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Appeals court hears Liberty U. health reform challenge

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By Larry O'Dell The Associated Press May 16, 2013

RICHMOND

A Liberty University lawyer urged a federal appeals court to overturn the Obama administration's health care reform law Thursday, arguing that it violates the school's religious rights by requiring it to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs.

Mathew Staver told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the conservative Christian university founded by Jerry Falwell faces millions of dollars in penalties if it refuses to provide employee health insurance that violates its religious beliefs.

"The hammer is about ready to fall on Liberty," Staver said.

U.S. Justice Department attorney Alisa B. Klein argued that employee health insurance provided by Liberty already meets the law's minimum requirements without including the benefits that the university finds objectionable.

"As best we can tell from everything they've said in their complaint, they're fine," Klein said.

She also told the court that the law will allow for coverage options that do not include abortion drugs or contraceptives, but Staver disagreed.

"Every plan has to include abortifacients," he said.

The appeals panel is the same one that in 2011 ruled 2-1 that Liberty's lawsuit was premature. It consists of two Obama appointees Judges Andre M. Davis and James A. Wynn Jr. and Bill Clinton appointee Diana Gribbon Motz. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the health reform law in another case last June, and in November the justices ordered the appeals court to reconsider Liberty's case in light of that ruling.

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Appeals court hears Liberty U. health reform challenge

Liberty Energy leaves Hamilton with regret

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By Kevin Werner, News Staff

Any plans that California-based Liberty Energy had to establish an alternative energy facility in Hamilton are now on some forgotten shelf collecting dust.

After spending eight years and about $12 million to get city and provincial approval to use biomass materials to produce an alternative energy source for the city, Chief Executive Officer Wilson Nolan is in California now assisting Liberty Energy in operating a renewable bio-energy production facility in Lost Hills, 42 miles west-northwest of Bakersfield. Liberty Energy is owned by McCarthy Farms of Bakersfield.

I spent a lot of time inHamilton, said Nolan, during a recent telephone interview from California. I sure did put in a lot of time there. Its still a good place. I like the community, and there are a lot of wonderful people there.

Liberty Energy recalled Nolan from his Hamilton posting soon after council decided in February to eliminate the companys proposed Strathearne Avenue North gasification site from the citys public private partnership funding request to the federal government.

That decision ended Liberty Energys idea to build what was called a biosolids incineration plant in the industrial heartland of the city after enduring nearly eight years of jumping through environmental and bureaucratic hoops.

I thought Hamilton would be an excellent place (for an energy-from-waste plant), he said.

In 2009 Nolan presented to council an unsolicited proposal for a $110-million plant on Strathearne Avenue North. Since 2004, Nolan had become as ubiquitous a personality within the Hamilton community as one of its politicians, as he attempted to sell the community, and city hall, on the prospect of converting sewage sludge and other biomass products, such as grass clippings, and wood shavings into electricity through a low emission gasification process. The company hired former Progressive Conservative MPP Trevor Pettit to represent the company, conduct a community outreach program, and help it through the various governments bureaucratic briar patches.

The proposal would eventually, according to Liberty Energy, create about 10 mega-watts of energy to power 8,000 homes. The residue 70,000-tonnes of ash would also be used in other material such as mixing with cement. Liberty Energy officials stated.

But the great benefit, Liberty Energy officials argued, would be the elimination of the many trucks that transport the citys sludge across the area to dump the material onto farm land.

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Liberty Energy leaves Hamilton with regret

Liberty pivots in ACA challenge

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RICHMOND, Va. Judges on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday appeared skeptical that Liberty University can challenge the Obama administrations rule that most employers provide contraceptives in their employee health plans.

But at least one of the judges suggested that the health reform laws employer mandate could be at risk since last years Supreme Court health care ruling narrowed the Commerce Clause.

In addition to saying that the health laws employer mandate is beyond Congresss legislative authority, Liberty University attorneys argued that Obamacares individual and employer mandates violate their religious freedoms. They say it requires the school to cover contraceptives and other drugs that they say can cause abortions.

Obama administration lawyers said Liberty didnt include that complaint about birth control in its original claim the suit was first filed in 2010 but was largely put on hold as the Supreme Court case against the health law advanced so the school cant add that argument now.

The judges suggested in several questions that they might agree, given that Liberty filed its claim years before the regulation was released.

This case is very different from the case you filed a couple years ago, said Judge Andre Davis, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Liberty Counsel Chairman Mathew Staver said the university had always raised concerns that the law would require abortion coverage. He said its a pressing issue as the school will be subject to millions of dollars in fines starting in August.

The hammer is about ready to fall on Liberty, he said.

Dozens of other institutions are challenging the birth control issue but did not file their suits until after the proposed regulations were released.

While the panel of judges suggested they might not even rule on the birth control issue, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, spent a significant amount of time pulling out of Justice Department lawyer Alisa Klein whether the preventive coverage provision requires all insurance plans to cover abortion and drugs that Liberty says can cause abortions.

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Liberty pivots in ACA challenge

Liberty pushes Obamacare challenge

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Liberty Universitys challenge to the health reform law will go back before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on Thursday, with the school focused on getting Obamacare back before the Supreme Court.

Libertys lawsuit is the most wide ranging of the outstanding legal challenges to the health law, hitting everything from contraceptive coverage to the employer mandate.

But Thursdays oral argument wont be Libertys first trip to the 4th Circuit over Obamacare. The same court ruled in 2011 that a tax law prevented it from hearing Libertys case, including its challenge to the individual mandate, until at least 2014. But after the Supreme Court upheld the mandate last year, it told the 4th Circuit to go back and hear Libertys other claims.

Libertys lawsuit now has several points: that the employer mandate violates the Commerce Clause; that the individual and employer mandates violate the First Amendments religious protections as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act; and that since the individual mandates penalty was ruled a tax by the Supreme Court, the bill should have started in the House not the Senate.

The aspect of Libertys case thats gotten the most attention from other plaintiffs may be its contraceptives claim. The school says that the law is violating its right to religious freedom by requiring it to cover, through its employee health plans, birth control and drugs that it says can cause abortions. More than 50 other lawsuits have been filed throughout the country, challenging the same provision. And the issue is likely to reach the Supreme Court.

But Judy Waxman, vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Womens Law Center, says Libertys case isnt the one that will get there.

Theyll throw spaghetti at the wall, but this is not going to be decided until the regulations come out [this summer] and they become subject to this, Waxman said.

Plus, the Obama administrations lawyers say that Liberty didnt file that charge back in 2010 the contraceptive coverage rules hadnt come out yet so it cant add that to its lawsuit now.

Liberty says, though, that the regulation is merely an example of its original claim that the law would somehow skirt the long-standing prohibition on using federal funds for abortion.

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Liberty pushes Obamacare challenge

Liberty Tax Service DocuSigns to Delight Customers With Faster Return Processing

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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

DocuSign, The Global Standard for eSignature, announced that Liberty Tax Service, whose parent company is JTH Holding, Inc. (TAX), is using DocuSign to create a better customer experience by providing faster tax return processing for customers. DocuSign has helped Liberty Tax Service cut the time customers spend signing required bank and tax documents by 50 percent so customers get their returns filed quicker.

Experience drives every Liberty Tax professional so its important we equip our team with the best tools and technology to create a great customer experience, said Chad Corman, application development manager, Liberty Tax Service. DocuSign helps alleviate tax season stress by making the process faster, easier, and more convenient than ever for our clients. Plus our clients get their returns filed quicker and everyone loves that!

DocuSign is integrated with Liberty Tax Services proprietary tax preparation platforms using DocuSigns open Application Programming Interface (API). Customers DocuSign at branch locations using a signature pad, or outside of branch locations on any Internet connected device.

Were proud to help Liberty Tax Service provide faster, more convenient service to their customers, said Neil Hudspith, chief revenue officer, DocuSign. With DocuSign, Liberty Tax Service customers can sign important tax documents safely and securely anytime, anywhere its convenient for them.

DocuSign MOMENTUM is the premier annual eSignature transaction management user conference. Held at San Franciscos Westin St. Francis, May 14-16, 2013, DocuSign MOMENTUM features industry thought leaders sharing insights, experiences, and best practices on adopting cloud, digital, and mobile technologies to dramatically enhance business results.

Companies interested in learning more about the speed, convenience, and security of DocuSign should visit http://www.docusign.com.

About DocuSign Inc.

DocuSign, The Global Standard for eSignature, is the leader in eSignature transaction management. Global enterprises, business departments, individual professionals and consumers are standardising on DocuSign, with more than 60,000 new users joining the DocuSign Global Network every day. Today, that network includes more than 37 million users in 188 countries. DocuSign is used to accelerate transaction times to increase speed to results, reduce costs, and delight customers across nearly every industry from financial services, insurance, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, communications, property management and consumer goods, to higher education and others. For more information, visit http://www.docusign.com or call 877.720.2040. Visit the DocuSign blog at http://www.docusign.com/blog and follow DocuSign on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Liberty Tax Service DocuSigns to Delight Customers With Faster Return Processing


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