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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News and Reporting
October 22nd, 2013
The Washington Post reports on a joint effort from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to investigate how many civilians are killed by U.S. drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan: "In Yemen, Human Rights Watch investigated six selected airstrikes since 2009 and concluded that at least 57 of the 82 people killed were civilians, including a pregnant woman and three children who perished in a September 2012 attack. In Pakistan, Amnesty... Continue Reading
October 21st, 2013
The Wall Street Journal will now be able to report the names of individuals that British prosecutors plan to implicate in a criminal case alleging that they were involved in a scheme to manipulate "benchmark interest rates," that paper reports today. The judge in the case will not contine a temporary order barring the WSJ from publishing the names in England and Wales as well as to remove the identities of those people on-line.... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
The Illinois Supreme Court has become the first court in the country to find a federal law preempts a state law requiring sales taxes be paid on Internet sales, USA Today reports. The paper also reports: "the court determined that Illinois' 2011 'Main Street Fairness Act' was superseded by the federal law, which prohibits imposing a tax on 'electronic commerce' and obligates collection that's not... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
The federal insurance exchange for consumers to shop for health-care insurance policies might be extremely problematic but an exchange for financial instruments started off well, according to The Washington Post's Q&A with the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commision. Derivatives now must be traded on the exchange.
Chairman Gary Gensler explained: "'A swap execution facility is where buyers and... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
Protecting traditional knowledge from appropriation by others is a problem around the world. Earlier this year, South Africa launched a registry for traditional knowledge that is passed down orally. South Africa's The Southern Times reports: "'One of the aims is to try to make those communities that hold this traditional knowledge, part of the mainstream economy. An important feature of the system is that it immediately allows... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
The Innocence Project of New Orleans is challenging a charge from the New Orleans Police Department to inspect public records, The Louisiana Record reported. The argument in their complaint? "The IPNO cites the Louisiana Constitution, which says that 'no person shall be denied the right to…examine public documents, except in cases established by law' and claims that the fee the NOPD wishes to charge is not legal as it... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
U.S. military action in Afghanistan will be over next year. "Blocked by Congress from releasing or transferring many of the remaining 164 detainees and able to try only a small number of them, administration officials are examining whether the withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2014 could open the door for some to challenge the legal authority of the United States to continue to imprison them," The Washington Post reports... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
Last year, a federal judge upheld Nevada's state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage because Nevada has "a 'legitimate state interest' in maintaining the traditional institution of marriage. The question 'is not the wisdom of providing for or recognizing same-sex marriage as a matter of policy,' he wrote. Instead, [U.S. District Judge Robert] Jones said it was a constitutional question about Nevada... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
An Ohio federal judge who ruled valid same-sex marriages entered into in other states must be recognized on Ohio death certificates is facing calls for his impeachment. Ohio bans same-sex marriage. Judge Timothy Seymour "Black’s friends and colleagues defend him as a highly intelligent, thoughtful judge who closely examines every case before delivering rulings free of personal bias," the Associated Press reported.
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October 20th, 2013
Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille will only be able to serve one more year if retained by Pennsylvania voters next month. Castille, a Republican, argued continuity on the high court will benefit Pennsylvania during a “'critical period as it recovers from the loss of one justice to a criminal prosecution and with another justice currently the subject of a federal criminal investigation,”'... Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
Five Democratic senators have introduced legislation to better define who as American Indians are eligible under Obamacare to not face IRS tax penalties for not carrying coverage. Prince William Sound's Cordova Times' also reported the legislation would rectify "the several definitions of 'Indian' which led to conflicting interpretations of eligibility for benefits and requirements for coverage." Continue Reading
October 20th, 2013
JPMorgan has struck a tentative $13 billion deal to resolve civil claims related to various alleged financial wrongdoings, including paying for homeowner mortgage relief, Bloomberg reports. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to release the investment bank for any criminal liability. "The settlement would amount to more than half of JPMorgan’s record $21.3 billion profit last year, or 1.5 times what the... Continue Reading
October 18th, 2013
The Ohio Supreme Court chief justice doesn't pick opinion writers. Instead, it's marbles.
The Times Reporter, out of Philadelphia, Ohio, reports on a talk given by a new justice on the Ohio Supreme Court: "When the seven justices of the Supreme Court meet, [Justice Judith L. French] said they listen to oral arguments from both sides. Then they go into a small conference room with seats personally assigned in order of their... Continue Reading
October 18th, 2013
There has been an increasing push by plaintiffs attorneys to pursue theories of liability against medical journals and medical publishers for harm allegedly caused to their clients from drugs they ingested. The National Law Journal reports that the First Circuit has rejected "a Massachusetts consumer protection case against two doctors, a medical journal and its publisher over an allegedly flawed article cited by defendants in birth-... Continue Reading
October 18th, 2013
Oregon's constitution bans same-sex marriage, but the Oregon Department of Justice has opined that same-sex marriages from other states must be recognized by Oregon governmental officials, The Portland Business Journal reports. The DOJ said that withholding benefits from same-sex spouses who legally wed out-of-state would violate equal protection principles and would be consistent with the policy of recognizing "valid out-of-state... Continue Reading
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