My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
September 26th, 2014
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, "the largest ride-sharing services are now facing a legal threat from regulators on their home turf, a new setback in their race to upend the multibillion-dollar taxi industry. The district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles on Thursday accused Sidecar Inc. of violating California business law and threatened an injunction on its service following a joint investigation."... Continue Reading
September 26th, 2014
The Federal Aviation Administration's new $5 billion, air traffic control system does not take drones into account despite a legislative mandate from Congress, reports Adam Clark Estes in Gizmodo: "'We didn't understand the magnitude to which (drones) would be an oncoming tidal wave, something that must be dealt with, and quickly,' said Ed Bolton, the agency's assistant administrator for NextGen. But—and... Continue Reading
September 26th, 2014
"What a difference a year makes," writes Colum Lynch in Foreign Policy. In light of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's recent uptick in activity, including the beheadings of several Western journalists, "discussions about surveillance ... no longer fixate on the NSA's massive electronic spying that contractor Edward Snowden revealed when he leaked the spy agency's internal documents." Law... Continue Reading
September 25th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court will be meeting in conference Monday to consider whether to take up the issue of same-sex marriage, writes U.S. News and World Report's Tierney Sneed: "The petitions come from four separate decisions out of three different U.S. Courts of Appeal on cases emanating from five different states."
Garrett Epps, a constitutional law professor, said the Supreme Court isn't likely to take up the issue until a... Continue Reading
September 25th, 2014
The federal government will pay the Navajo Nation $554 million to settle claims that it mismanaged funds and natural resources on the Navajo reservation, according to the Wall Street Journal's Dan Frosch. It's highest-ever such settlement in a case about land the federal government held in trust for an American Indian tribe, according to the WSJ. The Obama administration has paid out more than $1 billion "during the past... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2014
The likelihood is very low that the U.S. Senate will take up a law that would provide a federal evidentiary privilege to journalists against revealing their sources, writes Rem Rieder in USA Today. While the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill and the House of Representatives also has passed a bill with a shield for journalists, the Senate is not likely to spend a week debating an evidentiary privilege for reporters during its... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2014
Gregory S. McNeal, a contributor to Forbes, reports that the Federal Aviation Administration is going to approve the use of drones in Hollywood film-making: "In May, seven aerial photo and video production companies asked for regulatory exemptions (known as a 333 exemption) that would allow the film and television industry to use drones with FAA approval. Those seven companies and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), were... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2014
ProPublica and NPR published a joint report earlier this month on the problems with a 1968 federal law that allows debt collectors to take 25 percent of debtors' paychecks and every penny in their bank accounts to repay consumer debts, leaving "millions of workers" facing the struggle of how to live when a large part of their pay is diverted to pay a consumer debt. For example, "time has eroded what even then were... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2014
According to a report in the New York Law Journal, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking the return of $5.8 million of the $1.4 billion expended in emergency disaster aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy. FEMA also is reviewing another $53 million in aid payments. FEMA is seeking to recoup money in "instances where the agency believes a household got more money than allowed under program rules, but not necessarily... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2014
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has sued to stop the practice of Governor Tom Corbett's administration and other executive-branch agencies of destroying emails after five days, the newspaper's Bill Shackner reports. The lawyers for the newspaper argued that "the state’s practice violates the due process rights of the public seeking release of public records under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law," Shackner... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2014
The United National General Assembly "approved a document strengthening the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide. The Outcome Document was endorsed by consensus at the start of the first World Conference on Indigenous Peoples," the Associated Press reports. Seven years ago, the UN also adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
According to the AP, Aili Keskitalo, president of the Sami Parliament in... Continue Reading
September 22nd, 2014
A Louisiana judge has ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional in the case of a couple seeking recognition of their California nuptials, KSLA News reports. A federal judge ruled earlier this year that the state-level ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional, reasoning that "gay marriage supporters failed to prove that the ban violates equal protection or due process provisions of the Constitution.... Continue Reading
September 22nd, 2014
According to the Huffington Post, "the proportion of coal miners who suffer from an advanced form of black lung disease has skyrocketed in central Appalachia in recent years, according to experts with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health." Health officials says the nearly 10-fold increase is likely due to "workers' overexposure to coal dust, with many miners now working longer hours, or an 'increased... Continue Reading
September 21st, 2014
The Washington Post reports that the millions of of enrollees who have benefited from the expansion of Medicaid appear to be "generally happy to have coverage, though many are encountering roadblocks to receiving the care they want, according to new research that provides one of the earliest insights into people's experiences under the expanded health insurance program for low-income Americans." The biggest problem for... Continue Reading
September 15th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court will be getting an education on "the rhythmic, slangy — sometimes violent — poetry of rap music" as it considers the standard by which violent speech can be judged as a true threat this term, The National Law Journal's Tony Mauro reports. Elonis v. United States, which is set for argument December 1, "asks whether the online posting of threatening language like that found in rap lyrics... Continue Reading
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
