8-Year-Old Passes Law School Entrance Test
Law School News
An 8-year-old boy with dreams of becoming a judge has passed a law school entrance exam -- shocking Brazil's legal profession and prompting a federal investigation.
The Universidade Paulista, a multi-campus private university, issued a statement acknowledging that Joao Victor Portellinha de Oliveira had passed the entrance exam and that it initially enrolled him. But he was turned away from classes when he showed up on Thursday with his father.
The school said that the fifth grader has to graduate from high school before he can enter the university.
The university said one of its employees erred in accepting Oliveira's enrollment and said it would return his fees to the family.
"I think they should have been more considerate," the boy's mother, Maristela, told the UOL news Web site. "At least they should've allowed him to visit the college's facilities."
The Brazilian Bar Association said the boy's achievement should be a warning about the low standards of some of the nation's law schools.
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Texas Adopts Statewide Texting-While-Driving Ban
Effective September 1, 2017, Texas will become the 47th state to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 62 is an effort to unify Texas under a uniform ban and remedy the “patchwork quilt of regulations that dictate driving practices in Texas.”
The bill specifically prohibits drivers from reading, writing, or sending an electronic message on a device unless the vehicle is stopped. That includes texting and emailing. It does not, however, prohibit dialing a number to call someone, talking on the phone using a hands-free device, or using the phone’s GPS system.
Violations would be punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to $99, to be set by each municipality. Although penalties could rise to as much as $200 for repeat offenders.
Studies have found that a driver’s reaction time is half as much when a driver is distracted by sending or reading a text message. According to state officials, in 2015 more than 105,000 traffic accidents in Texas involved distracted driving, leading to at least 476 fatalities.