Fine points of the law

. By a 2-1 vote, a Florida appeals court ruled in December that Andrew Craissati could stop paying alimony to his ex-wife. The couple's agreement called for alimony only until she remarried or was "cohabit(ing)" with another person for at least three months, and Mr. Craissati pointed out that his exwife, recently convicted of a serious DUI offense, is now "cohabiting" with a cellmate in prison.

. In November, a judge at Killorglin District Court in Kerry, Ireland, dismissed two DUI cases because the blood-alcohol readings were not administered properly. The suspects should have been isolated for 20 minutes before the test but had been permitted to use urinals, and the judge accepted lawyers' arguments that "steam" from the urine might have wafted into the men's noses and raised their readings.

. In November, Sweden's Social Insurance Agency stopped Jessica Andersson's disability payments despite her lingering back pain from a workrelated accident six years ago; a doctor found that Ms. Andersson's back pain would subside, enabling her to return to work, if only she underwent breastreduction surgery. n