Forced Sterilization Is Persecution, Court Says

Recent Cases

A Chinese citizen should not be returned to her homeland due to the high probability that she would be forcibly sterilized, the 7th Circuit ruled.

Xiu Zhen Lin, the mother of three, protested a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals that she had not shown that China's "one child" policy was "implemented through physical force or other means that would amount to persecution."

The board made this ruling despite a letter from the government of Lin's village, which stated that she would be subject to sterilization if she returned. The appellate court disagreed with the board's rationale.

"The implication," Judge Posner wrote, "is that if a government tells a religious heretic we are going to fine you $1 million for your heresy and if you cannot pay we will burn you at the stake, and the heretic cannot pay and therefore is executed, the burning of the heretic would not, in the board's view, amount to persecution."

A 2006 State Department report showed that China's policy is strictly enforced in Lin's home province of Fujian.

Related listings

  • Anthrax settlement may moot contempt case

    Anthrax settlement may moot contempt case

    Recent Cases 07/01/2008

    The US Department of Justice announced Friday that it has settled a lawsuit brought by former US Army germ-warfare researcher Dr. Steven Hatfill, a development that may moot a landmark contempt case against former USA Today reporter Toni Locy now awa...

  • Drunken Groom's Marriage Declared Invalid After 30 Years

    Drunken Groom's Marriage Declared Invalid After 30 Years

    Recent Cases 06/26/2008

    An Australian bridegroom was horrified to learn after he had walked down the aisle that he was already married — after a drunken holiday romance he could barely remember.The husband has had to confess in the Family Court that he spent 28 days partyin...

  • "Naked Cowboy" Wins Court Shoot-Out with Candy Cowboy

    "Naked Cowboy" Wins Court Shoot-Out with Candy Cowboy

    Recent Cases 06/25/2008

    A ruling in a trademark infringement case filed by a New York street entertainer who performs as “The Naked Cowboy” is another indication that judges may be taking parodies too seriously when the parody conveys a commercial message.Robert Burck alleg...

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.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read