Cultivated Compendium is my personal website with the occasional link to my reporting and to important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news.
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July 2nd, 2014
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts joined with "unexpected allies--his liberal colleagues--in an alliance that drew some of the Supreme Court's major decisions closer toward the ideological middle in the term just concluded," the Wall Street Journal reports. For example, Roberts aligned with the liberal justices and conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy to uphold a precedent allowing securities fraud class-action plaintiffs... Continue Reading
July 2nd, 2014
The latest state-level ban on same-sex marriage has fallen after a Kentucky federal judge ruled yesterday that "'even sincere and long-held religious beliefs do not trump the constitutional rights of those who happen to have been out-voted,"' UPI reports. Judges now have overturned marriage bans in 20 states, UPI also reports. Continue Reading
July 1st, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, ruled that closely owned corporations can't be forced to pay for insurance coverage for contraception under Obamacare, the New York Times' Adam Liptak reports. Conestoga Wood Specialties, a cabinet maker, and Hobby Lobby, a chain of craft stores, challenged that part of the health law on the grounds that it violates their Christian beliefs. The Supreme Court found that, under the Religious Freedom... Continue Reading
June 30th, 2014
Another disclosure as a result of the Edward Snowden leaks: the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court signed off on the National Security Agency's interception of information about every foreign government but Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the Washington Post reports. The certfication also "permitted the agency to gather intelligence about entities such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the... Continue Reading
June 26th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that police officers may not search the cellphones of people they arrest without warrants yesterday. As The Washington Post's Craig Timberg writes, even though the National Security Agency is not mentioned in the opinion, the court's ruling could impact the future of government surveillance and the contours of digital-age privacy. Legal scholars noted that the opinion was unanimous and that the... Continue Reading
June 25th, 2014
The Tenth Circuit ruled today that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, while a federal judge in Indiana rejected that state's ban on same-sex matrimony, USA Today reports. The 10th Circuit ruling is the first appellate ruling in the country, USA Today further reports. Continue Reading
June 25th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is an unconstitutional search and seizure for police officers to search someone's cell phone when arresting them, Volokh Conspiracy's Orin Kerr reports. The court said the searching a cell phone doesn't ensure that officers won't be harmed or that evidence won't be destroyed, which are both reasons that officers are allowed to search arrestees while taking them into custody: "'... Continue Reading
June 25th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court, 6-3, has ruled that Aereo's service of streaming free broadcast TV over the Internet violates broadcasters' copyrights, Gigaom reports. U.S. Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, concluded that Aereo was more like a cable company that needs to pay retransmission fees to carry broadcast TV instead of a DVR service that lets consumer time-shift and space-shift where they watch TV, Gigaom also reports. Continue Reading
June 25th, 2014
According to Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus P. McCaffery's lawyer, the justice has been cleared by the FBI in an investigation about fees paid to McCaffrey's wife and chief judicial aide, Lise Rapaport, by law firms for case referrals, The Legal Intelligencer's Gina Passarella reports. The revelation came as part of arguments held on whether preliminary objections should be granted in a defamation lawsuit... Continue Reading
June 24th, 2014
A new study shows that safety concerns with electronic health records persist after they are implemented--even though patient safety is part of the reason to go electronic with patient records, Politico reports. The study is based on 344 incidents with Veterans Administration electronic health records.
June 24th, 2014
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett decided against appealing a federal judge's ruling striking down the ban on same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. Corbett announced the decision just one day after U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III reached his decision. Gayapolis notes that the appeal period expired last week, so the reality of same-sex marriage has really, really arrived in the Keystone State. Continue Reading
June 24th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has kept alive the main legal theory behind securities fraud class actions: that plaintiffs can rely upon the assumption that stock prices in efficient markets reflect all publicly available information and misstatements about a company's financial situation is a fraud on the market.
But the Supreme Court has increased the ability of defendants to rebut the presumptions that plaintiffs rely upon to allege that... Continue Reading
June 24th, 2014
According to a report by New York Times' Adam Liptak, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said from the bench yesterday that the Environmental Protection Agency is "'getting almost everything it wanted'" when the court ruled in favor of the agency's regulation of greenhouse gases. The agency said its regulation of emissions from motor vehicle tailpipes also requires the regulation of emissions from... Continue Reading
June 23rd, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court will wrap up its term a week from today, and there are several major cases left to be decided, USA Today reports. A couple highlights of issues to be decided:
One, what is the scope of the presidential power to make appointments when the Senate is in recess?
Two, can the Environmental Protection Agency change the threshold for greenhouse gas emissions?
Three, can shareholders alleging securities fraud rely... Continue Reading
June 23rd, 2014
USA Today reports on one of the most hotly anticipated decisions left for this Supreme Court term: does Aereo's streaming service of free broadcast TV violate copyright law? Broadcasters argue that Aereo should have to pay to retransmit the signals. USA Today predicts that whatever the outcome there could be more cord-cutting: a win could lead broadcasters to charge more in fees and higher prices could lead customers to cord-cutting. A win... Continue Reading
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