My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
March 4th, 2015
A new wrinkle has developed in the tussle between the federal judiciary and the Alabama judiciary over the fate of same-sex marriage in that state, the Los Angeles Times' James Queally and Ryan Parker report. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled yesterday that judges should not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples even though a federal judge has ruled the state's ban on same-sex matrimony is unconstitutional: "Six of the court... Continue Reading
March 3rd, 2015
The city of Chicago has beaten the argument that it impermissibly ceded its police power to the law firm it retained to prosecute a lawsuit on the city's behalf alleging that five drugmakers engaged in highly deceptive marketing of opioid painkillers, The Litigation Daily's Scott Flaherty reports. The drug companies argued that the firm's interest in earning a contingency fee from any recovery created a conflict that stripped... Continue Reading
March 3rd, 2015
Defense attorneys plan to appeal a decision by a Manhattan Supreme Court justice to allow the consideration of punitive damages in asbestos lawsuits for the first time in almost 20 years, The New York Law Journal's Jeff Storey reports. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Klein Heitler, coordinator of the New York City Asbestos Litigation (NYCAL) court, opined that plaintiffs are able to seek punitive damages in every court... Continue Reading
March 2nd, 2015
Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has released proposed rules for integrating small commercial drones into the American airspace, the next regulatory front for drones is privacy, Slate's Margot E. Kaminski reports. The FAA isn't going to set privacy rules for drones; instead, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum giving federal agencies marching orders on only keeping data collected from... Continue Reading
March 2nd, 2015
U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon has struck down Nebraska's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage as well as the state's ban on adoption by same-sex couples, the Lincoln Journal Star's Lori Pilger reports. The judge also granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs.
"For the majority of married couples, those without children in the home, marriage is a legal and emotional commitment to the welfare of... Continue Reading
March 2nd, 2015
ProPublica's Charles Ornstein reports that federal regulators are rarely fining health care organizations for data breaches. There have been more than 1,140 large breaches affecting more than 41 million people in the last 5.5 years. But there have been fines levied just 22 times, even though the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, known as the HITECH Act, has required healthcare providers to report breaches... Continue Reading
March 1st, 2015
Arkansas and Kentucky, followed by Oregon, Washington and West Virginia, had the sharpest reductions in their uninsured rates among adult residents, Gallup reports. Of the 11 states that had the greatest increases in the number of their residents who have health insurance, 10 expanded Medicaid.
Massachusetts has the lowest uninsured rate in the country at 4.6 percent, and Texas has the highest at 24.4 percent. Continue Reading
February 28th, 2015
With the Federal Communications Commission having voted 3-2 along party lines to reclassify broadband as a telecom service under Title II regulations, the new Internet rules will be tied up in court for years from lawsuits, Broadcasting & Cable's John Eggerton reports.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is confident that the new net neutrality rules will survive a court challenge even though prior rules did not, Ars Technica's Jon Brodkin... Continue Reading
February 28th, 2015
The White House released a proposed bill to protect consumers' digital privacy, the Washington Post's Andrea Peterson reports, but the bill may not be strong enough. The Federal Trade Commission said that the legislation wouldn't provide "strong and enforceable protections" for consumer privacy. The bill would allow industries to develop their own privacy codes of conduct, which the FTC could then enforce. But... Continue Reading
February 23rd, 2015
One of newly elected Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf's nominees for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has withdrawn from consideration, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Centre County Judge Thomas K. Kistler allegedly forwarded an email showing a black man and a black woman during a visit in a prison with the caption "Merry Christmas From the Johnsons." Kistler did not mention the email in withdrawing from... Continue Reading
February 22nd, 2015
Disability rights advocates in Wisconsin are dismayed about a plan that would eliminate the autonomy that people with disabilities have to self-direct some of the money expended by the state government for their care. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has put forth a plan for long-term care for people with disabilities that would lead "the Department of Health Services to cease operation of other long-term care programs or waivers... Continue Reading
February 22nd, 2015
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has ruled that government employees must be notified before their home addresses are publicly released, Newsworks' Bobby Allyn reports. The court majority said the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know law doesn't take into account how turning over a home address could cause personal harm. In a two-member dissent, Judge Dan Pellegrini said the majority was "'succumbing to unfounded fears and a parade... Continue Reading
February 22nd, 2015
Five Rhode Island lawmakers had introduced drone legislation that would make it illegal for drones to take pictures or videos of private buildings without permission, Media General's WPRI 12's Allison Gallo reports. Other legislators have introduced legislation to create a panel to study how other states are regulating drones.
The Federal Aviation Administration has just released long-awaited rules to integrate drones into... Continue Reading
February 22nd, 2015
West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis has rejected a second request to recuse herself from nursing home cases, the Charleston Daily Mail's Andrea Lannom reports. The justice's recusal has been sought because a plaintiff's attorney in a nursing home case helped raise money for the justice's election campaign and purchased a private jet from the justice's husband for $1 million.
Davis said the... Continue Reading
February 22nd, 2015
The California Supreme Court has ruled that health officials must provide more information about the citations given to facilities found to be lax in treating developmentally and mentally ill people, Sacramento Bee's Denny Walsh reports. The unanimous court ruled that the state Department of Public Health provided too little information in response to a public-records request about citations issued against the seven largest state-owned-and... Continue Reading
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