mls de minimis vol 2. issue 3

8/12/2019 MLS De Minimis Vol 2. Issue 3

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OFFICIALNEWSPAPER OF THE STUDENTS OF MELBOURNE LAW SCHOOL

DEMINIMISMONDAY,AUGUST 6,2012 Established 1948; Revived 2012 VOLUME 2,ISSUE 3

z

US Supreme Court Surprise: Roberts upholds Obamacare

On 28 June, in a landmark and surprise ruling that is,

literally, of life and death importance to many Americans. The USSupreme Court upheld President Obamas Affordable Care Act of

2010. Paradoxically, if there is a single person to thank for the factthat the US now extends health care to all citizens, it is the

Republican-appointed chief justice, John Roberts (who delivered apublic lecture at MLS in July 2010). In National Federation of

Independent Business v Sebelius, the other Republican-nominated,conservative justices voted to defeat the Act, while the four

justices appointed by Democratic presidents voted to uphold it.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion, in which

the law was held to be a valid exercise of Congresss power to tax.

He re-framed the debate over health care as a debate over

increasing taxes, saying that Congress was increasing taxes onthose who choose to go uninsured, as opposed to ordering

individuals to engage in commerce, which would be against theConstitution.

Ronald Dworkin explains, Our eighteenth-centuryconstitution gives Congress only a limited number of legislative

powers set out in an enumerated list; no congressional statute isvalid unless it can be defended as the exercise of one of those listed

powers.

Chief Justice Roberts also wrote that judges possess

neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments.

Those decisions are entrusted to our Nations elected leaders, whocan be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It isnot our job to protect the people from the consequences of their

political choices.

Notwithstanding this claim of judicial neutrality, Dworkin

and other experts believe that the Supreme Court is, and has longbeen, politically activist. Moreover (Dworkin again) There is

persuasive internal evidence in the various opinions, and

particularly in the joint dissent, that [Roberts] intended to vote withthe other conservatives to strike the act down and changed his

mind only at the very last minute.

The surprise decision by the chief justice has triggered

speculation by conservative talking heads as to his mental andphysical health. Notorious shock jock Rush Limbaugh bellowed

that the Internal Revenue Service has just become BarackObamas Domestic Arm. Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey

of Georgia announced in a radio interview that he would like to

pour a beer over the head of Chief Justice Roberts.

Dworkins reaction is more nuanced, and more worrying.

He says that Roberts made a calculated decision to yield to the

status quo in order to provide coverage and credibility for theSupreme Court when, in October, they confront the large number

ofpolitically charged cases scheduled for hearing.

Writing in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin agreed; By

siding with the liberals, Roberts insulates himself from charges ofpartisanship for the foreseeable future. This may be worth

remembering next year, when the Court, led by the Chief Justice, is

likely to strike down both the use of affirmative action in college

admissions and the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Will the chief justice loftily declare himself and his

colleagues aloof from policy-shaping then? Stay tuned.

Bronwen Ewens

The Global Law Students Association presents

Justice Dyson Heydon AC QC

Are Bills of Rights Necessary in Common Law Jurisdictions?

Tuesday 21 August at 1:00 p.m., G08


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Monday, August 6, 2012 [VOLUME 2,ISSUE 3]

De Minimis

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STAFF INTERVIEWS:GETTING TO KNOW PAMELAHANRAHANBy this stage of semester two, Associate Professor Pamela

Hanrahan, who teaches Corporations Law as well as Obligations, is

known to at least half of the second-year JDs as well as a large

number of first-years. She also teaches Financial Services Law in

the Melbourne Law Masters.

After attending Pamelas classes, students might guess

that she is a person of many and diverse interests, and, as DeMinimisjournalists found, they would be guessing correctly.

Pamela cant remember a time when she wasnt interestedin the law. Both her parents, as well as a grandfather, were lawyers.

Her parents efforts to talk her out of doing a law degree were invain, and she combined her Arts (Hons) with an LLB when she

began at Melbourne University. Her favourite subject wasSuccession, with Equity and Trusts as general favourites.

I always wanted to be a barrister, but I found while doing

my articles at Allens that I really enjoyed commercial law, so I

stayed at Allens, off and on, for 15 years, she explains. After

working in private practice, as a regulator and now as an academic,

I cant imagine any other career than the law. But no -ones careerfollows the exact path they think it will, even if you do stay in the

one field.

For Pamela, the best thing about the law is that every

day, theres something new and interesting to learn. The more youknow, the more you learn, because you start to see the connections

between different areas of the law. That is endlessly interesting. If

theres a downside, it would be that you have to stay in an office all

day and adapt to office culture.

An avid skier, Pamela is also a keen traveller and a

voracious reader. At home, her vast book collection is sorted

alphabetically (for fiction), and by the Dewey Decimal System (fornon-fiction). She especially loves crime fiction and recommends

Peter Temples books, including The Broken Shore and the JackIrish series. Other favourites are Ransom by David Malouf, and

Patrick OBrians novels. With her passion for books, she would

like to establish a Law and Literature Club.

She also loves travelling, and the more family members

who tag along, the merrier. Pamela and her children have also

lived overseas, while she worked at Cambridge, and she notes that

this experience binds a family closely, because the kids are awayfrom all their usual friends and activities. Another benefit to hersix months at Cambridge was that her son learned to ski in the

French Alps though this has not made him an expert on theslopes.

If she could change one thing in todays world, Pamela

would have free Wi-Fi everywhere, thus eliminating the need for

telecommunications companies and their consumer contracts.

As her students know, Pamela is a fan of Radio National

and its Law Report. Listening to this show helps everything you

learn in the law crystallise, till finally you feel like a lawyer. This

is why I advise students to tune in. Students shouldnt worry ifthings take a while to come together. The law is hard, so if they

find it difficult, thats normal! Hard does not meaninsurmountable, and reading law-related fiction and listening to the

Law Report will mean things jell faster. My other advice to

students is that they should look after themselves and not forget to

have fun these are useful skills in the legal working world aswell.

Bronwen Ewens and Chris Forder

2012 MENTAL HEALTH ANDWELLBEING GUIDEBOOK

GOOD VIBES!Now taking submissions!

The Law Students Society is seeking pro-tips and tricks for handling the

stresses and worries of law school. Contributions can be anything from aTop 10 TV shows to watch during study breaks to recipes for zen-inducing

minestrone soup.

Email the Editors, Bec and Ali, [email protected] withexpressions of interest. Pieces should be around 500 words.

found on someones

newsfeed by Henry

Hedinger
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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De Minimis

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London Olympics

Yeah I know, pretty cutting edge a journalistic pieceon the Olympics AGAINST THE GRAIN IS MY MIDDLE

NAME, WORD.

I should also note that I use the word journalistic in anironic way, and I use the word ironic in an incorrect way, like

when people just use it to say someone has done something

poorly, like I wear a Herschel backpack, not because Im hipster

but because Im being ironic. No, youre just shit.*

This week Im fired up about the Olympics. Not because

were under performing, not because some guy who Id never

heard of a week ago is now letting me down and apparently Im

deeply upset about it, and not because Im forced to watchadvertisements for Channel 9 shows.

Actually, now youve brought that up figurate audience,I will briefly respond to it; thank you for the question. Channel 9

is like the popular kid at school; people watch it and talk about it,but no one likes or respects it.

The reason the Olympics is making me angry, is a resultof the reportage (yep, law may have taught me words like

caveat and insofar, but my undergraduate Arts taught me to

put random suffixes on normal people words).

Every time we get a silver medal, the journos ask how

do you feel? where the tone implies gee you f***ed that up,

show the camera how much of a disappointment you are.

Australia has developed little man syndrome. Our international

influence in more meaningful domains is so tenuous that we thinkgold medals will patch up our sense of insecurity; the Olympics is

to Australia what Pokmon was to my adolescent self (though for

the record, I had a sick Pokdex maybe Ill get the new versionto play duringRemedies).

Heres the part where I tie it back to law school. Okay,

here goes:

This mentality is like law school because winning is

equated with happiness, and recognition of achievement is theruler against which happy-trons are measured. But we need to get

some perspective! Even getting into the final at the Olympics is

like getting into the JD; it is itself an awesome achievement, and

one to be forever proud of. WORD.

That wasnt bad, well done me now I am happy.

In an effort to save the ratings of The Circle, Charles Hopkinsand Andy Chislett will join the hosts; it will now be called The

Venn Diagram.

* its ironic because I wear a Herschel backpack.

LIS FOR...***TIP: Keep Honest***

Dear Chantelle,

I wish to apply for a clerkship at your commercial firm,

which you will be pleased to know is one of my top 17 preferences.

I hope to receive offers from many of your competitors, but I willaccept an offer from your mid-to-bottom-tier firm with moderate

pleasure should everything else fall through.

Upon perusing my resume, you might assume based on

my previous work with UNICEF, Victorian Legal Aid, various

community legal centres, my local church and the RSPCA that Iam interested in doing good in the world and helping others. Please

rest assured this is patently untrue.

I have had a strong interest in commercial law ever since I

inherited 100 Telstra shares from my grandma in 1995. I havesubsequently followed their business strategy closely, culminating

most recently in my purchasing of a phone from them.

My particular passion for equity capital markets

developed in excess of 48 hours ago. I think that bringing theequitable notions of fairness and clean hands to capital markets is

a great step forward, especially in light of the GFC. I am also well

versed in this area of law, having been taught that Equity

developed in the Court of Chancery in ten subjects in my JD thusfar.

My extensive relevant experience in the delicatessen atColes for three years has taught me to shut off from mind-numbing

grunt work, and made me accustomed to frequent menial demandsfrom customers, certainly putting me in good stead for the

analogous situation of being assigned tasks by the partners at your

esteemed firm.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

John Smith

EXAMPLE COVER LETTER


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De Minimis

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August 6, 2009German High Court upholds sex

education

On this day in 2009, the Federal

Constitutional Court of Germany handed downdecision upholding a law requiring mandatory sex

education in all public primary schools.

The plaintiffs, Baptist parents Willi and

Anna Dojan, did not want their children to participatein sex education classes held for grade 4 pupils at

their local primary school. Initially, they objected to

the content in the textbook to be used during the

classes namely, they considered some diagrams

partly pornographic and contrary to Christian

sexual ethics (i.e. abstaining from sexual intercourseuntil matrimony) and requested that their children

be exempt from the classes. The school denied therequest, stating that classes were mandatory for all

students regardless of religious backgrounds orbeliefs, pursuant to federal law. The Dojans

subsequently kept their children at home in protest.They were issued with a fine of 75 euros each for not

letting their children attend school.

The Dojans joined with other religious

parents in the district who refused to send theirchildren to sex education classes, filing a suit of

unconstitutionality by infringement of freedom ofreligion in the Paderborn District Court. The Court

held that freedom of religion was not an absolute

right, and was restricted by the States right to

legislate with respect to education. In particular, itwas wholly within the scope of the States mandate to

provide educational services with a view to providingchildren with tools to find help in difficult situations,

referring to the classes dealing with sexual assault andabuse. A subsequent appeal by the plaintiffs was also

dismissed.

Following this, the Federal Constitutional Court also rejected an

application for leave to appeal. It underlined that the State had every right topursue its own educational goals as long as it did so in a neutral and tolerantmanner. Nonetheless, the parents continued to prevent their children from

attending school, which ultimately resulted in an imprisonment sentence of 43days. In a last ditch attempt, the plaintiffs complained to the European Court of

Human Rights in 2011. In Dojan & Others v Germany, the Court unanimously

declared the application inadmissible.

Annie Zheng

ASKAGONYAUNTDear Agony Aunts

I started the semester with the best

of intentions, even reading ahead with afew of my subjects, and then my boyfriend

of three years dumped me, and Im

shattered. I dont want to be pathetic, but

Im struggling, what can I do?

Not another break-up story

___________________________________

Dear Not another break-up

You may have had it sweet andlost it, or maybe youre better off. Either

way, weve got to fight this battle on

several fronts.

First, and this is not the order I

would personally square things away, but

as a mature adult, go see the WellbeingCoordinator. She can make uni moremanageable and sort out what help you

need, then lets get down to real business.

This is where you have some sort

of minor breakdown. The particulars are upto you, but there should probably be tears

involved, at least some late nights telling

your friends the same tired stories about

your ex, and eating 3-4 times therecommended intake of sugar and salt in

whatever foods you can. This therapeutic

step can actually be repeated for a shortperiod, or as long as theres no harm to

your body, friends and grades.

Then we approach getting yourshit together. Start off slow, begin with just

looking like you do. This should involve

turning up to classes. Wear clothes thatmatch and dont have stains that give awayyour new ice cream addiction. Attempt to

brush your hair and wear actual shoes. Thenbuild from there, hopefully exercise in

some form now that youve re-entered the

world. Engage in conversation that doesnt

lead back to your ex. This will eventuallylead you to the holy grail of actuallygetting

your shit together. From what I can gather,people who have achieved this step take up

bike riding, or yoga or something to signalyour new enlightenment. Try to avoid lycra,

it just mocks those beneath, or indeedbehind you.

Yours Sincerely

Aunt Myrtle

THIS WEEK IN LEGALHISTORY PROCRASTINATION STATION

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