My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
October 16th, 2014
The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down a state law requiring voters to show photo identification before casting their ballots, the AP reports. The Supreme Court said the requirement was unconstitutional because the "Arkansas Constitution lists specific requirements to vote: that a person be a citizen of both the U.S. and Arkansas, be at least 18 years old and be lawfully registered. Anything beyond that amounts to a new requirement and is... Continue Reading
October 16th, 2014
The Justice Department has moved to halt the plans of a federal judge "for releasing videotapes showing a Guantanamo Bay hunger striker being forcibly removed from his cell, strapped to a restraining chair and force-fed his meals," the Associated Press reports. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler has ruled that classified information about Abu Wa'el Dhiab's detention at Guantanamo Bay, including the 28 videos of his force-... Continue Reading
October 14th, 2014
Self-directed care has become a big trend for people with mental illness, disabilities and other issues. The idea is that consumers know what will help them live healthier lives better than "experts," and many Medicaid programs have built in flexible funds to allow consumers to spend their money as they set fit (subject to some conditions). Consumers often are directing their care to hiring home-care workers.
So the latest... Continue Reading
October 14th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the First Amendment rights of protesters to convene at the funerals of soldiers and at abortion clinics, The New York Times' Adam Liptak notes in a Sidebar column. But the right of protest does not extend to the plaza outside the Supreme Court. The D.C. Circuit has heard arguments on whether the law banning protests on the plaza can comport with the First Amendment.
"People with power and... Continue Reading
October 14th, 2014
After Internet TV service Aereo lost its copyright fight in the U.S. Supreme Court to retransmit broadcast TV stations' signals without paying anything, it is seeking a lifeline from the FCC by asking to be defined as a paid TV service, Deadline reports. Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia is arguing his company should be defined as a "multichannel video programming distributor," so that it could negotiate deals with broadcasters. Continue Reading
October 13th, 2014
David Hoffman, writing in a Washington Post opinion piece, notes that the Food and Drug Administration has long wanted to curb the use of antibiotics on farms out of the concern that their overuse will make bactera resistant to the drugs. The agricultural industry has pushed back, especially regarding the use of tetracyclines, antibiotics that are not used in humans as much as it is used in animals. Hoffman notes that "research... Continue Reading
October 13th, 2014
Florida's 17th judicial circuit wanted to charge $132,000 to search for records pertinent to the Center for Public Integrity 's request to access procedures and policies regarding foreclosure cases. "Charging high fees for access to public information can undermine public records laws and serve as a back-door way for government agencies to avoid releasing information they want kept private," the center notes. The... Continue Reading
October 13th, 2014
Last month, the United Nations General Assembly approved a document to strengthen the rights of indigenous peoples around the world as part of a meeting of international leaders. However, Steven Newcomb, writing for Indian Country Today Media Network, says that it is clear that American Indian tribes are not being recognized as sovereign nations by the United Nations or by the United States: "What the United States government is... Continue Reading
October 13th, 2014
The laws of copyright, patent and trademark are changing because cloud computing is making it possible to connect software "in just about everything," The New York Times' Quentin Hardy reports. For example, "everything, be it software and networking or power, is different when so many computers are spread across the globe. The pace of innovation is so quick, and the number of players so small, that in some cases, the... Continue Reading
October 13th, 2014
The Republican State Leadership Committee, a national Republican group, is planning on spending $5 million on judicial races this year, reports Joe Palazzolo in the Wall Street Journal: "The GOP committee’s president, Matt Walter, said his organization’s main opponents are labor unions and groups of personal-injury lawyers, who have long contributed to state judicial races." The heavy spending is prompting judges to... Continue Reading
October 12th, 2014
The Tulsa World has conducted a two-part investigation into the case built against Michelle Murphy, who was released from jail after her murder conviction was dismissed Friday. The World found that the blood and DNA found at the scene of her baby's death was not Murphy's.
She also allegedly made an incriminating statement that "'I could've been so angry I needed to take it out on somebody and ended... Continue Reading
October 12th, 2014
When Twitter filed its First Amendment lawsuit this week challenging the government gag on disclosing government surveillance requests to its customers, the company did so to establish "a constitutional right to truthfully inform its customers and the broader public that it has not received particular types of surveillance requests. In other words, Twitter is seeking judicial endorsement of its right to publish a 'warrant canary... Continue Reading
October 12th, 2014
After examining 43,000 reports from local law enforcement agencies sent to the Justice Department, The Washington Post has found that "police agencies have used hundreds of millions of dollars taken from Americans under federal civil forfeiture law in recent years to buy guns, armored cars and electronic surveillance gear. They have also spent money on luxury vehicles, travel and a clown named Sparkles." While the law was meant to... Continue Reading
October 12th, 2014
Tennessee voters will be deciding whether to keep the state's method of selecting appellate judges, the Associated Press reports. Under a "merit selection" system, the governor makes appointments to fill vacancies on the state's appellate courts and voters then decide whether to keep the judges and justices in retention elections. A proposed constitutional amendment would allow legislators to reject the governor's... Continue Reading
October 11th, 2014
This past week saw the United States make an even bigger step in advancing LGBT rights: the U.S. Supreme Court rejected several challenges to judicial rulings throwing out state bans on same-sex marriage. But both The Economist and Foreign Policy note that there is a large divide in rights for gay people around the world and advances in the United States, Europe and Latin America have lead to a backlash in other parts of the world. ... Continue Reading
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