Public Perceptions of Legislative Action on Reducing Plastic Pollution: A Case Study of Atlantic Canada

Government-led legislation is a key strategy to reduce plastic pollution; however, societal perception can heavily influence government intervention for environmental issues. To understand the public acceptability of government action to reduce plastic pollution, we examine the perception of existing and upcoming legislative action on single-use plastics by means of a structured survey with additional semi-structured interviews. Our focus is on the four Atlantic provinces of Canada, which was the first region in Canada to implement provincial-wide legislation for plastic reduction at the consumer level in 2019. Results show strong public support (77 %, n = 838) for bans on single-use plastic bags at the consumer level, and for further plastic pollution reduction legislation. However, the level of support differed between regions and by demographics. Semi-structured interviews show that decision-makers should increase efforts in raising consumer awareness and standardizing regulations across jurisdictions for smoother transitions prior to legislative action.

Legislators' Plague

This chapter brings important novel insights and perspectives to the urging contemporary debate on public hygienist policies. The authors intend to explore how an episode of history of science can be used to explore the struggles of universal pandemic responses. The focus will be on the inception of science-based legislation, created to deal with public health emergencies, and their communication and social acceptance. They argue if any of the symptoms of science misinformation and a weak science foundation of legislative action identified in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic can be identified in an early 20th-century outbreak of bubonic plague in Portugal. They present a national legislative policy timeline towards the pandemic effort in the form of consolidated legislative responses to fight Porto's emerging pandemic in 1899. They also provide future studies on science-based policy with newfound material, aiding the characterization of the communication and eventual harmonization of concerted responses in preempting the spread of pandemics.

Telemedicine Applications in the Era of COVID-19: Telesurgery Issues

Telemedicine allows for the effective delivery of health care to patients at a distance through the application of information technology to the field of medicine. This is optimal during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce interpersonal contact to mitigate contagion. Among the possible Telemedicine applications, there is Telesurgery, which involves more and more surgical specialties thanks to the numerous benefits in quality and cost containment. In the growing field of Telesurgery, its technical and legal implications must be considered. In this study, a traditional review of the scientific literature was carried out to identify the most relevant issues of interest in Telesurgery. The problematic legal aspects identified are mainly related to the difference in legislation between different geographical areas, which is critical in the case of malpractice. In addition, there is the possibility of a malicious hacker attack on the transmitted data stream either to steal sensitive data or to harm the patient. Finally, there are inherent difficulties with the technology used, such as latency issues in data transmission. All these critical issues are currently not adequately addressed by current legislation. Therefore, one can only hope for a legislative action to allow Telesurgery to be used safely.

Are sex offending allegations viewed differently? Exploring the effect of offense type and conviction status on criminal stigmatization

Attitudes toward individuals with sexual convictions play a major role in the formation of legislative action, including sentencing policies and registration and notification procedures. However, there is little research about stigmatization directed at those who are accused of such offenses prior to conviction. In this work we explored this gap by comparing stigmatization towards people accused of sexual offending in comparison to other offense categories, and whether this was further impacted by whether allegations led to a conviction. We recruited 403 community-based participants for a between-subjects experimental survey. We found support for the conclusion that people accused of and convicted for sexual offenses are more heavily stigmatized than allegations related to other crime types, and especially so when allegations involved child victims. Stigmatization took the form of greater levels of support for police-initiated notifications about allegations before conviction, increased desires for social distance, and attributions of negative personality traits. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of these findings in relation to stigma research and issues related to anonymity for those accused of sexual offenses.

State-Level Policy Actions to Support Family Caregivers

The stresses created by the growing need for family caregivers have failed to prompt federal policy action; in its absence, states are stepping up. This review of state policies that support employment among family caregivers found six main categories of legislative action: paid leave; expanding federally mandated unpaid leave; paid sick time; unemployment insurance for job loss attributable to caregiving duties; establishing family caregivers as a protected classification in employment discrimination; and flexible or alternative work schedules. Despite the demand for policies that support and empower working caregivers, a minority of states have passed such legislation; to date, 9 states have implemented paid family leave; 14 have implemented mandatory sick leave legislation; and 14 have expanded FMLA. This study discusses state-level policy actions, reviews the status and importance of these policies, and finds that despite gaps in caregiver support legislation at the state level, there is significant and promising momentum.

Niue in New Zealand Legislation

This article provides guidance to non-Niuean lawyers, and particularly for New Zealand lawyers, who want to ascertain the Niue law on a particular matter. The need arises because a New Zealand statute that was extended to be part of the law of Niue may still be in force in New Zealand and in Niue but, because of the passage of time and legislative action in one or both of the countries, the text and effect of the statute may be different in each country.

Conditionality and trade union action in the promotion and defence of workers’ rights: the Spanish case

Conditionality, among other aspects, determines that the regulatory development of the countries that make up the European Union can be carried out, as is usual in the social sphere, without the intervention, or at least minimally, of the workers’ representatives and entrepreneurs, and also from other political formations in the legislative field. Logically, this absence of social or political participation can promote response actions against them, either traditional (strikes, demonstrations, withdrawal of parliamentary support in adoption of legislative measures etc.), or new types (spontaneous concentrations in public places, general assemblies of citizens without a defined convener, appearance of social and political formations of less visible typology, or other similar ones). The financial crisis unleashed at the end of 2007 and the one derived from the health emergency situation due to the global spread of Covid-19, at the beginning of 2020, have precisely encouraged the use of conditionality in the European Union space. However, the way in which conditionality has been developed in one and another crisis in the Spanish State can be said that it has not been identical. Neither have been the reactions of social and political subjects, because if in the first crisis these subjects have experienced a reduction in their functions of participation or intervention in legislative action and in the proposal of political actions, in the second the possibilities of action have been much more significant, and also their contribution to efforts to overcome the crisis situation.

RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE OF THE US WORKFORCE

“The Lawrence Textile Strike, also known as the Bread and Roses Strike”, prompted the first minimum wage law in the United States in 1912. Various states followed suit over the next two decades, and in 1938, at the height of the Great Depression, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which created a federal minimum wage (FLSA).The basic incentive behind the introduction of the Act was to reduce income inequality.A rise in minimum wage acts as a form of relocation of wealth from higher-income people to lower-income people. In principle, Congress amends the FLSA on a regular basis to raise the federal minimum wage to levels necessary for even the lowest-paying workforces in the economy.It also aims to help low-wage workers benefit from overall economywide advances in living standards. However, this has historically not always been the case. In 1968, The Poor People’s 1 Campaign started because of not raising the minimum wage to sufficient levels . The explicit purpose of the federal minimum wage is to help increase consumer purchasing power which stimulates the economy and to keep America's workforces out of poverty.However,the law failed to include the automatic cost of living adjustments and led to inflation eroding the real value of the minimum wage over time. There is a dire need for legislative action to raise the nation’s wage floor, more so than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic.Unless consumer's purchasing power is increased,it will be difficult to come out of this recession.Further,the minimum wage is a direct concern for poverty levels and gender / racial inequality.This paper aims to analyze previous work on the issue and provide further recommendations for the same.

Compensatory Mechanism for Miscarriage of Justice in Cases of Prolonged Delay: The Case of India

There have been several studies on the issue of justice delayed, but no rigid step has been taken in lieu of the victims who suffer as a result of such dawdling processes. Despite the existence of a vast number of provisions in our current legal system, current legal remedies do tend to create an ex gratia obligation but not a statutory obligation for the state to compensate the victims of miscarriage of justice. There is a persistent need for an explicit and detailed law on this subject. The idea underlying this research is to portray the need for a rigid compensatory mechanism for prolonged delays in judicial processes and decisions. Thereby construing a need for strong legislative action towards this issue and reflect upon the grey area in Indian Legal Framework.