Constitutional Law - Fourteenth Amendment - Right to Abortion - Regulatory Framework - Standard of Review

The United State Supreme Court has held that the state may not, in its regulation of abortion, deviate from accepted medical practice, and that all pre-viability abortion regulation shall be subject to strict scrutiny under the compelling state interest standard of substantive due process analysis. City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc., 103 S. Ct. 2481 (1983)

The Rules of Evidence under the Pennsylvania Workmen\u27s Compensation Act: Sources and Theoretical Considerations

The first portion of this article is devoted to exploring the parameters of the application of the evidence rules under the Pennsylvania Act. Next this article examines various theoretical considerations which better define the parameters of the application of the evidence rules. Among these considerations is the principle of liberal application which is applied to the evidence rules in compensation practice. The second part of this article also examines the practical approach taken by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in analyzing evidence questions arising in workmen\u27s compensation hearings. Finally, this article makes suggestions with respect to guidelines for application of the evidence rules in compensation cases. In the course of this article several theses are set forth and advocated. Perhaps the pervasive thesis of this article is, however, that there is indeed a coherent law of evidence under the Pennsylvania Workmen\u27s Compensation Act

The Common Law of Partial Disability and Vocational Rehabilitation under the Pennsylvania Workmen\u27s Compensation Act: \u3cem\u3eKachinski\u3c/em\u3e and the Availability of Work Doctrine

The Pennsylvania law governing an injured worker\u27s partial disability status and right to vocational rehabilitation under the Workmen\u27s Compensation Act is governed exclusively by court cases rather than by statute. The rule established by these court precedents constitute what is commonly referred to as the doctrine of job availability, and are found in two categories of judicial decisions. The first set of cases establishes precisely what job availability consists of, and what an employer must demonstrate under the Pennsylvania Act to suspend or otherwise reduce its liability by showing a claimant\u27s transition to partial disability. The second set of cases deals with the more thorny issue of when the job availability showing must be undertaken. This article undertakes a critical analysis of the historical development of the job availability doctrine, seeks to set forth the contemporary positive law of the doctrine, and analyzes the need in Pennsylvania for a statutory law of partial disability and vocational rehabilitation

Immunity and Subrogation in Pennsylvania Workmen\u27s Compensation after \u3cem\u3eHeckendorn v. Consolidated Rail Corp.\u3c/em\u3e: Too Absolute a Victory for the Employer

In Heckendorn v. Consolidated Rail Corp., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that an employer which has paid workmen\u27s compensation payments to an injured employee is entitled to full subrogation to a recovery made by the employee against a tortious third party, regardless of allegations of negligence on the employer\u27s part. After discussing the interpretive history of the subrogation and non-joinder provisions of the Pennsylvania Workmen\u27s Compensation Act, the author examines whether, as has been suggested by Professor Arthur Larson, a policy such as that created in Heckendorn results in too absolute a victory for the employer. The author concludes that the Heckendorn court has reached not only a correct interpretive conclusion, but one that is necessary both to vindicate the workmen\u27s compensation bargain entered into between employers and employees, and to maintain an environment conducive to the continuing economic viability of Pennsylvania employers

Age-Mass Relationships for Beavers in Montana

Beavers (Castor spp.) are receiving increased attention due to their impact on ecosystems and potential for use in stream restoration. Beaver research and relocation projects are especially common in the western United States, and professionals using live-captured animals for projects will benefit from a reliable technique for aging live-caught beavers. The only reliable technique for aging live beavers without sedation is to estimate age based on mass, but estimates of the age-mass relationship for beavers vary regionally and are not adequately quantified in the western United States. We collected beaver carcasses and skulls from trappers throughout southwest Montana to estimate the age-mass relationship using a robust sample collected from a large geographic area. We weighed beaver carcasses and extracted molar teeth from the mandibles to estimate age by counting cementum annuli on cross-sections of the teeth. We collected 193 beaver carcasses and hanging weights from nine major river drainages in Montana. Multiple regression analysis indicated the top prediction equation was mass = 9.4611 + 8.2234 x log(age) + drainage, indicating drainage-level differences in the average mass of beavers. Beavers from the Ruby, Jefferson, and Yellowstone River drainages were larger than those from the other river drainages in Montana. We could reliably separate beavers into four age classes: kits, yearlings, two-year-olds, and adults (>3 years). Our results are useful for researchers who need to estimate beaver age to understand population dynamics and age-specific life history characteristics, as well as restoration practitioners who need to determine colony compositions and recruitment rates to evaluate the success of restoration projects

Habitat Selection, Movements and Survival of Dispersing Juvenile Beavers in Southwestern Montana

The natural activities of beavers (Castor canadensis) effectively create or expand, and maintain, healthy riparian and wetland areas. Therefore, interest has increased among land and wildlife managers in the reintroduction of beavers into degraded riparian habitats as a proactive management option for natural restoration of these areas. However, there is a need for information regarding habitat selection by beavers in novel habitats to increase the likelihood that reintroduced beavers will colonize the area targeted for restoration. We are using cable snares to capture and radio tag dispersal age beavers in headwater streams of the Madison and Gallatin River drainages. We will relocate tagged beavers via handheld telemetry to obtain movement data from the moment the beavers leave their natal colony in the spring until they settle in a new location in the late summer and fall. Habitat characteristics representing vegetation, hydrology and geomorphology will be assessed at settlement locations as well as locations encountered but not settled to make inference on habitat conditions most important to dispersing beavers in selecting settlement sites. Eighteen beavers were radio tagged in the fall of 2015 representing 6 different streams in the study area. The 18 tagged beavers will be tracked through the spring and summer of 2016 and habitat conditions will be assessed based on their movements before another season of beaver trapping in the fall of 2016. Our analysis of habitat selection by juvenile beavers will guide future beaver restoration projects in this region by identifying release sites with the highest probability of success

Habitat Selection, Movements, and Survival of Dispersing Juvenile Beavers in Southwest Montana

North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) colonies provide a variety of benefits to stream systems by capturing and storing water and sediment, expanding riparian habitats, and increasing habitat heterogeneity. Land and wildlife managers are increasingly interested in implementing beaver restoration projects with the goal of improving stream health and landscape water storage capacity. However, most research on habitat selection by beavers does not address habitat requirements when beavers form new colonies in novel areas, as is the objective of most beaver restoration efforts. We radio-marked juvenile beavers in the upper Gallatin and Madison River drainages to investigate dispersal, survival, and settlement site selection with the goal of improving the ability of managers to identify beaver restoration sites with the highest probability of success. Following the first year of data collection, we found the dispersal rate was low (0.16 ± 0.084) and the survival rate was high (0.82 ± 0.082) among our radio-marked beavers. Out of 50 active beaver colonies discovered in the study area in 2016, only 5 were new settlement sites. Newly-settled sites generally had a higher proportion of willow-dominated habitat types than unsettled sites while all other measured habitat variables were similar between settled and unsettled sites. Our observations indicate old beaver structures are frequently used by dispersing beavers when establishing a new colony. We assert that examination of local beaver densities and the spatial distribution of active colonies are essential components of a successful beaver restoration project, and should precede evaluations of habitat quality at potential restoration sites

Habitat Selection, Movements and Survival of Dispersing Juvenile Beavers in Southwestern Montana (Oral and Poster)

The natural activities of beavers (Castor canadensis) effectively create or expand, and maintain, healthy riparian and wetland areas. Therefore, interest has increased among land and wildlife managers in the reintroduction of beavers into degraded riparian habitats as a proactive management option for natural restoration of these areas. However, there is a need for information regarding habitat selection by beavers in novel habitats to increase the likelihood that reintroduced beavers will colonize the area targeted for restoration. We are using cable snares to capture and radio tag dispersal age beavers in headwater streams of the Madison and Gallatin River drainages. We will relocate tagged beavers via handheld telemetry to obtain movement data from the moment the beavers leave their natal colony in the spring until they settle in a new location in the late summer and fall. Habitat characteristics representing vegetation, hydrology and geomorphology will be assessed at settlement locations as well as locations encountered but not settled to make inference on habitat conditions most important to dispersing beavers in selecting settlement sites. Eighteen beavers were radio tagged in the fall of 2015 representing 6 different streams in the study area. The 18 tagged beavers will be tracked through the spring and summer of 2016 and habitat conditions will be assessed based on their movements before another season of beaver trapping in the fall of 2016. Our analysis of habitat selection by juvenile beavers will guide future beaver restoration projects in this region by identifying release sites with the highest probability of success