time, several deviations from the royal cult indicate the maintenance of a more autonomous local identity, and the scale and setting of the inaugural and annual feasts suggest a desire to cultivate local solidarity through commensality.