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Cruel And Unusual Punishment
Categories: Legal,
Punishment that is extremely excessive in relation to the crime, shocking to ordinary sensibilities, or equivalent to torture. It is prohibited, but not defined, by the eighth[ ed]Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.The definition of cruel and unusual punishment changes over the years, as the courts respond to "evolving standards of decency." The U.S. supreme court has ruled that the death penalty, if it could be meted out by juries with wide discretion and little guidance or applied to insane or mentally retarded defendants, is cruel and unusual punishment. There is still much debate about whether certain methods of carrying out the death penalty, including lethal injection, violate the eighth[ ed]Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
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Portable Benefits
Categories: Finance,
Benefits or accumulated assets that you can take with you when you leave your employer or switch jobs are described as portable. For instance, if you contribute to a 401(k), 403(b), 457, or other defined contribution plan at your current job, you can roll over your assets to an individual retirement account (IRA) or to a new employer's plan if the plan accepts rollovers.In contrast, credits accumulated toward benefits from a pension - otherwise known as a defined benefit plan - usually aren't portable.Insurance benefits under an employer-sponsored group health plan may also be portable as the result of The health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA). If you have had group coverage and move to a new employer who offers health insurance, your new group health plan can't impose exclusions for preexisting conditions.HIPAA may also give you a right to purchase individual coverage if you are not eligible for group health plan coverage and have exhausted the 18-month extension of your previous coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget reconciliation Act (COBRA) or similar coverage.Other job benefits, such as health savings accounts (HSAs), are also be portable, but flexible spending plans (FSAs) are not.
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