Tag Archives: us supreme court

Ask questions and ‘explore like a bird,’ advises Justice Sotomayor

There is no shame in ignorance, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor told a packed crowd in Woolsey Hall during a campus visit to Yale on Feb. 3. In her talk, the alumnus (’79 J.D.) candidly shared situations in her own life when she boldly asked questions if she had no idea what someone was talking about.

Sotomayor told her audience, which included an overflow crowd in Battell Chapel, that the adage commonly stated by teachers — that “there is no stupid question” — is true. (more…)

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A constitutional right to health care

UCLA-led study shows that many countries have it, but not the U.S.

Uruguay has it. So does Latvia, and Senegal. In fact, more than half of the world’s countries have some degree of a guaranteed, specific right to public health and medical care for their citizens written into their national constitutions.

The United States is one of 86 countries whose constitutions do not guarantee their citizens any kind of health protection. That’s the finding of a new study from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health that examined the level and scope of constitutional protection of specific rights to public health and medical care, as well as the broad right to health. (more…)

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Study of Death Penalty in North Carolina Shows That ‘Race Matters’

A new study examining death sentences in North Carolina over a 28-year period ending in 2007 shows that among similar homicides, the odds of a death sentence for those who are suspected of killing whites are approximately three times higher than the odds of a death sentence for those suspected of killing blacks.

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