My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
November 7th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up another existential challenge to Obamacare. The plaintiffs in King v. Burwell allege that the Affordable Care Act doesn't allow the federal government to provide tax credits and subsidies to low-income and moderate-income consumers shopping for insurance on the federally-run insurance exchange, The Huffington Post's Jeffrey Young reports. The Obama administration argues that Congress intended to... Continue Reading
November 6th, 2014
Earlier today I posted about how Missouri's ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by a state-court judge, and I was feeling a complacent sense of happiness that social change was proceeding apace. Well, no more. The Sixth Circuit ruled today in favor of same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The decision reverses the district court judges who struck down the various states' bans as unconstitutional. As a... Continue Reading
November 6th, 2014
St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison ruled yesterday that denying same-sex couples the right to marry in Missouri denies them equal protection and due process under the law and is unconstitutional, the Post-Dispatch's Doug Moore reports. Moore struck down the ban in the state constitution because of the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment of the federal Constitution.
The Missouri Attorney General will appeal... Continue Reading
November 5th, 2014
Voters in Oregon and Colorado rejected measures that would have required labeling of genetically modified food, Reuters' Carey Gillam reports. The vote was much closer in Oregon than in Colorado. Instead, the fight will shift to the federal level, Gillam reports: "Labeling proponents are pursuing a federal mandate for labeling of GMO foods, while labeling opponents are backing a proposed law that would nullify any mandatory labeling... Continue Reading
November 5th, 2014
Jason Millman, writing in the Washington Post's Wonkblog, says that the Republican victory in several gubernatorial races means that Medicaid expansion under Obamacare may not happen in several states: "Fifteen of the 23 states that hadn't yet expanded Medicaid held gubernatorial elections last night, and it looks like only Alaska will elect a candidate who campaigned for the Medicaid expansion." There might even be a real... Continue Reading
November 5th, 2014
New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Edward Chavez kept his seat on the bench despite his ruling in 2013 clearing the way from same-sex marriage, The New Mexican's Phaedra Haywood reports: "Despite being singled out by the New Mexico Center for Family Policy, NM Watchman Jose Vasquez, For God’s Glory Alone Ministries and political blogger Politix Fireball — all of whom advised voters not to retain Chavez because he had co-... Continue Reading
November 5th, 2014
Tennessee voters opted to change the way that judges are selected, The Tennessean's Dave Boucher reports. The constitutional amendment tweaks the state's judicial selection process from one in which the governor appoints judges to one in which judges, after appointment by the governor, must be approved by legislators and face judicial retention vote from the general public vote every eight years.
Control of the Tennessee appellate... Continue Reading
November 5th, 2014
A California ballot initiative to raise the cap on medical malpractice damages for pain and suffering was defeated, the Associated Press' Michael R. Blood reports. The battle over the initiative resulted in $60 million in donations and was the most expensive campaign in the state. If enacted, it would have raised the cap from $250,000 to $1.1 million.
The initiative also attracted national attention because it would have imposed random... Continue Reading
November 5th, 2014
Alabama voters passed an amendment barring judges from using foreign law when "doing so would violate any state law or a right guaranteed by the Constitution of this state or of the United States.” Eugene Volokh blogs that the amendment is not really banning foreign law. Alabama judges can use foreign law in "tort cases arising from injuries in foreign countries, determining the family status of people who were married or... Continue Reading
November 3rd, 2014
In an exclusive report, the Associated Press' Jack Gillum and Joan Lowy report that public safety was the ostensible reason for restricting the airspace above Ferguson, Missouri, during large protests following the shooting of a young black man by a white police officer. But the AP, through an Freedom of Information Act request, has exposed recordings in which govermental officials acknowledged the purpose was to keep news helicopters away... Continue Reading
November 2nd, 2014
Bloomberg's Susan Decker had an interesting piece this week: firms that aggressively pursue patent litigation have found their business model to be less lucrative after the U.S. Supreme Court limited what types of software are eligible for legal protection and after the Patent and Trademark Office changed how it reviews patent disputes. Total patent lawsuits declined 23 percent in the third quarter of the year, Bloomberg reports. Adam... Continue Reading
November 2nd, 2014
Oracle Corp. has asked legislative leaders to defund a lawsuit Oregon has brought over the failed health insurance website the company built for the state, the Associated Press reports. Oracle contends that the insurance portal Cover Oregon failed because of mismanagement by the state. The state is suing Oracle for false claims and other causes of action, while Oracle has sued for state for breach of contract and alleged violations of its... Continue Reading
November 1st, 2014
Kaci Hickox, who is back in her home state of Maine after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, won a court victory in her home state against having her movements curtailed, The Washington Post reports. A judge ruled she "should continue daily monitoring and coordinate any travel with public-health officials," the Post further reports. When Hickox was forcibly quarantined by New Jersey after treating Ebola patients, claimed she was... Continue Reading
November 1st, 2014
The Washington Post's Annie Gowen reports that employees at a courthouse in India think there are ghosts haunting their judicial complex: "Books have disappeared, strange noises have been heard. Computers and lights have seemed to switch on by themselves." The local bar installed closed-circuit television cameras to investigate the strange occurrences. One lawyer reported hearing loud knocking and seeing a "padlock swinging... Continue Reading
October 31st, 2014
At least $730,000 has been spent on a Montana Supreme Court race, Hungry Horse News reports. More money has been spent on challenger Lawrence VanDyke than incumbent Justice Mike Wheat. Wheat has been labeled as more liberal than VanDyke. Trial lawyers have contributed to Wheat and conservative groups like the Republican State Leadership Committee and Americans for Prosperity-Montana have been contributing to VanDyke.
Wheat blames some... Continue Reading
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