My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
September 14th, 2014
The New York Times Jeremy W. Peters reports that Democrats have reversed the partisan imbalance on federal appellate courts from one that favored conservatives: "For the first time in more than a decade, judges appointed by Democratic presidents considerably outnumber judges appointed by Republican presidents. The Democrats’ advantage has only grown since late last year when they stripped Republicans of their ability to filibuster... Continue Reading
September 13th, 2014
There's another glitch in Obamacare, according to a Washington Post report: "A flaw in the federal calculator for certifying that insurance meets the health-care law’s toughest standard is leading dozens of large employers to offer plans that lack basic benefits, such as hospitalization coverage, according to brokers and consultants." The calculator is mainly used by self-insured employers and will allow employers... Continue Reading
September 13th, 2014
The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down a $500,000 cap against some punitive damages, the Kansas City Star's Mark Morris reports. The court ruled in the case of a $1 million verdict awarded to a woman defrauded by a car dealer: "The Supreme Court restored the judgment because [the plaintiff] had filed her claim as a common law fraud, which has existed in Missouri since the first state constitution was written. Because of that... Continue Reading
September 11th, 2014
SCOTUSBlog's Lyle Denniston reports that the Supreme Court will look at the same-sex marriage cases in which governmental officials are seeking to have their bans on same-sex nuptials restored. The court will have a conference on the cases September 29, Denniston reports: "Together, the petitions raise two constitutional questions: do states have power to refuse to allow same-sex couples to marry, and do states have power to... Continue Reading
September 10th, 2014
The Washington Post investigated 400 seizures from when police stopped drivers under a practice called "highway interdiction" and seized cash, having "their departments share in the proceeds through a long-standing Justice Department civil asset forfeiture program known as Equitable Sharing. Police can also make seizures under their state laws." Many drivers "had to engage in long legal struggles to get their... Continue Reading
September 10th, 2014
Dallas County is backing off on a plan to ban in-person visits with jail inmates, the Dallas Observer reports: "Dallas County commissioners are asking for new bids on a controversial contract for the management of visitation and phone services to jail inmates, after County Judge Clay Jenkins and inmate advocates objected to a proposal that would have ended face-to-face visits while letting the county profit off families visiting their... Continue Reading
September 10th, 2014
Clay Calvert, a communications professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, writes in the Huffington Post about the case of a Kentucky man who was arrested for allegedly making terroristic threats and supposedly threatening to kill students when he posted lyrics by the metal band Exodus on his Facebook page. According to the band, the song with lyrics like '"student bodies lying dead in the halls, a blood splattered treatise... Continue Reading
September 9th, 2014
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is cutting back on his efforts to expand Medicaid healthcare coverage for poor Virginians in the face of strong opposition from Republican legislators, the New York Times reports. The governor has called it '''unconscionable' that such a wealthy state could not provide health care for its needy." The state constitution forbids spending without legislative approval, leading the governor to... Continue Reading
September 8th, 2014
According to Food Safety News, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill has allowed parts of a challenge to Idaho's ag-gag law to proceed, including a claim that it violates the First Amendment: "'Laws that restrict more protected speech than necessary violate the First Amendment,' Winmill wrote. 'Because this question of whether section 18-7042 burdens more speech that necessary remains unanswered, the court... Continue Reading
September 8th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to consider whether the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act chills animals rights demonstrations, writes Jamie Schuman of Supreme Court Brief (the federal law prohibits anyone from intentionally causing the loss of money or property to an institution using animals). While the court ruled in Clapper v. Amnesty International that harm must be "certainly impending" for plaintiffs to get... Continue Reading
September 8th, 2014
Computerworld's Jaikumar Vijayan writes that pressure is mounting on the Federal Aviation Administration to issue rules governing private drone use with Amazon and Google working on plans to use drones for commercial purposes and trade group Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and other groups like media companies sharply criticizing the agency for moving slowly on rules to integrates drones into American... Continue Reading
September 7th, 2014
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of Justice at Stake, has delved into the election of judges and the problems it poses for democracy. There have been record-breaking expenditures in races for the Tennessee Supreme Court ($1.4 million) and for the North Carolina Supreme Court ($1.3 million) this year: "Left unchecked, the tidal wave of judicial campaign cash will upend justice in America by pressuring courts to answer to... Continue Reading
September 7th, 2014
Jeff Bennion, writing in Above the Law, has a helpful post about the lessons lawyers can learn from the leaked nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence that were apparently hacked out of her iCloud account: "Celebrities with nude photos in their cloud accounts are targets for the same reason lawyers with confidential client files in cloud accounts are: they are easy targets with highly bribable files. Lawyers are mostly clueless when it... Continue Reading
September 5th, 2014
The Nebraska Supreme Court heard oral arguments today over a constitutional challenge to the Keystone XL pipeline, the Journal Star reports.
The issues in the case include:
* whether a 2012 statute giving the governor authority to approve the route can be upheld;
* whether three landowners have standing to challenge the law because their properties are near or would have been near the path of the pipeline route;
* whether the... Continue Reading
September 5th, 2014
A federal judge has ruled that BP acted with gross negligence and wilful misconduct regarding the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago, the Washington Post reports. That means the energy company could face fines up to $17 billion for Clean Water Act fines.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that BP was 67 percent at fault for the spill, drilling rig owner and operator Transocean was 30 percent at fault and oil... Continue Reading
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