From: Breaking Legal News
A 10-year-old girl conceived from the frozen sperm of a dead man
cannot receive his Social Security benefits, a federal appeals
court ruled. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on
Wednesday upheld a lower courts rejection of child survivor
benefits for Brandalynn Vernoff, who was born nearly four years
after her fathers death in 1995.The case involved sperm that Bruce
Vernoffs widow, Gabriela, had a doctor extract after he died
unexpectedly from an allergic reaction. In 1998, she used it for in
vitro fertilization and gave birth to Brandalynn in a Los Angeles
hospital on March 17, 1999.Gabriela Vernoff later applied for child
survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration but was
rejected. A federal judge in Santa Ana also rejected her claims.The
appellate panel ru...
Respond to this topic on your own blog
Click and press Ctrl+C to copy and paste this discussion on your blog or site
Related Articles
Court allows release of domestic partner petitions
Washington's secretary of state can release the names and addresses
of people who signed petitions calling for a public vote on the
state's expanded benefits for domestic partners, a federal appeals
court said Thursday.A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals reversed a previous decision by U.S. District Judge Ben
Settle in Tacoma to block release of the petitions.Settle held that
releasing the names could chill the First Amendment rights of
petition signers.Stephen Pidgeon, an attorney for the petition
sponsors, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.Despite
the appeals court ruling, the names weren't immediately
released.Janelle Guthrie, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Rob
McKenna, said her office must now ask a Thurston County judge to
lift a temporary restraining ...
N.Y. Court Permits Retaliation Action Based on Overtime
A Manhattan judge has rejected an appeals court precedent in
concluding that two beauty salon workers may claim they were fired
in retaliation for complaining they had been denied overtime pay,
saying the appellate ruling "mistakenly construes" a ruling that
court had issued 10 years earlier. The judge noted the panel in the
2009 case had relied on a statement in a 1999 ruling that "there
are no provisions governing overtime in the New York Labor Law,"
but did not take into account other aspects of the earlier
decision.
Legal father allowed to disestablish paternity and end child support
The Michigan appeals court says a man who mistakenly believed he
was the father of his girlfriend\'s son cannot be pursued for child
support. The importance of this case from my point of view is that
the conclusions of law can be applied to similar cases in which a
father was held liable for child support as the "presumptive
father" simply because he was married to the mother when the child
was born or conceived.
Supreme Court rules against Nev. man in DNA case
A Nevada inmate lost a U.S. Supreme Court bid to challenge what
jurors were told about DNA evidence against him in the 1994 sexual
assault of a 9-year-old girl.The nation's highest court ruled
Monday that it would not hear the evidence issue but did give Troy
Don Brown, 38, another chance to argue before a federal appeals
court that he received ineffective legal representation at
trial.State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto called the
Supreme Court ruling a victory for prosecutors and Nevada after
they lost arguments about the DNA evidence in lower courts.Paul
Turner, an assistant federal public defender in Las Vegas handling
Brown's appeals, has argued that the conviction should be
overturned if the DNA evidence was insufficient.The high court did
not hear oral arguments before rev...
Social Security Disability Benefits
Social Security is a very complex area of the law. But the great
majority of our clients have five simple questions.What are my
chances of a winning social security benefit?It is impossible to
say without first reviewing your individual situation. But it is
worth noting that roughly 70 percent of initial claims are denied.
Furthermore, the chances of an applicant receiving benefits
increases by nearly 25 percent when that person is represented by
an attorney. Since it costs you nothing to have your case reviewed
by our office, you should take advantage of the opportunity.How
much will it cost?Legal fees for representing social security
claimants are regulated by the Social Security Administration. But
more importantly, you pay our office nothing unless we are
successful in winning your ben...